We interrupt this contest . . .

. . . to take a moment to talk about the value of the writing community.

Writing is a solitary venture. We sit at our desks, in our rooms, in the attic or under the stars, alone, and pour ourselves onto blank paper. And, in isolation our dreams and inspirations come to life and eventually we shove them out the door into the wide open world where people either welcome them or throw tomatoes at them. (Or they die of neglect because nobody actually noticed.)

But between the first part and the last part comes the writing community. These are our friends, our beta readers, our crit partners. These are the people who know about writing and literature, who have a good ear and, most importantly, the courage to be honest with us about our writing.

And they not only critique us but they champion us. They root for us when we are discouraged or lonely or frightened. Some days we need to borrow their courage and confidence because ours has left us temporarily. (Never doubt that writing does take courage.)

A good writer is a solo practitioner. A great writer is the leader of his or her writing “team”—a team composed of those who sacrifice their time and donate their talents to tell us where we’ve strayed from the best path of our writing.

That’s part of the reason we at The Lascaux Review put blood, sweat and (sometimes) tears into Lascaux Flash. We want to create a community where all of us can come together and open these small windows into our imagination, into ourselves and reveal a tiny bit of wonder. We encourage the comments for many reasons... 1) so we can become better at this craft of writing, and 2) create an atmosphere where it’s easy to make like-minded friends and meet new writers. (And, yes, 3) have fun!)

I read every single comment that comes in on this contest. They all come flurrying into my mailbox and I read them throughout the day. I notice you. I notice the time you take to read and comment. I notice when you are thoughtful, constructive, encouraging. I notice and I am inspired by you. Because you get it. You get what it means to be a writer and support your community.

And we want to support you. We have big plans for The Lascaux Review and for this flash fiction contest (and future competitions), but we want you to feel like you’re a part of making it happen. You already are, but we’d love for you to be as much a part of it as you want to be. So, keep engaging each other and engage us, too.

Tell us what you need. What you want. We’re here. We’re listening.

—Wendy Russ