On Resonance

the singing bowl effect

Jun 15, 2023

Hi friends,

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Those who’ve taken my workshops know I emphasize three things necessary for GREAT flash fiction: Emotion, Movement, and Resonance. It is the resonance piece that is the most nebulous and difficult to teach.

So what exactly do I mean by resonance? In the Collins Dictionary, resonance is defined as “the quality of having an intensity of emotion or richness of expression that evokes or reinforces a sympathetic response.” Interestingly, the scientific definition of resonance is “the quality in a sound of being deep, full, and reverberating.”

Years ago, I took part in a communal sound bath meditation. There were maybe seventy-five of us gathered in a circle on the floor with pillows and blankets. A practitioner sat in the middle, equipped with Tibetan singing bowls and gongs. Lying in the dark with eyes closed, we were “bathed” in tonal frequencies specifically aimed at psychic healing. Once sounded, a tone reverberated a long, long time until we didn’t just hear it in our ears, but felt it in our bodies. I found myself crying. I heard others quietly crying too. It was an extraordinary and strangely moving experience.

Let us think of resonance, then, as the singing bowl of flash fiction. It’s what vibrates and lingers. Resonance creates a frequency, a felt experience that washes over the reader, and leaves a lasting effect on the heart and mind. No other literary form (besides poetry) accomplishes this so well or so compactly.

So what can we do to achieve resonance (or the singing bowl effect) in the limited space of flash fiction? Here are a few suggestions, bearing in mind that resonance is often achieved with some distance and revision:

Include memorable imagery.
Create a memorable character or characters.
Subvert reader expectations.
Take an original approach.
Give the reader something to ponder or feel long after reading.
Convey deeper meaning or significance beyond the story presented.
Find a way to shed new light on current events or the concerns and anxieties of “the times.”
Create significance via a powerful shift (or “volta”).
Immerse your reader in a strong, unique voice.
Use a unique, memorable point-of-view.

I went to Twitter, as I often do, to get thoughts on this from the ever-generous writing community. I asked, “What flash fiction has really stayed with you no matter how long ago you read it? Can you say why you haven't forgotten it?” Here are just a few of the responses:

Tim Craig noted “Rehearsal” by Nuala O’Connor in Lost Balloon for its VOICE. This is a tiny story, but O’Connor establishes a strong voice from the very first line: “Marty’s car was a hearse, so that was the first turn on.”

Nicole Hart pointed out the powerful volta (or dramatic rhetorical shift) at work in Jim Tomlinson’s story, “Flights” published in Smokelong Quarterly. A few people said this of my own piece, “Collective Nouns for Humans in the Wild” as well.

Taleen Voskuni, on “Magdalene” by Maura Yzmore in Molotov Cocktail said she has a “soft spot for small girls taking revenge, for unexpected friendship. and the rabbit, imagery so strong i never forgot it.”

A few mentioned Brady Udall’s powerfully resonant, compact story, “The Wig.” (Here’s an excellent close analysis of the story by Pamelyn Casto.)

Gillian O’Shaughnessy, on Helen Rye’s Bath Flash Fiction Award winning story, “One in Twenty Three”: “I can’t forget it. The title is everything, then the visceral delicate detail of sun & figs, the horror that’s revealed. It takes a crisis of unimaginable scale & forces us to reckon w the humanity. It’s a perfect & devastating use of the form.”

Barlow Adams on Cathy Ulrich’s “Being the Murdered Girl” series: “They feel like love letters from beyond the reach of our societal failures. They are lonely, beautiful, painful, and they make me want to ask strangers if they are okay.” Read “Being the Murdered Pageant Girl” in Wigleaf.

Karen Russell, who recently judged the American Short(er) Fiction Prize, said this of the winning story, “Tombs” by Yasmin Adele Majeed: “The image of the rotting palm stump outside of the young narrator’s bedroom window has stayed with me ever since I read it…”

YOUR PROMPT

Choose one of the suggestions for achieving resonance listed above. Concentrate on only one. Perhaps the easiest is to write to a strong image before having any idea as to its significance. Your subconscious led you to that image for a reason. Open with it and write your way in. Return to the image in your final paragraph, but change it in some way (the cheese has gone moldy, the rain has let up, the wine has spilled, etc.) Leave this draft alone for one week or more and come back to it and read it aloud. Place one hand on your chest or throat as you read. (I know at this point, you’re going, oh come on, Kathy Fish! but bear with me.) Listen for what reverberates. Feel it in your body. Stay open to changes or edits that suddenly suggest themselves. Remember: Resonance is most often achieved in revision.

* New Feature: Some Writers To Watch

Yume Kitasei (Recommended by Sara Crowley)

Writer and Managing Editor of The Forge Literary Magazine, Sara Crowley, recommends the work of Yume Kitasei:

“Yume Kitasei creates magic in each of her stories, often taking the reader somewhere that exists in a space between reality and fairy tales. I’m charmed by her characters; in the midst of curious events, they remain calm, reflective, observational, and on the brink of change they don’t always realise the strength they have. Seeing them discover their power is satisfying. She writes with truth and emotional depth and her language is precise and so damn good! Writers should use specific details and Yume’s are the very best.”

There were three families who moved out in the month of February: a couple, a mother and a child, and Mrs. Lemon with the cats. Her name wasn’t really Lemon, was it? Probably not. The cats were named Roquefort, Manchego, Camembert, and the little kitten, Feta. Mrs. Lemon was lactose-intolerant. She moved to Florida because she said it was time. She couldn’t take another New York City winter.

https://www.nereview.com/vol-43-no-4-2022/the-last-tenants/

It rains, gently. There is a woman who had the fortune to be holding an umbrella when the wave came. The umbrella is dark blue and wavy white and matches the ocean not at all, despite what she says. She is very pleased with herself and lectures everyone else about not being more prepared.

https://www.smokelong.com/stories/eating-stale-biscuits-in-the-middle-of-the-pacific-ocean/

Also, please read https://fracturedlit.com/a-too-small-room/

Yume Kitasei also has an incredible novel being published in July. The Deep Sky is a feminist space thriller/mystery about a mission into deep space thrown off course by a lethal explosion.”

Karen Crawford (Recommended by Dan Crawley)

“One writer's work I've grown to really admire is that of Karen Crawford. Here's just a few beauties from this very talented storyteller. Her imagery is amazing:

Pushcart Nominated "Summer of '77" in Cheap Pop (My lord, this line! "It smells like the forgotten.")

"Wild Thing" in 100 Word Story

"Getting Even On The Flushing Express" in Bending Genres”

Do go read the advance praise for Dan’s forthcoming collection, Blur, out this fall from Cowboy Jamboree Press.

BEFORE YOU GO

Want to write with Nancy Stohlman and me this summer? Why not bring a friend and join us? There are a few spots still available for High Altitude Inspiration in the Colorado Rocky Mountains this AUGUST 15-20TH! This will be our third retreat there. We love it so much! Find more information HERE.

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Thanks, as always, for stopping by. Please feel free to leave a comment or question below.