Blogging Fiction by Lindsey P. Brackett

A few years ago when I was knee-deep in preschoolers and a newborn, I started a blog.

I meant that corner of blogsphere to be a simple way my extended and scattered family could keep up with all our adventures. I figured along the way I’d muse a little about this, that, and the other.

So I did. For over three years I wrote nothing but blog posts. Eventually, the local paper added me as a community columnist, and I realized real live people were reading my words.

That little blog had rekindled my heart for storytelling. Gradually, I started chipping away at bits and pieces of a novel I was sure would never see the light of day. Much to my surprise, I had found my fiction voice in the snippets I wrote about the mundane of motherhood and the glory of grace.

I attended my first writers conference in 2014 and realized how much I still needed to learn. I needed to hone my active voice and test out action tags for dialogue. Since blogging had prepared me to write concisely and visually with a small word count, flash fiction seemed a natural avenue to pursue. When the first flash fiction piece I ever wrote won a contest, I knew that win was a testament to what we writers can learn from bloggers.

Immediate Engagement:

In order to succeed in catching a reader’s eye, blogs, like flash fiction, have to engage immediately. Strong openings are necessary to keep any reader on your page, and whether writing flash fiction or a recount of your day at the lake, no one has time for every minute detail leading up to the interesting parts of the story. Start with what’s captivating and proceed from there.

Minimal Word Count:

The average blog is between 400-700 words. Flash fiction is told in 1000 words or less. No one opens a blog post with the intention of reading a novel, and the same applies to flash fiction. Our readers want a complete story in a short amount of time. Blogging has made me aware of extraneous details that lose my reader. Those are the posts with no comments or shares. Those are the posts when I didn’t assume my reader was smart enough to figure it out. Which leads me to…

Reader Assumptions:

There’s no time in a blog post or a flash fiction piece to give all the backstory. Assume your reader knows/doesn’t care/will figure it out. With blogging, links can always be added to point the reader to more details if needed, but with flash fiction, the story must be set up in such a way that either it’s not necessary to know that Aunt Mildred and Uncle Kenny are divorced, or it’s so blatantly implied, the reader can’t miss it. Don’t lose the point of your post—or your story—with history that doesn’t move it forward to the rapidly approaching conclusion.

Leave Them Wanting More:

When the story is done, it should feel complete, but it also should leave your reader thinking they’d like to stop back by tomorrow and see what else you’ve got. That’s what builds a following, and that’s what sells more stories. Readers return because they got what they wanted, so now, of course, they want more.

 

Once your reader has gotten what he wanted, what about you–the writer?

The beauty of blogs and flash fiction is immediate gratification. You can publish immediately, get real-time feedback, and gain confidence every time that post is shared or receives a comment. As we interact with our audience, we are able to ascertain what it is they really want to read or learn. Then we are able to give it to them, whether it’s in a blog post pondering motherhood or a flash fiction piece imagining the impossible.

 

To hone your flash fiction skills and decimate your word count, join Splickety’s Lightning Blog every Friday for #BoltFlashFic. On Fridays, a picture is only worth 100 words…and possible publication.

Bio:

Award-winning writer, Lindsey P. Brackett just writes life — blogs, columns, articles, and stories — in the midst of motherhood. She’s the Web Content Editor for Splickety Publishing Group and her debut novel will release in 2017. Connect with her at lindseypbrackett.com on Facebook or Twitter