Description
Format:
Under 400
words. Double-space if writing prose, using 12-point Times Roman font.
The
Assignment:
1. Write a
description of a place, thing, or emotion, aiming to provide unique detail,
without giving away the name of what it is that you are describing:
Place, Thing, or Emotion
Describe a
place, but without naming the place. E.g., a place you know very well in
Ypsilanti or in your home town.
Describe an
emotion, but without naming the emotion.
Describe a
thing, without naming the thing.
The aim in
all three cases is to avoid abstraction and cliché and to pay attention to
vocabulary.
Note #1: Try
to avoid writing a riddle or making a puzzle where the reader is put in the
position of guessing at what the identity is of the described place, thing or
emotion.
Note #2: Do
not describe a person or character.
2. Put a
character into that place or emotion (emotional state) to whom, or in which
place, something happens.
3. Turn this
into a work of “Microfiction”:
Very short
stories are variously referred to as microfiction, sudden fiction, flash
fiction, postcard fiction, palm of hand fictions, among other terms. Word counts vary as well, though most examples
of these genres run under 400 words.
Also in productive dispute are the requisite features of a successful
short short fiction. Some writers call
for a clear sense of beginning/middle/end and a conflict/resolution. Others allow for stories that are akin to
portraits, slice-of-life vignettes, or works of prose poetry. Feel free to explore any of these options
when writing your own microfiction.
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