10 Short Flash Fiction Prompts for Overcoming Writer’s Block
What is flash fiction?
‘Flash fiction’ is a medium of very short stories, generally under 1,000 words, sometimes referred to as napkin fiction, short shorts, postcard fiction, or including microfiction (stories of under 100 words).
Flash is its own form, uniquely suited to innovation and experimentation. It is not bound to the same rules as the traditional short story. That’s what makes it so exciting to read and write.
- Kathy Fish, TSS Flash Fiction interview
Flash isn’t just a pared back short story; successful flash is economical, focusing on movement and mood. While an effective short story hinges heavily on plot and character, flash fiction offers a small glimpse into your tale’s universe, so you’re free to take risks with the typical linchpins of structure and story. Writing flash is also an excellent way to kickstart your creative juices and get inspired for longer form stories.
Where do I start?
With so few words to play with, the best flash tends to begin in the middle of the action. ‘Action’ here doesn’t have to mean a car chase or an explosive argument, it might be as simple as someone deciding to make an important phone call or taking a trip to the corner shop. The key is that flash fiction demands more from the reader in terms of exposition. There isn’t the space for lengthy establishing paragraphs or detailed introductions to character, so your imagery has to do a lot of heavy lifting to set forth your story.
Regarding characters, it’s difficult to make a flash work if you have too many of them. The most successful flash tends to stick to one point of view.
While economy forces flash fiction to rely less decidedly on the formal constraints of plot, your story still needs to have a beginning, a middle and an end, along with a sense of conflict. You need to find significance in your chosen moment, however minuscule this might be. Try to start with a hook, and make sure your ending packs a punch. Your title should also work hard for its money.
Most importantly, read great flash fiction. You’ll learn what works, and what doesn’t, as well as opening your eyes to the possibilities of the form.
10 prompts to get you started
- Imagine your character is stuck in the middle seat on a plane, sat between a ten-year-old girl who is listening to music without headphones and an old woman with a babydoll on her lap.
- Your narrator desperately wants to reach out to someone (a child, a friend, a teacher, a brother) who is no longer in their life for some reason. Maybe they’re no longer alive, or maybe there’s been a bust-up so catastrophic that your narrator feels the bridge is burned. Have them rehearse the conversation that they’d like to have and imagine their absent conversation partner’s responses in their own head.
- Experiment with writing about a character at various points throughout their life, but frame the episodes around one particular repeated action or event. A few examples: every time your character has drank tequila; every occasion they’ve has gone to church; every time they’ve swam outdoors; every time they’ve dyed their hair a different colour; every time they’ve missed a train.
- Someone appears at your character’s front door trying to sell them double glazing. What might they tap into that makes your character consider inviting them inside?
- Write about two adult sisters who are stuck in a traffic jam journeying home for Christmas.
- Explore a character who collects something unusual. It might be ceramic frogs, apple-scented candles, bobblehead figurines. What makes them collect this particular object?
- Imagine a character who has just seen a ghost in their kitchen. Who is the ghost? How do they feel about sharing their space with their spirit? Why is the ghost in the kitchen?
- Your character has just smashed their partner’s favourite mug, and they’re standing holding the fragments. Did they do it on purpose, or by accident? What will they do next?
- Write about a teenage boy who has run away from home. Where has he gone? Try to hint at why he fled without actually writing it down.
- Tell the story of a relationship, starting each sentence with the words ‘Remember when…’. Try to focus on tiny snippets of moments, for example: ‘Remember when I shaved your head and you told me you looked like a serial killer’, ‘Remember when you dipped the baby’s dummy in whiskey and said she would sleep better’, ‘Remember when we ate oysters for the first time’.
