February 2023
This month I’ve enjoyed reading prize-winning stories from both Reflex Fiction and Flash 500, as well as dipping into Fictive Dream’s “Flash Fiction February” annual celebration of flash. There was also the announcement for Best Microfiction 2023. February is the shortest month, but it felt like there was so much great writing published this month, and I was spoilt for choice as to what to include in this round-up.
Before we get started, a chance to work with me on one of my courses a little later in the year…
Upcoming Courses
Colourful Characters: 15th – 28th May (two spots left)
Glorious Words: 5th – 18th June (email me on matt@mattkendrick.co.uk to get your name on the priority list)
February 1st
Don’t Look (Mary Grimm | MacQueen’s Quinterly)
Why I like it: the unsettling nature of the writing, the way that builds intrigue, the slow dawning of the situation as we move from beginning to end, the tension created between the statement of a thing and the following if-clause (“my glasses, if I had glasses”).
February 2nd
Boys in Boxes (James Montgomery | Reflex Fiction)
Why I like it: an important story that contains so much in just 360 words, the way emotion is built through the writing itself (the use of repetition, the insistent alliterative effect of Bs and other plosive sounds, a competing sibilation of Ss).
February 3rd
A Way (Sarah Freligh | Fictive Dream)
Why I like it: the richness of the detail which brings this world to life, the clever architecture of the story – notice sentence length (the first sentence is long followed by a general movement from long to short), notice the repetition of the word “way” (it is used eight times in the story, always in different “way”s, mostly bunched up towards that wonderful ending).
PROMPT: structure a story around a repeating word, using it sparsely to begin with then building it up, thinking about the different ways the word can be used (different meanings, different parts of speech, compound constructions etc.)
February 4th
The Unfolding of Flamingos (Julia Ruth Smith | New Flash Fiction Review)
Why I like it: the thematic cohesion of the imagery, the lyrical nature of the writing, the layers to the story – everything that is going on with the mother is teased out in small glimpses – the sense of empowerment in the ending even in the face of such darkness.
February 5th
Shine in her Light (Sabina Y. Wong | Citron Review)
Why I like it: a surreal story with heart, an originality to the narrative that feels as though it will linger for a long time, the cleverly shifting perspective, the swell of emotions that seemed to catch me unawares.
February 6th
Owen Will Tell You (Francine Witte | Five South)
Why I like it: the way the title bridges into the story without a breath, the structure that swirls around that central idea of names and identity, the unexpected shifts in the narrative, the sense of hope and happiness in that ending.
February 7th
Bison Paddock (Eliot Li | Ekphrastic Review)
Why I like it: the richness of the description that makes the world come to life in ultra-high definition, the textural contrast with moments of lyricism juxtaposed with moments of humour.
February 8th
Her Mother, My Mother (Hema Nataraju | 100 Word Story)
Why I like it: the back-and-forth nature (each sentence constructed of a “her mother” phrase and a “my mother” phrase), the clever choice of details that brings both worlds to life, the way the final sentence casts everything before it into a completely new life and gives a reader so much to ponder.
February 9th
Far From Fine (Damhnait Monaghan | Fictive Dream)
Why I like it: the way the perspective shifts from paragraph to paragraph, how each paragraph / perspective tells us something new about the boy who is far from fine, a sense of zooming in from a dsitance to inside his mind, the anchoring effect of that initial “what he needs”
February 10th
The Dream he Forgot (Marzia Rahman | The Antonym Mag)
Why I like it: the way it starts almost mid-sentence, the evocative build of images, the whole thing transporting me into the world of the story.
PROMPT: start a story using the word ‘and’ as though the narrator is mid-sentence and use this to propel a reader directly into a scene, building up rich details like in this story.
February 11th
Baby Jesus (Jude Higgins | Flash 500)
Why I like it: how the story uses an object to create a laser focus, something around which the succession of scenes form a cohesive whole, other repeating motifs like Pac-a-mac and the dress; the brilliant tone of voice, the layers of story.
February 12th
Infinite Density (Joshua Michael Stewart | New Flash Fiction Review)
Why I like it: that opening sentence that immediately reeled me in, the sense of build and the sense of countdown that drives the story forwards, the surreal nature of the narrative with a sense of greater meaning hidden underneath.
PROMPT: consider an unexpected change that might come over a character (like getting ever smaller) and take it to its limit – what happens when they reach that point? What are the consequences for character and world?
February 13th
For Richer (Shareen K. Murayama | Wigleaf)
Why I like it: the way the story shifts from excitable expansion to a wistful longing of how things were before, the sense of theme (all that glitters is not gold) lurking beneath the story, how the piece structures around the subject of each sentence (starting with “we” then focusing on “you” / “I” before coming back to “we” in the final paragraph)
February 14th
The Scrape (Kirk Vanderbeek | Baltimore Review)
Why I like it: the immersive use of the sensory to pull a reader into a story, the way the narrative hinges around that striking line of orphaned text, the clever shift from one perspective / one time frame to another around that central hinge.
February 15th
Pumpkin (Gillian O’Shaughnessy | Flash 500)
Why I like it: a story that starts with a bang and unfurls in rich evocative details, the uniqueness of the characters, the way a reader is invited into the story through the second person point of view, the weight of sadness that builds towards that powerful ending.
February 16th
What the Dreaming Town Says to You, You in This Only Love (Pat Foran | Tiny Molecules)
Why I like it: the sumptuous, melodious beauty of the writing, the images that tumble one over the other, each of them intriguing and original (my highlight is the “masquerading moon” but there is so much here that sparkles), the unsettling sense of emotion that builds and builds and builds.
February 17th
Vicarious Transubstantiation (Emilee Prado | Fractured Lit)
Why I like it: a story that is likely to stay in mind for a long time, making me ponder all those layers of meaning, the hidden truths beneath that surface layer, the creative us of white space to give a reader plenty of moments to pause and think.
February 18th
Grizzly Feed (Noémi Scheiring-Oláh | The Molotov Cocktail)
Why I like it: the tense atmosphere created through rich, specific sensory detail and the taut rhythm of the writing, the lists (“scraping, scratching, clawing” / “how loud, or how bitter, or how sweet, or how much we cried”) that have so much build to them, the complexity of character that pushes beyond my expectations.
February 19th
Cuffing Season (Jeanine Skowronski | Reflex Fiction)
Why I like it: the extended metaphor that has been used in such an innovative way helping to create a brilliant sense of character as well as a new and unique narrative angle.
February 20th
The Girl in the Corner Smoking a Cigarette (Karen Jones | Fictive Dream)
Why I like it: how deeply I get a sense of what it feels to be this character, the overlapping of sensory, character knowledge and character thought; the wistfully evocative atmosphere.
February 21st
Squint (Phebe Jewell | Milk Candy Review)
Why I like it: the unsettling nature set up from that very opening line, the cleverly shifting perspective (pulling back from “boy in scene” to “narrator holding photograph”), the sense of a question within the narrative for a reader to solve.
PROMPT: tell a story that either starts with a photograph and pulls back in terms of perspective to the person looking at the image or one that starts with a person looking at a photograph and then jumps fully inside.
February 22nd
I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream (Chelsea Stickle | Craft Literary)
Why I like it: the collective voice, the amplification of emotion from beginning to end, how that build is underpinned by the writing (use of lists, insistent repetition, mirrored pairs like “perfect bodies, perfect souls” and “high-pitched, low-pitched).
February 23rd
Life Goes On (Jonathan Sellers | Edinburgh Award for Flash Fiction)
Why I like it: the humorous tone of voice (it feels as though we don’t see enough humour in flash fiction), the cohesive flow of ideas from one sentence to the next, the understated power of the title.
February 24th
The Years, The Years (Diane Gottlieb | 100 Word Story)
Why I like it: the multiple emotional tones that are touched on in just a hundred words, the power of that ending, the creation of a whole world within a thimble.
February 25th
Culloden (Dawn Miller | Fictive Dream)
Why I like it: the sheer amount of story suggested in this tiny space, the wonderful tone of voice, the emotions that lap like the waves, the use of this one long sentence and the way it is structured with tree-branch asides and building lists.
February 26th
Sitting with Snails (Eric Scott Tryon | Ninth Letter)
Why I like it: the gentle stillness of the story, just two women sitting with snails, the pace of the writing reflecting that; the imagery that unfolds in unexpected ways, especially the extended image of “gossip materializing into a grove of trees”.
February 27th
Ghost Words (Vimla Sriram | Cincinnati Review)
Why I like it: normally I advise writers to root their reader with an early subject-verb but here we’re kept waiting through three whole lines before the subject-verb arrives – and I love the effect that creates along with the specific detail rooting us in place, and the poise of the writing as a whole.
February 28th
Tonight He Is Alive (Emily Roth | Reflex Fiction)
Why I like it: the way it plays with time (this is a story seemingly set prior to the death that also carries full knowledge of that death which is to come), how the juxtaposition of present and future creates friction, the storytelling perspective (through whose eyes are we seeing things?) also shifting about in a clever way.
PROMPT: consider an event that changes things in a significant way (either for better or worse) and tell a story of what happens the day / week / month before. Set that “before” scene in present tense but also include details of the future event and how that might have changed the characters’ choices in the present scene if they had only known what was around the corner.
I hoped you enjoyed all my recommendations this month. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. I’d also love to hear about any other brilliant ‘mondettes’ you’ve discovered over the past few weeks.
Why not share with your writer friends?
If you like what I do and have a couple of quid to spare, buying me a coffee on Ko-fi will help keep my courses pay-what-you-can and fund the 2024 edition of The Welkin Writing Prize.
If you haven’t already done so, why not subscribe to get my monthly round-up sent straight to your inbox?