Miscellaneous - Flash Fiction

A definition

Flash fiction is characterized by its extreme brevity. While there is no universally accepted exact word limit, generally a story is considered to constitute flash fiction if it is less than 2,000 words long, and most flash-fiction is between 250 and 1,000 words long.

Other names for flash fiction include:

 

Sudden fiction

 

Microfiction

 

Micro-story

 

Postcard fiction

 

Short short story

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".

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.

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.

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