My Reflections on the Microfiction Magic Challenge

In short - I'm going to be a little sorry to see the Microfiction Magic challenge close. I hope Vocal do another!

Writing the index at the end of this piece was tricky, because I wanted to give you a bit of a taste - a synopsis so you know whether it's worth clicking on. That was hard, because often I don't want you to know what it's really about until you're near the end. Sometimes I want you to think you know...

This lesser-spotted mini-dilemma brings to mind the words of Jack Black, playing the famous author R.L Stein in the movie Goosebumps:

Every story ever told can be broken down into three parts. The beginning. The middle. And the twist.

Ah, the twist. A tricksy device for a lot of us at the best of times. You can't usually just throw a random thing in somewhere and hope for the best. The story still has to be satisfying. It still has to make sense. How to do that, and keep readers guessing? Or better yet - and even more challenging - deliberately mis-direct along the way?

It's tougher to achieve in Microfiction. Every word has to do a lot of heavy lifting. It can be hard.

Another thing that can be difficult, is extracting our own heads from our bottoms and not getting too tangled up in the words as we weave them. Tasks like this train us to be brutal in cutting them free. To weigh each word with precision. Cut to the meat, and keep it fresh.

As with anything tricky, we get better at it the more we do it. By allowing multiple entries, Vocal are facilitating an excellent form of practise - and one that doesn't feel like work. It feels like play - because it is!

This challenge unshackled me from what can sometimes feel like drudgery in writing. We might only have 100 words to play with, but the key word here is play. Rediscovering the happy place that is messing around with words. Playing with their sounds and meanings, and the images they paint. Listening carefully to the melody of each one, and the pitch and roll of the sentences. Tasting a word, discarding it, trying another. Mixing up weird and wonderful combinations, like an artist mixing hues. Or a chef obsessively testing his new toasted sandwich maker, concocting classic flavour pairings and outlandish recipes by turns.

I said it before and I'll say it again:

Writing is creation, and creation is play. Don't be too grown-up about it.

-Never Have I Ever (Writers' Edition)

This challenge was a wonderful way to remind us all: yes, we do have time to write! It doesn't have to be a lot. A little is infinitely better than none. Flex the muscle.

I can't thank Vocal enough for this exercise. It's stretched me, tickled me, and inspired me by turns. It's got me writing every day. It's given me a break from other, taxing projects. I've returned to them refreshed and better than before. It's injected a bit of joy into my day. Best of all, it's helped me improve.

Here they are - my entries, all eleven of them - all in one place, newest to oldest. I think I've got better. Have you?

Dragon Scales

Bloom

Graduation Day - Dark and twisted fanfic

Cornflakes - A true story. A memory from my childhood.

Mummy Took Me To Watch The Hanging Today - Content reflects the title

25 seconds & more of agony - Real life horror

Fresh Bread

"She Always Had Her Nose Buried In A Book"

Confessions of a Murderer

The Intruder

Just One Wish

Thank you for reading! As always, if you do grace any of my scribbles with your eyeballs, I appreciate your feedback. For those kind enough to leave a comment, I do my best to reciprocate the read. If you index your own entries, please link it for me so I can make sure I haven't missed any of your stories!

My questions to you: What are your thoughts on the Microfiction challenge? Have you found it challenging, or enjoyable, or both? Have you got better, and how?