Want to Get Published? Try Flash Fiction
Today’s guest post is by Gila Green.
When I tell people I teach a virtual flash fiction course, I sometimes get strange responses, even laughter. Isn’t flash fiction just really short fiction? What’s the point of taking a specific flash class?
No, flash is its own genre deserving of its own class, and it’s still underrated as a way to break into publication.
I say “still” because I taught this in my classes from the time I began teaching flash fiction in 2009. Yes, a decade ago I encouraged writers to stop poring over articles about writer’s block and use the time when their novel or short story collections weren’t moving forward to write publishable flash fiction.
There are many reasons for this, but I’ll name a few.
The first is the most important and that’s encouragement. When you’re struggling with a novel or your short story has received it’s tenth rejection, publishing a flash piece, no matter how small, can give you the literary oxygen you need to get going again. You see your name on a site with a bio, you send it around to your friends or post it on your social media, and it does wonders for shrugging off those rejection letters or finally moving on to chapter fifteen of your novel. Trust me: there’s nothing like publication as a springboard for inspiration.
In addition, publishing flash fiction offers a glimpse, no matter how small, of what it’s like to work with an editor. You go through the back and forth on the edits and proofreads, and this can be a valuable window to what’s waiting for you later with an entire novel to comb through. When you are revising your novel with an editor one day, you won’t be completely green, and you’ll feel and act more professionally.
The exploding number of flash publication opportunities as a way to break into novel publishing also offers a break for writers who might be burnt out with a novel or short story. Specifically, you get a break from following those longer manuscript rules, and we all need a break from “the rules” once in a while to recharge.
Here are five rules most of us hear continuously that you get to completely ignore in flash:
- Tell don’t show. If you’re like me, you’re not the ideal rules person. In flash you can finally free yourself of “show, don’t tell” and just tell. That’s right. Just tell the story. There’s no space for showing. “She was pretty” is perfectly acceptable in flash. Isn’t that a relief? You can actually just tell us something straight out for a change.
- There’s no time to “write what you know.” Writing what you know is big-picture thinking. There’s no time to write what you know in flash. Flash is all about focus, and that’s a heavenly holiday for many writers. You only need to write one fraction, one sliver, of what you know about any given situation. Everyone knows a sliver of something. Flash premise example: A widow’s new understanding that she is now truly alone after her only daughter gets married to a boy in another town. That’s it! Zero in on that one profound moment of loss, and you’ve got the recipe for great flash piece. We don’t need to know anything about the fiancé, or even the daughter, how the mother came to be widowed, and so on. All we need to do is establish the mother’s character, her pain, and what she intends to do with it.
- No Backstory Issues. Flash is a genre that eliminates the backstory issue altogether. No bending over backward with prologues or hitting your head against the wall over those information dumps. Most flash is one moment in time and no more is needed. It makes no difference what happened before or what’s coming after. Isn’t that a relief? I feel lighter just writing this.
- The Classic Three-Act Structure Demolished. In flash nine times out of ten, it’s best to jump into the tension, skip that harmonious beginning. It’s a two-act structure at most, made up of tension and transformation. Not into opening with harmony? No problem. Out the window it goes.
- Suspend Suspense. You do not need to build suspense in Flash. Phew! In flash just let us know what is happening, and we’re with you. There’s no intrinsic need for suspense.
This doesn’t mean you don’t have to work at keeping us reading to the end. Flash needs conflict and/or tension, but building suspense? You can take a break. It slows you down, and flash is a fast read.
Keep in mind that publishing anything encourages others to publish you. A potential publishing house will be more interested in a writer who has a history of flash publications than no publication history. So go on, break the rules with polished, vibrant flash, and break into novel publishing that much faster.
Canadian Gila Green is an Israel-based writer, editor, and EFL teacher. She’s the author of the novels King of the Class and Passport Control. Her short stories have been published in dozens of literary journals, and her fiction has received seven award nominations. You can visit Gila at her website.
I never considered trying my hand at flash fiction. Thanks for the encouragement.
You’re very welcome.
You should definitely try it out.
That’s great!
There are more flash opportunities out there every day.
This article was a revelation! I discover that I am a flash-fiction writer (cue fanfare of trumpets).
I belong to a writing circle. We meet once a month, and each of us reads out an item on a given theme and genre, for comment. The theme is often a fictional story, but we turn our pens to factual articles, journalism, memoirs: anything that can be written in prose or verse.
The size of our group dictates the word count – which can vary from a maximum of 500, to 750 words. Yes – flash fiction!
I’ve come to enjoy writing the shortest short stories. Their constrains suit my inherent style, and they force the writer to express herself with the most economical use of words.
Now . . . if only there was a publication in South Africa which was interested in flash fiction.
Many thanks for opening my eyes.
http://pensouthafrica.co.za/tag/flash-fiction/
https://brittlepaper.com/tag/african-flash-fiction/
Dear Anne,
I’m pleased to hear you enjoyed the article.
Please check out the above two links.
There are definitely flash opportunities in SA.
BTW, my forthcoming novel No Entry will be released September 2019 and it’s set in South Africa’s Kruger National Park. I’m busy working on the sequel.
Dear Anne,
I’m pleased you enjoyed the article.
Check out Brittlepaper.com and PEN South Africa.
Both offer flash opportunities in SA.
There are definitely more SA flash opportunities.
My forthcoming novel No Entry is set in South Africa’s National Kruger Park (Stormbird Press, 2019) and I’m busy working on the sequel.
May I request a follow-up article about where a flash author might look to publish their stories?
Dear Jimmie,
I would be happy to put together such an article.
Are you interested in a particular flash genre?
There’s flash fiction, flash non-fiction for a start.
And then there are the same genres as you find in full-length fiction: fantasy, sci-fi, literary.
Which most interests you?
I’ve written just one flash piece and it was really fun. Any guidance on where to look for anthologies or magazines or other opportunities?
Dear Tammy,
I agree. Writing flash is fun.
Flash has just as many genres as other written forms.
There’s non-fiction, historical, fantasy and so on.
I would need an article to give you a whole list and even then, as I said, there are more opportunities every day.
Also, just like other writing forms there are paid and non-paid opportunities and contests.
You might want to start here: Vestal Review, Word Riot and Brevity (nonfiction).
Dear Tammy,
I agree. Writing flash is fun.
You might want to start with Vestal Review, Word Riot and Brevity (nonfiction).
Can you make a living writing flash fiction?
Dear Jim,
Interesting question.
There are definitely paying markets, paying contests, and publishing flash does increase your chances of publication but I don’t know if I would go so far as to say you could live entirely off of flash fiction.
Having said that, no doubt someone somewhere on Instagram or other social media is posting so much that they have received a great sponsor…it wouldn’t surprise me.
Do you still teach the virtual class on flash fiction?
Hi Joe,
Yes. I teach flash fiction at the WOW-womenonwriting site. Men sign up, too, of course! My next mini flash course (4 weeks) will be offered in January.
Writers who laugh about a flash fiction course have no idea of how much longer it takes to write shorter. Most people can spout purple prose, but slashing away the redundancies and unnecessary words in order to meet a word limit takes finesse.
Excellent advice, Gila.
Excellent point. There’s definitely an art to micro/flash/postcard fiction. Thanks for your feedback, Kathy.
This is great info for flash fiction writing, Gila. Thank you so much for these concise points. I’ll need to give flash fiction a try. I’ve shared this post online. All best to you and good luck with your new release.
Thanks so much, Victoria Marie.
Good luck with your flash. Enjoy it!
Thanks for the encouraging article! Like a few others have said, I’d love some suggestions of where to get flash fiction published–either from the author or from other readers!
Dear Anna,
There are new flash publishing opportunities every day. First break down your piece into genre. Is it non-fiction or fiction? Is it romance? Suspense? From there you can begin your search. Do you want paying or nonpaying markets?
This is a great start: https://writingcooperative.com/45-paying-markets-for-flash-fiction-eb4b5f1f265
I’ll do some research! Thanks so much!