Week 4            Sound, vision and (re)vision.

Flash fiction as the bridge between poetry and fiction; what writing poetry can teach us about compression and imagery in prose. Discuss how repetition of words, phrases, and even sounds can serve as a story’s emotional anchor, making it affecting and memorable. Read excerpt from Stuart Dybek’s “We Didn’t” and the poem that inspired it, Yehuda Amachai’s “We Did It.” (Link to a transcript of a talk by Stuart Dybek here, with the poem and the story and a description of his process.)

Writing Exercise: Pick a word, a phrase, and a sentence from the word bags. Write one or two paragraphs that use these (they need not connect) and share them.  Try to keep to a 150-word maximum for each. (15 minutes)

Revision exercise #1: Read the Steve Almond story/poem from Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction (p 105-108).

1.               Convert one or both of the paragraphs into a poem by inserting line breaks. Cut extraneous words as needed.

2.               Convert the poem(s) back into a flash fiction/prose poem form by eliminating the line breaks.

Discuss: how does each revision change the piece; what is lost, what is gained? (How) do you know when you’ve ‘cut enough’? When is a flash story a story, as opposed to a sketch, a prose poem, or an unfinished draft?

Read: the halving exercise (cutting a story in half, then in half again) from Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction (p. 125-128), using the story “Exercise” (Bruce Taylor) from Vestal Review.

Revision Exercise 2: Write a story that’s around 200 words. Cut it in half. Cut it in half again. Which version feels right?

Homework: Submit your story to either 100 Word Story or annual the 55Fiction contest.

Continue reading, writing, revising; reading, writing, revising!