Speaking of stories...
What makes a great short story?
The Frazzled Lit Short Story Award 2025 will be open for entries from June 1st until June 30th, and we would love to see your work.
So, speaking of stories…
What, for us, makes a great short story, the sort that can win a major competition? It begins with your vision for the story, and how the voice communicates this to us in a heartfelt and confident way. It’s about heart – in fact, it might be ALL about heart – because when we read a piece of short fiction, what we really want is an experience. The very best stories will alter us in some tiny way, and perhaps make us look at the world a little differently.
Here are some examples from Issues 1 and 2 of Frazzled Lit:
No Thief by Mark Burrow
Rubble by Barbara Byar
Here We Go Again: A Listicle by Aisling Walsh
Boomerang Children by Matthew Dexter
Each of these stories has something that makes them original, and uniquely the author’s work. Probably no one else could have written these stories, though we may wish we had written them ourselves.
So that’s all a pretty tall order, and daunting when one faces a blank page. How then can we go about creating a very special story, and not be overwhelmed by the process?
Here are some of my top tips:
1. Write what’s in your heart, what you love and what you fear.
2. Don’t be afraid to experiment with new forms and character voices.
3. Accept failure as part of the process; the first draft is very rarely the final draft.
4. Make it yours; you are a unique individual who has lived a unique life. Draw on your experiences and your own being, and let it inform your prose.
5. Just write! Free writing is a great way to get started on a new story, and I frequently use it as a tool in my own writing.
6. Have fun, and play with the story! Writing is a gift, and we should at least try to enjoy and appreciate that we get to do it.
We really want to read your work in the Frazzled Lit Short Story Award, and wish you the very best in crafting a great story for us!
We hope to see your name on our longlist, at the least!
Now go, get writing!