LESSON 13ENGLISH 8

WHAT IS FLASH FICTION?

The question of what is flash fiction (FF) is a loaded one because people have strong, varying opinions as to the 'correct' answer. Here are three variations: Flash Fiction is:

A complete story in 1000 words or less.

A unique type of story that has been whittled down to its essence whilst remaining a complete story, with plot, narrative, character/s, conflict, and resolution.

One of a number of terms used to describe answers one and two. Other terms used are: microfiction, short short story, sudden fiction, prosetry, and postcard fiction.

http://www.flash-fiction-world.com/what-is-flash-fiction.html

HOW POWERFUL IS FLASH FICTION?

Stories remove us from our everyday lives.

Stories serve as breaks so we do not get burn out or get lost in our tails,

Stories put our lives into suspension and give us new lives to immerse ourselves in, without actually living it.

We can fashion every aspect of those new lives through the choice of what we read

http://www.flash-fiction-world.com/what-is-flash-fiction.html

HOW IS FLASH FICTION WRITTEN?

1) The small idea

Look for the smaller ideas in larger ones. To discuss the complex interrelationship of parents and children you'd need a novel. Go for a smaller piece of that complex issue. How kids feel when they aren't included in a conversation. What kids do when they are bored in the car. Middle child. Bad report card. Find a smaller topic and build on it.

2) Bury the preamble in the opening

When you write your story, don't take two pages to explain all the pre-story. Find a way to set it all in the first paragraph, then get on with the rest of the tale.

3) Start in the middle of the action

Similar to #2, start the story in the middle of the action. A man is running. A bomb is about to go off. A monster is in the house. Don't describe any more than you have to. The reader can fill in some of the blanks.

4) Focus on one powerful image

Find one powerful image to focus your story on. A war-torn street. An alien sunset. They say a picture worth a thousand words. Paint a picturewith words. It doesn't hurt to have something happen inside that picture. It is a story after all.

HOW IS FLASH FICTION WRITTEN?

5) Don't use too many characters.

You won't have time to describe your characters when you're writing ultra-short. Even a name may not be useful in a micro-story unless it conveys a lot of additional story information or saves you words elsewhere.

6) Make the reader guess until the end

A little mystery goes a long way. Your reader may have no idea what is going on for the majority of the story. This will lure them on to the end. When they finish, there should be a good pay off or solution.

7) Use allusive references

By using references to a commonly known story you can save yourself all those unnecessary words. Refer to historical events. Use famous situations from literature. If the story takes place on the Titanic you won't have to explain what is going to happen, who is there or much of anything. History and James Cameron have already done it for you. Beware of using material that is too obscure. Your reader should be able to make the inferences.

8) Use a twist

Like #5, the twist ending allows the writer to pack some punch at the end of the story. Flash fiction is often twist-ending fiction becauseyou don't have enough time to build up sympathetic characters and show how a long, devastating plot has affected them. Like a good joke, flash fiction is often streamlined to the punch-line at the end

HOW IS FLASH FICTION WRITTEN?

9) Make sure the ending isn't at the end.

In micro-fiction there's a danger that much of the engagement with the story takes place when the reader has stopped reading. To avoid this, place the denouement in the middle of the story, allowing us time, as the rest of the text spins out, to consider the situation along with the narrator, and ruminate on the decisions his characters have taken. If you're not careful, micro-stories can lean towards punchline-based or "pull back to reveal" endings which have a one-note, gag-a-minute feel – the drum roll and cymbal crash. Avoid this by giving us almost all the information we need in the first few lines, using the next few paragraphs to take us on a journey below the surface.

10) Make your last line ring like a bell.

The last line is not the ending – we had that in the middle, remember – but it should leave the reader with something which will continue to sound after the story has finished. It should not complete the story but rather take us into a new place; a place where we can continue to think about the ideas in the story and wonder what it all meant. A story that gives itself up in the last line is no story at all, and after reading a piece of good micro-fiction we should be struggling to understand it, and, in this way, will grow to love it as a beautiful enigma. And this is also another of the dangers of micro-fiction; micro-stories can be too rich and offer too much emotion in a powerful one-off injection, overwhelming the reader, flooding the mind. A few micro-shorts now and again will amaze and delight – one after another and you feel like you've been run over by a lorry full of fridges.

11) Write long, then go short.

Create a lump of stone from which you chip out your story sculpture. Stories can live much more cheaply than you realise, with little deterioration in lifestyle. But do beware: writing micro-fiction is for some like holidaying in a caravan – the grill may well fold out to become an extra bed, but you wouldn't sleep in a fold-out grill for the rest of your life.

Off you go!

TASK: INDIVIDUAL PROJECT (30%)

Counterpoint or CoPo, the official school organ of De la Salle Santiago Zobel School, is in need of an article for its literary section. The paper decides to break new grounds on its literary page section, so for its first quarter issue, the paper is inviting students to write stories in the “flash fiction” category. To add more excitement, the paper wants to give birth to a modern city heroine named “Urbana”, a detective on a mission as urban legend buster.

Being a student of Philippine literature, you have the advantage of getting published for the first time. Not only will you get additional points in your English subject, but you will also open doors in discovering your innate talent.

Apply everything that you have learned in our study of Philippine literature from the oral tradition to the written literature. Do not forget to include the appropriate conventions of sentences, grammar, punctuation, and syntax.

FLASH FICTION RUBRIC  Superior

5Excellent

4 Good

3Developing

2Beginning

1Flash Fiction Mechanics

Reads like narrative, contains characters, tension and some mystery or surprise. The story is 200 to 250 words.

Reads like narrative, may contain characters, tension and some mystery or surprise. The story is less 200 words but not less than 150.

Reads somewhat like a story, may contain characters, tension, and a little mystery or surprise. The story is less 150 words but not less than 100.

Too brief to pass as flash fiction. It has less developed characters and offers a very little tension, mystery or surprise. The story is less 100 words but not less than 80.

Misses a lot of components of a story. It is less than 80 words.

Plot Development A conflict is clearly described. Events in the story fully explain the end of the story.

A conflict is partially described. Events in the story partially explain the end of the story

A conflict is present but it is unclear. Events in the story lead to the end of the story.

A conflict is present but it has weak connection with the totality of the story events.

There is no conflict.

Grammar and Punctuation

The story has no error in grammar and punctuation.

The story has 1-3 errors in grammar and punctuation.

The story has 4-5 errors in grammar and punctuation.

The story has 6-7 errors in grammar and punctuation.

The story has more than 8 errors in grammar and punctuation.

Writing Discipline The writer uses prescribed materials, follows the writing process that includes prewriting, drafting, and editing, and submits on or ahead of time.

The writer, under little supervision, uses prescribed materials, follows the writing process that includes prewriting, drafting, and editing, and submits on time.

The writer, under rigid supervision, uses prescribed materials, follows the writing process that includes prewriting, drafting, and editing, and submits on time.

The writer, under rigid supervision, struggles to use prescribed materials, follow the writing process that includes prewriting, drafting, and editing, and submit the output.

The writer, despite rigid supervision, hardly uses prescribed materials, follows the writing process that includes prewriting, drafting, and editing, and submits the output.