UPDATED WITH WINNER: LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown: Knockemstiff Edition
Flash fiction: A style of fictional literature marked by extreme brevity
Welcome to LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown, a monthly bout of writing prowess.
How It Works
We give you inspiration in the form of a picture, poem, video, or prompt. You write a flash fiction piece using the inspiration we gave you. Put your entry in the comments section. One winner will be picked and awarded a prize.
The Rules
- 20 words. It can be less, but not more.
- It can be any genre.
- Give it a title. Please keep it to 10 words.
- We're not exactly shy, but let's stay away from senseless racism or violence.
- One entry per person.
- Editing your entry after you submit it is permitted.
- LitReactor staffers can't win, but are encouraged to participate.
- All stories submitted on or before June 29th. We will run the winner on June 30th.
This Month's Prize
One lucky winner gets a copy of Donald Ray Pollock's newest book, The Heavenly Table, coming out in July from Doubleday.
From Donald Ray Pollock, author of the highly acclaimed The Devil All the Time and Knockemstiff, comes a dark, gritty, electrifying (and, disturbingly, weirdly funny) new novel that will solidify his place among the best contemporary American authors.
It is 1917, in that sliver of border land that divides Georgia from Alabama. Dispossessed farmer Pearl Jewett ekes out a hardscrabble existence with his three young sons: Cane (the eldest; handsome; intelligent); Cob (short; heavy set; a bit slow); and Chimney (the youngest; thin; ill-tempered). Several hundred miles away in southern Ohio, a farmer by the name of Ellsworth Fiddler lives with his son, Eddie, and his wife, Eula. After Ellsworth is swindled out of his family's entire fortune, his life is put on a surprising, unforgettable, and violent trajectory that will directly lead him to cross paths with the Jewetts. No good can come of it. Or can it?
In the gothic tradition of Flannery O'Connor and Cormac McCarthy with a healthy dose of cinematic violence reminiscent of Sam Peckinpah, Quentin Tarantino and the Coen Brothers, the Jewetts and the Fiddlers will find their lives colliding in increasingly dark and horrific ways, placing Donald Ray Pollock firmly in the company of the genre's literary masters.
Your Inspiration
There are some crazy town names out there: Coxsackie, NY. Boring, Oregon. Truth and Consequences, NM. Imalone, WI. The author of our prize book was born in Knockemstiff, Ohio. For this month's contest, create a town with one of these awesome names (or you can use a real place, too,) and write a little description of what it's like to live in that town.
And The Winner Is...Saul Aguilar
This was a fun one! It does amaze me how a place name can mean so much and have such an effect on its residents. This month's winning entry is from Saul Aguilar:
Nothing, AZ
The visitor says, "What'd I expect?" repeating the local's question. With eyes glazed over, he mumbles, "More."
Column by Taylor Houston
Taylor Houston is a genuine Word Nerd living in Portland, OR where she works as a technical writer and volunteers on the marketing committee for Wordstock, a local organization dedicated to writing education. She has a BA in Creative Writing and Spanish from Hamilton College and attended Penn State's MFA program in Creative Nonfiction. She has taught writing at all levels from middle school to college to adult, and she is the creator of Writer’s Cramp, a class for adults who just want to write!
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Comments
Side Note: Steinbeck's East of Eden has a great section about town names. Well considering one of the major themes is names and how names influence the wearer, but I digress.
Yeehaw Junction, Florida
The single streetlight in Yeehaw Junction sways back and forth matched by old man Briggins in his rocking chair.
Concequences, NH
Charmed by the history and quaintness of Consequences, NH? There are repercussions to living in a town aptly named.
Waikikamukau
A hall thats never used, a pub thats never closed, and heaps of Pakeha's with dumb questions.
Red Herring, WI
"Nothing good’s ever come outta that town, Sheriff, and yer number one suspect was born there."
The town: Solidão (translated Loneliness), in Pernambuco - Brazil.
Loneliness down in the tropics
They come here to forget who they were, sir. Probably the reason no one opens the door to the new.
Nothing, AZ
The visitor says, "What'd I expect?" repeating the local's question. With eyes glazed over, he mumbles, "More."
Ghost Town, or Ong’s Hat, New Jersey.
Silence and honeysuckle prevail. Wind cascades over the ribcage of a mummified mule still tethered to a rusty plow. Progress.
Hell, Norway
Don't know why so many tell you to go here - there's nothing to see. And it does freeze over...often.
Tetas de la Bruja Negra, CA - Est. 1846, Pop. 13
A coven founded the town atop an inaccessible snowcap in the Sierra Nevadas. It snows year-round. The population never changes.
Buttzville, New Jersey
“Yeah, Johnny’s has some of the best wieners to come out of Buttzville,” Dick commented.
Jack frowned, considering. “No shit?”
Metropolis
Home of Superman. Finally got their first stoplight and a McDonalds last year.
Santa Claus, Indiana
Home of Bob Griese, Hall of Fame Quarterback. Home of Jay Cutler...
It also has very busy postmen. Stupid kids.
Dodge City, Kansas
You couldn't possibly miss Dodge City. Drive west until it smells like cow shit and broken dreams and you're there.