Flash Again

One of the best uses for flash fiction I've found is a chance to stretch my writing muscles in a new genre. With flash you can tiptoe into a new genre and test the waters to see if it fits your voice and talent. I've dabbled in sci-fi, romance, and horror using flash, even going so far as to dip my toes in the (shudder) literary niche. These are all genres that I suck at, but by writing small, I avoid the frustration of trying to pull together a longer story or novel. Tossing three paragraphs in the circular file is a lot easier than tossing away five or six thousand words that you've suddenly discovered don't work at all.

I also read flash in these genres to get a feel for them, how they work, and how they sound. Every word written or read is a step in my learning process. What genres do you avoid when you're writing? And how do you stretch your writing muscles so you're not writing the same old, same old?

And I found two, brand spanking new flash markets today.

Fictionville is looking for flash under 1000 words. I read a few of the stories that are already posted and they tend to be more of a literary site than genre. Here's the url http://www.fictionville.net/

Now this next one looks like it might be right up our genre alley. It's called Lurid Lit. There's no stories up yet but you can find the guidelines here http://www.luridlit.com/2009/04/looking-for-lurid-writers.html And no, they're not looking for pornography. They're looking for sleaze, hardcore horror, bikers, women in prison, and grindhouse lit. For you non-fiction folks, they're looking for original pieces on the subjects of pulp fiction, sleazy paperbacks and horror comics. Have a look and see if your stories might be a fit http://www.luridlit.com/ Just a word of caution here for those who are easily offended. The site contains pictures of the sleaze paperback covers of the sixties. And so do some of the links that go off that site.

I'm not sure if you've noticed or not but I added a couple of flash fiction blogs in the links column. The editors of Apollo's Lyre are posting their views of flash fiction at the Apollo's Lyre Blog and Every Day Fiction has spun off the same type of blog at Flash Fiction Chronicles. Lots of good and interesting essays on these blogs.

And the next installment of Conversations with the Bookless is up at Book Spot Central featuring friend of The Corner, Anonymous-9. You can find her interview here http://www.bookspotcentral.com/2009/04/conversations-with-the-bookless-anonymous-9/