End of “Flash Fiction February”

So, I’m putting away the flash fiction I’ve been playing with this month to make room for something new.  It was a fun adventure and I wrote (or attempted to write) a pile of flash fiction:

• 28 stories were started. Of these…
  • 15 stories I wrote all the way through the ending
  • 6 stories weren’t a complete embarrassment (though you may disagree after reading some of my February posts)
    • 4 of these I posted here
      • Gnome Disturbance – Flash Fiction (Fantasy)
      • Young Wizards – Flash Fiction (Fantasy)
      • Robot Love – Flash Fiction (Science Fiction)
      • Eggs & Toast – Flash Fiction (Science Fiction)
    • 2 additional stories I’m still polishing and will send them off soon in hopes of publication
      • Werewolf Bite (Fantasy)
      • Why Don’t You Kids Behave? (Though this title may change) (SF)

And of course, I’ll continue to write some off and on. I really did enjoy the brevity of the story and the ability to keep it simple. I hope next year, I look back at these and think, “Wow, I’ve come a long way.” Everyone needs to start somewhere, right?

What I learned:

I read many articles on flash fiction, there are so many theories on how to do it, that it’s enough to drive you mad. My thoughts… There is no right way. Just write about a single idea and see where it goes. I like having a regular story structure of a beginning, middle, and end, but I’ve seen other things work (and really enjoyed reading) as well… Such as fake blog posts, text messages, to-do lists, etc.

The ending is the hard part. I like to have something that has at least some meaning and that ends on an upbeat note. It’s easy to write a tragedy and I don’t like to be left reading a story that makes me feel terrible.

Keeping it super short (below 500 words) is EXTREMELY hard for me. Every time I reread and revise, I always add words.

Sometimes I just need to put the story away and come back later to discover the right ending.  Maybe someday soon I’ll finish and polish the 22 stories I don’t feel are good enough to share.

Thanks for reading!

-Joy