Keep in mind, you never said they had to be good!
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[Reminder – all submissions are due 23:59 UK time, TODAY - 23 March 2025]
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@AB17 @ClaireWoodier @Dain @Daurmith @drbruce @Dr_Wombat @FleetAdmiralO @FredInChina @GilsDesk @gr
[Reminder – all submissions are due 23:59 UK time, TODAY - 23 March 2025]
Less than 10 hours to go… (part 2 of 3)
@GraceK @jaw @Kritty3311 @MsRestless @Napje @NinaG @nom @R90emy @sameagleusa @scrapsandsass
[Reminder – all submissions are due 23:59 UK time, TODAY - 23 March 2025]
Less than 10 hours to go… (part 3 of 3)
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I did, actually, in the Welcome Pack…
The maximum word count is a pretty generous 3,000 words but — as with all our writing events — we’re looking for quality not quantity (we’re not NaNoWriMo). We want to see your best work, that you’re proud to share. As such, we’d much rather you submit 500 well edited and expertly crafted words that invoke genuine emotion than a 2,999 word “vomit draft” that readers would skim over. If you can tell a unique and original mystery story in just a haiku — that’s absolutely fine by us!
What’s your name again?
And where do I know you from?
Oh, you’re a mirror!In fact — post a haiku in the forum thread and earn a Haiku Sparkle!
I believe I achieved the goal but … “good” is subjective.
Mrs * was all “these are short… why did you explain <redacted> but not <redacted>? You’re horrible!” Which was not made better by my explanation that “imagination between the scene was the point… didn’t you explore things in your brain? Wasn’t that fun?”
Apparently the answer is that I’m living in the shed today.
“It’s fine.”
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Alas, I had a crazy busy week and didn’t have the time or mindset to really get into this so I got stuck in the ‘few ideas but nothing solid’ phase. I’m afraid I have to bail out this time.
Okay, that’s it. Next time I am submitting sixty fifty word stories.
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DAMN, I had forgotten and am now in the throes on setting on one specific idea.
Strangely enough, the idea that seems to be gelling better comes from a haiku. Which I will post here. I know nothing of haikus but this one seemed to just… appear:
As the knife plunges
Coldly my brain starts solving
My sudden murder
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By the way, while I was at it, I also invented a whole new genre – inverse detective fiction. in this kind of story everyone is a sleuth. The only problem is, the person whodonit must figure out which sleuth has solved the case, before its too late! It’s a whosonit!
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So the hunted is trying to figure out how is hunting him and has to “dispatch” the hunter? Does that win a pardon or just more street cred?
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That’s a rather brilliant Haiku! IMHO
As there’s no lower word limit, perhaps you could submit that as your story?
Or have it as a subtitle.
I’ve submitted a short poem as I liked it better than the stories I started, although it isn’t quite as minimalistic as your Haiku.
Maybe next time we could all try writing Flash Fiction instead? 
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Thank you so much! 
As a matter of fact, it’s the subtitle of my story, which is now in progress and proving rather difficult, but since I’m having fun I’m keeping with it. It won’t be very long in any case.
We could use Flash Fiction as a warm-up in between NiaDs! I like that idea.
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Yay! I got a sparkle! 
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Done, I think. Editing now 
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Aaaand sent! Gods, this one was hard, no less because it had completely slipped my mind! As usual, I think it’s crap. But I’m glad I finished it!
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I think it was @kewms that said it to me this way…
your opinion of your own writing isn’t worth anything. You need to wait to see what others think and then decide if you are writing for you or for others. If you’re writing for others then only their opinion counts so stop trying to make your point and make them enjoy the writing.
Which was an eye opener to me. Worry about “the customer” not how you feel about it. That advice has turned out to be some of the best advice I’ve ever received.
I write for me and Mrs *. Occasionally for the rest of the world. But you all still get what she wants to read. 
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Hmmm.
In this case, I have to say Jaysen is right: Your opinion is clearly worth not a jot. I’ve read it. It’s excellent, and I wish I’d written it.
A joy.
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What it wins you is a sequel, a book series.
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I’m sorry. I’m not gonna make it, the fever is getting worse, and the lighthouse mystery is still far from being solved.
Listen, guys… You’re gonna get out of here, you’re gonna go on and you’re gonna make lots of PDF downloads, and you’re gonna watch them grow.