The Beauty of Flash Fiction

Photo by Giulia May on Unsplash

Hi friends,

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS

First a bit of business: I’m soon to announce the upcoming round of workshops. If you’re interested and are not already on my Mailchimp mailing list, you may sign up on my website HERE. The website itself is a bit wonky and in need of updating, but the pop up form should be accessible. My regular asynchronous weekend workshops are filled via a lottery system so everyone gets an equal chance of getting a spot and my live online 3 in 90 workshops are first come, first served until they’re filled. I have fun things planned and would love to work with you!

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I’ve been thinking lately about what I feel is the inherent beauty of flash fiction. It’s entirely possible I’m biased here, but flash to me is such a unique form, so open to innovation and experimentation, yet so grounded in conveying story in the briefest possible space. Flash writers are adept at creating meaning and movement and metaphor on the page and doing so with concision and urgency. That’s beautiful, right?

But I am not equating beautiful with pretty. Beauty, to me, indicates more depth and resonance. The beauty of a piece of flash stems from the feeling it evokes in the reader and the thoughts or feeling that linger long after reading.

Beauty of precision, maybe too. The way math is beautiful. Fibonacci sequences and the Golden Ratio found in nature. And the way science is beautiful. What is aesthetically pleasing in ways we can’t articulate in art and architecture. A flash fiction that feels “right” and is “of a piece” such that all the various parts work together to support the whole.

A really good flash is cohesive, gestalt, even when it meanders, even when there are divergences. Good flash writers know how to meander purposefully, artistically even.

“There is a kind of beauty in imperfection.” ~Conrad Hall

Beauty of language, be it simple or ornate, because the language serves. Stark minimalism can be exceptionally beautiful if/when it serves the piece, as can richer, more complex prose. Language that pays attention to rhythm, flow, cadence, for example, is pleasing too.

The subject matter itself may be brutal, intense, ugly even, but the flash as a piece of art comes together in a deep, resonant, again, aesthetically pleasing form. The reader senses the artistic integrity in how the difficult material was handled.

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty.” ~John Keats

Most often though, we simply know beauty when we see it. We say this or that flash is “beautiful” or “gorgeous” because we know we’re in the presence of great art even when we’re at a loss to articulate why. I’d also add that a piece needn’t be perfect in order to be beautiful, but beauty is something worth striving for.

Here are a few flashes that, for me, are just utterly gorgeous because of everything I’ve said above:

“Spent” by Cheryl Pappas

“The Two-Headed Calf” by Laura Gilpin (okay, yes, this is a poem that works as a microfiction)

“Black Girls’ Magic” by DeMisty Bellinger

“Everything is Green” by David Foster Wallace

“Stitch” by Jessica Cavero

“Tilt” by Pat Foran

“Sticks” by George Saunders

“Melody” by K-Ming Chang

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Friends, I’d love to hear from you on this. What does beauty mean to you in flash (or any writing or art for that matter)? What flash comes to mind when you think of the word “beautiful”? Do you know of a flash that deals with heavy/emotionally difficult material yet is beautiful on some level? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

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YOUR PROMPT

Let’s find beauty in simplicity.

 I want you to simply re-create a moment, a memory, or an observation.  Infuse the writing with your own personality, sense of humor or delight. Maybe write a moment that brought you particular joy or sadness. Give us what you saw, heard, smelled, tasted. Your observation of a fellow dog walker. How you felt before and after you read this morning's news. 

Is there an image that has stayed with you? I believe there's always a deeper reason for what draws our attention and becomes embedded in our consciousness. I remember seeing thousands of migrating birds on a road trip home to my mother's funeral. I actually recall that image more vividly than the funeral. I have pondered what the image means to me. Something of flight and freedom and moving on perhaps. 

Use strong sensory detail and be specific. Let your funny, tender, sad, imperfect humanity shine through. No one on earth sees the world the same way you do. Let the reader in, show us who you are, through how you see the world or remember it. This is how you gain our trust and empathy. This is how you make us want to read more. 

Allow whatever comes to you, but aim for some pleasing wholeness in your work. Find language and flow that suit the feeling or moment you’re trying to convey. Bear in mind, this may be most achievable in revision.

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BEFORE YOU GO

I have a new piece out in the wonderful Swamp Pink, called “Procession.” I’d love for you to read it if you have a chance! Then read the whole beautiful issue and consider submitting something to them! The editors there are absolutely lovely to work with.

The Art of Flash Fiction now has well over 5,000 subscribers. While I love writing it, it represents a significant amount of work for me each month. If you have found these craft articles, writing prompts, and recommended readings useful, and you’d like to support my work in some small, tangible way, I would be most grateful if you’d click on the link below. And if you can’t, that’s fine too! I am very thankful for your continued and enthusiastic interest in what I have to say about the form I love so much.

Thanks so much, friends!

Kathy