This is going to sound similar to one of the older threads on this sub-forum that asks "Does something have to happen?", but my question lies within the title. With flash fiction, is the aim supposed to be a story where something happens— like events, physical actions, conflict both inner and outer— or is it supposed to convey a meaning or make you feel something?
I guess the obvious answer would be "whatever you aim to achieve when you write the story," but I've read well-received short stories and flash fiction in class where I read it, read it again, stare at the text and just ask myself That's it? What's the point of this? That falls under more of the "Meaning and Making You Feel Something" whenever I read things like that, because usually when something actually happens, it's too captivating to not finish the text satisfied.
Also referring back to the "Does something have to happen" thread, they touched up on conflict needing to happen, no matter what shape or form, and no matter how small, in order for it to be a story and not a "scene". A scene being, well, a scene where it just depicts a scene and nothing really happens. But this confuses me, as the things I read that were well-received often just seem like scenes, or prose that's supposed to make you feel something.
Is it just me digging too deep into this? Is there really a definition (other than word count) for flash fiction, that tells whether or not something in the story has to happen, or is that up to me as the writer? Or maybe my eye for these kinds of things isn't fully developed, and I'm really missing the point on these "scenes" and prose-like texts.
I guess the obvious answer would be "whatever you aim to achieve when you write the story," but I've read well-received short stories and flash fiction in class where I read it, read it again, stare at the text and just ask myself That's it? What's the point of this? That falls under more of the "Meaning and Making You Feel Something" whenever I read things like that, because usually when something actually happens, it's too captivating to not finish the text satisfied.
Also referring back to the "Does something have to happen" thread, they touched up on conflict needing to happen, no matter what shape or form, and no matter how small, in order for it to be a story and not a "scene". A scene being, well, a scene where it just depicts a scene and nothing really happens. But this confuses me, as the things I read that were well-received often just seem like scenes, or prose that's supposed to make you feel something.
Is it just me digging too deep into this? Is there really a definition (other than word count) for flash fiction, that tells whether or not something in the story has to happen, or is that up to me as the writer? Or maybe my eye for these kinds of things isn't fully developed, and I'm really missing the point on these "scenes" and prose-like texts.