Transform Your Flash Fiction Writing
Take the mindful approach
There's something transformative about those moments when we connect deeply with our craft. The times when we touch the heart of what we're creating and the heart of our characters. These are the moments when our writing becomes alive. An authentic expression of voice and vision and shared humanity. This profound connection to craft is what many of us seek, yet it often feels just beyond our reach.
Over the past 15 years that I have been working with writers, I've received countless messages about the desire to deepen this connection. Many of you have shared how disconnected you sometimes feel from your own writing, how commercial concerns can overshadow the deeper purpose of your work. Others struggle to maintain a consistent relationship with their writing due to life's many demands. Many of you have shared how perfectionism, self-doubt, and overthinking routinely interrupt your creative process.
I hear you. I've been there too.
I also realised that the writing of flash fiction stories was the least mindful part of my practice. I was on a treadmill of writing to prompts, prettying up the drafts and sending them out. Seeking validation that my writing, and I, were good enough.
The Birth of Something New
For the past several months, I've been quietly developing something I believe might help. Mindful writing for me began as a personal experiment several years ago — a series of short, focused practices I used to centre myself before writing sessions. I noticed that even just five minutes of intentional preparation could dramatically shift the quality of my writing time.
As an award-winning flash writer and publisher, I've combined my almost 20 years of flash writing experience, over a decade of teaching it, and my mindful writing approach, to create the Mindful Flash Course.
What Is the Mindful Flash Course?
The Mindful Flash Course is exactly what the name suggests — an introduction to mindful writing techniques that you can integrate into your flash fiction writing practice to bring more meaning and depth to it.
At its core, the course contains:
Mindfulness practices specifically adapted for writers
Practical techniques you can implement in minutes
Clear guidance for immediate application to your writing
A framework for establishing your own sustainable writing ritual
This isn't about adding more to your already full plate. It's about creating a pocket of calm awareness that enhances everything you already do as a writer.
"The shorter the form, the more challenging it is to create a complete and satisfying story." - Joyce Carol Oates
From Resistance to Flow
We often think we need to force creativity, to push through resistance with sheer willpower. The mindful approach suggests something different — that by cultivating awareness and presence, we create conditions where writing can emerge more naturally.
This course isn't promising to "fix" your writing challenges or transform you overnight into a mindful writer. Writing remains a complex and personal journey with its inherent difficulties.
What the Mindful Flash Course offers instead is a set of tools and inspirations that might help you relate to those your craft differently — with more compassion, curiosity, and awareness. It's an invitation to experiment with a more mindful approach to your writing to connect more deeply to it and to who you are as a writer.
"The small movement of writing is an exercise in awareness." - Natalie Goldberg
Join Me
The first session of the Mindful Flash Course will begin in July for up to 12 writers. I've intentionally kept it small and affordable, as making writing accessible to all is a passion of mine (while still being able to afford to live!). If this approach resonates with you, I'd love to have you join us. Whether you are an experienced flash writer wanting more from your practice, or are just starting on your flash fiction journey then this course is for you.
I can’t wait to get started!
Course Info
Over 12 weeks, we'll explore different elements of flash fiction with kindness and curiosity. Workshops will be released fortnightly so you can mindfully connect with the course content and the work you’ll create. There will also be three live Zoom sessions. These will be recorded for those who can’t make it live.
Week 1: Beginning the Journey - Flash Fiction & Mindfulness
Discover how present-moment awareness opens doors to creativity and helps us tell meaningful stories in few words.
Week 2: Bringing Characters to Life
Learn gentle approaches to creating authentic characters that readers connect with, even in the briefest stories.
Week 3: Creating a Sense of Place
Explore how mindful attention to sensory details can create worlds that readers step into completely.
Week 4: Finding the Story's Heart
Uncover the emotional core that gives flash fiction its surprising depth and resonance.
Week 5: Discovering Your Authentic Voice
Connect with your unique writerly voice through mindfulness practices that encourage authenticity.
Week 6: Revisiting with Kindness
Approach revision as an act of compassion, honouring yourself, your work and your readers.
Live Zoom Workshops
Finding the Stories Inside Us with Amanda Saint
Saturday 9th August: 15.00-16.30 BST
Discover what you truly need to write about. This workshop uses mindfulness practices to help you identify the themes and subjects that genuinely matter to you. Through guided reflection and embodied awareness, you'll connect with your authentic stories rather than what you think you "should" write. Learn practical techniques for shaping these meaningful themes into resonant flash fiction that speaks to both your truth and universal human experience.
Beyond What the “I” Can See: Point of View in Very Short Fiction with Sarah Freligh
Saturday 23rd August: 15.00-16.30 BST
In this interactive workshop we’ll focus on point of view as a series of deliberate decisions and how those decisions impact how we build believable, authentic characters in very short stories. We’ll look at some published stories as models and try our hand at a series of prompts designed to inspire new stories or revise old ones with new eyes.
Sarah Freligh is the author of seven books, including Sad Math, winner of the 2014 Moon City Press Poetry Prize, Hereafter, winner of the 2024 Bath Novella-in-Flash contest and Other Emergencies, forthcoming from Moon City Press in 2025. Her work has appeared many literary journals and anthologized in New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction(Norton 2018), and Best Microfiction (2019-22). Among her awards are poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Saltonstall Foundation.
Sensory Immersion
Saturday 27th September 15.00-16.30 BST
In this session we’ll use guided visualisations to create vivid, authentic worlds for our flash fictions. This interactive workshop takes you through an immersive sensory journey before writing directly from that embodied experience. You'll bypass analytical thinking to access rich sensory details and emotional depth —which are essential elements for powerful flash fiction. You’ll discover mindfulness practices that can help bring settings and characters to life within minimal word counts.
Practical Details
Course begins: July 21, 2025
Length of practice: 12 weeks
Format: Fully online with a welcoming forum community
Investment in your creativity: £200 (single payment) or two payments of £110
Small group experience: Limited places to ensure everyone feels seen and supported
You’ll get lifetime access to the course space and three month’s membership to my Mindful Writer Community too.
If you're curious about the Mindful Flash Course but have questions, feel free to reply to this email. I'm happy to share more about the approach and help you decide if it might be a good fit for your writing practice.
And if now isn't the right time, that's perfectly fine too. This newsletter will continue to be a space where we explore the intersection of mindfulness and writing together, one post at a time.
As always, thank you for being here reading these words.
With love
What Writers Say About Working With Me
"Amanda isn’t just a writing teacher; she is a mentor and a guide. I unequivocally recommend her courses and coaching if you seek to improve your writing, connect more deeply with yourself and the creative force, and find renewed joy in life and in your writing.” — Loretta
“Amanda's Mindful Writing Course has encouraged me to find joy and connection with my writing in ways I haven't experienced before.” — Fiona
“I wholeheartedly urge anyone who is interested in understanding, improving and refining their writing to work with Amanda. Not only does she give valuable advice about the nuts-and-bolts of storytelling, she digs so much deeper into what your story is about, exposing what is missing but also revealing hidden layers to be explored, helping you craft stories with depth which are meaningful and memorable.” — Sally