30 DAYS

of FLASH
A Micro Workbook to Jump Start Your Writing

DARIEN GEE
AUTHOR | TEACHER | MENTOR

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30 DAYS OF FLASH WORKBOOK DARIEN GEE

// Every word must earn its breakfast. //

JOHN GILLARD

What is Flash?
Flash is fiction or nonfiction prose of 1,500 words or less. Other short-short forms
include:

Six-word: 6 words or less

Postcard: 30 words or less
Dribble: 50 words or less
Nano: 55 words or less
Drabble: 100 words or less
Micro: 300 words or less
Sudden: 750 words or less

In social media, we regularly see inventive and provocative stories in small doses:

Snapchat: 80 characters (approximately 19 words with spaces)

Twitter: 280 characters (approximately 50 words with spaces)
Instagram: 2,200 characters (approximately 390 words with spaces)

Flash is not about cramming everything into a small space or stopping your story
once it’s hit the appropriate word count. Good flash stories have a point of focus and
hone in right away. Think compression, think distillation, think boiling a story down
to its essential truths. Some writers liken flash to looking through a keyhole or,
smaller still, a pinhole. When something catches your eye, stay there—everything
else must fall away.

There should be a shift from the beginning of the story to the end—something must
change or be revealed, something significant to warrant our undivided attention.
Flash is meant to be read in a single sitting, and in China there are many terms for

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short-short prose, including “smoke-long stories” (一袋烟小说) which can be read

(and finished) while smoking a cigarette, or “palm-sized stories" (掌篇小说) which
tuck neatly into the palm of your hand.

Plot
The plot (event or events in a story) doesn’t have to be huge (car wreck, explosion,
death), but the experience of the event should be. In flash prose, readers are
expecting an intensity in the work—think lightning flash, flash of genius, flash point,
flash in the pan. Something has shifted, and quickly. Readers of flash expect to see
the ground move in a few sentences or paragraphs.

Try this: Start in the middle of your story. Or immediately after the event has
happened. Keep things in motion by parachuting us into the center of the action.

Characters
Your characters need to reveal something to the reader. What has happened to
them? What is going to happen to them? Flash is an opportunity to tell a story within
a story. Maybe something big is happening, like a parade on a street, and a fight
breaks out between two members of the marching band. Scan the crowd as if looking
through a pair of binoculars—who is that person slipping away? Why does she have a
satisfied smile on their face? What is she carrying in her arms? Deep dive right there.

Language
In flash prose, every word matters. There’s no time for sloggy backstories or verbose
explanations. Choose language that is sharp, meaningful, and metaphorical.

Avoid clichés or tropes—you don’t need them. Good flash turns an assumption on its
head. Make sure your words move the story forward—let the language be simple and
clear. If there were ever a time to watch your adverbs, this is it.

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// Employ everyday speech to transcend everyday speech. //

BUSON

Titles
Let the title of your flash piece do some heavy lifting. Titles are a tip-off to the reader,
a hint of what’s to come. You might also find your title after your piece is written,
buried in the prose itself. Some titles are even full sentences. At the end of each
writing session, be sure add the title of your new story to the Table of Contents on the
second to last page of this workbook.

Details
Successful flash rocks with imagery and details—it should be as vivid and visual as
possible. The tendency with short prose is to tell, so consider this a chance to work
on your showing skills. Readers should be able to picture your flash piece as if they
were standing right there, witnessing the story as it unfolds.

Pitfalls to Avoid When Writing Flash

• Too much telling • Too much dialogue
• Too many characters • Too vague
• Lack of narrative arc • Not grounding the reader in a
• Lack of clear focus time/place/situation

Read, Read, Read

The best way to learn about writing flash is to read as much flash as you can. The
good news: it won’t take very long. Check out the “Suggested Reading” on p. 9.

// You might as well keep whatever you have to say short. //

CHARLES BAXTER

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30 DAYS OF FLASH WORKBOOK DARIEN GEE

Getting Ready
Begin by deciding what kind of flash parameters you want to use. Establishing a
structure tells your brain, “This is what’s about to happen,” and allows your brain to
organize accordingly. Unlike freewriting where you can creatively meander in
whatever direction you please, flashwriting begins with a few simple rules:

1. Your flash word count.

2. Your focus (a character and what happens or has happened to them, and what
comes next).
3. The time frame in which you’ll write a first draft.

Remember to treat everything as fiction, even the real stuff (you can always call it
creative nonfiction later). Set yourself up for success by eliminating distractions.
Leave your phone in another room, close out (not just minimize) all social media
sites, and tell friends/family members/adorable pets that you will not be available
during this time.

You’ll also need something to write with/on, and a timing device. Take a three-hole
punch to this workbook and keep it in a binder, then print the last page of this
workbook (the lined pages) as many times as you need. Keep all your work together
so it’s easy to see your progress.

Use the prompts or come up with one of your own. If you’re working on a memoir,
flash is a great way to traverse difficult territory that might otherwise feel
intimidating. If you’re working on a novel, take your characters and write flash
fiction about events that occur outside the pages of your novel, but affect the story
nonetheless.

When you’re finished with 30 flash pieces, update the Table of Contents. Then go out
and celebrate!

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Take the 30-Day Challenge

Use this workbook to establish a writing practice for yourself, or deepen the practice
you already have, for the next 30 days. If you really want to go hardcore, do each
exercise in order instead of skipping around—take each assignment and work it. I
recommend writing all 30 days before going back to edit, or take a day each week
where you review your writing and decide what to do next.

The prompts are just that: prompts. If they lead you someplace else, by all means, go!
Consider them jumping off points, giving you focused freedom with your storytelling.

Now take out your calendar and choose a start/end date. Then decide:

• if you’ll write on weekends or public holidays

• what time of day you’ll write
• where you will write

If incentives help, decide what you will do/buy at the end of the 30 days, including
sending me an email at darien@dariengee.com to brag about your success.

Start date: End Date:

When I complete this workbook, I’ll reward myself by:

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Revising
The process of revision is like polishing a rough stone—the more you do it, the
smoother it gets. If a piece was particularly hard to write, put it aside for a while and
work on something else.

The beauty of flash is that you can play and experiment with relative ease as
compared to, say, a 95,000-word novel. Change a point of view, a verb tense, or start
with the last sentence and write the story backwards.

Here are a few things to look out for during the revision process, but don’t stress
about them while you’re writing:

• Adverbs. Use sparingly, if at all.

• Eliminate words such as
o just
o really
o of course
o very
• Keep dialogue tags simple (say, said). If using descriptive tags (cried, yelled,
sobbed, laughed, etc.), make sure they’re necessary and not overdramatic.
• Read the entire piece out loud. Circle areas where you stumble, pause, or
replace whatever is written with another word.
• Think about the senses. What can the reader see, hearW, feel, smell, taste?
• Break out the thesaurus. Is there a better word that carries more weight?
• Identify images in your writing.
• Find the emotional beats of the story. What are the stakes? Is there a
climax? A clear dénouement or ending?
• Delete the first line. How does that change the story?
• Which sentences jump out? Underline them.
• Who is the main character? Who are the other characters? What do they add
to the story and are they essential?

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• Does anything seem gimmicky or cliché? What about overtly sentimental?

• What does the reader know by the last sentence?
• What has changed from the beginning of the story to the end? Was it
predictable? Where, if applicable, was the twist or reveal?
• Sometimes what isn’t said is as powerful as what is said, especially in flash.

Once you’ve revised your work until you can’t stand to look at it anymore, let it sit for
a while, and then come back and decide what to do next.

// I would have written a shorter letter,

but I did not have the time. //
BLAISE PASCAL

Submitting Your Work

Maybe you’re writing a collection of biographical flash pieces for your family. Maybe
you’re a novelist using a few flash exercises to understand the complexity of your
story. Maybe you’re a nonfiction author experimenting with lyrical, evocative prose.
Whatever the case, writing flash can help you get there.

If you aspire to publish your work, here are a few places that regularly accept flash
fiction or nonfiction (note: some have reading fees). Submittable is a submission
platform that lists publications currently accepting flash prose as well as flash
contest deadlines. It also tracks your submissions. I recommend signing up; it’s free.

Regional/Hawai‘i literary magazines

• Hawai‘i Pacific Review: https://hawaiipacificreview.org/submissions/
• Hawai‘i Review: http://hawaiireview.org/submit
• Bamboo Ridge: https://www.bambooridge.com/submission.aspx

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Print/Online Magazines
• 100 Word Story: http://www.100wordstory.org/submit/
• Brevity: https://brevitymag.com/submissions/
• Brilliant Flash Fiction: https://brilliantflashfiction.com/writing-contests/
• Broadsided Press: https://broadsidedpress.org/submissions/
• Chautauqua: https://chautauquajournal.wixsite.com/website
• Cirque Journal: http://www.cirquejournal.com/submittocirque.shtml
• Double Room: http://doubleroomjournal.com
• Fiction Southeast: https://fictionsoutheast.com
• Fish Publishing: https://www.fishpublishing.com/competition/flash-
fiction-contest/
• Flash Fiction: http://flashfictiononline.com/main/submission-guidelines-
flash-fiction/
• Flash Fiction Magazine: https://flashfictionmagazine.com/submissions/
• Flash Fiction Magazine: https://www1.chester.ac.uk/flash-magazine
• Hippocampus: http://www.hippocampusmagazine.com
• Journal of Compressed Arts: http://matterpress.com/journal/
• Lunch Ticket: https://lunchticket.org/about/submission-guidelines/
• River Teeth (Beautiful Things):
https://www.riverteethjournal.com/journal/submissions
• Rose Metal Press: https://rosemetalpress.com/
• Rum Punch Press: http://www.rumpunchpress.com
• Smokelong Quarterly:
http://www.smokelong.com/submissions/guidelines/
• Tahoma Literary Review: https://tahomaliteraryreview.com
• Tin House Flash Fridays: https://tinhouse.com/tag/flash-fridays/
• Waxwing: https://waxwing.submittable.com/submit

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Suggested Reading
Craft Books
Adrian, Kim, ed. The Shell Game: Writers Play with Borrowed Forms.
Dufresne, John. Flash! Writing the Very Short Story.
Galef, David. Brevity: A Flash Fiction Handbook.
Linden, Kaye. 35 Tips for Writing a Brilliant Flash Story.
Masih, Tara. The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction.
McDowell, Gary L. and F. Daniel Rziczek. The Rose Metal Field Guide to Prose
Poetry.
Moore, Dinty, ed. The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Nonfiction.

Flash Nonfiction
Fennelly, Beth Ann. Heating and Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs.
Kitchen, Judith and Dinah Lenney, eds. Brief Encounters: A Collection of
Contemporary Nonfiction.
Hazuka, Tom and Dinty W. Moore. Flash Nonfiction Funny: 71 Very Humorous,
Very True, Very Short Stories.
Sutin, Lawrence. A Postcard Memoir.
Thomas, Abigail. Safekeeping: Some True Stories from a Life.

Flash Fiction
Davis, Lydia. Can’t and Won’t: Stories.
Faulkner, Grant. Nothing Short of 100: Selected Tales from 100 Word Story.
Hempel, Amy and Tara L. Masih, eds. The Best Small Fictions 2017.
Thomas, James and Robert Scotellaro, eds. New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction.
Thomas, James and Robert Shapard, eds. Flash Fiction Forward: 80 Very Short
Stories.
Thomas, James and Robert Shapard and Christopher Merrill, eds. Flash Fiction
International: Very Short Stories from Around the World.

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The Prompts

// It is my ambition to say in ten sentences

what others say in a whole book. //
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE

r Day 1 Write about a man, a table, and a box.

r Day 2 On a walk through a city, a character sees his/her reflection in a
store window and does not recognize the face staring back.
r Day 3 Start with the title, “Coming to America,” and write it in first
person plural (“we”).
r Day 4 Think about something you want, but can’t get. Fictionalize this by
making the protagonist the opposite sex from you, and ten years
older. Give them an odd job or hobby. What obstacle stands in their
way from getting what they want?
r Day 5 In the grocery store, someone leaves something in the freezer right
next to the ice cream. What is it and who left it there?
r Day 6 A cross-country car trip has gone awry.
r Day 7 The popular baker at the farmer’s market decides to bake her last
cake. Why and what happens next?
r Day 8 Write about a tattoo. Who does it belong to? Or: who was the tattoo
artist? Choose your protagonist and find their story.
r Day 9 “Regular or decaf?” What comes to mind when you think of this
phrase? Find the story.
r Day 10 Start with the title “Punch Line.”

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r Day 11 Think about a food you dislike, then create a character who loves it.
This character receives a letter the same day he/she is
eating/making/buying that food. How do these details intersect to
form a story?
r Day 12 In a crowded elevator, someone says something to the group. What
happens next? Who is the main character and what is their
response?
r Day 13 Write about a case of mistaken identity. What does your main
character do? Begin the story after something has happened.
r Day 14 Think of a story about a man forced to take early retirement, who
then has a meltdown while pumping gas. Write the entire flash
story in reverse chronological order.
r Day 15 Write a ghost story, defining “ghost” however you’d like.
Remember to focus on one character, one event, with something
big at stake if the character does or doesn’t get what they want.
r Day 16 Start with the title, “So [fill in your ethnicity] Boy/Girl.”
r Day 17 Place your flash story in this setting: a garage sale. On the table: an
unexpected object. Find your character. What happens next?
r Day 18 A woman looks out a bedroom window and sees a car parked next
to the house, piled high with belongings. Upon closer inspection,
she sees her clothes, her books, her collection of [fill in the blank],
randomly stacked in a box on the passenger seat. Find a reason for
us to feel nervous (crazy wife beater husband is not one of them—
we’re avoiding clichés, remember?). What else could be going on?
r Day 19 Think of someone you know whom you really dislike. Write a flash

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story with them as the main character, adding in a jump rope and a
hundred-dollar bill. Make weather a part of this story.
r Day 20 Start with the title, “Virgin.”
r Day 21 Create a character who has committed a tiny crime (define “crime”
however you’d like). Fast forward twenty years later—the tiny crime
turns out to have lasting repercussions. Put the character in the
same scene with someone affected by the tiny crime (it’s up to you
if the other person knows your main character is responsible).
r Day 22 A neighbor must give another neighbor a bunch of flowers. Why?
What goes wrong and what/how does the neighbor (your main
character) realize/change/grow/digress in that moment? Use the
flowers metaphorically, bring in at least three senses.
r Day 23 Start your first sentence with, “I would tell you the truth, but
then…” (you can’t say “I’d have to kill you.” Surprise us with
something unexpected instead). What comes next?
r Day 24 Take a woman who was talking all night and lost her voice, have
her meet with a female biker (you decide what “biker” means), then
have them compete for someone’s affection. Only one will “win.”
r Day 25 Choose a title: “Beehive” or “Honeybees” and make your title a
complete sentence (i.e. “Geraldine Took the Honeybees Home”).
Now write your story and remember to add high stakes.
r Day 26 Start with the title, “We Are Never Meeting in Real Life.”
r Day 27 Begin your story with this sentence: “That summer, you were
studying.” Write the entire piece in the second person (“you”).
r Day 28 Start with the title, “Everything I Never Told You,” but instead of

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writing in paragraph form, make a list.

r Day 29 At a childhood birthday party, inspired by yours or someone else’s,
somebody is drunk. It could be a family member, a stranger, even
the birthday child. Start the story in the middle, after the presents
have been open.
r Day 30 Write about a fire, a bunch of dandelion flowers, and a character
who’s an entomologist (look it up if you need to—I did!).

Notes:
• Day 3 was inspired by the novel, “The Buddha in the Attic” by Julie Otsuka
• Day 10 was borrowed from the poem “Punch Line” by Kevin Pham
• Day 16 was borrowed from the poem “So Chinese Girl” by Dorothy Chan
• Day 26 was borrowed from the book of essays, “We Are Never Meeting in
Real Life” by Samantha Erby
• Day 28 was borrowed from the novel, “Everything I Never Told You” by
Celeste Ng

Ready for More?

Sign up for my newsletter at dariengee.com and choose “Writing Tips.”

Want to work with me directly? Send an email to darien@dariengee.com to schedule

a complimentary 15-minute consult to discuss your writing project and how I can
help. For more information on how mentoring works, visit dariengee.com and
choose Work with Me to learn about the different ways I can encourage, guide, and
help you move your writing project forward.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS (add the title of each piece below as you write it)

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

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Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

Day 20

Day 21

Day 22

Day 23

Day 24

Day 25

Day 26

Day 27

Day 28

Day 29

Day 30

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