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

The submission deadline is three weeks prior. All stories will be considered for our next book. Now that you’ve become a 55 Fiction believer, it’s your turn to write a 55-word short story so we can consider it for our next contest and for inclusion in our sequel to The World’s Shortest Stories. And what luck: We just happen to have the official rules right here to help guide you when crafting a mere 55 words into one of the truly great stories of our time. Writing a 55 Fiction story isn’t as easy as it looks.


Our 55 Fiction contest is held once a year, but you can submit stories all year long. Send them to 55 Fiction, 1010 Marsh St., San Luis Obispo, CA 93401.You can also send a digital version to 55fiction@newtimesslo.com.


A haiku poem is short. So is a quarterback sneak. But nobody thinks they’re simple to execute; it’s just that the people who do them well make it seem that way.


Chapter 33