Flash Fiction -- Story One

Have you ever written -- or read -- flash fiction?

And, what is “flash fiction” anyway? 

It’s a short story told in 1,000 words or fewer. A whole story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Character development, setting, problems, and a solution. In about two pages.  If you tend to write short (like me), that's not daunting.  If you tend to write long, it's a bigger challenge.

So, what do you need in order to write a flash fiction story? You need: 

1. A beginning that introduces a character that readers will care about, something that character wants or needs, and whatever problem is stopping that character from getting what they want/need. 
   
   
2. A middle where the problem gets worse. 
   
   
3. An ending where the character beats or solves the problem and gets (or gets closer to) their want/need… or where they fail and get farther away from what they want/need. 
   
   
4. A reason why you wrote the story AND why your reader wants to read it. You want to leave your reader thinking, “Wow! That was awesome/scary/funny/shocking/uplifting. I’m so glad I read that.” 

Those are exactly the same things a longer story needs. And a novel. And a play. And a movie or a TV show episode. Anything fictional needs all those things. The tricky part of flash fiction is that you have very, very few words in which to work all that magic. 

But that’s also the fun part. When you don’t have room for lots of details, lots of worldbuilding, a complicated plot, or lots of character development, you have to narrow your focus a lot. Flash fiction is like a single photo instead of a whole movie.  Think of writing it as more like the process of writing poetry -- keep your focus small and tight.

If you haven't read much flash fiction before, and you want to wrap your head around how a story that small can be good, then I advise you to read the spring issue of Sparkler right here.

That's an especially good idea because you are going to be writing two flash fiction stories for this class, and I want you each to submit one of them to Sparkler.  Their summer issue is for teen writers only!  And I think submitting a story to a real magazine will be a good experience for you both, whether or not you get a story accepted.

The theme for that issue is "The Moment That Changed Everything" which is a pretty wide-open theme, since most really short stories will hinge on a moment where everything changes.  The stories also need to be YA fiction, so you need to write a teen protagonist.

This week, I'd like you to write a complete story about a teen in 1,000 words or less using one of these settings:

• The circus
• The mall
• Washington, DC
• A summer camp for teens whose parents are spies
• The library
• Walmart
• Yellowstone National Park

Choose one of those settings, come up with a teen main character, figure out what they want/need, make up the problem in their way, and focus on the moment everything will change... for the better or the worse.  

This first story is due this Friday, April 24.  I'll get you some feedback over the weekend, and you can revise it next week.

Then we'll repeat that process in May.  And then you'll have two revised and polished stories to choose from when submissions open for Sparkler on June 2!