Before taking this course, I had never heard of microfictions, as far as I am aware; however, I had the pleasure of reading a classmate’s microfiction as one of my blog comment assignments at the end of week 3. And it was very good! They wrote a drabble (100-word) version and a dribble (50-word) version of the same story, and I was just amazed and impressed at how they could do that even though they were restricted to specific word counts. Plus, I have also been reading Tiny Tales from the Ramayana, so that is another set of microfictions I have been exposed to. I knew each tale was 100 words, but I guess I had forgotten until I clicked on this assignment. Each tale was so detailed and clear and articulate that I did not even realize they were all 100-word microfictions.
I have always struggled with being concise in my writing (I’ve lost count of how many teachers and professors throughout high school and college have told me it is something I need to work on), so I like the idea of writing microfictions because it presents a challenge for me that I am excited to try and experiment with. Since I had already read many 100-word and one 50-word microfictions, I decided to learn more about hint fictions through NPR’s “‘Hint Fiction’ Celebrates The (Extremely) Short Story”. I was intrigued by the shorter microfictions, like these 25-word stories, because they are just long enough to tell a whole story but not too long that it gives away too much. Hint fictions are open for interpretation by the readers. Also, one valuable lesson I learned from this NPR story is that every word matters. Whether it is a 25-word story or a multi-page paper, every word needs to contribute to what you are writing and trying to conveying in order for your story to be successful.
I love the idea of writing a hint fiction, but as NPR mentioned, writing them is harder than it looks. So, I would need to start big with the drabble microfictions first and then work my way down to 25-word stories. Since reading my classmate’s microfiction stories, I have been brainstorming about what to write for my own. For now they will be longer microfictions, but I look forward to the day when I reach the point of being able to write hint fictions or even 6-word stories.
I have always struggled with being concise in my writing (I’ve lost count of how many teachers and professors throughout high school and college have told me it is something I need to work on), so I like the idea of writing microfictions because it presents a challenge for me that I am excited to try and experiment with. Since I had already read many 100-word and one 50-word microfictions, I decided to learn more about hint fictions through NPR’s “‘Hint Fiction’ Celebrates The (Extremely) Short Story”. I was intrigued by the shorter microfictions, like these 25-word stories, because they are just long enough to tell a whole story but not too long that it gives away too much. Hint fictions are open for interpretation by the readers. Also, one valuable lesson I learned from this NPR story is that every word matters. Whether it is a 25-word story or a multi-page paper, every word needs to contribute to what you are writing and trying to conveying in order for your story to be successful.
Set of Tiny Books: Wikimedia Commons
I love the idea of writing a hint fiction, but as NPR mentioned, writing them is harder than it looks. So, I would need to start big with the drabble microfictions first and then work my way down to 25-word stories. Since reading my classmate’s microfiction stories, I have been brainstorming about what to write for my own. For now they will be longer microfictions, but I look forward to the day when I reach the point of being able to write hint fictions or even 6-word stories.
Bibliography:
‘Hint Fiction’ Celebrates The (Extremely) Short Story, hosted by Robert Smartwood and Scott Simon, NPR, 13 Nov 2010. Link.
Tiny Tales from the Ramayana by Laura Gibbs. Link.
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