Tip: Sometimes Aristotle's Three Unities Help

Well, first I wanted you all to know that Publishers Marketplace, that site I find so useful, is having an extended free trial over the holidays. You can use all its services for free through January 4. Here's the link to sign up: Publishers Marketplace: Register. See how you like it and you can get a paid membership later. Or get as much info as you can before January 4!

Now then, this is something I have talked about with my students: what did Aristotle say in his essay Poetics about the writing of tragedies in his day that has relevance to modern writers? Well, this is where there are to be found Aristotle's "three unities": unity of time, unity of place, and unity of action (sometimes called unity of plot, circumstance, or situation). Aristotle believed that perfectly constructed tragic plays (they didn't have prose fiction in ancient Greece) should take place within twenty-four hours, one day (unity of time); in one place, not moving from house to house or village to village (unity of place); and that all action and everything else in them should further the plot and situation of the piece (unity of action).

If a piece of your work is sprawling a bit out of control and hard to get your hands around, try using one, two, or all three of these unities. Mostly we try to use the third one anyway, but even so, think about having your subplots further your main plot, instead of being off to the side, and keeping your imagery in style in tune with the overall mood of the piece. Experiment with having everything happen in one day or in one place. If one day really seems too limiting, try one week or month or year. If one place seems too limiting, try keeping it to two or three. You may be surprised at how much this helps the results and how much it helps you focus. And in flash fiction, which you know I love and which needs such clarity and brevity and focus, these things can help even more than usual!

Have fun. Has anyone entered Glimmer Train's current short short fiction contest yet?