Questions for Gaines Post

[Gaines]

Hullos!


My name is Gaines Post. I'm an avid reader, mainly of fiction these days, but I also like to write stuff in my freetime.

Now and then I'll upload a very short piece of fiction -- usually sci-fi or fantasy, but sometimes something else -- completely free to read, here: www.gainespost.com . Some of those are actual "flash fiction" pieces, while others are just sketches or potential jumping-off points for stories that I may or may not expand on at some point in the future.

I was born and raised in Tennessee in the US, and I now reside in New South Wales in Australia. I ended up here via a rather round-about route, I suppose. For work, I am a freelance translator -- Chinese to English -- and my main client is a Tibetan Buddhist church based in Taiwan. For fun & relaxation I enjoy reading, writing, playing music, watching movies & shows, going for walks, cooking hit-or-miss meals, drinking wine on the back balcony while parrot-watching, and daydreaming about exploring the world (as well as other places in the universe...). Let's see, what else? Um, .. oh yeah: Spaceships are cool. And so is Baileys in coffee.

It's nice to meet you all :-) Feel free to ask me anything you like, whether about my writing or otherwise. I promise I will give you an answer (of some sort, anyway!).

[David]

What first got you interested in writing short fiction (flash fiction, short stories, etc.)?

[Groovy]

I don't think I've ever heard of flash fiction. What is that?

[Gaines]

Groovy wrote: "I don't think I've ever heard of flash fiction. What is that?"

Basically, flash fiction is extremely short prose. A piece of "good" flash fiction, in my opinion, does the same thing a good short story or a good novel does -- it tells a story, has structure, conflict and resolution, etc. Not easy to do in under a thousand words! (Although some flash fiction can be a bit longer, even up to 1500 words; definitions vary).

Most of my stuff on my website is not actually flash fiction, as the pieces are not very complete; they don't necessarily have a beginning, middle, and end, for example, and as such are not very well-rounded. They're more like sketches of ideas. But a few of my pieces certainly do meet the criteria and can be called flash fiction :-)

Here's some more info on it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_fiction

There are also plenty of google-able websites and ezines devoted to flash fiction.

'Hope that helps :-)

[Gaines]

David wrote: "What first got you interested in writing short fiction (flash fiction, short stories, etc.)?"

I was going through a very difficult time of life, full of rather traumatic episodes, and in combination with having to spend so much time working to pay the bills, the stress was causing me to struggle with staying focused on writing creatively. I decided that if I could post a short piece of fiction on my website, monthly or even once every couple of months, it might help me keep that side of me -- the part that loves to write -- from slipping away completely through that very dark time. Incidentally, if did help. While I was doing it, I learned what "flash fiction" was, and began to try my hand at it. One result was Red , and another was Blend (which was originally published in Mustang's Monster Corral, an online mag which, sadly, has since shut down).

Besides all that, I guess I've simply always enjoyed reading short stories -- ever since I was in high school -- and flash fiction is basically just really short short stories :-) Over the years, I have been inspired by the work of Ursula K. Le Guin, Cat Rambo, and many others. I believe short fiction is much more difficult than novel-writing, in some ways. This is especially true when it comes to speculative fiction, because you have to do a whole lot of world-building and plot-building and character-building, and then resolve it all in some way, all within a very small number of pages.

[David]

That's a great story and I definitely agree :) I've done novels and short stories, and I think I've found a nice balance with novellas (20-30k words).

That's really interesting though, and I'll have to check out some of the links you posted. I'm intrigued.

[Gaines]

David wrote: "I think I've found a nice balance with novellas (20-30k words)."

I've never tried a novella :-) Nor have I read very many. But I know it's a potentially great form of writing; the title piece of A River Runs Through It and Other Stories is a truly wonderful story, and is a novella.

I do have a short story that's around ten thousand words, which is kind of an awkward length, to be honest -- it's too long for most magazines or short fiction collections to consider a "short story," and they won't publish it for that reason, but it's also too short to be considered a novella. I might have to hack it apart, or simply edit it a few more times, embrace its floundering gawkiness, and release it into the world by publishing it myself.

[David]

Another thing you could do is add in some short stories and then self-pub that for like 99 cents. Like the book you mentioned above, with a longer piece as the forerunner. Just a thought.

[Gaines]

Great idea :-)

[David]

No problem :) I'll probably do that at some point.

[Groovy]

Thank you, Gaines. I understand now:) I'm working on two novel- length books at the moment. But as soon as I have free time, I'm going to try and read both of y'all's short stories.

[David]

Fantastico! Gracias, senorita.