Comments on: Friday Flash: AWOL

By: Gareth D Jones

Gareth D Jones — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 09:56:32 +0000

I wondered why they were kicking trees. The image of a squirrel leaping away with his surveillance gear made me chuckle!

By: Martin McGrath

Martin McGrath — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 02:51:28 +0000

Jetse’s right, of course, it’s almost impossible to write anything profound in flash form, but I like doing them. Flash are fun, quick and disposable. If I’m stuck on a longer piece I’ll go and spend fifteen minutes writing a drabble or a flash just to let my subconcious get to work on the difficult stuff while my superficial brain is elsewhere.

By: Paul Raven

Paul Raven — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 14:24:47 +0000

Cheers, guys.

Martin – you are showing your age a bit, yes, but I don’t think anyone noticed …

Jetse – yeah, pure ’shaggy dog story’, I’m afraid. Though at the moment writing memorably isn’t quite so important as writing at all – I’m trying to build up the discipline of thinking about stories regularly and actually doing something about them. Give me a decade or so, and I may produce something worth reading!

By: Jetse

Jetse — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 12:02:46 +0000

This one was nice, although it signalled ‘twist ending’ from the get-go. But definitely a step up from the previous one I read: good foreshadowing, and the squirrel thinking ‘won’t get fooled again’.

Problem with flash fiction is that it ultimately is so forgettable: it’s *extremely* difficult to write a deep and resounding story at such lengths (even pros have a hard time doing that, just check out the short-shorts from Nature and Cosmos Australia).

It might be a good training ground, but chances are that you will write something memorable at greater lengths sooner.

By: Friday Flash Fiction « The other side of the river

Friday Flash Fiction « The other side of the river — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 10:52:28 +0000

[...] Mcgrath has “27 ways to avoid work”, Paul Raven has “AWOL” and we’re joined by Gareth D. Jones with “The [...]