Exercise: In a Flash (Version 2)

Prepared by: Eric Petersen
Posted on: January 20, 2002
Reposted, revised: July 22, 2007

Exercise: In 500 words or less, write a flash fiction story that includes a
beginning, a middle, and an end. One or more characters must be involved.
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A flash story must begin immediately and move quickly
toward the end--no long descriptions, no unessential words.
The goal is to present a single effect resulting from a single
cause. The character(s) must experience and react to events,
and the outcome must be swift.

Use your own ideas or write a flash story based on the
following scenario: a man notices a curious object abandoned
on a park bench and investigates it. The object could be a
toy that brings back happy or unhappy memories that cause
him to make a choice, a document that sends him on a quest,
or anything else that sets the story in motion.

Flash stories may be from 100 to 1,000 words long;
publishers vary in their requirements. In this case, we chose
the middle ground.
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