Question on Short Stories and Flash Fiction

[ratsy]

Hello everyone. I am just wondering how your process is or was when you started out in regard to shorts and flash. When I decided to start writing last year my brain automatically went to "let's write a novel"...the end result was a mess of monumental proportions. So I decided to focus on writing shorts to practice and I honestly feel like I get better every time. I am reading writing advice; online and in books.

So now that I am doing short stories I am wondering what your process is when submitting. On my first few shorts I submitted to a few places and got my rejections. I had no delusions of grandeur on this and expected rejection so no feelings were hurt. Even going back to my first couple shorts I can see the flaws in them with newly gained knowledge.

So after all of that, my question is, when you started...did you just write your own stories and then find suitable places to submit or did you search the sites to see what they were looking for and then write accordingly?

Thank you for your feedback

 

[Bowler1]

I write first, then find the publishing company that fits. This is a hobby (might change) so I write for me now, and worry about submissions after. Anything else would dampen the joy, or so I think.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I write whatever idea comes into my head. They were all short stories when I started, and then I didn't write for more than a decade, and when I came back to it they were still all short stories until I finally got an idea that was big enough to be a book. Since then, they vary, but I've had several more ideas that are book-sized.

I do peruse the contests and submission windows to see if I can think of anything within their parameters, and of course I write to the prompts for our Challenges, but generally I just work from ideas that pop in.

 

[Tecdavid]

I browse websites that make note of competitions that are taking place. The few times I've gone ahead and entered, I took note of the theme and word-count, then just took off from there! The ever-so-tiny chance that I might win a prize is what made it exciting.

 

[Brev]

The good thing about flash is that you can write them fairly quickly. I find them a relaxing distraction from the long novel sessions. Mainly I write them because I have an idea in my head that I want to explore, but which doesn't fit into my novel. I know it will keep distracting me until I get it out on paper.

When it comes to subbing, I keep an eye on the calls and the comps. Sometimes I find there is something which I've already written that will be a good fit, sometimes a call or a comp catches my interest and I'll write something new. There's no hard rules, and it's all good practice.

 

[Colbey Frost]

I've always hung back on submitting, waiting years to develop a sense of style and understanding (learning my craft like yourself). This is my year, though. I'm ready.... , haha.

Knowing myself, I would write to order, only because I don't really do short stories etc. I recently submitted some stuff which was written for that publisher. I think it helped me focus, knowing what they wanted, if that makes sense?

 

[ratsy]

Yeah it does make sense Christian. That is why I have really liked doing the Sekrit Santa workshop. It opened my eyes to writing stories from other people suggestions and how fun and rewarding that could be.

At the same time I am like Brev. I get a lot of ideas and have been trying to get them down in flash length.