by Lindsey Brackett @LindsBrac

You’ve got your highlighters and your spreadsheets and your list of potential meetings. This year the BRMCWC class offerings are so good, you’re probably having trouble deciding. You’re probably thinking if you primarily write fiction, you shouldn’t make time for a class about freelancing. Or if you primarily write non-fiction, you probably aren’t planning for a fiction class, no matter how great the giveaways. (Mine are going to be pretty great. Two words: Julie Lessman.)

Let me help you out. If you want to learn how to build a story, write tight, and get published, make room in your schedule for a class on flash fiction.

It’s the class I regret not taking at my first ever conference (throwback to BRMCWC 2014). I overlooked it because I didn’t know what the term flash fiction even meant. Then I got up the courage and asked one night at dinner. Somebody told me: it’s a story in 1000 words or less.

Oh. So simple.

When I returned home from that fateful conference, I wrote my first flash fiction piece and entered it in a Splickety contest.

It won.

After picking myself up off the floor, I started writing more. And submitting. I learned to write tight and structure scenes with impact from working with talented editors. A hands-on approach that’s always worked really well for me, though one little course could’ve made the breaking in process easier.

Now, as a multi-published writer for both fiction and non-fiction, I believe flash fiction holds value for any writer, no matter what genre or discipline you practice. The impact is all wrapped up in its brevity—what can you really say with only 1000 words?

This year at BRMCWC, you can learn the structure of flash fiction. How all the elements of story still work in a piece so short. We’ll offer tips that will improve anyone’s writing and might even land you that first publishing contract.

Or you can take your skills a step further and focus on genre. Romance is popular among readers—and writers. Learning “How to Make a Spark” and write flash fiction romance, can help you incorporate romance into any story you’re writing. We’re not talking traditional “boy meets girl, they fall in love, overcome some obstacles, and live happily ever after.”

Of course you can’t do all that in 1000 words.

What you can do is tell the story of an important moment, a snapshot of a bigger scene, a snippet that quickens the pulse—and satisfies the reader’s need for a little swoon. But—did you catch the part about tell the story?

Join me in May and we’ll figure out how to do what we all do best—tell a story that quickens the heart.

Award-winning writer, Lindsey P. Brackett just writes life — blogs, columns, articles, and stories — in the midst of motherhood. As Web Content Editor for Splickety Publishing Group, she publishes pieces of flash fiction and writer wisdom for those who love a good story and have limited time. Her debut novel, Still Waters, a Lowcountry story about the power of family and forgiveness, releases in September. Connect with her at lindseypbrackett.com or email blog@splickety.com.

Join her at BRMCWC for How to Make a Spark: Writing Flash Fiction Romance, Writing Through the Chaos: A Q&A with Writers Who ‘Do It All’, and How to Get a Byline in 500 Words.