Four Simple Tips to Get Started in Flash Fiction
Very short fiction can be an interesting challenge, but you have to understand the form
Anyone can write a story if you give them 300 pages — the real trick is getting one into three.
The term flash fiction has been all over the place the last few years. It’s the hot new trend — tiny stories for busy lives (or short attention spans, if you’re less generously inclined). The concept isn’t new, being merely a more elegant term for what we would have once termed “short short fiction,” a phrase of art that reads like a typo. Nevertheless, what was once a literary curiosity is now a significant part of the fiction scene, with dedicated markets and anthologies.
I have no small amount of love for flash fiction. My first professional sale, “Starless Night,” was a flash piece — a 900-word science fiction vignette that gave me my first boost, not to mention a respectable check. I’m hardly alone here — there are plenty of writers who now specialize in flash, and others eager to break in.
There isn’t any big secret to writing flash fiction, but there are a few things that writers should know before trying to tackle the form:
Tailor the length to your target market
First, I have a little bugbear I’d like to address:
There is no rule that says flash fiction needs to be under 500 words.
Nearly every how-to-write-flash-fiction article insists on this point. It’s become clear to me that none of the people writing these articles have written or sold any flash fiction, but are borrowing from other articles (whose authors are possibly themselves borrowing from other articles, and on we go).
“Flash fiction” is merely a term of art. There is no central authority demanding a specific length for works using that term. Few writing awards separate flash fiction from short fiction. The only reason people insist on 500 words is that they see other people insisting on 500 words.
Submission tools such as the Submission Grinder actually define flash fiction as being under 1000 words, but even this is arbitrary. Your ideal length is going to be based entirely upon your target market. If you aren’t trying to sell your work because it’s just practice, then it obviously doesn’t matter. If you’re planning to publish it to, say, Medium, or a personal blog, or in a self-published anthology, then you get to set your own terms.
If you do wish to sell flash fiction, then you should know the standards set by the markets. For example, in speculative fiction, most flash markets have a maximum of 1000 words, but some (like Daily Science Fiction) go as high as 1500, others as low as 500, while one significant market— Flash Fiction Online — has a 500 word minimum. Always do research first.
Select the right plot
Short stories live and die on their concepts. Without a lot of room to build rounded characters, establish settings, or play with the reader’s expectations, the writer is putting a lot of weight on the story’s central idea. In flash fiction, the concept pretty much is the story. Remember, 1000 words is only about three pages, so that nice plot arc you’ve probably got affixed to the wall by your desk isn’t going to work.
A good flash fiction piece is a simple concept taken to its logical conclusion. Sometimes an idea that was intended for a longer piece can work with some modifications can still work, but often there’s no way to make them fit. It’s better to start with an idea intended to be a few hundred words in length.
For literary and other non-genre markets, true-to-life tales can form the basis for good flash fiction. If you’ve ever participated in a live storytelling event, you already have the chops for this — a story that’s about five minutes long when spoken aloud will be around 600–1000 words written out. Epistolary fiction can also fit quite well, as there are many documents that are well under 1000 words.
One thing to remember is that many flash markets distinguish between flash fiction and what they call a “vignette” or “character study.” The distinction seems to be the existence of a plot arc. A story that goes nowhere is unlikely to impress.
For speculative works, 1000 words is enough time to introduce a single concept, but without the extensive worldbuilding commonly associated with the genres. The key here is simplicity — you should…
Keep the story elements minimal
A flash fiction piece must still be a complete short story, with a beginning, middle and end. Needless to say, it must be a very simple one, with no wasted space.
You certainly aren’t going to have a large cast. Most flash pieces only have two characters; some just have one, and more unusual pieces don’t have characters at all, instead using the setting as a “character.” Don’t try to go for three characters — it might work, but the room’s going to be crowded. You likely won’t have space for backstory, so be prepared to characterize everyone in the story through actions and dialogue alone.
Another place you’ll be slimming down is in setting and detail. You’re not going to be describing rooms or vistas or clouds, or any of those other things people do to prove how writerly they are. If your piece is set in a real world location, find a way to slip the place and time to your readers and trust that they can set the stage themselves. If your setting is more fantastic, then this will be harder. Flash fiction isn’t meant for really elaborate worldbuilding, so if you can’t fully describe your spec setting through allusion, then you might just want to give yourself permission to go long.
If anything’s going to make your piece run long, it’s the plot. Even a simple story will need to hit certain basic plot points, and those points can’t really be cut. This is why editing flash can be such a hassle. In principle, revising a flash piece isn’t much different than revising anything else, but there’s less you even can do.
Know the limitations of the form
Now we need to get a little bit brutal.
From a practical standpoint, there’s a lot to like about flash fiction. For example, markets that deal principally in flash fiction tend to have relatively high acceptance rates, which is great for beginners.
On the other hand, there are serious limitations. It’s questionable how much flash fiction actually builds one’s brand. Here’s a concrete example of that: The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America will not grant one associate status on the basis of flash fiction sales, and getting full status on the basis of flash alone means selling a dozen works or more at professional rates.
This isn’t meant to discourage you, but rather to give you the complete picture. If you find that you like writing flash fiction, then by all means keep doing it — you will find people to publish it no matter what. If you’re a bit more ambitious, you can still pursue flash, but keep it in its proper place, as a form to play with when you aren’t able to work on longer pieces.
Above all, don’t chase trends for their own sake. Find something that you enjoy, and success will follow you.
