Advice On Writing Flash Fiction

by hanamigo

posted on 04/16/2009

Do you think you can write a good story? Can you write it in a thousand words or less? That's exactly what a flash fiction story is, a story that can be read very quickly. It may sound simple, but successful practitioners of this craft are only those who know the economy of words and the value of being concise. Here's what you can do to succeed.

Think of a Story
That sounds like an obvious step, but you'd be surprised how many people try to write a story in less than one thousand words without actually having a story in mind. Flash fiction takes a little more thought and planning because you have a word limit imposed on you. Don't worry, it'll be fun. Just think of it as a challenge and think of a story you can tell effectively within that limit.

Just Write
Whatever comes to mind, just put it on the page. Freewrite without thinking about how many words you have written or how many words you have left until you reach the limit. Let it all out. All you should be concerned about is telling your story until its end.

Edit
When you're finished, find out how many total words you have. If you have more than one thousand words, get ready to start taking words out until you're at a thousand words. If you have less than a thousand words, congratulate yourself-then get ready to start removing words from your story, too.

A well-written flash fiction story not only meets its less than a thousand words word limit, but it's incredibly concise and to the point as well. Read over your story and take things out that do not contribute to the story or are redundant. Make sure that you don't change the overall meaning of the story, either. Take this opportunity to tighten up the story. Make sure that your narrative is free from plot holes and grammatical errors, too.

Submit
Once your story is the best it can be, try to submit your story somewhere if you'd like. There are many publications both in print and online that accept flash fiction stories, so you should have no trouble finding a publication outlet.

Writing flash fiction takes a serious writer and make him or her much better at the craft of writing. Once you fully understand the effect of clear, vibrant storytelling in flash fiction, you can go on to write just about anything.

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