You may have heard of flash fiction, flash poetry, flash prose, flash nonfiction … they’re all part of an exciting form of “micro,” “sudden,” or “short-short” writing that’s brief, powerful, and most of all, fun. Forms vary from 6 words (our featured image!) to 100, 250, and so on. The popular Modern Love column of the New York Times even has a flash version called Tiny Love Stories … no more than 100 words.
Following their lead here on Retrospect, we’re launching our very own version … RetroFlash. Other than the 100-word limit, no rules. For example, contractions can count as one word or two. Your story can be something you’ve written about before, or something entirely new. It can be prose, or poetry. It can even be a list.
Our site makes it easy because it automatically tells you how many words you have as you write, unlike Word or other word processing programs where it takes a couple of steps to check the word count.
You might be surprised to discover how much you can say in 100 words! Every word counts, so choose your words carefully. You still want to tell a story we can relate to; you still want to inform us, move us, surprise us, or amuse us.
Even though we’re launching the feature this week with the Fads and Trends prompt, feel free to write a RetroFlash any time. When you do, add the note “RetroFlash” or “100 words” at the end of your story which will also make it searchable within our site.
That’s it … have fun, and we can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Suzy, Marian, Laurie and Barb
