Flash fiction often displays one moment in a character’s life, a hot spot that reveals their character, and forces them to change or shift, and through this story, we can extrapolate the direction of the rest of their lives off the page of the story. This tension of only having one moment to spend with this character creates compression, creates specificity, and creates resonance. As a reader when I know I have a limited amount of time with a character I’m rooting for, I care more about their choices and the outcomes of these decisions. But sometimes flash can be structured through segments: small vignettes separated by white space, but connected either through causation, theme, or juxtaposition. These tenuous connections create tension and intrigue for the reader, but they don’t come without their risks. One power of flash is its ability to demand more from the reader, to trust the writer/narrator, and to join the writer in making inferences that help tell the story. In “Northern Lights” By Hillary Leftwich, the segmented structure is used superbly to allow the narrator to tell her story through vignettes marked by time. It has the command and the depth of a 25 pages short story told in 1,000 words.
We all love an origin story, especially if we love superheroes and that kind of myth-building. Leftwich builds the mythos of this narrator from the beginning when they tell us about how they were left in the forest under a rock and rescued by “An older man, his wife, and his son” who “took pity and brought me home.” There’s some distancing here, as the narrator is relating to us facts that were relayed to them throughout their childhood. It’s like looking at a picture and remembering an event from your life. You don’t actually remember it, but you’ve internalized the memory because of the picture.
So the risk in this opening is that Leftwich needs the reader to care about this narrator, to care about the myth-making that is about to come through each segment. Is pity enough for the reader to care is a central question here. I love when I can discover or intuit the central theme or question in the beginning. It gives me a rope or tether to cling to as I read. It also creates this internal story engine. Does the story confirm or disprove the central question? This is the kind of subtext that can be hard to generate in first drafts.
What follows in the next 6 segments/vignettes is a recording in small scenes of a cruel brother, non-blood related, trying to trick the narrator into believing things that might harm them or make them feel stupid for believing the brother in the first place. This feels universal. But Leftwich does a fantastic job of staying with the attitude and perspective of the narrator in each scene, shifting them from naivete to worldly adult. Each segment gives us a glimpse into the narrator; life, but also allows us to see the subtle shifts of age and experience.
One difficulty of using segments like this is that each section demands a new, and great opening line, a way to pull the reader across the desert of the white space and escalate the stakes for the narrator and therefore the reader! Let me tell you that Leftwich is up for the challenge! Just look at this opening from the last aged segment: “When I am thirty-five my brother takes a plane to Alaska and never returns.”
In the last segment, Leftwich had a choice of continuing on with naming it by the narrator’s age, but this last segment is not so far from coming to this spot after the brother’s disappearance. The brother, and his former cruelty, and attention have driven the narrator to search for him, and this search has driven them toward something they wouldn’t have experienced otherwise. This is a great example of how causation can escalate the stakes of any story. We don’t get to this final segment without the other segments before it! That’s the power of structure, the power of following a character through specific events and choices!
The brother isn’t returned and the narrator might not get what she was desiring or looking for, but she gets something else, something natural, something mythical, something metaphorical. This is one way to end a flash with the power of metaphor to sync character and reader, to have them experience something together, something a bit unbelievable, but resonant.
Prompt: I want you to think of creating a character through their origin story. I want you to think in the terms of building a mythology around this character, but do it in short segmented vignettes. What are the hotspots of this character’s life? What events have marked them, changed them, have revealed them through the years? Consider adding transition elements such as ages, dates, etc. How close can you get to the end of their lives? What is the final event that shows us who they have become, how they have been shaped by their own mythology or desires? What can you skip or cut from their lives that can live in the desert of white space? How can you connect us with the character in the end?
Try It At Home: Think of a cultural or historic event. One that makes you feel some kind of way. Start your story by using “After x event, I…” Let the event add weight to what happens next. Have the character run away or toward the event in some way. Have the character do something petty or small or very large, follow them step-by-step and see where they take you! Check out “We’re Not Allowed Outside” by Chelsea Stickle for inspiration!
Write With Me Opportunities
July 13, 2022, Story Openings Zoom Generative Class
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From 9:30 am-11:00 pm Eastern Time Zone
Need a jumpstart to your writing? No better place than to start with the opening! I will provide a bit of writing craft, 6-8 model texts and some analysis of why these models work, and 6-8 prompts to help participants write their own flash, micro, essay, and poetry openings in this positive, welcoming environment!
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August 17, 2022, 100 Word Story Zoom Generative Class
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From 10:00-11:30 am Eastern Time Zone
Need a jumpstart to your writing? I will provide a bit of writing craft, 6-8 model texts and some analysis of why these models work, and 6-8 prompts to help participants write their own 100 word stories in this positive, welcoming environment!
Email me at thomasrdean13@gmail.com or DM me @tommydeanwriter to confirm your spot! Or use the button below to go directly to my PayPal account! Make sure to list the class in the comments section on Paypal!
August 31, 2022, The Mighty and the Flawed: Characters That Demand Attention Zoom Generative Class
Cost: Pay what you want/can
From 3-4:30 pm Eastern Time Zone
Welcome to a generative opportunity to focus on your writing! In this 1.5 hour workshop, we will create dynamic characters through action and counterpoint by looking at examples from poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction to find unforgettable characters. In this generative workshop, you’ll find ways to imbue your stories with depth and resonance grounded in specific and unique characters Prompts and example texts will help you discover the characters your poems, fiction, and creative non-fiction have been missing. Our guide will be this quote from Charles Baxter: “Fiction is that place where human beings do not have to be better than they really are, where characters can and should confront each other, where they must create scenes, where desire will have its day, where all truth is beautiful.” Join Tommy Dean in creating characters we won’t forget, by writing in an inclusive and positive environment.
All Things Hollows!
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