Because we have a limited amount of time together and we cover a lot of material, we will be writing in the short short form. As far as length is concerned a short short is usually 600 words. One of the beauties of this form is that it will allow us to respond to more of each other’s pieces during our discussion in our limited time frame.
Flash fiction, the short short’s other name, and the one I prefer and will use, does just what it says. It creates a flash. You can sit down and read it in a short amount of time, but the story will leave an impression on you, similar to the way a flash of light sears it’s leftovers into your eyelids. It will sear a feeling or idea or image into your brain.
Watch this video for a few more thoughts on genre fiction vs. literary fiction, and how to approach your stories for this course.
M05 Assignment: Your first flash fiction (or short short) story
Here’s your first fiction writing assignment! We’re going to keep it really simple.
Write a story that’s 500-1000 words long (2-4 double-spaced pages). It must be a complete stand-alone piece. It can’t be a fragment of something longer.
Start your story with one of the following lines, filling in the blanks as you see fit. You’ll see that these are first lines from stories you read this week. These are excellent examples of first lines that get a story up and running quickly.
The first thing _______ did wrong was to _______.
Once there was a _______ who had a knack for _______.
The last time I saw _______ was in _______.
Submit your story to the M05 Assignment.
