What the heck is flash fiction anyway!??

After finding out about NPR's Three Minute Fiction Contest, I decided to find out more about this crazy short writing style.

Also known as "sudden fiction, microfiction, micro-story, postcard fiction, prosetry and short short story", flash fiction is a literary style marked by its brevity. Flash fiction is typically anywhere from 300-1,000 words and has been gaining steam since it was established in the early 90's.

I'm nearly always tardy to the party, so I'm not surprised that I'm just getting hip to this. I think I'll enter the contest, though. I'll also be sure to post my entry here, for some peer review.

As you all work on your entries, here are a few tips from PFI Magazine's site on how to write totally kick butt fiction. The post is a few years old, but the tips are still very relevant. Check out their site for the full post.

The Essentials of Micro-Fiction
BB Camille Renshaw

Micro Fiction, by nature, is defiant. It defies length, boundaries, and expectations. But tight, provocative fiction requires analysis and editing. Taking an idea and distilling it into a “micro”- cosm of its original self is challenging. So what are the essentials of Micro Fiction?

1.Length and form obviously matter. The average micro fiction will be less than 400 words, with some exceptions that reach as much as 750 words. The form is strictly prose. If the novel writer is the carpenter who structures a whole house, and a short story writer is the decorator of one of its rooms, then the micro fiction writer is the mailman who looks into the box before dropping in the household’s letters. Readers discover something brief and intimate in a very short space.

2.Be willing to edit and re-edit

3.[Use] Soul-stirring Language

4.[Use] Imagery

5. Make it tight. Use a minimum of words

6. Play against expectations

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