#IWSG – A little success #AtoZChallenge

Well I made it!! For anyone that hasn’t swung by my little space here I took part in the April A to Z Challenge and wrote flash fiction of no more than 100 words with a prompt of my choosing. I actually managed a post for every letter, not all entirely on time, there were a few at the end there that went up on the “wrong” days but they still went up. I can’t believe that I came up with 26 pieces of flash fiction, some days were a struggle but even if they weren’t the best I still wrote them.

I’ve heard so many people say that just doing a little bit of writing each day really helps and I have to say that on some of the days trying to get words out of myself was like pulling blood from a stone, but I always managed something. It made me realize that these people are right, even if it is just 100 words, if I make sure I’m writing those words each day then eventually I’ll have a chapter, then at some point after that a novel. I really didn’t think it was doable before but now I can see that it is, I’m determined to keep it up.

I felt really proud on Sunday when I posted my last bit for the challenge, it felt like an accomplishment and I know that that is the kind of feeling that I want to feel for the writing projects that I have now. I just have to keep myself accountable because I know that I work better with deadlines from other people and that being left to my own devices I can procrastinate and fall short of anything I set myself.

Since I’m still in a happy place with writing I thought I’d share a few of my entries for the challenge. I’m not going to link back to every one of them because I made a page for that here, however, I thought I’d highlight some of my favourites…

Disappear

I know that by the time you find this letter you’ll be worried about me and I’m sorry for that.

I didn’t plan for this to happen in the way that it has but I wouldn’t really change it for the world either.

I hadn’t intended falling in love with her but you always said that our family was prone to runaway hearts, so you can’t be too shocked.

We’re going travelling, to see the world together, but I promise I’ll be in touch as soon as I can.

Try not be too mad at me.

Your loving daughter

x

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Expose

It starts with the water shifting and flowing.

Rippling waves across the surface with that unnatural sheen hinting at what else is in there.

The seconds count down and suddenly there are shadows forming, slowly at first and then becoming more prominent as if they’ve just realized that they can’t be seen yet.

The magic as the forms start to take shape with a quality that can sometimes jump out at you as if they were tangible. Made even better when they are taken out from their watery birthplace.

Something that you captured and made.

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Killer

I told her it couldn’t happen again.

But I wasn’t going to be there to watch over her.

It’s very harrowing to know that someone can cause such devastation and not realize the impact that it has or feel bad about it.

I swore this year that I would organize something so that she would have another eye on her.

Then I thought about how that person might react and I couldn’t go through with it, what if they asked why. What would I say?

I couldn’t tell them that my daughter killed my houseplants during my holidays.

They’d laugh.

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Needle in a Haystack

My friend said internet dating would be good for me.

Plenty of people with lots of up front information so I can be as choosy as I want.

She didn’t mention the amount of work it was going to be and how often people lie.

Maybe I’m expecting too much but finding someone who actually likes the things they’ve mentioned in their profile, who looks like their pictures and who isn’t already involved or married is like looking for a needle in a field of haystacks.

I need a miracle or a metal detector.

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Tea Leaves

“I feel like we’re in the Harry Potter movie, you know the one…”

“Sshhh!”

“I mean really how can you possibly be interested in…”

“I know you weren’t keen on coming but could you just be quiet right now.”

“She’s hardly telling us anything earth-shattering.”

“That’s not the point, I’m listening.”

“Oh someone with a dead grandfather, that could be you.”

“Shut up.”

“Really? Someone with unfinished business, how original. Why don’t we just go home make some tea, drink it and I’ll tell you what the leaves say?”

“Because you’d be making it up.”

“So is she!”

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I really enjoyed this year’s challenge, I did forget to add my link to the A to Z page more often than not and as I’m sure you can surmise from that I also then didn’t have a chance to look through the list. So I maybe didn’t explore as much this year as I did last year but I still found some really great blogs. Even though I didn’t always keep up with them the whole way through I thought I’d share some love now.

LadiesWhoLunchReviews – Diane also did 100 word fiction

Iain Kelly – Iain crafted an amazing crime story from a childs a to z jigsaw

Ramblings of K – Kim took her followers along on her travels

John Davis Frain – John wrote about the 26 different ways he was murdered (it’s a lot funnier than I have made it sound)

What Rhymes with Stanza? – Maggie wrote three line poems

On my way home – Romi described her life in six words

Fiction Playground – Joe was using the challenge to look at the characters and setting of his book Steel Horse Saviours

Just a small selection, all worth a nosey.

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Written as part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.

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