Flash Fiction can go by the name of Micro Fiction.

It is a storytelling art that is usually pretty small compared to Short Stories (Flash Fiction pieces are mostly between 250 and 500 words, although there are exponents of this genre including myself that write stories in fewer words than this!)

It is an amazing discipline, as it makes editing all the more crucial, every word has to count, you can’t be precious about any line that does not drive the narrative forward and you constantly are searching for different ways to express yourself/your message, in order to make the piece as streamlined/pared down to the bone as possible.

There are some competitions that encourage really tight deadlines for creation of Flash Fiction, a few in particular where you only have thirty minutes to compose a story.

This is where the flash part comes in, as it alludes to the writer having an inspirational flash from a story prompt that is given to them and then you have to complete that story to a specific deadline – it can be hard but very thrilling when you create something in this time pressured environment.

I have provided links to some free tips and techniques to help you write better Flash Fiction below:-

WOW! Women on Writing – How to Write Flash Fiction
Top Flash Fiction Writing Tips – David Gaffney – The Guardian
10 Flash Fiction Writing Tips – Be The Story
Tips for Writing Flash Fiction
Six Tips for Writing Flash Fiction
Fiction Factor – Writing Flash Fiction