David Galef provides a guide to writing flash fiction, from tips on technique to samples by canonical and contemporary authors to provocative prompts that inspire powerful stories in a little space. Brevity is an indispensable resource for anyone working in this increasingly popular form.
In 2014, Crimespree Magazine held an internet-based flash fiction contest. The rules were simple: somewhere in the story you had to "Kill Dan Malmon." That was it. The story had to be brief, inventive, and somewhere, Malmon had to die.
Verve and nerve and astonishing variety are here, with some wild denouements. How short can a Micro be, you wonder. Look up Amy Hempel's contribution, and you'll see.
In these very short stories, every word, every detail, every moment matters. And the things left out, the spaces around the stories, are just as intense. What can a hundred words do?