Kristen shook with anxiety. She was trying her hardest to focus on the chalk board, but Jason sat to her immediate left. They had started speaking a bit more over the past few weeks. She felt the butterflies in her stomach nearly turn her over in her chair. Her eyes shifted to Jason, then nervously back to the board where Mr. Donahue spoke in a monotone voice. She hadn’t passed a note in years, but she knew that a text could get forwarded to anyone. The dramatic scene that may cause should be avoided at all costs.
She tried to draw a few stars on the outside of the carelessly-folded note, but her hands were shaking with anticipation. She thought back to her mother making her breakfast that morning, and how reassuring her voice had been. She never expected to long for her mother at a moment like this, but her heart longed for guidance. Bravery seemed so far from her now. Kristin made one final fold in the paper, then silently slipped it to the strange girl sitting in front of her.
The stranger looked at her questioningly, then privately opened the message.
“Please slip this note to Mr. Donahue. Jason has a gun.”
The One In The Dress 
OH MY GOOD GOD.
I did NOT see that coming. That’s what I call fiction. Wow.
I just recently had to do a 200 word story as a challenge. And this? This makes me look like the rank amateur that I am.
Please find challenges as soon as you can, and, time permitting, post in them. You will have a following in no time.
xo,
Samara
It took me a moment to figure out how to reply. How depressing! Yes, I read your short story on End Kwote’s page. Yours gave me CHILLS and made me think of a story I had written a few years ago. That’s why I started this blog, Samara! You inspired me to post a story, and now I have to keep writing. Any demands regarding royalties from my future book deals should be submitted to my future big-shot attorney.
Oh, I’m so happy I inspired you!
Now, will you enter it some flash fiction prompts and get some readers?
Pretty please?
If you’re okay with it, I’ll tweet it out and see if you pick up any readers that way. I only have about 125 followers, but someone may see it and be intrigued.
I will just as soon as I know what that means! I can’t wait until I have enough experience to merely speak the language. Bear with me, Samara! You’re welcome to tweet me, and I’d appreciate it. I would’t be angry if you wanted to see how my next few posts fare, though. Also, you’re an absolute doll.
Okay.
So, there are quite a few fiction bloggers and groups.
And they have all sorts of prompts.
Flash fiction is a short story.
So, a group may have a prompt and just say, “write a 200 word story.” Then, a bunch of bloggers post it somewhere. And perhaps there’s a vote. Or someone is chosen. As that week’s “Winner.”
Now, i’m in a group. A blog alliance. We aren’t having a contest. But this week’s “challenge” was to write a 200 word riveting story.
Some of the fiction prompts give a topic. Some, give a word count. Some are really short – like 33 words!
But other bloggers read and comment. And you get exposure that way.
I”m not a big fiction writer. This was my first. But you can google it, or look up on word press the different fiction challenges.
Find a community of other fiction writers, if that’s what you like. It will give you them as followers. And their followers may follow you, too.
I have twitter. So i’ll just tweet, “great new fiction writer” and then the link to this page. And maybe some will read. Like I said, I’ve only been on twitter 2 weeks, so I don’t have 1000 followers. But I have some. And some may read this. It’s really, really good.
Tipsy Lit – look for them. Every week, they post a fiction challenge. They give a specific topic, and people vote. Usually about 6-10 bloggers will enter. But whomever wins gets featured on their site. That’s good exposure.
I’m just so glad you’re writing. However much you can, whenever you can fit it into your life. It feels so good, doesn’t it?
xo
Samara
I will absolutely do that! Do I use something I’ve posted to my blog, or original material? Or does it just depend on the challenge?
You’re brave to learn Twitter, though it seems to come more naturally to you. I got rid of my PC, then started an outdoor career and ignored technology for about 3 years, and finally bought a Mac. I’ll adjust, I’m sure. I should probably do more social networking, but I’m just going to focus on grasping this first. You’ve been a great deal of help! The absolute #1 thing I need to do is find more bloggers to follow. I found Aussa Lorens through your blog, and she is also very good. I will probably try to find more inspiring bloggers after I do some writing tonight. I tend to read nonfiction, but I’m aiming to find a few quality fiction writers to follow. I’ll check out any suggestions, but I already plan to skim through your community anyway. You, my dear, are excellent with fiction. I do adore your blog, though. I also love that you have built up such a warm community around yourself. I love political blogs, so I’m used to skimming through some nasty comments. Hopefully that helps me have a thicker skin the first time someone forgets that bloggers are people and says something rude to me.
On your ‘About’ page, you should probably add “spiritual guide” to your description. I’m pretty sure that’s what you are.
Hi! Samara sent me here (thanks, Samara!).
Each challenge has its own rules, so read them carefully and decide if you feel like complying 🙂
I belong to the group over at yeahwrite.me. They have a non-fiction challenge, a fiction/poetry challenge, and a microblogging (only 42 words) challenge that can be either fiction/poetry or non-fiction. But on the weekends we have an open grid to post whatever. Here’s a link. The grid opens on Fridays at 6 pm eastern. Hope you’ll consider linking up to read and be read.
http://yeahwrite.me/moonshine/
Isn’t Samara lovely? I plan to get involved in the next couple of weeks. I am trying to get better with the blog first. I am going to check out the writers starting this week, though. Thank you!
Hi! I’m visiting here from yeah write (http://yeahwrite.me). I found your post through a chain of Twitter conversations. 🙂
This is a great little story, with such an unexpected twist. I love how you played on the reader’s expectations through the first few paragraphs before throwing us for a loop. Well done! You should definitely consider linking this to the moonshine grid over there – it’s a place for folks to showcase their work. And stick around for the speakeasy fiction/poetry challenge and the gargleblaster microfiction challenge!
The moonshine grid (link-up) opens up on Fridays and closes on Sundays. Stop by yeah write for tomorrow’s post, and you’ll find the instructions. If you have any trouble, feel free to e-mail me: christine@yeahwrite.me
Thank you so much for the invitation! I will absolutely get involved, but it may be another week or two. Technology is not my strong point, and I keep making small mistakes that must be fixed. I want to get slightly more comfortable with the blog before I start venturing into more areas. It did, after all, take me two days to realize I had comments on a past blog. I will do some reading there this week, though. Thank you again!