Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette

Woman As Art

Here’s a tip that you can use for finding good ideas for writing flash fiction.  Don’t worry about ideas.  Worry about form.

Yes, the Old Soldier is in a playful mood this morning, but the tip is a good one.  If you truly understand the form of the flash fiction story, you can take the raw material of life and make endless flash fiction stories out of it.

And what is the form of the flash fiction short story?

There is the setup, the buildup and the payoff.  Or, to put it another way, there is the beginning, the middle and the end.

But to make things even easier, think of the flash fiction short story as a significant event with closure (resolution).  Just make sure that your story has narrative movement.  Something must be different.  Try this on for size.

Brad And Jenny

Jenny realized that Brad liked her.

The End

Of course, I’m making a point with my little micro-story.  But Jenny moves from being unaware of Brad’s affection for her to realizing that he likes her.  That my friends is narrative movement.  There must be narrative movement.  The beginning and the middle (when Jenny was unaware of his affection) are implied.  The story is all resolution.  And the resolution is the significant event.  I’m not saying this little ditty about Brad and Jenny is a good story; but it does have all of the elements of a very short story.

Know the form and the good ideas will follow.

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Hello hello hello, my brother and sister bloggers, readers, writers and my Flash Fiction Fanatics.  It’s an overcast morning in Pittsburgh today.  The high will only be in the 70s.  But that’s okay.  I’m enjoying Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson and I feel at peace with the world.

Keep reading and keep writing that flash fiction.

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The Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette is an online magazine of creative ideas, serious writing and brazen sexuality.  It is also a paying market.

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Flash Fiction: Barbara’s Adult Video

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