The Art of Brevity in Brief

One of the things that I've been working on lately is becoming better at short stories. Since January I've been attempting to do microfiction on a near daily schedule, I've added short stories to my website (http://www.crystallkirkham.com/blog), and, as of today, have submitted some flash fiction stories to an anthology.

A lot of writers I know are intimidated by the short story, flash fiction and microfiction format. I used to be too.

Trying to condense a story into a few brief lines can be challenging. There is an art to this kind of brevity. Taking what could easily be a much longer story and punching through right to the heart of it.

Short stories truly show the evidence of editing. Because that is where the true art lies. Well, editing is really what makes most stories in general, but short stories need it the most. Each word must be chosen with care and impact. Then edited to make sure that it moves the story forward and impacts the reader as intended.

Who knew that the art of brevity lay in the editing?

Let's say I wanted to write a microfiction based on a prompt "Life as an Author"

First, let's figure out what I want to say about this? Shall I talk about insanity? Endless cups of coffee? Words that taunt me in my sleep?

So, here is what my brain came up with...

I stare intently at my screen.

Words on words, oh how they taunt me.

I have a deadline hanging over my head.

All but ignored.

I hit like. I hit reply.

Twitter distracts me every time.

36 words. 182 characters. Okay. Not bad. That's pretty short and sounds a lot like my daily life. This is what I want to say in this short tale of a writers life, but how do I say it better than I have?

Editing, of course. Everything here is more or less literal. Not much art to this, but a lot of truth. One thing I want to do is combine some of these lines, possibly even rearrange them to create more impact in the reader.

Words on words staring back at me.

I never let my eyes leave the screen

Deadline hanging over my head

Ignored. Not forgotten.

I hit like then reply instead

Twitter – it distracts me every time.

35 words. 192 characters. Well, if word count matters then this is an improvement. If you're looking at character count, it's a failure. Sometimes this happens. Do I think this one has a better impact than the first? I do. However, I want it shorter. It's time to see if there are cuttable words that aren't needed.

Words stare at me from the screen.

I stare back.

Deadline hanging over my head, ignored.
Not forgotten.
Like and reply, instead of writing.
Twitter distracts me every time.

 29 words. 171 characters. SUCCESS. Succinct. Impactful. And a story. It tells the tale of the writer who is always on Twitter, ignoring the deadlines and having fun instead of writing.

I mean, I have NO idea what that's like. Not me. Never.

That's all there is to it. I know, it seems like it could be hard to do - and it will be the first few times you try - but the more you try these things and practice them, the better you will get. Even get the help of someone else's eyes the first few times.

And this, my friends, is your brief introduction to the art of brevity.