My last post introduced the type of writing called “Flash Fiction.” Today I’m going to provide a list of different sorts of flash fiction and some sites worth checking out. If you’re looking for daily writing “prompts” that are short and quick but also provide opportunity for developing strong writing skills, flash fiction is a great opportunity.

There are many kinds of flash fiction, written within various constraints. You can even create your own constraints. Here are some examples:

• 6-word stories: http://www.sixwordmemoirs.com/; http://www.narrativemagazine.com/sixwords
• Dribbles: 50 word stories https://fiftywordstories.com/
• Drabbles: 100 word stories http://www.100wordstory.org/
• One, two or three minute stories (read aloud in that time period) http://oneminutestories.squarespace.com/ Two minute stories are also called Chipotle stories because they’re meant to be read in the time it takes to consume a chipotle cup! http://ew.com/article/2015/09/17/chipotle-authors-ranked/ Check out these three-minute stories from an NPR contest: http://www.npr.org/series/105660765/three-minute-fiction
• One sentence stories of up to 1000 words: http://monkeybicycle.net/ 
• Postcard stories: written on a postcard (and influenced by the picture on the other side): http://www.postcardshorts.com/; http://www.thepostcardpress.com/
• Sticky note stories http://stickynotestories.tumblr.com/
• Twitterature (140 character stories—includes aphorism, haiku, fan fiction, retelling of literary classics and literature, collaborative works, serial 140 character stories aka twitter novels) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitterature
• Sudden fiction (750 words). https://www.amazon.ca/Sudden-Fiction-American-Short-Short-Stories/dp/0879052651
• Micro fiction short stories: http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/micro-fiction-short-stories-from-famous-writers
• Parables: https://literaryterms.net/when-and-how-to-write-a-parable/
• Fables (such as Aesop’s Fables): http://questgarden.com/63/50/0/080406154715/process.htm
• Story-bytes (256 word stories) http://www.storybytes.com/view-length/0256-words/index-0256.html
• Micro-minis: https://kavipriyamoorthy.wordpress.com/category/micro-mini-stories/ 
• Prose poetry: http://www.prose-poems.com/examples.html
• Mini sagas (exactly 50 words): http://damiacampeny4thdeso.blogspot.ca/2007/12/mini-sagas.html
• Fifty-five Word Fiction: https://letterpile.com/writing/55-word-flash-fiction

There are many examples of flash fiction in anthologies and journals, and on many online sites. Here are some sites worth checking out. Many of them accept submissions and/or hold contests.

• http://nanofiction.org/ (up to 300 words)
• http://www.smokelong.com/
• http://www.eclectica.org/
• http://pankmagazine.com/
• http://www.wordriot.org/
• http://fictionsoutheast.org/
• http://miel.bigcartel.com/category/microseries
• http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/
• http://thecollagist.com/
• http://doubleroomjournal.com/
• https://flashfictionmagazine.com/
• http://twosentencestories.com/
• http://www.vestalreview.org/
• http://wigleaf.com/
• http://flashfictiononline.com/main/
• http://www.prose-poems.com/examples.html

Why not try out some of these flash fiction writing forms–and let us know which ones you like best? In fact, how about sharing some of your efforts in the comments?