Creating Dangerously in a Dangerous World - Brooklyn Book Festival 2013

On Sunday, September 22nd, I attended the 2013 Brooklyn Book Festival (#WormsUnite).  The main lecture I wanted to hear was called Creating Dangerously in a Dangerous World.  The panelists were: Edwidge Danticat (Claire of the Sea Light), Courtney Angela Brkic (The First Rule of Swimming) and Dinaw Mengestu (How to Read Air).

I was thrilled by the opportunity to hear and meet Ms. Danticat.  I had read her work The Dew Breaker several years ago and found her voice poignant and powerful.  I wanted to know hear her speak hoping she would share some secrets into how she was able to put such depth and insight into her work.

One of the first things she said that struck me was when asked how does she handle survivor's guilt.  Her reply was, "Fictional [characters] are a great place to deposit guilt."  Danticat saw and experienced the ravages of war and violence in her home town of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  Danticat uses her unique perspective to create stories that simultaneously paint beautiful exotic tropical landscapes juxtaposed against extreme poverty.  She describes characters that are complex in that they are both cruel and true to the experiences that created them.  However, she does so with a deft hand that is neither accusatory or preachy.

Another loaded comment from Danticat during the Creating... lecture was this:

"The burden of parenting in ware zones...is laden with uncertainty...it's laden with complexity."  She explained that parents have larger issues to focus on when there is a war happening.  The children's basic needs are met: food, shelter, clothing.  However, the softness, the nurturing that is not necessarily given as the energy needed for survival takes the place of the niceties of parenting in a world not torn by violence, pain, suffering and war.

Writing about Haiti and other cultures, Ms. Danticat exposes certain factual truths about the state of how things were at the time of her story.  She spoke of how she received some criticism that the way she portrayed Haiti is not the real Haiti.  She smiled and shared that she writes what is truth for her and does not sugarcoat things. 

When she was asked how people take her work back home she said she was told, "Write good things!  Join the tourism board!"

Dinaw had a most interesting answer to this question of how people at home take his work.  He said (and I paraphrase) that people often are relieved that these stories are being told.  There there are always those that are skeptical of anything a writer writes.

Dinaw Mengestu (Center)

I came away from this lecture with a sense of strength.  I rushed up to Ms. Danticat after the lecture with my copy of The Dew Breaker in hand for her to sign.  (I had no idea I was to ask her to sign at the table downstairs!)

She must have thought me a stalker as I followed her everywhere.  I was awestruck in my own nutty way.  I asked for her email address to communicate with her when I joined the line downstairs after the lecture.  I even took a picture with her.

NoteBook (R) and Edwidge Danticat (L)

However, I think she was completely spooked by me.  The email bounced back.

No matter.  I am still a Danticat fan.  Her work is an inspiration even from afar.

Twitter 101: How to Navigate on Twitter

 

Step #1: Create a handle that will not embarrass you in 6 months. 

Have you ever seen a Twitter handle that made you smile?  What about those handles that made you wonder about the owner’s moral code?  Yeah.  Those are the ones that I’m referring to.  Body parts should not be a part of your handle unless you’re hawking a medical thriller. 

It is in this step that you lay the foundation for your Twitter account.  What will you tweet about?  Is this a personal account?  Or, is this an account that you will use to build a platform for yourself or your product?  Or, is this account to find others who have the same interest/hobby as you do?  The reason for your account will shape many of your upcoming actions.

Step #2: Use a picture of yourself or something that relates to the content of your tweets.

If you have a skull and crossbones as your Twitter avatar (picture) one would expect you to be a pirate, an author of a book about pirates, or you love pirates and will be tweeting about them…constantly.  If you have a picture of a cute bunny as your avatar then we would assume you will be tweeting sweet things about children or that you have a daycare of some sort.  Or, you could be a filmmaker working on a kids’ film featuring the furry creatures.  You get the idea.  No crazy body parts in your avatar please.  Most people will not follow you.  You will get tons of followers thinking you are running one of those sites.  [If you are doing a sex related Twitter account, please be aware that your account may be flagged and removed if people report it.]

Step #3: Who to follow?

@NoteBkBlogairy

So, you know what you will be tweeting about (sort of).  You have a decent avatar and you’re all set to go.  Now, who should you follow? 

• People who have the same interests as you
• Companies/Organizations that you like and are in the field you’re into
• Check out the suggestions Twitter throws up on the left side of your home Twitter screen
• Find your actual real world friends on Twitter

Notice I put your ‘real world’ friends last.  Why?  Because they may not have the same interests as what you’re seeking for the Twitter account you are considering putting together.  If they are – great! I hope you have a 1,000 friends so you can start of strong! J

A key factor in getting new followers is the verbiage under your Twitter handle.  Those 160 characters are all that new potential followers have to go on – Is this person worth following?  Or, am I going to get crap, or worse – no good tweets – if I follow this person?

Twitter is nine-tenths entertainment!  Make your tweets lively, interesting and most importantly of value to the people you want to connect with.  The content and the delivery of said content is the ‘entertainment’ for your end reader/Twitter follower.  Once you provide consistent tweets that interest your target crowd you will gain followers without all of the tricks and sleight of hand maneuvers that some people engage in to get followers. 

You’ll see accounts where all they want is for you to pay $25/$50 for xyz amount of followers.  Sure you can try this but who are these followers?  Are they the audience you are seeking?  Think about it.  What’s more important to you?  The number of followers?  Or, the quality of followers (quality in regards to the follower being in line with what your Twitter account is all about)?

Step #4: Be a good Twitterverse Citizen (TC)!

Okay, now onto the fun stuff!  You now have a few followers.  They begin re-tweeting you.  Awesome!  Now, you have to be a good Twitterverse Ciizen and thank them for their re-tweet.  Yes, each and every person.  E.g. – Thanks for the RT [their name]!

If someone shares some info that you shared on your blog, or website, or on another social media outlet you thank them for the shout out (S/o).

If someone clicks the star on your tweet, they have favorite-ed your tweet.  They liked it!  That means you should tweet more of whatever that subject matter is.  You should also thank them for the fav or fave – whichever you prefer!

You can also thank people in bulk (at the end of the day) for fav-ing and RT-ing.  That looks like this:

Thanks for the RTs & faves! @xyz @abc @ypmd @zippy

You can find out who has fav-ed and re-tweeted you by going to the “@Connect” on the upper left hand corner of your monitor/screen.  That is the timeline for all of the interactions (which gives you all interactions on your Twitter timeline) and mentions (which just gives you the mentions and not all of the back and forth RTs and such).

This is pretty much it for Twitter 101.  But for those who I haven’t bored to death, here is a little Twitterverse experience that helped me learn more about shares on Twitter.

My Twitter Shares Almost-Fiasco

There’s something I learned kind of the hard way a couple weeks back.  There’s an oddity in Twitter world called a share.  This is a RT (re-tweet) but it does not have the letters RT in it and it does not show up in your timeline as a re-tweet either.  It shows up as if that person sent out the tweet directly to you.  They didn’t.  It’s a share.

Someone could have set something up for you and all people have to do is click the “T” on that page to tweet that thing they’re reading about.  The way that tweet goes out is not up to the person clicking tweet.  The tweet is pre-written and the person just has to click “Tweet”.

I did not know this was the case two weeks ago.  I teamed up with another blogger and they offered to help me find reviewers for my book “Leaping Out On Faith”.  Within a couple of hours, I was getting tweets hitting my timeline that said “Review Request…”.

I was excited!  There were over 25 of these on my timeline within 5 hours.  You can imagine this writer’s glee.  But, I tested one out first to make sure I wasn’t misunderstanding what was happening.  The first person who responded, I sent them a Direct Message (DM: Twitter’s version of a personal non-public inbox).  I thanked the person for responding and requested their email address so I can send the book to them in whatever format they required.

Within 40 minutes, the person DM’d me back with their email address.  Bingo!  I was not making a mistake these were legitimate book review requests – all 30 of them now.

So, I made a list and began tweeting each of them and asking for their email addies to be sent DM to me.  I could not follow them all as I was close to my cap (totally another post!) hence the tweets.

I soon received an irate tweet from someone who told me that they did not request a review they were just retweeting.  The exchange was a bit more heated than this but in the end it was a very rewarding and productive exchange that taught me that things are not always what they seem on Twitter!’

The lesson in this story?  Even if you think you know what you’re talking about, check at least 3 times before launching into a full campaign on anything.  Either check with some fellow tweeps (your friends on Twitter), check with the person who helped you out, and check online for information on that topic.  Why?  Because if the person who helped me out by pointing this out to me wasn’t so nice they could have reported my account for being a spammer.  Yep!  And guess what?  You’ll have to start ALL over again rebuilding your followers and regaining trust which is never an easy thing.

I hope you have gotten the basics of how to use Twitter.  I would love your comments and suggestions on how you use Twitter.  Also let me know if I’ve made any egregious errors and point them out to me by using the comment section below.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

Ta-ta for now,

The NoteBook Blogairy

 

New Book Review for Leaping Out On Faith!

Some days are not the most productive while other days you take your own breath away with the amount of things you've checked off your to-do list.

Today is not one of my most productive of days.  There's a good reason...I'm floating on air!  In my inbox this morning was the most wonderful writerly gift -- an awesome review for my book Leaping Out On Faith.

The review was written by Amanda Herps and you can find it here:

http://amandaherpsreviews.blogspot.com.au/

I will try my best to calm down and possibly get something to eat...

In the meantime, if you haven't seen the book trailer for Leaping... check it out below.

 Have an awesome Friday everybody!

How to Protect Yourself From Spinning Your Wheels For Another Year

As summer was winding down at the end of August, I felt strong.  Strong to hit the ground running and really push my goals forward once the kids were back in school.  I spent a lot of time this summer learning about how people make things happen and the best practices for productivity.

My goals had a renewed sense of importance to me, and this school year was going to be my time.  Bring it on!

Then the backpacks came home filled with papers needing my attention.   On the eve of school starting, my e-mail inbox began to fill up with reminders and requests for my time and attention … and baking skills.  I could already feel the pull and school hadn’t even started.  Then came an e-mail from a mom, asking when I could come into the school cafeteria to sort the recycling trash like I did every month last year.  ”So sorry, but I’m not going to be able to do Terracycle this year,” I replied.  I cringed a little when I hit “send,” but what a relief to have one less thing on my plate.

In the past, I would have justified to myself why I needed to do this or that at my kids’ schools, but I’m happy to say that I’m now in a new place.  This year I’m learning to say no.  I’m not spreading myself too thin.  I’m not living my life according to the expectations of others.   I’m not buying into the guilt.

This year I’m guarding my dreams like a mama bear guards her cub.  Grrrr …  

Whether you’re a parent or not, we all have distractions that creep into our lives, wanting our attention and time.  If we want to achieve big goals, we have to make big changes.  We have to find what hasn’t worked in the past and fix it.

Here are some things I suggest keeping in mind to stay on track and make real progress:

1.  Reprioritize.  Learn to put yourself and your goals first.  This is something you don’t have to announce to friends and family; it can be your own little secret.  You have to believe that giving up short-term responsibilities and time drainers to pursue long-terms goals is in the best interests of you and your family.  I liken this to putting the oxygen mask on my face first before assisting my child.  What you give up now will pay off in the future.  But keep in mind that putting yourself first goes hand in hand with learning to say no.

2.  Don’t Share Your Vision …  Yet.  Some people believe that if you tell people your dreams/goals, you’ll feel more accountable to deliver.  I disagree.  You can’t possibly communicate your vision to another person about something that hasn’t been created and expect them to have the same level of understanding and/or excitement that you do.  Holding your ideas close while you get things off the ground will help prevent you from never starting as a result of feeling discouraged by a lukewarm reaction from someone who can’t possibly have the same level of excitement about your idea.   Put your head down, get to work and once things start to take shape, begin to share.

3.  Give Yourself Permission To Guard Your Time.  Don’t you dare feel guilty for not signing up to be the President of the PTG, class mom, team mom or head coach.  You’ve probably done more than your share already.  You’ve got to carve out new blocks of time and that means managing your time differently and lightening your load.  If you are a parent, pick one activity that is most important to you and give it your all, knowing you’ve got other important work to pursue this year.

4.  Forget What Others Think.  The way you feel about yourself is more important.  Think about how you’d feel at the end of another school year, finding yourself in the same place.  Make it your goal to be proud of YOURSELF this year.

5. Acknowledge You’re Different and That’s OK.  Maybe you’ve spent time trying to unlock the mystery of your life’s work, and now’s the time to execute.  You don’t have to fill you time being on committees to feel important.  You have a mission and right now maybe you’re a committee of one.  It’s ok for you to walk your own path right now.

6.  Manage Your Energy Around What’s Important.  In order to make optimal progress, pay attention to how you spend your reserves of physical and mental energy.  If you have the flexibility, be careful not to deplete your energy supplies before you do your most important work each day.  Also, be realistic about what you can accomplish, depending on your energy levels during different times of the day.

7.  End Your Work With a Starting Point For Tomorrow.  Before your close up your work for the day, decide where you will begin when you resume tomorrow.  This practice will help ensure your work has continued momentum as you begin each day.

8.  Schedule Time & Set Goals.  Now that you’ve lightened your responsibilities and reclaimed some time to work on your important work, make sure you set a firm, unbreakable appointment with yourself.  Also, set short -term and long-term goals so you can track your progress every day.

Have I missed anything?  If there are any other suggestions you can add that have worked for you, feel free to leave a comment below.

This post was originally published on Invisible Sun's blog page.  You can find the original post here.

About this Guest Poster:

Ellie lives at the Jersey Shore and is a busy mom of three. She loves inspiring others to pursue work that is important to them.

FOX's Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow, a new television show on FOX, started last Monday (9/16).  I became interested because the trailers being shown on various cable stations (Starz, Encore, etc.) showed actors that were extremely passionate about their characters.  While they are actors for some reason the passion in their demeanor and the interesting story line caught and held my attention.

Wasn't quite sure what the story was about other than the TV series would be based (in some way) on the short story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow written by Washington Irving (1820).

Turned on the boob tube on the 16th and was blown away by the full story and plot twists that the writers of Sleepy Hollow created!  This is my take on this new show's storyline/plot:



Abigail Mills (Nicole Beharie) is a cop that is about to move away from Sleepy Hollow to run away from her checkered past.  In her youth, Abby and her sister, Jenny, saw something in the forest they could not explain.  Something that scared them both very badly.  The town really never let the two young girls forget it.  They called them crazy.  Abby stopping talking about the experience and basically recanted what she saw while her sister did not.  Jenny is now in a psychological facility.

The night the series begins, Abby and the Sheriff (her mentor and almost father figure), are out and investigate a murder.  The Sheriff is murdered by a headless horseman and Abby witnesses this incredible event.  In her mind, it takes her back to that unforgettable time in her youth where she saw something that others did not believe.  Therefore, since she's leaving the following week she does not divulge what she saw in its entirety.

Later that evening, a stranger man is picked up and brought into the jail.  It's Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison).  He identifies the killer to a 'T' including mode of dress, scar on hand and the missing cranium.  Abby is astounded and ensures that Crane is made a consultant on the case with her.  All this even though Crane tells Captain Frank Irving (Orlando Jones) that his last memory was from 250 years ago!

Okay, here comes the historical/paranormal/time-bending stuff.  <SPOILER ALERT>

The headless horseman is really the first of the 4 horseman of the Biblical Apocalypse (Revelations).  Crane and Abby are the 2 witnesses that are charged with preventing the 4 horesmen from destroying the world.  Crane's wife, Katrina, is a witch who is caught between the two worlds.  She acts as an oracle and helps Crane know what to do next and what is to come.  So, the events in this little town can affect everyone on the planet if they don't do all they can to stop the headless horseman from reuniting with his head.

The other part of this puzzle is the Sheriff (who died in the first few minutes of the first episode) had a slew of secret files that Abby found only after his death.  These files point to murders that have been taking place for years up and down the Northeast and around the country.  The Sheriff knew they were somehow linked but could not find out how.

The Sheriff did know that 250 years ago there were two sets of people that were trying to change the outcome of the war.  The first was a group of dark witches and the other a group of white whites.  It was the white witches that put the spell on the headless horseman that kept him in stasis for these last 250 years.  The white witches also took his head and buried it separate from his body.

Crane and the headless horseman are linked in death because the horseman (who still had his head) gave Crane a death blow on the battlefield.  However, Crane was able to decapitate the horseman before he died.  The blood of the two of them commingled tying them and their fates together.

Fast forward to our time.  The descendents of both sets of light and dark witches are still at work.  The progeny of the dark witches have cast a spell to awaken the headless horseman.  This also awakened Crane.

The Sheriff knew that no one in the town of Sleepy Hollow could be trusted because he did not know and could not figure out how to ferret out who was working for which side.  So, he kept his research and his files secret.

The Sheriff had a very good idea as to what Jenny and Abby saw in their youth but he was afraid to share any information.  So, he kept Abby close and helped her as much as he could without telling her what he knew.

The writers of Sleepy Hollow have given us the skeleton of a fabulous story!  We know the foundations run back 250 years.  We have a way to gain information from that time (Crane's wife, Katrina).  We have ample research to delve into to get more information as things reveal themselves and to find connections via the Sheriff's files.  We know why this is so cotton-pickin' important -- we need to save the world.  And, we have a crazed demonic murderer wreaking havoc on the town of Sleepy Hollow for immediate drama in each and every episode (if need be).

Now some folks on Twitter have been saying there are loopholes in the story's plotting.  Where?  I don't see them.  The writers have given us a pretty clear but incredible set of parameters for our modern-day cop and the recently revived Crane to work through.

What's missing?  Please share with me!  I want to see what you see!  I appreciate all comments and will be watching and waiting to interact with all of you.

Ta-ta for now,
The NoteBook Blogairy

#MSWL - Ongoing - Quick Update

Going absolutely blind reading all of the #MSWL tweets!  There are well over 1,500 tweets and counting for this thread.  While a great number of these tweets from editors and agents alike are seeking Young Adult (YA), New Adult (NA) and Middle Grade (MG).  If you write in these genres today is your lucky day!

If you were not able to follow the hashtag and need a recap, please follow the Tumblr page Agent and Editor Wish List for updates.

In the meantime, some of the things that agents and editors are looking for are:

Alison nee Heller ‏@AlisonReads2 3h

Editor @CuriosityQuills Would love to see Xanth-like setting embodied in a Magical Realism NA/A. Humorous puns, not over the top.#MSWL

REUTS Publications ‏@REUTSpub 3h

RT @KisaWhipkey: #MSWL: Let's not forget Sci-fi! Anyone have a Space Western a la Firefly? Or something Mass Effect-esque? -REUTS.com

Laura Zats ‏@LZats 3h

YA #MSWL: impeccably-written, flawed MC easy to fall in love with. I want to feel like I got punched in the gut when things go wrong

Eddie Schneider ‏@eddieschneider 3h

It's almost lunchtime for me (ahem), so, #MSWL #1: I'd love to see a lit (or YA) novel about young radicals that engages w/contemp. issues.

Rhonda Helms ‏@RHelmsBooks 3h

OH, and I love military romances, yo! If you have any (esp. series!), pls send! #MSWL

Terrie Wolf ‏@AKA_Terrie 3h

#NA - I'd also like strong male characters. With a few less issues. There's more to a guy than his Testosterone level. #MSWL

Jennie Goloboy ‏@JennieGoloboy 2h

#mswl Stories about someone regaining their lost heroism.

Eddie Schneider ‏@eddieschneider 2h

You know what else would be kind of amazing? An updated YA "Endless Summer." #MSWL

Marci Clark ‏@Marci_Clark 2h

I want stories with strong characters and relationships. Doesn't have to be romantic, but has to be real. #MSWL

Lenny Grey ‏@LennyGrey 2h

#MSWL The next Heinlein, stories that inspire scientists and artists.

Rhonda Helms ‏@RHelmsBooks 2h

.@lizlincolnwritr PoC = People of Color #MSWL

The tweets are virtually endless!

Still going through them but hope you've checked into this Twitter Party and are taking notes.  Even if your manuscript (MS) is not quite ready, you need to pay attention.  Compile a list of agents/editors that are interested in seeing your work (when it's polished and complete!).  This way, when you're done there's no lag time in getting it submitted to the right people.

Did I mention there are Vines and YouTube videos of what the agents want?  Those can be found at the hastag: MSWLM.

Here's Juliet Mushens' YouTube'd Wish List.

Heading back over to watch more goings-on!

Ta-ta for now,

The NoteBook Blogairy

Just a Reminder...#MSWL's tomorrow!

Hey all of you authors, writers and dabblers,

This is just a quick reminder that #MSWL is tomorrow!  That's when you can find out what literary agents and editors want!

For the full refresher course, click this link to see the post done last Friday.

Ta-ta for now,
The NoteBook Blogairy

Brooklyn Book Festival - 9/22/13 - OVERVIEW

Today is a red letter day for Brooklyn writers.  Today was the final and pinnacle day of Brooklyn Book Festival held in various venues in downtown Brooklyn.

Workshops, lectures, readings, giveaways -- the works.  Writers of all ilks were on hand:

• Deborah Copaken Kogan
• Sonia Sanchez
• Michele Forbes
• Alexander Nehamas
• Edwidge Danticat
• Simon Critchley
• K'wan Foye 
• Courtney Angela Brkic 
• Dinaw Mengestu
• James McBride
• Robert Antoni
• Rob Sheffield
• Amy Brill

...and the list goes on and on!  This vibrant event was sponsored by top corporate and business entities such as Target, Brooklyn Tourism, St. Francis College, AT&T, Marriott, Citibank, Astoria Federal, WNYC to name a few.

Workshops such as:

• The So-Called 'Post-Feminist, Post-Racial' Life in Publishing
• Creating Dangerously in a Dangerous World
• Love, Villainy, Ethics and Karaoke: Chuck Klosterman and Rob Sheffield in Conversation
• Purple Reign: The Legacy and Significance of Prince
• Art Spiegelman and Jules Feiffer in Conversation
• Cities and their Ghosts, Past and Future
• How to Publicize and Market Your Self-Published Book
• Realms of Illusion and Imagination
• The Secret Lives of Girls 

The list of what was available for free goes on and on.  Brooklyn Book Festival is the largest free literary event in New York -- aren't we lucky?

And I met Edwidge Danticat!  Here is Ms. Danticat's TED Talk.  Prolific writer whose work has been hailed as 'luminous', Ms. Danticat inspires me with her depth, wisdom and literary finesse.  Meeting her was the highlight of my BBF day.

Edwidge Danticat (left) and Courtney Brkvic (right)

 I will post more during the week about the workshops I participated in but wanted to share the general gist of what transpired on this momentous day.

Are You Ready for #MSWL on Tuesday 9/24??

Seriously.  Are you ready? What's #MSWL, you ask?  Simple.

Manuscript Want Lists

Your next question I'm sure is -- but who is requesting these manuscripts? 

Hold onto your seats ladies and gents.  The answer to your question is:

Literary agents & Editors!!

That's right. Working literary agents and editors will be sharing their wish lists with authors, writers, dabblers, publishers, crackpots...oops.

Some of the agents and editors may think some of the submissions are a bit off-kilter but hey, they're opening the doors.

Here's the skinny.  Jessica Sinsheimer from the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency does the background (and foreground) work on getting the word out to agents and editors to participate on the selected day.  Then, on #MSWL day, said agents and editors use the hashtag (used earlier in this sentence) to make their MS requests known to all in Twitterverse. 

The next steps are very simple...

We writers, authors and other assorted indie and non-indie heads follow the #MSWL trend on Tuesday, 9/24 very carefully.  We (should) note which agents/editors want the project(s) we have on hand.  Then, we (should) go to that agent's website (or querytracker.com, or agentquery.com, or your favorite site for agent info) and research the MOST current submission guidelines for that agent.  Next, we (should) follow those guidelines implicitly.  In the subject line, do put the #MSWL hashtag so the agent knows you are responding directly to his/her request.  And the part we love the most -- we wait.

However, here's the catch.  Your manuscript(s) (should) be polished.  Perfect. FINISHED.  This way, if the agent/editor wants to see the full document.  You can get it to them without delay.

So now that you know in full unadulterated detail what's happening in 4 days I ask again --

ARE YOU READY??

The Challenge of Writing Flash Fiction

I’m all about challenges.

I like to be challenged by the world around me. But even more so, I like to challenge myself. So when I started writing flash fiction (super short stories that are usually less than 1,000 words), I challenged myself to write at least one new story a week.

In order to hold myself accountable (because as much as I’m all about challenges, sometimes I can be all about excuses), I created Little Write Lies (littlewritelies.com).

When I launched the site, I told my family and friends. I posted links to it on Facebook and Twitter with the tag line “Weekly Short Fiction." Despite my being terrified that my stories would fall flat or readers would criticize my writing, I told everyone I knew about the site. I did this because I wanted to grow as a writer and - more importantly - I didn’t want to let myself quit before I had given myself a chance to excel. I knew that if I had people watching to see if I either succeeded or failed, I would succeed.

And I did. I’ve been posting for nearly half a year now, my readership has been growing like crazy, and I can feel my writing evolving with each story.

“But why flash fiction?” some of my readers ask. “Why so short?”

Because: challenges.

Writing flash fiction is a challenge. It’s tough to write a complete story - beginning, climax and resolution - all in such a limited space. I’m not saying that it’s easy to write a novel or a traditional short story. I’m just saying that flash fiction presents a different type of challenge. One that most writers don’t encounter too often. By trade, we writers can ramble on as much as we want. That’s the beauty of art: the freedom to say whatever you want to say and to take however long you want to say it.

But slap a word limit on your story and suddenly it becomes a whole new kind of art. Each word becomes so much more important. You start to question the necessity of entire paragraphs. You obsessively weigh the merits of ‘the’ versus ‘a’. You spend hours editing only 500 words. No matter how short a piece of flash fiction is, it is never simple. And that, in itself, is the challenge.

The most challenged I’ve been in my writing has been in flash fiction. But with each completed story that I post on Little Write Lies, I feel a deeply satisfying sense of accomplishment.
      

What I'm getting at here is this: challenge yourself. Take something you love, set the stakes a little higher than they already are, and watch yourself succeed.

About this Guest Poster:

Taylor Eaton is a writer and linguist who is constantly fascinated by language. Playing with words makes her far happier than it should. Her flash fiction can be found at www.littlewritelies.com and in the forthcoming issue of Em Dash Literary Magazine. Between bouts of writing, Taylor tweets about words, wine and Southern California at twitter.com/tayloreaton.