What is flash fiction?
A complete story in 1,000 words or fewer, with a beginning, a turn and an ending that echoes. Here's what counts, how long each form is, and how to write one.
The length ladder
Drag to change the word count and see which form you're writing and what fits inside it.
- Six-word story≤ 6
- Dribble (mini-saga)≤ 50
- Drabble≤ 100
- Microfiction≤ 300
- Flash fiction≤ 1,000
- Short story≤ 7,500
Drabble
One scene, one character, one twist.
About 0.40 typed pages · 1 min read (at ~238 words per minute, Brysbaert 2019)
Flash fiction definition
Flash fiction is fiction short enough to read in a few minutes, usually under 1,000 words, that still works as a complete story. The name comes from the 1992 anthology Flash Fiction: Very Short Stories, edited by James Thomas, Denise Thomas and Tom Hazuka, but the form is old: fables, parables and Yasunari Kawabata's "palm-of-the-hand stories" all fit the definition.
What separates flash from a prose poem or a vignette is movement. Something changes between the first line and the last. The ladder above and the story structure diagrams are built to be handled; away from fiction, ahaboo does the same for science, like zooming into a leaf to watch photosynthesis happen.
How to write flash fiction in six steps
- Find the moment of change. Not the whole life, just the minute it turned.
- Start as late as possible. Enter the scene after it has begun.
- Choose one telling detail per character and per place.
- Use the title. It can carry setting, time or irony for free.
- End on an image, not an explanation. Trust the reader.
- Cut 20–30%. Adverbs, filter words ("she saw", "he felt"), and the last sentence if it explains the one before.
Flash fiction examples
Here is a 55-word example written for this page:
Night Shift
The nurse tapes the stranger's hand to the board and asks, as always, if there's anyone to call. He gives her a number. It rings in her own pocket. She doesn't answer; she has promised herself she never will again. He squeezes her fingers anyway. At 4 a.m. she finally says, "Hello, Dad."
Notice the structure: a normal routine, an inciting detail (the phone in her pocket), a withheld history, and a final line that reframes everything. That's kishōtenketsu in 55 words. For more examples, generate a few with the flash fiction generator and read them critically, or study published work from venues such as SmokeLong Quarterly, Flash Fiction Online and the Best Small Fictions anthology series.
Where to practise
- Daily flash fiction prompt — the same challenge for everyone, every day.
- Six-word story, drabble and microfiction pads with AI feedback.
- Opening lines when the blank page wins.
Questions writers ask
What is flash fiction?
A complete work of fiction, usually 1,000 words or fewer, with a beginning, middle and end. Some editors extend the limit to 1,500 words.
How many words is flash fiction?
Most magazines define flash as under 1,000 words. Microfiction is usually under 300 (sometimes under 100), a drabble is exactly 100 and a dribble exactly 50.
Is flash fiction the same as a short story?
It is a type of short story. Short stories typically run from about 1,000 to 7,500 words; flash fiction is the shortest end of that spectrum.
Who coined the term flash fiction?
The term was popularised by the 1992 anthology Flash Fiction: Very Short Stories, edited by James Thomas, Denise Thomas and Tom Hazuka. Very short fiction itself is much older: Aesop's fables and Kawabata's "palm-of-the-hand stories" are frequently cited ancestors.
Does flash fiction need a plot?
It needs a change. Many flash pieces are a single scene in which something shifts: a decision, a revelation or a reversal. Without that turn, it is a vignette rather than a story.