Brandon 2
KitaHow to write good Microfiction.
July 23rd 2007 07:01
The rules of a good piece of Microfiction.
1. Be short. I know this seems obvious, but people tend to miss the obvious sometimes. Everything about Microfiction is short, not just the overall word count. If 'her breath was lucid with the deep musky tang of strawberry, wafting feintly though the air barely in front of my face, like a lost memory, cloaked in ambiguity,' then your're using too many words. You can be thrifty with words and creative at the same time.
2. Say something. Yes Jack Kerouak can get away with saying nothing. But Jack Kerouak had thousands of words to say nothing wth - which was ultimately the whole point. When you're writing something so short as microfiction, you need to make sure you make a point. Otherwise you'll leave your reader wondering why they wasted their time.
3. Say one thing. A good novel will be able to deal with many issues. A good piece of microfiction however, will look at one idea and one idea alone.
4. Simplicity. Keep it simple. Not too much detail. Like this explanation.
5. Have a beginning, a middle and an end. All very short. Introduce characters. Make them do something. Conclude.
6. Action must happen. If nothing happens it will be boring.
This is by no means an exhaustive list but it's a good start. Try your hand at it and see what you come up with.
1. Be short. I know this seems obvious, but people tend to miss the obvious sometimes. Everything about Microfiction is short, not just the overall word count. If 'her breath was lucid with the deep musky tang of strawberry, wafting feintly though the air barely in front of my face, like a lost memory, cloaked in ambiguity,' then your're using too many words. You can be thrifty with words and creative at the same time.
2. Say something. Yes Jack Kerouak can get away with saying nothing. But Jack Kerouak had thousands of words to say nothing wth - which was ultimately the whole point. When you're writing something so short as microfiction, you need to make sure you make a point. Otherwise you'll leave your reader wondering why they wasted their time.
3. Say one thing. A good novel will be able to deal with many issues. A good piece of microfiction however, will look at one idea and one idea alone.
4. Simplicity. Keep it simple. Not too much detail. Like this explanation.
5. Have a beginning, a middle and an end. All very short. Introduce characters. Make them do something. Conclude.
6. Action must happen. If nothing happens it will be boring.
This is by no means an exhaustive list but it's a good start. Try your hand at it and see what you come up with.
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