Carol Caffrey, London Independent Story Prize 3rd Round 2024 Flash Fiction Finalist, 'Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'

London Independent Story Prize 3rd Round 2024 Flash Fiction Finalist, 'Auf Wiedersehen, Pet', Carol Caffrey

- Can you please tell us about you and your daily life?           

I’m an ex-teacher and actor with a bus pass. Mornings begin with the newspaper and a few cryptic crosswords from the Irish Times archive. (I find the current ones too difficult.) After that it’s writing and reading in between cooking, shopping and – since I broke my wrist last summer - physio appointments.

- When and how did you get into writing?

I’ve always dabbled with the odd short story and attempts at poetry, but it wasn’t until a series of family losses in the last decade that I determined to get serious about the craft. I took some part-time courses, joined a writing group and started to have a few acceptances in magazines and journals.  I was lucky enough to be accepted onto a Writing West Midlands scheme (Room 204), aimed at developing emerging writers and this helped me considerably to think of myself as a writer and to become more professional about the whole process.

I was placed or shortlisted in a number of competitions, including The Fish Anthology, Retreat West, Flash 500 Prize and the Allingham and Verve Poetry Festival competitions. I won the inaugural Blake Journal Flash Fiction and the NAWG 100-word competitions, and was thrilled to be published in Poetry Ireland, the MIR Review and Pushing out The Boat, among others.

In 2020 my poetry chapbook, The Untethered Space, was selected for publication by 4Word Press and I am currently working on a Flash Fiction collection.

- How often do you write? Do you have a writing routine? And what inspires you to write?

I would generally write in the mornings as my energy and output fade as the day goes on. If I’m working on a particular project I’ll aim for a set target; a word count if it’s prose or another draft if it’s poetry. If I have nothing on the go I’ll study upcoming deadlines for submissions and/or competitions and decide on which ones to aim for.

If I’m stuck I find a walk in some nearby woods will clear my head or, with luck, set off some new idea to explore. Very often a line will come to me when in the open air. Some of my best writing has come from those moments.

I also exchange weekly short pieces of either poetry or prose with a few other writers (in person or online) so that if all else fails the week has at least produced some new writing.  Sometimes, these little germs will be the start of a longer piece. Being out in the world, meeting and talking with other people, listening to conversations in the café or on the bus are all grist to the mill.

- How does it feel to have your work recognised?

Absolutely fabulous! There’s nothing like it and anyone who tells you different is lying. It’s the validation a writer craves and a brilliant confidence-booster.

-What’s the best and most challenging thing about writing a Story and Poetry? 

In a way they’re the same thing. You know how difficult it’s going to be but you’re going to do it anyway. You’ll work the bejaysus out of it until you can say: yeah, that’s what I wanted to say and it’s been said well. Novelists may wonder how things can be distilled down to so few words, but for a short fiction writer and poet a novel is equally difficult to contemplate. When you find your wheelhouse, enjoy it!

-How did you develop the idea for your LISP-selected story? Is there a story behind your story? And, how long have you been working on it?

If I’m honest, it’s a fictionalised version of something that happened to me a long time ago. I was having a conversation one day about how some people seem to sail through life while leaving a trail of destruction behind them and was reminded of how an ex and I had broken up. I hadn’t thought of the person in question for years but the conversation brought certain things to mind and I thought distance would allow me to write about it.

When I sat down at the computer, the story flowed. Long gestation, even if not consciously realised, will often have that benefit. It took a few drafts, the word count getting shorter and shorter, until I felt it said enough for the reader.

- Can you please give us a few tips about writing a Story?

Usually, less is more. If you’ve written a 500-word story, can you cut it to 250? Is it better? If your poem has lots of lovely images, how does it read if you cut most of the adjectives? Can you be more precise? Be your own fiercest critic and develop a thick skin.

- What's the best thing and the most challenging thing about competitions? 

The best thing is that they give you something to aim for. If, like me, you need deadlines to get going, then they are a great motivator. The most challenging thing is learning to accept the subjective nature of the judging process. One man’s meat, and so on. That holds for writing in general. I’m sure we’ve all had stories and poems rejected by publications that have gone on to be published elsewhere. If your piece has been shortlisted in a few competitions, then you can be pretty confident it has quality and is worth persisting with.

- Lastly, do you recommend the writers submit to LISP?

Sure!  You will benefit from the exposure, even if you don’t win first prize, and it’s a non-profit organisation which is a welcome difference. There is also a community to be embraced by entering and while there is good public recognition for the competition it is not so big that your chance of success is almost nil.