10 Lessons I Learned From Judging a Flash Fiction Competition

I helped judge the TL;DR Press 1,000 Word Herd Flash Fiction Competition (or #1kWHC for short). We gave each writer two prompts and 1 week to write a 1,000-word flash fiction story based on them.

From November 2019 to June 2020 we went from concept to creating rules and rubrics to opening the competition to judging/working with guest judges to select winners to finally publishing the winning stories.

It was a fulfilling experience in four ways:

1. I got to work with a lovely team on a project we’re all passionate about.
2. All proceeds from the sale of the winners’ collection went to First Story, a UK-based literary charity.
3. We got to read and give feedback to dozens and dozens of writers.
4. I learned a ton about flash fiction.

Throughout this process, I noticed trends in the writing I saw, for better and for worse. I think it’s helpful for writers to see “behind the scenes” at how judges and editors are thinking about their work and the larger context of submitting. This is just my perspective — I’m one judge, with my biases and foibles.

I won’t talk about any specific submission or writer. Those were anonymously sent to us and I respect these writers far too much to discuss any individual story without their consent. These are trends found overall during the competition, in multiple submissions and also…