Writing prompt – envoy

Little Amal_The Man Inside_Judy Darley

Last week, Bristol enjoyed a visit from Little Amal, the 3.5 metre tall puppet of a Syrian refugee child who is walking across Europe as an envoy raising awareness of the refugee crisis.

Since July 2021 the moving sculpture made by Handspring Puppet Company has travelled over 8,000km, crossing Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, the UK, the Netherlands, Poland and Ukraine to focus attention on the urgent needs of young refugees.

In typical Bristol fashion, Little Amal’s visit gained the buzz of a party, with drummers, dancers and horde of hundreds joining Little Amal on her journey from Bristol Old Vic to the harbour where she boarded a boat.

There are so many directions you could take this writing prompt in, from the story of an actual refugee child, to a tale of the puppeteer inside Little Amal. With one of countless mobile phones in shot, you could even focus on the role social media has to play in spreading the word.

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

Foraging for Inspiration at the Flash Fiction Festival

Owl carving and baby shoe by Judy Darley
The Flash Fiction Festival takes place from Friday 8th until Sunday 10th July, with real world events happening at Trinity College, Bristol, and six hybrid workshops (online as well as face-to-face) workshops occurring over the weekend.

There are some amazing flash fiction writers teaching over the weekend, including Kathy Fish, Nancy Stohlman, Vanessa Gebbie, Eltra Rhodes, K.M. Elkes and Susmita Bhattacharya.

I’m delighted to be leading a workshop on ‘Foraging for Inspiration’ at 8.45am on Sunday 10th July. Expect random word prompts and other stimuli to get your imagination whirring!

One of the questions I’m asked most is where I get ideas from. The truth is that inspiration can come from anywhere, if you’re open and ready to gather the ideas as they come.

As someone who is, in all honesty, easily bored, I’m constantly on the lookout for entertaining distractions that can convert into story fuel, from overheard conversations to momentarily misunderstood glimpses (the weirder the better), to objects that could be important to a character in a tale.

I publish weekly writing prompts on my SkyLightRain blog,and collect small found objects and images that lead to piece of narrative prose. In this workshop you will be provided with a variety of writing prompts and investigate ways you can combine different sources with your own unique experiences to build up an original story.

Suitable for beginners and up. I intend to take participants on a short stroll of the grounds to forage for inspiration, returning to the workshop room for half an hour or so for the writing exercises.

I’ll also be reading my story ‘How to Hook a Heart’ from the Freedom-themed National Flash Fiction Day Anthology 2022 on the Friday evening. Find the full festival programme here.

I hope to see you there!

Got an event, challenge, competition or call for submissions you’d like to draw my attention to? Send me an email at judydarley (at) iCloud (dot) com.

Writing prompt – holidays

Holidays by Judy Darley. Shows a mannequin sitting in a charity shop dressed for the beach.I love the surrealism of this mannequin sitting in a charity shop as though it’s an airport, and like they’ve been waiting for hours to board a flight. They look ready for their holidays!

Can you write a story inspired by this? What other unlikely objects might want to head overseas and lie by a pool? What might be craving adventure or escape?

What does ‘holiday’ or ‘vacation’ mean to you? What could the best experience of this be, or the worst?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

Submit stories on a ‘clean vs green’ theme

Leaf & raindrops by Judy Darley
The Green Stories crew are inviting short stories on the theme of ‘clean vs green’ for their latest competition, closing to entries on 21st July.

First prize is £500. Entering is free.

The competition has been devised as a way of myth-busting: “Often when promoting waste reduction and reduction of high-energy activities, such as running hot water, we come up against health and safety issues. Some of these are valid, but many are misinformed.”

The judges are seeking engaging fictional stories that help readers understand how over-cleaning can mean that we kill our bodies’ ‘good’ bacteria through over-use of harsh cleaning products.

“Your challenge is to write a short story (between 1000 and 3000 words) that helps to raise awareness and shift attitudes, especially for those people who assume that the more detergent the better.”

You’ll also need to provide around 200 words on the thinking around your story and how it meets the criteria.

The Green Stories website has story briefs and suggestions to inspire you, as well as plenty of information to make sure you get the details rights.

Find full details here: www.greenstories.org.uk/upcoming-competitions/short-story-clean-vs-green/ 

Got an event, challenge, competition or call for submissions you’d like to draw my attention to? Send me an email at judydarley (at) iCloud (dot) com.

Writing prompt – tree tunnel

Arnos Vale tree tunnel by Judy DarleyI have a special place in my heart for ‘tree tunnels’ – those spaces where trees flourish with such vigour that they seem to curve their branches right over the path.

At this time of year the new green leaves and hopeful sunlight makes them particularly beautiful, and this Celtic cross seems like a road marker to a different era.

If you were to walk or ride through this ‘tree tunnel’, where might you emerge?

Can you answer that question with a story?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

Enter the Fractured Lit Reprint Prize

Button on Kilve Beach cr Judy Darley

Got a previously published micro or flash fiction that’s no longer getting the love it deserves? Enter the Fractured Lit Reprint Prize.

The deadline is 17 July 2022.

Guest judge Meg Pokrass, Managing Co-Editor and Founding Editor of Best Microfiction, Founding Editor of New Flash Fiction Review, and Co-Founder of the Flash Fiction Collective Reading Series (San Francisco) will choose three prize winners from a shortlist.

The first place winner will receive $3000 and (re)publication.

Second and third place winners will $300 and $200, respectively, plus (re)publication.

All entries will be considered for (re)publication.

“We want to celebrate the micro and flash that may have gotten lost in the shuffle, or stuck in the limbo of shuttered literary magazines!” says Fractured Lit editor in chief Tommy Dean. “We know that excellent and exciting flash and micro fiction is published every day, but no one can keep up with all of these stories. This contest is a platform for these stories to reach new readers, and to live on in excellence on our website.”

So if you’ve got a story that’s been previously published online or in print but believe it’s no longer getting the attention and adulation it deserves, send it in!

Entries must be under 1,000 words in length and must not have won any previous awards of $500 or more.

You need to pay a $20 reading fee per entry of up to two tales.

Find full details and enter here: https://fracturedlit.com/current-prize/

Good luck!

Got an event, challenge, competition, opportunity or call for submissions you’d like to draw attention to? Send me an email at JudyDarley (@) ICloud (dot) com.

Writing prompt – excess

Floral excess near Victoria Park by Judy Darley

I enjoy the floral extravagance of this small but overflowing garden. It looks like the house is being swallowed up by flowers.

Who might live here? What makes them so devoted to their garden? Is there a power at play here other than a green thumb? For instance, imagine a character who sees visions while they garden, or who can seed good (or bad) emotions into the plants they tend.

Can you transform this into an extraordinarily colourful tale?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

Enter The Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize

Terra Nostra Tropical plants cr Judy DarleyWasafari magazine invites submissions of Poetry, Fiction and Life Writing for The Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize.

The prize closes on 30th June 2022 at 5pm BST.

The prize supports writers who have not yet published a book-length work, with no limits on age, gender, nationality, or background. Winners of each category receive a £1,000 cash prize and will be published in Wasafiri’s print magazine. Shortlisted writers will have their work published on the Wasafiri website. All 15 shortlistees and winners will be offered the Chapter and Verse or Free Reads mentoring scheme in partnership with The Literary Consultancy (dependent on eligibility), and a conversation with Nikesh Shukla of The Good Literary Agency to discuss their career progression.   

The fee is £10 for a single entry and £16 for a double entry. No entry may be more than 3,000 words long.  

Subsidised entry is available for those who would otherwise be unable to enter the prize.  

Shortlisted entrants will be notified in early September

Find full details of how to enter at www.wasafiri.org.

This year, the prize will be chaired by literary leading light Marina Salandy-Brown, who says, “I am delighted and honoured to be judging this important prize.” Marina will be joined by a truly remarkable panel of multi-award-winning poets and authors.

Mary Jean Chan, judging Poetry, comments, “the Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize has always caught my attention for its focus on discovering, supporting and mentoring emerging talent across multiple genres.” 

Judging Fiction, Preti Taneja is seeking for work that “feels fully arrived in terms of its thematic ambition, its use of language and its confidence in its own voice. And finally, Francesca Wade, on judging Life Writing, says that ‘Wasafiri has long been a brilliant home for innovative work. I’m excited to read pieces that explore and interrogate – the myriad possibilities of life-writing today.”

Judging Life Writing, Francesca Wade, says “Wasafiri has long been a brilliant home for innovative work.  I’m excited to read pieces that explore and interrogate – the myriad possibilities of life-writing today.”

Got an event, challenge, competition or call for submissions you’d like to draw my attention to? Send me an email at judydarley (at) iCloud (dot) com.

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Writing prompt – castle

Duart Castle, Mull by Judy Darley

The world is full of castles that now resemble the fractured memories of skirmishes once fought or strongholds vied over.

This one is Duart Castle on Mull, once the seat of the Clan Maclean and now home to luxury afternoon teas and weddings.

Imagine the ghosts that roam these battlements. How might they show their shock and perhaps dismay at the state of their once proudly and fiercely protected isle. Which modern marvels might entrance them?

Feel free to set your tale in any castle you know or can dream up. What time-slip adventure can you conjure?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.