Friday
Friday Flash Prompt: Use Four Or More Elements
I've recently been reading Roy Peter Clark's Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer. Tool 20 asks writers to "choose the number of elements with a purpose in mind." In summary:
I find that the one strong element often appears in my very short fiction. Clark writes, "Tom Wolfe once [said] that if a writer wants the reader to think something [is] the absolute truth, the writer should render it in the shortest possible sentence." That's what probably draws me to use the one element—that desire for my flash to appear absolute and un-wishy-washy.
- Use one for power.
- Use two for comparison contrast.
- Use three for completeness, wholeness, roundness.
- Use four or more to list, inventory, compile, and expand.
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As part of the workshop for this chapter, Clark suggests that you "look for an opportunity to use a long list in your writing" and that you "play with the order [of elements] to achieve the best effect." That's your Friday writing prompt: a flash defined not by the one element but by the list and inventory, by compilation and expansion.
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