Happy July Guys! It’s that time again and I’m really excited again this week. It’s a super busy month for me. My Fogoyle Series gets relaunched on the 6th and my debut novel, Death of a Secret releases on the 15th. There are parties, events and promotions happening all over the place. It’s also Camp NaNoWriMo month. It's not too late to jump in, set your own word count goal (minimum 30k), and write something great this month. My cabin is called The Write Destination if you want to join me! There is a lot going on this month, but that is no excuse to not do these challenges. I can’t let you guys down! So here we go!
This week’s flash fiction challenge promises to be a fun one. I jumped aboard an anthology project this week called 42 and Beyond, A Space Opera Anthology. I had to! It’s based off of one of my absolute favorite books/movies of all time, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and I am stoked.
I’m writing my first space opera! It's completely outside my usual scope of writing, so it’s a challenge to say the least. That's why I chose to do it. I never would have decided to write one on my own, but where there's a challenge... I'm willing to give it a try!
I couldn’t pass this one up though. I get to use the number 42, a towel, and get bonus points if I can throw in someone saying “thanks for all the fish”! I wish I could say that I sat down and knocked out 5,000 words in one sitting. I didn’t, but I’ve put a good dent in it.
That brings me to the basis for this week’s challenge. “Who’s got time for that?”
What writer doesn’t? Yes. We are all bogged down by heavy word count goals and works in progress. We have families, jobs, social lives, and we squeeze writing in between all of that regularly already. Hear me out though.
These challenges are meant to be rapid-fire exercises. They are not designed to take up a lot of time. Ten to fifteen minutes at most. There is no grading system, reward system, or any kind of judgement about what you have written, only doing the exercise.
In doing the challenges you will gain so much more than I can even begin to explain here. I’m going to try though. There are 7 benefits that will come from doing these challenges and each one is worth it's weight in gold. They are here weekly, and they are free for the taking.
7 benefits of doing Flash Fiction Challenges
1) Never have writer’s block again!
2) Build a collection of stories you can use for anything!
3) Gain confidence in your ability to write any genre any time!
4) Reduce stage fright!
5) Get eyes on your writing!
6) Reach goals every week!
7) Accomplishment!
It doesn’t matter if just write as a hobby or if writing is your full time career, those benefits alone are priceless. There are so many more. And, they are free for the taking. Who doesn’t have time for that?
I really urge you to give this weeks challenge a try, even if you don’t think you have the time. Take 5 minutes and see what You Can accomplish of the challenge. Just doing that alone is a win for you as a writer. I promise you it will be worth it!
This weeks challenge is this:
Write a story that happens in space.
300 words (no more no less)
Include a wrench, the number 42, and the taste of fish.
You have 30 minutes. Go!
Let's interact. Let me know how the challenge went for you in the comments. Was it easy as pie or did you struggle and want to punt kick a baby? Both are perfectly ok. I want to figure out where it works and where the struggles are so I can provide more helpful challenges for you. Drop me a line!
I’m so looking forward to seeing what you all come up with. As always, my submission for the challenge will be in this week’s newsletter. I look forward to seeing you there!
Happy Writing!
Christy 😊