One of the things I tried this summer was flash fiction! I thought it would be easier than writing a lengthy, unflashy piece. I didn’t know there was a time limit on it, just a word limit. It was fun, but just as difficult as any other writing in the end. I also heard about the November challenge thing. I’d be up for it if I was still thinking of doing a book. May be next year …
I've just checked the rules - apparently there isn't necessarily a time limit on it. It's just up to 1,500 words and much of it is shorter. I imagine it must be hard to tell a good, coherent story in so short a space, but I'm intrigued enough to try my hand at it.
I'd highly encourage you to pursue your book - your memoir, right? I obviously don't know you too well, but having read all of your posts so far, your style of writing is so captivating and easy on the eye that you'd have no problem telling a compelling story. The chapters on your musical comings-of-age would be a real treat I'm sure. I'd say go for it, and speaking from experience, that first book was tough going at times but ultimately so rewarding (even if the sales have been meagre!)
Thank you Daniel! This is actually just what I wanted to hear I think, so I’m really grateful for that comment. I’m thinking of putting some of it up on here, it’s more suited to blogging I think. I just could never settle on a theme, or work out of it would be interesting enough as an entire book. My comfort zone is definitely articles. I don’t know how you wrote a whole book!. Some of the writing in substack is so moving, I’d really love to be able to write like that one day also.
I don't write anywhere near enough for someone whose job is writing 😬 so maybe I will join the writing challenge (and then inevitably give up ten days in)
Good luck for NaNo! I am trying to finish a novel, so will sit this one out, but looking forward to seeing what comes out of it for you and reading you along the way 😊
I did Nano fairly consistently between 2010 and 2021 (and actually finished something six times) and there was always a minority of people who you suspected were fiddling it somehow... they'd post a 300,000 word count on October 1st or something like that. But if someone wants to lie or cheat about something which is fairly trivial, let them.
At the place I currently work we're finding the pre-course written test increasingly useless because of, you guessed it, ChatGPT. Which is frustrating and time-consuming but I suspect once AI translation and teaching improves to the point where we're all out of work we will look back on this time with fondness.
My own experience is that ChatGPT's achilles heel is early 60s William Shatner movies - ask for any information about one of them and it's invariably wildly inaccurate...
I think the problem is when people treat it like a competition and maybe a status thing, like "look at me, look how much I've written." It goes without saying that it ought to be a fun personal project and I actually have a rough outline and vague idea that I'm excited about. It may be terrible, but I hope to enjoy the process.
There has been a lot of consternation amongst teachers over ChatGPT, and how to utilise it, etc, and whether we should, etc. That's all fine and well, but for now, exams like IELTS still require the old-fashioned essay approach and it boggles the mind why they cheat in exam prep courses - and the funny thing that I edited out of my post was that I always ask my students for post-course feedback on how well they did on the exam, and what strategies worked, what they found difficult, etc. And the ones I know cheated NEVER let me know how they did, most likely because they did so poorly.
Shatner movies - an interesting way to catch them out. One of my guilty pleasures is finding way to hoodwink the cheats and inevitably they come back at you with "wait, that's not fair!"
I don’t need the English lessons but the writing challenge sounds kinda cool. 50k words by the end of Nov is a bit scary (especially on top of my day job as a freelance writer). I like the idea of trying to write 50 - 100 words per day in Nov. Might lose my mind though. Haha. 😆
It may sound kinda cool, but it's also probably irresponsible since I should utilise my time to find a job that actually pays! There is no way I'd be able to do this if I were working full-time. And when I did have a job, after work my brain was so fried that I could barely write anything coherent.
-I mentioned John Irving because a couple of his books have parts that take place in Vienna and they're really amusing - The World According to Garp and Hotel New Hampshire (he also wrote the Cider House Rules, which was a popular film).
-Next time I see that letter, I'll take a picture, see if it jogs your memory
-Starting them is still great though. If the idea is a good one and you've got something to work with, then when inspiration strikes you might know exactly how you want it to go. I have so many half-started ideas and notes and i forget about them for a while and suddenly see one and it sparks an idea and who knows where it'll take you?
I am hopeless at flash fiction...it's awe-inspiring to me how people can write something coherent in 500 words! Good luck with NaNoWriMo - I'm a little scared of it and am on a deadline for my WIP...however I shall be cheering you on!
Just evoked something in my mind..You might know this story.
Ones, Ernest Hemingway (one of my favs) bet with his Cuban convives he would be able to write the shortest flash fiction that could deserve the Nobel Prize.
Hemingway won. He wrote just 6 words, 6 words novel.
That's super flash and super micro. It's also kind of sad, isn't it?
I've also heard of one sentence horror stories, and I did some with my teenage class one year. See who can write the scariest story in just a sentence.
So, when can I expect some of your flash fiction? 😊
That reminds me of a similar story, though I think it might be more of an anecdote. Calvin Coolidge was known as Silent Cal because he so rarely spoke. A friend challenged him to a bet. He said he could get 'more than 3 words out of him' to which he responded, 'you lose.'
I've just checked the rules - flash fiction is up to 1,500 words. How short is ultra short? I think this might be my next challenge - some flash fiction of varying lengths.
I... Uh... Have been... Uh... Cooking some short stories and poetry and whatnot for a while now. There's a story set in Vienna! I may or may not show it to you once I get over the imnotanativespeaker syndrome :)
Not long ago, you told me that you thought I looked like the kind of person who had a book in him one day, or something like that, or I give off 'writing a book one day' vibes. I've also thought that of you. Do you remember that story/letter you wrote at the very end of our class semester - it was about colours and theories and something, it was interesting, superbly written. I came across it a couple of years ago in a box at my house in the US, I still have it.
A short story in Vienna - would love to read that. Easy for me to say, but don't be shy, would love to read anything you wrote. Have you read anything by John Irving?
One of the things I tried this summer was flash fiction! I thought it would be easier than writing a lengthy, unflashy piece. I didn’t know there was a time limit on it, just a word limit. It was fun, but just as difficult as any other writing in the end. I also heard about the November challenge thing. I’d be up for it if I was still thinking of doing a book. May be next year …
I've just checked the rules - apparently there isn't necessarily a time limit on it. It's just up to 1,500 words and much of it is shorter. I imagine it must be hard to tell a good, coherent story in so short a space, but I'm intrigued enough to try my hand at it.
I'd highly encourage you to pursue your book - your memoir, right? I obviously don't know you too well, but having read all of your posts so far, your style of writing is so captivating and easy on the eye that you'd have no problem telling a compelling story. The chapters on your musical comings-of-age would be a real treat I'm sure. I'd say go for it, and speaking from experience, that first book was tough going at times but ultimately so rewarding (even if the sales have been meagre!)
Thank you Daniel! This is actually just what I wanted to hear I think, so I’m really grateful for that comment. I’m thinking of putting some of it up on here, it’s more suited to blogging I think. I just could never settle on a theme, or work out of it would be interesting enough as an entire book. My comfort zone is definitely articles. I don’t know how you wrote a whole book!. Some of the writing in substack is so moving, I’d really love to be able to write like that one day also.
I don't write anywhere near enough for someone whose job is writing 😬 so maybe I will join the writing challenge (and then inevitably give up ten days in)
So, have you started the challenge?
😬 …I quickly remembered that I like my weekends word-free 🥴 how is yours going?
Get cracking, today's the day! I've got 1,090 words. It's probably terrible, but it's a start.
Good luck for NaNo! I am trying to finish a novel, so will sit this one out, but looking forward to seeing what comes out of it for you and reading you along the way 😊
I did Nano fairly consistently between 2010 and 2021 (and actually finished something six times) and there was always a minority of people who you suspected were fiddling it somehow... they'd post a 300,000 word count on October 1st or something like that. But if someone wants to lie or cheat about something which is fairly trivial, let them.
At the place I currently work we're finding the pre-course written test increasingly useless because of, you guessed it, ChatGPT. Which is frustrating and time-consuming but I suspect once AI translation and teaching improves to the point where we're all out of work we will look back on this time with fondness.
My own experience is that ChatGPT's achilles heel is early 60s William Shatner movies - ask for any information about one of them and it's invariably wildly inaccurate...
I think the problem is when people treat it like a competition and maybe a status thing, like "look at me, look how much I've written." It goes without saying that it ought to be a fun personal project and I actually have a rough outline and vague idea that I'm excited about. It may be terrible, but I hope to enjoy the process.
There has been a lot of consternation amongst teachers over ChatGPT, and how to utilise it, etc, and whether we should, etc. That's all fine and well, but for now, exams like IELTS still require the old-fashioned essay approach and it boggles the mind why they cheat in exam prep courses - and the funny thing that I edited out of my post was that I always ask my students for post-course feedback on how well they did on the exam, and what strategies worked, what they found difficult, etc. And the ones I know cheated NEVER let me know how they did, most likely because they did so poorly.
Shatner movies - an interesting way to catch them out. One of my guilty pleasures is finding way to hoodwink the cheats and inevitably they come back at you with "wait, that's not fair!"
I don’t need the English lessons but the writing challenge sounds kinda cool. 50k words by the end of Nov is a bit scary (especially on top of my day job as a freelance writer). I like the idea of trying to write 50 - 100 words per day in Nov. Might lose my mind though. Haha. 😆
It may sound kinda cool, but it's also probably irresponsible since I should utilise my time to find a job that actually pays! There is no way I'd be able to do this if I were working full-time. And when I did have a job, after work my brain was so fried that I could barely write anything coherent.
I feel that. Haha.
Re: John Irving, I'm afraid not, but the name rings a bell.
Re: my end of semester piece—no clue. I have every other paper from that year, but this one escapes me. I'm glad you enjoyed it though.
Re: my book writing vibes, sure hope I'm able to complete things, not just start them. Knowing someone who already wrote a book does help :)
-I mentioned John Irving because a couple of his books have parts that take place in Vienna and they're really amusing - The World According to Garp and Hotel New Hampshire (he also wrote the Cider House Rules, which was a popular film).
-Next time I see that letter, I'll take a picture, see if it jogs your memory
-Starting them is still great though. If the idea is a good one and you've got something to work with, then when inspiration strikes you might know exactly how you want it to go. I have so many half-started ideas and notes and i forget about them for a while and suddenly see one and it sparks an idea and who knows where it'll take you?
I am hopeless at flash fiction...it's awe-inspiring to me how people can write something coherent in 500 words! Good luck with NaNoWriMo - I'm a little scared of it and am on a deadline for my WIP...however I shall be cheering you on!
Thanks, but just wait until you see the crap I come up with. Start thinking of polite ways to say, "uh, Daniel, maybe stick to your usual hustle."
Just evoked something in my mind..You might know this story.
Ones, Ernest Hemingway (one of my favs) bet with his Cuban convives he would be able to write the shortest flash fiction that could deserve the Nobel Prize.
Hemingway won. He wrote just 6 words, 6 words novel.
“For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.”
That's super flash and super micro. It's also kind of sad, isn't it?
I've also heard of one sentence horror stories, and I did some with my teenage class one year. See who can write the scariest story in just a sentence.
So, when can I expect some of your flash fiction? 😊
Hemingways six word story was actually a challenge set to him by another writer. Yes it's sad, that's the point. It's an entire story in six words.
Personally I'm not fond of flash fiction, especially the ultra short variety, because they're rarely interesting. Most people are not Hemingway.
That reminds me of a similar story, though I think it might be more of an anecdote. Calvin Coolidge was known as Silent Cal because he so rarely spoke. A friend challenged him to a bet. He said he could get 'more than 3 words out of him' to which he responded, 'you lose.'
I've just checked the rules - flash fiction is up to 1,500 words. How short is ultra short? I think this might be my next challenge - some flash fiction of varying lengths.
Excellent anecdote! 😁
Fifty to 100 words flash fiction is popular with some writers. I'm not sure about readers.
I... Uh... Have been... Uh... Cooking some short stories and poetry and whatnot for a while now. There's a story set in Vienna! I may or may not show it to you once I get over the imnotanativespeaker syndrome :)
Not long ago, you told me that you thought I looked like the kind of person who had a book in him one day, or something like that, or I give off 'writing a book one day' vibes. I've also thought that of you. Do you remember that story/letter you wrote at the very end of our class semester - it was about colours and theories and something, it was interesting, superbly written. I came across it a couple of years ago in a box at my house in the US, I still have it.
A short story in Vienna - would love to read that. Easy for me to say, but don't be shy, would love to read anything you wrote. Have you read anything by John Irving?