Hone Your Craft With Flash Fiction - Exercises Included!

We all love when inspiration strikes. Flash fiction can feel much like that. It's a story in micro, a focus on a compelling moment in a character's life. 

Reading flash can help stir ideas for your own long or short writing. When you practice writing flash fiction, there's even better payoffs in your own work.

Improve Your Focus

Flash fiction gets a lot done in a very short amount of time. Big emotions and major change must coexist in a tiny, little writing space. Flash fiction word counts can range from just a few words to the more typical 1000. 

As you practice creating flash fiction, consider how tightly focused you can be on the main aspects of your story. What can you cut and still keep clarity? 

Exercise: Write a sentence summarizing your story using ten words or less.

Tighten Your Prose

When a story must be crafted to fit the short requirements of flash fiction, you learn to say a lot with few words. This habit will carry over into your other works, making them more concise and compelling. 

Exercise: Go through a current work-in-progress and see if you can cut the entire thing by 25% or even 50%. Alternatively, try replacing three words with one. Are there whole sentences or paragraphs you could cut while retaining or enhancing the impact of the story?

Experiment With Form

Flash Fiction is a fun, low-risk way to try new structure. If you want to try a story in texting or email form, this would be a great format to experiment with it. And you have nothing to lose but a little time and maybe 1000 words. Low-risk, high-return. 

Exercise: Experiment with something new in a piece of flash fiction. Maybe write the entire thing in iambic pentameter. Or starting every sentence with the next letter in the alphabet. The options are endless. You're creative; I'm sure you'll come up with something new to try!

Amp the Tension

Conflict and change are essential in any story, even flash fiction. Sometimes we might trick ourselves into thinking that because flash focuses on a moment in time that it is static, but that is a mistake. Static is boring. Nothing is happening. 

Try starting your flash fiction pieces close to a character's life-changing event or realization. It can be dramatic - the loss of a loved one, or subtle - the realization that their best friend is capable of lying to them. Whatever it is should change the main character's world and/or worldview. 

Conflict and change are things we grapple with regularly. They are essential to every story. As you learn to incorporate them in the small world of flash fiction, you will find it easier to build the needed conflict and change in your other works.

Exercise: Determine what life-changing moment will rock your character's world. Start the story right before or just after that moment. What's next? What suspense can you build that will keep the reader hooked all the way to the end?

Ways to Nurture Your Creative Spirit

We all started writing because, well, we love to write. In a larger sense, most authors love to create. The problem is, sometimes life takes over and flips off that creative switch, at least temporarily. Maybe we're under immense stress or just dealing with the daily grind. Maybe we're sick or simply exhausted.

Maybe (and here's the big one), maybe we've turned our inspiring, creative writing outlet into a business with deadlines and commitments to readers, publishers, or both. Or maybe it's just self-imposed writing times and targets. I'm not saying these aren't useful. Goals are good. Habits are helpful. Schedule and structure can prompt inspiration.

But if writing has become a task on the to-do list or an obligation hanging over you, your creative spirit may need a little extra nourishing. Read on to discover some ways to rekindle your creative spark and feed that energy back into your true love--writing. You might just discover other loves along the way!

Know what inspires you

Start out by making a list of all the activities that nurture your creative spirit. Here's some of mine, to get you started. You'll notice some provide quick bursts of serenity and creativity while others require more of a time commitment.

Play a musical instrument: piano, guitar, harmonica.

I don't play all of these well. Piano is probably my best, but I've noticed when I try something I'm not so great at I experience a different surge in creativity. I also feel a stronger desire to create, possibly because my ability to create with that instrument is stymied by my lack of skill.

Paint or Draw

I've discovered I love to paint and draw. I feel a freeing of tension and a huge desire to create. I often explore my emotions through painting and drawing, even though I still don't really know what I've doing. Often themes from my stories creep into my art and vise versa, so the inspiration can build on itself.

Spend time in Nature

A walk, hike, bike ride, or run outdoors can do a ton to spark the creative spirit. Feel the wind rush over you. Listen for birds and for small animals scampering through crackling leaves. What do you smell? How does the sun feel on your skin? Try canoeing or swimming, too. Swing like you did when you were young. All these things can fill your spirit and feed your ability to be creative. Not to mention getting your heart pumping, which will sharpen your mind.

Mini meditation

Sometimes we don't have time for all the creative activities we need. Here's a quick meditation technique designed to relieve stress and fill your spirit. Pause, take a deep breath, close your eyes, and imagine what you would paint if you were painting. Feel the brush in your hand. Imagine it tracing across a huge canvas, filling in flowers or sky, whatever would be next in the creation. 

The important things is the deep, freeing focus of this meditation. Picture the painting in your mind. Imagine the changes unfolding as you make them mentally. Even if you don't have an active painting going in real life, this brief meditation can be an effective way to soothe your spirit and spark your desire to create.

Make Time for Nurturing Your Creativity 

It's easy to set your own needs on the back burner when there's so much going on in the world at large and so much to take care of in your own small corner. But you will have more energy and peace of mind if you take care of yourself. For many people, creating is an essential part of wellness.There's something exhilarating, freeing and balancing about expressing yourself through the arts. 

Make time for it. Pencil it in like you would a vital appointment with your doctor. Show up. It matters. Keep commitments to yourself. When you show up, inspiration will strike.

How do you nurture your creative spirit?

12 Literary Quotes to Motivate and Inspire

At the start of a new year, we are all looking for a little inspiration, setting new goals, and hoping for the motivation to carry them past January. One of my favorite places to find inspiration (and get a metaphorical kick in the pants) is in literature. And sometimes movies. Or TV. But someone's writing those, too, so we'll count that as lit for now!

I used to keep manila folders stuffed with my favorite quotes. Now I save them to pinterest, post on social media, or tuck them away in my Evernote files for later reference. Sometimes I just highlight them on kindle or iBooks with the intent of going back to reference them later.

A few years back, I reclaimed my kids' toy room (they're teenagers and beyond!) and converted it to a writing room with the intent of filling the space with inspiration, mementos that represent my personality, and intriguing, motivating or inspiring quotes. I'm lagging a little behind on putting up the quotes. My hope is to eventually carve out enough time to plaster them on my slightly unfinished and more than slightly cluttered writing area. In the meantime, I'll share a bunch of them here. Maybe you'll scribble one or two on a sticky note. Or better yet, post them in your own writing space!

Feel free to pin or post these! What are some of your favorite quotes?

Just Write! Trust me, it works.

Writing a story is like taking a thousand pictures then choosing the best to display. You have to know what to focus on, what to highlight, and what order to place the pictures in to create the strongest emotional response. You also need to be willing to throw some pictures away.

Sometimes when we sit down to write, we feel like we have to get it perfect the first time. We think we must know exactly what we’re doing and how we’re going to get where we want the story to go. But that’s not how stories happen in fiction or in real life. It’s more like throwing the words on the page. There will be plenty of time to put them in the right order later.

Recently my daughter asked for my help on some essays she was working on. She felt frozen, staring at her laptop, wanting to finish before she’d actually started. I told her to just start writing. “But Mom, I don’t have time to write about something that might not end up in the essay. I just don’t have time!” 

While this may feel true, this is not how writing works. Sure, an outline and purposeful direction can help save time. But ultimately, you just need to write. Get the words on the page. Then edit in transitions, meaningful metaphors, and relevant plot details (or supporting facts, in the case of essays). And be willing to throw out your darlings. No, I don’t mean your sweet children, but your favorite turns of phrase or scenes that you’ve discovered don’t actually fit in that story. I save mine in a file linked to my current work-in-progress, just in case I discover I need them again.

The thing is, writing and editing activate different parts of your brain. Writing is creative. Editing is more analytical, though admittedly with a creative twist. Make use of this fact. Avoid constantly switching back and forth between writing and editing. You actually end up saving time if you can get into that writing zone without worrying about perfection. This can help you avoid the dreaded writer’s block, or fear of the blank page. Just write. You’ll be glad you did. Then polish it up later. That’s when the real fun begins!

Happy writing!

How to Use Travel to Enrich Your Writing

Summer is prime travel time, which is awesome, no question. But every writer knows travel can cause interrupted schedules and missed writing time. What's more, the interruptions can affect you before, during, and after the trip! Fortunately, travel can greatly enrich your writing. So arm yourself with these tips, pack your bags, and get ready for some fab fun and inspiration all rolled together!

Spark ideas and ask questions

Learn all you reasonably can about your intended destination ahead of time. Not only will this make your travel experience richer, but it will trigger writing ideas for you. Brainstorm what types of stories or novels you could set in the place your are visiting. What sort of characters might be interesting within this culture? How would characters from a different culture integrate with the one you are planning to visit?

Currently I am preparing for a medical mission to India with my husband. In my preliminary research, I've discovered conflicting opinions about what women tourists should wear. This conflict could easily be woven into a story with humorous or frightening results, depending on what I'm writing.

Organize your research

My favorite method for organizing research for future novels is Scrivener. You can easily import web pages and your own photos (keep them small so you don't bog down). 

The program is set up so you create your own multi-tier research files, which are quickly and easily accessible while you are writing in a separate pane. You can even drag the research files from one scrivener document to another so you can find it quickly for another story set in the same location.

Evernote is another great resource for organizing research and has the added bonus of being accessible by phone or laptop.

Use resources related to your destination

Read novels, memoirs, or travel guides related to your travel destination. The novels could be set in the place you are visiting or written by people from that region. An added bonus - reading these books will help you be aware of what stories are out there so you do not plan to write something that is already saturating the market.

Listen to podcasts. Watch movies. Download apps. I recently downloaded the Google Arts & Culture app so I could learn about Indian architecture, art, museums, and culture ahead of our trip. Whatever resources you explore will open your eyes to details you might otherwise overlook. As you immerse yourself in these resources, the culture you are preparing to write about becomes more like second nature to you.

Keep a travel journal

Ok, I know this is tough. Believe me. You've been out seeing sights. You've walked about a thousand miles and you're exhausted. I used to try to journal about each day every night when I returned to my room. Usually that worked about two days before my exhaustion (or desire to go have more fun!) won out. So here's a couple better strategies that have worked well for me.

Journal on the go

Now I keep a small notebook to jot down ideas or do a quick sketch when inspiration strikes. I'm sure I miss some things. But I try to capture the essence of whatever is fascinating me at the moment. What I can't write at the time, I try to do it later, even if it's on the flight home. I alternate between using a note app on my phone and using paper, depending on a variety of factors. 

Note apps I like: Notes on iPhone is great for quickly recording ideas and information. If you have a mac you can easily send the notes to your laptop then incorporate them into Scrivener. I also love Evernote and save a lot of info there. Just beware of tour guides getting impatient with your notetaking. I once had a guide in Alaska lose his patience and ask who I was texting! He was quite flattered to learn I was taking notes for a possible novel.

Photojournal

Yes, I'm using that as a verb. Photojournal your trip. This is a fantastic way to jog your memory later on. A few years ago, when I was Mexico, I snapped pics of different types of buildings, homes, and wildlife. Later, looking through the photos, I noticed that a family kept a deer penned in their back yard. It brought a lot of questions to mind. Was this deer a pet? Or food? How did they catch it? 

As you curate your photos, keep in mind that those you post on Facebook or instagram will not be the same as those you will want for research or to stir your imagination for writing.

What are some of your favorite ways to use travel to enrich your writing?