National Flash Fiction Day is on 27th June and celebrates the brilliance of the micro story.
Mainly celebrated in the UK, the campaign is spreading worldwide, gathering momentum and drawing in literary enthusiasts every year. The organisers encourage people to write their own short stories by running a competition – The National Flash-Fiction Day 100 Word Flash Competition. The competition is open to writers of any nationality writing in English and stipulates a 100-word maximum. You can read and be inspired by last year’s winners right here.
So what exactly is flash fiction? According to Wikipedia, ‘Flash fiction (which became an official term in 1992) is a style of fictional literature or fiction of extreme brevity. There is no widely accepted definition of the length of the category. Some self-described markets for flash fiction impose caps as low as three hundred words, while others consider stories as long as a thousand words to be flash fiction.’
However you define it, we think flash fiction is a marvellous way to get the creative juices flowing!
Why not hold your own competition at work?
Ask employees to write their own micro story and publish the winning entry in your internal newsletter. You could specify a theme or leave it entirely open. Set a maximum length, say 100 or 200 words, agree a suitable deadline and get the contest started! Encourage employees to get as creative or as humourous as they like. It’s a great opportunity to get creative and give your closet writers a chance to shine!
Follow the build up on Twitter @Nationalflashfd.
