Flash forward. . .think back

I signed up to attend a workshop on "Writing Flash Fiction" at Books & Books in Coral Gables on Saturday afternoon.For my non-Miami blog readers, Books & Books is a throwback to when book stores weren't called Borders and Barnes & Noble, but were warm, welcoming places where the owners knew your name.

There was a mixed bag of about 30 people in the workshop that was run by a successful young author named Michelle Richmond. Most were fairly mature although a young man who looked like a college student sat directly in front of me. In all truth, I had never heard of "Flash Fiction" which is described as an ultra-short story, under 750 words, containing A,B,C,D & E. . Action, Background, Conflict, Development and End. After reading and discussing several examples, Michelle put us to work writing.

First she told us she was going to call out a "thought" and we were to write our own take on that "thought" in the space of 30 to 60 seconds. First thought: "Think of something beautiful. . .then "Think of a sound". . . "Think of the future". . ."Think of a lie". . ."Think of a body part". . . "Think of a color". . . ."Think of the best food you ever ate". . ."Think of a promise you broke". . . "Think of a kitchen from your childhood". . ."Describe snow in 3 words".

What a fascinating exercise! I'm sitting here reading over my scribbles and it's amazing what jumps into your mind when you only have a minute to write and no idea what's coming next.

Another exercise that yielded really strange results started with instructions that "you have one minute to write down the names of everybody you have ever known!" The results were mystifying. . some people found themselves writing the names of grade school teachers. .others came up with childhood friends. . . I ended with a list of relatives that I haven't thought of in 60 or 70 years although I managed to throw in the names of two ex-husbands and my oldest friend Judy, her present husband and her ex. Don't ask me why. What really struck me as odd was that I started with my Mother and Father and didn't get to my daughter Andrea and my grandson Adam and his wife, Amy, until very near the end of the 60 seconds. Basically, in one minute I had journeyed back to my childhood and my 20's. Weird!

We didn't have time to think about it before we had to start writing, but I challenge each of you to grab pen and paper now and start writing names . . just be sure to stop at 60 seconds. I'd love to hear what each of you comes up with. . .bet you'll be as surprised as I was.
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