A flash fiction is a very short story, usually only consisting of a few hundred words, although there is no real boundary. If you are looking to enter your flash fiction into a competition, check the word limit first as they tend to vary.
Like any story, a flash fiction is not limited by genre or content. They can reflect true life or fantasy, they can be about love or death, there might even be no defining event as such.
Flash fictions also tend to have much less exposition - this is stuff like character building, scene setting, etc. This is because you have so few words. However, that's not to say it isn't possible. Think back to our first weekly reading (https://georginasaesthetic.wixsite.com/mysite/post/review-things-left-and-found-by-the-side-of-the-road). This contained a great deal of description, however it did lack in character description - in fact there was no real "main character" at all, just an omniscient observer.
Flash fictions can also be a great way to start a longer piece of work. The more flash fictions you write, the more practice you get at writing, learning what details are important, and the more ideas you have for other stories.
I actually recently turned a 250-word flash fiction I wrote in my notebook into a longer 1000-word short story. The act of turning a flash fiction into a longer story is also really good practice as you learn what parts of your story can be padded out, if you need more exposition and where your story can go next.
Happy writing!
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