Contest Special MYSTERY Flash contest! April 29 - May 12

I very much enjoyed the challenge and reading others' stories. Lots of fun, and always cool to see how people take a prompt in all different directions. And there was a lot of talent in the contest!

That said ,there was not a lot of voting, perhaps because of two issues. First, I found it extremely hard to locate the contest and the voting on the website, and I don't think I got any emails promoting it (other than those I received as a participant). Not sure how many people really knew about it. Second, because there were quite a few entries (a good problem to have!) I think it may have discouraged people who are very busy these days from committing to reading all the entries and voting. I don't know if there is another way to break it into smaller chunks.

Thanks a lot for running the contest!!

Good fun and excellent writing practice! I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Another wonderful interesting prompt. It certainly kickstarts the imagination.

I like the concept. I think it works well. But I was shocked at the low number of participants and the low number of total votes. Granted, I was not able to see what the final vote counts were after the event ended, so it's possible the total was considerably higher than when I last checked. I'd like to see some sort of incentive implemented to increase the number of total votes, as a total of less than 10 votes between 3 stories is barely worth recognizing.

I love this contest. Long may it continue. I learn so much from having to write the short story. Thank you.

Such a lovely, friendly way to hone craft, enjoy friendly competition, and get to read great stories.

Always an interesting challenge. I love the varied prompts which stick starts my imagination. I hope the small numbers entering won't stop the competition carrying on as I find my other writing benefits as well.

I did not participate in this week's flash contest but overall I am satisfied with it and how it is run. I'm still unsure, however, who is judging the stories as voting seems to have been suspended.

This was my 1st Flash attempt. It was so fun and challenging to try to convey fully formed characters and backstory in >1k words. Will definitely participate in future contests!

It would be helpful to have an impartial voice providing a critique for each story.

This is a really fun class. Allowing the winner to pick the prompts gives great diversity. The only thing I would say to do differently is have the winner picked by actual judges. There does not seem to be enough involvement yet to pick winners from voting, sometimes every story only gets one or two votes.

I was not expecting the prompt to be just an image, although this is my first contest. Perhaps a genre would be nice next time. I also continue to struggle with the links and finding the actual stories as they are posted. It seems there are too many links rather than a simple drill-down or menu pull-down method. I found myself going down a number of rabbit holes without finding what I was looking for.

This was enjoyable and helped to get the juices flowing. The differences in the prompts gave a nice chance for everyone. The week to write and the week to vote was a great pace. When work was overwhelming I could read and vote and not write but would have the opportunity to write again soon. Enjoyed it immensely and will sign up for more.
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I enjoy taking part in this contest. I don't get the chance to thank people for leaving comments about my stories, but I always find them helpful. There's constructive criticism if necessary. This is a definite plus as it isn't a given in other contests. That's my experience anyway.

Every chance to hone your craft, to better your hook, to understand what readers relate to, is immensely valuable. Getting to enjoy what others write using the same prompt, getting to know people, share tips and feedback, those things are priceless. :)

Very well-organised class and a group of participants who give thoughtful feedback every week, whether they've completed their own stories or not. There's a lovely, supportive atmosphere in the classroom and room for all styles of writer from beginner to more experienced.

As always, a wonderful way to grow, practice and interact. I love seeing what everyone comes up with for the challenges. So inspiring!

It was fun and challenging. Some good stories appeared and I agree with the selected winner.

The flash contest is very well-organised. The fortnightly time scale is just right, with the first week to get creative to a prompt and the second week to read the other contestants stories, vote, and give feedback. Everybody who takes part has their own flash style, which is great because it shows the diversity and adaptability of flash as a medium. The feedback from peers is genuinely thoughtful and helpful. But most of all, it's just fun to take part!

Since I've started writing for the Flash Fiction I've had to write something every day which has got me into a routine. I'm a procrastinator and this contest has helped me a lot to focus. The prompts are imaginative and interesting. Thanks also to the organisers.