I'm going to post what may be the one good "flash fiction" ever written so that maybe we can start to get on with our dang lives
A Radically Condensed History of Postindustrial Life
When they were introduced, he made a witticism, hoping to be liked. She laughed extremely hard, hoping to be liked. Then each drove home alone, staring straight ahead, with the very same twist to their faces.
The man who'd introduced them didn't much like either of them, though he acted as if he did, anxious as he was to preserve good relations at all times. One never knew, after all, now did one now did one now did one.
We talked about synesthetic hallucination, and he told me he wanted words to resemble their meaning in physical appearance. He spent like four or five minutes trying to come up with an example, and I completely forgot what it was. I hope he wrote it down.
Talon: Dammit, don't undermine my excuses to not shit on my keyboard.
I am undermining so many things, Annie, I can't even keep track anymore. Your excuses are but a sidenote in the margins of the ledger of failures that is my life.
some authors really transcend the form with it, but they are super rare
I think it has a very particular niche and a lot of people try to make it broader than it has the capacity to be
I do understand that a lot of folks have done really interesting things with it (from DFW to a radically attenuated version of Nabokov's Signs and Symbols that was, frankly, incredible) but I think most of it is terrible
see: ficly
To speak without hyperbole, honestly, I think it takes a very particular kind of sensibility that not many authors have, and I think it's easy to fall into a place where one is accustomed to looking at new concepts through the lens of a flash fiction writer, which is a Bad Thing
Charles Kinbote on
0
Quoththe RavenMiami, FL FOR REALRegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
i am really not sure why you want to have a conversation on why flash fiction is terrible in a thread devoted to people writing flash fiction
to speak without hyperbole, i think there is plenty of delightful flash fiction out there and i have linked to a site that showcases it, just one of many out there, and that is only scratching the surface because there is also a lot of published flash that isn't available online
ficly is a collection of amateur writers practicing their craft in (i presume) an effort to get better at it, so why you would hold that up as any kind of example of the potential of the style is beyond me
Posts
get ready for a shock
http://ficly.com/authors/larlar
t organ: you found the way into my heart
God Larlar, how arrogant can you be?
What spring does with the cherry trees.
Maybe most of them will be written while I have been drinking.
A Radically Condensed History of Postindustrial Life
When they were introduced, he made a witticism, hoping to be liked. She laughed extremely hard, hoping to be liked. Then each drove home alone, staring straight ahead, with the very same twist to their faces.
The man who'd introduced them didn't much like either of them, though he acted as if he did, anxious as he was to preserve good relations at all times. One never knew, after all, now did one now did one now did one.
Steam - Talon Valdez :Blizz - Talonious#1860 : Xbox Live & LoL - Talonious Monk @TaloniousMonk Hail Satan
Opinions, etc.
Steam - Talon Valdez :Blizz - Talonious#1860 : Xbox Live & LoL - Talonious Monk @TaloniousMonk Hail Satan
Didn't you hear what he said? That's the only good one.
i prefer updike and carver
http://smokelong.com/flash/danchaon25.asp
there are many good ones on that site
http://smokelong.com/flash/6419.asp
I prefer this one to the Wallace story.
So, one time, I talked to Stuart Dybek about shrooming.
so cool or not at all cool
Annie
Steam - Talon Valdez :Blizz - Talonious#1860 : Xbox Live & LoL - Talonious Monk @TaloniousMonk Hail Satan
I really like this.
everything else, just poop and smelly boners
Steam - Talon Valdez :Blizz - Talonious#1860 : Xbox Live & LoL - Talonious Monk @TaloniousMonk Hail Satan
this is...totally different in terms of structure and length
stinky green baby poop smells
Steam - Talon Valdez :Blizz - Talonious#1860 : Xbox Live & LoL - Talonious Monk @TaloniousMonk Hail Satan
We talked about synesthetic hallucination, and he told me he wanted words to resemble their meaning in physical appearance. He spent like four or five minutes trying to come up with an example, and I completely forgot what it was. I hope he wrote it down.
Talon: Dammit, don't undermine my excuses to not shit on my keyboard.
so many people use it as "a little short story," too, which is unfortunate
Steam - Talon Valdez :Blizz - Talonious#1860 : Xbox Live & LoL - Talonious Monk @TaloniousMonk Hail Satan
clearly meant for people who do not care for flash fiction
seriously though, i don't know how much or what you've read but if you're dismissing it wholesale like that then i'm sad for you
http://ficly.com/authors/sarksus
I'll write something later. I promise.
some authors really transcend the form with it, but they are super rare
I think it has a very particular niche and a lot of people try to make it broader than it has the capacity to be
I do understand that a lot of folks have done really interesting things with it (from DFW to a radically attenuated version of Nabokov's Signs and Symbols that was, frankly, incredible) but I think most of it is terrible
see: ficly
To speak without hyperbole, honestly, I think it takes a very particular kind of sensibility that not many authors have, and I think it's easy to fall into a place where one is accustomed to looking at new concepts through the lens of a flash fiction writer, which is a Bad Thing
to speak without hyperbole, i think there is plenty of delightful flash fiction out there and i have linked to a site that showcases it, just one of many out there, and that is only scratching the surface because there is also a lot of published flash that isn't available online
ficly is a collection of amateur writers practicing their craft in (i presume) an effort to get better at it, so why you would hold that up as any kind of example of the potential of the style is beyond me