The Mighty Pen #46

The Mighty Pen flash fiction contest is a just for fun writing contest (inspired by my wonderful husband). I post the beginning of a story – and you post an end! I will choose a winner and several honorable mentions. The contest is open until Sunday night and the winner is announce on Monday where I feature them on my blog. Check out past winners on the tab above.

Note: This is a family friendly blog – so please keep it PG rated. Thanks!

The Beginning

First one light went out, and then another, and then another...

Three Words #46

One of my favorite writing games is something I call three words. I post three words and encourage you to write a flash fiction piece containing those three words. If you would like to challenge me – post three words for me and next week I will post a piece of flash fiction using your words. Enjoy!

Three Words

• Yellow
• Ledge
• Tree

Flash Fiction

Using the three words: Green, Star, and Length (from last week.)

Seri carefully measured out the length of green twine. Then, sitting at her desk, she pulled out the design board. She began whispering a rhythmic chant. When she could feel the magic humming through her bones, she started winding the twine around the pins in the design board until the formed a single, eight point star.

Prompt Tuesday #47

Every Tuesday I post a writing prompt and my response. It gives me a chance to exercise my writing muscles outside of my WIP, and hopefully inspire you to write. So enjoy my flash fiction piece and post your own in the comments!

Prompt

Source: Writing.com

"You find a dry branch in the snow that turns into a magic wand in your hands."

Response

The dragon come at you. Without thinking you throw your hand out, searching for anything to use as a weapon.

Your fingers close around the dry, rough bark of a tree branch. In desperation you swing your arm around. A spray of colorful sparks explodes from the tip of the branch.

The dragon howls in anger and turns to run.

Wisdom From a Writers Conference: Practice

The first class I attending at the LDStoryMakers conferences was:

How to Practice: An Exercise in Rendering Talent Irrelevant by Howard Tayler

What I learned:

Talent is only the starting point. Being talented or gifted does not mean you will be successful or even be exceptional. It is only through practice and hard work that we can turn our talent into greatness.

How I Plan to Apply it:

Write. When I left for the conference I was working on a project that I was really excited about. However, every time I sat down to work on it I would get out a sentence or two, maybe a paragraph, and then I would get stuck.

The members for my writers group that carpooled to the conference with me helped me realize something - if you aren't writing you aren't practicing and you can't get better.

So I am shelving my project and moving onto another. I feel a little nervous because this is the second project I have shelved this year. But on the other hand, I held on to my first novel way to long. I think finding something that I can actually keep working on is the key.