#SixWordStoryChallenge – 7th July 2018

Challenge open Saturday 7th July 2018 – Thursday 12th July 2018

Welcome – on this day of national tension in England – to the Six Word Story Challenge.

For those who need a distraction from chewing their fists for the next few hours, for non-English followers, and those of us who just *whisper it* aren’t that bothered, the #SixWordStoryChallenge is a prompt is posted every Saturday morning at 9am GMT, either on this site or that of fellow blogger Wonderwall. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to plot a story on that subject… in just six words.

Your prompt for this week, storytellers, is …. (drumroll)

Expectation

How could it be anything else? Maybe Tuesdsay’s unprecedented success in the penalty shoot-out has convinced you that England’s luck has changed and that football really is coming home, or maybe you’ve experienced World Cup heartbreak too many times and you’re expecting it to all end in tears again? Either way, a sense of anticipation is in the air all over Eng-er-land today.

Are you detecting my ambivalence? It’s not that I don’t like football. My ideal autumn Saturday afternoon is to wrap up warm and go to the match with the family, munching chips as it gets dark and the floodlights come on. I think the World Cup always just comes at the wrong time for me.  Right now I’m busy with work, and the kids’ end of term stuff, and fretting about summer holiday childcare… maybe when I’m retired I’ll spend July with my feet up, eating strawberries, watching Wimbledon and the World Cup, just like I did when I was a student – only another 20-odd years to wait!

So let’s see what stories – football related or otherwise – we can come up with. Here’s my attempt to get you started:

Years later, he proved critics wrong.

(God speed, Mr Southgate, and I might just have to check the half time scores to see how your boys are doing)

See what you can come up with, and enter your six word story in the comments below.

So how does it work?

1. Leave your story in the comments until Thursday 9.30pm GMT
2. Like, comment & engage with other authors
3. On Thursday, I publish a poll – and this is the important bit – don’t forget to come back and vote for your favourite!
4. Bask in glory if you’re a winner.

Never tried microfiction before?

Never fear, help is at hand. You can get a few more hints and tips about writing six word stories here.

Can I share my story?

Of course – in fact, please do! The more people who take part in this weekly challenge, the merrier. Tell your story and inspire others to have a go. Write a blog post, send me a pingback, share your six word story on social media or reblog this post to encourage your own followers to take part. There are various different hashtags floating round t’internet, so you can use any of these to reach a wider audience – #SixWordStoryChallenge #6words #sixwordstory #microfiction #flashfiction #fiction #amwriting. The most common one we’re using at the moment is #SixWordStoryChallenge, so linking up to that hashtag should help you connect with other participants.

How is the winner chosen?

I close entry to the Six Word Story Challenge on Thursday and open a poll which remains open for 24hrs. Anybody and everybody is invited to vote in this poll, the winner is the story with the most votes at 9pm on Friday. Simples!

Click through to this page to read the full rules of the challenge.

Good luck! Remember to share your entry on social media using the sharing buttons below! Let’s tell everyone about our challenge, the more the merrier! and don’t forget – use the hashtag#SixWordStoryChallenge.

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