My Articles On Flash Fiction (Most Recent)

Some Of My Recent Articles on Flash Fiction

I hope you get a chance to read my 5,000-word article on flash fiction in Critical Insights: Flash Fiction. The editors of the collection are Michael Cocchiarale and Scott D. Emmert (Salem Press/ Gray House Publishing, Inc. Ipswich, Massachusetts, 2017). The title of my article is "Flash Fiction: From Text to Audio to Music, Stage, and Film Adaptations." There's more info on the collection at
https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Insights-Fiction-Michael-Cocchiarale/dp/1682172708

I'm quite pleased that mine's the lead article too and I'm grateful that I got to be part of that interesting project. All the articles are in-depth and worthwhile reading and will no doubt be of help to anyone exploring the flash fiction world. 

Some other recent articles I've written:

"Flash Fiction: From Flash Text to Flash Film"

published at OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters 

http://ojalart.com/literary-arts/nonfiction/essay-pam-castos-flash-fiction-flash-text-flash-film/

"Flash Fiction: Brief And (Likely) Necessary Literature"

published at OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters 

http://ojalart.com/literary-arts/pamelyn-casto-article/

I'm busy researching and writing some additional articles on flash fiction. It's such an interesting type of writing with a fascinating and difficult history.

I've decided to bring the Flash Fiction Blog back to life so stay tuned as I try to re-familiarize myself with how this site works (and as I try to update links). Soon I'll be posting information about various flash literature markets, about various types of flash fiction, and other interesting topics pertaining to flash literature in general.

For now, be sure to visit OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters http://ojalart.com/ where I'm the flash fiction contributing editor. There's some outstanding work published there along with some totally arresting art work. More on this in the coming days.

And be sure to subscribe to my free Flash Fiction Flash newsletter. I publish it monthly and you'll receive it via email. To subscribe (did I mention that it's free?) send a blank subject header message to FlashFictionFlash-Subscribe@Yahoogroups.com  My newsletter includes flash literature markets (many paying markets), competitions, and flash literature publishing news.

Back soon.

 H. P. Lovecraft on Writing Weird Fiction

"Atmosphere, not action, is the great desideratum of weird fiction. A wonder story is a vivid picture of a certain type of human mood." (H.P. Lovecraft)

 

The above quote can apply quite well to flash fiction too which often depends on atmosphere and human mood. It's always a good exercise to read the many stand-out writers of previous eras to learn effective techniques for putting forth our own flash fiction stories today. Lovecraft is an excellent writer to study.

 

Here's Lovecraft's interesting and useful essay, "Notes on Writing Weird Fiction"

http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/essays/nwwf.aspx

And here are some Lovecraft stories to take a look at:  

http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/sources/mw.aspx

The writers of yesterday have plenty to teach writers of today. 

MONOLOGUES AND FLASH FICTION

I enjoy the stuffin' out of good monologues of all types. I especially like those of flash fiction length and always enjoy those published at McSweeney's Internet Tendency. See the huge collection at
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/columns/short-imagined-monologues

If you're a serious writer of flash fiction, do join the Flash Fiction Workshop (Online) where you'll find other serious writers of flash fiction. (The group's been going for over fifteen years now.) It's free and there are participation requirements to remain in the workshop (four critiques per month).

To join send a blank subject header message to mailto:listserv@listserv.uta.edu and in the message section write only this: subscribe flashfiction-w joejones@whatever.net Joe Jones (your email address and your real name). 

And don't forget to subscribe to the monthly Flash Fiction Flash newsletter. It's also free.  See subscribe info at

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FlashFictionFlash

         CLASSIC SHORT-SHORTS

All the stories below are classic short-shorts. Flash fiction type writing is nothing new but it is something that's living quite strong now. But we can always learn more from those classics that came before.    

Guy de Maupassant "The Kiss" 1354 words

http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/TheKiss.html 

Guy de Maupassant "Indiscretion" 1429 words http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/Indiscretion.html 

Guy de Maupassant "A Dead Woman's Secret" (1411 words) http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/dws.html

Guy de Maupassant "Coco" (1472 words)

http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/coco.html

Fielding Dawson "Vertical Fields" (762 words) http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/vrtclfld.html

 
Gabriel Garcia Marquez "One Of These Days" (994 words) http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/ootdays.html 

Liam O'Flaherty "The Sniper" (1619 words) http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/sniper.html

H. H. Munro (Saki) "Mrs. Packletide's Tiger" (1377 words) http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/mrspackl.html

H.H. Munro (Saki) "The Open Window" (1274 words) http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/openwin.html

Mark Twain "A Telephonic Conversation" (810 words) http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/Telephonic.html

William Carlos Williams "The Use of Force" (1564 words) http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/force.html

Virginia Woolf "A Haunted House" (710 words) http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/haunths.html

Be sure to subscribe to my monthly newsletter, Flash Fiction Flash.  It's free and arrives in your emailbox.  To subscribe, send a blank subject header message to FlashFictionFlash-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com and you'll begin receiving the newsletter.  And please be sure to refer your flash literature writer friends too.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seven Fast Fiction Tips

SEVEN FAST FICTION TIPS  

(Archived by Writer's Digest on 12-26-2003)

 

From short-short stories to children's writing, here are some quick tips on fiction writing from the February 2001 issue of Writer's Digest:

"A short-short must remain simple, from conception through execution. Not simplistic, but simple. The key is to find a good port of entry by determining the point of the story in advance."

   -Geoff Fuller & Pamelyn Casto

"The second-draft outline is your plan for sorting through the mess. Without one, you're just grabbing anything that looks useful--here's a setting that almost works, there's a subplot that just needs a little polishing."

   -William Hutchinson

"One chance. That's all kids will give you before they toss your book aside. If the first sentence doesn't grab them, you're in trouble. If you haven't hooked readers by the end of the first page, you're about as good as last year's video game."

   -Marcia T. Jones & Debbie Dadey

"How your characters talk is just as important as what they actually say. In fact, good dialogue can be defined as the right speech content expressed in the right words. And good dialogue can do as much to create strong characterization as can description and exposition put together."

   -Nancy Kress

"Because I identified too closely with my characters to put them through these and other painful situations, I wrote a book that will never sell unless I completely rewrite it. Tiptoeing away from the emotional punch of a story makes it bland and superficial."

   -Joan Mazza

"Curiosity might kill a cat, but it's just the thing when it comes to getting a child to read. Kids are naturally curious about their world. Tap into that curiously by using dramatic statements that are sure to grab their attention."

   -Marcia T. Jones & Debbie Dadey

"While many short-shorts rely on a sudden shock at the end-the victim turns out to be the aggressor, the man turns out to be a woman-the most enduring manage not merely to surprise us, but also to transcend their few words. They compound meaning by linking the surface to layers that exist above, behind and beneath them."

   -Geoff Fuller & Pamelyn Casto