Flash Fiction

Flash fiction is a favored genre among the English-speaking world’s

most celebrated writers for its ability to convey deep truths and
universal human emotions in just a few short paragraphs. When
done well, flash fiction can convey deep truths and resonate with
readers from all walks of life.

What Is Flash Fiction?

Flash fiction is a genre of fiction, defined as a very short story. While
there is no set word count that separates flash fiction from more
traditional short stories, flash fiction stories can be as short as a few
words (while short stories typically run for several pages). Flash
fiction is also known as sudden fiction, short-short stories,
microfiction, or microstories.

Characteristics of Flash Fiction

Flash fiction stories share a number of common characteristics.

 Brevity. Flash fiction compresses an entire story into the space of a few
paragraphs. There is no defined word count for flash fiction, but some
commonly used word limits in flash fiction range from just six words on the short
end to around 1,000 words on the longer end.
 A complete plot. A flash fiction story is indeed a story, with a beginning, middle,
and end. This sets it apart from a prose poem or vignette, which can explore an
emotion, memory, or thought without a plot.
 Surprise. Great flash fiction often incorporates surprise, usually in the form of a
twist ending or an unexpected last line. This is not a gimmick: the aim is to
prompt the reader to think deeply about the true meaning of the story.
What Are the Origins of Flash Fiction?
Flash fiction dates back to the time of fables and parables. The form was popularized
in the nineteenth century by writers like Walt Whitman, Kate Chopin, and Ambrose
Bierce. Perhaps the best-known flash fiction story is from this time (although
frequently misattributed to Ernest Hemingway). The entire story is six words long:

“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

The amount of emotion packed into these words inspired many writers to try their
hand at the genre. In the 1980s, Robert Shepard and James Thomas published a set
of anthologies of flash fiction called Sudden Fiction, which spurred another resurgence
of the form. Another highly influential anthology was Flash Fiction, published in 1992
by W. W. Norton. It features 72 flash fiction stories and was edited by Tom Hazuka,
Denise Thomas, and James Thomas.
Well known contemporary flash fiction writers include Lydia Davis, George Saunders,
Jamaica Kincaid, Joy Williams, and Stuart Dybek. The literary magazine SmokeLong
Quarterly, founded in 2003, is a dedicated flash fiction magazine, publishing stories of
1,000 words or less.
Learn How To Write Flash Fiction in 6 Steps
Writing flash fiction can be an exercise in creative restraint, whether you intend your
work for publication or just as an exercise. Here’s a quick guide on how to get started.

1. Use strong imagery. Make every single word count. Help your readers visualize
as much as possible.
2. Stick to one moment. Focus on one particular moment in time. Don’t try to cram
in more than one scene into a piece of flash fiction.
3. Work with just one or two characters. Don’t spread your story too thin. If you find
yourself needing more than two characters or two scenes, your story may be
better suited to the short story format.
4. Try first person point of view. This will create an instant connection to the reader
and allow you to express more in fewer words.
5. Surprise your reader. Make sure to end your story on a different emotional note
than the one you started on. Creating surprise is what flash fiction is all about;
take the reader on a journey, no matter how short.
6. Make good use of your title. When you have so few words to work with, your title
can pack a punch. Take Joyce Carol Oates’s flash fiction story Widow’s First
Year. The story reads, simply: “I kept myself alive.”

On Dagli, a Filipino narrative
Young Filipino Writers Prefer Dagli
There is a lot of talk these days among young
authors writing in Filipino about a form of literature
called dagli.
What is dagli? According to them, the basic features
of a dagli are (1) it is a short story and (2) it is very
short. Therefore, it is a short short story.
But how short can a dagli get? How close is it to a
popular form of narrative prose for those who are
writing in English called flash fiction?
The traditional full short story must have a
maximum word count of 1,000 to 9,000 words. It
should be no longer than 20,000 words or around 5
to 20 pages. The Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards
for Literature requires the standard of at least 10 to
25 typewritten pages (double space).
If the narrative prose is lower than 1,000 words, it is
called flash fiction.
It would be easier to trace the roots of dagli if we are
to agree that dagli is a printed material.
For the pre-Hispanic colonialization of the
Philippines is filled with oral tradition of literature.
This is the epic tales sang by binukot and present in
different indigenous peoples. There are also poems
that were sung in various occasions like
the talindaw and tigpasin (songs for catching
fish), kundiman (song of love), kumintang (war
song), oyayi/hele (lullabies), lihiman (wedding
song), and indulain (song while strolling). We have
the bugtong and salawikain. And then there are
poems like tanaga, ambahan, and diona.
Early poems were etched on leaves and bamboo
which means they were short and simple.
The earliest dagli, according to scholars, appeared in
the maiden issue of the Cebuano newspaper Ang
Suga (“The Light” dated July 16, 1901). The
narrative “Maming,” written by Vicente Sotto, was
about a submissive female devotee named Maming
who served the local parish. A prayle got her
pregnant.
 from ‘Unang 800 Sagisag Kultura ng Filipinas’
Sotto was a politician with a rich family background.
He is regarded as the Father of Cebuano Short Story.
“Maming” is considered the first Cebuano short
story.
If we are to recognize this claim, the first dagli was
written in Cebuano. Did Sotto call his masterpiece
“dagli” or was it “istorya” or “sugilanon”—the
equivalent of “story” in Cebuano?
As Rolando Tolentino had observed, Sotto’s
“Maming” was sort of a filler of the newspaper. 
Like a “special feature story” printed in the front
page.
The function of dagli was similar to feuilleton (from
the French word feuillet or “leaf of a book”), a
supplement article inserted beside the political news
of French newspapers in the old times. It contains
articles ranging from non-political, literary, and art
criticism to gossip and latest fashion trends.
If dagli, as Tolentino had defined it, was any article
including literary bits, it is not just limited to
narrative prose. It is not just fiction. Tolentino tried
to prove his point by publishing his collection Sakit
ng Kalingkingan: 100 Dagli sa Edad ng Krisis. Most
of his brand of dagli in the book was of the essay-
type, and without a trace of fiction, as they were
short feature stories.
Young fictionists today think otherwise. Dagli is a
short short story—the Filipino counterpart of flash
fiction. One may wonder if the definition is set in
black and white: if, say a short story of less than
1,000 words, is in English, it is flash fiction; if it is
in Filipino, it could only be dagli.
According to Virgilio Almario, the short short
narratives published in the Spanish colonialization
period were called rápidá (Spanish for
“quick”), instantanéa (Spanish for ng “hurried”),
or rafága (Spanish for “spark”). According to
the UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino, dagli, as a literary
work, is sudden fiction.
The trouble is that “flash fiction” itself is a new
term. It was first coined in the anthology Flash
Fiction: Seventy-Two Very Short Stories published
in 1992. James Thomas, one of the editors, in his
introduction to the book, defined flash fiction as a
short narrative that can fit into a two-page space of a
typical literary digest. No stories in the book have
more than 750 words.
In his book Ang Maikling Kuwentong Tagalog
(1886-1948), Teodoro Agoncillo defined dagli as a
narrative in three pages or less and is not really a
short story.
Vicente Groyon, editor of flash fiction
anthologies Very Short Stories for Harried
Readers and Mga Kuwentong Paspasan, said the
narratives in the books were from one to three pages.
Also, they were 750 words or less. Groyon,
however, did not use the term dagli for the Filipino
works.
Are we suppose to use the term kuwentong
paspasan (“hurried stories”), as Groyon suggested,
instead of dagli?
There have been an outpour of dagli collections out
in the market in the recent decade. Eros Atalia
published Taguan-Pung (at Manwal ng mga
Napapagal), Peksman [mamatay ka man]
Nagsisinungaling ako, and Wag Lang Di Makaraos
(100 Dagli Mga Kwentong Pasaway, Paaway at
Pamatay). Abdon Balde published his 100 Kislap.
Jack Alvarez self-published memoir/dagli
collection Ang Autobiografia ng Ibang Lady Gaga.
And I self-published Emotero.
Surely, there is a bunch of dagli or flash fiction
published in campus newspapers and literary folios
and even online (in blogs and Facebook notes).
What we know is that this form is here to stay as a
literary piece. There is just one detail that we need to
know about dagli: the sudden twist at the end of the
story.
References:
Agoncillo, Teodoro, Ang Maikling Kuwetong
Tagalog (1886-1948). Manila: Inang Wika
Publishing, 1954
Almario, Virgilio.Unang 800 Sagisag Kultura ng
Filipinas Edisyong Hulyo 2012.Filipinas Institute of
Translation, Inc., 2012
Almario, Virgilio.UP Diksiyonaryong
Filipino.Sentro ng Wikang Filipino, 2001
Thomas, James, et al.Flash Fiction: seventy-two
Very Short Stories. Norton, 1992
Tolentino, Roland, Pag-aklas, pagbaklas
pagbagtas: politikal na kritisismong
pampanitikan. Quezon City: UP Press, 2009
………………………
Published in Philippine Panorama (March 31, 2013)