Introduction to Flash Fiction

What is Flash Fiction? In simplest terms, it is a short-short story. Usually, flash fiction is no more than 500 words in length, but still packs a huge punch. It concentrates on the action; whereas in a novel or even a traditional short story, you take time to set up the scene and populate it with believable characters. Flash fiction focuses on the important pieces of a story.

… It has a definite conflict and resolution, but instead of being peopled with characters it is usually fine-tuned to one character. It pulls the reader into the story with the barest minimum of exposition and gets into the middle of the conflict quickly.

How do I write flash fiction? Choose a moment in a character's life where you can tell a lot, but in a short amount of time. This could be telling a story in the amount of time someone takes to ride the bus to work, sit through a 60 minute class, or sit in a doctor's office. It shouldn't be the life story of a character; save that for longer forms of fiction.

… Edit everything out of the story that isn't essential to understanding the setting, the action, or feelings of the characters. You can also remove modifiers that aren't necessary, such as "very," "quite," and "actually." Be intentional about every word in the story.

… Look for the smaller ideas in larger ones. To discuss the complex relationship of parents and children you'd need a novel. Go for a smaller piece of that complex issue. How kids feel when they aren't included in a conversation. What kids do when they are bored in the car. Middle child. Bad report card. Find a smaller topic and build on it.

… When you write your story, don't take two pages to explain all the pre-story. Find a way to set it all in the first paragraph, then get on with the rest of the tale.

… Start the story in the middle of the action. A man is running. A bomb is about to go off. A monster is in the house. Don't describe any more than you have to. The reader can fill in some of the blanks.

… Find one powerful image to focus your story on. A war-torn street. An alien sunset. A café where everybody seems to be asleep. A doctor’s office where people go in, but they never come out. Let your imagination go wild.

… A little mystery goes a long way. Your reader may have no idea what is going on for the majority of the story. This will lure them on to the end. When they finish, there should be a good pay off or solution.

Flash Fiction Prompt It’s garbage day and you put your trash on the curb, but when you return home from work, it’s still there (though everyone else’s garbage has been taken away). The next week, it happens again–and again the following week. Why is the trash collector snubbing you? Write a scene explaining why he’s skipping your garbage and how you figured it out, or any variation inspired by this scenario.