Going Short

Flash fiction has been reshaping how stories get told. Its writers strip a piece down to what matters most, keeping the core and dropping everything else, yet the result can look deceptively simple. Nancy Stohlman, an experienced writer, guides readers through the process in Going Short: An Invitation to Flash Fiction. She covers how to draft, shape, and revise very short pieces, how to gather them into a collection, and practical habits that help writers in any genre.

The book reads as a friendly, witty conversation, and it is practical throughout. Its chapters are themselves written as flash fiction, so each one demonstrates the form while explaining it.

Devoted readers of flash fiction will find the book energizing, teachers can use it as a resource in the classroom, and anyone new to the form may come away ready to try writing their own.