Flash fiction is a type of fictional storytelling that strips the text down to the minimum without losing the impact or elegance of a story. Typically, these fictional pieces range between as few as 100 words to about 1000 words. Flash fiction contains all of the components of a longer story such as character development, plot, and themes.
In Richard Currey’s Fatal Light, the aspects of flash fiction can be seen simply by the way the book is broken down into six different sections and each section having many short chapters. Each chapter has its own idea or reason for its existence which is the importance of flash fiction, getting the point or main idea across without excess. These short chapters go in a logical order, but they also make the reader think because your mind jumps just as it seems each chapter jumps from one to the next. In section 5 of Mortal Places, the simple statement “I’ll be OK” (22), shows that there can be great emotion behind only four words. He is talking to his mother about leaving to go to war, and while he says I’ll be OK, the reader can hear and feel the fear and uncertainty behind those words. These four words hold so much weight to them and Richard Currey pulls the reader through so many different emotions as this book continues.
Flash fiction is not restricted to simple words and phrases to convey the plot of a story; flash fiction has descriptive and poetic writing in it as well. An example of this is section 15 in Siagon, it is a letter to Mary. This letter not only has underlying emotions but the wording is beautiful even though it is describing “a bureaucratic conspiracy” and “bodies (that) were piled to rot in the center of the village” (130). It is these short chapters of only half a page that capture the moments that Richard Currey jumps between with each new chapter. Each chapter acting like an individual moment that the reader is forced to fully focus on. With flash fiction there is not enough time to get lost in the words of a chapter because each one is so short, forcing the reader to be constantly engaged.
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Flash fiction is a type of fictional storytelling that strips the text down to the minimum without losing the impact or elegance of a story. Typically, these fictional pieces range between as few as 100 words to about 1000 words. Flash fiction contains all of the components of a longer story such as character development, plot, and themes, yet every word has meaning often beyond its initial meaning.
ReplyDeleteIn Richard Currey’s Fatal Light, the aspects of flash fiction can be seen simply by the way the book is broken down into six different sections and each section having many short chapters. Each chapter has its own idea or reason for its existence which is the importance of flash fiction, getting the point or main idea across without excess. These short chapters go in a logical order, but they also make the reader think because your mind jumps just as it seems each chapter jumps from one to the next. Even though each chapter jumps from one to the next, each chapter as well as each section has its own beginning, middle, and end, which is important when remembering that this is a fictional story. In section 5 of Mortal Places, the simple statement “I’ll be OK” (22), shows that there can be great emotion behind only three words. He is talking to his mother about leaving to go to war, and while he says I’ll be OK, the reader can hear and feel the fear and uncertainty behind those words. These four words hold so much weight to them and Richard Currey pulls the reader through so many different emotions throughout this book.
Flash fiction is not restricted to simple words and phrases to convey the plot of a story; flash fiction has descriptive and poetic writing in it as well. An example of this is section 15 in Siagon, it is a letter to Mary. This letter not only has underlying emotions but the wording is beautiful even though it is describing “a bureaucratic conspiracy” and “bodies (that) were piled to rot in the center of the village” (130). It is these short chapters of only half a page that capture the moments that Richard Currey jumps between with each new chapter. Each chapter acts like an individual moment that the reader is forced to fully focus on. With flash fiction there is not enough time to get lost in the words of a chapter because each one is short, forcing the reader to be constantly engaged.