What is flash fiction?

Flash fiction (otherwise known as micro-fiction, smoke-long fiction, sudden fiction, short, short fiction and the drabble!) is fiction that is usually shorter than 1000 words. It's dense, often challenging, sometimes uses a traditional story arc and is sometimes poetic. It can be experimental, weird, funny, surreal, shocking, dark. At its best, it is both immediate and moving.

It's an excellent form for new writers and ideal for experienced writers who want to try their hand at something different .

What will this workshop entail?

This is a two hour, real-time online workshop led by award winning flasher, National Flash Fiction Day anthology editor, and WriteClub founder Alison Powell. She will introduce you to some excellent examples of flash fiction and will offer insight into her own process for producing award winning flash. You'll leave the workshop with fresh ideas and (all going well!) a few initial drafts.

In brief, the workshop will:

⚡Introduce you to some awesome flash fiction

⚡ Explore the (blurry) boundaries between flash fiction and prose poetry

⚡Show you how to compose exciting flash

⚡Offer you a wealth of prompts to help you get started

⚡Help you find places to publish.

Alison will give suggestions about where you can take your work next. You'll also leave with a list of websites and competitions where you can submit your finished flash.

About your host

Alison Powell is an experienced workshop facilitator and NLP master practitioner. She holds and MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa and is a Hay Festival Writer at Work.

Her Flash Fiction has been shortlisted, longlisted and highly commended in competitions that include: The Bath Flash Fiction Award, the Reflex Fiction Prize and The Short Story Creative Non-fiction Flash award.

Alison co-edited the 2018 National Flash Fiction Day Anthology and her fiction has been published in several magazines, including Project Calm, Mslexia and Reader's Digest. She has run hundreds of creative writing workshops and courses over the years, so, rest assured, you’ll be in very capable hands!