That’s right my brother and sister writers.  That’s all there is to it: The setup, the buildup and the payoff.  This is not a simplification.  It is the skeleton of every short story.  Let me do something that I would never do in one of my own flash fiction stories.  Let me us a metaphor to explain my theory.

Now you know what a metaphor is, right?  My old Oxford American Desk Dictionary says a metaphor is an, “application of a name or descriptive term or phrase to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.”

Okay, now for my metaphor.  The setup, the buildup and the payoff are like the human skeleton.  They hold up the body of a story no matter the size, shape, gender, ethnicity or skin color of the body of the story.  Pretty neat, huh?

So, write your very short stories, micro-stories, sudden fiction, short shorts, flash fiction, regular length stories and long stories.  Just keep in mind this simple theory of the setup, buildup and payoff.

Oh, the reason I don’t use metaphors is because I like to write literally.  But, hey, that’s just me.  I do understand the importance and beauty of a well placed, original metaphor.

Where would writers be without metaphors?  Where would one of my favorite writers, F. Scott Fitzgerald have been without metaphors?

Who didn’t use metaphors?  As a rule you won’t find metaphors in the work of Hemingway, Raymond Carver or John O’Hara.  No, I didn’t invent my style of writing.  I stole it. 

Just make sure your metaphors are well placed, appropriate and original.  They will help your writing to sing.