Flash Fiction Online

Welcome to my official Monday Showcase…or unofficial, above and underground, Monday Showcase. Every Monday I showcase a subject of interest in writing.

You may ask whose interest? Well, should be yours if you are into fiction. Hopefully by the time I am done dragging you around in my sea of words you will have some interest.

If you haven’t heard of FLASH FICTION ONLINE and you are a writer of fiction, you must be living in a cave. Pardon the pun, but hey, when it works, it works. Check out the site below:

http://www.flashfictiononline.com/

What is Flash Fiction Online? (As if the name isn’t self-implied). First of all, what is Flash Fiction? What is ankh? (Sorry old science fiction flick nostalgia.) Basically a full story in less than  a thousand words. Full, as in beginning, middle, and an ending. “Impossible!” you may say? Hardly. One simple rule to flash fiction is, “Cut out the fluff and leave the good stuff!”

Please don’t fluff on my site either, (NO FLUFFING RULE IN AFFECT AS OF MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7th, 2009). Now, back to the basics.

 

For those of you who really care to know, Ankh is an ancient Egyptian symbol used to represent life. It was also used in the science fiction classic, LOGAN’S RUN, which was first a novel …and has nothing of value to this article but further interest can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan's_Run

 

FLASH FICTION ONLINE explains flash fiction as, “a complete story in one thousand or fewer words.”

Wikipedia says, “Flash fiction is fiction of extreme brevity. There is no widely accepted definition of the length of the category. Some self-described markets for flash fiction impose caps as low as 300, while others consider stories as long as 1000 words to be flash fiction.”

You can read the full definition for yourself at Wikipedia below:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_fiction

For an example of flash fiction (insert self promotion here) you can check out DRYAD and VICTIM OF THE MEDIA:

http://longandshortarchives.blogspot.com/2007/10/short-story-dryad.html

http://www.alongstoryshort.net/victimofthemedia.html

 

Now back to FLASH FICTION ONLINE (also known as FFO on many forums.) Why is it so popular? Well, for one thing the site is very well done and maintained. The content is of high quality and people have shorter attention spans or time, and a full story shrunk to a nugget is convenient and practical. You sip coffee and read a complete story. The concept is ideal for most people around the world always on the go. Or New York city, also always on the go. :)

It is also listed on the “Qualifying Short Fiction Venues” of SFWA and as such is sought after by writers who are seeking both a good paying market and recognition in the SFWA.

http://www.sfwa.org/join-us/sfwa-membership-requirements/#pro (just scroll down on the page to find the short fiction listings.)

Jake Freivald is founder and Editor and so far he and his team have done a remarkable job. So, stop reading this and get over there and read some flash fiction!

http://www.flashfictiononline.com/

 

by C.D.Marshall