Get To The Point: The Art Of Flash Fiction

Mark Twain once wrote that if he had more time, he could write a shorter story.

He was dead on. Condensing an idea into a short story, especially a flash fiction story, is a challenging endeavor.

It's not really any different than conversation; give me the floor and I can rattle on for hours without ever making a point.

But give me a minute or two to make a concise statement, and, well, that's much more difficult.

My writing process is much the same.

Of course, in those instances, I blame the characters not myself. As a writer I am merely taking dictation, if these fictional characters feel the need to drone on through use of unnecessarily long sentences and dialogue, take it up with them.

Shorter fiction is not only beautiful, it's useful. And when a writer can portray a snapshot of a mood, a moment in time, or an idea in very few words -- like a flash fiction story -- it's genius.

There is one main beneficial aspect to creating short fiction: greater marketability.

The downside is the pay. It's certainly not as impressive as the novel market. But there are many more flash fiction submission opportunities: literary journals, websites, e-zines, and contests. You can keep recycling your piece until it wins a contest or gets published.

It could be argued that novelists focus on quality, while short fiction writers go for quantity. But if your writing is inspired, the results can be just as rewarding.

Another benefit is the ability to reach today's fiction readers. With shorter pieces, it will be much easier for someone to really 'get' your work.

Writers write to get those words out of their head and 'translated' into some readable format in hopes of others discovering their work. In all fairness, and to be a bit more realistic, it is important to consider, and accept, who the potential readers in today's market really are.

People today are so distracted, few readers can commit to reading much more than a magazine article.

To capture readers (unless you've already acquired quite a name for yourself and have several full length works translated in a multitude of languages and a few being adapted for screen in which case I doubt you're reading this article) it is important to appeal to them by offering tempting, bite-size (i.e. manageable) literary treats. Readers are more likely to be grabbed by pieces with a smaller word count as well as share a work that really grabs them by linking it to their own site - or at least emailing the link to a few friends. Short fiction, simply put, is a more user friendly version of fictional entertainment.

Of course, there is a lot to be said for learning to perfect the skill of saying what you mean in fewer words, and making a more direct, effective impact.

My way of thinking has shifted tremendously in this respect. Taking an idea and expressing it in literary form now takes no more than 2,500 to 3,000 words. On a good day, I can get it down to 700 or 800 words, about the same length as this article.

I will say, this skill alone has helped my social life to a great degree. Instead of rambling on in conversations as was my proclivity, I can now say THE END.