The Flash Fiction Club Craft Series: "CHARACTER"// with Riham Adly (1 of 3)

Have you ever dipped your toes in flash fiction?

"This form of the ultra compressed short story," you ask?

But is it really about compressing prose to under 1000 words or is there more to it than meets the eye?

How about if you step into the club, find out, learn lessons about character creation through shared discussions, insightful questions, and powerful revelations/ epiphanies that are almost always the end result of any book club discussion. Coursework has never been this much fun!

About the Flash Fiction Club Craft Series

The Flash Fiction Club Craft Series of three independent workshops is an introduction to what makes a good flash fiction story as we focus on form and craft through reading and discussing three flash fiction pieces every workshop.

• we question
• we discover
• we analyze what flash fiction is and what isn't and how it influences the reader through emotional resonance.

This is a new offering that takes after book club gatherings and discussions but instead of discussing and learning from books, we'll focus on reading three flash fiction stories a week in advance of the workshop. The reading material can be read in one sitting. 

You can register for one or all. NOTE: You will need to register for each workshop separately. 

• May 6, 2026 will focus on CHARACTER
• May 13, 2026 will focus on PERSPECTIVE AND P.O.V.
• May 20, 2026 will focus on SETTING

The Flash Fiction Club: May 6, 2026 "CHARACTER" edition: What You Will Experience

After having read the flash stories sent in advance we will look into and discuss:

1. What is flash fiction and why is it wise and useful to discover and try this form even if you are longform fiction writer or memoirist.
2. A character's outer world and inner world in flash fiction.
3. How writers of flash fiction carried out the job of creating characters readers could relate to and resonate with.
4. Silence and weight when creating and revealing characters. Characters are revealed when you put them in situations that go against their self image.
5. How Character desires and conflicts move a piece forward even if under 1000 words. In flash fiction Character is your key to plot.

Stories along with a list of discussion topics will be sent to participants in advance as mentioned. An inspiring writing prompt will also be provided to the participants of this workshop.

Who Should Take The Flash Fiction Club: May 6, 2026 "CHARACTER" edition?

• Longform or short form fiction writers, memoirists, and writers fascinated by or wanting to explore flash fiction.
• This offering will also be very useful to creative art therapy students and practitioners as well as therapists.

I intend every single class to be a channel to self- discovery through exploring fiction and community discussions.

The TLA Network offers scholarships based on income as well as some partial scholarships for people living with serious illness and/or disability or people of color. Please fill out this scholarship application form so that we can find the best way to make the class accessible to you.

What people are saying about learning with Riham:

I know many of you love to write, and. more importantly, love to LEARN. Riham Adly is an incredible writer and teacher. I am so grateful that I gave myself the gift of this course a couple of months ago, and also recommended it to a friend, who also enjoyed the process immensely. — Lisa Boulware Molina

Riham is a phenomenal writing instructor and coach. If you have any interest in writing flash fiction, Jung, Tarot, Dream analysis, and going deep with your writing, this is a a class not to be missed. — Theresa Coty O'Neil

If you are starting to write, like me, you will really benefit from this course. I took Riham Adly's writing courses and they are so thoroughly researched and she introduced me to such new things. It was extremely productive. I highly recommend. — Annie Banerjee

I highly recommend. If you are looking for something different that dives deeply into emotions and other driving motivations that enhance your characters and narrative, don't miss this opportunity. — Lorette C. Luzajic

Where and When Does the "CHARACTER" edition Workshop Meet?

This is an online workshop meeting live via Zoom on Wednesday, May 6, 2026 for three hours from 3:30 PM - 6:30 PM ET | 2:30 PM - 5:30 PM CT | 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM MT | 12:30 PM - 3:30 PM PT | 7:30 PM - 10:30 PM UTC. The workshop will be recorded and the recording shared only with registrants.

About the Facilitator

Riham Adly is an award-winning flash fiction writer from Giza, Egypt. Riham is a Best of the NET and a Pushcart Prize nominee. Her work is included in the Best Micro-fiction 2020 anthology. Her flash fiction has appeared in over fifty journals such as Litro Magazine, Lost Balloon, The Flash Flood, Bending Genres, The Citron Review, The Sunlight Press, Flash Fiction Magazine, Menacing Hedge, Flash Frontier, Flash Back, Ellipsis Zine, Okay Donkey, and New Flash Fiction Review among others. Riham has worked as an assistant editor in 101 words magazine and as a first reader in Vestal Review magazine. Riham is the founder of the “Let’s Write Short Stories” and “ Let’s Write That Novel” in Egypt. She has taught creative writing all over Cairo for over five years with the goal of mentoring and empowering aspiring writers in her region. Riham’s flash fiction collection Love is Make-Believe was released and published in November 2021 by Clarendon House Publications in the UK.

Keep in touch with Riham on Instagram.