 Short Stories: June 06, 2018 Issue [#8935] |
  Short Stories
This week: A dribble, a drabble, a flash of fiction Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
- Maya Angelou
Greetings, I'm honored to be your host for this week's edition of the Writing.Com Short Story Newsletter and I'd like to explore today some of the shortest of shorts. |
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Greetings, thank you for allowing me this brief intrusion into your virtual home. Just as novels come in a variety of sizes, some to fit a pocket or purse, others only a briefcase will hold; so too the short story comes in a variety of ‘sizes.’ Nope, no ‘one size fits most,’ here. And although short stories are available in a gamut of sizes, genres, voices, and points of view, they do belong to the same ‘family’ as their ‘big brother/sister’ novels.
Sometimes, in fact, short stories actually evolve from a longer work, a novel, a poem. Or, if the novel or epic needs a breather, writing in brief can be a fun digression, focusing or playing with another image for awhile.
 For example, flash fiction can be drafted in a creative breath, then refined, reworded, sometimes all in a day. A short story anywhere from 30 words to about 3000 is considered ‘flash fiction.’ Even tighter, a complete story of 10-300 words has been dubbed 'micro-fiction.' But these are not merely a scene, or an anecdote. Flash fiction and micro-fiction have all the elements of a novel: beginning, middle and end. They can be a mystery, adventure, horror, comedy, … - that incites the Muse Creative to write. These shorts generally have a single point of view, a story to delight, incite, or inspire readers. Being that they are short in length, and each word has to be selected with care, I think they’re fun to read aloud; to embrace the actual spoken tone of the writer, savor the sound and taste of the words, the images thus evoked to convey the story.
 A Drabble is one form of ‘flash,’ a complete story that is exactly 100 words in length. It challenges writers to convey an interesting and meaningful story under extremely confined parameters. Each word has to count for something. It’s gained popularity in science fiction and fan fiction over the past several decades, and mainstreamed into adventure, comedy, mystery. The term and idea originated in the ‘70s, in Monty Python’s Big Red Book, originally a word game challenging participants to be the first to write a ‘novel’ in 100 words. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drabble) Other parameters may be added to challenge or inspire the writer, i.e., a picture prompt, using a specific point of view, all dialogue, or perhaps no repeated words
 A Ficlet or short-short story is also a form of ‘drabble’ that can run up to 1,000 words. These are often used in fan fiction, where brief, tight writing , vivid scenes, propel action-adventure and sometimes romance.
 Going the other way, one can write a dribble, or a complete story in 50 words, or a “droubble” (double drabble) of 200 words. Or, even measured in characters, yes, a tweet.
 All of these ‘drabbles’ and their derivatives have one thing in common – they are complete stories, plotted and driven from beginning to end by the writer’s insightful choice of words.
So, why not give it a try ~ and ‘dribble’ in vivid prose a story though brief in length, from beginning to end, a delight to read. And do read a few of the drabbles and dribbles and flashes offered for your reading pleasure by writers in our Community.
Write On 
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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Check out some drabbles and other shorts offered for your reading (aloud, perhaps) and reviewing pleasure
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Won Honorable Mention in 100 Words No Repeats contest, October 2008
#1483651 by Madi  |
Like to try it out - How about a few challenges for the muse creative - a drabble, a dribble, micro-fiction or a flash and some more good reads
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Thank you for welcoming this visit, in brief, to your virtual home.
Whether short or long your story will be,
have fun with it, and
Write On
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading |
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