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You are here: Home / Arts / Flash Fiction – What is it?

Flash Fiction – What is it?

September 9, 2016 By Allison Symes 9 Comments

Have you heard of Flash Fiction?

Flash fiction is any story that has a maximum of 1,000 words. It is also known as micro fiction, postcard fiction, short short story (though that is a mouthful!) and sudden fiction.

The last one describes flash fiction well. The word count means you must get straight into the “action” so can hardly avoid being sudden!

There is even a National Flash Fiction Day.

The best advice for any writer - image via Pixabay
The best advice for any writer – image via Pixabay

Long established short story competitions such as The Bridport Prize now feature flash fiction as a category. Great news for me – I put in an entry for both categories though, alas, no success here to date.

I write 100 words stories, 500 words stories and sometimes as many as 750 words stories! I met a lovely writer at Swanwick Writers’ School recently who wrote 75 words stories (including the title) and that is a challenge!

A complete story

Each flash fiction piece must be a complete story with a beginning, a middle and an end.  Every word must count and a good title can convey much information about the type of story to come.

I don't always write directly to screen - image via Pixabay
I don’t always write directly to screen – image via Pixabay

Flash fiction is easy to read. It is ideal for reading on mobile phones and tablets. For anyone who feels they don’t have much time to read, bite sized fiction like this could appeal. Flash fiction covers all genres and there are a number of online magazines which take them.

I’ve been published in one online magazine, Cafelit, and one of my flash pieces, Telling the Time, will be appearing in their Best of annual anthology this year. The book should be out in December.

the-old-way-of-writing-a-story-image-via-pixabay
The old way of writing a story. Image via Pixabay.

One example of my Flash Fiction: Job Satisfaction

Thud!

The fairy returned to what she’d wrongly sworn was an open window.

Damn! Every bloody window was shut. Her scowl curdled the street’s milk. She fired a spell at the letterbox to keep it open. Many fairies narrowly escaped being sliced in half by a clanging letterbox but nobody cheated her of an overdue incisor yet alone a snoring bully…

Outside her client’s bedroom, the fairy rummaged through her pockets. When humans made her work harder than necessary, she returned the compliment. The fairy grinned at her pliers. There were times she really loved her job.

Despite the limited word count, you know enough to know here is a character best not crossed!

In my next post, I’m going to share with you my book publication news, my publishing tools, my inspirations, and why I have roses on my writing desk.

Related Posts:-

How to Spot a Real Writing Competition

My Year-End Review and Book Launch

Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.

Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.

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Related posts:

A Peek into My Writing World – Tools and Inspirations From Light to Dark and Back Again, by Allison Symes.Published – My Debut Flash Fiction Collection Sharing the Joy of Libraries Writing, Blogging, Social Media…What’s Your Favourite Forms of Writing? World Book Night 2016 and the 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare
Tags: books, flash fiction, publishing, reading, writing

About Allison Symes

I'm a published flash fiction and short story writer, as well as a blogger. My fiction work has appeared in anthologies from Cafelit and Bridge House Publishing.

My first flash fiction collection, From Light to Dark and Back Again, was published by Chapeltown Books in 2017.

My follow-up, Tripping the Flash Fantastic, was published by Chapeltown Books in 2020.

I adore the works of many authors but my favourites are Jane Austen, P.G. Wodehouse and Terry Pratchett.

I like to describe my fiction as fairytales with bite.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Janet Williams says

    September 9, 2016 at 9:56 pm

    Excellent! Allison. So pleased to hear your flash fiction is in print. Thanks for the introduction of flash fiction. I think the shorter the story, the more challenging it is to do well, so well done for you. Writing flash fiction – you’ve got to be so succict and to be a great storyteller. I think ‘flash’ (flashing what?) is now getting so popular. I’ve also enjoyed another kind of flashing, ‘flash mob’ dances / songs / concerts around the world. Totally surprising and enjoyable.

    Reply
  2. Allison Symes says

    September 9, 2016 at 10:55 pm

    Many thanks, Janet. Flash, in terms of flash fiction, I believe refers to the fact the story is over in a flash, rather than to anything flashing! (Just as well really!). And with the advent of social media, phones capable of doing all manner of things, the Kindle etc, flash fiction fits in really well with all of that. I can also see why, with so many demands on people’s time, flash mob dances etc could be really popular. There’s also spontaneity (or at least a sense of it) with these things.

    Reply
  3. Mike Sedgwick says

    September 10, 2016 at 8:58 am

    We are taught a story must have a beginning, a middle and an end. Also should contain some mystery, some religion and some sex. Here goes:

    Oh my God. She’s pregnant. Who done it?

    Is that flash enough? I could have left out the ‘Oh my.’

    Reply
  4. Allison Symes says

    September 10, 2016 at 10:42 am

    Love it, Mike. Well done! Still don’t think you can beat Hemingway’s six word classic:-

    For Sale. One pair baby shoes.

    Definitely got the mystery there but works even without the religion and sex!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. KEEPING IT BRIEF AND BEING SHORT AND SWEET – Allison Symes: Collected Works says:
    September 10, 2016 at 1:50 am

    […] post – Flash Fiction, What Is It? – is part 1 of  a 2 parter with the second half due to appear on site tomorrow night.  […]

    Reply
  2. Great Themes by Allison Symes - Chandler's Ford Today says:
    April 28, 2017 at 10:49 am

    […] Flash Fiction – What is it? […]

    Reply
  3. Why have Book Signings? Report from the Station - Allison Symes - Chandler's Ford Today says:
    July 14, 2017 at 6:48 pm

    […] Flash fiction is the ultimate in quick reads and so ties in beautifully with using that “dead” time when waiting for a train or you’re on a short trip but just want something to entertain for that brief period. I’ve also lost count of how many times I’ve seen books at a railway station and given them a try or looked them up on the net later on and bought separately. (I must say the Fabers at Waterloo is a very nice bookshop indeed!) […]

    Reply
  4. End of Year Reviews - Are They Useful? - Chandler's Ford Today says:
    December 29, 2017 at 12:00 am

    […] is set in stone. It was being open to new forms of writing that led me to try flash fiction. I hope in the next year to build on my successes here but if I spot a writing competition that […]

    Reply
  5. Writing Tips and Character Creation: Interview with Gail Aldwin Part 2 - Chandler's Ford Today says:
    March 23, 2018 at 12:01 am

    […] Flash Fiction – What is it? […]

    Reply

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