When I opened up Unlocking the Novella-in-Flash by Michael Loveday, I did what I imagine most writers will do when they get this brilliant guide: I wrangled and chivvied a bunch of flashes into a novella-in-flash.
Ergo, this guide works.
It’s definitely not finished yet (and I have a few seeds for other novellas-in-flash), but I appreciated the process presented by Michael Loveday in this book from the British publisher and organizer of the Bath Flash Fiction Awards, Adhoc Fiction.
Loveday reiterates this idea throughout: process.
Not process, as in there is one definite set of steps. But process, as in you have to step forward to get anywhere.
I think I’m going to tattoo the word “process” on my forehead.
For looking at in the mirror.
He makes this point early on:
“Cooking up ideas means making a mess in the kitchen…This is the nature of creativity. We shouldn’t let the process play tricks with our minds or lead us to lose heart. So try to switch off any critical judging voice in the brain during the creation phase.”
This kind of gentle coaching, nudging pervades Loveday’s book, starting with a very detailed, informative definition of the form, before moving onto my favourite part of the book: the workbook.
A workbook! I have never been so excited to start a workbook! And this is, for me, the winning element of the guide: the actionable and the active. The process.
So get started then!
To find out more about this book: https://www.adhocfiction.com/2022/04/unlocking-the-novella-in-flash-michael-loveday/
Jonathan Cardew hails from the UK but calls Wisconsin his home. An award-winning micro fiction writer, his stories can be found in numerous journals, including Cincinnati Review, No Contact Magazine, wigleaf, and cream city review, among others. His short-short stories have been honored in various prizes and anthologies, including the Fractured Literary Vol I Prize (winner), Best Microfiction 2021 (winner), the SmokeLong Prize for Flash Fiction (finalist), and the Passages North Neutrino Prize (finalist). Find him on Twitter @cardewjcardew. Jonathan Cardew hails from the UK but calls Wisconsin his home. An award-winning micro fiction writer, his stories can be found in numerous journals, including Cincinnati Review, No Contact Magazine, wigleaf, and cream city review, among others. His short-short stories have been honored in various prizes and anthologies, including the Fractured Literary Vol I Prize (winner), Best Microfiction 2021 (winner), the SmokeLong Prize for Flash Fiction (finalist), and the Passages North Neutrino Prize (finalist). Find him on Twitter @cardewjcardew.