What Do You Mean, Flash Fiction Approaching?

Now here’s a flash article

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I’ve been reading some flash fiction recently and I wondered, it is quite a curious form of fiction. Back in the day, before the term was coined in the nineties, it was known as the short short story. When a writer starts their journey writing short fiction, any length up to roughly a thousand words, it is often seen as a way of cutting their teeth. Its short form means it can be completed quickly. The plot is simple, the characters are few, the story is pared down to its bare essential elements. Does this mean that flash fiction is more for writers than readers? Is its main readership other writers?

Perhaps, this is doing it a disservice. However much flash fiction is used in schools, or for those starting out in fiction writing, it’s apparent simplicity is deceptive. After all, despite its recent popularity, the tradition goes back hundreds of years to Aesop’s Fables and Zen Buddhist koans.

It is the brevity that makes it hideously difficult to do well. It is a sophisticated form of writing for a sophisticated readership. Which is probably way I have only written a handful and am not a prolific reader of this form.

However, any one wishing to dip their toe into reading flash fiction, I recommend Nik Perring’s Not So Perfect. I bought his…