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The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction: Tips from Editors, Teachers, and Writers in the Field Paperback – May 13, 2009
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Featuring essays by: Steve Almond, Rusty Barnes, Randall Brown, Mark Budman, Stace Budzko, Robert Olen Butler, Ron Carlson, Pamelyn Casto, Kim Chinquee, Stuart Dybek, Pia Z. Ehrhardt, Sherrie Flick, Vanessa Gebbie, Tom Hazuka, Nathan Leslie, Michael Martone, Julio Ortega, Pamela Painter, Jayne Anne Phillips, Jennifer Pieroni, Shouhua Qi, Bruce Holland Rogers, Robert Shapard, Deb Olin Unferth, Lex Williford
- Print length208 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherRose Metal Press
- Publication dateMay 13, 2009
- Dimensions5.9 x 0.6 x 8.4 inches
- ISBN-100978984862
- ISBN-13978-0978984861
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Review
There are many writing guides brought in on the wave of creative writing courses steadily multiplying across the globe. There are good ones and bad ones: the Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction is definitely a good one; I would even say a very good one. It doesn't promise unparalleled success or anything else it can't deliver, but does provide real insight into how writers work in this medium doing by exactly what it says on the cover - providing guidance that gently leads the would-be flash writer along the path to making their own work truly shine. --Jacky Taylor, How Publishing Really Works, online July 27, 2009
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Rose Metal Press; First edition (May 13, 2009)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 208 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0978984862
- ISBN-13 : 978-0978984861
- Item Weight : 11.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.9 x 0.6 x 8.4 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #99,965 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #109 in Rhetoric (Books)
- #303 in Essays (Books)
- #2,265 in Short Stories (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
Sherrie Flick is the author of the flash fiction chapbook I Call This Flirting (Flume), the novel Reconsidering Happiness (Bison Books), a semi-finalist for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, the story collection Thank Your Lucky Stars (Autumn House), and the short (short) story collection Whiskey, Etc. (Autumn House), a Foreword INDIES bronze winner for 2016 Best Book of the Year in Short Stories and an Entropy best fiction book of the year.
She is a senior editor at SmokeLong Quarterly, served as series editor for The Best Small Fictions 2018 (with Aimee Bender) (Braddock Avenue Books), and is co-editor of Flash Fiction America (with James Thomas and John Dufresne) (W. W. Norton).
Tara Lynn Masih is a National Jewish Book Award Finalist and winner of the Julia Ward Howe Award for Young Readers. She grew up in the small harbor town of Northport, situated along the Long Island Sound. Because much of her time was spent on the beaches and in the woods, her writing is often set within the framework of nature and place. MY REAL NAME IS HANNA, her first novel, won multiple awards and was translated into Slovak and Polish. She is editor of the acclaimed ROSE METAL PRESS FIELD GUIDE TO WRITING FLASH FICTION and THE CHALK CIRCLE: INTERCULTURAL PRIZEWINNING ESSAYS (winner of 3 national book awards). She is founding series editor of the annual BEST SMALL FICTIONS and her second story collection, HOW WE DISAPPEAR: NOVELLA & STORIES, is forthcoming in Sept. 2022. www.taramasih.com
Kim Chinquee is the author of the collections OH BABY, PRETTY, PISTOL, VEER, SHOT GIRLS, WETSUIT, SNOWDOG, and also the forthcoming novel PIPETTE. Her fiction, nonfiction and poetry have appeared in hundreds of journals and anthologies including NOON, THE NATION, CONJUNCTIONS, PLOUGHSHARES, STORYQUARTERLY, THE INDIANA REVIEW, DENVER QUARTERLY, MISSISSIPPI REVIEW, HUFFINGTON POST, and others. She is the recipient of three Pushcart Prizes and a Henfield Prize, is senior editor of NEW WORLD WRITING, chief editor of ELJ (ELM LEAVES JOURNAL), and co-director of SUNY-BUFFALO STATE's writing major. Her webpage is www.kimchinquee.com
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I've wanted to own this book for the longest time, so much so that I bought both the paperback and the Kindle editions so I can take the book with me when I go out and can dip into the content at will. It's not the sort of book that I could read all in one sitting - it's too rich for that and would be like eating five cheesecakes one after the other - but just reading a small section is enough to inspire and intrigue. Small treats for the writing mind.
I just dipped into the book again so I could remind myself of some of the content and I was so inspired that I had to stop reviewing to write a flash fiction piece. The first draft is done and I will look at that again tomorrow to refine it but the idea behind that story came because of this book. And for a writing book that is probably the highest possible praise.
Highly recommended.
In an irony to the subject, flash fiction, the introduction of this field guide is the longest chapter in the entire book, weighing-in at 26 pages. Despite its length, Ms. Misah provides the reader with an interesting history of flash fiction.
I found the essays within this guidebook to be useful and informative. Each essay ranged from 3-9 pages, which included a writing prompt and an example of flash fiction. As you could expect, the authors had some differences of opinion on what makes an effective short-short story. What they did agree on, was that each story should be thought-provoking and leave the reader with an indelible image.
I found most of the story examples, "thought provoking" alright. My usual responses were, "huh?" or even, "What was that all about?"
I guess I'm not the literary type. I'm not into deciphering an author's meaning and images in his or her story.
My favorite was "Inside Job" by Pamela Painter. In this flash--(warning! Plot spoiler ahead!)--a university couple are attending a party. After noticing her husband hit on another one of his graduate students, Marla goes into the kitchen to grab a drink, but accidently douses her blouse with seltzer water. One of Marla's graduate students tries to help dab off the water and she guides his hand--underneath her blouse.
Whew!
Talk about an "indelible image!"
I rate this book a solid four stars. This is more out of personal bias. With the exception of "Inside Job," it's hard for me to get excited over a how-to book. However, for anyone interested in writing flash fiction, or improving their craft in this niche-genre, this is an invaluable guide.
Whether the writer is working on a novel, a true flash fiction piece, or something inbetween, this manual, edited by Tara Mashih, is readable and helpful.
The analogy of musicians playing scales on the piano or plucking them endlessly on the guitar, reminds writers that sometimes we need to warm up the writing part of our brain. In doing so, memories are released, our imaginations go places we have not considered before, and voila! a new story awaits us.
There are also definitions of what flash or sudden fiction is, what editors are looking for, and how to use flash fiction as a gateway to getting published.
As a frequent participant in flash fiction contests, I found many helpful hints in this volume. It is one I will turn to frequently when the Muse is not wafting my way.
As a whole, the collection is equally informative. When I am teaching a workshop, I'm rarely able to lead prompts while also participating in them myself. But the suggestions in this Field Guide were so engaging, I couldn't help but also write while I was teaching. What a gift to the genre this book is!
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The Table of Content are:
1) Contemporary and historical roots of Flash FICTION
2) Finding Freedom and feeling in the form
3) Beginnings and Endings
4) Imagery as isipiration
5) Poetry Vs Prose
6) Taking Risks
7) Focusing and Editing
8)The Future of Flash Fiction
9) A call to action


I've wanted to own this book for the longest time, so much so that I bought both the paperback and the Kindle editions so I can take the book with me when I go out and can dip into the content at will. It's not the sort of book that I could read all in one sitting - it's too rich for that and would be like eating five cheesecakes one after the other - but just reading a small section is enough to inspire and intrigue. Small treats for the writing mind.
I just dipped into the book again so I could remind myself of some of the content and I was so inspired that I had to stop reviewing to write a flash fiction piece. The first draft is done and I will look at that again tomorrow to refine it but the idea behind that story came because of this book. And for a writing book that is probably the highest possible praise.
Highly recommended.

Instead, all I got in terms of form was essay after essay saying "Flash Fiction is short". There was one example in the whole book worth writing down, as the author explained in a concrete definition what a successful Flash Fiction was ("the story must turn dramatically, must have a complete reversal of some sort, a surprise so stunning and rich that it could only happen in a story, and that reversal is usually carried by powerful, unforgettable images." There, I've saved you 20 bucks).
Now, this explanation doesn't explain ALL Flash Fiction, but at least it breaks down what some of them are doing--which allows someone to grasp some of the mechanics of the medium. From there, I can see what else the form can do by reading examples and figuring out what the authors are doing.
The rest of the book gave the "we won't put a label on Flash Fiction because it extends beyond definition" shpiel. So then why put out this book???
The exercises are just horrible! If you want great writing exercises, try Rayne Hall's books. They are inexpensive and VERY detailed. With the Flash Fiction tidbit mentioned above, combined with Rayne's knowledge, I have at least an inkling of how to construct Flash Fiction.
A VERY disappointing book.
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