This is short flash – 500 words. It’s a real test to tell a story within that limitation, but I love the challenge. I believe that some people consider stories under 1,000 words as Flash, while others are more strict and have 500 as the limit.There’s also Drabble: stories in 100 words exactly. Very tough.Although, I did write a tiny fragment for the much-missed Sigla magazine, which was under 23 words.
I’m having trouble setting my finger on just what defines a story, and what exactly has to be crammed in to make it qualify as fiction and not merely flash. I have most of a degree in comparitive literature, so it’s not a question of ignorance, but rather of definition. Can I send you something I wrote? I want help deciding if it’s a story or not. It doesn’t make so much difference, maybe, because it is necessarily what it is anyway, but I want to know whether it fits into the catagory or not. I was thinking of submitting it somewhere if it’s worth while. It’s just 200 words. Would you mind?
4 Comments
Jeanne
How short is short? I’m concentrating on flash at the moment.
Maura
This is short flash – 500 words. It’s a real test to tell a story within that limitation, but I love the challenge. I believe that some people consider stories under 1,000 words as Flash, while others are more strict and have 500 as the limit.There’s also Drabble: stories in 100 words exactly. Very tough.Although, I did write a tiny fragment for the much-missed Sigla magazine, which was under 23 words.
Jeanne
I’m having trouble setting my finger on just what defines a story, and what exactly has to be crammed in to make it qualify as fiction and not merely flash. I have most of a degree in comparitive literature, so it’s not a question of ignorance, but rather of definition. Can I send you something I wrote? I want help deciding if it’s a story or not. It doesn’t make so much difference, maybe, because it is necessarily what it is anyway, but I want to know whether it fits into the catagory or not. I was thinking of submitting it somewhere if it’s worth while. It’s just 200 words. Would you mind?
Jeanne
Oh, and it goes without saying that I would love to read yours, even though I don’t expect to.