Stand firm at 1,000 words?

Tyler Silvaris

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So last week I tried to do the weekly challenge. I made a big mistake in thinking that I'd be able to squeeze the 90 minutes of writing into what seemed like a slow day at the office. Then things got busy. I still finished my story in about 2 hours, but I'd missed the mark.

My main question concerns the 1,000 word cap on flash fiction, though. Is that a firm 1,000 words?

The story I wrote last week finished out at 1,085 and I found I could not curb the details of the story (ironic, given the theme last week).

Since I had failed to meet both criteria of time and words for the challenge, I did not submit. Instead, I went back and toyed with the wording of my piece, addressing issues I felt I had passed over for the sake of word count. It's now about 1,200 words.

I'd like to continue working on these challenges, but I wanted to address the 1,000 rule first.
 

Sophia

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Yes, it's a firm rule, but only for posting for feedback in the Polished and Ready section of this board. It's not a rule for the weekly challenge that is posted here.

Think of it this way: several flash fiction markets specify a word count in their submission requirements. This is practice for working to limits.

Stories that are longer than 1000 words can be posted to one of the Share Your Work sections (password: vista). It doesn't matter that they were written for the challenge here. The aim of the challenge has always been to encourage writers to write regularly to a deadline, helping them to develop a professional attitude towards writing and submitting their work regularly. Where you get feedback on them is up to you.

Well done on writing your story. :)

Edit: I think you may be talking about the flash fiction prompt provided in the chat room on Sunday nights, which has a 90-minute time limit, and takes place in the Writing Exercises, Prompts, & Whimsical Pursuits board. I don't think that has a word count limit. That is separate from the weekly challenge on this Flash Forum board.
 
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Tyler Silvaris

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Thank you for the reply. I do see now that the 90 minutes was from a different challenge which I was looking at and then mixed up with the challenge in this board. Thank you for the clarification, it was very helpful.

Now that I know I don't need to rush, I will look at this week's challenge. And post my product from last week in the SYW boards.