Time for a FLASH of August inspiration

The clock is ticking — and this is your last weekend to put pen to paper and get your entry in for our August Flash Fiction Competition.

If you’ve been meaning to enter the Cranked Anvil Flash Fiction Competition but haven’t quite got around to it, now is the perfect time. The final weekend is here, so grab a coffee, find a quiet corner, open your notebook or laptop, and get writing!

Deadline is midnight UK time on Monday 31st August.

Entry fees remain low – just £5 for one story (£8 for two, £10 for three). And you can also request the option to receive a detailed feedback/critique on your work. Find out about our critique service here.

---

Flash fiction is all about making every word count. You don’t need thousands of words to create a memorable story. Sometimes, a few hundred carefully chosen words can introduce a character, create a world, deliver a twist and leave a reader thinking long after they’ve reached the final line.

Perhaps you’ve already got an idea scribbled down somewhere. Maybe there’s a character you’ve been wanting to write about, a strange situation you can’t stop thinking about, or a brilliant opening sentence looking for a story. Whatever it is, this could be the weekend to turn that idea into an entry.

And there’s plenty to play for.

Our competition offers cash prizes, giving you the chance to earn some money for your creativity and hard work. Winning entries can also gain publication online on the Cranked Anvil website, giving your writing an audience beyond your desk drawer. There’s also the possibility of inclusion in future digital anthologies, along with much more for successful entrants.

But perhaps the biggest reason to enter is simply to give your story a chance.

Writing competitions are a great way to challenge yourself, put your work in front of judges and discover what happens when you take an idea from your imagination and turn it into something other people can read. You never know where a few hundred words might lead.

So, if you’ve been sitting on an idea, this is your sign to write it.

Don’t worry about making the first draft perfect. Get the words down, take a break, read it back, make those final tweaks and then send it in. The important thing is to make sure your story gets through the door before the deadline.

Your story might only be a few hundred words long, but it could be the start of something much bigger.

Get writing. Get your entry in. And good luck!