Field Guide To Flash Fiction

My review of The Rose Metal Press Field Guide To Flash Fiction, as published in The Fiction Writers Review:

“Alice Munro is mostly known as a short story writer and yet she brings as much depth, wisdom and precision to every short story as most novelists bring to a lifetime of novels.” So Jane Smiley, a judge on the2009 Man Booker International Prize, told of its beloved Canadian winner last month. It was the first time a writer who exclusively produces short stories was awarded this prestigious prize. Times are turning and shorter forms of fiction are not only finally being given the eminence they deserve, but becoming increasingly more in vogue. It was therefore with keen interest that I picked up The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction, an unprecedented gathering of 25 brief essays by experts in the field that includes a lively, comprehensive history of the hybrid genre by editor Tara L. Masih.

As a creative writing professor at Boston College, I frequently use collections of flash fiction, stories which usually run 1000 words or less. Given time limitations and the varying writing experience of my students, these versatile, word-limited pieces are a very approachable and satisfying form to work within. However, I always find myself floundering about when I try to explain and define this genre for the first time. As Pamelyn Casto, one of the thought-provoking, inspiring contributors, puts it: “Flash fiction is difficult if not impossible to define – and should be allowed to remain so – because this type of writing is protean… it takes on various shapes and uses different strategies to achieve its goals.” This is why this collection is so successful, and so essential, to anyone in the field of short fiction who teaches, writes, and is interested in its history and practice. These essays are probing and explorative rather than reductive and constrictive. A true ‘field guide’ in spirit, I came away thoroughly more equipped to teach and write short fiction in a richer, more illuminating way.

Tara L. Masih / Photo Credit: Elizabeth Sullivan

This book is an Aladdin’s cave of gems, a brilliantly versatile guide to invigorate any written piece, any writer’s working life. Flash fiction is the impetus for all these essays, and the fantastic prompts and exercises that each includes, yet most of the commentary and advice can be applied to stimulate and aid any creative writer. For example, Vanessa Gebbieencourages us to try writing freely and continuously, without pausing and censoring our words, in responses to certain prompts, telling us “I have seen whole stories written in this way in a very few minutes. And in my own case, I know that work produced like this has a liveliness that writing I agonize over for days just does not”. Jayne Anne Philips suggests using photos, in particular a photo of our parents’ wedding, to produce a one-page fiction piece. Randall Brown challenges us to begin with different types of “encounters – highly charged, interesting, rare.” Lex Williford, who sees flash fiction as “usually begin[ning] in image and end[ing] with something akin to the lyricism of poetry”, ingeniously instructs us to make an “inkblot”, to write down at least ten images from the pattern that it produces, and then to write a 15-minute fiction using as many of the images as we can. Pamelyn Casto invites us to dive into the kingdoms of myth. The book becomes a Field Guide To Stimulating The Imagination and I was thoroughly transformed by the many rainbows of inspiration on the ride.

It is a testament to the book’s impact that I am using it as a set text for my creative writing classes next year. Hopefully the day is not too far away when we will see a flash fiction collection win a prestigious literary prize like the Booker. The best things do often come in small packages.