What is the Point of Flash Fiction?

Recently, a book called Lost Lore and Legends was released by Breaking Rules Publishing Europe, in which five of my drabbles appear. A drabble, for anyone who doesn't know, is a story that's exactly 100 words long, and it's a sort of sub-category of flash fiction (or really short stories). There's no precise word limit on flash fiction as such, but I understand that most people consider it to be under 1000 words. I personally prefer to limit mine to around the 500-700 word mark. You can see my flash fiction series on the right hand side of the page. It's an ongoing project relating to the world in the novel I'm editing.

But why would anyone want to bother reading or writing such a short piece? Surely you want something you can really get your teeth into. Mostly, for me, this is true. But there are benefits to flash fiction, which I will share with you here. Firstly, I'll address this from the writer's point of view, and then from the reader's.

Why bother writing flash fiction?

1. It develops valuable skills.

I stumbled across flash fiction in a writers' group on Facebook. Every Friday, a thread comes up entitled 'Flash Fiction Friday', and the idea is to post a story of 50 words or fewer in the comments section. It was a great bit of fun, and a challenge to squeeze something into such a tight word count. It develops the skill of not using ten words when three will do. This is a skill that we all need as writers. Agents, editors, publishers, and readers don't want authors to waffle. I've found that, since writing flash, I've got a lot better at being concise with my work. 

2. It can be a good way to get your work out there without taking too much time away from your main project.

There are a lot of submission opportunities for flash fiction and drabbles in indie presses. They're not all that time consuming, so you don't have to worry about putting your main manuscript on the back burner and, if your work is accepted into these anthologies or websites, it gets your name and your work out there. It makes you an active part of the writing community and it's a good way to publicise yourself.

3. It helps you feel that you've achieved something.

Writing a book can be a real long haul. Writing and many rounds of editing, alongside daily life stuff, can take some of us years. I've found that completing these smaller projects and being published in anthologies has given me a boost each time. It's a bit of light relief from the slow process of finishing a novel.

4. Variety is the spice of life.

This is linked to my last point. When we're working on something big and concentrating on the same story and characters for such a long time, our brains can get clogged up with other ideas that don't fit with the main project. We find ourselves longing to write about something new and exciting to keep things fresh, but we don't want to abandon the piece that we've put so much time and effort into crafting. These small side projects can be a fantastic creative outlet for some of these new ideas and help us not to feel stuck in a rut with our writing.

5. It can grow into something more.

If you have a piece of flash that snowballs into a much bigger idea, there's nothing to stop you from incorporating it into something on a larger scale in future. You could turn a few different flash pieces into a novella in flash, (basically lots of pieces of flash fiction joined together and linked, making chapters of a novella). Or you could take the character(s) from your flash piece and create a bigger story based around them and their world.

6. It can help beat writers' block.

If I can't seem to get the words down on the page for a particular project, I find that writing a piece of flash can get the creative juices flowing. By the time I've finished one piece of flash, my pen is usually in full flow, and away I go with my main project.

Why bother reading flash fiction?

I imagine most of us like nothing better than to really get stuck into a long book, get to know our characters on a deep level, so much so that we feel like we've lost a close friend when we reach the last page. We want to live that character's life, see through their eyes, and feel what's in their hearts. Nothing quite beats that. But flash fiction does have its merits too.

1. Busy lifestyles.

Hands up if you've ever been through a time in your life when you just haven't had much time to read, or you've been so exhausted in your spare time that you can't read the words without your eyes getting heavy. Perhaps we'll manage to read a chapter, but then so much time lapses before we get the chance to read the next that we've lost our thread and have no idea what's going on. I think most of us have been there. For me, it was when I was a new mum. But the avid readers among us really want to get back into books. Flash fiction and other short stories are perfect ways around this. We can read the whole thing in one sitting. (Maybe more than one, depending on the length of the piece and what time we have to spare.)

2. Leaving much to the imagination.

I don't know if it's just me, but I find there's a certain element of fun about filling in the gaps on my own when it comes to flash. There's no room for much detail in a flash fiction piece, so we're often left to surmise a lot of the background and where the story will go next. There often aren't the same details or descriptions when it comes to people and places because the writer has to be so economical with their words, so we can conjure up the imagery in our own minds. This might not be for everyone but, if you're like me, it can be lots of fun.

3. You encounter a wide range of authors and styles.

Whether you're looking at various authors' pieces online or in an anthology, you can read a lot of different styles of work in a much shorter space of time than if you were reading a full novel or novella. It comes back to point four on the list of  'Why bother writing flash fiction?' Variety is the spice of life, and it's so great to see how different writers deal with that word restriction. In a themed anthology especially, it is so interesting to see all the different takes on the same theme.

4. It's easy to follow.

Being short, flash fiction is generally much easier to follow than any other story (as long as it's not horribly written or inaccessible). There isn't space to introduce too many complex ideas into a piece of flash, or to flit back and forth between loads of different scenes. If you've got a short attention span, whether that's a temporary thing to do with life being messy, or something you struggle with all the time, you'll find it very hard to lose the plot when it comes to reading flash.

Personally, I'm always going to prefer a great, juicy novel. I can't deny that. But, for all the reasons listed above, there'll always be a soft spot in my heart for the short piece. Having written flash makes me appreciate it more as a reader. It's just wonderful to see how different people meet the challenge of word count restrictions. If you've yet to try reading flash fiction, especially if you're finding yourself without the time to read a full novel, give it a go. You might just love it.

V.

Poem: Roses and Wine.

Photo by engin akyurt on unsplash.com

Fifteen years ago today, a boyfriend, who lived in a different city at the time, sent me a picture of a single red rose and a bottle of wine that he had waiting for me when I next came to visit. We hadn't even been together three weeks, but the very nice looking army guy chatting me up at the student union bar failed to turn my head that night, because I knew I was already with someone special. That someone is now my husband. 

Toby has been so very supportive of my writing, helping me find the time to do my work and taking on more than his fair share around the house at times to allow me to get my work done. So, in honour of Valentine's Day, I dedicate this poem to him. Happy Valentine's Day to everyone, and especially to the one I love.

V.

Roses and Wine.

Our love started in winter

and your arms

kept me from the cold

and from harm.

That first red rose

and our first wine

stay here with me

ever in my mind

throughout passing time.

The taste of chocolate, shared,

follows us through life,

returning in our despair.

And when clouds gather,

angry storms blow through

our home to separate

me and you,

to put us at odds,

we weather it all.

In time

they begin to seem so small.

And after each storm,

and sometimes in sun,

roses and wine take us back

to where love was first begun.

© V. H. Stone.

It's The Little Things.

 My mental health has been at something of a low ebb recently, and I suspect I’m not the only one. Lockdown is taking its toll on so many people in the UK, and those of us who find ourselves feeling low during the winter months also have that to contend with.

The things I used to rely on to give me a little lift, like meeting a friend at a coffee shop or a date night at the cinema and/ or a restaurant with my husband, can’t happen right now. So, when I need to raise my spirits, I need to think a little bit differently. Today, I have done an intense workout. I have put on a full face of makeup, perfume, and a nice outfit, even though I’m going nowhere. Why? Because I was feeling low about my appearance, among other things, and I needed a boost. Now, every time I catch a glimpse of my reflection I smile, because going to that effort has just made me feel that bit special for the day. That’s just what I needed to pull my mood back out of the ditch it’s been wallowing in.

And this is what I mean by “little lifts.” For many of us, nothing exciting is going to be happening for a while, and we need to take our joy and positivity wherever we can. Sometimes we all need to have a moan and a cry but, let’s face it, it’s no fun. We need to make ‘exciting’ happen in our own homes when we’re done having our mental breakdown. 

As a writer, I have had some recent lifts in the form of having short pieces of work accepted by an anthology called ‘Lost Lore and Legends’ by Breaking Rules Publishing Europe. This, in addition to the release of Poetica 2, which features one of my poems, has been important to me while I crack on with editing my novel, because it gives me a sense of achievement in the meantime and I have the release of the book to look forward to. (That should be at the end of March and I’ll be promoting that on my blog and social media pages.) I need to keep submitting these small pieces to various publications in the hope of the occasional acceptance to keep boosting my morale.

Every bit of progress with my writing is going to help me focus on the positives, whether it’s knocking out a quick blog post, my weekly piece of flash fiction (see the right hand side of the page for links to those), having a piece accepted into an anthology or magazine, or getting another chapter of editing done. There’s something really exciting about putting some work out into the world, and I intend to do as much of that as I can this year, in case most of it is as monumentally shit as 2020 was for everyone.

My message to all of you this week is that times are hard, but please try your best to find the things that will keep you going, that will give you the occasional smile or make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. It might be an artistic project, personal care in whatever form that takes for you, or just some perfume and sparkly eyeshadow. (Don’t care what your gender is, don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it.) Take care of yourselves and each other. Vaccines are coming. Hang in there and do whatever helps you get through until then.

Lots of love.

V.

Onward.

Photo by Anna Vi on Unsplash.

I meant to post on 1st January to see in the  new year and put out all kinds of positive  messages about what I'm going to do in 2021, but, instead of writing about doing it, I decided to just DO IT. So I've been working hard towards my most important goals. 

I came a long way with my novel in 2020, wrote a fair bit of poetry and finished some children's books. Still, at the end of the year I still felt that I hadn't come quite far enough. This all comes down to my impatient nature. It's all well and good making progress, but I know I'll feel much better when I actually have some work released. That's what 2021 will be about for me.

The year has started on a high note, as a poetry anthology has been released which includes my poem, 'First Autumn' along with a lot of beautiful work by others. It's available in paperback and Kindle format and you can buy it here.

So, what else can you expect from me this year? 

You may have already noticed that I'm posting weekly flash fiction here on my website about the world in my novel. There won't be any spoilers in any of these pieces. You can find them in the right hand column of the page. I hope you enjoy them. While I'm posting these, I will also be working towards finishing my novel. In the next couple of months, I aim to have it out for its final beta read. Then, I'll be submitting it to agents and/or publishers. Once this is done, I'll continue with my first draft of book two.

Look out for a new website I'll be launching within the next month. That space will be dedicated to my children's work. I'll publicise it here, then I'll be keeping the two separate, reserving this space for adult's fantasy (and maybe a little bit of sci-fi), poetry and, of course, this blog. On the subject of children's books, I aim to have a collection of them submitted to agents by April at the latest.

I am also working towards a poetry collection called 'Spectrum of the Soul', and I aim to finish it this year.

Alongside these larger projects, I'll be submitting short pieces of work (poems/short stories/ flash fiction/ articles) to various publications throughout the year, keeping my fingers firmly crossed that some will be published.

It's a long list, a really tall order, but I'm going to try my best to make it work so that I can finish 2021 on a high note. I want to be able to look back on the year and have tangible evidence of what I've achieved. (Physical copies of my books would be great.)

I wish you all the best this year. I hope that we can all smash our goals.

V.

Poem: Ghosts in the Suburban Air.

A poem about a walk I took the other day near where I live. I took the photo on the walk. Hope you enjoy. 

V.

 

Ghosts in the Suburban Air.

Lingering fog and smoky air

surround remaining trees –

the ones which were allowed to stay

when man brought the Mother to her knees.

These woods border the clusters

of homes, yellow brick and red,

and it feels like they remember all

that once stood there instead.

I step inside, crunch on the leaves

with my heavy black boots,

gaze through the grey that's stayed all day,

stepping over branches and roots.

Touching the bark, I feel it;

like the streets hold spirits of my past,

this shadow, here, remembers

vastness not allowed to last.

I wander back through tarmac streets

where I grew up, feel every care

that came from parts of my whole life.

Ghosts hover in the air.

© V. H. Stone

Poem: Age of Four Walls and Zoom.

 

In light of the 2nd lockdown in the UK, I started to examine my feelings about it. It's not the same as the first,  not as restrictive, but it has brought a different sort of dread. In the beginning of the first time around, I spent a lot of my time in floods of tears. The isolation was overwhelming. This time, I'm anxious about whether this is ever going to really end.

In terms of restrictions, it has to end some time, of course. But there is an anxiety for a lot of people around how long we'll be prevented from having gatherings with the people we love. For some small businesses and the people they employ, there is a worry over whether they can keep their heads above water. For the likes of the theatre and live music industry - things that mean a lot to individuals and the general culture of this country and, indeed, the world - there's a real fear of going under entirely. This sort of damage could take a very long time to repair. 

It's just all so very sad.

I wrote a poem the other day to purge the sadness that's gathering inside me about what life has become. It's good to have a positive attitude, if you can. But sometimes, it is okay to feel sad for a bit and pick yourself up again later. I am sharing this poem with the message, "It's okay not to be okay for now. Things will get better."

Much love to you all.

V.

P.S. "Simon" refers to Simon Neil of the band Biffy Clyro, "Andrew" refers to the musical artist known as Hozier, and Katie Mack's book that he reads is "The End of Everything: (Astrophysically Speaking.)" which, judging by the excerpt I've heard, actually really interesting, so please don't be put off by my description in the poem. I've only used that phrasing because it's literally about the end of the world!

Age of Four Walls and Zoom.

First time we had to hide away,

comfort came from gin,

and Simon sang and played guitar.

Our Andrew read us poems,

and passages of Katie Mack's

book of death and doom.

How did his voice make that soothing

in the midst of all our gloom?

And I still see Simon's music room

as a comfort, seen

only on a screen

in the age of four walls and Zoom.

And then, it relaxed;

some time went past

but, for fear, I let not much change.

Isn't that strange,

when I've never so longed for freedom

from this room -

from these four walls and Zoom?

Now, freedom snatched away again,

I realise what I've missed

and, here's the twist,

who knows how long this all will take?

How much of our lives will be on hold?

Will I go grey and frail and old,

about to meet my end

in the same old wretched room,

in the never ending age

of four walls and Zoom?

© V. H. Stone

Leap of Faith.

When I was a kid learning to swim, the scariest part was the first time I jumped in the pool without armbands. I spent so long at the side just willing myself to jump. Week after week, I'd stand there before eventually chickening out. Until the day I did it. I remember the moment so vividly, but I couldn't tell you exactly what galvanised me to take the leap in that moment. I stood at the edge too afraid one second, then the next something inside me just clicked, almost like a voice inside me saying, "Now!"

I call these "Fuck it" moments. It's when all thought, all reason, all fear, just fly out the window and we finally have the courage to stop thinking about it, and just do it. It's never as bad as we imagined it was going to be. I felt invigorated after that first jump. It was such fun, I wanted to do it over and over again. If we can just switch our brains off for a second, we can find the bravery to plunge in feet first, unhindered by the "what ifs."

For a long time now, I have been standing back from submitting any of my writing anywhere. I'm not talking about the edge of the pool here, either. I've been right back at the leisure centre door wondering if I can even make it past the front counter. Is my work good enough? Will people hate it? Am I just kidding myself here?

Over the past few weeks, I wouldn't say I've exactly lost these fears, but I'm getting better at ignoring them. Two of my submissions, one poem and one short story, were published in the Inner Circle Writers' Magazine today. These are the first pieces of work I've had published since a couple of articles I wrote for The Mighty a few years ago. They're my first ever published poem and piece of fiction. This is a massive boost for me.

I've also entered three different competitions: one for poetry and two for flash fiction, and though my pieces may not be winners, I'm still proud of them. The win isn't even the point, either. It's more about getting used to putting my work out there and having faith that it's good. Having suffered extremely low self-esteem all my life, I am starting to change things. I am thinking more positively and giving myself daily affirmations. I am setting myself targets and trying to smash them every day. There comes a point where we have to take ownership of our own happiness and progress, then pick ourselves up.

No-one is going to give us the life we want on a silver plate. Not our friends, not our families, not a deity (if you believe in one.) We have to do it ourselves. 

I'm challenging myself now. Each day I am making myself believe that I am good enough and that my work is good enough. I am building my confidence bit by bit, and a huge part of that is forcing myself to put my work out there. I challenge any other self-doubters to do the same. If there's a particular piece you're proud of, submit it for publication or enter it into a competition.

There will be rejections. There are bound to be. Just think how many quality pieces of work publications receive. But, if you keep at it and you submit good quality pieces, there will be successes too. Even our rejected pieces are not wasted. They're all good practice, both for writing and getting used to putting our work out there.

Here's to moving forward.

If you want to buy or subscribe to the Inner Circle Writer's Magazine, please go to: www.clarendonhousebooks.com/inner-circle-magazine-subscribe-pag

TRIGGER WARNING for my short story, 'Liddy's Beacon.' There are themes of domestic violence and suicide/ suicidal ideation. But there's also hope. And mermaids.

V.