Flash Fiction Vs. Short Story

When I started writing at ten-years-old, I always imagined myself writing novels. I never saw myself writing flash fiction and short stories.

And yet, here we are.

For a long time, I used the terms interchangeably. I was much older when I realized I wrote flash fiction more than short stories. The thing is, they’re very different based on length. The only way they’re similar is that they have the same goal: they must have a beginning, middle, and end—like any other written story of any length.

Story Length

When you think of different lengths of stories, you’ll probably think of the following, from shortest to longest:

• Flash Fiction
• Short Story
• Novelette
• Novella
• Novel
• Epic

Ironically enough, the longer the label, the shorter the story.

For the sake of this post, we’ll stick to talking about flash fiction and short stories.

Subcategories of Length

Flash fiction can be called many names depending on its length. At most, these stories are typically up to 1,000 words. However, some may be up to 1,500 words.

Flash fiction can be any amount of words and have its own subcategory as long as it’s under that 1,000 to 1,500 limit.

• Six-word story – 6 words
• Dribble or Mini-saga – 50 words
• Drabble – 100 words exactly
• Micro-fiction or Nano-fiction – less than 300 words
• Postcard Fiction – up to 500 words
• Sudden Fiction – 750 words

Definitions

Flash fiction is a concise story told in a “flash” of a moment. These tiny stories highlight temporary situations or characters to give readers quick insight or entertainment. They typically focus on one character and conflict.

There is sometimes a clear beginning, middle, and an end to a flash fiction piece; it’s just not as detailed as a short story or novel.

Short stories are more developed, containing a clear beginning, middle, and end. You also follow one or two characters closely and get to know them throughout.

Despite not being as developed as novels, they allow readers to connect quickly with the characters and world.

Short stories are typically between 1,500 and 7,500 words. However, some short stories can be up to 10,000 words.

Why Write Them?

If you have a story idea, then your first thought is probably to turn it into a novel. We all have the same thoughts when first writing: turn the story into an epic novel, get it published, turn it into a movie, and so on. Don’t deny it; we’ve all had that thought at one point or another.

The fact is, not every story is suitable as a novel. You can expand upon the idea as much as you can, avoiding filler and needless details, but some stories are better suited as short and sweet.

Is this a bad thing? No. It’s actually the opposite.

Practice

Writing flash fiction or a short story reminds you to tighten your writing craft. It allows you to practice concise writing, strengthening your vocabulary, and learning to avoid filler.

All the while you hone your writing skills, you’re also developing yourself as a writer. The more you write, the more you uncover your ideal writer’s voice and writing style.

Many writers, especially newer writers, believe they have to do something with every piece of writing they create. They either need to throw it up on their blog or self-publish it on a story website. They need to add it on social media or anywhere people can see it.

However, not all writing needs to be shared. Share it if you want, of course, but some creative work should stay with you and only you.

If you don’t share your writing, that doesn’t mean you’re not practicing. You’re still improving even if others don’t see it. Any progress is still progress.

Prompts

Speaking of practicing, using writing prompts is a great way to practice writing flash fiction or short stories. Writing prompts are a good starting point, regardless of you having a novel idea or not.

Find writing prompts on the internet, social media, or create one yourself using your current surroundings. Start with a character, a conflict idea, or even a generic setting. See where the idea takes you and challenge yourself to write concisely within the flash fiction or short story umbrellas.

New Ideas

Speaking of prompts, these will help you gain new ideas. Writing isn’t always easy and coming up with new storylines can be difficult. Utilizing writing prompts and practicing short form writing is a great way to develop new ideas.

Earlier, I mentioned that not every story idea suits a novel. However, sometimes it’s the opposite. You may write a flash fiction or short story that keeps expanding upon itself. Thus, you create a developed novel idea.

Why I Write Flash Fiction and Short Stories

When I was ten-years-old, I wrote novels. I wanted to be a full-time author and thought writing novels was the only way to do so. Now I’m much older and have been in the writing industry for years. I know better.

There is no one way to make a career out of writing. Novel writing isn’t the only form of storytelling. Also, there are numerous ways to practice writing and strengthen your craft.

None of these are reasons why I began writing flash fiction and short stories.

In fact, I didn’t even know the difference between the two. I wrote flash fiction and claimed them as short stories online. That’s where my Short Story Sunday came into play on my blog. Every Sunday, I’d publish a flash fiction saying it was a short story.

I eventually understood the difference and began writing short stories. Short Story Sunday turned into one short story each month, broken into four or five parts depending on how many Sundays were in the month. I went from writing 100 to 500 word flashes each week to 4,000 to 8,000 word shorts each month.

So, why did I start doing that in the first place? The answer is pretty silly, but that’s what you get from a young writer who was still in middle school.

Writing flash fiction or short stories is “faster.”

Fewer words mean less work, right? After all, writing 1,000 words takes much less time than writing 10,000 words or 100,000 words.

Unfortunately, this isn’t true at all. Sure, writing that first draft will technically be faster. However, the editing takes a long time. Since you’re trying to write a story in such a small amount of time, editing out filler, unnecessary details, and needless dialogue proves to be difficult. Thus, taking up a lot of time.

Writing flash fiction or short stories is “easier.”

It is not.

Remember what I just mentioned about editing short pieces? It’s not simple at all. It’s frustrating and easy to get stuck. When thinking about the features in novels versus short form content, you can breathe easy knowing you don’t need multiple plotlines, a huge cast of characters, and worry about world building.

And yet, short pieces still need those elements, but it’s limited and brief. That in itself is a challenge.

I started writing short fiction for the wrong reasons.

But of course, I wouldn’t be the writer I am today. If I had known short form, writing would be difficult and wouldn’t be faster, if I had known the difference between flash fiction and short stories, I wouldn’t have started.

I would have wanted to start writing short form, but I’d research it until the end of time. I wouldn’t start until I thought I knew everything there was to know about writing short fiction. In other words, I wouldn’t start until I thought I’d be perfect at it.

Hello, perfectionism and imposter syndrome. Sometimes ignorance can be bliss. If you think you know what you need to know, you’ll do what you want to do. As long as you keep an open mind, you can learn along the way.

I Never Imagined I’d Write Short Fiction

I originally started Short Story Sunday to get my work out there and to build an audience. Why? Because I thought it’s be “easier” and “faster” to build a portfolio of fiction pieces. Then, by the time I completed my novel, I’d be a pro at creative writing.

Yeah, that didn’t happen. No one is a “pro” at writing. There’s always something new to learn and improve upon.

Yet, most of my creative writing is short form.

Give it a try. You may fall in love with it.