Flash fiction refers to an extremely short form story. As noted by author Jason Gurley at Writing-World.com, it has many charming names, including "pocket-sized" or "sudden" fiction.
Although brief—500 words max for our contest—flash fiction is still recognizably a story. It has an arc, a beginning, middle, and an end. The focus may be micro, but the emotional content and sense of character and meaning should be expressed.
Clearly, with a mere 500 words to play with, prose becomes notably pared. Even if you prefer longer form writing, experimenting with flash can be a way to challenge yourself to find the heart of a story, to choose exact, purposeful nouns and verbs rather than relying on adjectives and adverbs.
If you visit the Writing-World site, you will also find some suggestions for how to do this. Ruthless cutting may be in order, but sometimes the bone laid bare is a thing of beauty.
If you'd like to read some examples, the SmokeLong Quarterly publishes flash fiction (i.e. a story that takes the length of a smoke to read).
