Flash fiction is fiction characterized by its extreme brevity, as measured by its length in words. While there is no universally accepted exact word limit, generally a short story is considered to constitute flash fiction if it is less than 1,000–2,000 words long, and most flash-fiction pieces are between 250 and 1,000 words long. (By contrast, "traditional" short stories range from 2,000 words to upwards of 20,000, and are mainly between 3,000 and 10,000 words long; they are distinguished from longer forms, such as the novel and novella, primarily by the intent that they be read in a single sitting.) For other uses, see Fiction (disambiguation). ... This article is in need of attention. ... This article is about the literary concept. ... A novella is a narrative work of prose fiction somewhat longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. ...

Other names

Other names for flash fiction include sudden fiction, microfiction, micro-story, postcard fiction, and short short story, though distinctions are sometimes drawn between some of these terms; for example, sometimes 1,000 words is considered the cut-off between "flash fiction" and the slightly longer "sudden fiction". The term "flash fiction" likely originated in James Thomas, Denise Thomas, and Tom Hazuka's 1992 anthology of that name. As the authors of that anthology said in their introduction, their own definition of a "flash fiction" was a story that would fit on two facing pages of a typical digest-sized literary magazine, or about 750 words.

Flash fiction and vignettes

Flash fiction differs from a vignette in that the flash-fiction work contains the classic story elements: protagonist, conflict, obstacles or complications, and resolution. However, unlike the case with a traditional short story, the limited word length often forces some of these elements to remain unwritten, that is, hinted at or implied in the written storyline. This principle, taken to the extreme, is illustrated by Ernest Hemingway's six-word flash, "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."^[1] In theater and script writing, vignettes are short, impressionistic scenes that focus on one moment or give one impression about a character, an idea, or a setting. ... A protagonist is the main figure of a piece of literature or drama and has the main part or role. ... Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. ...

History

Flash fiction has roots going back to Aesop's Fables, and practitioners have included Bolesław Prus, Anton Chekhov, O. Henry, Franz Kafka, H.P.Lovecraft and Ray Bradbury. New life has been brought to flash fiction by the Internet, with its demand for short, concise works. A ready market for flash-fiction works is ezines; however, flash fiction is also published by many print magazines. Markets specializing in flash fiction include SmokeLong Quarterly, Flashquake, and Vestal Review. Aesop, as depicted in the Nuremberg Chronicle by Hartmann Schedel. ... BolesÅ‚aw Prus BolesÅ‚aw Prus (pronounced: [bÉ”lεswaf prus]; August 20, 1847 – May 19, 1912), born Aleksander GÅ‚owacki, was a Polish journalist, short-story writer, and novelist. ... Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (Russian: , IPA: ) was a Russian short story writer and playwright. ... William Sydney Porter in his thirties O. Henry is the pen name of American writer William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910). ... “Kafka” redirects here. ... Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of fantasy, horror and science fiction, noted for combining these three genres within single narratives. ... Ray Douglas Bradbury (born August 22, 1920) is an American literary, fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer best known for The Martian Chronicles, a 1950 book which has been described both as a short story collection and a novel, and his 1953 dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Online magazine. ... ... [Vestal Review] is the oldest magazine dedicated to flash fiction. ...

One type of flash fiction is the short story with an exact word count. Examples include 55 Fiction or Nanofiction, the Drabble and the 69er. Nanofictions are complete stories, with at least one character and a discernible plot, exactly 55 words long. A Drabble is a story of exactly 100 words, excluding titles, and a 69er is a story of exactly 69 words, again excluding the title. The 69er was a regular feature of the Canadian literary magazine NFG, which featured a section of such stories in each issue. Short story writer Bruce Holland Rogers has written "369" stories which consist of an overall title, then three thematically related 69ers, each with its own title.^[2] A word count is the number of words that a document contains. ... 55 Fiction is a genre of fiction that refers to the works of fiction limited to a maximum of 55 words. ... Nanofiction is a term coined by role-playing game designer R. Sean Borgstrom to describe the fictitious quotes (that is, quotes which are excerpted from a non-existent source) which appear in the margins of the role-playing game, Nobilis. ... A Drabble is an extremely short work of fiction with exactly one hundred words (although some have extended this to mean short story of less than 500 words). The purpose of the drabble is brevity and to test authors ability to express interesting and meaningful ideas in an extremely... A Drabble is an extremely short work of fiction with exactly one hundred words (although some have extended this to mean short story of less than 500 words). The purpose of the drabble is brevity and to test authors ability to express interesting and meaningful ideas in an extremely... Bruce Holland Rogers is an American author of short fiction who also writes under the pseudonym Hanovi Braddock. ...

See also

• Nanofiction

Nanofiction is a term coined by role-playing game designer R. Sean Borgstrom to describe the fictitious quotes (that is, quotes which are excerpted from a non-existent source) which appear in the margins of the role-playing game, Nobilis. ...

References

1. ^ Very Short Stories, Wired Magazine, November 2006
2. ^ Word Games, The Writer, January 2006

Wired is a full-color monthly magazine and on-line periodical published in San Francisco, California since March 1993. ...

External links

• Flashes on the Meridian article on Flash Fiction by Pam Casto
• Quick Fiction
• Fiction Volante
• SmokeLong Quarterly