Happy Saturday, Immersionists!
First, there are a few spaces still available in next Saturday’s 3-in-90! Here’s the information below. If interested, you may sign up HERE. I hope you do! These are a lot of fun.
Saturday, February 24th - How do I land this thing? The Pleasures & Perils of Writing a Great Flash Fiction Ending
“When you throw a rock in the pond, the ripples are often more interesting than the splash.” ~Rebecca Makkai
Your draft is in great shape! Well, it nearly is. That ending, though. It’s just not quite “there” yet. It’s the part you’ve fussed over the most. Written and rewritten. You’ve reworked it so many times you’ve lost your way entirely. And you just read a story online that absolutely nails the ending. How did they do it? In this 90 minute session, we will read, analyze, dissect, and ponder the great endings in literature and film. There really are no hard and fast “rules” to landing your story but you don’t want to fall flat nor do you want to crash and burn! Worst of all, you don’t want to make your reader go, “huh?” I’ll provide tips and strategies for writing a powerful, resonant ending and we’ll write to a fun prompt aimed at skill-building.
Today, I’d like to look at the concept of mise en scène and a fabulous flash by Pamela Painter as an example. Our exercise is a fun one, aimed at developing and heightening this particular skill for our flash fiction writing.
Mise en scène & Creating a Tableau
It is said that Ginger Rogers had to do everything that Fred Astaire did only backwards and in high heels. Flash writers, with limited space at their disposal, have a similar challenge. We want to achieve the depth and resonance of short stories or novels. We want to make a similar impact on our readers. This means that every aspect of the writing needs to be especially deft, precise, on point, and effective.