Tag: flash fiction

Ten day challenge day 9: the story behind the story

10 Day Write Blog Challenge button200

I didn’t plan day #9 like this, but it worked out just fine. Today’s prompt:

Post either a setting or character profile from your latest fiction project, a chapter summary of your non-fiction book, or a discussion of the theme or object inspiring a poem, article, or other writing project.

So … I’m still a little amazed that Kazka Press accepted The Girl with the Piccolo. It’s … uh … whimsical? I don’t know. Anyway, they did, and there it is. I started down the path of this story with a prompt from The Writer’s Regimen, which was, in part:

Try creating a character whose occupation is one that you are not familiar with and do some research as to what knowledge and skills he or she would need to fill that position.

Why I tried searching on jobs that involved noise, I’m not certain, but I came across listings for jobs in the United Kingdom for noise officers. I remember thinking, sure, we have people who clean up trash, purify water, and so on. What if you had to clean up noise?

Probably because I’m former military, officer = army, and my mind went off in that direction. The rest of it? You got me. I do know this. The following phrase popped into my head at one point:

Everyone always underestimates the girl with the piccolo.

There you go. That was enough character/conflict for me to take the idea and run with it for about 1,000 words. The story begins with:

No one thinks about the empty note casings after the nightly revelry. Someone has to pick them up, right? That I spent four grueling years at the Acoustic Academy at Stormy Point for the privilege is something I try not to think about.

You can read the rest here.

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 32 the one with the story at Kazka Press

Week 32! I was speedy this week and finished my write 1 story on Wednesday. I played around with another, slightly longer, idea that I hope will shape up into my write 1 for this coming week.

I also need to do some revision and shape a few more stories for submission. Mainly because I’m running out. Everything is all tied up in as many submissions as possible. I need to get some “new blood” out there, so to speak. I would also like to finish out the blogging challenge as well (just two to go–I can do that, can’t I?)

Writing:

  • Incriminating Evidence ~ 1,000 words.

Submissions:

  • Alliance

Rejections:

  • The Secret Life of Sleeping Beauty (audio market). Nice rejection with an invitation to submit other stories.

Acceptances:

  • None

Published:

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 29 the one with the milestone

Week 29! This week saw a milestone in my Write 1/Sub 1 journey. I submitted my fiftieth story for the year. That’s right. 5 – 0. 50 submissions (if not 50 stories) since January first.

My daughter was at camp this week, which means the yearly tradition of the story I write about the alien who lives in her bedroom when she’s away. This year it was Xelenia: Alien Spy Girl, who battled the Blocknarians–because I’m all kinds of creative when writing these off-the-cuff camp stories.

Still, I must do a somewhat convincing job of it, since my daughter still isn’t sure if Xelenia does live in her room while she’s away or if I write these for, as she put it, “my entertainment.”

Writing:

  • Cracks in the Sky ~2,500 words
  • Xelenia: Alien Spy Girl (camp story)
  • Pitching a Fit (blog challenge post)

Submissions:

  • The Girl with the Piccolo

Rejections:

  • None (!)

Acceptances:

  • None, but a short YA story of mine has been short-listed, so I’m pleased (and a little hopeful).

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 28 the one with the birthday and amusement park

Week 28! It was my birthday this week, also, the big trip to the local amusement park with my daughter’s Girl Scout troop (I’m one of their leaders). It’s what they wanted to do with their cookie money this year. I hazard to say that a good time was had by all–yes, even me.

We got to the park right when it opened, did all the long-line rides in the morning (when there were no lines) and the water park in the afternoon. The hardest part was the shopping at the end (each girl had some money to buy a souvenir). Oh, the deliberation that went into that!

Writing wise, it was a quiet week. Wrote a story, submitted a story, and that was it.

Writing:

  • Odd Jobs ~2,500 words

Submissions:

  • Just a Matter of Time

Rejections:

  • None (!) I had to double check, but no rejections this week.

Acceptances:

  • None

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 27 the one with the midweek holiday

Week 27! This was a weird week, what with the Thursday holiday (I worked on Friday). I worked on some more prompts from the  The Southeast Review’s 30-Day Writer’s Regimen. The result: a maybe flash fiction piece and the start on something possibly longer. We’ll see how that shakes out this week.

Writing:

  • The Girl with the Piccolo ~1,000 words

Submissions:

  • Alliance

Rejections:

  • Just a Matter of Time ~ Another nice rejection and I’ll send this one out again in the coming week.

Acceptances:

  • None

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 25 and 26 the one with the power outage

Week 26! Last week, we spent four days without power and I was grateful that I:

1) Sent out my sub 1 early in the week.
2) Was working longhand on a story and could simply keep writing.

I’m still behind on prompts from The Southeast Review’s 30-Day Writer’s Regimen. But it’s not like they’ll go all soggy in the summer humidity or anything. I’m guessing on my word count, which turns out to be pretty accurate once I know how many words a page of my current notebook holds (this one, with the hedgehogs, about 250 to 280, depending).

As you can see, I went a little crazy on the subs this week. Next week, my aim is to get at least one brand new story into the mix–and not get too ahead of myself and run out of things to send.

Writing:

  • A Boy and His Witch ~1,000 words (last week)
  • Keeping Time ~ 1,000 words (this week)

Submissions:

  • Filling The Space
  • The Burden of So Many Roses (reprint market)
  • Just a Matter of Time
  • The Secret Life of Sleeping Beauty (reprint market)

Rejections:

  • The Burden of So Many Roses ~ you guys, what a nice rejection! Not only did the editor ask me to submit in the future, but gave me market suggestions for this particular story as well (and permission to name drop). So. Yeah. It went right back out this week.

Acceptances:

  • None

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 24 the one with a complete novel

Week 24! I did not do any prompts from The Southeast Review’s 30-Day Writer’s Regimen this week. I was all about Pansy and I figured the prompt emails aren’t going anywhere. I will simply extend the regimen an additional week for myself. (Alternately, you could save all the prompts and use them every other week, or weekly, or whatever. The content doesn’t have an expiration date.)

But, as I said, it was a Pansy week. And I’m excited to say that I now have a complete rough draft of nearly 54,000 words. All this from a flash fiction call for submissions prompt.

Writing:

  • Pansy ~7,243 words.

Submissions:

  • The Madness in King’s End 
  • The Patron Saint of Lost Things

Rejections:

  • The Patron Saint of Lost Things
  • It Only Takes a Minute

Acceptances:

  • None

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 23 the one with hot goblin action

Week 23! A fun week with The Southeast Review’s 30-Day Writer’s Regimen. No doubt all the other writers are crafting prose that illuminates the human condition. I, on the other hand, write a story that involves hot goblin action. Really.

That being said, I don’t necessarily mean action of the bow-chicka-wow-wow variety. Still. The story has a goblin. Who’s hot. In more ways than one.

I also wrote two flash fiction fairy tale type of things. There’s a third I hope to write that goes with the first two.

On top of this, I wrote ~ 3,000 more words in Pansy and even better I know how it ends.

Writing:

Submissions:

  • The Secret Life of Sleeping Beauty ~ reprint market! I sent it to Drabblecast and wonders of wonders, it made it through the first round, so now I wait some more with fingers crossed.

Rejections:

  • Filling The Space
  • The Short Sweet Life of My Invisible Prom Date

Acceptances:

  • None

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 14 the one where I look ahead

Week 14! I spent some of my writing time this week revising a story to send out (it’s next week’s sub 1), and looking at the handful of stories I want to send out this month.

One, I’d like to have some new stories making the rounds. Two, I’m running out of stories to submit. (I have 18 pieces out at the moment, some duplicates, but still, I need more stories) Three, there are some submission deadlines I’d really like to hit. All that adds up to more revision.

Also, this week, I sent out my first reprint submission. We’ll see how that goes.

Additionally, I spent some time reviewing the calendar for the next three months. We. Are. So. Busy. I still hope to stay on track with Write 1/Sub 1, but I’m not going to stress about trying to write ALL THE THINGS. Some things will just have to wait.

Writing:

  • Market Day, ~ 4,000 words.

Rejections:

  • The Madness in King’s End

Submissions:

  • The Madness in King’s End
  • Pitch contest
  • The Burden of So Many Roses to a reprint market (!)

Acceptances:

  • None

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 13 the one with the monster award

Week 13! Here we are, three months into this experiment and I’m still on track. Amazingly.

So far, for the year, I’ve managed to write fourteen stories and send out twenty one submissions. Add to that two acceptances. So not only do I win the monster award for March, but I’m one third of the way through this experiment and looking forward to even more.

I’ve been surprised at just how many (odd) ideas are knocking around in my head and how many of them seem to fly off my fingers, seemingly from nowhere. That’s been the biggest reward so far. It’s like lifting a rock and discovering not squirming bugs, but many shiny, shiny things.

Writing:

  • Pansy, Too (continuation/standalone addition to Out of the Blue), ~ 1,500 words. Yes, I suspect a time will come when I can’t call these standalone episodes or what have you, but for now, I am.

Rejections:

  • None

Submissions:

  • Rhymes with Orange

Acceptances:

  • None