What Makes Me Dull and Uninteresting: A List

This was a writing prompt from Dinty W. Moore’s book: Crafting the Personal Essay: A Guide for Writing and Publishing Creative Nonfiction. What makes me dull and uninteresting? A list in no particular order: 1) Being too polite 2) Being self-absorbed 3) Being afraid 4) Being nervous and self-conscious 5) Not taking risks 6) Not…

Flash Essay: The Fun of Writing Personal Essay

I just completed teaching an online course for Story Circle Network entitled, “Writing the Personal Essay.” The course was five weeks long and each week the students were assigned reading material on a different type of essay, then required to write that type of essay by the end of the week. Just so that we…

Critical Components of Flash Fiction and Flash Nonfiction

Flash fiction and flash nonfiction differ clearly in content, but many of the needs are the same given the conciseness of the form. In an excerpt from The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Flash Fiction, Nathan Leslie in his article, “The “V” Word,” states, “By focusing on language, scene, voice, and character, my students…

What Exactly is “Flash” and Why Do I Care?

“Flash” Fiction and Nonfiction: The Brilliant Capturing of a Moment This week as guest editor for SheWrites, I want to explore a subject that is close to my heart: “flash” fiction and nonfiction. My blog, 20 Minutes a Day at lenleatherwood.wordpress.com, contains my own contributions to “flash” in the areas of fiction, memoir, essay and…