With 6 days to go to the deadline of 6th October, the sun’s setting on our 28th Award judged by Matt Kendrick. I’ve copied here a marvellous thread of tips Matt posted on X a couple of days ago, useful for any competition entry or for any time you are writing. He generously agreed I could post them up here again. Also take a look at his website for all the amazing resources there.
Matt’s thread of tips posted recently on X
If you are working on your entry for Bath Flash Fiction Award, some things to bear in mind (hopefully helpful) as you hone in towards the strongest version of your piece.
1. What makes your piece completely original. They’ll be hundreds of entries so how do you stand out from the crowd. Is it a story element? A character element? A tone of voice. Mark sure you give the initial readers something to grab on to.
2. What is the essence of your piece? Have you found that distillation &
focus you need? I always think a good test is to see if you can explain
your piece in a single sentence – “This is a story about X’ or “When X
happens, then y.
3. Does something change? Vignettes are lovely (Ilove vignettes) but this is a flash competition, & in order to get through to the longlist,you’re going to have to get past the initial readers. There’ll want to see
movement & change.
4. What’s the tension that drives that sense of movement? Whether
you’re aiming for happy, sad, funny, mysterious or scary, the story arc
will generally work best if there’s tension at its core. Person vs person,
person vs situation, person vs self:
5. What do(es) your character(s) want? Have you defined motivations?
what are the barriers to this? Getting to the heart of his should help with the tension mentioned above.
6. How is/are your characters unique? There is not much room for character building, but you still want something that makes these people 3 dimensional, thing that set them apart from every other character that has ever been written about.
7. What is the emotional zenith you are building towards? How do you
want your reader to feel? That idea of build is key. Ideally, I think we
want the emotions (sad, angry, happy, joyful) to blossom from small (is) to big.
8. There isn’t much room in a 300-word micro. Give yourself enough
space for the climactic moments of the piece and enough space to tie
things off in the tail. That means get going quickly & starting building
those emotions straight away.
9. Not much space? Nope. So, every word counts. Be concise. But
concision doesn’t mean “write with the fewest words”, it means “write
with the best words”- don’t skimp on detail, don’t skimp on clarity,
don’t skimp on flow.
10. One place where you can gain back a bit of word count is in your
title. Titles can be used to create anchoring (see below) or intrigue. The
best titles are doing multiple things & adding to the story in a concrete way.
11. Anchoring? That’s the term I use to describe how we settle our
reader. Yes, throw us straight into the action, but generally a reader
needs a little orientation into the story’s world. Where are we? When? Who is on scene?
12. At the other end of the piece, your ending is the final chance to
impress. Leave your reader with something that will stay with them. An
image. A profound thought. Think about how you build towards that
final note. Pay attention to rhythm:
13. Next comes the wordy stuff. I love words, but language should
generally be in service to character & story. Can you use images that
tell us something about how the narrator sees the world? Can you use
sensory detail that brings the world to life?
14. How about theme? Can you create an extra layer to the story by
making the imagery cohesive. Words that refer to the sea? Animal
imagery? Historical word choices? But be subtle about it. Again, I
generally think the language should serve the story.
15. Read your piece aloud. I know this is possibly the first sign of
madness. But writers need a little madness in their souls. Reading
aloud can be a great way of catching hiccups in rhythm & flow. (16/22)
16. Look for opportunities to add tonal contrast. A moment of humour
can add a flash of light to an otherwise bleak piece. A splash of
dialogue can create textural difference. An original collective noun or
simile nestled among stripped-back prose can really stand out. (17/22)
17. What is the nugget of truth beneath your story? What are you
actually saying here? Think proverbs. Think big thoughts
18. Edit. Edit again. I recommend the Goldilocks method of “too little”,
“too much”, “just right”:
19. Get feedback if you can – maybe do a swap with a fellow writer?
Getting the opinion of someone you trust can help you see your piece
through a reader’s eyes. Giving feedback? Think about the 4Es –
encourage, energise, elucidate, extend
20. Then be brave! Hit submit! Whether or not you make it to the long-
list, remember to celebrate the successes of (a) having an idea, (b)
writing, (c) editing, (d) learning new things, (e) improving your craft, (f)
surviving!
That feels like it’s probably enough!!! Good luck everybody. Can’t wait
to see what glorious creations make it to the longlist. (22/22)
