Click on the the title of this post to go to writer's Vanessa Gebbie's blog to read how this year's judge of the Sean O' Faolain short story competition loves flash fiction.
Food for thought and a reminder that when you enter a competition you don't have to write up to the maximum word limit. Be dictated by the idea - some stories need room to breath, others are better told in tight prose that forces the reader to do most of the work.
Food for thought and a reminder that when you enter a competition you don't have to write up to the maximum word limit. Be dictated by the idea - some stories need room to breath, others are better told in tight prose that forces the reader to do most of the work.
What is flash fiction?
No standard word count - here is how the Bridport Writing Competition describes it. http://www.bridportprize.org.uk/flashfiction.htm
This year for the first time there is a special category for Flash Fiction
No standard word count - here is how the Bridport Writing Competition describes it. http://www.bridportprize.org.uk/flashfiction.htm
This year for the first time there is a special category for Flash Fiction
Flash Fiction is fiction of extreme brevity. The number of words can vary widely - for our competition it will be a maximum of 250. Other names for flash fiction include sudden fiction, microfiction, micro-story, postcard fiction, prosetry and short short story. Flash fiction work contains the classic story elements: protagonist, conflict, obstacles or complications and resolution. However unlike the case with a traditional short story, the word length often forces some of these elements to remain unwritten: hinted at or implied in the written storyline.
(Digression...Sean O' Faolain was a major figure in 20th century Irish literature. He wrote 80+ short stories that reveal the concerns of ordinary people and in themselves chart a changing social and political landscape. Well worth reading if you are grabbed by fiction where character dominates...
Digression number two...Whelan is an anglicised version of O' Faolain. (Phelan is another) Sean O' Faolain was born John Whelan in Cork around 1900 and his mother was Bridget Whelan...just thought I'd mention it)
Digression number two...Whelan is an anglicised version of O' Faolain. (Phelan is another) Sean O' Faolain was born John Whelan in Cork around 1900 and his mother was Bridget Whelan...just thought I'd mention it)
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