Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Flash Dance

This is topic Flash Dance in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by babooher (Member # 8617) on :

Most people who want to publish know it isn't the word minimum that is hard to overcome, but the word limit. Recently I critiqued a story that I felt suffered because it was trying to fit into flash fiction. Is trying to fit into such a small arbitrary word count any different than cutting your darlings to fit into a 3000 word limit or a 5000 word limit? The author argued that if my critique rested on the idea that it should be longer, then I've missed the point of trying to write flash. I understand flash, but I think if a story doesn't fit it in a word count, at a certain point you adhere to the integrity of the tale and not the word count. When does the number of words become more important than the story itself?

Posted by JenniferHicks (Member # 8201) on :

I think you need to use as many words as necessary to tell the story, no matter what that length is. Some story ideas lend themselves to flash, and some don't, and a story will suffer if it is forced into the wrong category. That being said, any first draft can be improved by a hard edit. I aim for a 10 percent cut in word count, but not much more than that.

I haven't written a whole lot of flash, but my understanding is that when dealing with such a limited word count, the plot needs to be scaled down. In most cases, you can't take a short story and whack it into flash because a short story is too complicated to do it justice in 1,000 words. If you want to look at in terms of Card's MICE formula, you have space to really tackle one of those angles, but not all four.

Posted by aspirit (Member # 7974) on :

The story is more important than the word count. Always. That's not to say a story can't be constricted or expanded to fit individual tastes, but the end result must feel complete (or imply completeness).

quote:
any first draft can be improved by a hard edit

Editing is more than cutting and can sometimes add to word count. Some of us have a bad habit of forgetting to write in all the needed information in our first drafts. Our stories may feel complete to us while test readers have to guess at the bits still in our heads instead of on the paper where they belong.

Posted by Merlion-Emrys (Member # 7912) on :

I am the author in question here, and this is an interesting topic to discuss.

quote:
The story is more important than the word count.

I agree totally. However also...

quote:
I haven't written a whole lot of flash, but my understanding is that when dealing with such a limited word count, the plot needs to be scaled down.

Theres this. To me, "flash fiction" is in a way its own story type. Its going to be different from a "standard" short story. I'm no expert on flash, but I think probably the experience of flash fiction is going to be somewhat different from that of reading a "standard" short story, just as short stories offer a different reading experience than novels.

quote:
If you want to look at in terms of Card's MICE formula, you have space to really tackle one of those angles, but not all four.

In the story in question here, I think I'm going for 2, maybe 2 and a half. It all kind of depends on how you look at it, but I feel like flash almost can't do the ups and downs, thrill of the ride type thing that longer short stories and especially novels can do. I think flash is best suited to various combinations of idea, setting and event stuff.

quote:
In most cases, you can't take a short story and whack it into flash because a short story is too complicated to do it justice in 1,000 words

Definitely. At this point as far as the story in question, I'm trying to figure out if this is the case or not.

Overall, for me I tend to liken flash fiction to a painting...something you see and appreciate as a whole, single thing nearly all at once, as oposed to standard short stories or novels which would be more like TV show episodes or movies respectively.

Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :

I actually have written a bit of flash in the last year or so. It is an art form somewhat different than writing a normal short story. Some write vignettes and use it for flash, but others write a story. There still should be elements of a story arc, setting and a characterization.

There is a lot of economy involved. A lot of shorter stories can be cut quite severely, but writing flash fiction requires a purpose-built plot line that accomodates that economy. Cutting down a short story generally won't do it.

You have to find ways to introduce background quickly and you can't have a bunch of characters. The story arc has to be quick. Look at Skadder's Color Challenge to see that story arcs can be condensed. When you write your flash, you may find you have to concentrate on an aspect of MICE in order to make it work in a tight little package rather than give equal attention to all four story elements.

[This message has been edited by Owasm (edited May 15, 2010).]

Posted by Meredith (Member # 8368) on :

I am not, nor do I claim to be, any kind of an expert on short stories of any kind. I've written exactly one flash, which was okay, but not really quite good enough.

That said, I read the same flash and liked it. It seemed to tell a complete story to me, with a very interesting milieu and a touch of back story. Hard to do, I thought.

There's not a lot of character development in terms of a change in the characters. They face a choice and make it despite the consequences, which will prevent them from learning or growing from the experience.

Would I, as a reader, have enjoyed seeing more of the milieu? Yes. Could the little touch of character backstory have been cut and the story still worked? Possibly. Or both could be expanded.

Do what you want with it and see what happens.

Posted by genevive42 (Member # 8714) on :

I've always written stories the length I felt they needed to be to tell what they were trying to tell. Often this ends up on the longer side for me, especially lately.

But for flash, I think it does best to keep a singular focus. If two concepts are somehow fully blended then you might be able to work in two, but I think that's rare.

My recommendation would be to write the story you want and let the word count fall where it may.

Posted by tchernabyelo (Member # 2651) on :

I would suggest that anyone trying to write flash should subscribe to Every Day Fiction, and receive a flash story every day. A range of genres, a range of ideas, but in most cases you'll learn something about how to write flash (including, in some instances, what NOT to do).

I must have read more than 500 flash stories from that site (as well as having sold several there), and it's taught me a lot about what does and doesn't work. Most stories that try to do too much fail. I have cut 1300-word stories down to 1000 successfully, but never anything longer.

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

I've long since given up trying to write-to-length and I've let things find their natural length...now, most of the stuff I turn out comes out at about twenty thousand words apiece, there's no market for that, and I'm casting about trying to write small again. But if I don't submit that I've got nothing to submit at all...

Of course this is a "do as I say, not as I do" situation. If you've got a story, and it's a little over, but only a little, send it on...all they can do is reject it.