Hey hey writertron! Here’s your Flash Face Off prompts for the week.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and find out what we’re actually doing. Or quick links here:
Book the Flash Face Off live reading
The week’s prompts are:
FUR Vs FEATHERS
“Bear,” she cried. “I love you. Pull my head off.”
Marian Engel, Bear
Then he saw them. The gulls. Out there, riding the seas.
What he had thought at first to be the white caps of the waves were gulls. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands… They rose and fell in the trough of the seas, heads to the wind, like a mighty fleet at anchor, waiting on the tide. To eastward, and to the west, the gulls were there. They stretched as far as his eye could reach, in close formation, line upon line. Had the sea been still they would have covered the bay like a white cloud, head to head, body packed to body. Only the east wind, whipping the sea to breakers, hid them from the shore.
From The Birds by Daphne du Maurier
Thank you for the pungent smell of a newly painted room,
For the smooth feeling of the cold side of a pillow,
For the bareness of a lightning-struck tree,
The lonesome feather sticking out of a pillow…
From After Pied Beauty by Hannah Keyte
00:01 take tranquiliser so that you can enable the capybara mode
00:03 use your eyes to stroke its head, its soft brown fur
00:05 fall into sleepy eyes and small ears, a fluffy laziness
From How to Cuddle a Capybara Through Videos by Kexin Huang
Feathered Prison Fan, 1978 by Rebecca Horn
Object, 1936 Meret Oppenheim
Hedgeley Antique Centre, Powburn by alljengi on flickr
Fur car in Kennesaw by John Trainor on flickr
Quill pen by Clark Young on unsplash
Collection of feathers by Michael Coghlan on flickr
What are these prompts for please?
Every week, we post a set of flash fiction prompts. You write a super small story (500 words or fewer), post it on our forums, give and receive feedback, and at the end of the month we pick our faves for a Friday night online open mic night. It’s pretty amazingly awesome and you should definitely join us. Yes you should.
It works like this:
Use the prompts to write in any way that inspires you. Pick a side, pick both, pick a quote or pick an image, or just go with the general aesthetic and vibe of the themes. Whatever floats your writerly hoozits. And remember—flash doesn’t have to be dark and traumatic to be effective.
Edit your writing into a beaut 500 word story and post it on the Flash Face Off forums (please submit no more than 2 stories per week thanks!)
While you’re waiting for the awesome writerly community to read your story and offer wise words and critique, read at least two other stories and give your constructive feedback.
That’s it! At the end of every month we gather all our faves and have a big ol’ open mic party. Sign up here.
NO WAIT ONE MORE THING!
Please do make good use of the workshopping forums to offer feedback to others, receive feedback on your own story, and tweak/edit as much as you like. This really is the absolute best way to develop your writing (and it’s a really nice way to be part of this
Ok now we’re really done. Go write.
Join our amazing writing community!
- Get three free writing courses
- Gain access to online writing retreats and Flash Face Off spoken word nights
- Meet like-minded writers and get support and resources to keep you writing
- Oh and it’s free
