What is flash fiction?
Feb 24
2 min read
The answer will vary a bit depending on who you ask, but essentially -
Flash fiction is a very short story.
How short is very short?
Generally speaking, you can call a story flash fiction if it’s under around 1,500 words (although the can be set anywhere between 1,000 and 2,000).
Some writers and publications also have separate category for microfiction - which is mostly commonly used for anything under 300 words (although it can be as many as 500).
For the most part, though, unless you’re submitting writing to a publication or contest with a word limit, the precise number doesn’t really matter. The important thing is, flash fiction is very short, and microfiction is tiny.
What makes flash fiction special?
While it’s not super well-known outside of the writing world, flash is fun and interesting both to read and to write, because there’s so much freedom in it. When there’s so little space to work with, you don’t have to follow the usual rules of storytelling like setting the scene, giving character backstories, making sure you have clearly defined conflict and resolution, etc, etc. - which means there's infinite space for writers to play.
For example, some flash manages to take a tiny observation or moment and expand it into a few hundred words to tell you just as much about how the characters experience the world as you could learn in a whole book. A couple of excellent examples of this -
Sharks Patrol These Waters, by Dan Powell
Thumb-Sucking Girl, by Sonja Livingston
Others take an outlandish premise or an unexpected image and, because there's no expectation of a rational explanation for how or why it came about, use it as a new and unusual perspective from which to express a feeling or experience. Such as -
Butterflies by Samanta Schweblin
My Mother Was an Upright Piano by Tania Hershmann
Others still take a thought or observation that might otherwise be skimmed over, and bring it into sharp focus - often highlighting something familiar but powerful that we don't often put into words. Try -
He Owed Me by Hannah Retallick
Driving my Seven-Year Old Nephew to Visit His Mother at Rehab by Emily Rinkema
Sometimes flash leaves you with questions - stories can be sketchy and vague and strange - but to me, the absolute best thing is that, in just a few words, it leaves you feeling something - even if you can’t quite understand what it is or why you feel it.
Looking for more recommendations?
Reedsy has put together a collection of great stories that's well worth a browse, while Electric Literature has made a list of offerings by some of the literary greats.
Happy reading!!
