The secrets of telling a complete story in just a few hundred words were revealed to writers in Arklow, as a flash fiction workshop explored how careful editing, structure and even silence can create powerful fiction.
Writers from Wicklow and further afield gathered at Arklow Library for a two-and-a-half-hour flash fiction workshop, led by English teacher and writer Eleanor O’Reilly, and hosted by Noline Foley, who runs the Arklow Writers Group.
It was, Foley said, one of the one of the best sessions she had ever attended. “We were inspired, and generally blown away,” she said.
The workshop attracted 19 participants, with writers from different groups taking part and exchanging ideas, experiences and approaches to their work.
What began as a workshop on one of fiction’s shortest forms also became an opportunity for writers to meet each other and talk about the practical business of writing. The youngest participant was a 17-year-old boy from Arklow.
O’Reilly, an English teacher, assistant principal and holder of a master’s degree in creative writing, took participants through the particular demands of flash fiction, generally defined as a complete story told in 1,000 words or fewer.
While its length may be limited, she stressed that flash fiction is not simply an extract, anecdote or fragment.
“Fiction still has to have a story arc. It’s not just a fragment,” she said. “It still has to have true form.”
The workshop looked at how a writer can achieve that within a very small number of words. Flash fiction tends to concentrate on one central event, a limited cast of characters and a clear conflict or desire, building towards a moment in which something changes.
The form depends heavily on compression, with unnecessary exposition and backstory stripped away and the reader trusted to understand what has not been explicitly stated.
That idea of what a writer chooses to leave out formed an important part of the session. O’Reilly drew on Ernest Hemingway’s celebrated ‘Iceberg Theory’, in which only part of the story is visible on the page while much of its meaning remains beneath the surface.
“It’s the stuff that you don’t tell,” she explained. “It’s not about exposition. Very often, it’s about what’s not said that creates the tension.”
Participants were encouraged to allow the reader to do some of the work, hinting rather than explaining and using a carefully chosen image, object or action instead of lengthy description. O’Reilly said: “Flash fiction doesn’t just use words, it uses silence.”
O’Reilly also put the theory into practice, giving writers exercises in compression and asking them to cut existing pieces dramatically while retaining their essential meaning and impact.
Extracts from writers including Hemingway and Flannery O’Connor were used as exercises, with participants challenged in one case to reduce a 114-word passage to 65 words and in another to cut 161 words to 80.
The exercises reflected one of the central lessons of the day: in flash fiction, every sentence has to justify its presence.
A story has little room for lengthy introductions, large casts or extended explanations. Instead, the writer needs to arrive close to the point of conflict or change, establish what the central character wants and quickly put something in the way.
The group also considered endings. Rather than explaining everything to the reader or neatly resolving every element of the story, O’Reilly encouraged writers to leave space for implication. A final image, action or unanswered question can carry more weight than a paragraph explaining what the reader should feel.
Alongside the technical work, there was an emphasis on the more everyday challenge faced by anyone trying to write: actually finding the time to do it. O’Reilly encouraged participants to establish a regular writing habit rather than waiting for a large block of free time to appear.
“Five minutes a day. Everybody has five minutes a day,” she said. “That’s where you just start to foster good writing habits.”
The workshop also provided a chance for members of different writing groups to meet, swap anecdotes and discuss techniques, extending the afternoon beyond the formal teaching session.
Foley, meanwhile, used the opportunity to encourage writers interested in continuing to meet and write locally to become involved with the Arklow Writers Group.
O’Reilly was particularly appreciative of the support provided by Arklow Library. As numbers grew, library staff moved the workshop from the smaller room originally allocated into the main room, giving the group the space needed for the session.
In addition, they served tea at the break while the participants enjoyed homemade walnut and coffee cake made by Foley. O’Reilly was presented with a fresh floral bouquet by the group in thanks.
“The library were exceptional in hosting us,” O’Reilly said. “They were just so welcoming, so helpful, so accommodating.”
The event was funded by Wicklow County Council Community Award Scheme.