11.09.2009

6 Steps to Writing Flash Fiction


It's a pleasure finding a straight-to-the-point and easy-to-follow article on writing flash fiction. It's an even greater pleasure when its author graciously allows CCF to post it to its site: 6 Steps to Writing Flash Fiction. In a simple and straight-to-the-point manner, Paul Alan Fahey walks us through the steps involved in writing flash fiction.

Fahey talks about the greats in literature who've written flash fiction. He tells us that flash fiction enriches writing routines. And he's right on that. Those who participate in the CCF Online Writing Contest tell us that the monthly themes of the contest often act as writing prompts for longer pieces for them. In defining flash fiction, he tells us that:

Whether they’re called blasters, postcard fiction, micro-fiction, sudden fiction, short shorts or flash fiction, the essence of the genre is the same. The writer quickly gets into the story, establishes setting and character, sets up the conflict, fills-in critical back-story, then heads faster than a speeding bullet toward the climax and resolution.
Then Fahey goes on to use a flash fiction piece he wrote to illustrate the 6 steps to follow when we're writing flash fiction of our own.

Read Fahey's article as posted to the CCF site and come back and tell me what you think. :-)