Flash Fiction Workshop

Overview

Flash fiction has earned its place in the wider world of literature. It is an agile, innovative form with a richness that brings benefits to both reader and writer – ideal for new and experienced writers alike.

This hands-on workshop will engage you in weekly writing and critique. You will hone your technique, develop skills, and make a robust start in creating a portfolio of new work.

Prerecorded weekly lectures will explore fundamentals – such as narrative style, word choice, structure, point of view and editing - and investigate how these building blocks can be different in Flash to other forms of writing.

We'll undertake weekly writing exercises and engage in close readings of published works, exploring different styles and structures, and new techniques to try.

Our weekly live-time sessions will be used primarily for constructive group discussion of students' written works. 

You may be entirely new to writing – in which case flash fiction is an excellent place to begin. Those already writing regularly will likely find that exploring flash fiction benefits their craft as poets, novelists, memoirists or writers of short stories.  This class makes an ideal follow-on to our two-day course, 'Learn to Write Flash Fiction' - though it isn't necessary to have taken this course first.

 


This course combines online study with a weekly 1-hour live webinar led by your tutor. Find out more about how our short online courses are taught.


Programme details

This course begins on the 16 Apr 2026 which is when course materials are made available to students. Students should study these materials in advance of the first live meeting which will be held on 23 Apr 2026, 7:00-8:00pm (UK time).

Week 1: The art of brevity – starting points

Week 2: Settings, characters, plots

Week 3*: Two-hour live session for workshopping

Week 4: Language and specificity; seeing your world through other lenses

Week 5: Form and Structure

Week 6: Narration and dialogue

Week 7: Beginnings and endings

Week 8*: Two-hour live session for workshopping

Week 9: Delete or develop – the fine comb of editing

Week 10: How and where? Strategies for getting your flash fiction published.

*Week 3 and week 8 will be two-hour, live-online sessions to allow us an expanded time for sharing work, receiving feedback from fellow participants and the tutor.  Each of these sessions will begin at the scheduled time (19:00) and run for two hours rather than one. There will be no prerecorded lecture for these weeks.

Certification

Credit Application Transfer Scheme (CATS) points 

Coursework is an integral part of all online courses and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework. All those enrolled on an online courses are registered for credit and will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard.

See more information on CATS points

Digital credentials

All students who pass their final assignment will be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so. 

Please note that assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail. 

Fees

Description Costs
Course Fee £360.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutor

Ms Gail Anderson

Gail Anderson is a writer of short forms (flash fiction, short story, creative non-fiction and poetry) and a 2023 Ignite Fellow (Scottish Book Trust). Her work has taken first prize in competitions including the Edinburgh Award for Flash Fiction, Reflex Fiction, The Writers’ Bureau, Winchester Writers’ Festival, and the Scottish Arts Trust Story Awards. Thrice shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, her work appears in anthologies and journals such as Ambit, Mslexia, Popshot and The Southampton Review

Course aims

  • To introduce flash fiction to new and experienced writers alike, and to enable them to incorporate flash fiction techniques into their creative practice.
  • To encourage creativity and experimentation in creative-writing practice.
  • To develop good critical reading habits.
  • To encourage participation in discussion and debates about writing.

Teaching methods

  • Close-reading and discussion of set texts.
  • Group discussion and analysis in the classroom.
  • Directed writing tasks.
  • Sharing of work and group discussion.

Learning takes place on a weekly schedule. At the start of each weekly unit, students are provided with learning materials on our online platform, including one hour of pre-recorded video, often supplemented by guided readings and educational resources. These learning materials prepare students for a one-hour live webinar with an expert tutor at the end of each weekly unit which they attend in small groups. Webinars are held on Microsoft Teams, and provide the opportunity for students to respond to discussion prompts and ask questions. The blend of weekly learning materials that can be worked through flexibly, together with a live meeting with a tutor and their peers, maximise learning and engagement through interaction in a friendly, supportive environment.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will be expected to:

  • respond to different forms of flash fiction with growing confidence and understanding;
  • be able to write flash fiction in a manner which engages and sustains the interest of the reader;
  • apply techniques learnt in the class across a broader practice of writing; 
  • understand how and where to submit their written work.

Assessment methods

You will be set independent formative and summative work for this course. Formative work will be submitted for informal assessment and feedback from your tutor, but has no impact on your final grade. The summative work will be formally assessed as pass or fail.

 

Application

Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an Enrolment form for short courses | Oxford University Department for Continuing Education

 

Level and demands

The Department's short online courses are taught at FHEQ Level 4, i.e. first year undergraduate level. FHEQ level 4 courses require approximately 10 hours study per week, therefore a total of about 100 study hours.

English Language Requirements

We do not insist that applicants hold an English language certification, but warn that they may be at a disadvantage if their language skills are not of a comparable level to those qualifications listed on our website. If you are confident in your proficiency, please feel free to enrol. For more information regarding English language requirements please follow this link: https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/about/english-language-requirements