The market for flash fiction is booming. It’s a great way to boost your publications, to build an audience, or even to explore a scene for a novel. The last few years have seen the success of several novels that play with flash fiction-like chapters. Norton has published several flash fiction anthologies. Hundreds of journals devoted to the form have sprung up online and in print. In this two-day seminar, we will read, write, and workshop flash fiction. Participants will be asked to submit one story of 500 words or fewer by June 3―we will be using your work as well as outside reading to talk about what flash fiction is and does, as well as strategies for getting plot, character and voice, etc., into two pages.

Each student will get two (limited) rounds of comments on their work. On day one, we will talk in smaller groups about some “moves” one can make in flash fiction with regard to your submitted stories, and you will work on revising and/or writing new flash fiction stories using the example of outside readings. You should submit a revision or new story in the last five minutes of class (please bring laptops, if you have one). On day two, we will do brief workshops and talk about what comes next. This seminar will involve about 25 pages of reading each others’ work in the week before the seminar, and 25 pages of reading each others’ work on Saturday night, or about 3-4 hours (total) of outside work. More instructions will be sent via email one week before the seminar.