The Next Chapter
A bittersweet “see you later” and a preview of what’s to come
You may be asking yourself, “Where the heck is the prompt for this week?”
Well, everyone, I have some bittersweet news to share.
Effective today, I will no longer be publishing stories at The Friday Fix on Medium. I’m sorry to pull the E brake so suddenly with little to no warning.
Trust me, this decision was not an easy one to make. I’ve enjoyed running this publication from day one. It’s been an absolute pleasure getting to know many of you, having the chance to read your fifty-word stories, and sharing them with this community.
There are many reasons why I’ve made this decision: my family is expanding, we’re in the process of moving, I’m heading back to the classroom to teach in September, and, simply, I have to choose how to allocate my time. The recent Terms of Service are a small factor in this decision — I’ve been contemplating my departure for a couple of months now. I am merely expediting the process.
I do have very good news, though.
Something exciting is in the works and has been going on behind the scenes. It ties into prompt-based microfiction, and will essentially be the next chapter for The Friday Fix. I’m not at liberty to reveal what it is yet, but it’s coming around the bend. If you’ve enjoyed the prompts and being a part of this community, I hope you’ll join in once it’s ready to roll. I’ve decided to pour my creative energy into this pursuit, and I’m excited about the opportunity.
Please consider following The Friday Fix on Twitter. My plan during this transition period is to still post a story prompt on Fridays. You can tweet a fifty-word story response @fix_friday, post your story on Medium, or do whatever you would like with it! It will be entirely up to you. Expect the first tweet prompt on Friday, August 28th. More importantly, keep an eye out for news and updates as The Friday Fix evolves.
I’ll still have a Medium profile, so I will post an update or two here as well. You can also follow me on Twitter to stay in touch or check out my WordPress blog, which I will try to update periodically with other writing-related stuff, too. (Just know that my skills are lacking in the web development department.)
With all of this said, Medium has been an incredibly positive experience for me, and I’m thankful I decided to sign up in March of 2019. I’ve had the chance to meet wonderful people, read brilliant stories, and experiment with writing.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you. This has been such an amazing experience, and I hope we can continue this writing journey together.
Stay tuned!
All the best,
Justin
PS — A couple of additional notes: The Friday Fix publication will remain on Medium indefinitely so you can still access all of the stories. Feel free to keep your stories here, remove them, or do whatever you would like — they’re your creations.
Also, in an overabundance of caution, I may be in contact with some of you regarding July’s stories (using song lyrics could be perceived as a copyright issue). If you have a story from July that uses a lyric or line from a song, I would encourage you to revise your story to remove the lyric. If you have any concerns or questions, please reach out to me directly.
Lastly, all current submissions in the queue will be returned unread. Thank you for your understanding!
