Many writers know that short stories can often be more difficult to write than novels, as the word count is greatly restricted. Imagine then an even shorter word count for certain flash fiction requirements.
The term itself sometimes means a story of anything up to 1000 words, although a maximum of 500 words is fairly usual, with some even shorter. The special submissions for the recent Brilliant Flash Fiction tenth anniversary edition required a maximum of 300 words.
I was delighted, of course, when my little story, The A to Z of a Dying Plant, was one of the 42 stories chosen from 472 submissions. The theme was ‘Tenacity’ and the subsequent book of flash fiction addresses the theme in an amazing variety of stories. It’s a lovely little paperback, available from Amazon, and slim enough to pop into a bag or large pocket, or the e-book can be downloaded from Smashwords.
I’ve greatly enjoyed reading every single story, all of which offer an excellent introduction to anyone wanting to write flash fiction with such a restricted word count. Like any story, it must have a beginning, middle and end, even if the ending is left open.
I’ve had several shorter stories published either through open submissions or competitions and you should be able to find other suitable markets online. Meanwhile here are two to get you started:
Brilliant Flash Fiction has a regular submission opportunity for a short story of up to 1000 words.
Flash Fiction Online also has submission opportunities just now – one for reprints this month, and one for original stories in October.
Rosemary
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