Writer Advice

Everybody has great stories to tell? What’s yours?

A flash memoir shows readers how you (the narrator) experienced and reacted to a turning point in your life. Write about something that changed the way you viewed yourself or your world. Show what happened and how it affected you. Invite us into your emotional truths.

There is no formula for success, but a protagonist we care about, a distinctive voice, and a clear impact on the reader all matter. Setting helps. So do conflict and resolution.

While Flash Memoir employs the writing techniques of Flash Fiction truth can often be more powerful than fiction. Please be sure that your submission is a memoir—something that you experienced.

No one can tell your story but you. A flash memoir should be short—750 words or less. It can have scenes, conflict narration, dialogue, and description. It should surprise and enlighten readers. It may also entertain them. If the story feels squeezed at 750-words, don’t force it. There are plenty of journals where you can send your longer pieces.

So many people lost their employment or their businesses during the ongoing pandemic that we’re keeping our reduced prices significantly for anyone who does not want feedback. Your work will still be considered for a prize, but you won’t receive a detailed evaluation of your writing.

If you’d like to know what’s working in your writing and what trips an award-winning writer up, I’m happy to send a personalized, detailed letter, but I have to ask that you pay an additional $9 fee. You’d pay the $5 submission fee and add the $9 feedback option on Submittable.

If you have the money, I strongly recommend it. Please remember that a worker is worthy of her hire. Thank you for understanding.

WriterAdvice, www.writeradvice.com, seeks flash memoir, a personal life story running 750 words or less. Enlighten, dazzle, and delight us. Focus on a moment that changed you. Memoir is a slice or sliver of your life. Hopefully, your story will touch or move readers in some way. 

Flash fiction can be entered in our next contest. This is for Flash Memoir only. 

We enjoy stories with a discovery, maybe a surprise, and a tone that rings true.

Finalists receive responses from all judges. Everyone receives a detailed response from award-winning author B. Lynn Goodwin.

DEADLINE: Submit to the WriterAdvice Flash Memoir Contest by March 2, 2022 Early submissions strongly encouraged.

JUDGES will be selected from previous prizewinners. Their names will be announced soon and you can read their pieces by clicking on Archives.

PRIZES: First Place earns $150; Second Place earns $75; Third Place earns $40; Honorable Mentions will also be listed.

FOR BEST RESULTS:

1. Include your name, contact information, and title in the cover letter, along with a statement saying this is memoir, but include only your title in the submission so it remains anonymous.
2. Since we judge these anonymously, you don’t need a cover letter that includes more than your contact information. If you are a finalist, we’ll ask for a bio.
3. Please double-space your submission. We recommend that you use a 14-point font that is easy to read. Cambria, Ariel, and Verdana are all good. If you forget, we can fix it for you.
4. You own the copyright. If we publish your work, the rights still belong to you.
5. Simultaneous submissions accepted. Please notify us immediately if it is accepted elsewhere.
6. We prefer unpublished work, though we sometimes accept stand-alone excerpts from memoirs seeking a publisher or agent.
7. Still not convinced? Take a look at the comments on www.writeradvice.com. Click on Current Contest

Winners will be announced on WriterAdvice, www.writeradvice.com in April or—worst case -- later. 

Questions? Please ask through the Contact Button.