So, a thing happened last week! I discovered flash fiction! These are generally short stories with word counts between 500-1,500 words, depending on which site you are visiting. I’d never heard of it before, but it appears I have an extensive collection of flash fiction stories I’ve written over the last couple of years.
I get thoughts and ideas in my head. I want to express the beauty of the sunset or the feeling of the breeze on my face. Stories come to me as I write. Sometimes I have no idea where I am going until I am there. Often my stories are full of angst over the affairs of the world or the sadness I feel in my heart. Stories are how I process these feelings as I have discovered most people can’t handle my thoughts.
So, anyway…there is a writers group I belong to on Facebook. Someone had posted a link to their published story in the flash fiction section. Frankly, I was more interested in what flash fiction was than the story itself. I looked it up and became intrigued. One of the links I came across listed several websites that will publish your story. I read the terms and selected a site that seemed fairly simple for my first attempt.
With the site selected, I went through my stories. I found one that fit within the scope of what they were looking for, did a tiny bit of editing, and submitted it about two in the afternoon. The website said it could take four to six weeks for a response, so I promptly moved on with my life. At 9:35 PM that night, I received a response! I had been published on their site; the feature story for that day! He told me that he hoped I would submit more stories in the future! I was published!! Yay!!!!
I know the always sunshine crew does not like my writing. I was once told it was “punishingly bleak.” Some people do not live in a world of sunshine and rainbows 24/7. While I know this thought is not popular, I don’t feel that I should pretend that everything is perfect, all of the time; hell or anytime for that matter. They say one should write what one knows; currently, this is what I know.
So without further ado:
Enigma
I have another story submitted to this website; I suspect I will have to wait for the full four to six weeks this time. I also have another submitted to a writing contest elsewhere. Now that my first attempt is published, I think will keep trying. Nevermind that my children’s father always told me I could not write.
I will keep you updated on my progress!