Flash Fiction Challenge: The Present Tense

(Last week’s challenge, “Random Photo Story,” says, “Come look at my entries! They’re super!”)

So, maybe you saw an article on io9 yesterday — “10 Writing ‘Rules’ We Wish More Sci-Fi And Fantasy Authors Would Break.” It’s a very cool article. And I pretty much agree with all of it. In fact, BLACKBIRDS (which gets its first official review right here!) features a potentially unsympathetic character (though I love her dearly) and is written entirely in the present tense.

Now, for this challenge, I’m scraping all that away and saying —

Write a piece of flash fiction, 1000 words or less, in the present tense.

Doesn’t matter if it’s sci-fi or fantasy. I’m not asking you to write an unsympathetic character that yet remains compelling (aka livable over likable) — no, that’ll be a separate challenge.

Why do I love the present tense? It feels fast. Urgent. In the moment. It feels like you’re telling a story that’s evolving as the reader reads it as opposed to a story whose events have come and gone.

I am a big fan.

So, do that with your story this week.

Write whatever you want. Whatever genre, whatever character, whatever story.

As long as it’s in the present tense.

Post your stories at your site and drop a link into the comments here so we can come read ’em.

You’ve got a week.

I’ll see you back here on Friday, February 3rd, by noon EST.