How short is short? - Lynne Garner
As a writer of short stories I love how a story can be conveyed in a few words. So when I'm teaching my creative writing courses I often set homework and ask my students to write a short story. Before I even have the chance to go any further I'm often asked how short is short. I tend to use this opportunity to introduce them to the story forms of flash fiction (also known as nano-fiction, sudden fiction, micro-fiction and the micro-story) using the following as examples: “In bed, struggling, he succumbs.” A. J Chilson and “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Ernest Hemingway I then introduce them to the 'twister' which is a story using just 140 characters which originated on the social media platform Twitter. Here is an example by Ron Gould: "Time travel works!" the note read. "However you can only travel to the past and one-way. " I recognized my own handwriting and felt a chill.” Or these examples wr...