Flash Finished?

Well the competition over at writerunboxed has ended and unfortunately I didn't place (which is sad because I wanted one of those t-shirts for jogging!). But the whole thing has been a massive learning experience for me; the challenge of writing 250 word pieces, coming up with new ideas in such a short space of time, drawing inspiration from sources/ images I wouldn't normally choose, it was all a brilliant way to get out of my comfort zone. So much so, I'm going to incorporate 250 word flash pieces into my weekly writing as a way to keep pushing myself.

That wasn't all I got out of participating though. The competition got me talking to people about my writing, including many of my real life friends. That in itself has been a big step for me. It's also the first time I've put my writing in a public forum under my "writer" name and to have other writers like my writing enough to make me a weekly winner on two occasions was an amazing feeling. It was a really supportive environment unlike some of the critique forums I've used before which can at times be little intimidating for a newbie writer ;) Anyway, the whole thing's really spurred me on and made me realise how much I want this!!

In other news, I've finally settled on which shiny new idea to move onto now that Pearl is finished. I've pitched it to a couple of friends who were enthusiastic about the premise which was pretty exciting! Just working on the plot grid and also quite excited to develop the main character who's going to be a super-cool-intelligent-wry-humoured geek. Oh and of course, I've been browsing flickr to find source images for  future flash pieces, the results of which I may post up here depending on how much I like the outcome!

Until next time.