Flashing It
My thanks to author Cherie Reich for hosting her 2nd Annual Flash Fiction Blogfest. The contest rules required a story of 300 words or less beginning with the words “lightning flashed.” If you haven’t already read the six finalists and voted for your favorite, please click HERE and then come back!
I signed up for the event in a burst of enthusiasm and immediately had misgivings. Flash fiction isn’t one of my strengths. Long ago I wrote a three-page story that a snarky colleague described as “a tour de force without the force.” The guy was an asshole, and not only because of his snipe at my story, but it still hurt.
As May 21 neared, I considered not posting any story. With so many other entries, who would miss mine?
But entering an event and then blowing it off would make me a flake. A flake is worse than any kind of loser. So I wrote a story about a woman who kills her lover and spent quite a while trimming it to 300 words. The result was “Lorelei.” After posting it, I began hopping from blog to blog and quickly realized “Lorelei” wasn’t going to win the contest or even make the finals. My competitors were good writers, and most of them understood better than me what flash fiction is.
Participating has taught me something about the form.
First of all, a flash fiction piece should tell a story with some kind of conflict and resolution. “Lorelei” does that. But the conflict is presented indirectly through the dreams of a mentally disturbed narrator, which makes it less immediate and dramatic. Second — and here’s the hard part — the story should fit the form. In other words, it’s a story that can be told completely in 300 words or less. The six finalists chosen by Reich meet this requirement. “Lorelei” doesn’t. It really needs to be longer.
Along with teaching me more about my craft, the contest has brought readers to my site. More people dropped by to read and comment on “Lorelei” than on any other post. And everyone had kind things to say. Not one snarky comment. Best of all, though, the blogfest has led me to quite a few interesting blogs and talented writers.
My story lost, but I came out a winner.
Great reflection on the blog hop and flash fiction. It really does teach use a lot, as writers. If you really want to test yourself, try Lillie McFerrin’s Five Sentence Fiction. I’ve done a few, some good, some not so good. LOL!
Thanks, Donna. I might give five-sentence fiction a try. Hopefully they won’t be hundred-word sentences littered with semi-colons.
Aww! I’m so happy to hear people having such a good experience from the Flash Fiction Blogfest. I do think your piece would work better as a longer story. Now you have a base to go from, if you choose to make it longer. 🙂
Thanks, Cherie. 🙂