What is it?

The Florida Flash Writing Workshop (F²W²) is an annual flash writing contest and workshop hosted by the Center for Interdisciplinary Writing and Research. The workshop is open to anyone, but we especially welcome faculty, staff, and students from educational institutions. Participants will respond to a prompt with a flash writing piece. The workshop itself will take place virtually. During the virtual workshop, participants will discuss the works submitted and share experiences about the process of developing their own piece. Partipants and others interested in the workshop will vote for their favorite submissions. The top 3 submissions will win a small cash prize and the honor of earning one of the top 3 prizes.

How do I participate?

We're excited that you are interested in participating. The first step is to decide to participate. Once you make that great decision, check back on the Friday after Thanksgiving (November 28, 2025) at 9:00am EST (2:00PM UTC). We'll provide the flash writing prompt to which you'll respond. You'll fill out the form provided to submit your flash writing work. You will have until Tuesday Dec 2, 2025 by midnight EST (Wednesday, December 3,2025 by 5am UTC) to respond to the prompt and send us your submission. After submitting your work, you'll receive an email invitation to attend the virtual workshop. That Friday (December 5, 2025), we will meet from 1:30pm EST until 3:00pm EST (6:30PM UTC until 8:00PM UTC) to meet and discuss all of the submissions and the writing process. Votes for the best submissions will be accepted up until midnight (EST) on the day of the workshop. We'll make the announcement about winners shortly following the close of the voting deadline.

Why should I get involved?

You mean besides for the joy of creating? First, flash writing is an excellent excerise in writing. It helps you get out of your own head and escape the trap of perfectionism, which can lead to writing paralysis. You focus on the essentials of good writing and embrace the imperfections that can give a piece more character. Second, flash writing encourages experimentation. There's inherently less risk in flash writing, so you try writing in ways that perhaps you wouldn't have attempted otherwise. The stakes are low, so if the experimentation doesn't pan out, it's easy to move on and try something else. Third, if your flash writing experimentation works well, you might win one of our top three best writing awards (and the money that goes along with it): 1st place will win $125, 2nd place will win $75, and 3rd place will win $50 (in the form of virtual gift cards). There's no risk and lots of potential reward, so transition from asking questions and to committing yourself to being one of this year's participants.

Summary of F²W²

• Annual event to create and discuss flash writing
• Open to everyone who is interested; however, currently the format is English-only
• Writing prompt will be released on this page on November 28,2025 at 9am EST
• Submissions will be accepted until December 4, 2025 at 11:59 pm EST. The submission form will also be available on this page.
• Emails will go out to those who've submitted pieces with instructions on attending our virtual workshop (through Microsoft Teams) on Friday, December 5, 2025 from 1:30PM to 3:00PM (EST).
• Votes will be cast by participants for the best pieces. Voting will close Friday, December 5, 2025 at midnight (EST).
• Awards will be given to the top three pieces as determined by votes by our participants. (1st- $125, 2nd- $75, 3rd- $50).

I definitely want to participate, but I still have questions!

Your excitement excites us! If you have any questions about F²W² before the day of the prompt reveal or anytime leading up to the workshop, please contact the CIWR Director, Dr. Michael Mallott, for more information.