Dave Owens - Micro Writing Part 3 Flash Fiction

Howdy folks and welcome back to Dave’s Takeover. Today is Part 3, focused on Flash fiction (stories composed of 1000 words or less, from Dave’s first post on Micro Writing, here). Those who missed yesterday's Part 2 can find it here. Enough from me though, let me turn it over to the Micro Master.

Micro Writing Part 3: Flash – The Core of Short Fiction

Flash Fiction occupies space in a robust market for storytellers. The list of markets, non-paying and professional grows daily.

The essential elements of great Flash fiction are not difficult to master, but the writer should consider the difficulties encountered in the process.

First, consider setting. Flash does not accommodate lengthy settings, unless the piece is about setting. Not many writers write a whole story about setting, especially when they write fiction. Hint at setting in short bursts if necessary.

Second, think structure. Most flash writers will tell you to skip all the introduction details and begin your story in the middle. The traditional middle becomes the end. Start where the true story lies, not after you’ve written a lengthy preface-like introduction. Go for the heart. Skip long expositions in narrative and focus on the crisis and characters.

[Frank here: The fancy term for starting in the middle of the story is In Medias Res, Latin for “into the middle of things”. A classic example of this type of writing is Homer’s Odyssey (link is to the entire text for those who want to brush up). For those who like modern examples, American Sniper starts with the main character already in the Middle East, behind a gun. 

In Medias Res, however, is not quite what Dave is suggesting, as it involves going back and filling in the story through a series of flashbacks or similar devices. For flash writing, starting in the middle allows you to grab your reader instantly and complete the story in 1000 words or less. Back to Dave…]

Third, envision strong characters. Since flash fiction exists in 750 to 1000 words, the writer must know the characters in depth. In order to cull the words that do not forward the story, great language is essential to the style.

Never start with weather – you’re wasting word. Perhaps you may wish to indicate weather in passing, but make it brief. Once again, you may incorporate weather into the narrative rather than describing the weather.

Keep the number of characters few. Too many characters eat space, and consume words.

Examples:

Short: John heard the distant roll of thunder.

Long/wordy: The sky darkened and rain clouds rolled in from the west. Lightning blasted the sky and thunder pounded his eardrums. <-Wasted words UNLESS the story is about thunder, etc.

Start in the middle of the story. With only 750 to 1000 words, the writer has little space to “set up” the story.

Long setup:

Danny watched the cattle from his farmhouse window. In the distance, a rider on horseback approached across the low hills. Near the gate, the rider reined his horse, dismounted, and opened the gate. The rider wore black, much like the Parson wore at church.

Short setup (start with crisis):

Danny wondered why the distant rider approached at such speed. “Bad news comes from fast riders,” his father always said.

The middle of a Flash story focuses on the crisis and how the character approaches, disregards, or solves the crisis.

The ending should answer why the character acted as he did, show why he failed, what he learned, or present an ironic answer. Please, no “Deus Ex Machina,” where a miraculous event saves the day.

Flash should be a full, self-contained story with solid Hook, solid narrative, and solid characters. Don’t forget the five senses. Show, don’t tell and avoid long passive verbs.

He was going. <-passive

He went, <-active

I plan to edit and publish a collection of flash and micro fiction in the near future. If you are interested, please feel free to send an email inquiry to me.

email:   editor (AT) netsite21 (DOT) com

Facebook:  Writer1947

 Tomorrow in Part 4, I will dissect a piece of Frank’s writing.

Good writing,

Dave

Dave is an internationally published writer, teacher, mentor, and editor.

Note: The flash non-fiction market is growing as well. If you enjoy writing non-fiction, perhaps you might consider the possibilities for your talents.