Every Thursday author Siobhan Muir runs “Thursday’s Threads” it’s a Flash Fiction Contest where you are given a line from last week’s winning story as a prompt. You have to include the line in your story (you can break it up using punctuation only) The word limit is 100 to 250 words. I’ve been participating […]
Read More Flash Fiction – Thursday’s ThreadsAfter a long absence and a lot of personal issues, I’m back. It’s hard to believe it’s been almost 2 years since my last update and a lot has happened in that time. I’ve been writing but with a lot of my favorite flash fiction contests ending and work– I’ve been branching out. I’ve been […]
Read More Getting back in the saddleOne of the hardest lessons I’ve learned when it comes to Miro/Flash Fiction is keeping it short without losing the story– or the audience. With flash fiction, I’ve learned that you have to limit the scope of the story and not lose yourself in the subplots and details. I think that’s the first lesson everyone […]
Read More Trying not to lose the readerMaking a backup isn’t always enough – take it from me: go the extra step and make sure a) you’ve backed up what you think you have and b) it actually worked. I’ve just come back from a ‘catastrophic’ failure of my desktop computer. Fortunately I had done a system backup 3 days before it […]
Read More A Serious Word on Backups…Troubleshooting a hardware problem – old school Non-geek version: I need a new computer… or least the insides of a new computer <Geek version> Last week I mentioned having hardware issues – I had hoped that a new power supply would do the trick but, no joy. I replaced the Power Supply and got… nothing. […]
Read More Call the tech guy – Part TwoOkay, it’s not as traditional as the dog ate my homework but… my desktop won’t boot and I can’t get to my most recent edits… I was going to edit this afternoon, I really was, but my desktop has decided it doesn’t want to boot and unfortunately (or fortunately) I’m my ‘tech guy.’ This means, […]
Read More Call the tech guy!The answer, in my not so humble opinion, is yes… and no. Rhythm is in everything we do. It is the tick of the clock, the movement of the pendulum, the very beat of our hearts is rhythmic. Rhythm can be as simple or as complex as we want it to be, but it is […]
Read More Poetry Part 2: Is there poetry without rhythm?Today’s prompt at FlashFriday was particularly uninspiring for me, I did have a beginning line, but I had no idea what to do with it. This time, rather than take you through the revision process in detail, I’m going to present the two versions of the story I wrote. The prompt: Did I pick the […]
Read More FlashFriday: Re-imaging a storyThe predictability of being unpredictable. As I’ve stated earlier, I’ve been writing for flash fiction contests for over a year now, and although almost all the judges judge ‘blind’ (they collect the stories without the author’s information) they almost always know its me. “Why?” you ask. The easiest answer is: my voice. My voice is […]
Read More Musing on voice, its advantages and disadvantagesA lot of writing workshops and classes will talk about style and voice. These are the spices that flavor your writing and make them yours. Finding your voice as a writer is very important: it helps you establish a rapport with your reader and gives them a connection that will, hopefully, draw them into your […]
Read More A few thoughts on voice and cover letters.