I am assuming you are a writer, or want to be. If you have yet to launch yourself into the darkness called writing, and have been putting it off for whatever reason(s) your mind can conjure, this is for you. If you are a writer who hits dry spells, or the dreaded block, this is also for you. It’s a simple suggestion: Write flash fiction.
Stories of under 1,000 words are considered to be “flash fiction,” but some markets cap that at 500 words, while others might stretch it to 1,500. In any case, flash fiction is the briefest story length that you can reasonably expect to get published outside of Reader’s Digest. For those of you under 40, Reader’s Digest was a content curator before such a term was foisted upon the world. They print short pieces, under 300 words. Yes, they are still printing it.
There are three reasons why you should write flash fiction if you want to be a writer:
- It gets you into writing as quickly as possible. Almost everyone can write a story of several hundred words in one day. Someone said that the best feeling in writing comes from having written, and they ain’t kidding. And one you’ve written one, you have all the tools you need to write many more.
- It gets you to focus on the essentials of telling a story. A good flash fiction piece is a story stripped to bare essentials. All you’ll generally need is one or two characters, a plot point, a twist or two, and an ending. You will learn to structure a narrative to create pace and reach a satisfying end. You will also learn to avoid the loathsome emptiness of “mood pieces” popular with so-called literary markets where words are tossed out but not a damn thing happens. You want 700 words where nothing happens? Write press releases.
- It lets you experiment. If you have a yen for trying a new genre, but aren’t sure how it will go for you, write a flash fiction story as a trial run. To create it, you’ll need to pare down the genre elements to a minimum, but still keeping it identifiable. This is not as easy as it sounds, and it allows you to try without investing a major amount of time. If you can write a solid short-short story in a genre, you can write much longer pieces, even a novel.
There are two primary reasons why you should write flash fiction if you are an experienced writer:
- To move past the block on another project. All too often, a block is basically a moment of indecision that becomes a sinkhole of crippling doubt. As the days go by with barely any words being produced, the gravity well of the block becomes harder to escape. But writing s flash fiction piece can move a writer past the block to understand that writing is not the obstacle: it’s rediscovering the energy to tackle the project. Creativity doesn’t vanish overnight, and tapping into it in another way can lead to a new stream of creative energy.
- Because it is fun. “Fun” and “writing” don’t often go together, but sitting down to challenge yourself to compete a story in an hour is playfulness within the art. It doesn’t have to ne a masterpiece. It simply is a chance to sit down with yourself and let the creative mind swoop and soar for a little while, to see what emerges. The only pressure is achieving “The End,” which thankfully is but minutes, not weeks, away.
Give flash fiction writing a try. Your writing brain will thank you.
