Fast Fiction

In this case, really fast.

I’ll be honest, I’m not normally a huge fan of gimmicky flash fiction, but I do make exceptions.
The basic idea is to write a story with the fewest number of words possible.  According to literary legend, Ernest Hemingway did it with just six words; “For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn”.  That was allegedly to win a bet with Ezra Pound, as I recall.  In any case, it’s still a gimmick and one that’s gotten a little popular over the years.  Back in November, IO9, the science-fiction website, had a contest, of sorts, to write some similarly very short stories with a sci-fi bent.  (You can see that first post, with the stories in the comments at Write Some Very, Very Short SciFi for IO9! on their site.)
Well, they’ve done it again, recently and collected what they thought were the best at These flash science fiction stories will keep you up all night!  But, I have to say, with each iteration, I’m a little less impressed.  (You can find all the IO9 posts of these six word science fiction stories by clicking the link.)

Hey, it’s Friday, so why not go check some out.  Or, even write a few of your own!
You know you weren’t doing anything more interesting if you were reading my blog today, anyway.  And, if you do write one, share it here in the comments!

One Response

  1. […] I’ll be honest, I’m not normally a huge fan of gimmicky flash fiction, but I do make exceptions. The basic idea is to write a story with the fewest number of words possible.  According to literary legend, Ernest Hemingway did it with just six words; “For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn”.  That was allegedly to win a bet with Ezra Pound, as I recall.  In any case, it’s still a gimmick and one that’s gotten a little… Read More […]

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