tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735212614561578096.post8292500122819627883..comments2023-09-24T10:31:00.202-04:00Comments on Writing Home: Flash (in the pan) fiction?B. Blevinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09120005110404535885noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735212614561578096.post-21766669469048497372009-04-15T11:19:00.000-04:002009-04-15T11:19:00.000-04:00Judith is correct that not all of Cheever's storie...Judith is correct that not all of Cheever's stories are typical length (i.e., long) short stories. In fact, "Reunion" is included in the 1987 collection, <I>Sudden Fiction: American Short-Short Stories</I>. However, at 1,200+ words, it would be too long to be considered "flash fiction" since the only definition of flash fiction that anyone could agree on at the workshop is that it is always underBeth Blevinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09407134088205416043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735212614561578096.post-49185995246837641202009-04-14T16:03:00.000-04:002009-04-14T16:03:00.000-04:00For the proposition that flash fiction and "litera...For the proposition that flash fiction and "literary fiction" are not mutually exclusive, as well as a timely nod to John Cheever, I recommend his short story "Reunion" (page 518 of collected stories). Two and a half pages, and all one needs to know about a particular father son relationship.<br /><br />Judith PodellJudith Podellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02823446547679841637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735212614561578096.post-46823028269728792132009-04-13T12:06:00.000-04:002009-04-13T12:06:00.000-04:00I am no expert on flash fiction, having only atten...I am no expert on flash fiction, having only attended this 1 1/2 hour seminar on Saturday (and a previous one-day workshop at the Writers Center), so I can't answer your question with any kind of authority. But someone at the seminar asked a similar question about micro fiction and prose poetry and the feeling from the panel is that it is, essentially, the same thing (that is, when micro fiction Beth Blevinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09407134088205416043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735212614561578096.post-42809467780365498072009-04-13T11:07:00.000-04:002009-04-13T11:07:00.000-04:00Beth, what do you think is the difference between ...Beth, what do you think is the difference between flash fiction and free-form poetry, which can be written in a way that resembles fully formed paragraphs?<BR/><BR/>Aren't both kinds of writing trying to condense expression economically? <BR/><BR/>In addition, the whole Twitter, Facebook status milieu have really become a sort of common electronic haiku, haven't they?<BR/><BR/>Eric KeldermanEric Keldermanhttp://www.chronicle.comnoreply@blogger.com