What you leave out of a piece of flash fiction is more important than what you put in; but what you put in must imply what you leave out. Only in this way will a 400 to 1,500 word short story resonate with things the reader will not understand but will sense beyond the actual words on the page/screen.
The easiest way to try to get this resonance is to over write your first draft. If your first draft is 3,000 to 4,000 words cut it down to an essential 800 to 1,200 words.
I should be writing but... I'm enjoying your articles. I think shorter the piece the tighter the language should be. I see novels at one end of the continuum and poetry at the other. The range in between varies. Still it's imperative to cut and hone.
Many times I don't care to read maybe a very good flash fiction because the story are buried inside an entangled spaghetti of inane details which distracted me from the main theme.
Great advice, hold it short so the reader can't put down the pages keeping on reading.
Georg
High school student Kevin Borden has a secret and his name is Louis Lannegan. He also has an overbearing mother. A tale of coming out in the shadow of parents and friends. Award winning novella.
Sarah Thompson has ten days on Maui to find her lifetime after lifetime soulmate. She is certain he is waiting for her there on one of the last remaining land masses of Mu still above water.
Great advice, hold it short so the reader can't put down the pages keeping on reading.
Georg