I enjoyed this, thank you, Amanda. It was fun opening my brand new copy of the Stephen Mitchell translation of the Tao and comparing the chapters.
I didn't realize the New Yorker had an online flash fiction. A friend gifted me a subscription to the magazine and I've been reading just about every weekly fiction segment.
Thanks Don. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Yes lots of flash in The New Yorker. Although when they first started publishing it there was an uproar in the flash community as they were publishing stuff that’s pretty long! 😂
Perhaps I’ll give it a try. Most of my attempts at adult fiction have ended up feeling awkward to me, amateur, affected somehow. But I believe I just need to find my voice, my flow.
You definitely just need to do that. And you will. My best advice is read loads of flash and just start writing. You’ll get better the more you do it. My early attempts were awful! Over at WestWord, the lit mag I publish, there’s lots of craft posts about writing flash. Some of them are paywalled but lots are available for free too. Do you read @Kathy Fish’s The Art of Flash Fiction? Brilliant insights for flash writing on there.
No, I’ll check it out. Last year, inspired by your blog, I tried a piece of flash fiction. It’s about a guy who reluctantly agrees to open his marriage, then regrets it. I tried to keep it really minimalist, stripped down. But the thing is, it’s taken straight from my life, it’s not fiction at all! I’m just calling it fiction. (This is the part of my story that I never tell anyone because it just adds a little too much to the depravity of my divorce story). I just always find it easier to write from my life than to make up characters. Possibly I’m just meant to be a writer of creative non-fiction.
In Taoism it’s wu-wei. Effortless action. I’d never heard of The Goldilocks Principle but just looked it up. And your book. More synchronicity as I was just thinking today that I want to learn more about the chakras!
that’s my expertise! I’m actually thinking (inspired by you) of creating an asynchronous course with a weekly cohort meeting option…maybe sometime in spring! would love to have you in it!
I love how you frame “tinkering” as the thing that keeps so many of us stuck. It’s wild how often the craving to improve becomes the very force that paralyzes us.
That line, do what you have to do, then walk away, hits harder the older I get. There’s something liberating about refusing to turn yourself into a product for comparison culture.
There really is. I was never into it when I was in my 20s and early 30s but then got sucked in for a while. I broke free again in 2013, age 41, when we got rid of everything we owned and became true nomads. I’ve been letting more and more things go ever since.
Have to keep working at it though as those sneaky tinkering thoughts are always waiting to find a way in!
"If you crave success, you succumb to failure ." - Every day I tell myself to follow my intuition, to stay true to my stories, to recite the word "creativity" like a mantra, and yet I fall back into the trap, but it is the hardest thing. Like you say, our society is built on this idea of achievement. It seeps into everything we do. Thank you for writing this. 🙏🏼
I enjoyed this, thank you, Amanda. It was fun opening my brand new copy of the Stephen Mitchell translation of the Tao and comparing the chapters.
I didn't realize the New Yorker had an online flash fiction. A friend gifted me a subscription to the magazine and I've been reading just about every weekly fiction segment.
Nice work, Amanda! 💚
Thanks Don. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Yes lots of flash in The New Yorker. Although when they first started publishing it there was an uproar in the flash community as they were publishing stuff that’s pretty long! 😂
What’s the ideal length for flash fiction?
The general consensus is that it’s no more than 1000 words. But lots of flash journals and competitions say 500 max.
Perhaps I’ll give it a try. Most of my attempts at adult fiction have ended up feeling awkward to me, amateur, affected somehow. But I believe I just need to find my voice, my flow.
You definitely just need to do that. And you will. My best advice is read loads of flash and just start writing. You’ll get better the more you do it. My early attempts were awful! Over at WestWord, the lit mag I publish, there’s lots of craft posts about writing flash. Some of them are paywalled but lots are available for free too. Do you read @Kathy Fish’s The Art of Flash Fiction? Brilliant insights for flash writing on there.
Thanks for the shout out, Amanda! xx
No, I’ll check it out. Last year, inspired by your blog, I tried a piece of flash fiction. It’s about a guy who reluctantly agrees to open his marriage, then regrets it. I tried to keep it really minimalist, stripped down. But the thing is, it’s taken straight from my life, it’s not fiction at all! I’m just calling it fiction. (This is the part of my story that I never tell anyone because it just adds a little too much to the depravity of my divorce story). I just always find it easier to write from my life than to make up characters. Possibly I’m just meant to be a writer of creative non-fiction.
Hobbit always says “if you over sharpen the blade, it dulls”. Kinda like tinkering too much that the engine doesn’t start.
In yoga we call this brahmacharya. Moderation. Or, right action. Not too much not too little. Just right.
The Goldilocks Principle.
Which happens to be the title of my first book…
In Taoism it’s wu-wei. Effortless action. I’d never heard of The Goldilocks Principle but just looked it up. And your book. More synchronicity as I was just thinking today that I want to learn more about the chakras!
that’s my expertise! I’m actually thinking (inspired by you) of creating an asynchronous course with a weekly cohort meeting option…maybe sometime in spring! would love to have you in it!
I love how you frame “tinkering” as the thing that keeps so many of us stuck. It’s wild how often the craving to improve becomes the very force that paralyzes us.
That line, do what you have to do, then walk away, hits harder the older I get. There’s something liberating about refusing to turn yourself into a product for comparison culture.
There really is. I was never into it when I was in my 20s and early 30s but then got sucked in for a while. I broke free again in 2013, age 41, when we got rid of everything we owned and became true nomads. I’ve been letting more and more things go ever since.
Have to keep working at it though as those sneaky tinkering thoughts are always waiting to find a way in!
"If you crave success, you succumb to failure ." - Every day I tell myself to follow my intuition, to stay true to my stories, to recite the word "creativity" like a mantra, and yet I fall back into the trap, but it is the hardest thing. Like you say, our society is built on this idea of achievement. It seeps into everything we do. Thank you for writing this. 🙏🏼
Yes it’s so hard. We have to keep practicing everyday to stay on the path! 💙