Flash Fiction and Description

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“Mr. Hogan, I’ve heard you say that description in flash fiction should be intentional.  What do you mean by that?”

“Description should do more than just describe things.  It must point to something beyond itself.”

“Please explain.”

“The things in a story should not only represent themselves but also represent something that the writer is trying to say about the story.  This means every item in the story that can be recognized by the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch must serve a purpose.  If the writer has a woman in the story wearing a red dress there should be a reason why the dress is mentioned and why it’s red.”

“It should say something about the woman’s character.”

“Or the theme of the story or the situation or something.  And if the writer can make that dress and its color say something about the woman’s character and the theme and the situation, then that red dress is a powerful piece of description.”

“Just don’t have her wearing that red dress because it’s the first thing that pops into the writer’s head.”

“Exactly.  If the red dress is not intentional, don’t mentioned what she’s wearing.  You’re better off.  Or if the dress is intentional but not the color then don’t mention the color.  Just mention the dress.”

“So, every thing in the story should be intentional.”

“The more things that are intentional the tighter the story will be and the fewer words the writer will have to use.  Flash fiction is about writing short on long subjects”