JC: Flash Fiction

Have you heard of it? Some people are calling it Sudden Fiction, or short-short stories.

Contrary to rumors circulating on the Internet, flash fiction is not a market study of the shelf-life of Jack Cavanaugh’s books. And despite what you read on Alton Gansky's blog, short-short stories have nothing to do with what an author wears when he writes.

Flash fiction is the rebirth of a unique genre of story. It is a story that is told in less than two thousand words, and usually under one thousand words, sometimes as short as one hundred and fifty words. For some writers of flash fiction, the idea is to tell a story and the reader doesn’t have to turn a page.

Impossible you say?

Don’t be so hasty. I’ve tried my hand at short-short fiction in several different genres. Tell me what you think—

Mystery:
Bang! Bang! Whodunnit? Ned.
(4 words)

Romance:
I hate him! He’s cute, but I still hate him! Those eyes! I think I’m in love. And they lived happily ever after.
(23 words)

Adventure:
Gotcha! No, you didn’t! Gotcha now! No, you didn’t! Ha! Tables turned! Now I got you! No you didn…Ahhhhhh! You got me! And once again, the world is saved from the brink of destruction.
(34 words)

Historical:
Wagons clattered. Horses charged. Swords clashed. Blood flowed. Damaged limbs were sawed off. Millions die, more from disease than battle. Ah, the good ol’ days.
(25 words)

Classics:
Save Tara. Steal Ashley from Melanie. Slap Sue Ellen. Save Tara. Marry men for money. Deliver baby. Save Tara. Speak to Rhett about his swearing.
(25 words)

Got the idea? If you think you do, you’ve got it all wrong.

Brevity is only one dynamic of the short-short story. Quality flash fiction delivers a punch. It makes you feel something, whether humorous or sad. It stops time. It starts you thinking.

It is a flash of illumination. It provides an insight that other writers struggle for pages to make clear. It creates a mood that resonates within the human heart.

Among those who have tried their hand at short-short fiction, include—John Updike, Raymond Carver, Ray Bradbury, Joyce Carol Oates, and Ernest Hemingway.
I wish I could illustrate flash fiction by sharing some of the great short fiction I’ve been reading, but copyright prevents it. So, we’ll have to settle for a lesser light.

Here’s my attempt at flash fiction. I wanted to see if I could write a story in 150 words or less—

“Dispensing Justice”

A coin is shoved into a slot. The legal system lurches into motion. Lawyers
light up. Witnesses whirr. News presses hum. Once started, there’s no stopping
it.
The jury sits. The judge enters.
“Madam foreman, have you reached a
verdict?”
“We have.”
The foreman hands the verdict to the bailiff who
hands it to the judge.
The judge reads the verdict in silence. He allows
himself the smallest of smiles.
“You will make history,” he confessed to me
last night in his chambers. “Your case is unprecedented.”
Said he’d
researched it himself.
Jangling change in his pocket, he said, “Never
before, in the annals of American jurisprudence has a judge declared a man
guilty for a murder he himself committed.”
In the courtroom, the judge hands
the verdict to the bailiff who hands it to the foreman.
I stand accused.
The foreman reads the verdict aloud, dispensing justice.
(148 words)

Now it’s your turn. Can you tell a story, capture a moment or a mood in 150 words or less? Post your stories in the comments section for all of us to enjoy.


Jack Cavanaugh, the author of more than twenty novels, including Storm w/Bill Bright (Howard Books) and the supernatural thriller, Death Watch (Zondervan).
Check out Jack Cavanaugh's titles