A micro fix

Sreetama Banerjee

Flash-fiction or micro-fiction is one of the most trending and advancing genre of literature on the internet nowadays. Several Instagram poets and authors have rose to fame and even struck themselves book deals employing this method of writing. Micro-fictions are generally about 50-100 words.

One such mega-popular pages is 'Terribly Tiny Tales' (TTT). Recently, having published their first book, they conducted a workshop in Bengaluru to help and teach aspiring writers to express themselves better. Chintan Ruparel, the co-founder of TTT says, "The attention span of people nowadays have reduced to 10-15 seconds, which is one of the main reasons on why so many people have given up reading. We tried to find a way by which we can capture a person's attention and deliver a story to them in less time. We did not discover micro-fiction, it has been there for centuries and one of the greatest examples of all times is Hemingway's six-word story 'For sale: Baby shoes, never worn'."

On being asked on where they faced difficulties while writing this genre, he says, "The fact that you need to inculcate every intricacy of a longer piece of writing such as a plot, passage of time, characters in about 140 characters as a feature, becomes tedious. You have to choose the words very carefully."  

One of the best things about micro-fiction is the fact that there are multiple ways in which one can be interpreted. It possesses this unique literary characteristic of implying or hinting to a bigger story, which is what attract people to it. The fact that it has an air of mystery and leaves you imagining the greater picture.

Krithika Nair, a micro-fiction writer, says, "Today's readers do not like investing in characters, plot development and flash fiction is the answer for such requirements. Much like a short film, it serves the purpose but keeps it brief and its brevity often makes it more hard-hitting and impactful. 140 characters is quite a small space to tell a story but when done right, it has a larger audience than an elaborately done piece of literature."

Another character of modern flash-fiction is that the endings are often not the ending, as the last line is made to be anti-climactic, leaving the reader in a state of wonderment and wanting more.

Navya Mishra, a student says, "I used to be an avid reader, but college and other activities got me busy and I don't find time to read books anymore. This is one of the reasons why I love reading micro-fiction, as they are crisp, concise and the story doesn't drag on."

"Few words that are used to convey the entire story and the emotions felt by the author, makes me think and empathise with those emotions and what I would do when I don the author's shoes," says Munazza Samah, a student.

Quite rightly, in a life of continuous hustle, micro-fiction is a perfect fit for those people who are constantly on the go. You need just 10 seconds to gain a reading experience and ignite your imagination.