Flash Fiction Is A Style Of Fictional Literature Or Fiction Of Extreme Brevity

Posted by tetheredbyletters on April 29th, 2014

The traditional short story is fighting to hold the attention in an increasingly fast paced world while flash fiction is gaining popularity. It can be a valuable discipline for the writers to learn to conform to the restricted format of flash fiction. The market for this kind of short fiction is on the rise and writers stand to gain significant financial benefits from it.

Flash fiction is a term that is loosely applied to many short stories but basically it refers to stories which are less than 500 words in length. Some people think that this kind of fiction writing is nothing but a gimmick and cannot be taken seriously. However, writers who wish to survive in an increasingly internet driven world should definitely take it seriously as this form of writing is especially suited to the internet. There are many new websites dedicated to flash fiction coming up every day. Many services are being developed to allow users to download written material on subscription to mobile phones and tablets. This gives fiction writers a larger audience than they could ever imagine with traditional methods of publication. At the same time, compared to the word count the payments are high which makes flash fiction quite lucrative for writers. Apart from being financially rewarding, writing flash fiction is a great mental exercise even for seasoned writers as the brevity of the form forces them to measure each word.

Creating flash fiction is like conjuring up a rich sauce. The ingredients like character, setting and action are reduced to the point where only the essence of the story remains. However, do keep in mind that, in spite of the brevity, the story must have a plot with a beginning, middle and end. Simply putting down a reflection or an anecdote is not sufficient. Good flash fiction packs an emotional punch like a sharp, short shock which keeps the reader engrossed much after he or she has read it. In spite of the restrictions if written cleverly flash fiction allows for a lot of implication, a suggestion of a much bigger story beyond the immediate snapshot.

The best way to approach flash fiction is to make the beginning strong. Don’t bother with preamble and simply begin at the start of the action. Back stories must be implied with the right choice of words. Keep to the main essence and do not waste words on lengthy descriptions as there is no place in flash fiction for this.

About the Author:
Tethered by Letters is a nonprofit literary journal dedicated to cultivating writers of all ages, backgrounds, education, or genres. At TBL, they want to give every single writer the opportunity to become an indispensable member of TBL. Their members have formed a writing community and support system unlike any you've encountered.