FlashFiction.Net

A 50-word micro fiction from five prompt words. (continue reading)

On May 8th in Paris, they guillotined Antoine Lavoisier, considered The Father of Modern Chemistry. The judge said, “The Republic needs neither scientists nor chemists; the course of justice cannot be delayed.” (continue reading)

A 50-word micro fiction piece from a prompt of 5 random words: surf, rooster, emerald, melody, umbrella. (continue reading)

A fifty-word micro from five prompt words: shawl, mascot, barrel, lithograph, esplanade. (continue reading)

Fifty word micro fiction, part of the Sunday Micro series. (continue reading)

Sunday Micro Fiction From Zoetrope Virtual Studio Flash Workshop, FF Factor. Rich Osgood’s Five Word Prompt: ointment lurid postcard tonic luncheonette (continue reading)

A piece of “found” micro fiction discovered inside an article on CNN. (continue reading)

This Sunday micro fiction comes from Zoetrope Virtual Studio’s Flash Factory and five prompt words provided by Richard Osgood: Arbor, Conspicuous, Banjo, Indigo, Destiny. (continue reading)

A microfiction piece from elimae. (continue reading)

An example of micro fiction from FRiGG. (continue reading)

A fifty-word micro fiction piece using five prompted words from Richard Osgood at Zoetrope Virtual Studio’s Flash Factory. The five words: Dime, Powder, Appetite, Tortilla, Mint Julep. (continue reading)

A 50-word micro fiction piece. (continue reading)

Five fifty-word micro fictions (continue reading)

An excerpt from the State Department’s “Outline of American Literature,” specifically a section on flash fiction. (continue reading)

Yesterday, I came across Laura Ellen Scott’s VIPs on vsf, a blog devoted to “collecting very short thoughts about very short fiction” from some very important people, including (to date) Robert Swartwood (Norton Hint Anthology Editor), Roxanne Gay (PANK), Sean Lovelace (Rose Metal Press Chapbook Winner), Scott Garson (wigleaf ), Ellen Parker (FRiGG), and numerous other luminaries. (continue reading)

So I have to confess, I ended up taking a flash fiction class, because the poetry seminar I wanted to take unexpectedly closed. I write poetry, often formal poetry. While I knew intellectually as part of my MFA program I wanted to get to where I was more comfortable as a writer of prose, I certainly didn’t expect to be in the deep end my first semester! (continue reading)

ar-old. We’ve started writing together, and she’s very interested in the amount of words on the page. She counts each word on the screen and says “He’s done it.” He’s written a story under 100 words. Our favorite Young piece is called “Girl” (continue reading)

Stephen King, methinks, likened writing to telepathy, the writer transferring what’s in his/her head to the reader’s. Think of all the micro fiction you’ve read. What sticks in your head? Why? (continue reading)

My nephew, who finished his first year in a far-off school, sent me a story to read. It had this line at the beginning: “He was an art major, with too much time and glue on his hands.” I’m sure he didn’t know that he had employed the technique of zeugma—of words, such as time and glue, conjoined by a word or phrase that appears with them, the on her hands. (continue reading)

I found myself reading portions of Baker’s The Mezzanine out loud to whoever passed by my chair—my wife, my son, our new Bichon. Here, you have to listen to this. This guy’s talking about earplugs. (continue reading)

List your famous and favorite very tiny micros here. (continue reading)

The cliché “you can’t please everyone” becomes something more complex when the “everyone” expands to include the forces within both the world and us. If indeed satisfying those wills that require satisfaction is impossible, then how does one act in such a world? Such a world forces upon us the need to choose which wills will be satisfied at the same time it denies us the ability to know if our actions will certainly fulfill the chosen will(s). Thus, we act uncertain of whom we must satisfy and what specific actions are required to obtain that satisfaction. Even more frustrating is the possibility that the action that satisfies one force will simultaneously enrage another. (continue reading)

The question too often asked of flash fiction is “Can you deliver a story in so few words” It’s an okay question, if that’s what you want to do with flash fiction—deliver stories. As the word count lessens and the space constricts, the question seems to remain constant (for some). Even when it gets Twittersized, people focus on the challenge of delivering a story with so few words. Personally, as either a writer or reader, I don’t particularly want 140-character stories. I want something else, something uniquely suited for 140-characters, something the world (perhaps) has yet to see. (continue reading)

Out of this quote comes Ron Carlson’s “Grief,” a micro fiction piece from The Mississippi Review that is one of my all-time favorites. Your task today is write a piece around 250 words that do what Carlson did with a famous quote about some aspect of the (short) short. Have at it, and let us know how it goes. (continue reading)