Big tales, few words.
How difficult can it be to write flash fiction – that is, complete short stories comprising a few hundred words?
Well, according to Matt Richardson, the AWC member and regular short story competition winner who led the first of our Skills workshops last Wednesday, “just because it’s short, doesn’t make it easy”!
So, how do you turn a standard short story into a piece of flash fiction? For starters, let go of long, flowery sentences, and forget about setting the scene or giving back stories to characters – to quote Stephen King, this is a time to “Kill your darlings”! Economy of language is key. To demonstrate this, Matt read one of his own published pieces, called “Floundering”. A dark, atmospheric story, Matt pointed out how certain clothing and buildings implied a historical setting, and that a single sentence generated ambiguity to the protagonist’s supposed innocence about the unfolding events.
There were exercises aplenty to get our creative juices – and pens – going. Aiming for a Drabble length of 100 words, our first challenge was to write a flash fiction that focused on a sense memory. Shared pieces took us from childhood munching on freshly podded peas to the reassuring touch of a hospital nurse, all via the scent of hibiscus flowers near an azure sea.
Matt then challenged us to turn our Drabbles into Dribbles. Grumbling initially, many of us actually found that “killing our darlings” down to 50 words did not distract from our stories.
Flash fiction, advised Matt, generally starts towards the end of the arc, uses breadcrumbs to imply the back story, and trusts the reader to interpret and reach their own conclusions, rather than spoon-feeding them an outcome.
A further two exercises completed the workshop, both inspired by photographs. The first was a 250-word story inspired by Photo 1, the image creating a wealth of plots ranging from putrefying dead bodies to pyramids of shoes and A.I. creatures. The second exercise was inspired by Photo 2; write a flash fiction comprised entirely of dialogue between the two characters.
The Last Word went to Fiona McFadzean, who performed an entertaining piece about a young girl’s night out at a local dance, and the merits of plain blue gingham over frothy pink netting.
All in all, tonight was an inspiring and educational foray into the world of flash fiction.
Maggie Morton