12+   I stare at the blank screen. The words aren't flowing onto the keyboard. Should I enter a working title? Or perhaps outline my plot and characters? Writer's block. Help!

I tweet the writing community.

"Take a break," is the first response.

"Make a cup of tea," suggests another.

"Go for a walk," a third urges.

"We've all been there," reassures a published writer.

"Don't stress, you've got this," another consoles me.

I'm overwhelmed by the community's advice and affirmations. And then someone tweets, "Remember Hemingway, write one true sentence."

I smile and start writing: "I stare at the blank screen." 

© 2022 Robert Fairhead

With thanks to StartupStockPhotos for the blank screen and notebook image from Pixabay.

Writing NSW is running monthly competitions to mark its 30th anniversary. And as I proudly tweeted last year, I was one of the #30words30days30years flash fiction winners for the November 2021 competition.

The competition brief for February 2022 was to write a love letter to your writing community. And Kanwar Plaha was Writing NSW's worthy winner, penning a powerful thanks to fellow writers.

I interpreted the "letter" differently and wrote The Blank Screen, a microfiction story, reflecting how I interact with the #WritingCommunity on Twitter!

N.B. You may also like to read a blog post I wrote about the microfiction genre, Three Minute Microfiction Podcast (with links to the podcast episode).