FFFF is a challenge to write, post, and read flash fiction on the first Friday of every month. Flash fiction is (by some definitions) anything under ~1000 words. I don't think you need to focus much on word count, though. Anything that's less than a couple of pages is in the right ball park. Flash fiction can be any fiction genre, but works well for literary fiction, horror, and speculative fiction. It's not especially about polish, at least not how I'm doing it. FFFF, for me, is doing a writing exercise, liking the result, and wanting somewhere to share it. Or maybe I wrote a little vignette from my main character's past and it's a great, emotional moment. Or maybe there's a little nugget of a scene in my morning pages and I really liked that turn of phrase. Stuff that isn't necessarily publishable, but was fun to write. Stuff I want to share with no pressure.
I think it's really valuable to share some more raw, off-the-cuff pieces with other writers and readers. Firstly, because it's good to see that not everything has to be serious and profound all the time. Writing can be whimsical and flippant. Also to show people that writers do a lot of work that doesn't get published! Not everything that flies out of their fingertips is pure gold that says something True about the world. Sometimes it was just a quick moment of inspiration that they played with for an afternoon and, ordinarily, would get shoved into a forgotten sub-folder, even if it was fun.
Flash Fiction is a great opportunity to explore a weird idea that you're not sure about or don't want to commit to. Like maybe you had a neat idea for a "monster in the closet" story, but gosh, that's a lot of work to make that unique enough. The idea was literally just about a monster in the closet. Well hey, just write it. Don't spend much time, just let that idea flow. Maybe it'll turn into something bigger as you're working, but it doesn't have to.
Whatever you decide to write, please share it with me! Comment below with a link to your blog or use #flashfictionfirstfriday. I'm on Mastodon here.
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