For however long the lockdown continues (in the UK at least), I am throwing out weekly writing exercises/prompts for anyone and everyone to respond to.
Here’s how it works:
- I’ll post a prompt on Fridays and you just let your imagination take over from there.
- When you have a story you’re happy with, post it to your own website with a link back to whichever post on here prompted the story.
- OR – If you don’t have a website, feel free to send the story to me via my Contact page and I’ll happily host it on here with full writing credit and copyright to you.
So Let’s Get Started!
Week Two: Drabble Fiction
Last week, I challenged you to pair up with a writing partner and write a short story between you, each of you writing 100 words at a time and seeing where the story meanders (Short-Story Tennis, if you will).
This week, we are going to stick with the theme of 100 words, but this time I want you to tell an entire story in 100 words (that’s what Drabble Fiction is, by the way). I can’t decide if this is as hard or as easy as it sounds. 100 words really isn’t a lot, but at the same time, if they are used wisely, they can be as transporting as an entire novel.
Don’t believe me? Go ahead and look up Neil Gaiman’s collection of short stories, Smoke and Mirrors, and find in there his 100-word story, “Nicholas was…” It is utterly chilling in just 100 words!
Writing a 100-word story is an exercise in writing concisely, while also being as descriptive as possible. You don’t have a lot to play with, so make every word count. Don’t get too hung up with too much of the specifics of setting or character for this. You really are just writing a snapshot of a person or a situation and a lot can be left to the reader’s imagination.
This is an interesting exercise to play around with if you want to work at making your writing more atmospheric.
Don’t forget to share the story you come up with. My offering for this week is below.
Sea Legs
Ssshhh… The ocean is speaking. It calls from its depths to the shore, the waves beckoning as they wash over the sand. They tease at my toes, retreating; coaxing me to follow.
I want to be out on the waves again with the salt wind whipping at my face and hair. That bounding, rolling ocean rhythm of freedom, carrying me away to somewhere new. Somewhere far from home.
But I must stay on land today, pacing the narrow threshold where waves end and sand stretches on. I close my eyes and listen to the call.
Ssshhh… Can you hear it?
Rachael Farrimond 