“[E]very story is about character, and the individual characters in the narrative are what will make or break a story.” —John Pipkin
On Saturday, May 9, John Pipkin will teach “Writing Flash Fiction: How to Tell a Whole Story in One (Breathless) Breath.” In this class, students will explore the possibilities of flash fiction for capturing a narrative fragment or slice-of-life anecdote, as well as for telling a complete story. Through reading examples, writing exercises, and more, students will come to understand how flash fiction represents one of the purest forms of storytelling.
John Pipkin is the Director of the Undergraduate Creative Writing Program at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of the novels Woodsburner (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday 2009) and The Blind Astronomer’s Daughter (Bloomsbury 2016).
Here’s what John had to share with us:
Who are your earliest influences? What people and books made you a writer?
I confess that as a kid I watched a lot of TV (a lot!) and so the earliest influences on my approach to narrative form came from Saturday morning cartoons (Bugs Bunny, Scooby-Doo, etc.) and a healthy dose of Japanese sci-fi and old anime, like Speed Racer, Star Blazers and Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot.
But the book that first made me think “I want to do this writing thing” was probably the 1944 Newberry Award-winning YA novel Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes, which first introduced me to the limitless possibilities of blending fiction and history.
What writing challenges have you faced? What have these challenges taught you about your process?
Rejection is a very good way to learn about your strengths and weaknesses as a writer. When writing historical fiction, it’s easy to get caught up in the broad sweep of historical facts and the complex repercussions and consequences of past events, so I have learned that I constantly need to remind myself during the writing process that every story is about character, and the individual characters in the narrative are what will make or break a story. Every single time.
From your perspective, what’s the most rewarding part about being a writer?
The second-most-rewarding part about being a writer is knowing that you may have changed a reader’s perspective on an important subject. The most rewarding part is when your writing—especially the process of working through a difficult narrative—actually changes your own perspective on the subject you thought you already knew well enough to write about.
Who do you write for?
In a very basic way, I guess I’m always writing for myself first. When I reread something I’ve written, if it doesn’t move me or entertain me in some way, then I feel pretty confident it’s not going to move or entertain a reader either.
What do you hope writers will learn from your course?
I hope writers will learn that the flash fiction format is not only a formal end in itself capable of evoking an entire story, but that the genre can also be useful for developing the skills of precision and conciseness, as well as serving as a method for exploring and focusing story ideas intended for longer formats.
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Thanks, John!
Click here to learn more about John’s upcoming class.
