Flash Fiction Draw Challenge

I’ve mentioned a few times how I took part in the NYCMidnight Flash Fiction contest, and I did enjoy it quite a bit. At the end, I wasn’t sure about the judges’ critiques, so I think I’m going to give next year a pass, but the piece I liked the most about the contest was the random assignment of a genre, object, and setting.

So, it occurred to me I could stretch myself (and anyone else who wanted to join in) by recreating the contest for myself, using a three suits from a deck of cards. The other part of the contest that kept me honest was the turnaround time: each draw only gave the contestants two days to work on the piece, and they only found out what assignment they’d been given at midnight. So, in my case, the morning after. Because I’m old and asleep at midnight.

Instead, I’m thinking a draw at the start of each month, and a week to deliver, but I’ll stick to the “first Monday/following Monday” of each month, to keep it specific. I threw together a quick chart, using bits and pieces of the three challenges that I never had assigned to me, and this is the result:

I’ll only allow each card once, to avoid both repeats and because that means as the year rolls on, I’ll be able to see what’s “inbound” so to speak, and when December comes up, there’ll only be two options left for each slot, which means not quite as much to worry about in the busiest month.

I’ll do the first draw Monday, January 1st, 2018, which means the first 1,000 word (or less) piece should go up on Monday, January 8th, 2018.

Anyone want to join me?