Using the Programme Guide of the World
Science Fiction Convention in Helsinki Finland in August 2017 (to which I will
be unable to go (until I retire from education)), I will jump off, jump on,
rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf
copy of the Programme Guide. The link is provided below…
Ready, Steady,
Flash: Writers are given a theme, or phrase, around which they must each write
a piece of flash fiction. Live, in front of the audience. They have FIVE
MINUTES in which to write it. At the end of each round the stories are read
out, and the audience votes on the best!
Lee Harris: Tor’s
novella editor…whoa!
Karin Tidbeck:
Swedish fantasy and weird fiction writer
Peter Newman:
English fantasy (VAGRANT) and short story writer
N.S. Dolkart: Fantasy
writer
Nalo Hopkinson:
Nothing else needs to be said…
Novels have been known to change the world, but today, Flash Fiction, particularly speculative flash fiction, may hold the key to changing our perceptions and ideas...which no one seems to recognize...
If you’re reading this (which means you read my blog), you know that I have published more short-short or flash fiction than I have anything else.
I love flash
fiction because its purpose is to make a single point in as few words as
possible. The writer uses words to paint a vivid image in the reader’s mind.
This probably
lends strength to the fact that flash fiction can cut through the nicey-nice
wordage usually associated with science fiction and fantasy – all writing, in
fact – and say what the author wants to preach. Oh, make no mistake, the
purpose of fiction is to make a point of some sort. Every story we read is the
author’s attempt to advance their agenda whether it’s conscious or not. If you
look above these posts, no less writer than Gene Wolfe speaks the truth of this
as well as holding the respect of the field. Many of those writers don’t share
his beliefs but readily acknowledge his brilliance. Literary luminary Neil
Gaiman wrote, “He's the finest living male American writer of SF and fantasy –
possibly the finest living American writer.”
While writers need
to entertain first and can have their messages later – in Heinlein’s words: “I
must always bear in mind that my prospective reader could spend his recreation
money on beer rather than on my stories; I have to be aware every minute that I
am competing for beer money-and that the customer does not have to buy. If I
produced, let us say, potatoes or beef, I could be sure that my product had
some value in the market. But a story that the customers do not enjoy reading
is worth nothing.” (GRUMBLES FROM THE GRAVE, Chapter 1, January 10, 1972), he
also said in the same section, “…if possible…cause my readers to think.” [http://www.e-reading.club/bookreader.php/73033/Heinlein_-_Grumbles_From_the_Grave.html#label4]
So why do I seem
to do better with short fiction – and the SHORTEST fiction – than I do with my
stories and novels?
I stumbled across
Nalo Hopkinson’s first book, BROWN GIRL IN THE RING after reading a short story
in DARK MATTER in the early years of the 21st Century. I loved it
and wrote her a letter – didn’t hear back, but she was on her meteoric rise! No
surprise! – and kept reading her work as well as others. She spoke volumes and
continued to write short/flash fiction (http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/soul-case/).
Karin Tidbeck’s “Starfish”
is haunting (http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/starfish/),
even so, it entertains – and whether or not the author intended it, it reflects
her view of the world. Wolfe says it all above and he also writes flash
fiction! https://boingboing.net/2012/02/12/sf-flash-fiction-from-gaiman.html).
An American “hero” of a writer is also accused of writing (and at the same time
inventing flash fiction) one of the shortest pieces of fiction that packed a powerful
punch. I’ve memorized the entire piece, but writing it here might lead me to a
lawsuit for copyright infringement. You can find it (and the legend of how it
was written!) here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_sale:_baby_shoes,_never_worn
While I wish I
could have been there to hear the end result of this competition, I can comfort
myself in the knowledge that I write in the midst of a great company of writers.
My most recent piece of flash appeared on February 22, 2017 (http://nanoism.net/stories/736/): “She
looked to the future, mom lived in the past. Beloved dad and husband saw or
remembered neither, but in the present all three reconciled.”
If more people -- especially science fiction writers -- realized the power of flash fiction, then climate change evangelicals would write it more often. Seeing as how they don't get that, they haven't used this powerful tool to shape the climate...so to speak...of the country. Much as I loathe Trump, he DOES get it with his constant posting of Twitter fiction...
If more people -- especially science fiction writers -- realized the power of flash fiction, then climate change evangelicals would write it more often. Seeing as how they don't get that, they haven't used this powerful tool to shape the climate...so to speak...of the country. Much as I loathe Trump, he DOES get it with his constant posting of Twitter fiction...
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