Compression: Dallas Woodburn
“When I scroll back through the most important moments of my life, there is a certain quality to the memories, as if time itself was compressed. I once read a scientific article about memories being seared into our brains due to strong emotions we were feeling at the time. This makes sense in fiction, too. I remember my favorite books for specific scenes or surprising moments that made the book real for me, moments in which the outside world fell away completely and all that existed was the sentence I was reading. I think, in order to process strong emotion, compression is necessary. I write flash fiction because there is no other way I can write such a story. It exists in the moment of compression, and to try to write it any other way would feel inauthentic and diluted.” — Dallas Woodburn
