Take A Leaf Out Of My Book - Write Micro Fiction?

Perhaps you are more a Creative Writer than a Non-Fiction writer? You can still cast your poems and short stories 'upon the waters' to trial them and get valuable feedback and ratings. Or why not leap in with both feet and just submit something? Leaf Books (UK and global) have a contest running right now (I'm submitting.) Paying sites that accept Creative Writing can be hard to find, but Helium does encourage creative writers. Or if you're in confident form, there's some more in-depth tips about Leaf Books in this article which I wrote for my Editor Site at BellaOnline magazine:

Flash Fiction anthologies make great potted books for any reader in a hurry, and the Leaf books anthology 'Derek and More Micro Fiction' is no exception. Writers in particular will find the collection a gripping read as it allow them a ‘fly-on-the-wall’ look into the writing lives and successes of other authors who are maybe not so very far ahead of them, but who have ‘made it.’

This directory of Micro Fiction competition-winners is made all the more delectable by the knowledge that smug published authors have not 'gotten into print' before novices just by sheer dint of their name and reputation. That greatest of levellers, anonymity, apparently prevails. So read the winning short fiction pieces and weep - or learn!

Derek and More Micro-Fiction is an anthology which may attract those who are automatically drawn to books which have a short, minimalist look about them – even if they are not writers. This slim, black, shiny volume with its lino-print effect, and black photo-negative style image of an empty park bench, looks mysterious.

Perhaps the styling even suggests an instruction like that of the bottle in Alice in Wonderland - inviting ‘read-me, you know you can do it in twenty minutes.’ Perfect for commuters or writers on the go, the anthology presentation suggests fiction which is witty but not too heavy.

Mini stories, 500 words or less, were called for and Leaf Books owns up to the fact that they sometimes admire the shortest – as in ‘a single paragraph.’ But then, that is now their prerogative, being (as they now suspect) a world-leader in Micro-Fiction publishing - and one which specialises in getting first-timers into print.

Some of the thirty-seven crisp shorts carry the dark theme forward, whether through representation of blind senile dementia, or through the enigma of mystery. Many of the short stories have ‘something of the night’ about them.

Readers may even take issue with the choices of winning entries, making perusing the anthology a truly interactive experience. They may find themselves subconsciously, or consciously, comparing the stories, mentally weighing the carats or flaws. They may harbor their own little grudges as they read, carrying their chosen one forward in their hearts to compare with the next story on the list - an intellectual challenge..............

Read more about the writers who actually win short story competitions in the rest of my BellaOnline article or find out about the contest in the forum:

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art47269.asp

MORE TIPS LIKE THESE?

Drop by my website - I'm working on a 'Cut to the Chase' Paid Freelancer Markets Ebook which will contain all my contacts. Learn more at:

www.inspiredwritingresearch.com