tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post4188580086279428061..comments2024-03-14T18:09:09.667-05:00Comments on Do Some Damage: Flash, Holmes, PodcastUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-63010542242825477392010-01-08T11:32:36.546-05:002010-01-08T11:32:36.546-05:00Steve,
Thanks for the plug, and as people can see...Steve,<br /><br />Thanks for the plug, and as people can see from the author list, we have a good mix of writers and aspiring writers. The beauty of flash fiction is that it gives everyone a creative outlet, and a chance to tell their stories, as most everyone has at least one good story in them.Cormac Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02990698766444728760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-3870300089855974892010-01-06T11:30:29.342-05:002010-01-06T11:30:29.342-05:00Patti,
I think you're probably right. Around ...Patti,<br /><br />I think you're probably right. Around 3k seems a decent length for story. Compact, yet room to explore something.Steve Weddlehttp://dosomedamage.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-9690763834621836302010-01-05T11:09:03.487-05:002010-01-05T11:09:03.487-05:00Chuck continues the thinking over hereChuck continues the thinking over <a href="http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2010/01/05/exposing-yourself-do-you-write-for-free/" rel="nofollow">here</a>Steve Weddlehttp://dosomedamage.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-54533248729291966962010-01-05T07:22:28.735-05:002010-01-05T07:22:28.735-05:00I find flash fiction incredibly difficult to write...I find flash fiction incredibly difficult to write and have never decided whether the story requires an especially good ending to succeed. I prefer about 2500-3500 words.pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-39932871744728316342010-01-04T19:56:04.504-05:002010-01-04T19:56:04.504-05:00Steve:
Paying attention is good -- but I don'...Steve:<br /><br />Paying attention is good -- but I don't know how far that goes. If I draw people to me or one of my "places," then paying attention is positive. But if the quality of my work is drawing readers to someone else's "place" -- then, as a writer, a writer with a career and a word count and a pay rate, I expect to see some measure of compensation. <br /><br />See, here's the dirty secret: reading a lot of "we don't pay!" sites gets me a lot of "not worth paying for!" fiction. It's usually 60% less-than-good, and 40% good or better. (And that's generous.) That means I'm less likely to see the 40%, and further, I'm less likely to actually remember it in a meaningful way.<br /><br />What that means is, if your work is in the "good or better" category, then by god, you can get paid for it. Maybe not a lot -- but something. <br /><br />Writers should be in control of giving material away for free as a value add, I agree -- I just don't think "free under somebody else's umbrella" is value for the writer. In that case, it's writer doing work. And a writer doing work is a writer who should be compensated for quality. Don't work for free.<br /><br />As Harlan Ellison says: "Pay the writer."<br /><br />Of course, Harlan Ellison also says a lot of crazy shit.<br /><br />Further, this is less and less about flash fiction. Oops! Threadcrapping, ahoy.<br /><br />-- c.Chuckhttp://www.terribleminds.com/ramblenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-48272485783995936562010-01-04T11:52:10.118-05:002010-01-04T11:52:10.118-05:00Yeah, it's funny you write about this today. I...Yeah, it's funny you write about this today. I never really even knew about flash fiction until a few years ago and I was hooked. I still don't think it's my strongest form, but I love it for all of the reasons you mentioned above.Bryon Quertermoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18142740189973184854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-26210393551471357222010-01-04T11:46:29.865-05:002010-01-04T11:46:29.865-05:00Bryon has a challenge for you flashy writers >&...Bryon has a challenge for you flashy writers >> <br />http://bryonquertermous.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/the-screw-resolutions-and-get-your-ass-in-gear-for-2010-flash-fiction-open/Steve Weddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03876211586767139613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-41301365101071999742010-01-04T10:59:28.470-05:002010-01-04T10:59:28.470-05:00I'm a concise writer by nature. Many of my sto...I'm a concise writer by nature. Many of my stories are classified as flash by the upper limit of 1,000 words, but I always try to tell a complete story as opposed to one with flash's conventional surprise twist or gimmick ending.<br /><br />I have no personal preference for flash. I write whatever comes to mind (short story, long story, poem, review). When I get stuck, it's usually because I'm thinking too much about one longer project or other. Having a flash challenge or anything else keeps me juggling; that's when I'm most creative.<br /><br />I don't look down on any type of writing, but there's no denying certain types of writing pay better. So I encourage writers not to stick to one type/genre/form. I don't know who will read my work, so I put my best into everything I write and hope whoever reads appreciates that.Gerald Sohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03571407711439433431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-56015639638873392082010-01-04T10:15:13.603-05:002010-01-04T10:15:13.603-05:00I thought flash fiction was a waste of time until ...I thought flash fiction was a waste of time until I read some good flashes in one of Patti Abbott's challenges. That got me to fooling around with it myself, and now I like reading and writing it a lot.<br /><br />Not all story ideas are well-suited for it. It's perfect for fooling around with an idea, of seeing what you can make of an idea that doesn't seem to want to expand much. Now I find good flash fiction implies another, much larger story, but is told in a small, self-contained package. It's also great practice for weeding out unnecessary words and keeping the writing tight. There's no room for anything else.Dana Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01350344882342624735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-3495144931278833882010-01-04T09:46:24.123-05:002010-01-04T09:46:24.123-05:00Chuck, I see your point. Maybe we have to look at ...Chuck, I see your point. Maybe we have to look at 'payment.' If someone pays attention to your writing, is that payment? If you enjoy getting your stuff out there, isn't that payment enough? As opposed to getting paid in cash and then using the cash to buy something that makes you happy?<br /><br />John, I've read a couple of your books and wouldn't describe them as "really just" anything. Well, really just fantastic. Hmm. OK. But more than little fictions strung together. Though the key could be in the stringing. The books folks do that are a "story cycle" or "linked stories" or whatever the cool kids call them are oddly appealing. More than short stories. Less commitment than a novel?Steve Weddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03876211586767139613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-67132245302606214152010-01-04T09:38:37.404-05:002010-01-04T09:38:37.404-05:00Before I'd ever heard of flash fiction (I am g...Before I'd ever heard of flash fiction (I am generally pretty slow on the uptake) I'd started to gravitate towards books that were made up of a lot of small sections, really short chapters or even collections of short stories that had, like Raymond Carver, a lot of very short stories.<br /><br />So while flash fiction seems limiting (well, I guess when word counts are actually limited it doesn't "seem" limiting, it is limiting) it's also something that can be built on. My books are really just a wholebunch of flash fictions strung together.<br /><br />Or maybe I just like something I can read on the subway, I don't know.John McFetridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09442198820998606682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-32693779389847638082010-01-04T08:10:14.349-05:002010-01-04T08:10:14.349-05:00I think flash fiction is perfectly suited to the w...I think flash fiction is perfectly suited to the web -- sometimes, you just don't want to read 5k words on your monitor (especially if you have a 13" laptop monitor or an iPhone screen). Flash fiction is bite-sized awesome.<br /><br />The only thing I'd take exception with is payment --<br /><br />While there's some value in Getting Noticed with free work, mostly I'm on board with the idea that you either get paid *something* or you don't do it at all. Enough venues still offer a little coin that it's worth approaching them first.<br /><br />Now, I say this as someone who contributes to a free fiction space, Jet Pack (jet-pack.net) -- but that's a selfish, private space, a space I and the other two writers control. It brings people to us as opposed to away from our online, erm, "presences," and further, we're allowed to post whatever we want. No submission process; it's ours. It's a place to experiment and what-not. (Similar to the collective here at DSD, I suppose?)<br /><br />Just my two cents on that. Spend them, or pitch them violently at a hobo.<br /><br />-- ChuckChuckhttp://www.terribleminds.com/ramblenoreply@blogger.com