What is Flash Fiction?
Maybe you’ve heard of flash fiction. Maybe not. Here is a brief definition of what it is and isn’t.
There is a craze sweeping the literary nation and it is called Flash Fiction. What, you may ask, is Flash Fiction? Well, I have found that most e-zines and other publishers that I have researched (A list that exceeds forty so far) consider Flash Fiction to be of 1000 words or under. Some have 500 or even 250 word count maximums, but 1000 appears to be standard for most.
There is also a specific form of Flash called Drabble, which is of the 100 words or under variety. There are a few publishers and authors who stretch this definition to include stories of up to 250 words, but 100 is considered the standard for most Drabble.
Flash Fiction and Drabble serve the purpose of offering a complete story within a very short amount of space. Most can be read within a minute or less. In this age of quick cuts, sound bites and other instant gratification, Flash stories offer something to satisfy readers who don’t have time for a lengthy novel. They are fun reads and a nice change of pace for the rest of us, too.
As an author, I have found that keeping within a specific word count or under a particular number of words is a wonderful challenge. Doing so has helped me improve my “regular” writing immensely. Maintaining a minimum length forces the author to make every word count, making you pay even closer attention to the tiny details that combine to make a whole story. Not to mention that they are easier to complete due to the short length.
As far as genre is concerned, Flash Fiction encompasses all the genres of regular fiction. IE:Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Speculative, Mystery, Humor and so much more. The possibilities are just as wide here as with any other length of work. The only restriction is the word count.
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November 12th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Certainly flash fiction is a very disciplined mode of writing and does make a writer really consider ways of streamlining their verbiage. Does pushing oneself to write flash improve one’s writing generally? Not always: writing a novel – or even a novella, or a short story – requires different skills, and the ability to expand and go into greater detail is just as much a skill – and one which requires discipline – as keeping it short. But this takes nothing away from the fact that this is a useful article: I only recently discovered what flash fiction was, and now it seems to be everywhere.
October 8th, 2008 at 3:18 am
Thanks! I didn’t know what flash fiction was. Most of the stories I’ve written so far have less than a thousand words, with few exceptions. Great article! Best Regards.
Balzac
May 18th, 2010 at 8:42 pm
Great article that helps us new writers to learn more about our craft. Nice to meet you!
May 3rd, 2012 at 9:15 am
Great informative article. Thanks for sharing.