So, tell me a bit about you.
Mary Scully:
I live at home with my husband and my cat Misty. I taught English in Primary and Secondary schools for many years. About two years ago I decided to retire from teaching and start writing. Since 2024 I have been attending writing workshops and groups. I write mainly Flash Fiction.
What drew you to your genre? Why do you stay with it, and what has it taught you?
Mary Scully:
The first competition I entered was Flash Fiction, the piece I entered came from a workshop on Flash Fiction which I had really enjoyed. I fell in love with the succinctness, the brevity, the constraints, the power of FlashFiction. To be able to say so much with so little is amazing. It has taught me that every word counts, every book on writing will tell you that but with Flash Fiction it really does, if you have only 250 words to tell a story then each word has to earn and deseve its place.
Which books or authors best capture the spirit of your genre? Any essential reads?
Mary Scully:
Janet Burroway on Writing Fiction, Field guide to Flash fiction edited by Tara L Masih, Storyworthy by Matthew Hicks which although it mainly about story telling it helps you t o figure out what your story is really about, what is at its centre. Also Claire Keegan’s “So Late in the Day”, although not Flash Fiction, it is very short and a perfect study in character portrayal. She captures the character’s essence very economically.
What is a lesson you’ve learned from writing, you wish you knew when you started?
Mary Scully:
Keep it simple, don’t try to impress, write from the heart, write for yourself. Learn how to invite and interpret critisism. Then you will be able to improve your work in a positive way.
What is a favourite prompt or creative practice for writing?
Mary Scully:
I love opening a book at a random page, taking a random sentence and seeing where it goes. I have also recently enjoyed an exercise (new to me) called Clustering, where you start with a word and then branch out randomly, like a mind map, one idea leading to another until you have a page filled with surprisingly connected ideas which you can turn into a story.
What is one thing you would tell your younger writer self?
Mary Scully:
Read lots, write lots, don’t judge yourself too harshly, find your own voice, it’s in there waiting to be discovered.
Links and BIO:
Mary Scully:
This year I had as my goal to get published. I have achieved that goal being published in the Farnham Flash Fiction 2026 competition compiliation. While this is success in a very small way it is also rather wonderful. The piece that was published was in fact my very first piece of Flash Fiction albeit re-worked many times.
Here is a piece of flash fiction that was long listed in the Farnham Flash Fiction 2026 competition:
Great advice!