Writer Advice

Helping Writers online since 1997

Prior Contest Winners

2021 Flash Fiction Winners

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2021 Flash Fiction Winners “It took one hundred and four seconds but felt longer. She knew something was wrong within twenty-five.”   –Máiréad Hurley The quality of the writing was high. We had some wonderful stories from both experienced and emerging writers. Good job! We are proud of our winners, finalists, and everyone who had the

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Spring 2021 ~~Flash Memoir Winners

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The Contest Winners Are “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”     ~~ Terry Pratchett   Excellence in Flash Memoir Congratulations to winners, finalists, and everyone who had the courage to enter their work. Flash Memoir is a blend of truth and artistry. The stories here are true recollections to the best

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2020-21 Scintillating Starts Contest Winners Are

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“I have judged many writing contests and I would say this by far was the hardest. The quality of writing was SO good.”   ~~Sue Ade The Winners Are Promising Openings from our Scintillating Starts Contest One of the judges sent the following encouraging comment which I am delighted to share: “I have judged many

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2020 Flash Prose Contest: The New Normal

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“The virus lurks, undetectable without a swab.”   ~~Jill Witty 2020 Flash Prose Contest: The New Normal Thanks to those of you who submitted to Writer Advice’s Flash Prose Contest. There are many e-zines seeking pieces about COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, John Lewis, RBG, Presidential Debates, and the other ongoing stories of 2020. If we’re

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2020 Summer Flash Fiction Contest

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First Place: The Dog Dies By Katie Broyhill   “Sit,” I said. No response — but he was deaf. “Buckley,” I said. “Sit.”  He sat, narrating his efforts with an accomplished huff. Stiff hips, you know, he seemed to say. I raised the gun, looking down at him through the sight. He blinked slowly back

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2020 Flash Memoir Winners

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    The Flash Memoir Contest Winners Are 👍✍️👏🎉👍✍️👏🎉👍✍️👏 A Win-Win:  In an effort to be fair to all of our four winners, I’ve made a change in prize designations. Here’s what happened: When I read Karen’s piece, I was concerned about whether she had gone through this or not, so I asked if it

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Winter 2020–The Winners of the Scintillating Starts Contest Are…

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Winter 2020–The Winners of the Scintillating Starts Contest Are… The Winners of Writer Advice’s 2019 Scintillating Starts Contest are Sue Stewart Ade, Sarah Russell, and Michael Jack Webb.  All are excellent writers and I love the voices represented here. The openings of their work are below. My compliments to everyone who entered. There are so many wonderful books

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Fall 2019 — Flash Prose Winners

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“Life changes fast. Life changes in the instant. You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends.”  –Joan Didion   Flash Prose Winners 2019   The Winners Are — Fall 2019   From the Editor: I continue to be impressed with all the creativity and effort on the part of participants. We

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Prior Winners –2019 Flash Memoir Contest

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‘It’s inspiring to read all the submissions and glance into the important moments of so many lives. You inspire me!   –B. Lynn Goodwin   Flash Memoir Winners 2019   Several submitters commented on the fact that you appreciated hearing comments from a human. From time to time, I submit too, and I agree that

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Scintillating Starts –January to March 2019

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This page used to be called Flash. It’s where we post the winners of each contest. The Scintillating Starts of Writer Advice’s 2018 contest are below. Editor’s Note: For the first time ever, we have a four-way tie. The judges score independently. They don’t talk to each other. Why does this matter? If one qualified

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Flash – Volume 19 Number 2

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Reading the Scintillating Starts you submitted was an eye-opening experience. I had trouble knowing whether many of them were memoir or fiction. That didn’t figure into my decision about the winners, but it made me realize that I could honor more people if we had separate contests for fiction and memoir. In 2016

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