Writing an effective work of flash fiction isn’t just about writing a short story without lengthy explanations; it’s about compacting all of the elements of a full length story or novel into a pocket-sized version without compromising the integrity of the story.  While many pieces of flash fiction or microfiction are straightforward short tales, what draws me to writing flash fiction above all other forms is the challenge of creating an intriguing story which transcends the superficial conflict and resolution by including elements of inference, foreshadowing, and character development.  Even for the novelist this isn’t any small task, and for flash fiction writers it’s a challenge with which many struggle.

Challenges and struggles aside, fortunately there are ways to accomplish the goal, which is to produce a compelling piece of art that intrigues, captivates, and moves the reader.  To help both the beginning and experienced flash fiction writer, below I’ve shared some tips and suggestions to accomplish the goal while maintaining the integrity of your story’s concept.

Write your story without regard to word count.

Sure, flash fiction by its very definition is contingent on its word count, but that doesn’t mean you can’t write it longer and edit it down later.  I find that by writing without regard to the word count you will get the full breadth of the story without compromising it with small details.  If you’re too busy thinking “I only have 100 words left and my conflict still isn’t resolved!” then the resolution of your story — perhaps the most important part — is going to suffer.  If you write it as a short story or, heck, even if a novel, you can pull, delete, and combine pieces from the original work into the much shorter flash fiction while still effectively telling your story.

Show, don’t tell, the story.

Few readers want to be told every element about a story, as it makes for a boring, dry, and largely superficial work.  Think of it this way: which would you rather read, a Biology text book or a Nova special covering the same information?  Most people would choose the Nova special, as its visuals engage the viewer, making her think she’s right there with the bright yellow bees buzzing around the bundles of sweet pollen embraced by indigo pedals.  Or I guess you could be satisfied with “the bees.”  But probably not.

That said, it’s a legitimate concern that, with word count very important and inherently limiting that you take into consideration appropriate parts which should be “show” and other parts which should be “tell.”  While many writers get better at this with experience and feedback from editors and readers, a nice litmus test to start out with is asking the question “Is this necessary for the comprehension of the story?”  If it’s not, the long-winded description is likely arduous and bothersome to the reader, and you should simply tell the detail instead of show it.

Use inference to succinctly give details about your character or the conflict.

Perhaps the greatest challenge of flash fiction is what defines it: the word count.  Depending on the publisher, you only have 300-1000 words to tell your story, and that’s not a lot of room to include all of the basic elements of a story, such as character(s), setting, conflict, and resolution, which all make up the plot.  While some writers are satisfied with straightforward and superficial tales, if you’re an involved or deep writer, you’ll want to tell more about your character and the conflict to give the reader sufficient understanding of the breadth of the story.  You can do this efficiently by using inference.

Inference is a difficult concept for many to understand, including many readers.  So if you’re going for a popular piece, you might stay away from it.  If you’re looking for an acclaimed piece, however, give it a whirl.  Inference is when you take elements or details of a story and simply and succinctly refer to them, making the reader understand the details on her own.  Take this example from my story, “Returning to Anna,” published in the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette:

As years of tears streamed down my face and through my fingers, I added the remaining glue to the back of the tile and fit it into the space she and I first found it 10 years ago.

Even without reading the whole story, you can infer several things from the excerpt.  You can infer that a conflict occurred years ago, the conflict has tormented the character, it’s likely they’re no longer together (due to the conflict, perhaps?), he had a tile that he and she took 10 years ago, and now he’s putting it back in its place (resolution to the conflict, perhaps?).  That’s a lot of information compacted into a 38-word sentence.  By using inference you can pack a lot of information into very short but ultimately very important sentences.

Don’t push your great short story into a flash fiction.

Now that you’ve written a great story, compacted it a bit with inference, and engaged the reader, it’s time to compact it even more so that it conforms to the 300-1000 words that makes your work a flash fiction.  Or not.  My last piece of advice is don’t ruin your short story by trying to conform to others’ standards.   Plenty of times I started out to write a great piece of flash fiction only to end up writing a 3,000 word short story.  And you know what?  I wouldn’t have that story any other way.

Hopefully you’re able to take into consideration the few tips and suggestions I’ve shared.  They’ve helped me immensely writing not just flash fiction but any form of literature.  And remember: write because you enjoy writing, not because you want others to enjoy your writing.  Just because it isn’t critically acclaimed doesn’t mean someone doesn’t enjoy it, and your work might very well have moved them in ways you could never have imagined.