Coming May 6 | Smash Your Flash: The Craft of Short (Short) Fiction
Jo Gatford's flash fiction workshop introduction
Smash Your Flash: The Craft of Short (Short) Fiction with Jo Gatford will run for four weeks beginning on May 6th! Get full access to this course plus our entire archive for just $10 by signing up as a paid subscriber here. As always, free subscribers will receive partial access and can upgrade/downgrade as it suits them.
Flash fiction is a literary firecracker. It’s all over in a flash (ba-dum-tsch!) but demands your attention and packs a punch. Writing short (short) stories can be fun, fast, and satisfying, but it also takes a lot of patience and skill. In this course we’ll look at a bunch of structural and stylistic techniques to help you develop a story out of pretty much any idea. Learn how to craft flash with precision, nuance, and a strong narrative voice; play with writing prompts and experiment with form; and fill your writing toolkit with a heap of different methods to smash your flash!
Workshop takeaways
Explore a variety of different flash fiction structures, shapes and forms
Find out how to hoard shiny story ideas like a literary dragon
Draft your own flash stories with weekly generative exercises and prompts
Learn how to layer stylistic elements to add depth and nuance to your writing
Break down each technique with a structural deep dive
Get inspired by a wildly diverse range of story examples
Discover your narrative voice (or craft a new one for each story)
And experiment with new forms and styles by forging your own flash path!
Why take this class with Jo?
I could quite literally talk about flash fiction for days on end. It’s one of my favourite things to write and teach, and I love the fact there is always SO much more to learn from the amazing flash community. I’ve been developing courses and running creative writing workshops for over a decade; I’ve judged and read for numerous flash competitions and lit mags; and I’ve been a professional editor for fifteen years. I’m a staunch believer in there being no real ‘rules’ for writing — especially when it comes to flash — so I’m all about finding new ways to explore a story, develop your own narrative style, and discover the enormous power within a short (short) story.
Jo Gatford is a short writer who writes (mostly) short things. She is an award-winning novelist, scriptwriter, author of short fiction and poet. Her work has appeared in Flash Frog, The Forge, Had, SmokeLong Quarterly, Stylist, trampset and elsewhere, and is forthcoming in Best Microfictions and Best Small Fictions 2024. Her writing has also won the Bath Flash Award, Flash 500, the Molotov Cocktail Flash Contest, and the Shooter Lit Poetry Competition. Her chapbook, The Woman’s Part was published by Stanchion Books in 2023. She edits other people’s words for her supper and can be found at www.jogatford.com or on various socials @jmgatford
Jo Gatford is a short writer? I think she's missing the word 'story'