Get to the Point! Why Write Flash Fiction

Mark Twain once said, "If I had more time, I would write a shorter story."

And how true it is: the lower the word count, the more daunting the task. It's not really any different than conversation; give me the floor and I can rattle on for hours without ever making a point. Confine me to wrapping up and delivering the central aim or purpose of my verbiage in a sentence, maybe two, and what follows is a painful, prolonged silence. Needless to say, the same tends to happen with my writing. Of course, in those instances, I blame the characters not myself. As a writer I am merely taking dictation, if these fictional characters feel the need to drone on through use of unnecessarily long sentences and dialogue, take it up with them.

And then I stumbled upon the beauty, and usefulness, of short fiction, short, short fiction, and eventually flash fiction. There is one main beneficial aspect to creating short fiction: greater marketability. Even if the pay scale isn't as grand (if it exists at all) for briefer prose, such as a novel, there is still more opportunity to use several short writings for contests, websites, e-zines, and print publications with more likelihood of 'recycling' that piece for another chance at a second publication or contest winner; repeat as necessary.

So it could be stated that yes, the world of short fiction versus tackling that brilliant novel you've been meaning to write could be summed up as quantity versus quality. Yet if the writing is as inspired, if you pour as much of your heart and soul into those briefer snippets as you would your novel, the end result is equally as rewarding, just served in smaller doses; the condensed version, if you will.

Aside from marketability within the publication world, there's the reality of reaching modern day readers. If you have ever uttered these words, "if just one person would read and really 'get' my work, then it would be all worthwhile," (even if you later retracted this statement blaming it on a momentary lapse of sanity) there is some truth to it. Writers write to get those words out of their head and 'translated' into some readable format in hopes of others discovering their work. In all fairness, and to be a bit more realistic, it is important to consider, and accept, who the potential readers in today's market really are.

Most readers are suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder or just don't have the free time anymore to commit to reading anything longer than a magazine article, or a blurb just lengthy enough to detail the events that led up to the last public fight between Brad and Angelina and what this may mean for the future of their relationship and the gaggle of children they've accrued over their years together. To capture readers (unless you've already acquired quite a name for yourself and have several full length works translated in a multitude of languages and a few being adapted for screen in which case I doubt you're reading this article) it is important to appeal to them by offering tempting, bite-size (i.e. manageable) literary treats. Readers are more likely to be grabbed by pieces with a smaller word count as well as share a work that really grabs them by linking it to their own site - or at least emailing the link to a few friends. Short fiction, simply put, is a more user friendly version of fictional entertainment.

Of course, there is a lot to be said for learning to perfect the skill of saying what you mean in fewer words, and making a more direct, effective impact. My mindset has changed so drastically when it comes to transforming that nagging little spark of an idea and 'crafting' it into literary brilliance I have a hard time imaging needing more than 2500-3000 words to say it in; on a good day, 700-800 words - or about the same amount of words I've used up to blather on about this subject. If nothing else, learning to say more by saying less has helped my social life considerably, since I am less likely to ramble on as I once did. I now know when to say 'the end'...

bari.ann kyle

award winning and published short fiction writer and lover. website with contests for flash fiction and photography.

[http://www.flashfictionreview.com]