In conjunction with our publication of BITE: An Anthology of Flash Fiction,
Cheek Teeth interviewed three rock star flash fiction contributors to
the anthology about the ins and outs of the genre. Today's feature is on Tara L. Masih, editor of The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction (a ForeWord Book of the Year).
Don't own BITE? Order your copy today and enjoy this "flash-sized cache of beauties" (David Long).
Cheek Teeth: You
have studied, taught, read, edited, and written flash fiction for
years. Can you tell us about a particular moment or story that
solidified your interest in the genre early on in your career?
Tara L. Masih: Some of my first publications were in two small lit mags in the '80s, The Paper Bag and Mind In Motion. They both advertised they wanted vignettes or short-short stories, and I had written some after high school, so I sent them in. They both loved my work, requested more, and took multiple stories. How could a writer not be shored up by that? And then The Paper Bag sent me a $10 check in the mail announcing I had won their short-short fiction contest for stories of the year (I hadn't even applied). That was the first time I had been paid anything for my writing. I xeroxed that tiny check and kept looking at it for a long time. It kept me going.
CT: Some call it splitting hairs, but many fans of flash fiction really are interested in a definition of the genre. In a few sentences, can you take a stab at one?
TLM: Well, this is the definition I proposed in my introduction to the Flash Field Guide: "A flash is simply a story in miniature...something of import to the artist or writer that is confined and reduced, either by design or outcome, into a small square space using the structural devices of prose line and paragraph form with the purpose of creating an intense, emotional impact."
CT: When you teach or tell people about flash fiction, what is one of the more challenging notions for people to grab hold of and how do you work with that? (Does it pertain to length? To leaving certain story elements out? Or, perhaps to something more intuitive, such as rhythm?)
TLM: It's an art to learn how to condense prose down to flash size. Poets do it even more than flash writers, but that genre by its nature and history lends itself to people accepting it takes study and skill and years of practice. What is hard for folks to grasp is that flash takes the same sort of skill set. They are used to the epic flow of novelistic prose and take that same approach in flash. So they sometimes produce long, unremarkable sentences, too many unnecessary details and characters, then try to end the piece quickly, thinking that makes for a short-short story.
CT: A few folks out there in the flash fiction world like to remind us that flash is a valid and growing genre because it feeds our culture’s ever-shortening attention spans. But others argue that attention span has nothing to do with the success of flash, in fact, stating that the genre gathers it power via line-level language and compression techniques—regardless of final word count. Can you add to this dialogue?
TLM: I think it's a bit of both. Decades ago, when flash was coming into its own, at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, there were discussions about it being perfect for the shortening attention span due to the Industrial Revolution. So this issue of a shortening attention span has been going on for more than a century. I do think there is something to that theory (how many of us can sit still now and concentrate on one task and not check a computer or phone?), but no one says that about poetry. I think it also has to do with the Internet being the perfect modem for transmitting short prose, and frees small literary journals to proliferate and offer a huge amount of space to the genre and ready access to the world. And finally, I do think that flash can sometimes pack a bigger punch in a smaller space, which leaves the reader with a stronger impression.
CT: Where do you find inspiration for a new flash story? How does that creative moment manifest for you?
TLM: Inspiration comes from many places. But I get a lot of ideas from the news headlines. Truth can be stranger than fiction, and those bizarre brief stories are ideal for flash. That moment of inspiration? When the brain continues the story after I've finished reading it...
Read Tara L. Masih's latest flash fiction and order BITE today!
Don't own BITE? Order your copy today and enjoy this "flash-sized cache of beauties" (David Long).
Cheek Teeth: You
have studied, taught, read, edited, and written flash fiction for
years. Can you tell us about a particular moment or story that
solidified your interest in the genre early on in your career?Tara L. Masih: Some of my first publications were in two small lit mags in the '80s, The Paper Bag and Mind In Motion. They both advertised they wanted vignettes or short-short stories, and I had written some after high school, so I sent them in. They both loved my work, requested more, and took multiple stories. How could a writer not be shored up by that? And then The Paper Bag sent me a $10 check in the mail announcing I had won their short-short fiction contest for stories of the year (I hadn't even applied). That was the first time I had been paid anything for my writing. I xeroxed that tiny check and kept looking at it for a long time. It kept me going.
CT: Some call it splitting hairs, but many fans of flash fiction really are interested in a definition of the genre. In a few sentences, can you take a stab at one?
TLM: Well, this is the definition I proposed in my introduction to the Flash Field Guide: "A flash is simply a story in miniature...something of import to the artist or writer that is confined and reduced, either by design or outcome, into a small square space using the structural devices of prose line and paragraph form with the purpose of creating an intense, emotional impact."
CT: When you teach or tell people about flash fiction, what is one of the more challenging notions for people to grab hold of and how do you work with that? (Does it pertain to length? To leaving certain story elements out? Or, perhaps to something more intuitive, such as rhythm?)
TLM: It's an art to learn how to condense prose down to flash size. Poets do it even more than flash writers, but that genre by its nature and history lends itself to people accepting it takes study and skill and years of practice. What is hard for folks to grasp is that flash takes the same sort of skill set. They are used to the epic flow of novelistic prose and take that same approach in flash. So they sometimes produce long, unremarkable sentences, too many unnecessary details and characters, then try to end the piece quickly, thinking that makes for a short-short story.
CT: A few folks out there in the flash fiction world like to remind us that flash is a valid and growing genre because it feeds our culture’s ever-shortening attention spans. But others argue that attention span has nothing to do with the success of flash, in fact, stating that the genre gathers it power via line-level language and compression techniques—regardless of final word count. Can you add to this dialogue?
TLM: I think it's a bit of both. Decades ago, when flash was coming into its own, at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, there were discussions about it being perfect for the shortening attention span due to the Industrial Revolution. So this issue of a shortening attention span has been going on for more than a century. I do think there is something to that theory (how many of us can sit still now and concentrate on one task and not check a computer or phone?), but no one says that about poetry. I think it also has to do with the Internet being the perfect modem for transmitting short prose, and frees small literary journals to proliferate and offer a huge amount of space to the genre and ready access to the world. And finally, I do think that flash can sometimes pack a bigger punch in a smaller space, which leaves the reader with a stronger impression.
CT: Where do you find inspiration for a new flash story? How does that creative moment manifest for you?
TLM: Inspiration comes from many places. But I get a lot of ideas from the news headlines. Truth can be stranger than fiction, and those bizarre brief stories are ideal for flash. That moment of inspiration? When the brain continues the story after I've finished reading it...
Read Tara L. Masih's latest flash fiction and order BITE today!
I am very Proud to have known Tara in High School and I think She is Awesome Great job on the interview Tara !!
ReplyDeleteHi Tara: I belong to the Boca Branch of NLAPW and have a question about Pike Peak's flash fiction genre: "Hidden Amongst these Worlds." Can you give me a clue what this means? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHi Carol: I had to Google this to find out what you were referring to. I'm afraid I am not involved with this branch, so have no idea what the answer is. In most cases these themes are pretty broad and open to the author to interpret. If you want more solid info, I would write to the branch directly.
ReplyDelete