So here’s the fluff… FiftyFiction is dedicated to the art of small stories, told with the least amount of pretension and purple language possible. Topical themes or random ideas, open challenges or quiet battles—the aim is to encourage a little dose of writing, often, through fifty-word stories. Word count here we come.
The process is meant to be pleasurable, satisfying. A bit like completing a literary sudoku. A shot of writing tequila. A…
Anyway, the point is that they should be quick, light, fun, and accessible to the world, his dog, and my own. It’s open to everyone, all ages, abilities, heights. A few minutes of tap-tap-tap-delete-tap-tap and a lifetime of little snippets of fun.
Lofty enough? Indeed. Let’s ground ourselves and have a look at what’s happening right here. Thing is, our website has a lot going on, so we’re going to don some white gloves, put a whistle to our lips, and give you a little direction:
If you look over to the right of this page, you’ll find some quick links to bits and pieces, such as a blurb on what we do, our Twitter feed, and links to what we put up on the site.
On the Home page you’ll see all the posts we, um, post. Amongst the jumble you’ll find posts on Online Contests, a litter of Secret Stories, as well as updates on our daily business. If you’re up for a bit of perusing, flea-market style, this is the way to go.
And up top you’ll find links to our pages (such as this one). So, the home page is chronological, but up top it’s categorical. You’ll also be able to sift through all the stories ever submitted, as well as find out how to submit your own. And how to buy some of the stories in our online shop. AND to what charity we give the proceeds.
Please note that stories are submitted one of two ways. There are Online Contests that take place throughout the year, and all entries (that comply with our rules) are published. Then there are the Secret Stories, and the process for these is a little more complicated. We invite people to submit a 50-word story on an object, such as “Key” or “Postman” . Our editors sift through the submissions and pick only the best stories to turn into small art pieces. Current Secret Stories available have been written by established authors (including Michael Morpurgo), new writers, school-children, and anyone who is interested in having a go. It is a deliberately diverse pool, since we want to show a variety of perspectives on everyday subjects.
Once a Secret Story has been approved, we match a beautiful illustration to it, then design and print just ten copies. Each author signs the ten copies of their story on the back. Only once a buyer receives the story do they find out who wrote it!
Any questions, thoughts, comments or ideas, email info@fiftyfiction.org. Thanks.
