In early April, a Photo Prompt Flash Fiction Contest was announced in one of my writer groups. I had never written based off a photo prompt. I had never written anything categorized as flash fiction. Yet, I found myself intrigued.
Was this something I really wanted to do, a challenge I wanted to give myself? Or, was this just another way for me to procrastinate writing my book? (I had already gone weeks, again, without adding a single word.)
Simply put, flash fiction is a fictional short story with a specified word count. In the case of this contest, no more than 1,000 words based off of one of four photos (one for each of four different genres) and due by May 14th. This contest had no entry fee and a small chance at a modest prize and recognition – important factors in my decision (since I do not, at all, agree with giving original work away for free (if the publication will profit from it) or, worse, paying to have work considered or published).
I decided to go for it – to flex my long-dormant fiction-writing muscles.
I had more than a month, but I figured that it would be a pretty quick project. After all, on a good day, I can write a 1,000-word personal essay in an afternoon! It is called “flash” fiction, right?
Wrong.
Fiction proved more difficult than I remembered. Writing based off a photo prompt, more challenging than I anticipated.
I nearly threw in the towel, feeling like I was wasting too much time trying to create the perfect story. But, I didn’t want to give up. In the end, just days before the deadline, I went with the story I had, even though I felt like it fell short of my expectations.
This one was no prize-winner – but following through was an accomplishment to be proud of in itself.
