We’ve talked about Twitterfiction quite a bit here on the FWR blog (see the Further Reading section, below), but meet a new form of microfiction: 55 Fiction.
Actually, 55 Fiction isn’t all that new: for years, The New Times, an alt-weekly paper in San Luis Obispo, California, has been running contests challenging writers to tell a story in 55 words or less. Here’s one of this year’s winners:
“Kinda Blue,” by John Garaci
Chillin’ on the sofa. Text from Michelle. She’s comin’ over. Roll a doobie. Play Kind of Blue. She melts at this song. thanks Messieurs Davis and Coltrane. She’s pregnant. Bitch, bitch, bitch. Working two jobs to pay child support. For sale on eBay: CD collection, played once.
You can see the rest of the winning stories–with illustrations–at the New Times’ website. And in case you get hooked, here are last year’s winners, too.
Further Reading:
- Here’s a primer on Twitterfiction from the FWR blog archives.
- If you’re skeptical of the literary value of these micro-forms, James Poniewozick makes his case.
