Do you write short fiction but long to s-t-r-e-t-c-h those tight little 55ers, flash pieces, and short stories into longer, publishable work? Do you have binders full of short pieces with characters you’d love to flesh out? Are you dying to tell the rest of these stories? If so,The Short and Long of Itis for you! Award-winning short fiction writer Paul Alan Fahey shows you how to expand and adapt your brief creations into longer, more satisfying stories, plays, novellas, and novels pitch perfect for publication in the e-age. This book will help you practice expanding your short fiction. Through detailed examples and hands-on exercises, you’ll learn how to: Adapt 55 fiction into flash fiction;Adapt flash fiction into short stories and plays;Adapt flash memoir into personal essays;Write a tight logline;Develop a story theme;Build three-act structure; andDevelop characters and enhance backstory.So grab a copy today and start writing longer stories tomorrow!

The Short and Long of It

I have to tell you at the outset that expanding flash fiction to short stories of 2,500 words or more isn’t always easy and can be quite a challenge—mainly because a good piece of flash is tightly written without a lot room for growth. In order to expand and adapt flash to other forms, you need to do a lot of thinking, what if-ing, and what writer Elizabeth Lyon calls riff-writing. My guess is most of you seasoned writers already use this technique.


In her terrific writing reference, Manuscript Makeover,Ms. Lyon likens riff-writing to music. Someone playing a riff on a saxophone or drums or any other musical instrument often “departs from the practice notes of the band or sheet music and takes off on a spontaneous solo.” This is called “playing a riff.”


Chapter 18