Flash Fiction

         Flash fiction, also known as short-short fiction, micro fiction, postcard fiction, and smoke-long fiction, has appeared as long ago as in Aesop's fables. In modern times, the aforementioned terms have come to encompass stories of fewer than 1000 words (although some would argue a limit of 500) which possess all the elements of larger pieces. Unlike vignettes, however, flash fiction pieces include characters, plot, setting, conflict, and resolution.

         Few authors have understood the essence of flash fiction more than the late Edgar Alan Poe. Although an author of longer pieces, Poe’s ingenious philosophy of the "unity of effect" –most aptly expressed in his “Philosophy of Composition” –is necessarily at the heart of every piece. He believed that no word should be written that does not convey the story's desired effect. Flash fiction’s creation is largely about delicately balancing word economy and emotional effect.

         My own forays into this niche are primarily pieces of fewer than fifty-five words. There is a profound satisfaction beholding such tight prose, knowing that each is a meticulously-articulated work of art. Forcing myself to keep to such strict guidelines has not only helped to improve my writing, but has vastly changed my perspective on the nature of short stories.

Before leaving you to my own flash fiction creations, I will share these quotes with you:

         "...Brevity is the soul of wit." -William Shakespeare, Hamlet

         "It is with words as with sunbeams. The more they are condensed, the deeper they burn." -Robert Southey

         "The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do." -Thomas Jefferson

         "It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what other men say in whole books - what other men do not say in whole books." -Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols