No one can write a man’s life except himself.

“No one can write a man’s life except himself. His inner mode of being, his true life, is known only to himself; and yet in writing it he disguises it; under the cover of his life’s story, he offers an apology; he presents himself as he wants to be seen, not at all as he is.” — Jacques Rousseau

The art of compression

There seems to be a general misconception that a work of exceedingly brief short fiction (whether it be labeled Micro-fiction, Flash Fiction, Postcard fiction, Quick fiction, Sudden fiction, etc.,) is somehow not real writing, not quite serious or literary enough.

Here's the fallacy: a "small fiction" is generally considered to be light work, a good training exercise, but little more than a preliminary  to writing a longer real short story.

The general grumble: Pretty neat, but where’s the rest of it?

It strikes me as odd that the art of compression, and the skill of reduction, when done right, are overlooked, somehow devalued by the publishing industry, which has displayed little interest in the "very short" form except as a novelty item.

Meanwhile, this same form is undergoing a dynamic development on the Internet, attracting attention and promoting intense discussion. A simple Google search for “flash fiction” returns well over a half-million sources.


- Bt