{"id":4223,"date":"2013-10-06T15:15:28","date_gmt":"2013-10-06T15:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lawrencecconnolly.com\/archive\/?p=4223"},"modified":"2023-07-07T22:44:05","modified_gmt":"2023-07-08T02:44:05","slug":"putting-the-flash-in-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lawrencecconnolly.com\/archive\/2013\/10\/06\/putting-the-flash-in-fiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting the Flash in Fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Vestal<\/a>What makes for a good flash fiction<\/a> story?<\/p>\n

The answer is elusive, even though we know the good stories when we read them. They\u2019re the ones that grab our attention, hold our interest, and conclude with a punch. But there\u2019s more to it than that. There always is.<\/p>\n

Next week, I\u2019ll be giving a presentation on flash fiction at the Pittsburgh Area Independent School Teachers Association (PAISTA<\/a>) conference, held this year at Sewickley Academy, just north of Pittsburgh. I\u2019m currently in the process of assembling my notes, rereading some classic stories, seeking out some new ones, and trying to distill what I think I know into a\u00a0 presentation about short-short fiction.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m having a lot of fun in the process.<\/p>\n

\"Shortest\"<\/a>One story I plan on referencing in the presentation is a 55-word masterpiece by Jeffery Whitmore titled \u201cBedtime Story.\u201d It first appeared in The World\u2019s Shortest Stories<\/i><\/a>, and it still stands as one of the best examples of flash I\u2019ve ever read. Here\u2019s its first line:<\/p>\n

\u201cCareful, honey, it\u2019s loaded,\u201d he said, re-entering the bedroom.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a perfect first sentence, and would-be flash-fiction writers can learn a lot from the way it uses just nine words to effortlessly introduce the story\u2019s characters, setting, and conflict. Moreover, I love the way the sentence compels us to read on, bringing to mind the advice Anton Chekov gave to A. S. Gruzinsky: \u201cOne must not put a loaded gun on the stage if no one is thinking of firing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Flash<\/a>It\u2019s also worth noting that the story relies primarily on concrete nouns and active verbs. It contains few modifiers and avoids details that don\u2019t contribute to the reveal at the end of the story. Yet the ending surprises and satisfies in ways that make “Bedtime Story” a masterwork of economy and precision. If you haven\u2019t read it, you really should. The book is available in paperback <\/a>and ebook <\/a>for well under $10.00 \u2013 worth the investment if you\u2019re interested in writing the stuff.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also been reading some of the genre\u2019s newest entries, stories published in the current issues of The Vestal Review<\/i><\/a> (which bills itself as \u201cthe longest-running flash fiction magazine in the world\u201d) and Flash Fiction Online<\/i><\/a>. Both magazines pay professional rates, and their stories are just a few clicks away.\u00a0 There\u2019s also a print magazine titled Flash<\/em><\/a>, published twice a year by the University of Chester. Highly recommended.<\/p>\n

\"FFOBanner4\"<\/a>While you\u2019re perusing the latest stories, be sure to check out \u201cHis Brother\u2019s Bite<\/a>\u201d by Gillian Daniels in the October issue of Flash Fiction Online<\/i><\/a>. Here\u2019s the opening sentence:<\/p>\n

Maurice showed me his twin brother by lifting up his shirt and pointing to the teeth growing out of his stomach.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Once again, notice how the author introduces the characters right up front. Stories are about people, not weather or landscape. In longer works, you might be able to open with mood-evoking details or panoramic vistas. (James A. Michener<\/a> got rich doing that, but he never wrote flash.)<\/p>\n

\"FB-Imagine\"<\/a>Still, you will find plenty of flash fiction that opens with landscape and weather. You\u2019ll even find some stories that contain no characters at all. Fredric Brown<\/a>\u2019s \u201cImagine\u201d comes to mind, but such works seems more like prose poems than stories (and few writers have the skill to pull it off as well as Brown).<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also been going through my files, digging out some of my own flash fiction from 100 Great Fantasy Short-Short Stories<\/i><\/a>, 100 Fiendish Little Frightmares<\/i><\/a>, 365 Scary Stories<\/i><\/a>, and others. I need to select a couple to present at the conference.<\/p>\n

I just hope they hold their own against the stories mentioned above.<\/p>\n

\"Piano-Lesson\"<\/a>Finally, I\u2019ll be concluding my afternoon at PAISTA with a presentation on the songs featured in August Wilson\u2019s The Piano Lesson<\/i><\/a>. \u201cHesitation Blues<\/a>,\u201d \u201cWining Boy<\/a>,\u201d and \u201cOh, Lord, I Want You to Help Me\u201d are all referenced in the course of the play, and I\u2019ll be performing them and talking about how they contribute to the work.<\/p>\n

Look for a follow-up post sometime next week. After that, you can expect at least two or three entries devoted to my upcoming readings at the World Fantasy Convention<\/a> and the University of Brighton<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Until then, scop on!<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Vestal Review <\/em>Issue 43, \u201cThe Eye Opener,\u201d copyright \u00a9 2013 http:\/\/www.freestockphotos.biz<\/span><\/a>; The World\u2019s Shortest Stories<\/em>, Running Press Books; Flash<\/em> Vol. 6 No. 1., University of Chester; Flash Fiction Online banner, flashfictiononline.com<\/span><\/a>; \u201cImagine\u201d by Frederic Brown, from The Best of Frederic Brown<\/em>, Del Ray, 1977 (currently out of print), The Piano Lesson<\/em>, Plume, 1990.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What makes for a good flash fiction story? The answer is elusive, even though we know the good stories when we read them. They\u2019re the ones that grab our attention, hold our interest, and conclude with a punch. But there\u2019s more to it than that. There always is. Next week, I\u2019ll be giving a presentation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"single-cat-21st-centuryscop","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[590,589,591,579,593,576,582,574,581,587,588,585,594,584,598,586,578,597,596,575,600,592,580,577,599,583,595,148],"class_list":["post-4223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-21st-centuryscop","tag-100-fiendish-little-frightmares","tag-100-great-fantasy-short-short-stories","tag-365-scary-stories","tag-anton-chekov","tag-august-wilson","tag-bedtime-story","tag-flash","tag-flash-fiction","tag-flash-fiction-online","tag-fredric-brown","tag-fredric-browns-imagine","tag-gillian-daniels","tag-hesitation-blues","tag-his-brothers-bite","tag-i-want-you-to-help-me","tag-james-a-michener","tag-jeffery-whitmore","tag-lord","tag-oh","tag-pittsburgh-area-independent-school-teachers-association","tag-the-best-of-frederic-brown","tag-the-piano-lesson","tag-the-vestal-review","tag-the-worlds-shortest-stories","tag-university-of-brighton","tag-university-of-chester","tag-wining-boy","tag-world-fantasy-convention"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawrencecconnolly.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawrencecconnolly.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawrencecconnolly.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawrencecconnolly.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawrencecconnolly.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4223"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lawrencecconnolly.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23503,"href":"https:\/\/lawrencecconnolly.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4223\/revisions\/23503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawrencecconnolly.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawrencecconnolly.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawrencecconnolly.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}