Flash Fiction

This week we transitioned from poetry to short shorts. We focused mainly on some short shorts from the Indiana review. We also read some flash fiction stories and an article on short short theory. Reading the article on short short theory helped to describe how different types of short shorts work. The in class exercise to pick out the different elements contained in short shorts was also very helpful. We were able to practice recognizing different terms that apply in stories by reading one of the short shorts in the Indiana review and talking with classmates about the different terms. Explaining what we found in our discussion to the rest of the class was helpful so we were also able to see what everyone else had come up with.

These lessons on short shorts have been very interesting and gotten me very excited to read and write more short stories. The homework assignment to write a short short from the exercise in the flash fiction articles was very interesting. The article did a very good job of describing what is involved when writing these stories. Even though at first it did seem confusing moving from writing poetry, the exercise ended up being very helpful, and I found it somewhat easier to write the short short than many of the poems I have worked on. This may be because with fiction there are a lot more options. When I was writing poetry, I found it hard to always plan for my work to have rhythm. I really enjoy reading and writing short shorts so far!

One of the things that I have learned since we began short stories is that finding some type of inspiration when writing makes it a lot easier to write in this form. Although the poetry told some stories in the work we did, I do think it is easier to tell a story in this form, using quotations and such. Although the poetry did not prevent you from writing your stories, it does seem easier to tell a story in a more free flowing form like this one, rather than trying to keep rhythm while writing. Even though it may not be as forced in short shorts, the rhythm for me seems to come easier when you focus more on the context rather than the works and rhyming attempted in poetry.