Monday, January 14, 2008

Discovering flash fiction

I've been experimenting with what is, to me, a new form of fiction. I'm talking about flash fiction, those short little stories usually a thousand words or less.

I'd never really considered writing in this style of fiction, but when the publisher Every Day Fiction came along, it got my mental juices working. So, about four months ago I took my first stab at flash. It's kind of a literary piece, but I'm not sure it works, though I do like the piece. But that's up to the various publishers I send the piece to.

Then, a few months back, I wrote a couple of short zombie pieces, which are now making the submission rounds. These pieces aren't quite flash, but they're still short at 1,500 words or less. These two stories were other experiments of mine in short fiction.

Recently I've written two John Dee shorts. One comes in right at a thousand words, and I just subbed it tonight. The other piece is at 1,350 words, and that's after having about 200 words cut from it; I'm not sure I can cut that piece much more (maybe another 50 words) without ruining the story, but I might take another crack at it soon.

And there's another short John Dee piece in the works. I haven't started writing this one yet, but I've got it plotted out and I believe it will come in at under a thousand words.

So, I've created a trilogy of flash horror fiction. I'll have three John Dee short shorts, each which happens within a few months of one another in the late 1980s. The stories each have somewhat similar events, but are not directly related except through John. Dee, as he does from time to time, sets himself up on a little ... I suppose "mission" would be the right word ... and each of these stories shows John on his "mission." People live, people die, but John goes on. It's the way of his world.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to it, Ty! I'll keep an eye out for it in the slush. And glad to hear that you're trying more flash!

Ty said...

Hey Jordan!
Thanks for stopping by.
Remember, if you like the story, I'll have two others waiting in the wings.