Email Questions About the Flash Fiction Contest

We received an e-mail from a reader who wanted to enter the Flash Fiction Contest, but she had a question concerning the prompt and genre. We thought we'd post it here for anyone who had a similar question.

To refresh your memory, here is the prompt: "You receive the pom-pom that you thought you had lost ten years ago in high school. There is no return address on the box."

Q: "For the contest, can you only write on the prompt? In some areas I felt that I could write in any genre and others only spoke of the prompt."

A: You can write in any genre, but your story must touch on the prompt in some way. Here are some examples:

Horror Genre: You could write about a stalker who sent you your old pom-pom in the mail.

Fantasy Genre: The pom-pom sent to you has magical powers that allows you to cloak your identity.

Romance Genre: An old flame from high school comes back into your life.

Mystery Genre: The pom-pom provides a clue to an unsolved case involving a murder victim.

Science Fiction Genre: In the future, pom-poms are considered contraband, and cheerleading is a forbidden...

Mainstream/Literary Genre: When the pom-pom arrives on the doorstep, it causes an unexpected quarrel with your husband.

Humor Genre: As you open the box containing the pom-pom, a crazy dog jumps out of nowhere, chews on it, and then carries it down the street as you go running frantically after him.

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Anyway, you get the idea! Those were just off the top of my head. There are a plenty of ways to take this, and feel free to use one if you'd like. I'm not the judge, so I have no idea if these would appeal to Teresa, but the main thing is to be creative! It doesn't have to be plot driven, it could be character driven as well. Play with setting, location, and characters to see what you come up with... and most of all, have fun!

If you have any questions, you can post comments here on the blog and we'll answer them, or e-mail us at: editors@wow-womenonwriting.com

We look forward to your entries!

Warmly,
Angela