The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Nonfiction: Advice and Essential Exercises from Respected Writers, Editors, and Teachers

I had hoped for a nonfiction writing craft book that would offer some practical writing tips and techniques. Instead what I got was a series of flash nonfiction essays written by self-absorbed MFAs. Much like one of those coffee table photography books that demonstrates what is possible with a digital SLR in the hands of a professional photographer, there is value in a writing craft book like this one as it demonstrates a level of writing excellence one can achieve. However, for writers like me, we are looking for down and dirty techniques to improve our craft. How to take a picture to capture the moment with our cellphone camera.

I love this book and will keep it by my side as I begin my adventure in writing flash nonfiction. I look forward to returning to it again and again for insight and inspiration. The only issue I have with the book is that the table of contents is written in Asian characters so I’m not able to use it to skip forward to the parts I want to read. Instead I need to go through the book manually. I’m hoping that this is something that will be solved by the publisher. Nevertheless, I highly recommend it.

Just used this text to teach a Flash Nonfiction course this summer and I decree success! The structure (short craft lecture, essay, and prompt) works great for teachers and students. The book progresses in a way that helps students build their skill set as they fold in new techniques. I found that working in the flash form is effective because everyone gets to write a ton and share a ton. Also, (as a good text should, I think) Moore's guide leaves plenty of room for instructor personalization. I have found it easy to add readings or embellish lectures as suited the class. I chose to have a longer assignment (8-10) pages for the end, which I had them workshop in sections, i.e. mini flash essays, which then (viola!) created a longer one.In short, highly recommended for teachers, or anyone who wants to teach themselves a course. I wrote the prompts along with my students and wound up with tidy collection.

I'm giving it 4 stars because I believe it may help some writers, but not really. And, of course, my own writing style enters in here. It's like telling a joke - either you can do it or you can't. Giving you techniques to turn your work from verbose to terse won't work for the verbose. On the flip side, people like myself are not capable of writing novel-length fiction because we think we are padding things, fill pages as it were. So, if you like to write short, it's not the worst book. But, as I said, it's very much like telling a joke: Either you have the timing or you don't - and no book will teach you that.

Reading this book is as good as taking a really great class in writing the short essay. So much meaty information packed into the craft essays, so much human emotion in the flash nonfiction examples each writer has chosen. Thank you for this gem!

I started writing flash nonfiction several years ago - before I knew that there was such a thing! I've had work published recently, but I still struggled to explain my art to others. No longer. This book is the best description of flash nonfiction I've come across, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. In fact, I bought it twice: once electronically and then again on paper when I realized how many notes I wanted to make in the margins! I highly recommend the guide for those who write flash nonfiction and those who want to better understand it.

The table of contents in this text is listed in Asian characters which makes navigating between chapters beyond frustrating. So sad, since it is otherwise such a beautiful book.

I absolutely love this book. I bought the e-book first and later went back for the paperback. Full of wonderful insights about the genre of flash nonfiction, as well as beautiful essays that tie into the lessons on the craft, this book is an amazing resource. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone who enjoys writing (or reading) short essays. And, honestly, much of what's written in these pages about flash nonfiction can be applied to flash fiction as well. It's a win-win book for any creative writer.

Fabulous book, every bit as good as the others in the series. As always, great explanations, examples to read and mull over and things to try for yourself. I only wish I had bought a hard copy rather than one on Kindle.

This is SO much better than the Guide to Flash Fiction. Some of the essays in here CLEARLY explain the mechanics of flash nonfiction, which then allows me to better see in the writing examples what the authors are doing. Learned some really good stuff about tightening pieces--which has helped me in my own nonfiction novel attempt. Would recommend this one.

I was impressed with this "field guide." I have underlined important parts, made some notes and earmarked pages to return to. The book is well organized and written in short, digestible snippets. Of course, some of the chapters are more useful to me than they might be for you and vice versa, but a little review is always a good reminder. I appreciate the sample essays that end each chapter and got some new ideas from the suggested writing prompts/activities.There is something for everyone in The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Nonfiction. I wish this had been the textbook used in the short class I took on writing nonfiction.

I just bought the eBook and the TOC is in Chinese.