FlashFiction.Net

As part of an undergraduate class I teach in (very) short fiction, I asked the class to create, as part of a rubric, the qualities that they value in writing/reading very short fiction. Here is the list that they arrived at:

Strengths

o dialogue (believable, well thought-out, interesting/not just info)
o diction & word choice feels right and interesting
o metaphor (unique)/defamiliar
o tell it in a different way/unique/creative plot/interesting/weird plot
o emotional and relatable
o action (believable yet unpredictable)
o descriptive (specific, makes readers “believe”)
o not a so what? the stuff has a purpose that’s clear to reader/relevant
o humor, suspense, drama (has what the writing is “shooting for”)
o brevity/to the point
o characters (relatable, depth, interesting, believable thought process)
o attention-grabbing (from the start, unique)
o exciting/ironic ending

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