Flash fiction is, put simply, fiction that we can read in a flash. Traditionally flash fiction is between 1-1000 words long and is significantly shorter than traditional short stories (3000-5000 words). Other names by which it is known are ’sudden stories’, ‘postcard stories’, and ‘the smoke-long story’ (so called because one can read them in the time it takes to smoke a cigarette). Some famous writers of flash fiction are Anton Chekhov, Jorge Luis Borges, Edgar Allen Poe, Raymond Carver, Franz Kafka and the thoroughly awesome Joyce Carol Oates.
Though this form of writing is by definition short, it is not a style that tolerates incomplete storytelling. The challenge of flash fiction is to tell a complete story in which every word is absolutely essential. To be able to construct a complete story with characters and a plot within the word count can be incredibly difficult. The ability to tell a story within a tight word limit that still deeply affects the reader is just as impressive as the ability to write a novel.
Flash fiction thankfully encompasses a wide range of forms and styles. It can be clever and entertaining or ironic and unconventional. It can deeply unsettle the reader or fill them with a sudden awareness, a literary epiphany. Sometimes flash fiction can be ambiguous or end with a nice shiny paradox.
This type of story is often saturated in implication. It is tight and concise, compressed and highly charged. The best stories often speak to us subtly, and speak of the human condition in a profound and sometimes controversial way. Therefore the best flash fiction is that which lingers in the mind long after the story has been read.
Think of flash fiction writing in boxing terms. A novel is 10 to 15 rounds. A short story is three rounds. A flash fiction story is one round with an impressive K’O!
