I recently completed Clarion West‘s Flash Fiction workshop. It was my first ever class focused on works shorter than a novel–flash fiction is typically capped around 1,000 words. I took the class as a way to stay in my writing brain in between novel drafts, but I’ve been surprised at how well it has translated to novel writing. Surprised and relieved, as I’m trying to edit my 190,000 word draft down to something reasonable. Here are a few things that have carried over from writing flash to writing the novel.
My writing is more vivid.
When your word count is only 1,000, every one counts. Which means strong verbs and precise language are key. Sure, I could say she ran as fast as her legs could carry her out the back door. But why say that mouthful, when I could simply say, she bolted out the back. While a novel may have room for extra words (maybe yours does, my behemoth doesn’t), using fewer, stronger words has made my novel more vivid and more interesting.
My chapter pacing is better.
Writing flash gave me a new instinct for how long 1,000 words feels, and I’ve seen how much story I can fit in to that short length. So if a character spends 1,000 words buttering her toast, I know I need to revisit the chapter arc (unless it’s very important toast). This internal clock has kept me from getting stuck in mid-chapter doldrums, and the overall word count of my chapters has dropped (phew!).
I’m quicker to cut out fluff.
Flash helped me see where I over-explain things–which both wastes words and makes the writing less sharp. If I say her head pounded with a headache, which throbbed behind her right eye, I’ve now said in three different ways that this character has a headache. Instead, I’ll look for the strongest description and cut the throat-clearing fluff. I can give the same information by only saying, a headache throbbed behind her right eye.
KT Reed Writes 