Flash Fiction

[Renoard]

The guys at writing excuses make a big issue of writing Flash Fiction.  Brian Sanderson suggested something about writing two a day or some such in order to get your name out.  500 - 1000 words is a very tight limit to include all bits that make a good story.  I'm wondering if anyone has ideas comments or real world instructions for writing well and writing short.

[ryos]

Use contractions.

Actually, with a word limit that tight, efficiency of language is very important. Write it all out, then edit every sentence - seriously - to cut out  any extraneous words. Even if you only cut one word from a sentence, you've won.

Also, make deft use of archetypes. If you can invoke the shared knowledge of our culture to describe something for you, you've won.

Lastly, practice with a tighter word limit - 300 words is good. Write a few self-contained scenes at 300 words, and then 1000 will feel downright luxurious.

Finally (fooled you with that 'lastly' thing, eh?), remember that I don't really know what the heck I'm doing either, so why should you listen to me?

[The Jade Knight]

Take Neil Newell's Engl. 218 class.  He focuses exclusively on stories under 1000 words, and he's excellent.

[Renoard]

Let's assume that a lower division, undergrad, English course offered at an unidentified school is not in the offing.  Also let's just assume all the glib referrals to someone else's book, website, or podcast on creative writing have been made.  What advice or techniques can you offer?  This thread could become a useful resource if we are all sincere about it.

[Skar]

Implications.

Rafts of backstory information can be implied by what, immediately relevant, details you choose to describe.  Also, as ryos said,

Archetypes.

Things people in your audience will recognize and make instant associations with.  For example.  "Jake switched his hammer to his other hand in order to scratch under his hard-hat."  Hard-hat, hammer, scratching: single words that carry a ton of information about Jake and who he is.  They effectively stand in for several paragraphs.

That said, if your readers don't know what a hard-hat is, you lose a great deal.  So, finally,

Audience.

Know it.  Use that knowledge to write shorthand clues that play off of common experience and knowledge.
_____________

How's that for a random contribution from an unpublished (as of yet!) writer?

[Shaggy]

Also–don't get too caught up in your descriptions. Don't make the story race by, but keep it moving at a healthy pace. Put a bit more quick-action in there to compensate for the loss of description.

[Silk]

Focus.

Find one thing you want to say and say it.

This has less to do with writing (well, sort of) and more to do with editing - but someone has already mentioned trimming out unnecessary words. Sounds obvious, but...

If your definition of flash fiction is 600 words (which is what 365 Tomorrows uses as their definition, I believe) and your story is 580: still, see what you can cut.

Part of the power of flash fiction is that it is so short. When you're looking at a piece that's a thousand words or less, say, even an extra one or two words become really noticeable. It doesn't take much to bog a short piece down.

[Calorraine]

I have a question then along those lines. I am in a contest, I am writing flash fiction. I have never done it before ever. The contest limit is 1500 words. After all you have been saying, that sounds like alot. For contests like these, do these entries usually have to be the 'start' of a story?? Or can it be like a middle chapter or something? And I'm struggling with whether or not dialogue is appropriate, and how much information to give the reader in the allotted word limit.

For a first timer at flash fiction and  a fairly new writer, I'm confused.     
Some of the previous entries have been helpful too though, so thanks for doing that even though you didn't know I was reading. 

[Renoard]

I'm new to flash as well, but my understanding is that it is a complete story.  It can be like a chapter, but self contained.  Beginning middle and end.  Though not as pronounced as with say a 7500 word short story.

[Silk]

Flash fiction stories are supposed to be self-contained, complete stories. Unless the contest rules say otherwise that probably doesn't prevent you from using the beginning of something larger, so long as that beginning can stand on its own.

[Calorraine]

That helps a WHOLE lot. I was lost. lol. Thanks.

[ryos]

Here is a flash piece that struck me as quite good. It's simple, clever, and effective, with excellent use of implication to bring the ending together.

It's presented in audio form and is about 3 minutes long, so go listen.

(The page says it's rated R, but the reason given on the page for the rating is the only content that could be considered illicit. It's kind of a silly rating IMO.)

[Shaggy]

Not bad. I didn't really get the end, though, with the "shirt" and stuff.

[PW]

A friend of mine wrote a series of flash pieces around a detective character.  Each story stood on its own, but they were all connected, like small chapters of a book.  This way, he was able to add an important detail from the character's back story to each new adventure.  Often, that bit of back story was connected to plot for that piece.  When all of the stories were put together, he had a fully fleshed and interesting character without trying to add too much detail to any one part.