Nothing like a deadline and big scary goal to get me off my arse.
Noticed on my X feed that RTE Radio are bringing out a new series that showcases short fiction, poetry or essays in their ‘The Prompt‘ feature.
As the name suggests, there are a number of prompts given to authors to focus their energies.
- ‘A World Without’
- ‘Dark Horse’
- ‘…the Patron Saint of…’
- ‘Shoes’
- ‘Tearing it Down’
- ‘Embarrassment’
- ‘An Unexpected Parcel’
- ‘Irrevocable Change’
The task? 750 words. Tops.
For the last three nights, I’ve surprised myself and been writing for hours drafting stories for 3 of these themes. (max entries are 3 – no more than 1 story per entry).
This weekend I’ll be polishing them off and submitting. Not expecting much because the competition will be intense, but this week, the discipline of sitting down and writing into the wee small hours has given me confidence to push ahead and write more often.
External recognition would be nice, of course. But even sharing these initial drafts with friends and family has given me so much joy.
The stoic in me always likes to consider worst case scenario. Should nothing come from these stories, I’ll add those to a collection of short stories in the future. Failing that, I may enter them in other comps. Speaking of which, I’m going to be adding a page to my site to catalogue these and be more active in getting stuff published online or in publications.
Anyway, I encourage you to check out The Prompt, because the closing date for entries is 6th April!