The Writing Slump
A few months ago. I challenged myself to write at least one piece of flash fiction every month after realising I hadn’t written any this year. The words seemed to have dried up, or was it that other stuff was grabbing my attention? Yeah, probably the latter.
Then I started looking at prompts, images, or photos in writing challenge posts. Sometimes the ideas and words flowed, but I also struggled.
Finding Inspiration in Prompts
Two of my most recent pieces of flash fiction came from prompts Esther Chilton posted on her blog.
‘The Man That Knew Too Soon‘ was written in response to the prompt word ‘Cross,’ while ‘The Shape Of His Loneliness‘ came about from Esther’s prompt word ‘Figure.’ I was pleased with how both stories turned out, and so, it seems, were many readers.
A Story Forty Years in the Making
This month’s flash fiction piece didn’t require a published prompt word or photo. The story came from an image that’s been locked in my head for over forty years. It’s of a smartly dressed, curly-haired woman in her late 20s, with a black shoulder bag hanging over her left shoulder, shopping in a large department store on Oxford Street in London’s West End.
I worked at the store, and although I knew the woman, I didn’t know her that well. But the image I saw of her that day immediately gave me an idea for a story that took me over 40 years to write.
Last year, I finally let my fingers bring the image of that woman from my mind onto my computer screen, and I wrote the story, ‘If You Happen to See the Most Beautiful Woman In The World.’ But you won’t find the story here.
Where to Find the Story
If you’re curious who the woman is and what her story is, you’ll find it on the blog of Marsha Ingrao, the very talented host of Story Chat Digest.
The story is a 5-7-minute read, so it won’t take long.
I’d love to hear your feedback about the story, which you can leave in the comments section of the post on Marsha’s blog. Click the image below to go straight to the story and meet the woman who inspired it over 40 years ago.
Alternatively, click the following link.
If You Happen To See The Most Beautiful Woman In The World
However (there’s always an ‘however’ with me and my stories, isn’t there?), this woman isn’t all she seems.
Story Chat Digest
If you want to know who she is, ask me some questions about her in the post’s comments section on Marsha’s blog, and I may let you in on a secret with a twist.
My thanks to Marsha for accepting my story for this year’s Story Chat Digest, a place where everyone is welcome to submit a story and join other authors over coffee or another beverage to discuss all the wonderful stories.
If you’re interested in submitting a story, contact Marsha.
The latest Story Chat Digest book is now available for purchase. Click here for details.
Writing is a funny thing. Sometimes the words refuse to come, and other times a forty-year-old image quietly waiting in the back of your mind turns into a story you’re proud to share.
I hope you enjoy reading ‘If You Happen to See the Most Beautiful Woman in the World’ as much as I enjoyed finally writing it. If you do pop over to Marsha’s blog, don’t forget to say hello in the comments. I’d love to know what you think.
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Mashra Ingrao created the featured image and other images in this post. AI corrected spelling and grammar mistakes and helped with the post layout.
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