Proceed methodically if that feels right to you, going step by step. When we rush ourselves in our own lives and tasks, we can rush our writing, too. So how do you begin? I personally think that getting grounded in your body and slowing down enough to feel whatever needs to be felt is a necessary step. From there, worldview becomes the same as word choice and plot, and your writing takes on a quality of originality and depth any editor would be thrilled to publish. Because if you know that, showing comes easily. What that advice really means is this: understand your characters deeply enough to know how they see the world, how they react under pressure, and what they most keenly desire. It’s another thing entirely to say that the sky looks “star-pocked” (as opposed to “twinkling”), and the difference goes back to that age-old advice about show don’t tell. It’s one thing to tell readers that your protagonist lives in a war-torn country and it’s rare to relax long enough to gaze at the stars.
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Which does your story need? Which most effectively captures your character’s worldview and deepest desires? Choose the word that gets the job done. “The star-pocked night sky” is not the same as “The twinkling night sky.” One implies a bit of violence, while the other implies ease. In flash (or peak scenes in full-length memoirs or novels), every word counts.
![hunger by roxane gay malaprops hunger by roxane gay malaprops](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AAVwvb_fb08/maxresdefault.jpg)
Since I primarily teach, critique, and publish flash form, I’ll stick to that, however, all prose writers can apply these techniques to stand-alone scenes or chapters comprising their longer works: In the meantime, here are three tips I wish I’d had the time to share with every writer whose work I rejected. If that means taking a class, hiring a developmental editor, or forming a skilled critique group, do it. Writing may be a solo sport during actual toosh-in-chair time, but knowing when to take a step back and apply critical, technical craft revisions to your work is essential to finding publishing success. Doing so was my least favorite part of the job. It’s another thing entirely to say that the sky looks “star-pocked” (as opposed to “twinkling”), and the difference goes back to that age-old advice about show don’t tell.Īs an author who reviewed submissions for four different publications and edited three fiction anthologies (including BITE: An Anthology of Flash Fiction), I’ve rejected countless stories that were one draft away from publishable.
![hunger by roxane gay malaprops hunger by roxane gay malaprops](https://channel.louisiana.dk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/GAY_Roxanne_Reading-from-Hunger_1400.jpg)
![hunger by roxane gay malaprops hunger by roxane gay malaprops](https://www.dialosophy.com/uploads/1/2/6/3/126369824/published/img-5635.jpg)
Apply these steps to your own flash manuscripts and submit them before the 31st!
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Just in time for the close of our Flash Fiction Contest, we’re excited to share this new essay from Katey Schultz, author of Flashes of War, with some advice on how to approach revision.