Monday, October 04, 2010

Blue Earth Review’s Eighth Annual Flash Fiction Contest

I'm a sucker for flash fiction. It's fun and challenging, and if you think it's quick, you ain't doing it right. Flash contests aren't common, and ever few of them pay, but here's your chance to earn a hundred bucks if you can charm the judges with clean, crisp, charismatic writing in 600 words or less.

From the website:
We want only your brightest, boldest flash fiction—work that breaks boundaries in genre and content.


Reading fee is $5 for up to three entries. You have to sign up in two places, which is a little odd, but it's not hard. To enter the writing, go to the Submission Manager. To pay, you go to the Payment page. They only accept online submissions, which is rapidly becoming the norm.

Deadline is December 1, 2010. All entries will also be considered for general publication unless otherwise marked. Three winners will be chosen and awarded $100, $75, and $25. Winners will be announced sometime in February and the three winning pieces will be published in the Spring 2011 issue of Blue Earth Review.

NOTE: Good flash is about the purest forms of writing, in my opinion. The tightness factor makes the story zing. The ending usually pops you in the face or leaves you feeling an awww moment. It doesn't waste your time. I'm not a short story reader, but I'll read flash. I love to see someone do it well.

DOUBLE NOTE: I just burned the butterbeans . . . again. This year God did not mean for me to grow butterbeans. The first batch didn't come up in May. Then I accidentally planted field peas instead of butterbeans. Don't ask me why. At the time I had a logical reason, but it escapes me now. I planted a second batch in July. They're making light batches now, and have been for the last two weeks. Just as I had hoped, they were giving me a quick, last minute harvest before the cool weather stops their growth. But no. It was not to be. I burnt last week's batch, after spending an hour shelling them and cooking them another two hours. I just burnt another batch. Maybe one more opportunity is in the garden . . . maybe one, assuming the cool weather doesn't stunt their growth. You don't know how much I adore butterbeans. Next year . . . a double row of those babies And I'm stuffing the freezer with them.
Do you write or read flash?

3 comments:

Paul Callaghan said...

I love flash fiction, reading it and writing it. There is an English website at www.globalwriters.net that has a regular competition for flash fiction. Their current competition is restricted at only 100 words which I think will be very tough to do but I have to try. Here in NZ there is a series of books called NZ Short Shorts which restricts all of its contributors to 100 words too. You really have to make every word count when you have so few of them. It's good practice for everything else.

BECKY said...

Hope, I haven't written very much flash fiction, but I LOVE doing it. I love a challenge. I'm one of those women who will prove I can something, if I've been told it's not possible! I even won a couple of 12-Word flash fiction stories!

Rosemary Hoffman Lynn said...

I love to read flash fiction but I find writing it can be quite the challenge. I have read a lot of poetry that can almost be categorized as flash fiction. There is a story told in such a short, concise span and it usually has a surprise or exuberant ending. I am going to start working on this genre because it is such a challenge and what doesn't kill you will make you better...or so they say!