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Flash Fiction

by Kåre Enga in Udon Thani

Rated: GC · Folder · Other · #2190336

Short 300 word, more or less, "stories" .

Some of these are quite old.

Stored elsewhere:
"To fly [year162.ff] (296w)"

"Mad Fashion Designer [year162.ff]"

(closed)
"Among the branches [year162.ff] (295w) "

"Why think of winter?"

"On the road to Santiago"

"Ring of heartbreak"

"Annie, go get your rod (205w sun, fly, line) [176.73] "

Advice:

Start in the middle.
Don’t use too many characters.
Make sure the ending isn’t at the end.
Sweat your title.
Make your last line ring like a bell.
Write long, then go short.

When it comes to flash fiction you have to be clever. There will be instances where you will want to tell, instead of show. One sentence may be all you need to explain a sordid past as a stripper, hitman, or crooked banker. Think of the tip of the iceberg—show us that, but not the entire mountain of ice and snow.

Richard Thomas, Storyville: How to Write Flash Fiction, LitReactor

You only have room for one main character, so choose her well. What’s more, in a flash piece, this character has only one compelling need. Because flash fiction is about focus, all of her qualities focus themselves on supporting her single compelling need.

J Timothy King, 10 Flash Fiction Writing Tips, Be the Story

Common clichés that can mean a story lands in the reject pile:

Cheap, throwaway, jokey twist endings.
Earnest meditations on the meaning of life, with no plot or characters.
Crazy surrealism for no purpose.
Poems submitted as flash-fiction.
Yet another story about suicide.
Over-writing.
Cheap sentiment.
“Issue” stories, where the ending is supposed to teach us an important lesson.
Strong stories with weak endings, where the writer seems to have lost courage.

From Kell Willsen

:

"I definitely need to get better at writing action. Not just action scenes, but also the sort of casual actions that lend physical weight to dialogue. Character-revealing habits, body language that reflects the mood of a conversation, and facial expressions all fill out a narrative that allows for neither visual clues nor sound effects.

Although I'm sighted, I don't have a very visual imagination. In my writing, I tend to forget to give my characters anything to do while they talk, beyond the most plot-relevant essentials such as walking down a road. In my first draft of book two I've decided to challenge myself to improve at this important skill thus:

With each scene, ask myself what the characters are doing, not just what they are saying and feeling.

When reading, take note of how the writer uses action to reveal mood and personality.

Write at least one scene in each chapter where information is conveyed primarily through actions, rather than conversation. "

northernwrites has written three how-to articles on flash fiction:
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