I’m not shy about singing the praises of writing flash fiction. It’s quickly become one of my writing passions. Writers attempting the art of creating short, short stories benefit in myriad ways:
- Flash fiction can be written and edited in a short amount of time, especially when compared to a novel or even a novella.
- The low word count insists stories be tighter, making each word count.
- The medium gives writers opportunities to play around with POV and tense.
- Crafting super-short stories can be done without a significant amount of planning (Flash fiction is ideal for pantsers!).
- Writing flash fiction can be a creativity booster.
When Spark Flash Fiction announced their winter issue theme of epistolary stories, I was stumped. I’ve enjoyed several epistolary novels in the past: Dear Mr. Knightley, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and Authentically, Izzy, to name a few. But to write something in epistolary form intimidated me a bit. I decided I would pass on attempting something for this issue.
When the editors at Spark clarified on social media that the entire story didn’t need to be in letter/note/memo/text/email format, but rather some form of written correspondence needed to be a key element, I changed my mind and sat to write. “Letter of Intent” is the result. I wasn’t sure of my submission at all. But after lots of editing, I was happy with my story, and thankfully, the powers that be at Spark were, too!
Read “Letter of Intent” here. I’d love to hear your thoughts! Have you ever received a “love letter” or note from an admirer? What happened after you read it?