Well, I've got a bit of time now so I'm polishing up assignments, especially the ones that my tutor thinks might be publishable, ready for competitions. So far, I've done the Biscuit flash fiction one, a Writing Magazine short short story and an old story (also known as TMA05) has gone to Writers Forum, mostly to find out what's wrong with it!
I've also got Viking Funeral on the go for Writing Magazine, and six others in their early stages. Nothing looks remotely poncy (sorry, well crafted) enough to enter the Bridport Prize. I thought half the last years stories were brilliant and the other half were pants. Maybe there were two judges and they got to pick half each. I'm cool with mysterious and intriguing but I don't want to be baffled even after I've read it again, and certainly I want to care about at least one of the characters.
On the bright side, this time last year I didn't know how substandard my writing was, and I now even have a few ideas about how to improve it. This A215 course has been absolutely brilliant for me, although it was the OCA course that really got me started. I would recommend either, or both, to anyone who wants to master the nuts and bolts of writing and nurture the inborn talent.
Just a word about flash fiction. I haven't tried it before (not wanting to part with any of my darlings, obviously) but cutting a 2-2.5k story down to 700 words is amazingly therapeutic. I've now squeezed two stories that didn't work that well down to miniature masterpieces (comparatively.) Give it a try!
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