Last night a friend of mine said, “I signed up for the NYC Flash Fiction contest this year!” And I said, “Cool, maybe I’ll do that too.” And she said, “It starts tomorrow.”
Like an idiot, I charged in. This stuff isn’t cheap, either. $60 for a two-day fever dream writing up 1000 words based on three random prompts.
I got the three words the following night—stress ball, pawn shop, suspense—and took a long shower to consider the possibilities. That was yesterday. Today, I’d already had plans to drive the coast with my husband, so most of it was spent living my life.
Tomorrow I’m meant to spend the day with my mother.
Wow, this really was a fool’s errand. But what are we “creatives” if not fools?
After returning home, I wrote the first draft in an hour. It’s not hard to write 1000 words in an hour. 1000 good words? Probably not, but I’ve developed a philosophy on writing short fiction.
Write the first draft and hate it. Make fun of it as you go. It sucks. It belongs in the trash. Then write the second draft and actually try. It’ll still suck, but less so. The third draft is when you finally get around to making something that’s contest worthy. No more filler words. Kill off the cliches. Cut out unnecessary characters and bloated scenes.
I managed to score second out of thirty twice when employing this method. What a flex! I will note that it was second place in the first round. Writing three drafts against bored seniors looking to kill some time and overworked new fathers hoping to lock themselves in their office for a few extra hours is, in a way, overkill.
Still, the three draft method is a solid way to get something decent on the page. Now I’ve got draft one with less than 24 hours to spare. Will I find the time to get in a second and third? Or will I hastily edit what I’ve already got with less than an hour before the deadline and wonder why my story didn’t rock the judges socks off?
Stay tuned to find out!