I put tulips under all the pillows and then I set fire to the house. I know that sounds crazy, but it really wasn’t because it was an old house – my grandmother’s – and it was out in the country where nobody ever came and it was a week after Grandma died and squatters…
Tag: flash fiction
The Joys of Teaching Writing: Online and Off
I am sitting here in my living room – night outside – and I am ready to finish up my work for today. I have been busy all day, as usual, but not crazy busy. My “Flash Fiction/Memoir” online class started on Monday through Story Circle Network, so I’ve been occupied responding to students’ comments…
Flash Fiction: ‘Tis the Gift to be Simple
Janet wasn’t sure why life seemed so complicated these days. Maybe it had to do with the way the wind was always blowing, tossing her short gray hair this way and that, and reminding her of happier times before Chet died. Chet, her husband of 35 years, who woke up one day and said he…
Flash Fiction: Out of the Dark
Mary Theresa was tired. Tired of feeling out of control; tired of feeling lost. She went out to the porch of her house on the lake and stared at the dark night. She couldn’t help but wonder why she had been put on this earth, particularly now that she was out of a job, out…
The Joys of Writing “Flash” and Some Reading Recommendations
I currently am teaching an online course on Flash Fiction and Flash Memoir for Story Circle Network. This subject is close to my heart since flash is one of my favorite modes of writing. For the course, I have read a lot of short-shorts both fiction and memoir and have been reminded of just how…
Flash Fiction Prompt: He Said/She Said
Flash Fiction Prompt: The two “characters” should disagree about an issue or subject and their dialogue should have a subtext, an emotional truth that is operating on a deeper and perhaps hidden level. He said: I thought you were going to the market today. She said: Why do you say market instead of grocery store? …
Flash Fiction Prompt: Almost Impossible
It’s almost impossible to explain why I did what I did. I have no real answers to give you. Just that one day I was fine and the next day I wasn’t and it could be explained perhaps because of the death of the girl or my reaction to the accusation of my involvement or…
Flash Fiction Prompt: What Can I Do?
“What can I do?” I asked and they said, “Nothing.” I didn’t know what to say so I left and headed down to the river where I could hear the waves lapping onto the shore and I could sit in the dark and feel safe for the first time all day. I wasn’t a bad…
A Method to Revise Your “Flash”
On this final day as guest editor at SheWrites, I’d like to cover an important element of writing if you hope to eventually publish your “flash” fiction and nonfiction. This process comes from an excerpt of an article in The Rose Metal Press Field Guide for Writing Flash Fiction entitled “Editing and Revising Flash Fiction”…
The Value of Flash: Lose the Critic and Find the Strength
Writing fast and furious is the goal in “flash” fiction and nonfiction because by doing so you outran that pesky little character called your “inner critic,” which is that mean and shaming voice in your head that tells you everything you write is stupid and not worth the time, effort, and concentration you’re spending on…
20 Minutes a Day 