Tag: flash fiction

Five Flash Fiction Elements

flash fiction lightningAs I hope you all know, here at Indies Unlimited, we have a weekly flash fiction contest. The prompt goes up on Saturday, and the submission period closes on Tuesday. The word limit for our contest is 250 words. But there’s more to flash fiction than just our challenge.

As a general rule, flash fiction is considered to be less than 1,000 words long. And believe it or not, you can study how to write it. I did a web search for “how to write a flash fiction story” and got five million hits, including some for courses that would take way longer to complete than would simply writing a bunch of flash pieces until you get the hang of it.

Flash is a recognized format for fiction, with elements that each story ought to include. As usual with these sorts of things, the list of elements varies, depending on who’s writing it. I’ve seen lists of three, four, five, seven, or ten elements, or do’s and don’ts, or what-have-you. I like the number five, so for this article I’m going to stick with five things your flash fiction story should include. Continue reading “Five Flash Fiction Elements”

Use Short Fiction to Help Your Novel Writing

Typewriter - Once upon a timeI don’t know about other novel writers, but something happens to my brain between drafts. It’s tired, but it’s too revved up to stop. The state reminds me of my brief long-distance running career. After a major race, lying around “resting” was anything but restful. My body preferred short jogs for a few days, to recover and refresh for the next goal. So when I was going a little stir-crazy waiting to begin the second draft of one of my novels, a friend suggested I try writing a few short stories to keep myself out of trouble. I’ve always found the form intimidating—novel writing gives me the luxury to delve deep into characters and story, and many of my attempts earned me the same response from critique groups: “That sounds like the beginning of a novel.” Sigh. Also, when the subject comes up among writers, you always hear examples of such-and-such author who is better at one length than another. Continue reading “Use Short Fiction to Help Your Novel Writing”

New Author Names Dominate the Indies Unlimited 2014 Weekly Flash Fiction Competition

Lightning signTwo-thirds of the winning weekly Flash Fiction stories were penned by authors who were not part of the 2013 list of winners.

After twenty-eight weekly competitions, fourteen new authors will be included in the next Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Anthology. There were a total of twenty-one authors, but only seven are repeat authors from 2013. Regardless, all twenty-one will be included in the next edition, along with any new winners during the balance of this year.

This competition is open to anyone who would like to enter the competition. Each Saturday, Indies Unlimited posts a picture by award-winning author and photographer K. S. Brooks, along with a short written prompt by five-star author Stephen Hise.

This weekly competition continues to grow year after year, and is an excellent way for independent authors to demonstrate their writing skill to a growing reader network. Continue reading “New Author Names Dominate the Indies Unlimited 2014 Weekly Flash Fiction Competition”

Flash Fiction Down Under

raceWhy do I, why do any of us write?

1. Because I can.
2. Because I want to.
3. Because, at my age, it might be considered strange to have imaginary friends.
4. Because, through writing, I have come to know myself better.
5. Because I feel I have something to say.
6. Because I love to tell stories and share some of my deepest thoughts.
7. Because it is a form of expression that I can take my time to formulate.
8. Because I want to be heard and understood.
9. Because I want something left to show that once I existed.
10. Because I want others to experience how I feel when an author moves me.

I’ve listed, in no particular order, ten out of the many reasons I write. You’ll notice that I haven’t said ‘because I have to make a living’; that’s because, currently, if I were to depend on the income from my writing to live on I wouldn’t be (living). And I haven’t listed ‘because I have no choice: writers write’; I feel that’s a given. They are just two more of the plethora of reasons you may have for writing. Continue reading “Flash Fiction Down Under”