Athens!

Just back from the glorious heat of Athens… a city dense with history and current political strife… In contrast, I was teaching a Flash Fiction course for KWS and the British Council, a style of literature that relies on brevity, and a light touch. I was spoilt by a week of great students, visits to the Acropolis, Poseidon’s Temple in Sounio and Aegina. I feasted, I read, I wrote, I walked… more to come from the writing… and discussed Flash Fiction.

Here are my top tips for writing Flash or Micro Fiction –

Every word counts.. so choose carefully, make every word pull its weight, either by suggestion, connotation or by cutting qualifiers or excessive adjectives/descriptors.

Begin mid-scene, in media res, with action or dialogue. Hit the ground running.

Don’t end on a punchline or revelation, unless you’re writing a joke… let the story unfold, meander and reveal itself in the mind of your reader…

Your title should add to the narrative.

Details are key; reveal character, place, emotional dynamics etc by using carefully chosen details that are evocative, remember it’s all about connotation.

All the above also applies to longer fiction!