Judging competitions

I am in the middle of helping to judge a flash fiction competition. (I won't say which one in case you've entered.) I like writing flash fiction; it appeals to the editor in me. However, I know some people who hate it either as a writer or a  reader, saying it's too short for anything meaningful to happen. I disagree.

All the entries I have read are very good and even though some are not to my taste I can appreciate the work that has gone into them and the skill behind the words. Some, though, are examples of writing craft without the element of fiction: perhaps they are pure description or opinion. One of the factors that has helped me to decide which stories deserve (IMHO) to go through to the final is whether they are complete stories - with a beginning, middle and end; with conflict and resolution; with character development: with everything you would expect from a longer story. Winners will be announced shortly.

On a completely unrelated topic, I'm celebrating having finally finished and passed my anatomy and physiology course. I'm hoping this will find me better to placed to help my yoga students with their aches and pains. If nothing else, it has enabled me to explain to my son why he struggled to walk after his first ever game of squash. *Smiles maternally*