Writing nonfiction: in a flash
‘Flash nonfiction’ is a label I’ve only recently come across and as someone who likes longer-form short writing on lots of different topics, it appeals to me greatly. Based on the principle of concise truth-telling, flash nonfiction genres include essays and memoirs of around 750-1000 words with even shorter ‘micro’ versions that run to only a couple of hundred words. We might think this is a genre born of the ‘tl:dr’ Internet age, with its predilection for bite-size content and attention grabbing shorts, but the concept of ‘flash prose’ was first introduced in 1996 - several years before the Internet really came into its own for user-shared content, forums, blogging and then social media. Mary Parmier-Jones and Judith Kitchen were the first to coin the term in their edited book ‘In Short’- a delightful collection of tiny memoirs and essays.
What I like about the flash nonfiction form is that every word counts and the constraints of that really help my creativity. I have to choose just the right word – because there are so few of them allowed – but equally, I want those words to run together to create the pleasing swirl of a creative story, so dry technical language won’t do either. Here is a flash memoir I wrote on ‘Joy’ for a contest a couple of months back. It wasn’t selected, but I didn’t expect it to be really, it was just great to have a reason to write something a little different to my usual assignments: newsletters for my Curious View VIP community, my blogs, or my own research-led writing.
Flash nonfiction is a terrific way to keep your writing juices flowing when you’re struggling to write the things you know you should be writing. That chapter you’re avoiding? or the journal article with the reviewers’ comments that sent you running for the hills? Put it to one side and write a flash memoir about something funny that happened while you were gathering your data instead, or a micro-essay about the thing you still love about your project. Write anything flash that doesn’t need to be flashy.
Not writing is the worst thing a writer can do. Writing anything regularly is better than spending weeks away from your notebook or keyboard, during which time self-doubt mounts, the unwritten task looms larger and blacker in your imagination, and you start to believe that you’re not cut out for this writing lark at all. I mean, if you were, you’d be writing, right? (Learn more about dealing with not-writing here) If you work in academia, this is also the time of year when it’s particularly easy to be not-writing, because there’s a million and one other student-shaped things you need to be doing instead. Campus has woken from its summer slumber, emails are pinging and meetings are back on the agenda.
As the label ‘flash’ nonfiction suggests, pieces are often impromptu, and written quickly, as well as short in length. This is the element that is the most interesting challenge for me, since I am partial to a spot of sentence polishing or a thesaurus deep-dive for that perfect metaphor and a shorter piece can easily still take me hours. So it’s a good discipline for me to decide I’m going to write something, set a timer for however long I have available, and see what I come up with. That’s what I’m doing with this blog post in fact. I’ve got 500 words down in about 45 minutes (with a detour to buy Mary Parmier Jones and Judith Kitchen’s book!) and I’m aiming to be finished, edited and posted in the next hour.
So what can help with writing quick, impromptu pieces in not many words?
Don’t over-think your topic
Choose the first thing that comes to mind, use a prompt, or pick a photo from your camera roll and write about that. Remember flash nonfiction is about getting you writing quickly, and ideally for fun, something ‘useful’ might emerge from it, but that’s not your goal.
Do be precise and specific
Flash nonfiction works best when it’s about something very particular. Sure, it might open out onto wider issues (especially if you’re writing 1000 words) but the story needs to be tight so it can be told within the confines you have.
Don’t worry about structure and flow
Just write paragraphs as they come to mind. You can order them differently, edit, or delete altogether later. Often you’ll find that’s not even necessary.
Do set a timer
You’ll lose track of time once you get going and without a hard stop you’ll end up spending far too long on your flash piece. That way lies guilt!
Don’t fall into fact-checking/ hyper-link rabbit holes
If you want to share your piece, then all that can come later. Add comments on your text as you write to remind you what you wanted to look up. Don’t break your flow for longer than absolutely necessary.
Do save your pieces for later recycling
If you’re not writing for a specific purpose such as a pitch, post or contest, you might find you can use all or some of the ideas in something else down the line. The ‘joy’ piece I’ve shared here is a case in point!
Do have fun!
The minute something feels hard, anxiety-provoking or frustrating, move onto to the next thought. Stay on the joy train!
Further useful reading on flash nonfiction
Glatch, Sean (2026) ‘Flash Nonfiction: The craft of tiny truths’ Writers.com https://writers.com/flash-nonfiction
Moore, Dinty (2012) The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Nonfiction: Advice and Essential Exercises from Respected Writers, Editors, and Teachers. Rose Metal Press, Brookline, MA.
Parmier Jones, Mary and Kitchen, Judith (1996) In Short: A Collection of Brief Creative Nonfiction W.W. Norton & Co. New York.
‘Flash Prose’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_prose