Odd; I’ve been through this course before and I’ve read all the Flash Fiction anthologies and never without some type of constipated pain was able to easily write the short-short-short story. I’m spitting them out lately though and they appear to have a beginning, middle, and an end, all within less than–well under 600 words, but that’s real good for me.
It would be nice if this influence does remain with me and is not just a time and place imprint. After all, it took me years to get rid of the Poe-ness of my earlier writings.
There’s always been a purpose for the quickie, it’s just a matter of perception and need, not quality.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology