February 2018 Flash Fiction Contest - The Results

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Lipinski
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Re: February 2018 Flash Fiction Contest - The Voting

Post by Lipinski »

Firstly and formostly, it was nice that Jim came up with a fun contest. Secondly and secondmostly, the stories were all fun to read. Thirdly and thirdmostly, I vote for all of them. Having learned from the modern society I now am forced to be imprisoned in, everyone is winner...

"Robin, seriously? You've never been imprisoned anywhere and there is always a winner and loser. Thus, I vote that you're the loser and..."

SPLAT!

There is something deeply gratifying when little itty bitty pieces of the parasite are sticking to the bottom of my well worn crocs.

Anyway, it was fun and I have my pick of the one that gets the little ducky sticker (or is it a gold star? sigh. modern thinking is soooo tiring)
Megawatts
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Re: February 2018 Flash Fiction Contest - The Voting

Post by Megawatts »

How much description? That is the author's call. Flash fiction is so short that it can be difficult to have description that we would see in a short story. However, the talent of the author is the final test. Flash fiction can make you come up with unique techniques, I believe.
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Megawatts
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Re: February 2018 Flash Fiction Contest - The Voting

Post by Megawatts »

Got my votes in. Glad we are getting back into action at Aphelion!! Maybe I'll come up with something! Who know?
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Megawatts
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Re: February 2018 Flash Fiction Contest - The Voting

Post by Megawatts »

From what I’ve read over the years and talked about with others who write---- writing can’t be broken down into some mathematical formula that will get results if everything is followed correctly. A story that grabs and hold one’s attention from the first word until the last is a story well worth studying.

Description, plot, character development, dialogue, foreshadowing and a host of other academic
terms designed to analysis a story are worth the effort to review. I believe in literary analysis as the famous French Addy Ernest Dimnet so often suggested in his great work The Art of Thinking.

Thinking is paramount when writing. Stephen King has very good points----- so do many other authors. King doesn’t like to use adverbs. Other good authors use them. Some authors describe vividly by adjectives and adverbs while other authors place the reader in the story by just using action and dialogue.

There is no formula for how much, to what extent, how long or how short or how often elements needed in a story should be presented. The author’s talent, experience, education, cultural background, all dictate how a story will unfold.

I believe the best method of investigating on how to balance the ‘show and tell,’ description, dialogue, character development is to study the story that grabs your attention and holds it!

The short story that I always loved since high school is, ‘The Most Dangerous Game’ by Richard Edward Connell. However, I love all stories that gab and keep my attention.
Last edited by Megawatts on February 27, 2018, 05:10:36 PM, edited 2 times in total.
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Megawatts
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Re: February 2018 Flash Fiction Contest - The Voting

Post by Megawatts »

Thank you. I'm no great writer, but I've kept my eyes and ears open all my life. And I believe there is still more to say!
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Lipinski
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Re: February 2018 Flash Fiction Contest - The Voting

Post by Lipinski »

"Can I vote! I wanna vote... Can I, can I, can I? Pretty please.... I reaaaallly wanna vote."

No. Parasite. No you cannot vote. I already voted.

"But you're a moron... How about me. I have rights! This country is supposed to be free! You're suppressing my creative will, my religion, and you're eating my potato chips. Knock that off."

(munch, munch, crunch) Nope. Still can't vote parasite... AND you can't have any of my chips... But, out of curiosity, what would you vote for?

"Ha! I'd vote to have your sorry (censored, censored, and more censored...)ignorant, self-serving butt put down like a sick dog. And then I'd..."

That's enough parasite. Though, if you feel your rights have been taken from you I suggest you write down your complaint on aluminum foil with a permanent marker and then insert into the 'complaint' slot commonly known as the living room wall outlet. You'll find the experience not only refreshing but shockingly invigorating.

"Gee, thanks moron. Later."

(this world would be doomed if things like the parasite had rights)
Megawatts
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Re: February 2018 Flash Fiction Contest - The Voting

Post by Megawatts »

It's nice to get back into writing. Last year, I lost my daughter, my brother and my wife's favorite nephew. Much more happened with the dynamics of the family in which I'll not venture. Good friends, some distant relatives, and the group I sing with have helped me throughout my grief. I have faith in God and sometime wonder why. I 'm a Vietnam Veteran and sometimes wonder if agent orange had sometime to do with my daughter's death.

Aphelion is a great site and I never want to see it become dormant. Too many good people have visited this site and contributed excllent stories. Flash Fiction had been a motivating challenge. Within 1000 words we much describe, show/tell and write believable dialogue. Flash Fiction could be considered a study in conciseness---a technique needed by all writers in all genre.

Thanks
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Lipinski
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Re: February 2018 Flash Fiction Contest - The Voting

Post by Lipinski »

Sounds like a pretty (censored) hand of cards you were dealt Mega. Death of relatives to include siblings is almost the natural order of things... but to have children go 'first' is just no good no matter how it is viewed.

You raised an interesting point. Agent orange is well documented as to the harm it does to the human body. Heart, liver, lungs. Many vets have been killed because of being around it, many more are suffering from the reactions to it.

I do not know the circumstances of your daughters death but it does not matter what the cause of death was as death is death, and not a pleasant situation for anyone to endure.

Great to see you're writing though. Writing lives on long after we're all past breathing or war or anything of this world. And I agree with you about Aphelion being a great site. I know the parasite will be here as it just is a pain in the (censored) and there will be other writers; old and new, who will dabble here.

It is good to write. Good to appreciate life. Good to share. And really good to eat fresh onion dip with chips, or consume a fresh mushroom, olive, pineapple, anchovy, pizza!
Megawatts
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Re: February 2018 Flash Fiction Contest - The Voting

Post by Megawatts »

Thanks to all!
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Lester Curtis
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Re: February 2018 Flash Fiction Contest - The Results

Post by Lester Curtis »

Comment on Jim Harrington's "Double Double": the "clones" in this story did not behave like biological organisms, which is what clones are. When tazed, the threatening double displays definite characteristics of an electromechanical duplicate: eyes, sizzling, wire popping out.

Moreso, killing one true biological clone would not affect the others in the room (who all "died."

This makes me think that Jim had a mistaken notion of the nature of clones, and assumed that android machines were included in the definition.

Hope this helps,

LC
I was raised by humans. What's your excuse?
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Lester Curtis
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Re: February 2018 Flash Fiction Contest - The Voting

Post by Lester Curtis »

jpharrin wrote:
TaoPhoenix wrote:
jpharrin wrote:
1. "Where to start, get to the point, etc."
I’ve been interviewing editors and publishers for my Six Questions For. . . blog (https://sixquestionsfor.blogspot.com/) since 2012. Much or what I’ve learned about writing has come from these posts (as is the case with other writers who have commented on the value of the posts.) There are currently 655 posts on the site. Here are a few comments from short story magazine editors about openings.

“We just want to be engaged from the first sentence or line, and we want that engagement to carry through the entire piece.” — Rob Pockat and Signe Jorgenson, Stoneboat Literary Journal

“The first paragraph is key, grab my attention, with either the beauty of the words or the intrigue of the action, preferably both. Ignite my curiosity. Give me a sentence to swoon over. Pull me into your world.” — Philip Elliot, Into the Void Magazine

“Lately we've been seeing a lot of submissions that start three or four pages too late—there's lots of static world-building and description before the story really gets going.” — Beth Wodzinski, Shimmer Magazine

“I prefer information about characters to emerge naturally throughout a story, instead of getting a big information dump of description front-loaded at the beginning.” — Nathan Rosen, Microhorror

My comments about openings were suggestions based on my experience. I had a story rejected once because the editor thought the opening sentence was a cliche. :)
They're talking about immersion, which is a completely valid point, as stressed so brutally here:

http://creativityhacker.ca/immerse-or-die/
_____________________________
Tao, on another hand, is talking about clarity in the introduction of the story setting, which is a particular bugaboo of his, though not to be diminished generally. Go through the IOD entries and you'll find stories that got kicked for neglecting to tell the reader where the action is taking place.
I was raised by humans. What's your excuse?
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