What Did I Do? A Writing Challenge.

Last night as I was doing my usual "dick around on my phone for fifteen minutes while in bed but not asleep" routine (that I need to stop), an ad for something called the "Flash Fiction Challenge" popped up. Since I was obviously in the mood to waste time and not sleep, I clicked on the link. Basically, for a fee, you are entered in this contest that requires you to write 1,000 word stories over the course of a few days that are then judged and awarded points (everyone is on a team of fifteen people). Before the round starts, you are given three words: a genre, a location, and an object, which then must be involved in the story. You submit what you have written, are given your points and actual feedback, and after the first two rounds if you score enough points you get to move on. 

Why this is bad:

- The first round is this weekend and I'm fairly busy

- I have a feeling paying for this sort of stuff is stupid, but I have never even looked at a writing competition before, so I have no clue

- I am incredibly rusty; the most writing I do right now is for social media posts and this blog

- 1,000 words is... nothing. I tend to lean on the wordy side, so trimming the fat will be hard (but probably good) 

Why this is good: 

- It will force me to write at least two short stories over the next few months, which I could maybe turn into something else at some point

- It will be interesting to get feedback on my writing, which is something I haven't really experienced in a long time

- I have done these sorts of creative writing assignments with my students and they are actually a lot of fun

- While it may have been a rookie mistake to pay, this will actually motivate me to follow through (it's how I've forced myself to run so much over the years)

Wish me luck!