I’m excited to be a co-judge for Clevedon LitFest Flash Fiction Award 2025.
Find the rules and all the details here: https://www.clevedonlitfest.org.uk/flash-fiction-award-2025.php
What is flash fiction?
Flash fiction is often described as being a short short story. However, it is defined by far more than its brevity. Written with skill, it layers the power of a far longer piece, even a novel, into the space of a paragraph or two where characters live and breathe, and your reader goes on a journey.
Flash Fiction has been likened to the flash of a camera, capturing an episode in time. It can be as long as 1,000 words, but it is often much shorter. In this competition, you have just 500 words to capture a whole story, with a story arc, and even if your story doesn’t contain a beginning, a middle and an end, something must shift between the open and close of your story.
Your writing needs to be evocative enough for readers to feel nothing is missing, yet concise, with vocabulary and imagery selected and crafted for impact. This means leaving out unnecessary words, choosing strong verbs and exploiting the senses. Nothing should be gratuitous, and nothing should be a cliché (unless that is deliberate).
Quite simply, with no more than 500 words to play with, every word choice matters.
What I’m looking for in entries:
“I want to be moved by what I read. A flash fiction tale should work like a pebble dropped into a pool of water, casting ripples that travel beyond the page. A skilled writer should be able to create a story arc within the 500-word limit. There should be some sense of change in the story, if only in the protagonist’s thoughts. I want to read stories that ignite my imagination and capture my heart.”
What my co-judge Jackie is looking for:
“I’m looking for writing that prompts a response in me, draws me into its world through originality, impact and engaging characterisation, with a hook and a story arc that make me want to read to the end. I want to feel the power of language use in transporting me or stirring my emotions, carefully crafted for maximum effect. Can the story successfully communicate what is in the imagination of the writer to the mind and heart of the reader?”
I hope to read your Flash Fiction Award soon!