{"id":23527,"date":"2023-06-08T08:55:51","date_gmt":"2023-06-08T07:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ounews.co\/?p=23527"},"modified":"2023-06-08T08:55:51","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T07:55:51","slug":"the-benefits-of-writing-flash-fiction-for-busy-writers-and-readers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/arts-social-sciences\/the-benefits-of-writing-flash-fiction-for-busy-writers-and-readers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Benefits of Writing Flash-Fiction for Busy Writers and Readers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The OU is due to launch its forthcoming flash-fiction competition #OU50words. The multi-award-winning campaign invites those interested to write a piece of flash-fiction in no more than 50 words, in response to the university\u2019s daily video writing prompt. To support the competition, OU academic Dr Emily Bullock shares the below content about the benefits of writing flash fiction.<\/em><\/p>\n

There is always so much else to do, time is limited, and maybe it is your reading or writing which is the first to drop off the \u2018to do list\u2019. But flash-fiction is made for the busy writer and reader. Here are some tips to help you get started, whether you\u2019re reading or writing.<\/p>\n

Set a timer<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It is easy for life to get in the way of reading and writing time. One way to make it count is to use a kitchen timer, or the alarm on your phone, set it for two minutes \u2013 who can\u2019t find that amount of time in a day? Once it is set, read or write until the alarm rings. You\u2019ll be surprised how much you can get done: the beginnings of a piece of flash writing; reading a complete flash-fiction story.<\/p>\n

The next day set the timer to three minutes and do the same again. The aim isn\u2019t to build up to hours a day, but to find small pockets of time and utilise them for reading or writing flash fiction.<\/p>\n

Start at the beginning<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The title is the first thing a reader will come across, make it count. It has to hook the reader \u2013 pique their curiosity, startle them. But it\u2019s also a way to find inspiration, create or find a title for your flash-fiction first then write the story that flows from that. And if you\u2019re reading a flash-fiction collection \u2013 choose the title you like best and start with that story.<\/p>\n

Take chances<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Starting a novel or even a short story can seem like a daunting prospect, with weeks, months of work ahead of you. That might seem like a big commitment. But flash-fiction is a place to experiment and play \u2013 seek-out outrageous voices, try that genre you\u2019ve always avoided, turn to magic, elevate the mundane.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re reading flash, pick-up things you wouldn\u2019t normally choose, you never know where it might take you. Whether reading or writing, remember to have fun with it.<\/p>\n

We all want something<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Make your characters yearn for something, make the reader yearn for more (not a feeling of something missing but a longing to spend more time with the characters you\u2019ve created). Remember that in a piece of flash-fiction that desire must be fulfilled or thwarted in anything from fifty words to a thousand words.<\/p>\n

Robert Olen Butler wrote \u201cA short short story, in its brevity, may not have a fully developed plot, but it must have the essence of a plot, yearning.\u201d<\/p>\n

The flash-fiction reader is your friend<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This doesn\u2019t mean you can take advantage of their presence, expect special treatment, or neglect their needs. It\u2019s about thinking of the reader as a companion \u2013 you have a short-hand together, they don\u2019t need all the background information, all the exposition, they know you. Don\u2019t try to tell them too much, just enough to get them interested, to make them laugh or cry, or shout with anger. Keep the reader close but don\u2019t smother them, let them do some of the work and they\u2019ll thank you for it.<\/p>\n

So, remember the reader is just as busy as the writer. They will be reading your work in one sitting (between train stops, while waiting for the kettle to boil) grab their attention with that opening line, hold them close with your character. The story is temporal, over with the turning of a page, the swipe of a screen, make those few minutes count.<\/p>\n

Author Bio<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Dr<\/em> <\/strong>Emily<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Bullock<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0won the Bristol\u00a0Short\u00a0Story Prize with her story \u2018My Girl\u2019, which was also broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Her\u00a0short\u00a0stories have been included in different anthologies including\u00a0A\u00a0Short\u00a0Affair\u00a0<\/em>(Scribner, 2018). She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia and completed her PhD at The Open University, where she is a Staff Tutor and Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing. Her debut novel, The Longest Fight, <\/em>was shortlisted for the Cross Sports Book Awards, and listed in\u00a0The Independent\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0Paperbacks of the Year 2015.\u00a0Her second\u00a0novel\u00a0Inside the Beautiful Inside<\/em>\u00a0was published in 2020, and her collection of\u00a0short\u00a0stories,\u00a0Human Terrain<\/em>, was longlisted for the Edgehill Prize 2022.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/people\/eb3777<\/a><\/p>\n

Check out the OU\u2019s social media channels between 12 – 18 June to be in with a chance of penning a prize-winning story, selected by the OU\u2019s Dr Gwyneth Jones. To find out more, visit https:\/\/ounews.co\/arts-social-sciences\/flash-fiction-literatures-delinquent-offspring\/<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Picture: Shutterstock<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The OU is due to launch its forthcoming flash-fiction competition #OU50words. The multi-award-winning campaign invites those interested to write a piece of flash-fiction in no more than 50 words, in response to the university\u2019s daily video writing prompt. To support the competition, OU academic Dr Emily Bullock shares the below content about the benefits of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23497,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[858],"class_list":["post-23527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-social-sciences","tag-faculty-of-arts-and-social-sciences"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}