Revision Handout

29 ways to improve your flash fiction

1. When considering publication in lit mags, the opening line and/or paragraph are the most important craft elements to get right. 1^st readers and editors often stop reading if there isn’t an indication that the story is ready, that it has been crafted and they can trust the writer/narrator/main character to take them through the experience of the story.

a.       Your opening line has to do so much work! Character, pov, setting, conflict are integral to getting the story started in the right place!

2.       Give a hard look at your Point of View. Is it the right one? Did you choose the right character for this story? Is there too much distance between the point of view and the reader?

a.       It’s just not what he sees, or senses but how he sees or senses the world around him that will get us to care about him or her or them!

3.       Is there a clear setting? Are your character floating in space at any time in the story? Is there a clear idea of the time/era?

4.       Is there an idea of the story occasion? If not, is this on purpose? Will it help add conflict? Can you add the story occasion in one sentence and make it part of the character’s action or backstory?

5.       Is your character acting on the stage of the story as soon as possible? Is this action part of the inciting incident? Have you started with a static situation such as looking at a mirror or driving in a car, alone?

6.       Is there a clear antagonist, a character or thing that will make your main character act/react? Does the antagonist also have goals in the moment/scene? How does these goals put pressure on our MC to act? Is the antagonist working to reveal the main character to the reader?

7.       Did you find the central image or metaphor in your first two paragraphs? Does it fit with the main character’s essence or show their deeper desires and/or fears? Have you shifted or manipulated it on the page at least twice? Could it be a part of the central action of the main character?

8.       Have you included backstory and/or backfill that adds context and pressure on the MC to act? Is it in large chunks? Could it be better ribboned throughout the story? Is it presented only when we need it to move our understanding forward with the story? Is it active, a kind of mini-scene? Does it also contain specific, concrete sensory details? Does it slow the story down? If so, is it essential and worth the slower speed?

9.       Are there escalations? Are things getting worse for your character, or has your character failed in some actions/reactions? Is each piece of the plot or action bigger than the last? Or are they at the same level? If at the same level should you make them bigger to add velocity, tension, and movement? Are these escalations basic story problems or failures or are they unique and specific to this character and their desires?

10.   Do these escalations make sense? Do they have a kind of causation? Are they happening because of the pressure of the conflict or the pressure from the antagonist? George Saunders says: “We might think of a story as a system for the transfer of energy. Energy, hopefully, gets made in early pages and the trick, in later pages is to use that energy.”