Photo by Marco Bianchetti on Unsplash
Hello friends,
I was recently interviewed by Peter McAllister at Inkfish Magazine and one of his many great questions was this:
You once said that a lot of published flash fiction “is really more of a scene than a story”. Do you think that ‘single-scene’ quality is something that defines flash versus longer short fiction? And how do you feel the planning and writing of a flash piece differs from that of a short story?
“A single scene can be a very powerful and work as a complete flash fiction. The trick is to allude to more beyond the confines of the scene. Something that resonates emotionally that’s “bigger” than the scene itself. In short fiction and novels, scenes are building blocks and typically don’t work on their own. They’re not meant to.”
Recall my discussion of “Yours” by Mary Robison during February’s Flash Immersion Extravaganza, as an example of a single-scene flash. Read also “The Wig” by Brady Udall as another example of an excellent single-scene flash.
Now, let’s look at “Triangle” by Larry Brown (Copyright is held by the author. This story first appeared in SAND Journal (Berlin), then in Best Small Fictions 2017.) I love this story for its humanity and quiet power.