Flash Gambits: The Unusual Point of View

Photo by GR Stocks on Unsplash

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For my newest installment of “Flash Gambits,” I’d like to talk a little about the use of unusual POVs. (Here’s a quick definition of point of view in literature.) Flash writers, ever on the lookout for deft ways to tell a big story in a small space, ought to consider this particularly effective and engaging writerly gambit.

Keep reading to find out why a writer might choose an unusual POV for their flash, then I’ll offer seven awesome examples from published flash, along with a prompt for you to try.

Why tell a story from an unusual point of view?

• Well, humor springs instantly to mind, right?

• And satire.

• Consider how using an unusual point of view allows the writer a way “in” to difficult material. A means of “telling it slant.”