It’s just over two weeks to go until the deadline of our June Award on Sunday, 7th June at midnight, BST. Still time to write and refine.
Kathy Fish, in one of her recent substack posts talked about the value of prompts. Not to be sniffed at. I have asked many judges for BFFA and also prize winners to give prompts. Here are a few of them to get you going or help you carry on further.
First from our current judge Alison Woodhouse, who is on a recent flash fiction success roll having won the Mslexia flash fiction award this year, received an honourable mention in the Fish Flash Prize, and is currently long listed for the SmokeLong flash contest as well as receiving a special mention in our last BFFA award from Ingrid Jendzrejewski.
” I’ve talked about the meaning of words and movement as being important elements in flash. For this prompt start off by thinking of a homonym (a word spelt the same but with different meanings ie bank) and write a paragraph for each meaning then a final paragraph where you try and bring it together. Don’t worry if they won’t (although you could write about a financial institution on the side of a river ☺) but this might give you the seed of a place or a tension between meanings that could be fruitful and there’ll be movement inherent in the separate paragraphs.” — Alison Woodhouse
The late John Brantingham was going to judge our award in February but we had postponed it till October. To honour his memory, I hope some of you might like to try the nature prompt he gave me. He gave such wonderful workshops on nature writing at the flashfictionfestival.
“This is my favorite prompt: Write about the first time you can remember being outside by yourself. Do NOT write about the first time you were actually outside by yourself. Write about the first time that you REMEMBER it. If that was when you were 4 years old, great! If that’s when you were 68 years old, that’s equally good.”
John Brantingham
Here’s a prompt by First Prize winner form last June, Alison Powell
“Think of an important historical figure who fascinates you – Queen Elizabeth I, Leonardo Da Vinci, Marie Curie, Napoleon…Spend no more than 30 minutes researching their life. Now write a story about someone in a contemporary setting who has an imaginary relationship with this historical figure. See what emerges!
Or if that feels too surreal, write a good old fashioned rant. Let rip on the page about something that is bugging you on a global or personal level. Let that be your starting place and see where it takes you.”
Alison Powell
And here’s one from me.
“In your story, use something you heard on the radio this week, include something tender you saw outside (people, plants) the touch of something on your cheek, the taste of a herb, the smell of a rose or any other flower”
Jude Higgins
Finally it’s not a prompt, but here’s the wonderful Matt Kendrick, who judged for us in October 2024 with his thoughts on endings.
“My top tip is to focus on your ending. Everything pivots around that. How does it connect with the start? Now that you know where you’re going, have you started in the right place to create a journey through the piece? Does that journey work with your endpoint? Look at your title—does it chime with the ending in some way? In terms of the ending itself, does it leave a reader on the right emotional note? Is that emotion being earned? Does the ending give a reader a springboard to both reflect on what they’ve just read and allow them to imagine what might come next? Is the rhythm and tempo of the ending working in the strongest way? For me, the ending is the most important piece of the puzzle. A brilliant ending can elevate an otherwise ordinary piece. A slightly flat ending can puncture an otherwise dazzling story.”
Matt Kendrick
Best wishes and thanks to all who have entered so far.
Jude
May 2026
