Archive for writing

National Flash Fiction Day

Posted in NEWS & INFORMATION with tags , , on June 22, 2016 by Richard Holt

One of my favourite supporters of flash fiction is UK’s National Flash Fiction Day. This year it’s on again, this coming Saturday, June 25. Each year NFFD publish one of the best Flash anthologies you’re likely to find anywhere, filled with great very-short fiction. I’ve been pleased and privileged to be selected in this year’s collection, A Box of Stars Beneath the Bed. My piece, Ambush, is a loose take on the Kelly story. It’s the third time I’ve had a story published in a NFFD anthology, and as always I’m very much looking forward to receiving my author copy – I know it will be a great read. To find out more, and to order a copy of the book, visit the National Flash Fiction Day blog.

 

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‘Text Me’ Writing Incubator

Posted in NEWS & INFORMATION with tags , on October 22, 2015 by Richard Holt

I’ve just started working on a project for April next year that has me quite excited. The Realm creative incubators provide an opportunity for artists to work on site for a month at the Realm ArtSpace in Ringwood. Ill be first cab of the rank, with a whole gallery at my dosposal to create text based work – I’m imagining video and wall pieces as well as work created with the local community. I’ll post more about this project as it develops.

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Out of Place launch

Posted in NEWS & INFORMATION with tags , , on August 5, 2015 by Richard Holt

A fantastic launch of Spineless Wonders latest collection, Out of Place, also saw the debut screening of the latest Flashing the Square microfction videos, all taken from the collection and enhanced greatly by the soundtracks provided by composition students at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. The lively event at the Knox Street Bar in Chippendale was a fitting way to celebrate another excellent microlit anthology. As well as being included in the collection and producing the videos I was pleased to have the opportunity to design the cover, and was more than pleased with the result. Visit Spineless Wonders for more details or to order your copy.

Out of Place microlit anthology

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Finding Stories

Posted in FLASHING THE SQUARE, NEWS & INFORMATION, WRITING TOOLS AND TIPS with tags , , , , , on March 19, 2014 by Richard Holt

Writing colleague and friend, Ann Bolch, has just published an interview she conducted that explored my ‘story a day’ project, ‘Small Stories About Love‘. It’s full of timely information given the Flashing the Square microfiction competition, which is currently open for entries. You can watch the interview at Ann’s blog A Story to Tell. Thanks to Ann’s fantastic editing skills I actually make a fair bit of sense. Thanks Ann.

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Here’s what the Flashing the Square microfiction videos look like

Posted in FLASHING THE SQUARE, NEWS & INFORMATION with tags , , , , on August 30, 2013 by Richard Holt

I’ve pasted an example of the Flashing the Square videos below. Each runs for about 3 minutes. If the animation seems a little slow remember these are created to be shown on a public screen with audience moving through and past the space, rather than necessarily to be watched from beginning to end in the way a movie or video clip is usually experienced. I hope you enjoy it.

[ please note the music used in this video, (Other) by A Way, is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. Visit http://freemusicarchive.org/music/A_Way/EP_1805/04_Other for more information. Please respect the license conditions. ]

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A new story and a format somewhere between microfiction and verse

Posted in NEWS & INFORMATION, stories, WRITING TOOLS AND TIPS with tags , , , on April 19, 2013 by Richard Holt

I’ve just published a new story, Seven, on smallstoriesaboutlove.wordpress.com. It’s an example of a format I’ve played with a lot in recent months. If I had to call these stories something I guess it might be 36ers, because each story is composed of six six-word lines. I developed the format after considering the classic six word microfiction example attributed to Ernest Hemingway. I’ve never found the six word format very satisfying but wanted to explode it just enough that it would work for me. Six by six is what I finished up with. What I like most about this format is that, regardless of the number of syllables or where the emphases fall, line by line, they tend to resolve a pleasing meter of their own and read very much as poetry.

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A few quotes for when things get long-winded

Posted in WRITING TOOLS AND TIPS with tags , , on March 21, 2013 by Richard Holt

Very short fiction celebrates the concise. Following, gleaned from a number of internet quotation archives, is what a range of writers and commentators have had to say on brevity.

It is with words as with sunbeams. The more they are condensed, the deeper they burn. ~Robert Southey

The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do. ~Thomas Jefferson

I have made this [letter] longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter. ~Blaise Pascal, Lettres Provinciales, 1657, translated from French

That writer does the most, who gives his reader the most knowledge, and takes from him the least time. ~Charles Caleb Colton

If any man will draw up his case, and put his name at the foot of the first page, I will give him an immediate reply. Where he compels me to turn over the sheet, he must wait my leisure. ~Lord Sandwich

If you can’t write your idea on the back of my calling card, you don’t have a clear idea. ~David Belasco

It wasn’t by accident that the Gettysburg address was so short. ~ Ernest Hemingway

I will be so brief I have already finished. ~ Salvador Dali

Brevity is the soul of wit. ~William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Brevity is the soul of lingerie. ~Dorothy Parker


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A great resource for writers seeking publication

Posted in OPPORTUNITIES with tags , , on March 13, 2013 by Richard Holt

Flash Fiction Chronicles Flash Fiction Markets page is a fantastic resource. It’s comprehensive, kept up to date and features links to numerous projects, and publications that publish shorter forms of fiction. It’s also sorted by word length which makes it really easy to use.

Visit the Flash Fiction Chronicles and click the Flash Markets link on the main menu. While you’re at it also check out the site’s great writing, commentary and resources.

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20 things I’ve learned about writing microfiction

Posted in WRITING TOOLS AND TIPS with tags , , on March 13, 2013 by Richard Holt

20 things I’ve learned about writing microfiction is a document created for workshops for microfiction writers. It represents some of the most important lessons I have learned as a writer of microfiction.

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