Flash Fiction
Flash Fiction vs Short Stories
Flash Fiction & Short Stories
• Setting
• Character(s)
• Conflict
• Resolution
Flash Fiction
• Has a limited amount of
words: usually 1000 words
or less
• Usually uses twist endings
Strategies of writing of Flash Fiction
1. Before you write, know what your story is
going to be about.
You should have a clear theme in your mind
while you are writing.
Theme is the main idea or the message of a
story.
Strategies (continued)
2. Keep the number of characters to a bare
minimum.
Every new character adds a dimension to your
tale and will require words to introduce,
describe, and resolve any conflicts.
Strategies (continued)
3. Focus your story plot on one subject.
Write your theme down and keep it near you
while you write.
Strategies (continued)
4. Focus on one powerful image.
Effective flash fiction stories deal with one event
or time in a character’s life.
Strategies (continued)
5. The small idea
Look for the small ideas in larger ones.
For example, you would need to write a novel to
address the complex interrelated relationship
between parents and children.
Instead, focus on one event such as a bad report
card.
Strategies (continued)
6. Pick each word carefully.
You do not need a long, involved description of
the character’s bedroom in flash fiction.
Strategies (continued)
7. Use emotion to move your story forward.
Emotion is a powerful writing tool.
Strategies (continued)
8. Bury the preamble.
When you write your story, don't take two pages
to explain all the pre-story. Find a way to set it
all in the first paragraph, then get on with the
rest of the tale.
Strategies (continued)
9. Start in the middle of the action.
Don't describe any more than you have to. The
reader can fill in some of the blanks.
Strategies (continued)
10. Use dialogue to move your story forward.
Write an all-dialogue story using as few tags as
possible. Let the dialogue describe the
characters and create conflict:
"Take that lolly pop out of your fat mouth!"
"Make me, you skinny runt."
Strategies (continued)
11. Make the reader guess until the end.
A little mystery goes a long way. Your reader
may have no idea what is going on for the
majority of the story. This will lure them on to
the end. When they finish, there should be a
good pay off or solution.
Strategies (continued)
12. Use a twist
The twist ending allows the writer to pack some punch at the
end of the story.
Flash fiction is often twist-ending fiction because
you don't have enough time to build up sympathetic
characters and show how a long, devastating plot has affected
them.
Like a good joke, flash fiction is often streamlined to the
punch-line at the end.
“The Duel” by Aaron Kidd
Two foes faced one another on a desert
battlefield. Sweat beaded both brows. One infamous,
clothed in black. The other, a golden star over his heart.
They drew revolvers.
Gunshots sounded.
A woman yelled from a nearby porch.
The combatants fell and lay still.
Then, rising, they began to sprint towards the
porch.
Snack Time.
Tips
• Use contractions instead of two words.
– He is: 2 words
– He’s: 1 word
• Use punctuation instead of conjunctions.
– She glanced over her shoulder and spotted the clown.
– She glanced over shoulder, spotted the clown.
• Use strong words instead of weak ones.
Being Choosy
Stronger Words
• Verbs
• Nouns
• Adjectives
Weaker Words
• Adverbs
• Pronouns
• Interjections
• Prepositions
• Conjunctions
“The 14Duel”12by Aaron
Kidd
7
Nouns Verbs Adjectives
Two foes faced one another on a desert
battlefield. Sweat beaded both brows. One
infamous, clothed in black. The other, a golden
star over his heart.
They drew revolvers.
Gunshots sounded.
A woman yelled from a nearby porch.
The combatants fell and lay still.
Then, rising, they began to sprint towards the
porch.
Snack Time.
“Broken Girl” by Jessie Roark
Snapped ankle. Out of coma.
Amnesia. Every day goes by the
same. The doctors come in and
ask hundreds of questions. That
social worker won’t leave me
alone.
Today a tall man with my high cheekbones,
wearing a blue jacket, comes in to see me.
“Tess?”
Then I see his cold eyes and I remember.
“Refined Lifestyle” by Lindsey Cox
Don’s parents said he’d
never amount to anything. They
said he’d never be successful,
but here he was, sitting in the
lap of luxury. The house had
magnificently tall ceilings and
elaborate art on the walls that
Don admired. He took them
down and threw them in the
truck with the rest of the
plunder.
“The Scarlatti Tilt” - Richard Brautigan
"It's very hard to live in a studio apartment in
San Jose with a man who's learning to play the
violin." That's what she told the police when she
handed them the empty revolver.
Flash Fiction: A story in six words.
For sale: baby shoes,
never worn.
--Ernest Hemingway,
American author (1899-1961)
Challenge: Bubble Flash Fiction
If you are up for a challenge, try the Bubble
Flash Fiction.
http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/vir
giniawiles-547758-introduction-to-narrative/
Start with slide 13
Do not do the part that asks you to list animals.
References
• https://www.wiziq.com/tutorial/80695-Writing-FlashFiction
• http://www.fictionfactor.com/guests/flashfiction.html
• http://static.schoolrack.com/files/79740/363667/flash.
ppt.
• http://www.teacherweb.com/OK/DeerCreekHighSchoo
l/Stephenson/Fiction-in-a-Flash.ppt.
• http://www.writing-world.com/fiction/popek.shtml
• Flash fiction photo
http://www.litro.co.uk/2012/09/flash-fiction-panelspecial/