Flash Fiction Chronicles

Thanks to all of you who spent the time tracking down your favorite stories,  we’ve created a long list of “Readers’ Choices” on line which I think is a very good thing.  There are STILL many many many terrific stories out there not on this list so we will have to do this again. Just a reminder.  These stories are in random order as FFC received them.  No one story is considered better than another.  That’s for YOU to decide.  (But don’t vote for them here. This isn’t a contest).

1. ACTION by Daryl Scroggins suggested by Alexander Burns
2. OUR OWN FLESH AND BLOOD by Becky Margolis suggested by Erin Kelly
3. THE WAY WE SPEAK NOW by Angi Becker Stevens suggested by Erin Kelly
4. HEART SOUNDS by Dale Phillips suggested by Virgie Townsend
5. BETTA FISH by Tara Laskowski suggested by Gay Degani
6. WITHOUT NAPIER by Michael Ehart suggested by Alexander Burns
7. SEVEN ITEMS IN JASON REYNOLDS’ JACKET POCKET, TWO DAYS AFTER HIS SUICIDE, AS FOUND BY HIS EIGHT-YEAR-OLD BROTHER, GRADY by Robert Swartwood suggested by Gay Degani
8. LOLITA’S LYNCH MOB by Sarah Hilary suggested by Camille Goodenham Campbell
9. ABOUT ME AND MY COUSIN by Scott Garson suggested by Tara Laskowski
10. ABOUT THINGS THAT ARE LOST AND THE PLACES THAT THINGS GET LOST by Andrea Kneeland suggested by Erin Kelly
11. NIGHTTIME PENGUINS by Jen Gann suggested by Erin Kelly
12. THE BET by Anton Chekhov suggested by Jim Harrington
13. THE CHRYSATHEMUMS by John Steinbeck suggested by Dennis Vanvick
14. XARLES, XAVIER, XENOS by Matt Bell suggested by Gay Degani
15. THE HARVEST by Amy Hempel suggested by Gay Degani
16. GOOD COUNTRY. PEOPLE. by Heather Fowler suggested by Michelle Reale
17. WE CANNOT CROSS THE RIVER by Jensen Beach suggested by Joe Kapitan
18. THE LITTLE ROOM WHERE WE’D FIT by Nicole Monahan suggested by Barry Graham
19. REMEMBER HOW THEY GO BACK TOGETHER by Liesl Jobson suggested by Karen Jennings
20. THE TERRIBLE OLD MAN by H.P. Lovecraft suggested by Brenda Blakey
21. SAVING DARTH VADER by Kip suggested by J.C. Towler
22. COG-WORK CAT by Joyce Chng suggested by J.C. Towler
23. THE DESTINY OF ARCHER DEFT by Douglas Campbell suggested by J.C. Towler
24. TEARS OF THE ANDROID by JR Hume suggested by J.C. Towler
25. BOTS D’AMOR by Cat Rambo suggested by Kim Montgomery Offenburger
26. THE SHORT HAPPY LIFEOF FRANCIS MACOMBER by Ernest Hemingway suggested by Kim Montgomery Offenburger
27. JUST LIKE EARTH GIRLS by Randall Brown suggested by Nicole Scarpato Monaghan
28. RICE by Dorothee Lang suggested by Susan Gibb
29. HARRY’S CATCH by Vanessa Gebbie  suggested by Heather Fowler
30. THE TATTOOED PEOPLE by Seth Harwood suggested by Barry Graham
31. THE HOUSEHOLD POISONS by Thomas King suggested by Barry Graham
32. A BETTER ANGEL by Chris Adrian suggested by Barry Graham
33. BETTER THAN CHOCOLATE by Jeanne Holtzman suggested by Douglas Campbell
34. THE STEPS MY LOVER BUILT by Michelle Garren Flye suggested by Jeff Brown
35. DREAM HOUSE by Rachel B. Glasser suggested by Kyle Hemmings
36. HOW BIG A BOAT by Terese Svoboda suggested by Joe Kapitan
37. THIEVES by Len Kuntz suggested by Michelle Reale
38. NOTHING TO FLAWNT by Meg Tuite suggested by Michelle Reale
39. BLOWN by Stephanie Freele suggested by Michelle Reale
40. SLOW MOTION RIDERS by Richard Osgood suggested by Jeanne Holtzman
41. ALICE DROWNING by Dessa Wander suggested by Aubrey Hirsch
42. JACOB’S CHICKEN by Milos Macourek suggested by Nancy Stebbins
43. JEALOUS HUSBAND RETURNS IN THE FORM OF A PARROT by Robert Olen Butler suggested by Nancy Stebbins
44. ABOUT THE FLOWERS by Digby Beaumont suggested by Kate Hutchings
45. LIGHT IS LIKE WATER by Gabriel Garcia Marquez suggested by Christopher James
46. RESCUING SID by Digby Beaumont suggested by Kate Hutchings
47. THE MAN OF THE CASA by Ethel Rohan suggested by Gay Degani
48. KNIVES by Susan Tepper suggested by Susan Gibb
49. ROSE PERIOD by Jimmy Chen suggested by Nicole Scarpato Monaghan
50. A SHANTY FOR SAWDUST AND COTTON by Sarah Hilary suggested by Gay Degani
51. MY MOTHER, MARILYN MONROE by Len Kuntz suggested by Dorothee Lang
52. COMA by Kyle Hemmings  suggested by Cynthia Litz
53. DRIVING KAKEK by Christopher James suggested by Zin Kenter
54. FAMILY THERAPY by Pamela Painter suggested by Randall Brown
55. HOW YOU KNOW YOU’RE AN ADULT by Steve Almond suggested by Anna Peerbolt
56. I USE COMMAS LIKE NINJA STARS by Sam Nam suggested by Zin Kenter
57. IT DOESN’T by Randall Brown suggested by Anna Peerbolt
58. JUST ANOTHER STRANGER by Douglas Campbell suggested by Elizabeth Creith
59. ON THE ROAD TO KIRKUK by Beth Thomas  suggested by Richard Osgood
60. PIE by Beverly Akerman suggested by Barry Friesen
61. SPARK by Mary Miller suggested by Thomas Kearnes
62. THE MICE by Lydia Davis suggested by Anna Peerbolt
63. THE WIG by Brady Udall suggested by Randall Brown (available in Letting Loose the Hounds)
64. WHAT FILLS A BALLOON by Ross McMeekin suggested by Randall Brown
65. MY LIFE WITH THE WAVE by Octavio Paz suggested by Susan Gibb
66. 10,000 DOLLAR PYRAMID by Robert Vaughan suggested by Meg Tuite
67. BOYS IN DRAG by Roxane Gay suggested by Robert Vaughan
68. ALMOST THERE by Michelle Elvy suggested by Robert Vaughan
69. DEAD PEOPLE I HAVE KNOWN by Charlie Taylor suggested by Gill Hoffs
70. HEAVY WATER by Kirsty Neary suggested by Gill Hoffs
71. CHARCOAL/VANILLA by Spencer Dew suggested by Linda Simoni-Wastila
72. MARRIED WOMAN, AND OTHER DEGENERATES by Stephanie Bryant Anderson suggested by Meg Tuite
73. HEMOPHILIA by Jesse Bradley suggested by Meg Tuite
74. HELEN AND ALL HER PROPERTIES by Sheldon Lee Compton suggested by Meg Tuite
75. STAND-OFF by xTx suggested by Robert Vaughan
76. VETERANS by Kate Thornton suggested by Gay Degani
77. A VERY QUIET EVENING by Foster Trecost suggested by Susan Tepper
78. MOTHER BURNING by Marcus Speh as suggested by Susan Tepper
79. NELSON by Michael Hawley suggested by Susan Tepper
80. BE BOP by James Robison suggested by Susan Tepper
81. RETREATING, I RETREATED by Tania Hershman suggested by Christopher Allen
82. BRIMSTONE AND LIARS by Stephanie Scarborough suggested by Erin Brinkman Kinch
83. BABYFAT by Claudia Smith suggested by Robert Vaughan
84. THREE STORIES by Amy Clark suggested by Robert Vaughan
85. WHAT KIND OF PERSON GIVES SECRETS TO THE SKY by Kathy Fish suggested by Robert Vaughan
86. APOTHEOSIS CAKE by Alexander Burns suggested by Stephanie Buchanan
87. A MILLION FACES by Erin Kinch suggested by Alexander Burns
88. HEAT by Joyce Carol Oates suggested by Pat Pujola
89. RISING LAUGHTER by Dave Pescod suggested by Digby Beaumont
90. MEMORY FREEZE by Meg Tuite suggested by Susan Tepper
91. BROT UND KASE by Matt Potter suggested by Susan Tepper
92. VILLA MONTEREY APARTMENT, BURBANK by Meg Pokrass suggested by Susan Tepper
93. SIGNS AND SYMBOLS by Vladimir Nabokov suggested by Virgie Townsend
94. ADOBE RAIN by Donna D. Vitucci suggested by Gay Degani
95. GIRLS WITH BARRETTES by Michelle Reale suggested by Gay Degani
96. SUNDRESS* by Terese Svoboda suggested by Tiff Holland
97. SHAME by Thomas Kearnes suggested by Gay Degani
98. ALL THE IMAGINARY PEOPLE ARE BETTER AT LIFE by Amber Sparks suggested by Gay Degani
99. THE EASIER OPTION by Collen Higgs suggested by Karen Jennings 
100. BODY-SNATCHING by Gay Degani suggested by Nicole Scarpato Monaghan
101. FROM DARK by Karen Jennings suggested by Gay Degani
102. THE HAMBURGER STORY by Lauren Becker suggested by “Jason” at Bark

*Although not available online, we’ve provided an Amazon link.

by Jim Harrington

Flash Markets

Added editor interviews

• MiCrow
• Short Humour Site
• Journal of Microliterature

Deleted

• Flash Party to cease publication with next issue due to lack of submissions

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Jim Harrington discovered flash fiction in 2007, and he’s read, written, studied, and agonized over the form since. His Six Questions For. . . blog provides editors and publishers a place to “tell it like it is.” He’s also the Markets Editor for Flash Fiction Chronicles’ Flash Markets Page. He can be contacted at jpharrin [at] gmail [dot] com.

by Rumjhum Biswas

A man of many interests and prodigious energy, Benjamin C Krause finds time to edit three journals, and now is on the verge of launching new minimalist magazines in other languages, beginning with one in Bengali!

An Indophille, Benjamin wants to run as many minimalist magazines in as many Indian langauges as possible. That’s the latest news since I interviewed him. Honestly, I wish I had that kind of drive.

Rumjhum Biswas: You have a passion for minimalist poetry and prose. Why?

Benjamin C Krause:Passion has nothing to do with it. I’m a perfectionist, and it’s easier to get 5 words exactly right and in the right order than 5,000. Similarly, when editing, it’s easier to make sure 20 words are exactly right and in the right order than 2,000.

RB: Who or what were your early influences in writing prose and poetry that need to be pared down to a handful of words and less?

BCK: Anton Chekhov, Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Carver, and my Craft of Short Story professor, Susan Perabo, all helped teach me about “the chopping block,” but as far as flash fiction and especially writing of 20 words or fewer go, it was territory I explored largely without a guide, except for Hemingway’s 6-word short story, “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

RB:Any favourite writers who you like to emulate or consider a guru?

BCK:I’ve gone beyond emulating favorite writers. I like to emulate writers I find in the dark corners of literary magazines that no one reads, or maybe take two or three such writers and combine their styles. Or even more likely, I’ll emulate Glenn Beck, or the College Board SAT tests, or a car commercial. Always subversively, of course.

I once considered John Berryman my guru, but to mix metaphors by borrowing a Japanese term, I’ve become a ronin, a samurai without a master… somewhere along the way, I lost him, and instead of committing ritual suicide, I now wander in disgrace, doing whatever work I can find.

RB: Twenty20 Journal was inspired by, to quote you,” a variant of cricket which is faster and harder hitting.” Is there a story here? Longer than twenty words, please.

BCK: There’s no story; the variant is 20/20 cricket, which is the shortest form of cricket in international competition, shorter than both one-day and test cricket. Because they only play 20 overs, outs mean less, so they are more likely to take risks by hitting the ball harder, which will either lead to more outs on a bad day or more fours and sixes on a good day. I guess there is a related story: when I was in Bangalore in 2009, I was watching an IPL match and saw Gilchrist hit six sixes in one over. It was the first time I’d ever seen that, and this from a guy who hadn’t played professional cricket in a year. He will surely go down as one of the greatest batters ever to play the game.

RB: What do you look for in a twenty and under word poem or story?

BCK: First: that every word is necessary, the best word to use, and is in the right place. Then: that it says substantially more in 20 words than any average writer can express in 5,000.

RB: Do you have any words of advice for writers of minimalist poetry and fiction?

BCK: Cut the fat. Eliminate unnecessary words, phrases, and images. Reduce when possible, reuse only when necessary, and never recycle. Choose the best words and put them in the right order: when it comes to short versions, this applies to prose just as much as poetry. Make sure everything from your words to your punctuation to your paragraph breaks has a purpose. And when you’re writing extremely short prose, don’t be afraid to use dialog. Some of the best 20-word-and-under prose I’ve seen has used dialog, but sadly, most submissions to twenty20 Journal still neglect it.

RB: You have two other journals – Liebamour and Muscle and Blood Literary Journal.  What inspired you to come up with three different journals?

BCK: I’m a man of many interests. I like longer forms just as much as I like shorter forms, and I like the experimental just as much as I like solid fundamentals. I can’t limit myself to one style in editing, but I recognize a journal has to have a focus. So I have three for different interests. If I had the time, I’d have more.

RB:How do you manage to run three? Is there a special formula?

BCK: I used to have a group of friends with whom I’d go to the bar and get drunk and talk about how we could never find time to write or accomplish any of the things we wanted to get done. Once I stopped going to the bar with them, I suddenly found myself with a lot more free time. I keep in touch with them, but I’ve mostly found that periods of near-solitude with the occasional break to get out and see the world and find inspiration for writing are necessary to the life of a disciplined writer. It gets stressful at times. Right now I’m spread pretty thin, and I barely find time to write. Other times, though, I find plenty of time to write. It all depends what’s going on with the magazines at any given time

RB: Please tell us a bit more about them, more than what the About page reveals.

BCK: About the journals? I’d love to tell you more about them, but if I were willing to do that, it’d already be on the About page. I like to see my About pages as prompts: you read them, and see what you can come up with. I have no set criteria for selection beyond whether they read the guidelines, whether they seem to have at least read the About page, and whether they’re good. I could write a book on my criteria for “good,” and it’d probably be rambling nonsense. If it moves me, it moves me.

RB: As a writer and editor what are your future goals?

BCK: My immediate goal as an editor/publisher is to get Diamond Point Press’s catalog onto the Kindle, which will hopefully help ensure Diamond Point Press’s financial viability into the next year and perhaps beyond. My goal as a writer is to be read widely, by any means necessary. I don’t mind taking non-traditional routes, and that’s my plan: social networking, online journals, exposure through the press, chapbooks, and anything else my mind comes up with. But I’ve got the more conservative approach as a back-up; I’m being published in a very highly-regarded print journal this Summer, and hope for more such publications to come.

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Rumjhum Biswas is a writer based in Chennai, India. She blogs at Writers and Writerisms.

by Jim Harrington

I often wonder about the process authors use and what goes through their minds while they write their stories. Below I discuss part of my thought process for a story published in December of 2010 at LITSNACK.

The original idea came from a prompt at Zoetrope’s Flash Factory office. Every Sunday, Richard Osgood, the moderator, posts “The Sunday Five to Fifty (or Fifty-five)” challenge. The idea is to use the five randomly-selected words Richard posts to write a story of either exactly fifty or exactly fifty-five words. The prompt words that week were lavalier, taffy, sordid, babushka, and wedge. Yikes!

I wrote a story and posted it to the group. I also submitted it to another writing group for comment but didn’t mention that the story came from a prompt. Most readers in the second group commented on (well, groused about would be more accurate) the use of lavalier and babushka, which made me smile. I liked the original story, but decided to rewrite it ignoring the prompt words. The revision was well received, and I submitted the story to LITSNACK.

Dan Tricarico, LITSNACK‘s editor, accepted the story but felt it was “a bit slight, even for LITSNACK,” and suggested I write two more pieces of about the same length that captured a single moment between two people, as the original had. I agreed and got to work.

My story was about a woman who sacrificed her marriage for a fling. She referred to it as “a mistake,” but her husband couldn’t forgive her. I chose “Love Forfeited” for the title. When considering the additions requested, I also decided to use love forfeited as the theme.

Since the original story was based on a five-word prompt, I chose to continue with that idea. I selected five words from the submitted story (wistful, mistake, scarf, wince, and expression) to incorporate into each of the new paragraphs. It turned into a fun challenge as I considered other ways love might be forfeited (or not), along with variations on the prompt words.

After I was satisfied with the end result, I checked the word count. Interestingly, the first paragraph came in at fifty-seven words. The second contained sixty-seven, and the third seventy-seven. This was totally by accident–honest.

It might be interesting if some of you shared your experience with a recent story. I’m sure everyone would benefit from this “view from within.” So send in your post providing a brief glimpse into some aspect of your writing process entitled “How I Wrote [story title here]” and let us share it with our readers.

By the way, here’s the link to my story, “Love Forfeited.” And you can read my interview with Dan.

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Jim Harrington discovered flash fiction in 2007, and he’s read, written, studied, and agonized over the form since. His Six Questions For. . . blog provides editors and publishers a place to “tell it like it is.” He’s also the Markets Editor for Flash Fiction Chronicles’ Flash Markets Page.

by Jim Harrington

• A clear sentence is no accident. – William Zinsser in On Writing Well: an informal guide to nonfiction
• If you want to be a great writer and you have a choice between being brilliant and lazy or being a little clueless but motivated, choose the latter. – Alexander Steele in Gotham Writers’ Workshop Writing Fiction: the practical guide from New York’s acclaimed creative writing school
• For me, good description usually consists of a few well-chosen details that will stand for everything else. — Stephen King in On Writing
• Everything characters say or do is a clue to their personalities, their histories, and the forces that motivate them. — William G. Tapply in The Elements of Mystery Fiction
• There’s not much to be said about the period except that most writers don’t reach it soon enough. – William Zinsser in On Writing Well: an informal guide to nonfiction

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Jim Harrington discovered flash fiction in 2007, and he’s read, written, studied, and agonized over the form since. His Six Questions For. . . blog provides editors and publishers a place to “tell it like it is.” He’s also the Markets Editor for Flash Fiction Chronicles’ Flash Markets Page. He can be contacted at jpharrin [at] gmail [dot] com.

by Erin Kelly

In his piece, “Spermicidal,” Charlie Bowers takes us on a flash-fiction storytelling journey with Tom, a virgin who is buying his first-ever pack of condoms. It’s an embarrassing rite of passage for young men, especially when there are so many options and the ultimate choice could be an unspoken indicator of girth, stamina and experience.

“Spermicidal” was the top story in April for Every Day Fiction, with readers describing it as “breezy,” “humorous” and “brilliant.” The story is told in 500 words.

Flash Fiction Chronicles caught up with Charlie Bowers to ask him about this piece.

FFC: In your opinion, what are some of the greatest perks of writing flash fiction that don’t exist in other writing forms?

Charlie Bowers: Perks? You can finish a story half-way through and blame the word count. I jest, but it is a fun and useful way to force yourself into making every word matter. With that 1,000 (or 500, or even 100) word limit haunting me every time I reach for the keyboard, I definitely have to think carefully. Sometimes that pressure is exactly what I need.

FFC: How long did it take you to write “Spermicidal” and is this typical of most of your other work?

CB: I wrote it in a few hours on my girlfriend’s laptop. Relative to the size of the piece, it was finished pretty quickly by my standards.

FFC: Tell us about your writing background and what inspires you as a writer.

CB: “Spermicidal” was my first published piece, so my writing background isn’t very prolific. Yet. Maybe. I only started writing seriously a few months ago and began to work on pieces as if they might one day actually become something. That was a good start, I think.

Inspiration breeds depression, for me. When I finish reading an excellent novel, I will immediately want to write something just as awesome. I never can, and before I can convince myself that I never will, I bury myself in another book. Hopefully one that won’t crush my self-esteem when I try to match it’s quality.

FFC: It’s tough to be clever through the written word. What’s your trick?

CB: If I ever find out, I’ll get back to you.

FFC: Is it a trick if you’re not aware you’re doing it?  Why didn’t Tom wink back?

CB: To me, winking is a very different gesture for males and females. I think James Bond is the only guy in the world who can be charming and wink simultaneously, and even he’s fictional. If I wink, people ask me if I need to lie down.

by Thomas Kearnes

I’ve always felt autobiographical fiction gets a bum rap. Numerous literary scholars consider it the domain of immature first-time novelists and hopeless navel-gazers. And I agree, to a point. Nothing is more dreary than reading a new writer’s often too-long effort that is obviously skimmed from his past. Typically, such stories lack a coherent storyline because the writer was so determined to stay faithful to “real” life.
But do the rules change when a writer attempts autobiography in the flash form? I’ve always believed it to be far easier selecting incidents from real life that can be completely recounted in under 1,000 words. As all flash writers know, stories this short don’t necessarily require a traditional “plot.” Instead, they’re more like snapshots of a relationship, an event, an emotional experience.

Like those of beginning fiction writers, many of my earliest stories were largely inspired by real life. Some, in fact, depicted their inspiring events down to the tiniest detail. Completing such a story, I felt a sensation I never had in my early adulthood, when I wrote screenplays and journalism. Whatever pain (or desire, or regret, or rage) a given incident stirred within me…vanished. By placing those emotions on the page, I had neutralized them. Rereading the fresh draft, I focused on the writing’s technical aspects. It was quite a relief to know I had the ability to purge myself of unpleasant memories.

True, some of my earliest longer fiction was ripped from real life as well, yet I soon realized the memories most ripe for documentation were too brief to be anything besides flash. And so, as I started writing more and more often, memories presented themselves, demanding they be “saved” for…well, for however long an online publication remains active or a print publication stays in circulation.

Occasionally, a member at my workshop would assume (or, rudely, flat-out ask) if a given story was “true.” At first, I refused to answer. But over the years, I discovered exposing my often-shameful personal history before thousands of strangers was so liberating, I’m now quite candid about which flashes are “true” and which aren’t.

To my total surprise, I’ve received almost zero negative feedback following this decision. I’ve come to believe there is true power in taking one’s personal pain and transforming it into something beautiful, something that inspires readers to examine their own past hurts.

Recently, I compiled a chapbook of my flashes for a competition. This prompted me to revisit for the first time in ages some of the flashes from my first two or three years in fiction. I read a flash called “Presto,” a wild, chaotic story detailing my brief affair and bitter break-up with a drug dealer in Dallas. I read it, I believe, as a stranger would. I was amazed at how quickly all those forgotten emotions flooded back: the ecstasy of the weekend, the intimacy of our conversation, the heat of our lust for one another. Of course, the humiliation over how I shamed myself also returned…

And yet, I don’t regret writing that story for a moment. Indeed, I don’t regret any of the two dozen or so “true” flash stories I’ve written. Whether they published in a high-class venues or didn’t publish at all, I’m truly grateful I captured those emotions in print—before they evaporated from my memory. Or started to haunt me without mercy.

I tell myself, “This story is called ‘Presto.’ I wrote it in 2005 when I was 29 years old. This is who I was. That person lives in the imaginations of readers I’ll never meet. I can think of no place else I’d rather be…”

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Thomas Kearnes is a 34-year-old author and part-time bad boy from East Texas. He is an atheist and an Eagle Scout. His fiction has appeared in Night Train, SmokeLong Quarterly, Word Riot, The Pedestal, wigleaf, Pindeldyboz, Bound Off, 3 AM Magazine, Temenos, and other publications. He is a 2011 Pushcart Prize nominee.

by Jim Harrington

Flash Markets

• Negative Suck (1,000, monthly) – publishes all styles and genre
• Flashes in the Dark – editor interview added
• Flywheel Magazine (1,000, quarterly) – publishes all styles and genre
• Ghost Ocean Magazine (700, bi-monthly) – publishes playful, risk-taking prose
• Palabra ($, 750, annual) publishes Chicano and Latino literary art
• Shock Totem ($, 1,000/200, bi-annual) – publishes dark horror and fantasy
• Trembles ($, 1,000, quarterly) – publishes horror

Writing Contest Listings (new category)

• Duotrope’s Digest
• Manuscriptediting.com
• Newpages.com
• Newsletter: CRWROPPS-B
• Newsletter: Pam Casto’s Flash Fiction Flash
• Ralan.com

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Jim Harrington discovered flash fiction in 2007, and he’s read, written, studied, and agonized over the form since. His Six Questions For. . . blog provides editors and publishers a place to “tell it like it is.” He’s also the Markets Editor for Flash Fiction Chronicles’ Flash Markets Page. He can be contacted at jpharrin [at] gmail [dot] com.

by Alexis Bonari

I love being a writer. I do. I’ve found, however, that I am too often my own worst enemy.

I hit snooze because I can get away with it.

I don’t have a boss, really. I can write when I want. The only individual in my life who might get peeved if I sleep in is the cat, who finds a way (usually with a claw) to wake me up, anyway.

Solution: I’ve started carrying my schedule book with me to the bed at night. There, before falling asleep, I write down my goals for the next day in detail. This way, I mull over appointments, obligations, and the next day’s ideal word count in my sleep. This makes for fitful dreams but also increased productivity during waking hours. Plus, I feel pretty lousy when I break a promise I made to myself in writing.

I work from a desk.

I know: completely counterintuitive. The problem is that I work as a freelance blogger and think about SEO and numbers from a desk in my 11’ X 12’ office which I deduct from my taxes. When I write my fiction from the same desk or even in the same room, I hear what I’ve named the Responsibility Fairy whisper in my ear, “Shouldn’t you be doing something productive, like writing more articles and earning more money?”

The little bitch assumes that my fiction isn’t going anywhere or that, even if it does, it won’t amount to the dollars I get from freelancing.

Solution: The obvious (and beguiling) solution is to work from the couch or the porch with a cup of green tea. The problem I face there is getting so warm and comfortable that I begin to nod off. Caffeine comes in handy but doesn’t always work as well as I expect.

I wander the Internet in the name of research but always end up on Facebook, Amazon, and (inexplicably) Etsy.

We all do it. Don’t lie.

Solution: Try using two different browsers—Google Chrome for research and Firefox for pleasure is my method. If you still find yourself wandering, create two different profiles on your computer—one for writing and one purely for guilt-free browsing.

I do chores, run errands, run other people’s errands… There’s nothing quite so disheartening when, just as I’m about to head to the couch for some fiction writing, I walk past a mountain of dirty laundry or the dog doing the pee-dance by the door. The Responsibility Fairy goes into overdrive and before I know it, I’ve vacuumed the entire apartment, done all the dishes, and knit a Christmas sweater—everything but write.

Worse is when my future mother-in-law calls me up to ask favors. “I know you’re busy writing,” she says in that saccharine voice, “but…”

Solution: If other people’s responsibilities or requests are interrupting your writing, politely announce to the guilty party that you’re stepping up your writing. Don’t answer their calls or text messages if you’re writing, or simply silence your phone and put it in another room. Put a sign on your office or bedroom door—wherever you write—that you’re busy and wish not to be disturbed. It seems crass, but think about it: if you worked in a cubicle on the third floor, your mom wouldn’t call in the middle of the day to ask you to come help clean out the garage.

If you have a noisy Responsibility Fairy who won’t shut up, write down a few writing goals in the trusty schedule you keep by the bed. Mention word count or hours—anything specific to give the Responsibility Fairy something else to gripe about.

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Alexis Bonari is a freelance writer and researcher for College Scholarships, where recently she’s been researching grants for married students as well as grants for military students. Whenever she gets some free time, she enjoys watching a funny movie or curling up with a good book.

by Robert Vaughan

When Gay Degani asked me to write a piece about my flash fiction “Recollection,” recently published at New Wave Vomit, I was nervous. I’m a fiction writer, mostly flash and poetry. I don’t write essays or memoir. Add to that mix my voracious need to read everything possible . . . will there ever be enough time?

I read – more like ingested – Lidia Yuknavitch’s Chronology of Water this week. Felt like I might never write again. It was that monumental: life-altering stellar. I read tons of flash fiction, too. I lead two writing round-tables and am a fiction editor at two magazines. I try to read submissions in afternoon periods, not prior to my own writing.

Process? I’m a hard worker. In an age in which there is nothing but distraction at the click of a key, I force myself to focus. By this I mean, I write, or try to, every day. I keep a journal, and use it less for life reflection (who’s upset me or who’s intriguing), more for character ideas, snippets of dialogue, movie tickets, receipts, random quotes. I tape multiple things into my journal without questioning why. They become a montage, a metaphor for how I construct a piece.

At one of the writing round-tables, writers bring pages to read and copies for everyone else to follow. We get written feedback and verbal comments immediately after finishing our pieces. Huge support and vital for how I write.  I’ve been reading my flash fiction for over a year there.

I am also involved in a smaller prompt writing group, every Saturday. We chose a first line, create a word bank, use a photograph. Write spontaneously for ten minutes, then read aloud that particular prompt. It was during a Saturday session that I wrote my first draft of “Recollection.”

I try to let first drafts be spontaneous. Its never easy. The editor is always ready, especially when the unusual, whimsy or “creep factor” is in hand. This quotient is different for every writer. I have to quiet the part of my mind that says, ‘he would never do that,’ or ‘this is just stupid.’ Let it blurt out exactly as it does. “Recollection” was initially about 250 words. That’s the average of a ten-minute free write. First drafts used to terrify me, now they’re my favorite part of writing. It’s where you can geek out, be silly to the nth degree. Spontaneity is key, so experiment, try anything. Be willing to “fail” on the page. It’s just a first draft.

In “Recollection,” there are nine lines, 12 sentences, 100 words. I wrote no less than ten different drafts of this, and was rejected by six different magazines (re-written after each rejection) before it was accepted. This illustrates three features in flash that are VITAL:

1)  Best word count for the piece (no magic formula). Generally, less is more.  Every word is absolutely necessary, nothing superfluous. It has helped me to submit to sites like Short, Fast, and Deadly (140 characters long, like a tweet); or 50 to 1 (50 words, or first sentences).

2) Layout- I use traditional forms, as “Recollection” illustrates. I also enjoy tweaking form, playfully, using triptychs for instance, like my flash “10,000 Dollar Pyramid” (at Elimae in February). Or stories told in vignettes.

3) Never give up! There is a home for your piece somewhere. Take constructive criticism very seriously. Strengthen bonds with editors, get to know them not just by name. Become familiar with what magazines publish: Dark? Spiritual? Surreal? Each editor has his or her own interests.

In “Recollection,” setting is immediate: a hot church.  Potent symbolism, with two characters introduced by physical traits: husband’s sweat, wife’s face smeared. Both heighten tension and conflict. I had been to a funeral recently (a childhood friend’s mother) when I initially wrote this. During the event I took notes in my program: mostly one-liners, (like “her hat was too far forward”.)

The last line of the first paragraph: ‘Notices the sun is high, laughing at him.’ This is part of the ‘fantasy’ or ‘surreal’ element that I mix with realistic fiction. Why does the sun laugh, and why, if it does, is it laughing at him? The reader might question his sanity or his implied paranoia. Or maybe the sun does laugh, trees speak. Who knows?

In the next line: “The pastor takes the podium. Fingers the mike, maneuvering it closer to his mouth. ” There is a sense here of a phallic nature, whether or not a reader might digress, the oral aspect of this line resonates. I often like to juxtapose two sanctions like church or pastor, with some sexual implication. The pathos of these two are deep, given the material, and what’s forthcoming. It’s a fervent set-up.

Next line: ‘Opens with “Anybody ready to be saved?” An interesting line, given the context of church and pastor. Again, the implications are deep here. I like to use dialogue in flash fiction, might have roots in my playwriting leanings.

‘The man tries to force the youngster in the park from his mind.’ Usually, in flash, there is one line, or paragraph that stands the piece on its head. Everything is vital to the overall piece, sure. But this line speaks louder than the rest combined. When I read “Recollection” in my round-table group more than half the writers wanted to know: what happened in that park? Admittedly, there were the opposite reactions: I don’t want to know what happened. Maybe nothing? This is called “white space” in flash fiction. The use of what is NOT said, what is NOT on the page. Given the material that comes prior to this, and after, the reader gets to choose what s/he imagines.

The next two lines: ‘The pastor chants, “C’mon people, who’s ready to be saved?” (As an agnostic, I am suggesting that this might not even be possible. Is it? That might be an entire other piece.)  But the reference to what took place in the park is book-ended by this ‘save or not saved’ calling heightens the overall conflict/ tension.

“Should I raise my hand, he wonders.” If there is a line that could be omitted, this might be. I use narrative to get his internal conflict here, and yet, do we need it? Good question. Don’t be afraid to ask yourself- does this work, is it driving the story forward?

“Recollection” ends with the image of his wife: “…rotates toward him, damp spots her hairline, her lipstick teeth bared.” It has a sinister feel, an uneasy quality to it, possibly even threatening. Again, the oral thread completed from the sun laughing, the pastor and the microphone, and now the lipstick teeth bared.

This is a complicated flash. Admittedly when Gay asked me if I would like to divulge what “Recollection” is about, or how I came to write it, I was scared. It’s controversial, and I felt that energy, that buzz initially with the first draft. It has shock value, and might confront a reader morally, emotionally, ethically.  After all, what does it imply about this church-going, married couple? There’s an uneasiness left in the piece purposely. I could have used excuses, tied those threads up, made it less complicated. I say NEVER! Trust your reader’s imagination enough to know that you can’t please everybody, that it’s okay to be provocative, to frighten, to take risks.

Now read “Recollection” at New Wave Vomit.

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Robert Vaughan’s plays have been produced in N.Y.C., L.A., S.F., and Milwaukee where he resides. He leads two writing round-tables for Redbird- Redoak Studio. His prose and poetry is published in over 125 literary journals such as Elimae, BlazeVOX, and A-Minor. He is a fiction editor at JMWW Magazine and Thunderclap! Press. Also he hosts Flash Fiction Fridays for WUWM’s Lake Effect.  You can find links to his flash fiction at his blog: One Writer’s Life and at Fictionaut.