Looking Into Flash Fiction
A brief study of the world of Flash Fiction.
Flash fiction is a form of writing in which there is not a widely accepted definition. It is usually thought of as a form of fiction written with extreme brevity. It can be in any genre but must have a word cap as low as 300 or as long as 1000. These word caps can vary from publisher to publisher or writer to writer.
While flash fiction is the term most widely used for this form of writing it is known by many different names including sudden fiction, micro fiction, micro-story, postcard fiction, prosetry and short short story.
There are also forms of fiction flash requiring an exact work count such as : Nanofiction, Drabble and the 69er.
Nanofictions are complete stories with at least one character and a discernible plot at exactly 55 words long including the title. A Drabble is a story of exactly 100 words and a 69er as you may have guessed is exactly 69 words with the title excluded in these formats.
Some writers consider flash fiction to be the same as a vignette which by definition is a short literary sketch but they are much more. Flash fiction work contains the classic elements of any story. A protagonist, conflict, obstacles or complications and a resolution. The difference is the limited word count and the unwritten mystery of some elements that are hinted at or implied in the storyline.
New life has been given to flash fiction by the internet and many on-line magazines but it’s history can be traced back to Aesop’s Fables. Many historic authors used flash fiction as their main venue and include these famous names : Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut Jr, H.P. Lovecraft and Lydia Davis.
While flash fiction may not be for everyone it is an exciting and challenging form of writing with a mass market appeal.
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November 20th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Cool I never heard of it till now.
November 21st, 2009 at 12:23 am
Tx for the explanation. I wrote one once, according to specific rules so it was easier to follow than one I made up myself. This is so well composed.
November 21st, 2009 at 12:31 am
very nicely explained. I knew the basis but certainly not all the forms.
November 21st, 2009 at 12:46 am
well written
November 21st, 2009 at 1:12 am
very well written Thanks
November 21st, 2009 at 1:41 am
Good insight into flash fiction, thanks Pam.
November 21st, 2009 at 1:53 am
This sounds to be an interesting writing format. I haven’t tried to write in this genre. Maybe some other days. Thanks for this well-composed article.
November 21st, 2009 at 2:02 am
Well-presented and very informative. I’ve learned lots of new facts with this post. Thanks Pam..
November 21st, 2009 at 2:19 am
It’s just writing with names attached.
November 21st, 2009 at 6:23 am
a very good read.
November 21st, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Nice write!
November 21st, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Excellent. I could not have said it better. This is a well written, informatve article that is as concise as a piece of good flash fiction. Well done.
November 21st, 2009 at 8:46 pm
I entered a competition once, it had to be fiction and not more then 1000 words. Didn’t know the name before. Thanks.
November 22nd, 2009 at 1:22 am
Pam,
I’ve heard a lot about flash fiction, but I couldn’t ever get anyone to tell me what word length was considered the appropriate length for flash fiction. I used to write something like this some years ago, but only shorter. If I can find some of them I’ll try to polish them a bit and put them on here. Great article!!!!!! Excellent work Pam!!! Have you heard from Nick yet?
Randy
November 22nd, 2009 at 9:11 pm
It’s interesting, It would have to be extremely exciting to be so short.
November 23rd, 2009 at 6:04 am
Informative! Liked it!
November 24th, 2009 at 1:52 am
Very interesting and it looks exciting too.
November 26th, 2009 at 8:07 am
Thanks for posting such details. I have been trying some of these.
November 26th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Hmmmm, I’d love to put a book together with 100 different authors!
Thanks,
Clay
November 26th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
That’s fascinating, I’d not heard about it before. Thanks for sharing. I’ll have to look out for some.
January 14th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
It is so weird. I call myself a writer and hadn’t really heard about it much… It sounds so challenging though. Usually I either write articles or stories in the screenplay format. This is just so new…
April 5th, 2010 at 9:18 pm
Flash Fiction. Interesting!