Writing-The Short of It
Every occupation has its own buzz words, general or common to the specific endeavor and writing is no different. Whether writing for fun or profit, fiction or non, there are terms–probably too many to try and cover here–that pertain to the profession.
The subject of this particular article is the word length given to those published documents that denote the specific type of creation. It used to be anything that was not a book or full-blown novel was a short story. Not any more!
Now we have:
- Flash Fiction
- Short Story
- Novelette
- Digital Novel
- Novella
- Book
They break down roughly as follows:
The format that holds the fascination for me is “flash fiction.” Just the word “flash” immediately conjures the imagination. The internet is so full of flash these days, why not coin a new term to apply to that little story which is generally thought to be a minimum of 100 words but no longer than 1,000.
Gee, seems deceptively simple, huh? But you know in your heart nothing is simple. This must be a novel with a plot, characters, dialogue, and climax. It has to contain a complete story: a beginning, a middle, and an end.
It is said that the story should be contained within the time it takes to smoke a cigarette. WOW! The possibilities! Read a flash fiction story on the elevator, before your next stop off the subway or bus, or in a bank line; not while waiting for the doctor.
There are contests now for flash fiction such the Flash Fiction Competition by Pigeon Review as noted on Reedsy.com. Entry fee is $5 and first place wins $125.00. This one with a July 31st deadline. Another with a free entry. There are whole books containing flash fiction or very short-short stories on Amazon.com–what they are, how to write them, or anthologies of the best.
We’re in an age of instant. It has to be fast to hold our attention, keep us in a movie, riveted to a book. Does it get any faster than FLASH? 
Rosepoint Publishing 