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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Sunday, March 21, 2010
Story: 102
Words: 83
Title: Bike Ride
He was traveling West on the bike trail enjoying the Spring air and the trees with their new leaves. It was as if the power of his legs was going directly into the Earth and propelling him along. Suddenly, he felt an eye looking at him on his left. Just as he dismissed it, another eye on his right. He waited for the next one, slowed and when it appeared he slammed on his brakes, looking back. There was nothing there but disappointment.
Words: 83
Title: Bike Ride
He was traveling West on the bike trail enjoying the Spring air and the trees with their new leaves. It was as if the power of his legs was going directly into the Earth and propelling him along. Suddenly, he felt an eye looking at him on his left. Just as he dismissed it, another eye on his right. He waited for the next one, slowed and when it appeared he slammed on his brakes, looking back. There was nothing there but disappointment.
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