I was first introduced to this idea on Jeffrey Callison's Sacramento NPR radio interview show called Insight. He interviewed Jason Sinclair Long about his blog "Flash Fiction 365". You can hear the interview here.
The challenge is to write a micro-story each day. The length of the story is determined by throwing a pair of dice, preferably of different colors. One color represents the tens digit and the other the ones digit. So the story can be from 11 to 66 words. Of course some lengths are left out using this method. You could also use one die and throw it twice. Or use a die with 8 sides. Or you can do what I did and create a random number generator in Excel. This method doesn't miss any of the numbers. Mine will return a random number between 11 and 99. I am happy to share the formula if you email me.
The title is not part of the word count. Most word processors have a word count function that is very useful. You can start with a title or add it later or you can have someone suggest a title. Even though the original idea is to write a story, I plan to include poetry and perhaps essay.
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Monday, February 22, 2010
Story: 76
Words: 86
Title: Synthia Learns About Synthia – Part 4
Synthia knew about birthdays and much of human knowledge and experience, but her awareness of it was not hers. Instead it was second hand, not built upon her own understanding. What she wanted next was direct experience.
How will you teach me love?
We can’t teach you love.
Then how will I experience it?
You must build up the idea of love until you find the meaning it has for you.
Will I go into the world, outside of this lab, to find it?
Yes, soon.
Words: 86
Title: Synthia Learns About Synthia – Part 4
Synthia knew about birthdays and much of human knowledge and experience, but her awareness of it was not hers. Instead it was second hand, not built upon her own understanding. What she wanted next was direct experience.
How will you teach me love?
We can’t teach you love.
Then how will I experience it?
You must build up the idea of love until you find the meaning it has for you.
Will I go into the world, outside of this lab, to find it?
Yes, soon.
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