11 of the Best Flash Fiction Magazines Out There
Plus Andrea A. Firth's guide for writing flash fiction (Sub Club List #23)
Flash is Hot. Happening. Trending. We hear about flash everywhere—in calls, contests, and new lit mags launching.
What is it? By definition, flash is a story or essay (fiction or nonfiction) written in a small space, less than 1,000 words. Flash has a range of subgenres, based on word count, with stories that are six words long to 25 words (a Hint), 50 words (a Dribble), and 100 words (a Drabble) long. And flash includes longer forms of micro-prose too: 250-, 300-, 400-, and 750-word stories often called shorts, postcards, smokelongs, or napkins and described as pocket-sized, pill-sized, sudden, furious, and fast. Have you noticed that flash has penchant for metaphor?
Flash, the short story or essay, isn’t new. Fables, fairy tales, stories from religious texts and the oral tradition date back centuries. But flash as a genre entered the literary ecosystem in the late ‘80’s with a dedicated group of writers and a small number of journals devoted to the “new form.” From there the genre got a foothold and grew and grew. Today there are hundreds of lit mags that seek and publish flash.
Why is flash so popular? Writing short is easier, takes less time. Nah. To fit a story with a beginning, middle, and ending, a strong narrative arc, conflict/tension, sharp characterization, close observation (details and dialogue) in a small space isn’t easy—but it’s super satisfying and makes you a better writer overall. With flash, the story or essay is small because the writer chooses to tell it that way. Well, maybe flash is popular because readers have short attention spans. Nah. (That’s a myth, first of all.) Flash requires a more sophisticated reader, one willing to pay close attention and actively participate. And once a reader gets exposed to good flash, they’re hooked.
I like how writer Grant Faulkner, founder and editor of the journal 100 Word Story, responds to the popularity of the genre: “I like to think it’s about how flash has opened up a different type of storytelling. Maybe our lives have changed, and we need this form to tell the stories of our lives in a better way.” And writer Nancy Stohlman, author of Going Short: An Invitation to Flash Fiction, adds: “Writers are cultivating a new set of skills and writing a different kind of story. And these stories, far from lazy or trivial, have their finger on a new and necessary urgency.”
What are the keys to writing flash?
Writing flash requires the same elements as longer fiction and nonfiction (noted above) and employs the same writing tools that make your writing sing like metaphor, repetition, alliteration and more. But there a few important keys to the form:
Keep your story container small. Write about a singular moment or a memory, a small slice of life. You don’t have the space to cover a lot of different ground. Stay focused.
End with a twist. You have to wrap up and move to resolution quickly—again the space constraint. A twist gets you there efficiently and the surprise is the secret sauce to the form.
Give the title meaning, have it add to the story. Titles aren’t included in the word count, so let the title do more work for you.
And where do you submit flash?
Some lit mags publish only flash, by specific word count—50, 100, 101, 251 or up to 750-1,000 words. Many journals publish flash alongside longer work. A general search of Chill Subs database finds 1,467 journals that publish flash fiction or flash cnf. You’ve got lots of options. Add open now to submissions, accepts simultaneous subs, and no fee to your search terms and the list narrows to 573. Still lots of options. That’s a good thing. Find a curated list of lit mag that publish flash below.
If you are interested in some more how to’s, Andrea A. Firth is teaching a workshop with Write or Die, Short and Sweet: A Comprehensive Guide to Writing Flash Fiction and Nonfiction! Join her TOMORROW, Saturday, October 14th, for a 2-hour intensive where you will gain a strong understanding of the form, learn how to approach writing flash with take-home prompts, and leave the workshop with ideas of what to read and where to submit. Can’t attend live—no problem, this class will be recorded and you will be provided the link.
Andrea is also teaching a four-week class In A Flash: A Workshop for Crafting Short Fiction and Nonfiction on Thursdays starting October 26th. You will again get a strong understanding of the form through reading and analyzing a range of flash examples. Plus you will write your own flash with in-class freewrites and take home prompts and participate in workshop where you will receive supportive, writerly feedback (plus a letter and line edits from Andrea).
Now, here are 11 magazines looking for flash selected by Andrea
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