That’s right, the October 2020 iteration of the Size Riot quarterly size fantasy flash fiction contest will be the last.
It is impossible to overstate how much the size fantasy community (such that it is) owes Aborigen for challenging us these past four years to vary our interests and stretch our muscles, both as writers and as readers. I know that his efforts have not been thankless, but neither have they been griefless. You can’t pay anyone to do this kind of work, because it requires both a community-minded spirit as well as a pride in craftmanship.
Speaking for myself, this contest has been both an invaluable exercise in editing and plotting as well as a forced reminder of how much I enjoy creative writing. I have had to ask myself, over and over, why I want to write and who am I writing for. I have also had to examine my expectations for others’ writing and what kind of feedback they need. Size Riot has been my main source of inspiration for developing a size aesthetic.
The final contest theme is “My Blue Heaven,” asking each author for their ideal, perfect size fantasy (in 2k words or less). There won’t be any voting or ranking or winners, but feedback is solicited nonetheless. That was always the more important part.
Sign-ups run from now through 30 Sep.
El Amante Menguante 
Perhaps unsurprisingly, this topic is more demanding than it first seems.
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I’m very seriously considering submitting a story consisting of a single, three-word line: “Point your toes.”
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Downdraft complete. 2618 words. Time to step away for a couple of days before thinking about where to trim.
Thanks again to Aborigen for this exercise, which has taught me that editing is the fun part.
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In anticipation of getting much busier as Halloween approaches, I’ve made the first cuts. I’m actually quite pleased with the pace of the new draft. I’ll look at it again in two weeks and see if anything else jumps out at me, but I feel very good about this one.
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