My solo flash fiction collection, The Vixen Scream and Other Bible Stories, is officially forthcoming from Australia’s Pure Slush Press later in 2014!
Find out more about Pure Slush Press here.
Category: Uncategorized
Summer Workshop Program Announced!
SUMMER ONLINE WORKSHOP PROGRAM
Mix and Match: Take 1, 2, or all 3 workshops!
Tuition and Registration Information
*All classes use a combination of weekly email lectures and assignments, 24/7 email access as well as a private FB page for participants to interact with each other, and a once a week group conference call that allows us to “meet” in real time. (Conference call time will be adjusted to the schedules of those in class)
“Nancy has a way with words, certainly, but she also has a way with people that allows her classes to take on a spirit that exceeds instruction or even guidance. Her consistent support and empathy is tempered with gentle nudges to step out of our comfort zones and approach our work, not with abandon, but with careful attention and encouragement.”
~Mara Eve Robbins, winner of the Real Simple essay contest
______________________________________________
JUNE: FINISH THAT MANUSCRIPT
An Online Workshop on Re-visioning, Taking Risks, Taking Yourself Seriously, and Falling Back in Love with Your Vision.
Are you still sitting on that same manuscript? Are you stuck in the writing phase or in the revision process? Or have you “finished” but not gotten the response you wanted out in the world? Are you not sure what comes next? Most of us are better at starting manuscripts than we are at finishing them. But it’s only when we can conceive, create, and bring our projects to fruition that we begin to master the longer form known as a book. Each book we write brings us closer to understanding how to write a book. What phase of the finishing process are you in? And…are you ready to finish?
*
JULY: SELF PROMOTION FOR THE SQUEAMISH
Launching Yourself and Your Work Into the World
You wrote the book…so you’re done, right? Wrong. Whether you are self-publishing, traditional publishing, or still undecided, today’s market requires that writers build and sustain their own readership. But how? Who are your readers? Who needs your book? And how do you find them? This workshop can help you uncover blocks to self-promotion, give you practical skills to approaching the market as a professional, and help you understand and take the necessary steps to not just writing a book but building a long term audience for your work.
*
AUGUST: WRITING FLASH FICTION
Flash forms have arrived as a backlash to genre boundaries and flash fiction is leading the pack, redefining how we tell stories. By embracing the compressed form, all writers–from poets to novelists–are cultivating a new set of skills and creating an entirely new kind of story. In this workshop we will generate original flash pieces, examine what makes successful flash fiction, and try to differentiate flash from its cousin, the prose poem. This workshop is open to writers with all levels of experience in the form.
April 16: Fbomb Prom!
Fbomb Flash Fiction Series Presents!
Spring is in the air and that means only one thing: Prom time! Grab your bow-ties and corsages and join us for the Fbomb Prom, hosted by Nancy Stohlman and featuring the amazing prose of Selah Ann Saterstrom! Open mic slots for flash fiction are 3-4 mins and sign-up begins at 6:30–anything lasting over 4 mins wouldn’t really be prom like…
Wednesday, April 16 6:45-8:45
The Mercury Cafe, 2199 California Street
Find out more about Selah Saterstrom’s work at:
http://divinatorypoetics.wordpress.com/b-o-o-k-s/
Flashnano: A Blitzkrieg of Flash Fiction in November
Originally Published in Flash Fiction Chronicles. Read original here
(Link not working while FFC backing up their old posts)
by Nancy Stohlman
Rewind to October 31, 2012. It began like this:
Are you doing Nanowrimo this year?
No, are you?
No, I don’t have a novel in me right now. I’m writing flash fiction.
Me too.
Maybe I should just write a flash story a day, you know, in solidarity.
I would do that if someone sent me a prompt every day.
And so Flashnano was born—30 stories in 30 days during the month of November, in solidarity with our novel-writing NaNoWriMo brothers and sisters.
I’ve participated in and greatly enjoyed NaNoWriMo many times, hitting the 50,000 mark twice. Mostly I love the marathon of it—writing that much material that fast is a really effective way to elude the inner critic. Granted, much of the material is throwaway, but within that big lump of clay are usually some really interesting insights, twists, phrases, ideas, and places that we may not have written ourselves into if we had gone about writing in our “normal” way.
The same is true with Flashnano—not every story is a winner, but participating in and embracing such a heightened outpouring often midwives stories into existence that may not have been created by other means.
Says first-time participant Nicholas Morris: “One of the great things I got out of Flashnano was that it forced me to live up to all of the creative writing advice I give my students, namely ‘Give yourself permission to write badly’ and ‘Try to write every day.’ It’s very easy to give that advice, but it’s much more difficult to follow it.”
And for those of us already in love with flash fiction, getting to play is one of the particular thrills of the form—since the stories are short, you are more inclined to take risks, trying things you might not try in a longer story or novel. Says participant Yvonne Rupert, “I took chances with my writing, approaching each day’s prompt with a ‘let’s try it and see’ attitude—regardless of what happened the day before.”
In 2012 I posted the daily prompts on my personal Facebook page just for fun. In 2013, when I realized it was creating a bigger buzz than I had anticipated, I got more organized and created webpages devoted to the prompts on both social media and my personal website. I would estimate that 200 writers took the plunge with me this past November.
The most common question I get asked about Flashnano is whether I read everyone’s stories. Absolutely not—whew! I wouldn’t have time to write myself if I did. Participants are certainly welcome to share and ultimately submit the work they produce during November, but I am only the facilitator. And just like NaNoWriMo, there is no judge or jury—ultimately this November contract is between you and your personal writing god.
So mark your calendars: This fall I will again challenge flash fiction writers everywhere to write 30 stories in 30 days. And whether you “win” or not, you are guaranteed to feed off the excitement of a flash fiction marathon and write a whole lot of material that you might not have otherwise written. To me, that’s a win.
Nancy Stohlman 