We are looking for imagination, originality and a good flow to the writing. Something that starts, progresses and ends well. It can be comical, creepy, dark, sad, hopefully, curious, cliff-hanging, secretive, exciting, weird, you name it, we want it!

600 words is the maximum so avoid trying to write an epic tale with too much going on which needs to be rushed to finish it. Instead, zoom into a subject and concentrate on detail, such as a conversation between two people where what is left unspoken creates the power, or a monologue triggered by a photo but that is actually about the nature of the character who’s speaking.

You AREN’T expected to write a story about everything in one of the photos unless that’s what you want to do. The photo is just a way into writing or a trigger to get you writing. If you’re unsure where to start, as well as the ideas below, when you click on a photo to see it in detail, you’ll also get a list of ideas of how to approach writing using that particular image.

Don't worry about not being sure where or when an image is taken either. If you want to guess for the purpose of your writing that's fine. You might also be a little unsure what a particular image is about, which is ideal because then you won't do the obvious!  You can make your own conclusions and ideas about it or the bigger picture you can't see, or you can just take a suggested mood or theme that the image inspires and use it somewhere in your writing.

Most importantly, don't worry about your writing. It doesn’t have to be a definite form like a poem or a short story.
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Look at all the images and see which image instantly appeals to you. Then think about why. What is it about that photograph that caught your attention? If it appeals to you, the chances are you’ll be able to write something interesting about it.

Instead of just sitting down and writing a story or poem, try doing a mind map of all the words and associations that occur to you when you look at the image. This way you’ll build up a stock of ideas that you can use and come up with original links between them.

Still stuck? Try free writing. This is a bit like mind mapping, only this time you just write whatever comes into your head until you find out exactly what it is you want to say. Keep your hand moving, don’t stop to read through, don’t edit. When you’ve run out of steam, see if you can shape your writing into a poem or story.
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Poem, story, monologue, dialogue etc…?
Don't think you have to do anything that 'fits' exactly into one style of form of writing but here’s some ideas of where you could go…

Poetry
Poems come in lots of different forms. Some of them rhyme and some of them don’t.

Rhyme
If you want to rhyme your poem, think carefully about the rhythm; like songs, rhyming poems usually have a regular beat. If you enjoy rhyming you could try writing in a particular form like a sonnet, villainelle or pantoum. Look on the web or in poetry books for examples. Don’t just go for rhyming because it’s what you think I poem should be like. Rhyming poems need to be carefully written or they can get a bit tiresome because you can end up relying on finding words to rhyme rather than what you are writing about. If you end up in this pickle, consider free verse.

Free verse
Remember that poems don’t have to rhyme and most of the best modern poems don’t. Free verse allows you to really say what you want to say, without the restriction of rhyme. The sounds of words are still important though and, in a poem, every word needs to count. Make sure you’ve used the best words and ideas you can come up with.  Think about using techniques like alliteration to make your poem more powerful.  Again look on the web for support if you wish. Remember if you’re writing a poem that doesn’t rhyme, you can still have rhythm. Read your poem out load and listen to how it sounds and this will really help you edit it and make it better.

Description
This could be an intriguing passage from a story you have written, or the setting of an important scene in a play, story or film even.

Monologue
First person monologues can be internal (thoughts in someone’s head) or external like a speech. Monologues are great for becoming a character and can allow you to use slang and a character’s personality to add to your fiction.

Dialogue
A dialogue can be a story in itself. Remember with dialogue to keep the exchange short and snappy. Consider the power of what is left unsaid and how you can get this across in the actions described around the speech.

Lyrics or a rap
If you're musical, what tune and lyrics come into your head? If you write lyrics to the tune of something that exists, put what the tune or song is in your notes or the style of the lyrics (e.g. rap, pop, blues etc.) This allows the judges to put the lyrics in a context. It isn't essential though.

Short stories/micro fiction
If you’re writing a short story think about how less can be more if you don’t spell everything out. Think of a small idea that can be contained in a short space. Don’t have too many characters which will likely be too confusing in a short piece of writing. Don’t waste time with too much scene setting – go straight into the action and add descriptions as you go along.
Too many words? Go through your writing and take out some of the adverbs and adjectives. Make the other words work harder. Use unusual, precise verbs like sauntered instead of walked slowly.

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Imagine you could step inside the photo. Use your five senses to describe the experience.Question everything in the picture if you are trying to form a narrative. Why is something there? What has just happened? What is about to happen? Is all not really as it seems? What is the significance of certain parts of the picture? What can't the viewer see out of the frame? Imagine the photo is documenting something in the past or future...what is it showing beyond the obvious?

Write from the photographer’s point of view. What made them take this picture? How were they feeling? Write a dialogue between characters in the photograph. It doesn’t have to be someone you can see.

Emotions. How does the photo make you feel? What memories does it evoke? What does it remind you of? What associations does it have for you?

Write from the point of view of one of the objects in the photograph. How does it feel to be something or someone in the photo? Write about one of themes suggested to you by the photos – loneliness, exhilaration, dreaminess, urban city life.

Think about what you can’t see around the picture.  What might have been outside the frame area of the shot? What might be hidden behind something out of view?

For further tips see each individual image.
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Before submitting you work, make sure you have...

• Asked yourself...am I sure it's as good as it can be throughout? If you're not sure, have a break from it and come back to it with fresh eyes to edit further.
• Checked spelling, grammar, flow and tense in you've finished writing.

Before filling out the PhotoFiction entry form [link below], make sure you have the following info ready:

• Your contact details - address, phone number and email.
  THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT - last year some entries were missing clear contact details so we could not use them.
• Your entry text - ready to paste in the area on the form provided
• Extra information - if you wish to explain the thinking behind your work, you can paste it into the space provided or type in from your head
• The image number - that inspired your work

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