Sarah Gibbard Cook
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Writing Short

6/24/2019

10 Comments

 
The old practice of paying magazine writers by the word rewarded verbosity. Short-short narrative calls on different skills to make every word count. Constraints can spur creativity, we found in Gale Walden’s Write-by-the-Lake workshop on flash memoir and flash fiction last week. You might have fun with one of these:
  • Forty-two word story. You can submit your 42-word story with its 42-character title for inclusion in an anthology inspired by The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Detailed guidelines here.
  • Six-word memoir. To write your life story in six words invites you to pare it down to the essence. What’s yours? Cool video here.
  • Tweet-length tale. This form is especially popular for horror. Whether Twitter’s increase in limit from 140 to 280 characters affected story quality is up for debate.

For my first stab at flash fiction six years ago, click on “Her Next Bed” on the Writing page of this website.
10 Comments
Connie Gill
6/24/2019 09:09:42 am

Thank you for sharing this insight from the workshop and the links. Interesting!

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Corrine
6/24/2019 10:17:05 am

We did the 6 word memoir as an exercise in our UU gathering last month. Everyone loved it!

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Sarah link
6/24/2019 01:47:06 pm

Corrine, I'd encountered this somewhere before and enjoyed the process. Care to share yours?

Corrine
6/25/2019 11:38:30 am

Can anyone write just one?!
Decades of work. Now for fun!
Canine companions fill me with joy.
Finding art has made me whole.
Deep friendships take time to build.
The beach is my respite place.
I believe in serendipity and chance.

Sarah link
6/25/2019 05:48:43 pm

Corrine, I love all six! So joyful. They're all you in different dimensions or viewed from different angles. Dare I guess that, if asked to choose one, which one you'd choose might vary from day to day or hour to hour? (Or according to who had asked you?)

Sarah link
6/24/2019 01:45:32 pm

Just right for me this year, when for various reasons working on the novel (writing/revising long) just isn't working at the moment.

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Rebecca link
6/24/2019 11:23:30 am

Thank you, Sarah! Now I know the origin of the 6 word memoir fad. I feel enlightened. Today mine would be, "Am I taking this too seriously?" -Rebecca

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Sarah link
6/24/2019 01:48:36 pm

Great six words, Rebecca. Specific to today, or as a broader memoir?

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Rebecca link
9/4/2019 09:59:00 am

That would be life. Not enough "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", goofing around. : ) R

Sarah link
9/4/2019 03:38:30 pm

Rebecca, "Not enough 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' " is six words, too!

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    I'm a historian who writes novels and literary nonfiction. My home base is Madison, Wisconsin. 

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