Dan's Papers - July 4, 2008 - Flash Fiction: Literary Standard or Flash in the Pan?

Now that summer is here, most avid beach goers will be asking themselves which paperback to pick up to compliment a day on the sand. But now there's a new trend in the literary world that may influence what you throw in the beach bag: flash fiction.

Think of flash fiction as an extremely short story that, when executed correctly, packs a major punch. In usually no more than 500 to 700 words, a writer must construct a memorable flash that doesn't leave the reader feeling like they've been cheated. Flash fiction is also referred to as sudden fiction, postcard fiction, micro-fiction or a short-short. While the unofficial maximum word count is set around 500 words, there is no minimum. Some online journals specialize in stories that are literally one sentence long.

On the other hand, prose poems, according to local poet Julie Sheehan, "are first cousins of flash fiction." Prose poems use traditional narrative techniques, but maintain the heightened imagery, symbolism and metaphorical language of poetry. Sheehan said prose poetry and flash fiction "are bleeding toward each other, or groping toward each other, or swerving at each other." Prose poetry and flash fiction are not for the faint-of-heart reader. According to Sheehan, one of the hallmarks of a prose poem is the same sort of language you'd find in a flash fiction but with emphasis on concise, and sometimes bizarre, imagery.

Prose poetry and flash fiction are gaining popularity in the 21st century, but writers have been experimenting with both genres for many years. O. Henry, arguably the king of short fiction, wrote stories that fit within the flash length, as did Franz Kafka, Ray Bradbury and Anton Chekhov. Ernest Hemmingway wrote one of the most famous flash fictions of all time in only six words: For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn.

Flash fiction is becoming a more mainstream genre because of its ability to fit seamlessly into the busy, bustling, electronic 21st century lifestyle. Online literary journals, or e-zines, can easily sort through, edit and publish dozens of flash fictions daily. In China, people write flash fictions, or what they call pocket-size or minute-long stories, on their cell phones. Flash fiction is perfectly suited for any commuter who knows that sometimes it's hard to focus on the intricate plot of a novel that you pick up and put down at irregular and easily disrupted intervals.

The fact is, the literary world is changing to suit the new millennium. Outside the world of flash fiction, and outside North America, novels written on cell phones are beginning to be reprinted in book form and are flying off the shelves. A 21-year-old Japanese woman named Rin wrote a novel on her cell phone while commuting by train to her part-time job. She uploaded her new additions to a website, and users eventually voted her cell-novel as their favorite. Publishers took notice and published Rin's novel If You, which went on to become the number five top selling book of 2007.

It's not easy for a reader to branch out from the comfortable, familiar structure of the novel. After all, the novel has been good to us. But innovations like the prose poem and micro-fiction could turn any experimental reader into a believer. The flash and the prose poem have staying power. They are memorable for their brevity and their impact. In recalling most novels, plot details get fuzzy, minor characters fall through the cracks and carefully composed sentences becomes nothing more than mental compost once the book leaves the reader's hand. But flash fiction and prose poems come out of nowhere and are over as soon as they begin. Their crisp, concise power, however, engraves itself in your memory. What would have deteriorated into a vague memory becomes fodder for your mental cannon. As Sheehan put it, "Heads roll in this genre."

Read the first sentence of a good flash, and you're hooked. For your maiden excursion in the world of flash fiction, look for an anthology like Flash Fiction Forward that includes stories by Amy Hempel, Dave Eggers, Lydia Davis, A.M. Homes and many more. For prose poems, David Lehman compiled a great anthology entitled Great American Prose Poems: From Poe to the Present, which eases the reader into the genre by including prose poems by classic writers like Edgar Allen Poe, Allen Ginsberg, Gertrude Stein and E.E. Cummings alongside contemporary writers like Robert Bly, Rosmarie Waldrop, and Anne Carson.

No noisy sea gull or crowded subway car will be able to distract you from a well-written micro-fiction or prose poem. Once you've demolished two pages or so, you'll wish there was more. And what have you got to lose? It's not like I'm suggesting you read a novel written on a cell phone...