So you want to write flash fiction Erotica? What? Why?
A thousand-ish words on writing. Hint: It often starts with a picture…
How long is a flash fiction? You get a lot of answers, but basically it’s 301-1000 words. 300 or less are micro-fictions, and there are other terms, but I’m not going down to the gnat’s ass on this.
I do memes as well, and I expect those to be under 20 words-ish. But I digress. Here are some reasons to write flash fiction.
Capturing plot ideas
Creating the essence of a marketing blurb
Doing a meme for marketing yourself or a larger story.
Learning to finish a story. (this is huge)
Learning to pace the story (words per task)
Learning iterative storytelling instead of outlining or Fat outlining.
Develop your writing habit. (this is even more important)
Learning to working under constraints. (pacing matters)
Developing a storytelling imagination. (it’s a muscle)
Writing a book a week? Or a daily blog?
Those are a few reasons, but… you can’t write shorts, you write books. Good on you. Most people can’t finish a project like that, and don’t. Even the mighty Steven King came to novels through the short story. Later in the series I will talk about layering, episodic writing (series and serials) and so on, to get into longer work, but your short story experience will be a build block to that sort of thing.
Flash fiction structure
Yes, there is a method/structure/pacing to flash fiction. In the simplest terms, people say, beginning, middle, end, moral/conclusion. But that’s not super helpful. I use a simple plan. Below are the tasks to write to, and the word count percentage to use (in general).
Intro 10%
Issue/opportunity 15%
Action 15%
Sex/marriage 50%
The twist, if there is one, is usually here and is either part of the above or below.
Conclusion 10%, (and a hook if you’re doing episodes)
The POV and HEA
Remember this is flash, it’s a single POV, and one to three characters. One going solo in exposition. Two or three if that third person is the narrator/observer. Resist the temptation to over explain. It's OK to leave a reader to fill in the blanks. It makes it more fun for the reader if you do it right and gives the story broader appeal.
Do we need a HEA? (Happy ever after) Meh, yeah, at least for now. Some of these will be happy for now, depends on the story. But it should be a happy conclusion. If it’s erotica or romance, yes, it’s a must. That’s the trope.
Let’s write the story above, ultra short. (434 words)
Start with a picture and imagine the story starter.
Intro (status quo): Mindy needed to get laid, college was supposed to be rife with dick and unlike most girls that saved it for marriage, Mindy had no such plan. Giving it up to an older guy at school was always the goal.
“This sucks,” she said.
“What?” her sorority sister said.
“I’ve been in college almost the entire year, and I’m still a virgin.”Issue/ opportunity: “You want to get laid? Do what I do and hang out in the liquor isle on Friday after class,” she said. “Wear something that tells the story.”
Action: So, Friday came and Mandy stood in the liquor aisle. She had ditched the bra, and, not being clever or chatty, she wore an old shirt from high school with a cute romance saying. The one that ran off all the boys. But here, it seemed to do the trick.
Issue/Opportunity (note: this is his opportunity): “Hey, Mindy, right?” The sexy, super handsome guy said.
“Yeah.”
“You like Coors? Or something foreign?” He asked. The beer she was standing in front of.
“Oh, no. I can’t, in only eighteen, they won’t let me buy it,” she said, putting on her best good girl pout.Action: “Well, I know a party going down, want to come. No one will card you.”
“Oh, I… I mean, I have finals, I shouldn’t. What if I get drunk? Someone might take advantage.”
“Don’t worry, they are my frat brothers. You’ll be fine. I’ll keep an eye on you.”
“Will you? Really? Ok, well I guess I’m all yours then,” Mindy said jumping up and down a little, fully aware her nipples were hard as rocks. And, that he noticed.Sex: (kind of) Mindy had drank plenty back home, and it’s not like she hadn’t used a dildo on herself until she was raw. But she’d never had the real thing. Jake, the boy from the store, did in fact keep his eye on her and Mindy, along with a little liquid courage, did everything to send the signals that she was ready for him.
He sat close, made all the right moves, and didn’t even question it when, later that night, when he’d thought she left, he found her naked in his bed. Without a second thought, he was between her legs, giving it to her until the sweat ran off her body like a waterfall and his nuts were empty.
Conclusion: (her transformation) His cock was the first, and the way she’d remember it, the standard all cocks would be judged by from then on. Even her husband. Knowing what a good fuck felt like, made the investment in college worth every penny.
The Analysis
Short and sweet, you will see I generally followed the guideline. Could it be longer, yes? Could the sex be hotter, yes? I still have some room.
But in flash fiction, less is more. Often the questions that come to the mind of the reader, and the imagined answers, are what's exciting. This could be a plot outline, a story starter, or an episode. This is how she meets Jake, but now what?
Note also I have two issues and action pairs, and all issues/opportunities lead to an action, if not cut it out. (one is often the foreplay, in our case it’s the flirtation dance). I didn’t put in a twist, but can you think of any? Something that makes this even hotter and takes the story in a new direction.
I also didn’t linger on hair, eye color, tit size, dress size, etc… Only what was absolutely germane to the story. The rest is all up to the observer and what they think is sexy. The picture I put with the story did a lot of that. And the meme, that was my story starter (Mindy after she learns the trick)
Where to go from here?
In my world, short stories, novels and serials also have a similar structure, but slightly different word count percentages. That's a different discussion. While eventually you will, for the sake of story, break some rules here and there, it's a start and a way to stay on track when your characters inevitably shit on your plans. It’s also now complete and suggests intuitively how this might be expanded.
I could go on and on… and I do, since this is a mini version of my class on Flash fiction and the meme. If you’re interested, that class is here. Promo code Hotflash2024 at checkout to get it free (first 100 anyway)