Micro Fiction

For those of you who like to Tweet and Twitter and so on, here's a type of fiction that has become popular lately: micro fiction!

Most short fiction can be anywhere between 3,000-10,000 words. 3,000-5,000 words are preferred by most magazines. 

Micro fiction is a very short story (usually a story between 300-1,000 words in length). It was originally meant to fit snugly on a computer screen (just like the one you're looking at right now!)

For those of you who like your fiction even smaller, there's something out there called hint fiction, which can be anywhere between 6-100 words, with the most common being 25 or 50 words in length. 

Let's take a look at some of these as models for our own writing:

Or Even Longer
Together they throw the dirt, listen to its plunk against wood, a sound so unlike anything else in the world, one you could remember forever.

Nothing Hurts Anymore
Seth’s energy paths are blocked to his spleen and stomach and large intestine. The acupuncturist places the needles in his tiny body. Seth sees Jesus.

The Test In Front Of Him
It’s that nothing stands out, each detail equal. What to focus upon? Moths in the classroom screen. Leaf-blowers. His teacher’s smile flying like birds, south.

My Son’s Fifth Grade Journal
This boy catches balls, divides fractions, won’t die if he drinks milk, grabs flags off the other team’s players. My dad loves this other boy.

See? That didn't take long at all.

How do I write a short, short story?

1. Start in the middle. Get rid of an introduction and minimize your backstory or character history. Begin with the action!

2. Use the familiar. Use familiar situations or settings. Use historical places or situations so not much description is necessary

3. Use small ideas. Focus on a single specific event or aspect of your topic. Avoid complex plots or long timelines. 

4. Build your story around one central image or moment. Choose something striking.

5. Remove unnecessary words and characters. Edit out any unnecessary words. Combine characters whenever possible. Using short, choppy sentences creates urgency.

6. End with a bang. Keep the reader guessing until the last line. Use a twist by setting up the reader's expectation (what the reader expects to happen) then turn it upside down.

As you read these examples/models, look for the six tips we just read!

Look Into My Eyes
She snaps her fingers at her companion and I cry like a baby, sucking my thumb and calling for mum. The other travelers stare and giggle, then look away.
Further down the train a man turns the pages of his newspaper. WORLD'S GREATEST HYPNOTIST DIES MID ACT reads a headline.
© Rupert M Loydell

Loose Like A Noose
His dentures were lying on the stairs.
She discovered them after the undertaker had left, so she saved them for the Chapel of Rest.
“His teeth,” she said. “They popped out when he took the leap.”
Clearing out the drawers later she found three tubes of denture glue, all unopened.
© Ben Myers 2001

Dad
I thought my father looked like Captain Kirk. There was the blond quiff and the proprietary way he marched around his supermarket, surveying the chiller cabinets.
When he left early in the mornings, I'd wave goodbye through the bug screen. He'd be multiplied in the raindrops hanging in its squares.
© Carrie McMillan 2001

ACTIVITY: Now it's your turn. Using the advice above and inspired by the models, try writing your own hint fiction: between 25-50 words. Use the title of your story to help identify a key idea, character, setting, or plot point.

Try writing a few of these short, short stories. You can put them all on the same page. Print them out when you have completed this exercise.