Writing Flash Fiction - from Helen Johnson, Host of PYA's Writers' Support Group (https://www.helenjohnsonyorkshirewriter.co.uk)
I’ve been writing flash fiction for seven years now, and find it a
great way to hone skills. I don’t worry about publishing it, I just use
it as a chance to experiment.
Flash fiction tells a lot with economy
of words. It differs from other short forms of writing, such as
character sketches, descriptive passages, or evocative poems, because it
has STORY. A start, a middle, an end. A change, a resolution. The
linearity, of cause and consequence, that makes a story.
So, how to write it?
Focus on ONE main conflict, large or small
Are you telling a small story big: a moment under the microscope? The
distinctive emotions of a unique character in a tiny, but
illuminating, fragment of their life?
Or are you telling a big story
small, stripping it of extraneous detail? The collapse of a galaxy,
millions of lives lost in one nuclear bang?
Story
Stories feature characters. Characters who change, as a result of
their experience in the story. Choose your characters carefully. Think
about specific particulars that define your characters.
Consider the
conflict: who – or what – is your character’s antagonist? Maybe it’s a
traditional goodie vs baddie story. Or maybe your character has an
internal conflict, and is fighting themself? Or maybe, the antagonist is
an external force, such as weather or bureaucracy?
Try to pare down to protagonist and antagonist – don’t clutter your story with unnecessary characters.
Pack an emotional punch
Stories are memorable when they stir emotions. Select your single
main point carefully, ideally linking it to an eternal aspect of
humanity: love, death, hope, grief, etc. Even if the story is ostensibly
about something else, seek the universal emotion within it. Then use
symbolism and and metaphor to reinforce that emotion as you tell your
story.
Ideas for getting Ideas: What to write about?
I love newspapers – I tear out anything that takes my eye, and keep
it in a folder. When I’m in need of inspiration, I can browse my folder.
Pictures, headlines, little snippets – even just faces.
Choose a
‘slice of life’. Look at the news, select an event, consider how it
might affect someone involved. Use this to explore universal themes such
as love, death, power, etc
Or work from a picture. Take a face, a
place or an item. Use it to create a vivid image that takes readers
into a character’s world.
Or try a twist at the end: build one
expection, then subvert it. Think of it as two stories: the story you’re
REALLY telling (the twist) and the story you want the reader to THINK
you’re telling – the diversionary text.
Experiment
Use flash as an opportunity to explore, and try something different
to your usual work. Write a genre, a style, a point of view, that you’ve
not done before. Try something NEW.
Take Time
Flash is short to read, not to write. Once you have a draft, edit,
edit, and edit some more. Cut anything extraneous. Select specific,
precise words that justify their place in your work. Stress test it: is
every sentence essential to your denouement? If not, why is it there?
So, what are you waiting for?
Give flash a go.
