Lat week I mentioned the joy of writing flash fiction. In fact, not only did I write a 1,000 word piece in answer to another EditRed writer's challenge (I called it "Under His Thumb"), but I decided I wanted to take on a second response in the same vein. The topic: write a story about someone (an average person, it is assumed) who finds himself / herself omnipotent one fine day.
So, what about this micro flash as far as fiction is concerned? I don't know if there are any hard and fast rules, but on the EditRed site, the challenge was to write a piece of fiction in exactly six words. Apparently, Hemingway was an aficionado of the art form (or he downright invented it, not sure), but an example of one of his:
"For sale.
Baby shoes.
Never worn."
These were the ones I came up with:
"Are you sure this is lava?"
"I thought YOU checked the parachutes!"
"Bob, meet Larry. Bob, it's over."
"initiate sequence." "Launch missiles." "It's over.
"Man the lifeboat! Oh no! Leaks!"
They kissed. She sighed. He woke.
"Touché! And me, without my sword.'
Other Short Works
I'm currently in the midst of writing my newest planned short story "Mexico, NY." I decided that this piece will have several cast members and the challenge will be to not have them trip over themselves and still keep the length reasonably short. I tell you this, though … if it turns out to be too long, I just may turn it into a novel or even a treatment for TV show. That would be interesting.
As I mentioned earlier, I started writing another flash fiction story on the same topic of suddenly acquired omnipotence (called "Dylan's Prayer), though I suspect it could go longer than 1,000 words. No worries, though, if it comes out okay, I'll add it to my anthology to be published next February.
Today I wrote a 500 word piece - the limit on this fiction challenge sponsored by the owners of the EditRed site called "Gennaro's Son." The topic was to focus on "city smells." After getting excellent feedback from another EditRed writer, I posted it for review by the court of public opinion.
Poetry
I wrote three new poems this week: "Dark Silence in Morning Light," "The Girl She Never Was" and "Plastic Metropolis." In this latter poem, I decided to play with structure a bit. As always, I'm enjoying writing poetry and reading the work of others.
Screenplay
Yay! I finally finished typing in the redlines I had one, leaving me with the second draft ready for editing. I'm still debating whether I need to have a professional read and edit it for me. It would be a major step in my development, but would cost me some serious money to do it. We'll see.
Editing
I decided to make everything I have on Writing.com private and concentrate exposing all my new stuff to my readers on EditRed. The problem is that the former site is very sterile (not really a community, probably because they're too big), while the latter includes a number of closely connected writers. Besides, I don't have time as it is to read and edit the works the EditRed writers publish there let alone take on the duties for folks at another site.
Novel
Woe is me, I haven't gone back to my novel in a few weeks now. I'm ashamed and I admit, I could be better at time management.
Books I'm Reading
I'm really enjoying Chris Vogel's book, The Writer's Journey. I recommend to anyone who is planning to write long pieces (novels and especially screenplays). It's all about the different archetypes that are found in most good storytelling, beginning with the earliest written epics.
I liked James N. Frey's How To Write A Damn Good Mystery so much that I purchased two other of his books written in a similar vein. I'll be sure to report on them once I read them.
That's all for now from here, folks. I appreciate all your input and love to hear more about your own creative ventures.
For now,
Michael
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