Extremely short stories

It’s the time of year when everyone in my grade is starting to get stressed out about provincial exams. We’re writing short stories, and I was looking at techniques when I accidentally stumbled upon the art of flash fiction. It’s an interesting art.

Legend has it that Ernest Hemingway once wrote a story in only six words as part of a bet:

For sale: Baby shoes, never worn.

Hemingway won the bet. They say he also considered it his best work.

I find it interesting how sometimes it takes hundreds of pages for an author to make you think, and sometimes only six words can show plot and character development.

More six word stories can be found at:

http://www.sixwordstories.net/

And here is another flash fiction, courtesy of Patrick Johanneson – slightly longer, but I think it shows a lot of character development.

Dancing 

On a hilltop at sunset, they danced one last time. High clouds burned crimson and chromium, and she sang to him:

o this is the guillotine, and this is the knife
this is for murder, this is for life

He whirled her like a dervish, spinning her about and about, watching her dark hair mask her face like a funeral veil.

so come, hangman, tie up your noose
my lover is here, waiting for you

He dipped her low, kissed her carmine lips, then lifted her into the sky. She laughed with delight, and he couldn’t remember the last time she’d sounded so happy.

we dance on the hill, we prance through the heath
we eat, drink and are merry, till we’re all out of breath

And the music ended, and the first stars appeared in the eastern firmament. He bowed to her, both of them dripping sweat from their hair. Her smile was inscrutable.

“It’s time, isn’t it,” he said.

“It is,” she said. “Time to wake up.”

He woke, and the bed was empty, and once more he was a widower.

He put on his ring and faced the day.

Try your hand at writing flash fiction! I think it is a valuable art – both reading and writing. Reading others’ flash fiction helps you to read between the lines (or between the line…) and really inspires you to think and be creative. Instead of hitting you over the head with what they want to say, they only say the essential bits – the creme de la creme, so to speak.

Writing flash fiction should help with summarizing and the ability to choose the essential parts you want your reader to know, which is a valuable skill.

So here’s something fun you can try as a writing exercise,  and technically you’re studying for your PATs as well! It’s a win-win.