The Fleeting, Electric Moment: Ginsberg's American Sentence

“Any gesture we make consciously, be it artwork, a love affair, any food we cook, can be done with a kind of awareness of eternity, truthfulness...In portraiture, you have the fleeting moment to capture the image as it passes and before it dissolves...It captures the shadow of the moment.” ~Allen Ginsberg

Happy October to all of my subscribers!

I first want to announce that I am offering a workshop exclusively for annual paid subscribers. When you upgrade to an Annual Subscription (from your free or monthly subscription) by November 30, 2025, you’ll receive a free spot in my ninety-minute online workshop Flash in Motion: Writing with Power and Urgency to be held on December 13, 2025. This workshop will not be offered to the general public. All annual subscribers will receive lifetime access to the recording.

If upgrading is not possible for you, I truly understand. You will continue to receive these substantive and (hopefully) inspiring monthly newsletters from me. If you are already an annual subscriber, thank you so much! If you wish to take advantage of the exclusive December workshop, please make sure your annual subscription is still active by then.

The Ultra Micro

Today, I’d like to look a bit at the tiniest micro form that flash can take, the under fifty-worder or even briefer than that. Caveat: This is not a form I feel particularly adept at and further, I don’t always love pieces this short. But oh man, when done well, ultra micros leave me awestruck by their power, precision, and emotional punch. I’m awestruck, too, by the writers who can work such magic.

Whether you’re drawn to writing this small or not, it’s good practice, I think, to attempt extreme brevity if for no other reason than to get better at concision in general. And who knows, it may become your favorite form to play with.

So much of the energy and urgency of flash fiction is conveyed through its concision and distillation. Winnowing the work down to its essence is something flash writers share with poets. It behooves us as we create in this form to continue to add skills and “tricks”