Tag: short story

Back to Winning Writing

~ Jim Flanigan ~ Leave a comment

After some recent writing disappointments, I was determined to right write more betterer better. My first baby step toward that goal was a micro-fiction story in the humor category. I was pleased with the story I crafted – funny throughout with a twist at the end. And … drumroll please … success! It was selected for publication. You can click here to read it.

However, it was not awarded as the best humor story. The awarded humor story I did not find very funny throughout. In fact, it made me a bit sad. Sour grapes? Perhaps. I prefer to think that it’s my keen sense of humor that presents a high bar to clear to elicit guffaws from me, or maybe it’s my predeliction for fart jokes. Not one in the “winning” story. But what it did have was a twisty ending I didn’t see coming. Kudos to the awarded writer for that ending. Nicely done. You can click here to read the awarded story.

I am quite pleased with my story’s picture, created by AI. I continue to mess around with AI in the hope that I can compensate for my lack of natural intelligence.

My Recent Writing Roller Coaster

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 1 Comment

I’m working harder than ever to shed work responsibilities as I try to retire, so I can write more. Why? I’m not so sure anymore after getting emails like these.

Can we really trust a contest that calls the 2nd quarter of the year the 3rd quarter? Anyway, I was hopeful of seeing my name among the over 300 listed on the winner’s blog as finalists, honorable mentions, and suspected internet scammers. Nope, unless I forgot that I used my pen name of Seymour Butts.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, this happened.

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An Affection for Rejection

~ Jim Flanigan ~ Leave a comment

I don’t mind a good rejection. I think I got used to rejection many years ago while single and dating. As a writer who submits stories for contests, publications, etc., you have to be ready to accept rejection. And what do they always say? If you’re not failing, then you’re not trying. Or, maybe your stories just suck. All the more reason to keep writing to get better.

This recent rejection left me a bit surprised and confused, although that’s a low bar.

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Eight is NOT Enough

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 1 Comment

Did you know that Mark Hamill played one of the 8 Bradford kids in the TV show Eight is Enough? He left after the pilot to go play some obscure movie character called Luke Skywalker.

But that’s not the 8 I’m writing about. My 8th out of 8 micro-fiction stories submitted to www.curatedmicrofiction.com was selected for publication. You can read it here. It’s not my favorite one I have written. I think I need to escape from the Literary/Creative prompts and get back to my humor roots.

I plan to keep submitting these until my streak is broken, or I find no value in doing them. I currently find them to be a useful exercise in editing. I took a look at the humor prompt for the current challenge and said, “Yuck.” You can read it here. I wasn’t sure where to go with that prompt. This was the first draft of my first idea.

Continue reading “Eight is NOT Enough” →

Winning Writing

~ Jim Flanigan ~ Leave a comment

I’ve continued my improbable writing winning streak on the curatedmicrofiction.com website. Sure, this latest one from me was not awarded (more money), but it was published which gets me 10 bucks. I kind of knew this one would not be awarded since I chose the Literary/Creative prompt. I think I provided a suitably creative comic twist at the end, but I don’t think it was literary which connotes serious writing to me. The awarded story in the Literary/Creative category was oozing seriosity.

But still, my winning streak of 7 stories continues on. The current prompts are tough. Nothing jumps out at me. But I have a possible idea for a funny story. Unfortunately, it is for the Literary/Creative prompt again. Ugh.

Ho Hum, Another Writing Award … Sort Of

~ Jim Flanigan ~ Leave a comment

I was contacted a couple days ago by the guy who runs www.storyhouse.org. He wanted to verify that I was not a professional writer (couldn’t he tell by my writing?) as the judging for their animal nonfiction short story contest for newish writers was nearing the end. Putting 2 & 2 together to get … 4, right, definitely 4, I deduced I may be in the running to win the contest, which would get me … what? I really didn’t remember and didn’t care enough to look. And then today, I got the email notifying me that although I didn’t take first, and I was also not the runner-up, I was a finalist.

Quick, someone get me my sister to kiss. I guess I should be flattered. I threw the story together pretty fast, and it’s really the only nonfiction story I’ve ever written. If you care to read it, click this link.

But did I win anything as a finalist? Oh, I won something all right.

Continue reading “Ho Hum, Another Writing Award … Sort Of” →

A Fine Story

~ Jim Flanigan ~ Leave a comment

No, not mine. I wasn’t too fond of my last micro-fiction story, but they published it HERE anyway. Maybe it was a mercy publishing, because I have been faithfully submitting every two weeks. More likely, it was because of the cool AI-generated picture I submitted with the story. Breaking News …

Old Person Uses AI

That’s right, the pic shown with the story was created using AI. I kept revising the description until the pic met my needs. The result is that I no longer am terrified of AI. I have embraced AI and all its benefits. And, oh, what benefits, if you know what I mean. I don’t, so please tell me if you do. Maybe this very post was even written with AI, hmm? Full disclosure … it was not. I don’t want to give AI an even worse reputation because of my shoddy writing.

The fine story referred to in the title of this post is this one that was published and awarded. Love the twisty ending. But I am working on a story with an equally twisty ending for the current challenge closing next week. It even suprised my wife who knows how any movie will end after seeing the first 5 minutes and before I’ve even started my popcorn. Sure, she knows how the movie will play out, but do we really have to leave after 5 minutes?

Here’s the AI website I used to create the sailboat pic – https://www.fotor.com/images/create. I didn’t pay anything, although somewhere down the line I am sure that I will be asked for money. Try it out. I mean the AI part, not asking me for money.

Tired of Writing

~ Jim Flanigan ~ Leave a comment

I alerted you almost a month ago to a writing contest at Weird Little Worlds Press. It wasn’t easy, but I wrote a mostly-coherent sci-fi story of just under 5,000 words involving lizard people and pencil sharpeners. But then came the editing … and the rewrites … and the formatting into their accepted style … and finally the self-doubt. It’s not like the humorous stories I write. It’s easy to tell if a story is funny or not, and I’m pretty self-aware of whether my stories are chuckle-inducing gut-busters (typically not). But writing sci-fi is a new experience for me. I have no idea what I’m doing, but I am learning.

The submission deadline was May 31. The day before I had finished another micro-fiction story that I submitted to www.curatedmicrofiction. And why not? They have published and paid me for every story I’ve submitted. Here’s my most recent one that they liked that I wrote to their sci-fi prompt. Maybe I was practicing for the Weird Little Worlds contest with sci-fi micro-fiction.

So, by the time I finished the submission for Weird Little Worlds Press, I was just tired of writing, editing, etc. Today has been a dreary, rainy day – perfect for writing! And there is a website I had my eye on with a submission due today. But I just can’t. I have cranial writer’s cramp. My brain hurts.

What I can do is plan for the future. There’s a new window open for submissions at www.curatedmicrofiction.com. I have my eye on the Literary/Creative prompt but with a humorous twist. First submission is free! Come join me. And I may be able to use my sci-fi submission to Weird Little Worlds Press for this contest from the Scientologists. Finally, I have a story in my head about a carnival sideshow wild woman that will definitely have to be written before I forget it. For a memory of the most famous of carnival sideshow women, Lydia, click here.

Milestone Made

~ Jim Flanigan ~ Leave a comment

When I wrote my last post, I had no idea that it was my 2500th post until after I published it. I guess that’s somewhat of a milestone unless you discount all the dumb posts, memes, and cartoons. If I just count what I would consider legitimate posts, I’m at 37. I’m not sure if this one will count as #38.

I do find it ironic that my 2500th post was titled “Write Weird.” I started writing this blog to practice writing, and now I’m encouraging others to write weird. How about writing well? That’s kind of a foreign concept for me. Or, is it?

I submitted more micro-fiction to a curatedmicrofiction.com prompt that I blogged about. Rather than loading my 300 words with dad jokes, fart references, and invented words like last time, I decided to change tack.

Continue reading “Milestone Made” →

Write Weird

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 2 Comments

Last year, I submitted a vampire story to Weird Little Worlds Press for their Playlist of the Damned anthology. They didn’t like my story enough to select it. They were right. It can be better. I’m rewriting it for possible use later, although a rewrite by me may not necessarily make the story better.

It’s time to write weird again. Weird Little Worlds Press has a new anthology they are putting together, and they want new authors. Hey, that could be you or me. The problem is that we only have until the end of this month to submit a story. So, start writing weird. We have no time to lose if we want to place a story in their anthology.

If that’s too soon for you to write 500 to 5,000 words without a specific prompt, try this one instead.

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Whatever Happened to Journalistic Integrity?

~ Jim Flanigan ~ Leave a comment

That blog post title may seem odd coming from me, but I think I have a legit reason to ask that question in light of a story that supposedly broke yesterday. Here’s one of the many headlines I have seen.

The full story can be accessed by clicking this link. Other news stories I have read even go so far as mentioning a dangerous “sarcophagas.” Hmm, now where have I heard that invented word before? Oh, right, in my award-winning micro-fiction story. Yes, I broke a deadly sarcophagas story two days prior to all the other stories published yesterday. I knew I should have trademarked that word. It’s true that these other stories contain more supposed “scientific facts,” but I will remind you that mine is the only award-winning story.

I have reached out to numerous attorneys to see if I can pursue any legal action against these media hacks with their copycat stories. Unfortunately, the only attorneys interested in representing me are busy defending Trump in various trials.

As a last recourse, I consulted noted Egyptologist Dr. Steven Martin to see if he could provide guidance. His advice follows.

Continue reading “Whatever Happened to Journalistic Integrity?” →

An Unexpected Award

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 4 Comments

In a recent post, I promised (threatened?) to share my 300-word micro-fiction short story with you that was comprised of dad jokes, a fart reference, and an invented word. I planned on copying and pasting the story here, but I don’t have to do that now. I received an email stating, “Your story ‘The Sarcopha Guys’ has been recognized by our curation team as exceptional in your category.” Exceptional? Me? What category, fart fiction?

I figured I had an outside chance for one of the $5 awards, but now my comfortable retirement is assured after securing a $60 award. Anyway, enough complaining about winning something. It’s time to share it with the world, regardless of the world’s recalcitrance toward reading it.

Click HERE to link to the page showing the weird prompt and my story that you can then click on to read. After the minute it takes you to read 300 words and ten minutes it takes you to stop guffawing, then click HERE to go to the current challenge. Pick a prompt and start writing. I think the first submission is free. Let’s see if some real writing can challenge my fart fiction. Yes, I do have a story planned in the Humor category. That’s another tough prompt, but somehow I have a story concepted about a librarian that involves flinging mashed potatoes. I think I really need to seek professional therapy.

Rejection Means Someone Read Your Writing

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 1 Comment

And they didn’t like it enough, but at least you had a reader. I tell myself that when I get a submission rejected, which is more often than not. At least this one that just hit my inbox was quite pleasant.

They didn’t technically say that my story was well-crafted, but at least that complimentary hyphenated word was included in the rejection email. So, what do I recommend after rejection?

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Just Another Saturday

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 1 Comment

Yesterday started as a Saturday like any other Saturday … until I woke up. My wife had been replaced by our 50 lb. poodle who was hogging most of the bed. The reason?

Yes, Kevin, a sub-10 lb. Shih-Tzu arrived on Friday and terrorized my wife and youngest daughter all night while I snoozed blissfully unaware. Here’s Kevin in action during the day.

That went on much of Friday and apparently into the night. I can’t confirm the latter. Zzzz.

That chaos continued on Saturday. Somehow, I snuck off on the pretense of biking to the bank and came home with this surprise. WARNING: Not for the faint of heart.

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The Science of Writing

~ Jim Flanigan ~ Leave a comment

I’ve been recently using writing contests to finish short stories. I’ve always got a dozen or so half-finished stories rattling around in my laptop. And yes, that is my hard drive, and I am happy to be writing.

Choosing a half-written story to enter into a contest is a great way to get some closure. I finished two short stories recently to enter into this contest I told you about. They were micro-fiction stories I wrote for an event at a local Chicagland public library. I was invited to write to some paintings as artistic prompts for the event. I wrote two micro-fiction stories and one poem. I liked the two mini-stories enough that I expanded them from micro-fiction to fuller stories, but I left both under 1000 words to fit the contest rules. And really, how much more can I write about talking peaches in one of the stories? I could only enter once, so I chose the talking peach story to enter. Duh! There’s still time for you to submit a story. Under 1000 words. Just sayin’.

Anyway, both stories are now in good shape to include in my next collection of short stories. But my first self-published collection of short stories remains unfinished in my mind. It has been only available in digital form and has never been printed. Well, I am determined that the second edition will be available in print. A writing acquaintance advised me that a print version is vital to the success of a book. So, I am re-editing all 16 stories prior to formatting for a printed second edition, including a fantasy story set in a dystopian future.

In parallel, I stumbled across this contest.

Yes, it is that L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology. Do I still want my fantasy story included in that collection? Yes, please. Take a look at over 2000 reasons.

Continue reading “The Science of Writing” →

The Right Price to Write, Right?

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 1 Comment

Zero dollars is a good price to pay to enter a writing contest with actual cash prizes.

Here’s the link to that page. Make sure to read the Submission Guidelines. There is a 1000 word maximum for the flash fiction contest. And you must be at least a free subscriber. One story per submitter per contest. I have two done. Decisions, decisions. Which to submit?

How many do you have written? None? Well, get writing. 1000 words is a piece of cake. In fact, I can write 1000 words about my last piece of cake. You have almost 3 weeks. I will offer free editing, time permitting. Just contact me.

Writing Anxiety

~ Jim Flanigan ~ Leave a comment

I previously blogged about how anxious I get before submitting any of my written creations to anyone anywhere for any reason. Once I submit, I’m fine. In one recent instance, I became very anxious and agitated after I submitted to the January Storytwigs micro-fiction contest that I blogged about so you could enter. I supplied you a blogplanation of my writing faux pas as the source of my post-submission anxiety and a reason to have a good editor. Well, a reader alerted me that Storytwigs appears to be in a coma on life support. After resurrecting itself for a January contest, the Storytwigs needle appears to be stuck in the January groove. The relaunch may have failed. RIP Storytwigs … again. My apologies to anyone who took the time to write and submit, but it was only 100 words. Most of my grocery lists are longer.

Anyway, it was anxiety time for me again as I spotted this inexpensive contest.

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Get Write To It!

~ Jim Flanigan

Last year, I somehow took second place in a short story contest. The featured image on this post shows me hard at work on my winning story.

If you want to read my winning story, here’s a link to a previous post so you can read it.

Well, now it’s your turn. It’s short story contest time again. It only costs 5 bucks per story submitted, but this time the story has to be about this picture …

Continue reading “Get Write To It!” →

Is an Editor Necessary?

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 1 Comment

In a word – YES! I’ve come a long way as a writer in the 8+ years since I started practicing writing on this blog. I’ve won a couple awards, been published, and think I’ve improved as a writer. Regular readers of this blog may disagree with good reason.

So, it should come as no surprise that I now use my editor/cousin/godmother/writing mentor less and less. I think I write better now. Who needs an editor? Plus, I feel guilt. I have never paid her a dime for her services. The problem is that even when I send something to her just to read and specifically ask her not to edit, she can’t resist editing. And she’s an excellent, although brutal, editor. She does not pull punches with me. Her editing is outstanding, and I value her general opinion of my writing even more. But still, I don’t want to take advantage of her skills. Sure, I send her a box of orthopedic socks at Christmas, but is that really enough? Probably not. Maybe I should consider a membership for her in the Jelly of the Month Club.

I blogged about a FREE micro-fiction contest. Hey, you writers out there. Yeah, you. Write, dammit. Bookmark that website and enter their next contest. What have you got to lose? I entered. And did I need a professional edit after 3 stories of just 100 words each. Well, 2 stories I wrote were kind of dopey, so I didn’t care about them so much. The third story I kind of liked. I thought it had some legs. I couldn’t screw up 100 words, could I? Here it is. You be the judge.

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Rejection is Opportunity for Rejection Elsewhere

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 3 Comments

The one thing I have learned in my short career as a semi-professional writer is that rejection is inevitable. I get a weird feeling before submitting a story anywhere. I know the story will be judged which will make me feel like I am personally being judged, because the story is an extension of me and my alleged mind. It’s a very uncomfortable feeling. I have to force myself to click and submit the story. Then I’m okay, and I wait for the inevitable rejection. Thankfully, I have received an occasional acceptance.

After winning a small award for my first serious crime story in the first half of 2023, I struck out several times in the second half of the year with various short story submittals. Even a local writer’s group was not interested in hearing me recite some of the stories I submitted. I got busy with a new job that I took as a bridge to retirement and my writing has languished, although it has been the right decision financially.

It’s time to relaunch my writing career in 2024. I am ready for more rejection. I came across this humorous poetry contest with a $0 entry fee. That fits my budget perfectly. Now I am certainly not a poet, and I know it. Hmm, on second thought …

Sure, I have written poems in the past. Here’s a link to a winter poem I wrote years ago bemoaning the shortest day of the year on the Winter Solstice through which we just suffered yesterday.

I took advantage of my fear of lack of daylight by staying in yesterday and writing a humorous poem to submit. It is about my OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) keeping me from writing a poem about my OCD keeping me from writing a poem about my OCD, etc. I like it. It was cathartic. It is also one of the weirdest things I have ever written, and I have written some pretty odd stuff in the past. It features nuns. Need I say more? Is it funny enough to be award-winning? Hmm, I guess the decision to reject my poem will be up to the suspected heartless and unbearably cruel judges after I force myself to submit it. And I will submit it. I urge you to write and submit, too. Misery loves company.