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Ascriber / Writers Eyes Workshop - 24
The Coincidence
Skip the Workshop take me straight to the submissions
Some say you should never have a coincidence in a story, in fact a few years ago a friend who was a regular writer for a magazine for teenage girls set one of her short stories around a suit case picked up by mistake. This was deemed a coincidence and the magazine would not accept it until it was completely written out, which meant the whole context of the story was changed. But why not flout the rules for once and just have a bit of fun.
We've all met up with someone who we've just been thinking of, or someone we know in the most unlikeliest of places. I remember waiting in a cable car station in a small village in Switzerland when in came a fellow I used to work with. He was touring, stopped for a walk and heard my voice. Neither of us knew the other was in Switzerland. I recently heard of a similar thing happening to someone who went to China.
Then there are the coincidences that are almost like telepathy, you go to phone someone, the telephone rings and that person is phoning you. Or you talk about a film you saw a few years ago and then you discover that in a few days it is to be shown on television.
I could go on but I won't because the idea is to start you thinking, so cast your mind back and see what you can come up with to base a fictional story on, write an article on or set it as a poem. You can do all three if you like!
As usual, the best of luck and we are looking forward to seeing your work.
Short stories 2500 words or less
Poetry 40 lines or less.
Articles up to 1500 words
You Were There by Anna Brown
(Poetry)
The Sprys of Place by Dorothy Spry
(Short Story)