Where To Begin A Flash Fiction Story

The answer to the question, where to begin a flash fiction story is as complex as it is simple.  It’s complex because there are all kinds of flash fiction writers and all kinds of flash fiction stories.  It’s simple because it is what it is. A flash fiction story must begin as near as possible [...]

University Of Pittsburgh Writing Program

Writing Program Faculty: Faith Adiele Fiona Cheong Cathy Day Toi Derricotte Lynn Emanuel Lee Gutkind Chuck Kinder Jeanne Marie Laskas Ben Lerner Dawn Lundy Martin Irina Reyn Jean Valentine www.english.pitt.edu

The Wife Beater

My father is dead now.  When he died he was nearly blind, frail and old and most off his teeth were gone.  Now I’m 62, struggling financially to make ends meet even after getting my MFA in writing from the University of Pittsburgh in 2006. In 1964 when I joined the army I was eighteen [...]

Flash Fiction Rocks!

Let’s talk about form.  While I was working on my MFA in writing I taught as a Teaching Assistant two terms of Composition and one term of Creative Writing and one term of Fiction Writing at the University of Pittsburgh between 2004 and 2006.  For the Fiction Writing class I tried to explain in simple, [...]

Morning Report

It’s around 7:30 am.  The Steelers have today off since they played Thursday.  I have to do laundry.  I still haven’t figured out what to bring to the party at the employment and training center on Wednesday.  Whatever it will be it has to be something I can bring on the bus. Man, does it [...]

17 Great Stories To Read

There are 17 short stories on this blog for your reading pleasure.  Just go to the sidebar and under Categories click on “Flash Fiction Stories.”  Once you read to the bottom of a page of stories just click on the link you find at the bottom to read more stories.  You can do this until you’ve read all the stories on [...]

How To Create Characters

I don’t know how other writers create their characters but I get mine from real life.  I’ve used my mother, father, brothers and sisters; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law in my fiction.  I’ve used my niece.  I’ ve used old girlfriends and army buddies.  I’ve used strangers I’ve met, classmates and people in crowds that I’ve seen [...]