There are short stories; then there are very short short stories. Flash fiction, post card stories, micro fiction, sudden fiction, or even the six-word story has become a popular form in recent years. But, actually, the short shorts have been around for a long time.

The six-word story is the biggest challenge for any writer. Legend suggests that it was Ernest Hemingway who, following up on a challenge from one of his colleagues, wrote the oft-quoted six-word story: For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Brevity is the key to these short short wonders. Maintaining the essential structure of a short story: the beginning, middle and end, the six-word power punch leaves much to the reader’s imagination. In other words, it’s a complete story, but it really makes the reader think.

I challenged a young writers’ class to come up with six-word stories. It was more difficult than they thought it would be. However, one six-word story shared by a ten-year-old (not sure if it was hers or she heard it somewhere else), I thought rather clever: Once upon a time; the end.

Moving back to the original question: what is flash fiction, the answer is quite simply an extremely short short story. The number of words depends on the publisher. Some believe flash fiction is a story under 1,000 words; others believe it's under 500 words; still others believe it’s fifty-five words or less. The fifty-five word story is sometimes called a post card story, because the belief is that flash fiction should be able to fit on the back of a post card.

Flash fiction is a powder punch story, a quick in and out and the story is done. It’s like a flash of lightning: one minute it’s there and the next it’s gone, leaving behind its personal mark of distinction.

For those writers venturing into the realm of writing flash fiction, one word you’ll quickly learn to hate is: cut. In order to maintain brevity, to keep the story short, the writer must cut out the non-essentials: the adjectives and dialogue tags in particular should quickly hit the chopping block. The best thing to maintain in flash fiction, however, is dialogue. Let the dialogue describe the characters and develop the conflict. Conversations can tell the reader so much more in fewer words than can a descriptive narrative passage.

The writer needs to avoid passive sentences, the ‘to be’ forms of the verb. Dead words need annihilation; the preferred method being the use of active verbs to keep the plot alive with action. For example, here’s a longer version of describing a scene and the impact on a character:

The sun-baked earth burned through the soles of Thomas’s shoes, making him limp from the pain of charred feet. (nineteen words)

Here’s a shorter, flash fiction version:

The hot, dry earth burned Thomas’s feet. (seven words)

Flash fiction allows the reader to add their perspective of the plot, the characters, and the setting.

Now you know what flash fiction is. This is what flash fiction is not:

      - poetry

      - essay

      - a slice of life vignette

It is a full story. All in a nutshell of fewer words.

Flash fiction, from six words to 1,000 words, is a good exercise for any writer, but particularly the writer who has an inherent tendency to be overly verbose. Remember, brevity is the key, and maintain the short story structure of beginning, middle, and end.