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Flash Fiction’s Experts Offer Confusing and Sometimes Contradictory Tips

Flash fiction has wonderful potential for helping writers hone their craft by laser-focused editing and concise wording.

Dr. Patricia Farrell
5 min readMay 27, 2021
Photo by Green Chameleon on Unsplash

Decades of labor at jobs demanding, demeaning, and dangerous at times have provided me with time to think and not worry about work. Carefully accumulating everything I would need, I am now free to allow my mind to range to the farthest reaches of its ability. It is a wonder and frustration, but I wouldn’t trade it for another job if it were offered and there have been offers.

Flash fiction, a writing form unknown to me until several months ago, has become my entrance into the world of creative writing. In this new world, I have attempted to read as much as possible by the experts (“Understanding Show, Don’t Tell”) who have been successful and teach this genre.

I’ve watched videos and listened intently to what successful authors (Lydia Davis, for one) and Margaret Atwood or Joyce Carol Oates have to say about their writing or writing in general. Davis, considered the maven of flash fiction, has published widely, and you can find her stories here.

Of course, Atwood and Oates are no slouches at writing, and their works are readily available at…

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Dr. Patricia Farrell
Dr. Patricia Farrell

Written by Dr. Patricia Farrell

Dr. Farrell is a psychologist, consultant, author, and member of SAG/AFTRA, interested in flash fiction writing (http://bitly.ws/S94e) and health.

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