You’ve probably heard of flash fiction, but what about flash nonfiction? Jason Schwartzman, an essayist, fiction writer, and author of the memoir No One You Know: Strangers and the Stories We Tell, thinks everyone has a piece of flash nonfiction in them, as he explains in this interview Writer’s Relief found on ElectricLiterature.com. Along with discussing how to use brevity to craft nonfiction that surprises readers from beginning to end, Schwartzman also talks about the value of a good notebook, writing class pros and cons, killing your darlings, and more.

Read Jason Schwartzman’s answers to ten questions about writing here.