A number of people I know have commented that they find flash fiction difficult to write: how can anyone come up with engaging characters, back-story, a full plot, and a setting in only a thousand words?

 

So try getting it all done in ninety minutes.

 

This was how I got into writing flash fiction. A couple of years ago I joined speculative-fiction-writers’ site Liberty Hall, where every weekend members compete in a Flash Challenge. They choose when to receive the trigger, and then have ninety minutes to write a story inspired by it. The rest of the week is spent reading and critiquing the other stories (or a group if a large number of people take part), and voting on who should receive the coveted “pips” for best story and techniques.

 

My first flash was largely incoherent and will never again see the light of day, but I enjoyed the challenge of writing it. Over subsequent weeks I tried again and found that my stories improved. The time constraints encourage fast thinking and focus. Openings must grab, characters be engaging, and the plot complete. I learned not to waste a single minute. In the challenge, as in flash fiction, economy is key.

 

All of the flash fiction I’ve had published was written in this way. It helps me to overcome perhaps my biggest flaw as a writer – thinking too much about an idea. The Flash Challenge forces me to write the idea I have and see it through to the end. Editing is something that comes later, it requires time and attention.

 

I still go to Liberty Hall to flash and they have a sister site, ShowMeYourLits, which focuses on more literary flash in their challenges. But a flash challenge can be undertaken solo, if you’re so inclined. Sit down with a kitchen timer then stick a pin in a newspaper, visit a Word of the Day website, or pick up the featured article on Wikipedia’s front page. Better yet, do all three. Multiple triggers can do wonders for creativity.

 

Recently, Mary Robinette Kowal’s Liberty Hall story Evil Robot Monkey was nominated for a Hugo. So go on, try it. You never know what you might come up with.

 

C.L. Holland is a fantasy writer from the UK who was a winner of Writers of the Future for 2008. Her works have appeared in Every Day Fiction, Hadley Rille Books’ Ruins Metropolis anthology, and A Fly in Amber. She has an ever-growing collection of books and expects them to reach critical mass any time now.