Tuesday, February 26, 2013


Flash Literature

One very interesting genre of writing is Flash Literature.  It is minimalist composition that incorporates the necessary components of the particular piece written - fiction, essay, poetry, and so forth.  Part of the story might be implied so that the reader "fills in" the background, history, and setting.  Probably the most famous Flash Story is Hemingway's six word story:

"For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn."



Definitions of Flash Literature abound on the net.  In fact there are entire sites devoted to the subject such as FlashFiction.net.  Another writer who has a good explanation is Adam Maxwell.  I will not try to duplicate their explanations or discussions, but merely describe how and why I write in the area of Flash Literature.

Probably the first reason I write in the genre is the challenge of putting an entire concept in a small space.  In the age of Twitter, there is a niche of writing named appropriately Twitter Fiction, limited to the 120 characters available.  So far that is a bit short for me, but I do try to break the 500 word mark.

The second reason is related - it is a good form of writing discipline.  The process makes the writer aware of any superfluous words (in my case WAY to many of the articles).  Finally, they are fun to write.

I put some examples of my Flash Essays on the Flash Literature page.

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