RIDING THE WRITERS' WAVE

A defense of 55 worders. A story structure, albeit a simple story structure, consists of conflict, action and resolution. Most short stories are best when paired down to their structure and encounter trouble when they go for too much more. Absent this structure is character, but think of stories friends tell each other. A mutual friend or coworker tries to do something. We hear scant details of their attempt before a synopsis of the result. These stories often utilize far fewer than fifty words, and they easily blend into the tedium of every day conversation.

We expect a little more from written works. Authors can not rely on shared information to make their story work, but it doesn't take much to color the picture. I thought of such a story when reading the response above, then juiced it up a bit (rose the stakes from an arrest to officer involved shooting in order to save word count). The first draft came in at 53 words. Added two to conform to 55 word contest rules. Text follows discussion. It is a complete story. Although adding more character,back story and the like may make it a richer story, allow room for themes, not much more really needs to be there. It is a simple story, the sort friends and neighbors tell while gossiping.

There is an excellent story entered into Everybody Has a Halloween Story called Slaughter House. The lead character is a claustrophobe who fears going crazy. It includes several details about cattle slaughter. A good read, but it looses me when the character goes into a bar and the author tacks misanthropy onto the character. Yeah, more dimensions seems good, but piling on just reads false. Authors do better when they grasp their story and stick to it. Give stories the space they need, but be stingy. In edit, take back some space. A good slashing benefits most stories. Stephen King's Under the Dome (only novel of his I read) could have cut by a third, perhaps two thirds and been a better story. The hole space alien riff feels tacked on, adds inconsistencies and raises far more questions than it answers. The environmental theme feels abandoned, so cut it.

Without any further ado, submitted to continue the discussion of what is and what ain't a story: