It isn’t every day you stumble across a new literary genre, but Flash fiction (yeah, I linked there!) could be just the thing for people like us who aren’t capable of sustained reading of complex texts. Flash fiction consists of short stories of limited word count that, unlike vignettes, have elements of plot such as setting, characterization, and resolution. Anthologies date at least back to Thomas, Thomas and Hazuka’s 1992 Flash Fiction: Very Short Stories but flash fiction has gained in popularity recently due to (surprise!) the Internet. Here’s a few Webzines known for flash fiction: Brevity, double room, SmokeLong Quarterly, Vestal Review. So no more excuses, put down those tech manuals and the library management crap literature and get literary!
By Marc Meola
Funny thing is, I found myself skimming them.
Cool that you found flash. I’m a huge fan (obviously). I hope you enjoy SmokeLong.
I’m a high school junior, and I’ve just published my first anthology of Flash Fiction, entitled “Eye Has Not Seen.” I wrote all of the stories myself. Some of them are “fiction fables” and some are just for fun. Sometimes I write from a viewpoint opposite my own. I’ve been writing since I was in kindergarten, but I gravitate to short “short stories” since I have ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). This genre is perfect for readers and writers with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), and I’ll soon be adding ADHD tips to my website.
Actually, good flash fiction can takes a lot longer to write than most people think, especially if there is a tight word limit. Not only do you do rewriting to get the entire story into such a few words, but you spend time ensuring every word counts.
At Whim’s Place (http://www.whimsplace.com/contest/contest.asp), we hold a quarter 500-word flash contest. Later this year, we will release our first paperback anthology. Needless to say, it is an addictive form of writing for some of us. 🙂
For me flash fiction is the cutting edge of today’s literature.