From fragments to finished: learn the art of the flash essay.

Beautiful Fragments: Crafting the Flash Essay
A 3-week workshop for writers who want to turn everyday moments into short, finished, stunning nonfiction.

What this workshop helps you do
You’ve probably written short things before—journal entries, fragments, quick scenes, mini-memoir moments. But a flash essay isn’t just “short writing.” It’s a finished piece with shape and stakes, even when it’s only a page (or 100 words).

Who it’s for
A great fit for:
-Nonfiction writers / essayists who want tighter, punchier work
-Poets who want to explore hybrid/lyric nonfiction moves
-Fiction writers who want more compression, energy, and snap on the sentence level
-Any writer who loves experimenting and wants practical revision tools
-No polished draft required. Bring scraps. Bring notebooks. Bring the stuff you weren’t sure mattered.

What you’ll learn (and take home)
By the end of three Saturdays, you can expect:
-Hands-on practice with flash forms (hermit crab, lyric, braided, postcard, collage, and more)
-How to turn existing writing (journals/freewrites/fragments) into flash essays
-Tools for shape + structure in very short work
-“Short, shorter, micro”: strategies for writing an essay in 100 words
-Flash essay vs. prose poem: how to tell the difference (and why it matters)
-Multiple drafts—and at least a few finished flash essays
-A list of publications that accept flash essays

The 3-week arc
Week 1 — Flash Fundamentals
What flash is (and what it isn’t)

Compression, clarity, and the “window” your piece opens

Draft new work + quick workshop feedback

Week 2 — Forms That Do Half the Work
Experiment with structured forms (postcard, collage, hermit crab, etc.)

How to create turns, tension, and endings in tight space

Drafting + workshop focused on shape

Week 3 — Micro + Revision + Next Steps
100-word essays: strategies that actually work

Revision tools for impact, precision, and resonance

Submission options: where flash lives in the wild

Workshop your drafts toward finished pieces

What to bring
Notebook or laptop

Optional: a few pages of past writing (journal entries, freewrites, fragments)

Willingness to draft, play, and revise in community

Dates: Saturdays, May 16, May 23, May 30, 2026

Time: 10 am-12 pm

Price: $199
Pricing info: Our classes and events are priced at their actual cost to run.

If paying the full price would keep you from joining us, use the code ACCESS at checkout to reduce your registration amount by 20%—no questions asked. If you’re a Wordcrafters member, use code MEMBERACCESS.

If the full price is within your means, please leave the ACCESS code for those who truly need it.

If you’re able, you can add a donation during registration to support our scholarship fund.

Scholarship info: We want everyone to have access to our writing programs. If you need additional support, please complete our scholarship request form: https://wordcrafters.org/scholarships/

Your instructor
Erica Goss (she/her) served as Poet Laureate of Los Gatos, CA from 2013-2016. In 2019, she won the Zocalo Poetry Prize. She is the author of Night Court, winner of the 2016 Lyrebird Award; Wild Place; and Vibrant Words: Ideas and Inspirations for Poets.