Introducing: Flash Friday for WAG Members

Do you need a break from that long piece you’re working on? Are you in a writing rut and need a little jumpstart? Just looking for a new challenge? Hogtowne Quill is here to help! Change out of those Crocs or Uggs or comfy slipper socks, my fellow WAGonauts (WAGvillians? WAGonites?) and put on your sprinting kicks. We are introducing Flash Friday.

What is Flash Friday?

Flash Friday is a quarterly feature meant to spark your imagination. On the 4^th Friday of October, January, April, and July, we’ll post a visual prompt—a photo or a piece of artwork—and invite you to submit a 500-word (or less) story inspired by it. (Shoutout to GFAA and their past collaborative efforts with WAG for inspiring this idea!)

We’ll choose up to 7 submissions to highlight the following month, showing the range and diversity of creativity that can come from a single image. If your submission is highlighted, we’ll include your author photo, a bio, and links to any of your websites and/or social media.

What genre can I write in?

Your work can be in any genre and in any form. Fiction, non-fiction, prose poem, memoir, science fiction, fantasy, horror, limerick…the field is wide open.

Will Flash Friday ever run as a contest?

Good question! If there is enough interest, there is talk of Flash Friday becoming a yearly contest. Guidelines and prizes TBD.

What if this feature goes all pear-shaped, as the British might say, and nobody submits?

Another good question! We will be very sad, and probably consume a lot more chocolate than is good for us. JUST KIDDING! There’s no such thing as too much chocolate! But just to be safe, we say tally ho, cheerio, mind the gap, and submit!

How do I submit? 

Send your work to Blogeditor@writersalliance.org as a Word doc attachment. Double-spaced, Times New Roman 12-point is preferred, but format and font are not dealbreakers. (Unless you submit in Brush Script MT. Which will cause the blood vessels in the editor’s eyes to burst.)

Can I submit a photo or piece of art for a prompt? Yes and please! We’d especially like to see “found photos”—pictures forgotten in a library book or a used book and rescued by you—or photographs you’ve found at swap meets, estate sales, etc. But original photography and artwork are also appreciated and welcome.

As a surprise bonus to launch this feature: one randomly selected submission will receive a hardback copy of Marjorie Kinnan Rawling’s The Yearling (published in 1985 by Charles Scribner’s Sons and illustrated by N. C. Wyeth) and choice of a $30 gift card to either Book Gallery West or (for people who prefer ebooks) Amazon. (Bonus made possible by an anonymous donor. Thank you, Anonymous!)

And now—here is the first Flash Friday prompt:

(This photograph fell out of a blank, old-fashioned travel journal purchased at The Friends of the Library.)

Submissions will be accepted until 18 November, and selected stories will be highlighted in the 24 November blog post.

Have fun and happy writing!

P.S. We’d like to give a huge THANK YOU to WAG’s tech guru, Nate Hoffelder (The Author Website Guy), whose wizard skillz (and willingness to help out when contacted even late on Friday nights) make these posts possible. Nate, you rock!