Writing.Com General Discussion

Before tackling flash fiction, let's take a look at short stories, because they are relevant here.

A short story isn't usually a complete story. Quite often there is plenty of story that precedes the first word, and usually there is more beyond the last word. In other words, you are showing part of a story, and you have to hint at what came before and that there is stuff going to happen after (athough some short stories are all about the climax).

If you can do this, the short story somehow seems larger than it is, immersing the reader to a deeper level and leaving them wanting more.

When it comes to flash fiction, pretty much the same rules apply, only you have less words to do it in. Character portayal becomes important, so you have to choose your words carefully to both reveal the story and bring your character(s) to life. Flash fiction is generally considered to be up to 1,000 words, but you'll often see more severe limitations in competitions (as in your 300 words).

When I write flash, I have a tendency to use humour, as you can see in my story "A Random Act of Kindness" . A twist at the end is another common device as can be seen in "Flying Joe" . For extreme brevity, "A Dog Walking Tragedy"  is just 18 words and shows what I mean about hinting at a larger story.

You'll note that goal, conflict and resolution can be abandoned (athough not usually all three at once), and the "show don't tell" rule is often suspended to assist with the brevity. The goal, when writing flash, is to squeeze as much story as you can into the limited wordage, and any other considerations (except grammar) take second fiddle.