Flash Fiction Examples

You've Got Thirty Pages

It seems readers want to be intrigued and satisfied in fewer pages than ever before. But if poetry is a dying art, flash fiction, novellas and chapbooks seem to be emerging more than ever.

Why is it that so many readers are demanding to be entertained in such a short period of time? Because we want literature we can read while walking to the bus stop, we want stories we can finish over lunch, we want novellas we can finish in a couple days of subway rides. And perhaps more importantly, because our attention spans have become the same as a goldfish, at least according to one BBC report .

It’s all part of the desire for instant gratification.  When we hear a song, we like we want to own it instantly, and such it has become with literature; when we read a paragraph we are intrigued by, we want the whole plot revealed before we arrive at our next destination. We don’t want to wait for answers for our questions (hello Google ) so why should we wait too long for the conclusion of a story? Even a lonely bar mate doesn’t want to listen to a stranger’s story for longer than it takes to finish half a beer.

There has even been an influx of chapbook contests that promise a winning author a chance to publish in a short form: Rosetta Books The Galaxy Project chapbook contest is one such contest.

But this doesn’t necessarily mean authors are not providing quality work to their audience; it just comes in smaller packages. Flash Fiction Online and Everyday Fiction are just two examples of providers of  literature in snack sizes.

The Writing Vein: workshop: "Tiny Kingdoms: Writing Flash Fiction"

Short, short stories—some have described them as vignettes, sketches, anecdotes; they’ve been given multiple names such as flash fiction, sudden fiction, mini fiction, quick fiction, or micro fiction. Joyce Carol Oates compares flash fiction to “Chopin’s brilliant little preludes,” and Mark Strand claims they “can do in a page what a novel does in two hundred.” In this workshop we will write from prompts geared toward this condensed form of storytelling and discuss strategies for revising longer pieces to create a successful flash. Through exploring several compelling flash fiction examples, we’ll investigate how these authors use lyricism, subtext, and the element of surprise to create tiny kingdoms that contain multitudes. The query letter is one of the most daunting pieces you as a writer will ever take on. It’s your first impression with the publisher, and the final draft could come across as a soggy handshake or an impressive, firm grip. In this workshop, we’ll examine what makes a well-crafted query letter and what dooms it for rejection. Then we’ll draft and critique our own queries so you can leave with the confidence to stand up straight, make eye contact, and smile wide for your literary introduction.

The Pearl Jacket and Other Stories, Flash Fiction from Contemporary China

Flash Writing, How to Write, Revise and Publish Stories Less Than 1,000 Words Long

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Creative writing, a guide and glossary to fiction writing