On Christmas Eve last year [wow – how long ago does THAT sound, phrased like that?] – yes – well, way back then, I learned I came 3rd in a children’s short story competition. What a thrill and just a tad ego-boosting, too. Can’t resist sharing the pic I used [wasn’t actually requested or intended as a cover, just loved it’s cuteness].
Then a couple of days ago I learned the group running that competition, @childrensfiction have included my book in their Wattpad anthology of Bedtime stories, featuring the winners of their competitions. I am SO honoured… and hopeful.
For the longest time I have been waiting for an official children’s section to have Wattpad’s mighty spotlight trained upon these super little stories, designed for the young as well as the eternally young at heart who read the stories to them.
I am hopeful of entering another writing competition where that is the premise I base my story on. Can I do it? This month and the first 2,000 words demanded will decide me whether I go forward with it in this way or not. The daunting part is than another 8,000 words must continue the story in the next month, and then a final 10,000 minimum to close the story in the last month.
It’s a big ask for a butterfly brain who wallows in Drabbles [exactly 100 words], flash fiction [100-1,000] and short stories [1,000 to 7,500]. Good grief, even my long stories [60,000+ words] are made up of a myriad of stand-alone story chapters.
SO… enough about the agony and the ecstasy – here’s the prompt that fired up my prize-winning story –
Prompt – The Short Man on the Tall Mountain
Summer lies on the warm grass, her long braids keeping her wind hair out of her freckled face.
She traces the outlines of the shapes in the clouds with a chubby finger and one squinted eye.
“What are you doing out here punkin’?” Summer’s grandpa inquires as he shuffles through the yard.
“Watching the animals,” she replis simply, never taking her eyes off the sky.
“Animals?” Her grandpa asks.
“Yeah Pappy, the animals the short man on the tall mountain makes with his breath.”
A Wattpad Children’s Fiction @childrensfiction and @adultfiction writing challenge. Length: 1500 words maximum. Deadline: Sunday 16th December 2018
And a link to read it, maybe? Here you go – The short and the TALL of it All.
