But writers, or at least this writer, see flash a bit differently: to us, it's a unique form of storytelling that writers invented to torture themselves. Apparently we thought writing a good story at length was too easy, so we decided to find ways to cram it all into 1,000 words or less. It can be . . . trying. I recently posted my own attempt.
With that said, I enjoy writing flash. It's a game. How can I manipulate words to make them say more? And reading it is even better. Which is why I asked Dino Laserbeam, editor-in-chief of Freeze Frame Fiction, to answer a few questions.
Freeze Frame is a semi-pro publisher specializing in "any genre, no content restriction - just good flash fiction."
I like these guys because they put out quality fiction. And they do it for free. Their first issue can be read online here, or, for those on the go, an ebook will soon be available through Amazon. I was personally pleased to see some names I'm familiar with - Alex Shvartsman and Stewart C. Baker - both terrific writers - alongside some new talent to discover.
The second issue is in the works, so if you're feeling inspired, they're accepting submissions for it until September 15th.
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Writing a good story of any length is difficult, yet flash
fiction challenges writers to do just that . . . in under a thousand words. Why
do writers torture themselves by trying to pack so much into so little?
Because writers are naturally
masochists! More seriously, it’s because of the challenge. Writing a novel is
hard because it involves a lot of words, a lot of time, and a lot of planning
(or re-structuring); a writer has to maintain a certain story and pace for tens
of thousands of words or more. Flash fiction is difficult for the opposite
reason: the writer still has to give us story elements, defined characters, and
enough to keep us reading, but he only has 1,000 words to make his point. Could
you do that? Don’t you want to find out?
