Hey, I'm currently in a creative writing class, and our current assignment is writing three flash fiction pieces, but I'm having a hard time. I've by writing some stories based off of your prompts, but they all exceed 250 words, which is the project's word max. Could you maybe make a list of ideas I could turn into a flash fiction [100-250 words]?
Okay, so we promised not to answer any prompt questions once AAC starts, but it technically doesn’t start until tomorrow, so I’m going to answer this one anyways!!
How Do I Write: VERY Short Stories
I can see where you might be having some problems - while 250 words may seem like a lot, it’s truly very VERY few (especially coming from a writer’s standpoint). What I would recommend that you do is write something that doesn’t really have an ending. Yup, I know that sounds really strange, but keep reading.
In order for a story to be short but wildly interesting, there must be an introduction to a setting, a minimalistic character, an interesting inkling of a story, and a drop off at the end that leaves the reader with more questions than they walked in with. If you’ve done well, they’ll definitely put in the time to read it again!
An awesome example of this (which is only 198 words) is one of my favorite creepypastas of all time:
“There was a hunter in the woods, who, after a long day hunting, was in the middle of an immense forest. It was getting dark, and having lost his bearings, he decided to head in one direction until he was clear of the increasingly oppressive foliage. After a what seemed like hours, he came across a cabin in a small clearing. Realizing how dark it had grown, he decided to see if he could stay there for the night. He approached, and found the door ajar. Nobody was inside. The hunter flopped down on the single bed, deciding to explain himself to the owner in the morning. As he looked around, he was suprised to see the walls adorned by many portraits, all painted in incredible detail. Without exception, they appeared to be staring down at him, their features twisted into looks of hatred. Staring back, he grew increasingly uncomfortable. Making a concerted effort to ignore the many hateful faces, he turned to face the wall, and exhausted, he fell into a restless sleep.
Face down in an unfamiliar bed, he turned blinking in unexpected sunlight. Looking up, he discovered that the cabin had no portraits, only windows.”
Sure, the writing isn’t exactly a work of art, but the story concept, succinctness, and overall storytelling is fabulous. What really clinches this story for me is the lack of closure that keeps me thinking after the last sentence - like I said, there’s no ending. I would recommend aiming for something close to this: a short story that focuses on the story itself rather than on serious character development or having proper closure (this is not to say that you should end in the middle of a sentence, but…you get what I mean…).
With that being said, honestly, most of our prompts are short stories in themselves. If you’re looking for some quick short story prompts specifically that we’ve made, I’d recommend taking a peek at the AAC prompts from last year because not only were they designed to be short, but there are also example works for each prompt that were written by other followers.
Okay, so that’s pretty much all I have for you. Hopefully this has helped a bit, and feel free to send in the final pieces as we love to see our the work of our followers.
