Learn How To Write Flash Fiction in 6 Steps

1. Use strong imagery.
2. Stick to one moment.
3. Work with just one or two characters.
4. Try first person point of view.
5. Surprise your reader.
6. Make good use of your title.

How do you start writing flash fiction?

How to write flash fiction

1. Start in the middle. You don’t have time in this very short form to set scenes and build character.
2. Don’t use too many characters. …
3. Make sure the ending isn’t at the end. …
4. Sweat your title. …
5. Make your last line ring like a bell. …
6. Write long, then go short.

What are the 4 elements of flash fiction?

But there’s more to flash fiction than just our challenge. As a general rule, flash fiction is considered to be less than 1,000 words long.



Five Flash Fiction Elements

• A plot. To be clear, a flash fiction piece is a complete story. …
• Characters. …
• A hook. …
• A slam-bang finish. …
• Edit your work before you hit submit.

How long does it take to write flash fiction?

In terms of full-length short stories (over 1,000 words, according to phoebe’s definition, at least), our recently published authors noted that it might take them anywhere from a month to multiple years to complete a piece.

How do you write Microfiction?

A step-by-step to draft a micro-story

1. Chose a primary emotion. When reading a fiction piece, readers want emotion; they want to feel something. …
2. Define the conflict. …
3. Chose your character(s) …
4. Select your scene(s) …
5. Chose only one POV. …
6. Start by the conflict. …
7. Focus on the character arc. …
8. Write your story as long as you wish.

What is 30 word flash fiction?

A complete story in 30 words.

What makes a good flash fiction story?

Flash fiction must accomplish the same as fiction does: namely, a complete story with well-developed characters, a finished plot, and complex themes. The story must feel finished in under 1,500 words. Flash fiction stories must feel finished in under 1,500 words. Despite its brevity, flash still needs complexity.

What is a 6 word flash fiction?

What Is a Six-Word Story? A six-word story is an entire story told in six words. It is a short narrative that can have all of the emotional themes of longer stories—from funny to dramatic, sad to scary.

How long should it take to write a 500 word story?

Writing Time by Word Counts

How many pages is 50000 words?

Book Length by the Numbers



A 50,000-word manuscript is 200 pages.

What things should be left out of flash fiction?

Some of the things you have to limit in a flash fiction piece are:

• Characters. A story of 500 words can’t hold the number of characters a full-length novel can. …
• Speech Tags. With fewer characters, you can get away with dialogue free of speech tags. …
• Description. …
• Points of view. …
• Timelines.

What is the structure of flash fiction?

Flash fiction is an entire standalone story anywhere between 500-1500 words (called flash because you can read it “in a flash”). The challenge being that you must work through an entire plot structure within the constraints of the word count.

What is a 500 word story called?

How to Write Flash Fiction

What is flash fiction and its elements?

Characteristics of Flash Fiction



Brevity: Regardless of the exact word count, flash fiction attempts to condense a story into the fewest words possible. To look at it another way, flash fiction tries to tell big, rich, complex stories quickly and concisely.

What are the elements of fiction?

The Seven Key Elements of Fiction:

• CHARACTER. There are two meanings for the word character: 1) The person in a work of fiction. …
• THEME. What exactly is this elusive thing called theme? …
• PLOT. A plot is a causal sequence of events, the “why” for the things that happen in the story. …
• POINT OF VIEW. …
• SETTING. …
• CONFLICT. …
• TONE.

What are the examples of flash fiction?

Here are seven examples of flash fiction (for a total of 21 minutes or less) that are totally worth your time.

• “Chapter V,” Ernest Hemingway. …
• “Widow’s First Year,” Joyce Carol Oates. …
• “Give It Up!” Franz Kafka. …
• “Sticks,” George Saunders. …
• “Taylor Swift,” Hugh Behm-Steinberg. …
• “Untitled,” Adhiraj Singh.

What is the theme of flash fiction?

Youth/Lost Youth. A number of stories in “Flash Fiction” have themes that focus on youth or the recapturing of one’s youth. In “Stones,” the writer likes to watch the stones on the desert. The young stones like to move about which worries their elders, especially as the youngsters edge their way to the water.

What is a 6 word flash fiction?

What Is a Six-Word Story? A six-word story is an entire story told in six words. It is a short narrative that can have all of the emotional themes of longer stories—from funny to dramatic, sad to scary.

How many words does a flash fiction have?

The typical definition of flash fiction is a short fiction story of under 1500 words, usually under 1000 words. The term is often used to describe short works or short casual works as well.