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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Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Story: 188
Words: 95
Title: Synthia Reflects About Piloting
Synthia had been piloting the Kröger long enough for Slug Johnson to gain the reputation of the best cargo pilot in Marsport. She felt a sense of pride in knowing the role she played in his triumph. She was constantly refining her skills and shaving seconds off the transit time of each sling. Each second helped solidify Slug’s reputation. But she knew that those seconds were coming less and less often and soon there would be no more improvement. Something needed to be done to keep his edge. In a flash she knew the answer.
Words: 95
Title: Synthia Reflects About Piloting
Synthia had been piloting the Kröger long enough for Slug Johnson to gain the reputation of the best cargo pilot in Marsport. She felt a sense of pride in knowing the role she played in his triumph. She was constantly refining her skills and shaving seconds off the transit time of each sling. Each second helped solidify Slug’s reputation. But she knew that those seconds were coming less and less often and soon there would be no more improvement. Something needed to be done to keep his edge. In a flash she knew the answer.
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