Last day of May and another flash fiction piece squeezed in to kick off the start of June (and hopefully nicer weather here in Britain), published in Pure Slush Magazine. The Art of Something out of Nothing is a sketch that plays around with language and interpretation. Just as an artist starts out with a blank canvas, a writer begins with an empty page; at least in a normal writing process. But what happens if a story is already fully formed and the writer begins by deconstructing the concept, picking away at elements and leaving the reader with only the bare bones that they need to know to follow the idea?
Speaking of bones – and incrimination… The Art of Something out of Nothing was inspired by editing stories. What are the limitations of language and of description? What are the things that can be said or done in a creative writing piece, but wouldn’t work as well cinematically? Can we break the writing conventions; is this taboo, or is it even acceptable within the confines of literature? What is politically correct, never mind grammatically correct?
In my story, I violate a lot of these conventions. Who is the main character really? What exactly are they up to and what have they done? It’s up to you as the reader to decide… but how much freedom have you been allowed?
Leilanie Stewart 