Week 12 Story Lab: Learn about Microfiction

This was my first exposure to microfiction that I can recall, although I do very vaguely remember encountering some books that contained extremely short stories as a kid (without remembering any details, but I am at least familiar with the concept).

I really liked the NPR article "Can You Tell Your Life Story In Exactly Six Words?" I thought several of the six-word biographies were pretty funny, such as Anita Kawatra saying "Yale at 16, downhill from there." It seems so short and easy, but trying to think of a six-word biography for myself, I realize it is so much harder to be extremely concise than it is to go on and on about something (kind of like I am doing in this post).

There were also some interesting points made over in the article on Hint Fiction about the art of writing a short story (like 25 words or less short), and how it is difficult to intentionally create a story and not just a "random thought" or "first sentence." A favorite example of mine here has gotta be Houston, We Have a Problem by J. Matthew Zoss, which goes: "I'm sorry, but there's not enough air in here for everyone. I'll tell them you were a hero." While it is extremely short, the title sets a premise that everyone is familiar with and ties together everything nicely! How genius.

Image Source. A mini book for mini stories!