FLASH ISSUES

Vermilion's Flash Issues are open to submission from anyone, not just members of the university community. Check this page frequently for new prompts and pieces! 

Submissions are only available for the live prompt, but we highly encourage you to explore all of the ideas on this page.

               Flash Issue 19:

       Write a paragraph horror story.

Submit a piece from the perspective of a library building.

Flash Issue 17:

Submit a piece about two things that always go together.

Flash Issue 16:

Write a piece from the perspective of a synesthetic.

Flash Issue 15:

Submit a piece from the perspective of a fictional creature

Flash Issue 14:

Describe a conversation between the head and the heart.

No winners.

(Image via Pinterest)

Flash Issue 13:

Write a piece about an object you would put in your own personal time capsule. 

(Digital Art by Carolina Beretta)

Flash Issue 12:

Write a piece from the perspective of an unreliable narrator.

(Digital Art by Carolina Beretta)

Flash Issue 11:

Write about a place that doesn't exist.

(Image via DeviantArt)

Flash Issue 10:

Write a piece that encapsulates someone's entire life.

(Image from Mauro Settin)

Flash Issue 9:

Use a piece of clothing to tell a story

(Drawing by Jenny Walton)

Flash Issue 8:

Invent a new word and write how you would define it (defining it could mean creating a dictionary definition, telling a story that encapsulates it, writing a poem about it, etc.).

(Photo by icon0.com)

Flash Issue 7:

Write a poem without any "being" verbs (ex: is, am, was were, are, etc.)

(Photo by Flora Westbrook)

Flash Issue 6: 2 Prompts

Read the poem "The Stolen Child" by W.B. Yeats. Write a short story or other response piece from the perspective of the child after it has left the fairies behind

OR 

Write a piece structured around a broken object

(Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger from Pexels)

Flash Issue 5:

Write a poem about a color without using the name or the name of a shade of that color

(Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash)

Flash Issue 4:

Write a short prose piece or poem about a part of the body that involves a joint (the elbows, the knee, the wrist, the ankle, etc.)

Flash Issue 3:

A picture is worth 1,000 words: In 1,000 words or less submit a work inspired by this photo.

(Photo Credit: New York Dream by Maureen Pierce)

Flash Issue 2: 2 prompts

Cassandra is a famous character from Greek mythology, who received the gift of prophecy from the god Apollo but, after incurring his wrath, was cursed so that her prophecies were never believed. Write a piece from Cassandra’s perspective

OR

Write a 6 word story

Flash Issue 1:

Pick a book. Using the first and last lines, create your own story based on the context of just those two lines. 

No winners