Writing Tall Tales In Short Form

Flash Fiction

Writing tall tales even seemingly detailed stories, can be accomplished in few words.

Flash fiction stories, also known as Immediate Fiction, or Sudden Fiction, can be difficult to write. Knowing a little bit about topics of persuasive writing can help you get your point across in succinct style. More and more people have become adept at getting meanings into as few words as possible.

Some submission requirements for Flash Fiction hold the word limit at 1,000. Others ask for 500 words or fewer.

Many Flash pieces are nothing more than writing a character sketch, or writing a character analysis. However, what that character does or doesn’t accomplish drives home the story climax or denouement.

Creating prose in Flash Fiction format requires practice, utilizing excellent analytic skills, knowing what to include in the composition, and what would be extraneous. What is included needs to offer more meaning than being a mere sentence conveying action or dialogue simply to move the story along. It’s got to have punch.

In creating minimalist prose through the limitations of Flash Fiction, you will see just how adept you’ve become at writing, especially when attempting a character analysis or writing character sketches. So if you’ve never tried flash, it’s time to step up to writing as tightly as you can.

One way to practice writing stories in minimalist fashion is to use a story you've already written. Make a new copy of it, of course, to save your original.

Analyze your story and begin to omit words and information. Rewrite some of the sentences when you can combine two thoughts in one. Be succinct. Shorten your sentences. Telling tall tales in short form leave no space for long or compound sentences.

Say it fast. Staccato. Omit the rest. Leave your reader in a state of knowing they've read a great story but they still don't know what hit them.

My reference books, Write It Right - Tips for Authors, Volumes I and II, contain many articles dealing with cutting sentences, cutting words, yet succinctly getting your point across. Writing tall tales as flash fiction is actually quite fun.

Here are the first few Flash pieces we will analyze:

Write and Publish Fiction

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