Friday 14 December 2018

FlashFlood Advent Calendar 2018: Day 14


Day 14: Sense of Place

We're only a week away from the shortest day of the yearThe low, bright sun and long, midday shadows always make me think about my surroundings in a way that I often forget to do in high summer, which makes this a perfect time of year for a prompt about place. 


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Write a piece in which the setting is one of the main characters, if not the main character.  Construct a story that couldn't be told in any other place.  Try to give the story's place a real sense of development and personality, and its own character arc.  At the end of the piece, what has changed for the landscape?  How has the setting developed? 

The setting needn't be glamorous or exotic; tthis prompt is a great excuse for a little walk down to the postbox and back with your writers' eyes set to maximum observation mode.

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For an extra challenge, feel free to incorporate some of the flashy themes and word count restrictions from elsewhere on the internet....
  • Win a spot at the Iceland Writers Retreat 2019 with up to 500 words on the theme of 'equality' (ideally with a mention of Iceland included as well). Deadline: Monday, 17 December.
  • For those whose flash meanders into sudden fiction territory and who would like to hear their work performed by a professional actor, Liars' League UK is looking for 800-2000 words on the theme of 'love and lust' for their next show. Deadline: 6 January.
  • The next Scottish Book Trust 50-Word Competition prompt is already live; they're looking for 50 words or fewer on the theme of 'fireworks'.  Deadline: noon on 29 January.



Thank you to everyone who has responded to our poll so far.  If you haven't replied already, we'd love to hear whether you'd be interested in writing for or helping to administrate an online Write-In event in conjunction with future National Flash Fiction Days.  It only takes a matter of seconds to let us know!

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'Long winter shadows' by Nic McPhee is licensed under (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Find out more about National Flash Fiction Day at our website or get in touch if you'd like to learn more about how you can get involved.


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