In a Flash

Welcome to the world of flash fiction, sometimes called Short-Shorts, Postcard Fiction, or "Smoke Break Stories." Whatever you call it, Flash Fiction is an intense little story that catches a tiny slice of imagination and freezes it, like a snapshot. The generally accepted upper limit is 1,000 words. 

Flash fiction is a creative and technical challenge. Every word has to count. There is no place for dialogue tag adverbs, passive construction, rambling dialogue, or elaborate descriptions. I have to close my eyes and jump, trusting that my few, hopefully well-chosen, words will cushion my fall. 

For example: 

The bone-chilling wind which emanated from the north was stinging on Michael's face, and made him feel as if it might freeze at any moment. [twenty-six words] 

Fairly descriptive and moderately evocative. However, it is also wordy and pompous. This won't fly in flash. A bit of tinkering and it becomes: 

Icy north wind bit into Michael's face. [seven words] 

Immediate action. The reader doesn't need to be told that a north wind has the capacity to freeze one's face. They want to get on with it and find out what the $%^&* Michael is doing out in that wind. Is something chasing him? Is he lost? Is he searching for something? The nineteen words saved describing the wind can be put to better use elsewhere. 

Action. Showing rather than telling. 

Flash fiction is nothing new. Columnists claim it developed along with the Internet. It's true the Internet has made the genre more popular. However, flash fiction has been around forever. Consider this old vaudeville joke: 

I saw a man panhandling on the street. 

He stopped me and said, "Please sir, I haven't had a bite in a week." 

So, I bit him.

In less than thirty words, the comedian told a story complete with setting, characters, conflict, and resolution. All the elements of a story bound into a tiny slice of life frozen in time. 

Poets have been at it for centuries. Haiku and Senryu poets don't just count words; they count syllables. It is the ultimate economy of form. 

Flash fiction isn't for everyone. If your cup of tea is lush descriptions, piles of passive dialogue, and leisurely character development, then you may not care for these snippets. However, keep an open mind. These stories have the power to amuse, to entertain and to amaze. Also, the stories show the power of words, and how few of them are truly required to get the point across.