The Art of Brevity: Crafting the Very Short Story by Grant Faulkner

The Art of Brevity: Crafting the Very Short Story Reviews

• 
  Tara

  My blurb for this wonderful craft/essay book:
  
  Grant Faulkner, one of our finest practitioners of the very short story, gifts us with this creative, dynamic craft book. The Art of Brevity is absorbing, whimsical, and filled with the eclectic wisdom of writers, artists, and musicians who have created with an aesthetic of brevity and omission. But finally, it is Faulkner’s unique, personal view on the subject of condensing short prose—as he telescopes into the fascinating “cracks and crevices” of brevity—that makes this book a must for every writer’s shelf.
• 
  Jessica Klimesh

  A must-read for any writer, not just flash writers; useful info and fun and challenging prompts for all writing levels!
• 
  Shayla Raquel

  A Short Book on Tiny Stories with Massive Impact
  
  As a longtime NaNoWriMo-er and lover of Grant Faulkner's Pep Talks for Writers, I was overjoyed to get a copy of The Art of Brevity. To be honest, I had no idea what it was about—I just knew I wanted to read it because I love Faulkner's work.
  
  The big surprise for me was what I've been missing out on all this time. I knew nothing about short-shorts, and now all I want to do is write a whole mess of them. I had never heard of "Little Darling" by Jacqueline Doyle, and I can't get it out of my head. To read a one-paragraph story and be so shook up? I hadn't expected that!
  
  If you're ready to make a big impact, then you need to learn how to write tiny stories.
  
  My favorite flashpoint (exercise):
  The Gape of the Garment: "Ask yourself how thinking of the form of your story as sensuous, as something to feel, changed it. How does it feel to be an author who isn't dominating or ruling the story but toughing and feeling it?
  
  My favorite quotes:
  
  "A writer of brevity has to paint characters in deft brushstrokes, with the keenest of images in such limited space, in order to capture their essence."
  
  "Brevity is about the tiniest of moments, the fleeting."
  
  "A good author is always allowing peeks into the garment but doesn't strip off the clothing—or doesn't do so until exactly the right moment."
• 
  Ana Ellickson

  Grant Faulkner's THE ART OF BREVITY is a fabulous addition to learning about the craft of flash fiction! The slim book is interwoven with creative prompts and literary ruminations that examine the art of flash from so many angles like a gleaming jewel. As a writer who flows between both flash fiction and full-length novels, I found so many of the prompts helpful in opening up my creative well. As Grant says in the introduction: "Life isn't a round, complete circle--it's shaped by fragments, shards, and pinpricks. It's a collage of snapshots, a collection of the unspoken, an attic full of situations you can't quite get rid of. The brevity of flash is perfect for capturing the small but telling moments when life pivots almost unnoticeably, yet profoundly." He certainly makes a compelling case for the power of flash stories, and finding your own unique voice to tell them. Can't wait to delve deeper with my writing group!
• 
  Tommy Dean

  A book about writing flash fiction from a writer, teacher, and editor that really understands the variety of the form! A masterclass in how to write flash fiction, but also how to use brevity in all writing. Faulkner writes with a love and a warmth, and a a searching spirit as he measures out his lessons. I plan on using so many of these lessons as I write my own flash and I will incorporate them into my own teaching of the form.
• 
  Anika

  When Grant Faulkner talks about flash fiction he also talks about art, poetry, philosophy, perfume…. The Art of Brevity is beautifully inspiring. A passionately thoughtful and insightful book.
• 
  Jenny Thompson

  Somewhat inevitable, but... I thought most of the chapters could have been briefer.
• 
  Willie Swinerton

  Ironically, this book was a little long.