Exercise 2: Based on a true story

The prompt

Write a flash fiction of no more than 400 words, based on a current news story.

The news story you select must be one published between today and next class. Please choose a story from The New York Times, The Denver Post, or your favorite news source. And make sure it's a news story, not an opinion piece. Please include a link to that story at the bottom of the Google doc you share with me.

Audience

Your audience consists of the folks who regularly read journals of flash fiction. That group will be diverse in all sorts of ways, but they have at least one thing in common: a love for this very specific literary genre. To get a feel for that genre, read a bunch of stories on Flash Fiction Online.  

Tips

• Read this essay for some good, practical tips. But remember that there's no magic formula for writing a piece of flash fiction. Use what works for the purposes of your story.
• Remember that, as a flash fiction writer, your goal is not to create a summary of the highlights of a current event. Your goal, rather, is to capture, in all its richness and ambiguity, the essential emotional meaning of that event, through the luminously evocative way that you render a crucial moment or detail.
• In flash fiction, less is more. So the piece you write is to be no more — not one single word more — than 400 words, including the title. Fewer words are fine: 200 words, 100 words, 50 words, 5 words. But if your word count comes in at, say, 403 words, then you’re going to need to find three words to cut.
• At this point, you may find yourself shouting, “Hooray! I can write 400 words no sweat — and 100 words, or 50 words, or 5 words is even easier!” But don’t celebrate just yet. Writing fewer words can be way more challenging than writing more, because creating a powerfully meaningful story is your purpose here and, the fewer words you use, the harder those words will have to work.

Format and requirements

Again, your piece must be 400 words or less.

It must be based on a news story (an not an opinion piece) published between today and next class. Please include a link to the news story you've chosen at the bottom of the document that you share with me on Google Drive.

Your draft should should follow these formatting instructions and be posted to Google Drive by the start of next class.

Extra credit

Did you enjoy this exercise? If so, look over this list of flash fiction publications where you can submit your work. (Scroll a few screens down for the list.) If you choose to submit your work, please take a screenshot of the last screen in the submission sequence (the one that says something like "submission complete," or whatever) and email it to me — I'll give you 10 extra points toward your final grade for the course.