Years ago an established film producer told me that writing is like golf. "You've got to practice writing every day to stay on top of the game."
All writers can find creative ways to avoid picking up a pad and pencil or sitting down at a keyboard, but the chief reason is that there isn't enough time in our busy schedules. When we do manage to find the time to write we discover we spend more time structuring the story than writing. Or perhaps you're the type of writer who lets the story bubble up from the primordial mass we call the brain and let the words pour out only to later to shape them into a story with a beginning, middle, and end.
What ever your writing approach you'll soon discover that writing Blink Fiction strengthens your writing skills regardless of the writing form you do most often, or even the genre for that matter. As a screenwriter you'll recognize that Blink Fiction stories help you writer scene descriptions that are more compelling, structure scenes with a better pace, and the entire script will benefit with a cohesive, tight, storyline.
As a novelist characters will have greater depth, better story conflict, and storylines that rivet the reader.
You're probably thinking, "That's a heck of a lot of promises. How can you make those claims?" Glad you asked.
If you're a lover of the written word you have already created a few stories. You know what it means to struggle over form, content, and context. You know about revisions. You know that a lot of your soul is buried in your stories. You also know that the more you write the better writer you become. You know that warm fuzzy feeling of having pole valuated yourself above the mundane and even if only momentarily have floated towards the sky. Finishing a story gives the satisfaction of making a leap of faith in your creative abilities and landing safely back on the mat. Unfinished story efforts are a reminder of that you were unable to reach your goal--a finished story.
Blink Fiction Is Low Risk Writing
If you are unable to finish a story in 101 words or less it may be time that you take up finger painting as a creative outlet. It doesn't take a great amount of time to write a Blink Fiction story and it gives that warm fuzzy feeling when you've written one.
Blink Fiction is particularly well suited for procrastinators--especially the ten minute stress test exercise. The ten minute stress test is just that. You are given ten minutes to write a Blink Fiction story when given a story prompt; like a photo or the first line. Studies show that procrastinators work best under extreme pressure of a looming deadline. That's the whole point of the ten minute stress test.
Writing Blink Fiction Improves Your Writing Skills
Any writing is going to improve your writing skills. Because Blink Fiction stories are meant to be completed in one session you'll find yourself writing one whenever you have a few idle minutes. Perhaps waiting for your car to be lubed, sitting in a reception room waiting for your name to be called, or on the subway ride to or from work. You'll write more often and you'll write better.
When you don't exercise your creative imagination atrophy develops. Like a muscle you need to exercise your mind to keep it active. Because Blink Fiction is conducive to the busy schedule of modern life you'll find your creative ability increasing exponentially to the amount of Blink Fiction that you write.
Your Story Telling Skills Improve with Blink Fiction
Peruse any library shelf with 'how to' books on fiction writing you'll find a lot of helpful advice on creating backgrounds for your story characters, techniques for making a scene breathe with color, sound, and images. What you won't find is much on story structure. The reason a dearth of story structure books is simple--it's easier to teach writing tricks to make a character or scene come alive than how a story needs to be structured. It isn't that it can't be taught, just more work by the creative writing instructor/author.
Because Blink Fiction focuses upmost on story structure your story telling skills will improve.
Blink Fiction Helps Focus Your Writing
When writing flash fiction or short stories you are given the luxury of using literary devices to mask the lack of story. Blink Fiction requires that you cut to the bone. There is no time for flowery descriptions of character or landscape. No time to meander within a character's thoughts. Nope. Blink Fiction suggest, no requires, that you boil off the fat and deliver your story with only meat and bare bone.
#1 Reason for Writing Blink Fiction
It's fun.
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