Flash Fiction
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Quasimodem
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So Lauerl and Manu object to 'Flash' for technical reasons, or to protect the readers. That is fine, but this is the Author's Hangout.
Is there any reason we may not maintain a thread or two of flash stories in the Hangout?
Example: [FLASH] Story or Vignette.
To kick it off, here is an example.
Jack awoke unusually breathless, as air rushed from his lungs.
"Damn," he though as death overtook him, "I should have fixed that leaky airlock!"
( 2 sentences, 24 words, 122 characters. Not a big story, but it has a beginning and an end, a cause and an effect, and it even has a protagonist who experiences an emotional response from learning a lesson. )
Is there any reason we may not maintain a thread or two of flash stories in the Hangout?
Example: [FLASH] Story or Vignette.
To kick it off, here is an example.
BigTexan said:
Jack awoke unusually breathless, as air rushed from his lungs.
"Damn," he though as death overtook him, "I should have fixed that leaky airlock!"
( 2 sentences, 24 words, 122 characters. Not a big story, but it has a beginning and an end, a cause and an effect, and it even has a protagonist who experiences an emotional response from learning a lesson. )
G
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flash fiction
I thought there was a "flash fiction" category... Exhibition and Voyeur.
I thought there was a "flash fiction" category... Exhibition and Voyeur.
The_old_man
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I saw.
I conquered.
I came.
'Nuf said.
I conquered.
I came.
'Nuf said.
BigTexan
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TheEarl said:
I've been giving this thread a lot of thought. Actually more thought than it warrants
but I think I have figured out why I don't like flash fiction and it's not because it isn't a story. I guess I'll concede that you can write a story in under 250 words. I guess you can call a nursery rhyme a story if you want to. But they aren't a fascinating read.
Songs the same thing. Songs can tell a story, but it's the music that makes it good. How many times have you ever just sat and read song lyrics? I never had. They aren't good without the music. They may or may not tell a story, but they aren't what I consider a good read.
I don't like Flash fiction because I want to be seduced by the story. I want to be drawn in, enticed, and then satisfied by reading a good story. That can't be done in 250 words.
So okay, you can write a story in 250 words, but you can't write a story I will consider good in 250 words. And why in the hell would I want to read, or even write, crap?
BigTexan
Last edited:
KillerMuffin
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You're half right, BT!
There are some people out there who like to read flash. They are few and far between, I imagine. Flash fiction belongs solely to the author. Readers don't like it because it's a waste of time when presented as a "story" rather than as something that more along the lines of "prose poetry." Yeah, there's a prose form in poetry and it's not a story.
A flash story that has layers of meaning can be more interesting than a novel. However, people who are actually skilled enough to put in layers of meaning into a 200 word story, well, let's just say that's what separates the sublimely talented from everyone else.
So, from a reader's perspective, you can usually take it for granted that flash is both boring and bound to irritate whoever picked it up/opened it expecting something with more meat to it.
However, from a writer's perspective, flash is one of the most valuable whet stones in your arsenal of tools. The absolute most common mistake writer's make--I've yet to see one who doesn't do it--is to put in more words than necessary. This is why everyone is generally recommended to remove 10% of the word count when editing.
Flash fiction teaches you very valuable writing skills and you really ought to do it. What does flash do? It teaches you to pare down the verbiage while writing. It teaches you how to use images to make a point--just like poetry does. It's also something that can help develop voice. It won't create voice if you don't have it already, but it will help you develop it.
There are some people out there who like to read flash. They are few and far between, I imagine. Flash fiction belongs solely to the author. Readers don't like it because it's a waste of time when presented as a "story" rather than as something that more along the lines of "prose poetry." Yeah, there's a prose form in poetry and it's not a story.
A flash story that has layers of meaning can be more interesting than a novel. However, people who are actually skilled enough to put in layers of meaning into a 200 word story, well, let's just say that's what separates the sublimely talented from everyone else.
So, from a reader's perspective, you can usually take it for granted that flash is both boring and bound to irritate whoever picked it up/opened it expecting something with more meat to it.
However, from a writer's perspective, flash is one of the most valuable whet stones in your arsenal of tools. The absolute most common mistake writer's make--I've yet to see one who doesn't do it--is to put in more words than necessary. This is why everyone is generally recommended to remove 10% of the word count when editing.
Flash fiction teaches you very valuable writing skills and you really ought to do it. What does flash do? It teaches you to pare down the verbiage while writing. It teaches you how to use images to make a point--just like poetry does. It's also something that can help develop voice. It won't create voice if you don't have it already, but it will help you develop it.
BigTexan
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KillerMuffin said:
KM,
From what I've seen in flash, it doesn't do a very good job of teaching which words to get rid of. The Flash Fiction that I've endured is generally just as full of weak adjectives and adverbs as other fiction, it still has the wordiness of other writing, it still has the same non-essential elements as long stories. It simply leaves out the parts that shouldn't be left out.
If Flash fiction taught the writer how to remove unnecessary words then I would agree with you. In my opinion, it doesn't. A better excersise is implicit in what you said though.
When you are doing your first draft editing, you should be mindful to do two things at once.
1) Don't change the story.
2) Take out all the stuff that is unnecessary to the story.
The first one, I hope, is intuitive. For the second, I spend a lot of time looking at each sentence and asking myself. Is this sentence necessary to the story? If no then I remove the entire sentence. If yes then I look at each word and ask if that word is necessary to the sentence. If no then I remove it.
That is why it may take ten days to write a story and three weeks to do the first edit. And, your right, I find I remove about 10% of the word count.
By the way, I didn't put that much effort into the one story I have posted here, I only do that for stories I hope to sell, because quite frankly, it is one hell of a lot of work and it's not the "fun" part of writing.
BigTexan
wildsweetone
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Actually reading flash fiction didn't teach me a darn thing... The lessons are in the writing of it. And not just one piece of writing either, several. It really honed my editor skills to a perfect 't'. The problem is, it stuffed me up being able to spread a story out and took a few months to learn how to write with any length again. - just my opinion on what i've learnt myself.
ps... it sure was spooky seeing that thread again karmadog. but it was good to re-read my learning curve, thanks.
I've been away for quite some time, so I'm not au courant with everything here.
However, I am in full agreement with the respondent who talked about fash fiction as a way to make one's writing more compact and more potent.
Another way to look at it might be to treat each paragraph of a longer work as a piece of "flash". If it is edited to its essentials, forcing to reader to participate in the internal "filling the blanks" process involved in the reading of good fiction, then one has got him/her.
As each tight paragraph follows along, then one has created a larger work that demands reader participation.
Alas we live in what is called, charitably, a "post-literate" society, and too many people a) hate reading, thanks to our education system, and b) can't read.
So much of this is very delightful to discuss, but in the end, everyone waits for the movie.
However, I am in full agreement with the respondent who talked about fash fiction as a way to make one's writing more compact and more potent.
Another way to look at it might be to treat each paragraph of a longer work as a piece of "flash". If it is edited to its essentials, forcing to reader to participate in the internal "filling the blanks" process involved in the reading of good fiction, then one has got him/her.
As each tight paragraph follows along, then one has created a larger work that demands reader participation.
Alas we live in what is called, charitably, a "post-literate" society, and too many people a) hate reading, thanks to our education system, and b) can't read.
So much of this is very delightful to discuss, but in the end, everyone waits for the movie.
oggbashan
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Archaeology
This thread was dead. Now it has been disinterred for review here is my contribution:
Fifty Word Femdom
Her black-booted foot pressed my chest. Cautiously I looked up her leather-corseted body to the stern face. I winced as the lash trailed across my shuddering skin. "Beg forgiveness, slave!" she ordered. Helpless, I cringed as she frowned at my bound body. Then she winked. The pantomine rehearsal was going well.
That was one of a series I wrote but were rejected for being far too short except as "Poetry" which they are not. I dug it up again to add to this ancient thread.
Personally, except as an exercise, I prefer to write and read longer fiction.
Og
This thread was dead. Now it has been disinterred for review here is my contribution:
Fifty Word Femdom
Her black-booted foot pressed my chest. Cautiously I looked up her leather-corseted body to the stern face. I winced as the lash trailed across my shuddering skin. "Beg forgiveness, slave!" she ordered. Helpless, I cringed as she frowned at my bound body. Then she winked. The pantomine rehearsal was going well.
That was one of a series I wrote but were rejected for being far too short except as "Poetry" which they are not. I dug it up again to add to this ancient thread.
Personally, except as an exercise, I prefer to write and read longer fiction.
Og
No, actually, I was almost dead, but anyhow, I'm a whole lot tougher than I seem.
Politics, Hockey Playoffs (I'm Canadian), writing a business plan to convert my employer, a major insurance company to a digital document system, a heart attacj k in the middle of it (Idodn't take time off - I was too busy to let my body quit on me! - politics and a resurrection of the "Socialist Song Book" on CD, have taken me away from Lits. So much so that I've again forgotten my password.
The issue arose when a piece of flash fiction I submitted was rejected. I wasn't upset - even Hemmingway got rejection slips. I was curious as to whether the story was rejested because it was no good - possible - or whether flash fiction was rejected as a genre.
Personally, as I've said, I think that "flash" is a wonderful exercise in packing each sentence with meaning and making one think about the use of language.
I don't have what it takes to do a novel, but I've written several pieces published here, and a lot of poetry, which is my real love. I stopped writing dirty stories because I prefer to be an active participant in sex, even at my advanced age, and writing about sex became boring. I mean how many positions are there and how many words for genitalia can one use without sounding either like a 12 year old boy or an OB-GYN textbook?
WOLF
Politics, Hockey Playoffs (I'm Canadian), writing a business plan to convert my employer, a major insurance company to a digital document system, a heart attacj k in the middle of it (Idodn't take time off - I was too busy to let my body quit on me! - politics and a resurrection of the "Socialist Song Book" on CD, have taken me away from Lits. So much so that I've again forgotten my password.
The issue arose when a piece of flash fiction I submitted was rejected. I wasn't upset - even Hemmingway got rejection slips. I was curious as to whether the story was rejested because it was no good - possible - or whether flash fiction was rejected as a genre.
Personally, as I've said, I think that "flash" is a wonderful exercise in packing each sentence with meaning and making one think about the use of language.
I don't have what it takes to do a novel, but I've written several pieces published here, and a lot of poetry, which is my real love. I stopped writing dirty stories because I prefer to be an active participant in sex, even at my advanced age, and writing about sex became boring. I mean how many positions are there and how many words for genitalia can one use without sounding either like a 12 year old boy or an OB-GYN textbook?
WOLF
oggbashan
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Where to put Flash Fiction
When I posted my fifty word exercises Laurel advised me to resubmit them as "Poetry". I didn't because my poetry has rhyme and nothing else to recommend it.
I can see the logic. Flash fiction is an economical use of words. Poetry should be. Normal submissions have to be at least 750 words.
Og.
Lord Wolf said:
When I posted my fifty word exercises Laurel advised me to resubmit them as "Poetry". I didn't because my poetry has rhyme and nothing else to recommend it.
I can see the logic. Flash fiction is an economical use of words. Poetry should be. Normal submissions have to be at least 750 words.
Og.
Wantonica
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Re: flash fiction
Hey Bridget,
I certainly got a giggle out of this one.
Flash fiction that is any good only leaves one yearning for more (unsatisfied, if you will). However, an amusing little play on words is always grand.
Happy days to all,
Lascivious Wanton
bridgetkeeney said:I thought there was a "flash fiction" category... Exhibition and Voyeur.
Hey Bridget,
I certainly got a giggle out of this one.
Flash fiction that is any good only leaves one yearning for more (unsatisfied, if you will). However, an amusing little play on words is always grand.
Happy days to all,
Lascivious Wanton
G
Guest
Guest
Re: Re: flash fiction
thanks!
going to resurrect the flash fiction challenge thread
b
Wantonica said:
thanks!going to resurrect the flash fiction challenge thread
b
DurtGurl
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What I did on my summer vacation..... Oops
I thought Id make a contribution here because I have a little vinegarette that I dont know what to do with. I guess it qualifies as "flash fiction" because it's short, has a begining and a end, and it isn't much good. DG
The enraged cat landed on the nearest semi horizontal surface, which happened to be the bare backside of the unfortunate Arnold, who was in the process of pulling his dick from the blond visitor's butt. Arnold could feel a huge pressurized buildup in his intestines. Expulsion of the gas was prevented by the immense dildo firmly lodged in his anis.
Frieda felt herself slipping, and four sets of sharp claws and some extremely long teeth imbedded themselves in Arnold's tender buttocks.
"Yeoooowwwwwwwww," bellowed Arnold. The pain in his rear end caused him to flinch and jam the full length of his big cock back into Patty's rectam.
"Ohhhhh ffuucccckkkkk!!!" screamed Patty. "Im ccuuummmminnnggg AGAIN!!!!"
"Reeooowwwwwwwwww," shreiked Frieda as she felt her grip on Arnold's buttock failing. In desperation the outraged cat snagged a mouthful of the strap attached to the dildo buried in Arnold's ass and hung on with clenched teeth.
At that moment, the combination of internal gas pressure and an exhausted sphincter caused the violent expulsion of the dildo from Arnold's backside with a loud "Kafluummmppp.". The huge black dildo, straps and cat attached, went rocketing across the room, trailing cat hair like the tail of a comet.
The dildo-strap-cat combination ricocheted off a wall and had hardly come to rest when Frieda, still entangled in the straps, streaked through the door into the bedroom. Trailing strap and dildo, the thoroughly disgruntled cat found safety under the bed.
Arnold said, "Well, coffee break's over. I better get back to tendin' them sheep. Me an' that cute yearling ewe Beatrice is agoin' steady, you know."
I thought Id make a contribution here because I have a little vinegarette that I dont know what to do with. I guess it qualifies as "flash fiction" because it's short, has a begining and a end, and it isn't much good. DG
The enraged cat landed on the nearest semi horizontal surface, which happened to be the bare backside of the unfortunate Arnold, who was in the process of pulling his dick from the blond visitor's butt. Arnold could feel a huge pressurized buildup in his intestines. Expulsion of the gas was prevented by the immense dildo firmly lodged in his anis.
Frieda felt herself slipping, and four sets of sharp claws and some extremely long teeth imbedded themselves in Arnold's tender buttocks.
"Yeoooowwwwwwwww," bellowed Arnold. The pain in his rear end caused him to flinch and jam the full length of his big cock back into Patty's rectam.
"Ohhhhh ffuucccckkkkk!!!" screamed Patty. "Im ccuuummmminnnggg AGAIN!!!!"
"Reeooowwwwwwwwww," shreiked Frieda as she felt her grip on Arnold's buttock failing. In desperation the outraged cat snagged a mouthful of the strap attached to the dildo buried in Arnold's ass and hung on with clenched teeth.
At that moment, the combination of internal gas pressure and an exhausted sphincter caused the violent expulsion of the dildo from Arnold's backside with a loud "Kafluummmppp.". The huge black dildo, straps and cat attached, went rocketing across the room, trailing cat hair like the tail of a comet.
The dildo-strap-cat combination ricocheted off a wall and had hardly come to rest when Frieda, still entangled in the straps, streaked through the door into the bedroom. Trailing strap and dildo, the thoroughly disgruntled cat found safety under the bed.
Arnold said, "Well, coffee break's over. I better get back to tendin' them sheep. Me an' that cute yearling ewe Beatrice is agoin' steady, you know."
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