Flash Fiction Techniques (the short Short Story)
Flash fiction—also known as sudden fiction, short-shorts, micro-fiction and pocket-size stories—is all the rage. This form of story-telling is identified by its extreme brevity, with tales ranging in length from 50 to 1,000 words. As Charles Baxter said, it is a form that occupies many dimensions: a cross between poetry and fiction, the story and the sketch, prophecy and reminiscence, the personal and the public. It’s said that the best flash fiction lingers in the mind long after the piece has been read. Students in this seminar will learn how to quickly establish setting, character and conflict, how to write effective hooks and conclude with meaningful resolutions. We’ll focus on producing resonate images and allusions, as well as on crafting highly condensed prose most likely to achieve the writer’s desired effects.