Flash Fiction

It's funny how you may never have heard of something one day and then when you do it keeps flashing up.

Which is what has happened with a new literary form called Flash Fiction. Apparently the ideal piece of flash fiction tells a complete story in as few words as possible.

A while back I had entered a short story competition at Mslexia. I didn't win but among the non-winning letter bumph were opportunities to send in other forms of writing. To find out more about flash fiction visit their guidelines.

Then blow me if I didn't come across an invitation to a flash fiction competition at Nicola Morgan's Wasted website. For any aspiring writers, Nicola has a very informative blog called Help! I need a publisher (soon to be transfromed into a book published by Snowbooks).

Which neatly brings me back to phrases and the last blog. When you compile a phrase book it is almost a compilation of flash fiction. You have to imagine the scenario a traveller might find themself in and produce a short pithy phrase or question.

And phrases change with the times. When I first worked on phrase books in the early 90s, still lurking amongst the "Where is the nearest post office?" was "Will this cheese travel well?". And I was always inordinately fond of "Can I have a legless chair?" for the visitor to Japan whose back muscles might not be up to par for sitting on the floor.

So maybe I will have a crack at flash fiction.