Photography, Nature, Writing Challenge
September — Sparking Six Words through Photography: Conclusion
SWPSC: Clouds & Freestyle Stories — September’s Conclusion
Wildfire clouds await rain clouds. Hurry!
During a road trip this summer, I witnessed a few wildfires blazing in the distance and captured this billowing cloud of smoke next to the sky clouds. It took me a moment to see the difference between the two. It was wild, eerie, and tragic to see — the town was desperate for a relentless rain downpour, but the brave firefighters saved the town.
Today Marks the 30-Day Anniversary
The launching of my new publication, Six Word Photo Story Challenge, on September 1st ignited with a fiery start — and sparked six-word brainstorming ideas and the visual creativity of many writers and photographers.
Over 150 stories were published in the first 30 days! Between 1–10 stories were published daily with an average of 5 stories per day. There have been over 14k views over 30 days with an average of 174 unique visitors per day. Yep, I’ve been busy!
I read and enjoyed all stories for either the photography, humor, simplicity, the connection between the photo and story, or the backstories, but here are ten stories that stuck out in my memory, in no particular order, out of the 150+ stories published this month.
Cloud Challenge Stories
For the “September Monthly Challenge: Clouds,” check out the latest stories under the “Monthly Challenge” tab.
Five “cloud challenge” photos that captured my eye were bradley flora’s, Eclipse, (spectacular photo), and Marie Jones’ Spiderweb (learned about orb weavers), Brooke Kochel RN’s Seasons of Change (check out her expression), Ching Ching’s As We Dance (love pie!) and Valerie Delzer’s Clouds You Watch (makes you wonder).
Note: This article officially ends the September Cloud Challenge and no further submissions will be accepted. Stay tuned for the new October Challenge which will be announced tomorrow.
Freestyle Stories
For the “Freestyle category,” check out the latest stories under the “Freestyle” tab.
Five stories that intrigued me were keith kennedy’s Biker Plant, (it’s a survivor!) Pulpo Viejo’s, Spider (note the header and haiku-style),Christopher Robin’s Accidents Happen (made me laugh), Pene Hodge’s Sometimes Nature (odd pairs), and Stephen Reed’s Angry Sea (I’m an ocean lover!).
The diversity, originality, and simplicity of only using six words and a photo to tell your story make the stories of this publication unusual and fun to read.
Trigger your brain & test your memory recall
Whenever I glance at each photo, it triggers my brain to recall the six-word story, and sometimes the author — it’s a great memory game to play and an easy way to get to know the writers. I dare you to test your own memory by reading through the stories! Share in the comments how many stories you can recall and which stories intrigued you.
Growing our writing village!
A true writing village connects, encourages, and supports each other. We’re all here to better our writing and spark creativity through words, photographs, and memories. Please support your fellow writers with reads, claps, and thoughtful comments. I hope our writers have strengthened their writing villages throughout the summer challenge and now with this publication.
Thank you, publication editors!
I’m blessed by the support and encouragement of my fellow writers who run their own photo publications on Medium. Carlos Garbiras wrote a six-word photo story simply to congratulate me (sweet!) and Will Hull expressed his Aussie thanks (love Oz and Will’s humor) — they’re both editors at Counter Arts (cool pub) Dennett and Sherry Kappel, editors at SNAPSHOTS (love their publication!) and, K. Barrett, editor at For Awe, all sent me happy wishes. Congrats to K. Barrett at For Awe, who recently hit 100 followers for her new AWEsome publication.
Before I started this pub, I published my 6-word photo stories during the 6-Word Photo Story Summer Challenge in each of their wonderful publications, and now they’ve published their stories in mine! These editors and pubs are dear to my writer’s heart and great to work with.
A shout-out to Ellie Jacobson who was the very first writer to submit and publish the first story in this publication. Ellie also runs a publication called Flint & Steel.
Please be sure to check out, follow, and support these writers and their publications!
Thank you, readers and writers!
Kudos to the writers who participated in the 6-Word Photo Story Summer Challenge and continued on with the challenge by contributing stories to my pub. Congrats to the new writers who have joined the publication and submitted stories.
I appreciate the enthusiasm, positivity, encouraging comments, and personal shout-outs from my fellow readers and writers who have either published stories here or have been reading and following the challenge or publication — thank you for rocking my days and supporting this new adventure! I’m overwhelmed by the beautiful welcome the launching of SWPSC has received.
It’s like I got a village hug from all the writers I’ve connected with this month — wow!
Stay tuned for the October Six Word Photo Story Challenge!
It’ll be announced in this publication on October 1st. Get those cameras clicking or dig into your photo archives! If you’d like to be added as a writer and submit to Six Word Photo Story Challenge, please read and follow the submission guidelines.
Please follow Mary Chang Story Writer and this publication to stay apprised of submission guideline updates (yes, I change them sometimes!) stay tuned for new monthly challenges.
— Village hugs, Mary Chang Story Writer — Editor of SWPSC
Looking for stories in this publication?
This publication only displays the most recent 25 stories on the main page and the most recent 25 stories under each of the Monthly Challenge and Freestyle tabs.
To view archived Monthly Challenge tagged stories, click on this Monthly Challenge link. To view archived Freestyle tagged stories, click on this Freestyle link. The links will list all the stories under each tag from the latest to the oldest.
If you’re looking for a particular story, you can also type the name of the author or part of the story title using the search tool — located at the top right corner to the left of your profile picture.
About the Editor
Mary Chang is an award-winning short story fiction writer, memoir writer, blogger, and editor of the Six Word Photo Story Challenge publication — inspired by her original 6-Word Photo Story Summer Challenge writing prompt (2021) on Medium.
She’s also a parent, fitness enthusiast, snaps a good photo sometimes — and loves creating monthly challenges!
Read her blog at www.marychangstorywriter.com.
