Matt Kendrick
Writer | Editor | Teacher
Resources
Amalgamated Best Of Lists for Flash Fiction
Spreadsheet of all Best Microfiction, Best Small Fictions, BIFFY 50 and Wigleaf Top 50 stories from 2020 to 2025 with links to read stories online where available
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Body Language Bible
A thesaurus for body language covering 24 different emotions with suggestions for how each emotion might manifest itself in your characters
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Character Creator
Collective Nouns
A list of collective nouns for people, mammals, birds, insects, water dwellers, objects, and food
Emotions Guide
Onomatopoeia
A glossary of onomatopoeia to cover everything from animal sounds to mechancial sounds to musical sounds
Picture Boards for Place
Proverbs and Sayings
Proverbs and Sayings - International
A list of proverbs and sayings from around the world that might be used to find the theme beneath a story
Random Flash Generator
A tool to randomly generate a piece of flash from Best Microfiction, Best Small Fictions, the Biffy 50 or the Wigleaf Top 50
Sensory Inspiration
A glossary of sensory details to provide inspiration in bringing the world of your story to life
Sentence Structures
An introduction to the four basic sentence structures – simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex
Story Planner
A sounding board list of questions to help with the planning, structuring, writing, and deepening of stories
Submissions Tracker
A fancy spreadsheet for keeping tabs on the work you send to literary magazines or competitions
Superstitions
Unusual Pastimes
A directory of unusual pastimes that might be used to create unique characters (either contemporary or historical)
Unusual Professions
Prompts and Tips
Prompts From Published Authors
Prompts From Published Authors 2
Prompt Generator
Random prompt generator which outputs ideas for starting a story with words, places, characters or scenarios
Flash Fiction Tips from Published Authors and Lit Mag Editors
What I Wish I'd Known When I Started Writing
Story Lists
Story Examples: Anaphora & Epistrophe
Example stories that use anaphora (repetition at the start of a sentence or phrase) or epistrophe (repetition at the end of a sentence or phrase)
Story Examples: Braided Stories
Story Examples: Breathless Paragraphs
Story Examples: Ekphrastic Pieces
Story Examples: Epistolary
Example stories written as letters, postcards, text messages, emails, diary entries and other forms of communication
Story Examples: Extended Metaphors & Non-Human Perspective
Example stories which unfold as an extended metaphor and / or are told through a non-human perspective
Story Examples: Fractured and Segmented
Story Examples: Historical
Story Examples: Imperatives
Story Examples: Lists
Story Examples: Places
Story Examples: Retellings
Twisted fairy tales and other retellings. Example stories which reimagine well-known narratives
Story Examples: Speculative
Stories stories that shift into alternative presents, speculative futures or the realms of fantasy
Story Examples: Unique Selling Points
Example stories that have strong USPs in terms of either scenario, setting, character, form or voice
Story Examples: Unusual Perspectives
Story Examples: Use of Dialogue
Workshop recordings
Beyond These Shores: Exploring the Historical and the Speculative
Panel discussion (with Myna Chang and Sharon Telfer)
What is the lure for a storyteller in exploring the historical or the speculative? What are the things to consider when writing in these genres? What strategies are useful in bringing such stories to the page? And what are the pitfalls to be aware of?
Facilitated by Matt Kendrick
Price
£4
What is Learnt in the Cradle: How our childhoods affect our adult selves
Workshop
How do a character's early influences affect who they become in later life? What do they inherit? What do they learn? And how do we use all of this within our writing to create character depth?
Taught by Matt Kendrick
Price
£8
I am committed to opening up writing opportunities to people from all backgrounds based on ability to write rather than ability to pay. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to finance pay-what-you-can and free spots exclusively from my own pocket. So, if you've downloaded these resources and are in a position to support narrowing the access gap to creative writing opportunities, I would be very grateful if you would consider buying me a virtual coffee.
*Any money donated to my Ko-fi page will be used to fund free and reduced price places for my Write Beyond The Lightbulb courses, as well as to provide free editing and mentoring opportunities for low-income writers, and to support other opportunities that seek to level the playing field.
Free Resources from Elsewhere
Where to send your stories
DL Shirey - The Short List (Extensive list of venues accepting short fiction submissions arranged by maximum number of words)
Chill Subs (Site with search tools to find lit mag submission opportunities)
Humour-friendly Publications (List of publications that accept humour and comedy writing)
Hybrid-friendly Publications (List of publications that accept unconventional / hybrid pieces)
Erika Krouse Rankings (Erika Krouse's ranking of literary magazines)
Brecht De Poortere's Rankings (Brecht de Poortere's ranking of literary magazines by number of Twitter followers)
Publishers for Novellas-in-Flash (Michael Loveday's list of publishers for Novellas in Flash)
Newsletters, Craft Essays, Exercises, Prompts and Courses
Kathy Fish Substack (Flash fiction craft articles and prompts from Kathy Fish)
Matt Bell Substack (General articles on writing craft from Matt Bell)
Nina Schuyler Substack (Craft analysis on sentences and words from Nina Schuyler)
Tommy Dean Substack (Flash fiction craft articles and prompts from Tommy Dean)
Brevity Craft Essays (Writing craft essays at Brevity magazine)
Cleaver Craft Essays (Writing craft essays at Cleaver magazine)
Craft Literary Essays (Writing craft essays at Craft Literary)
Electric Lit Craft Essays (Writing craft essays at Electric Lit)
Smokelong Quarterly Craft Essays (Reviews and craft essays at Smokelong Quarterly)
Humour Writing Resources (Tips, recommended courses, craft book recommendations, and markets lists from Julie Vick)
The Ultimate Humor Writing Cheat Sheet (from Alex Baia)
The Forever Workshop (Workshop collections from different guest teachers like Jo Gatford, Alex Baia and Karan Kapoor)
Lessons from a Distance (24 free writing lessons from well-known writers of fiction, non-fiction and poetry)
Writers HQ Writing Exercises (Collection of free writing exercises from Writers HQ)
Toby Litt's Starting to Write Course (10-part writing course for complete beginners)
NCFW Writer Resource Pack (Writer resource pack from National Centre for Writing)
Michael Loveday's Novella-in-Flash resources (A collection of essays and interviews for anyone contemplating the novella-in-flash form)
Michael Loveday's Novella-in-Flash writing prompts (Useful prompts for novella-in-flash writers, but also for writers of other forms)
The Future Bookshelf Blog (Tips and techniques from published authors)
The Writing Cooperative (Articles on creativity, writing, editing, publishing, and everything in between)
Writing the Other (Resources and articles on creating inclusive fiction)
London Litlab Tips and Exercises (Selection of writing tips and exercises from London Litlab)
The Elements Of Style (Free-to-access version of "The Elements of Style" by William Strunk, Jr.)
The Forest of Rhetoric (Online guide to the terms of classical and renaissance rhetoric)
One Look Thesaurus (Free online thesaurus with extensive lists that go beyond simple synonyms, giving the ability to search by tone and part of speech)
Paths into Publishing (overview PDF of different paths into publishing from Jane Friedman)
Werner's Nomenclature of Colours (book of colour defintions that compares colours to animals, nature and minerals)
Sears, Roebuck and Co Catalogue (catalogue of fashion, appliances, toys, books, furniute etc. from 1920s)