Actually I'm not sure I saw it in one of those articles, I think I looked specifically into flash fiction structure. I just did a search, but none of the articles on the first page are purple, they're all blue (meaning I haven't looked at them before, at least with this computer). Which is weird, because I remember seeing this one: 3 Characteristics of Flash Fiction @ Masterclass Here are the relevant parts: Stick to one moment. Focus on one particular moment in time. Don’t try to cram in more than one scene into a piece of flash fiction. Work with just one or two characters. Don’t spread your story too thin. If you find yourself needing more than two characters or two scenes, your story may be better suited to the short story format. Though of course scene structure does in some ways parallel story structure. A scene can have its own miniature inciting incident, rising action, and climax—structure is fractal. I don't think I'd include a resolution though.
Understood. Sorry. I thought you were speaking more generally. Ah, I definitely misinterpreted you. Apologies. I've previously heard it said that, due to lower attention spans, flash fiction is the only form that will now appeal to people, which is what I thought you were implying. By the way, I apologise if my post came across as combative. I didn't mean for it to, but, reading it back, I can see how it might have come across that way.
Found it—it turns out it was from one of those articles on the Short Story thread (the second one I posted, I think)—this one: Story Structure in Short Stories Relevant parts: Steven Barnes showed us in class that pretty much every plotted story can be analyzed according to the Hero’s Journey. But, he explained, short stories tend to have parts of the structure pared down: Not all steps are shown in full-blown scenes. It is important that the steps “take place” in the context of the story—that’s what makes it a story. But it isn’t necessary to show each step. It is enough simply to mention them. In fact, it can be enough simply to imply them. For example, lots of stories can be thought of as the first few steps on the Hero’s Journey: a challenge, a rejection of the challenge, and then an acceptance of the challenge. The acceptance of the challenge is the climax of the story. The “validation” segment of the story should imply the rest of the Hero’s Journey. The reader should end the story knowing that there will be a road of trials, that evil will be confronted, and so on. And he's talking about shorts, not even flash. That would be much more compressed. It might only include the refusal to accept the challenge, and the climax is the moment the character begins to accept it. Then kaput. Finito. The change in attitude is the whole story. The issuing of the challenge could happen in backstory, revealed very briefly or even just implied.
No worries at all; feel free to speak your mind, as I do mine. I am still relatively new to the scene and I don't read all that much about writing trends. I mostly just write stories and try to submit them, and I see what I see and share my experiences. If you've read pieces about the popularity of flash re: attention spans, I'd be interested in reading them. Purely anecdotally, that's just how it seems things are going re: short fiction, very, very generally speaking (and mostly in genre, as far as I know).
I enjoy writing flash, but find it challenging. I always run out of words, and my initial writing turns out more descriptive, and the end very blunt. Also because of the limit, I have to start at an event, and skip things that lead up to it, then try and imply what happened. I like fantasy, and always feel a need to do some world building, which is difficult due to the limits. In the end I still enjoy the challenge. Lately I'm chomping at the bit to write, so I jump at any flash fiction challenges, even just writing some for myself with random prompts.
This is something I am learning. That, and staying away from life-changing events in flash, which, in my experience, are difficult to properly show in depth. Great article, thanks for sharing.
This is my understanding too. I try to focus on one part of the structure in my flash (and short stories) rather than a whole arc. I used to try and cram whole arcs in my early days but I found its much easier and much more effective if I cover big moments of the arc. Say, the inciting incident, or the climax. Or the pre-climax and then the climax itself. Depends on how much word count I've got. There's no need to always give a complete end. What's important is ending the story with a clear direction, meaning that the reader has a pretty good idea of what happens next. It's wise to do this if you don't have room to end things completely. A lot of my short stories are the setup and the inciting incident. I tried this with flash a few months ago and the judges of the comp didn't really like it. Pretty much all of them said that I ended things just as 'they were getting good'. On reflection, I didn't have a good enough direction, and I didn't build my characters enough for them to be complete. I usually do with short stories, but with flash? Not so much. I think flash is great to cover a climax or just the rising action. But its possible to cram a full arc in flash. You can do it with narrative summary, but if you're going to do that, make sure you've got a damn good voice to narrate it.
I think it depends. Remember, these contests we're talking about are extra short. You can fit some story into 1000 words.
Hmm, I'd say for me it's good and bad. I've never written anything longer than 14 pages and mostly only ever planned to write short stories. But I found since joining writing sites and entering competitions that I've grown so accustomed to that 650-1000 word mark. I grow bored of writing anything longer, get writers block past a certain point. I don't think it's benefitted me as a writer. The feedback does, but the word limit seems to have had the opposite affect.
