As anyone who’s ever sat down to write a flash story or essay knows, it can be incredibly difficult to fit an entire narrative or experience into under 1,000 words. Even more difficult: lacing that narrative with enough urgency and emotional complexity to make your readers feel like they’ve just devoured a much longer work. In this two-hour craft seminar, we’ll be breaking down George Saunders’ 1995 flash fiction masterpiece, “Sticks,” on a sentence-by-sentence level to examine and emulate the strategies that he uses to pack an entire universe of complexity—and decades of narrative time—into just 392 words.
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Join us July 26-27 for Short Form Fest, a weekend celebration of short stories, essays, flash prose, and prose poetry. To explore craft seminars and events, purchase passes, and learn more about the festival, click here.
