By Seth Warner
For those of you who are taking Creative Writing: Fiction this semester and are struggling to reach the 2000 word minimum for your short stories, know that there are other creative writing options out there that don’t require quite as many words. Although many would argue that 3000 words is a more ideal short story minimum length and that 2000 words is, perhaps, still not enough, there are some writers who prefer to write stories with word counts that fall below even that of the 2000 word mark. These writers write what is commonly referred to as flash fiction.
While the actual word count range of flash fiction is often debated, the typical accepted range is from 250-750 words—just enough to grab the reader and jostle him/her around before letting go. Flash fiction writers explain that their works have all of the elements of a short story; the elements are only condensed. Too few words you say? Well, know that there are sub-categories of fiction writing that contain stories shorter even than those of flash fiction. One of these sub categories, called Hint Fiction, is gaining popularity. With an ideal word count of 25 words or fewer, the philosophy behind hint fiction is to hint at a story, letting the story speak for itself and forcing the reader to fill in the details.
Here’s an example:
Trust
by Don Lee
At the Party, he tells her he’s a painter, meaning of houses. She misunderstands, assumes he’s an artist. Harmless, he thinks.
According to Robert Swartwood, editor of Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Word or Fewer, “Hint Fiction should not be complete by having a beginning, middle, and end. Instead it should be complete by standing by itself as its own little world.” With this suggestion, we begin to ponder how short a work of fiction can be while still continuing to appease the reader. Can anyone be called a writer if stories this brief are valid? Robert Swartwood believes that “the length of a story does not determine the credentials of a writer.” While I agree with Swartwood, I would like to know what you think.
Works Cited
Startwood, Robert. Introduction. Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer. New York: Norton, 2011. 21-30. Print.
Lee, Don. “Trust.” Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer. Ed. Robert Startwood. New York: Norton, 2011. 87. Print.
Henry, Laurie. “Flash Fiction.” The Fiction Dictionary. Ed. Lois Rosenthal. Cincinnati, OH: Story Press, 1995. 111-112. Print.
Tags: Flash Fiction, hint fiction, Seth Warner
29 January 2012 at 4:41 pm |
I found this extremely helpful and informative. I had never heard of hint fiction before and now I really would like to read that anthology of hint fiction. There is definitely something to be said for leaving things to the reader’s imagination. I feel like it would be really hard to write hint fiction or flash fiction, because you have to make every word count and be powerful.
30 January 2012 at 4:30 am |
This was really interesting. I, like Rachel, had never heard of hint fiction before. Though I find it a little challenging to make it to the minimum of 2000 words with my short stories, I think that it would be even more challenging to narrow it down to 25 words or less. I honestly believe that flash fiction would be the easiest of the three.
30 January 2012 at 3:04 pm |
After Cameron Cook introduced me to this form of writing, I filled a notebook with a good number of them. However, they all held to the same theme and characters, and more closely resembled poetic stanzas. It kinda defeated the purpose of letting the reader assume the rest. This post does good to explain that in a hint fiction you do not want a holistic explanation of the story. It is like a good joke, its teller wants to give just enough information for the listeners to understand and enjoy it. In many ways it holds to Polonius’ claim from the play Hamlet that “Brevity is the soul of wit.”
1 February 2012 at 10:47 pm |
Even though I had also heard about Hint Fiction and Flash Fiction before, I can appreciate having the details of Flash Fiction laid out and learning that Hint Fiction is a sub category. I’ve got to agree with you and Swartwood, Seth: I don’t think you have to be a prolific writer to be successful, so long as you keep the reader entertained and leave them with something to think about.