Concision

Madeleine Robins October 27th, 2006

Wired has a collection of Very Short Stories written by SF, fantasy, and horror writers. It’s fascinating to see what can be accomplished in six words. Some stunts, and a lot of reliance on known tropes, but most of them still work.

My favorite: Longed for him. Got him. Shit. - Margaret Atwood.

Tho’ Gregory Maguire’s (From torched skyscrapers, men grew wings.) and Charles Stross’s (Internet “wakes up?” Ridicu — no carrier.) are also kind of swell. Got a favorite? Want to write one?

6 Responses to “Concision”

  1. # Sherwood Smithon 27 Oct 2006 at 12:06 pm

    The ones I like the best had hints of character. This is not surprising, as I tend to prefer character-driven stories over idea-driven. (Though I do like both when measured equally.)

    My contribution:

    “Just drink this, dear. Whoa, tentacles!”

  2. # Madeleine Robinson 27 Oct 2006 at 1:46 pm

    Love blossomed, faltered. She was stoic.

  3. # Laurieon 27 Oct 2006 at 2:50 pm

    God to Earth: “Cry more, noobs!”
    - Marc Laidlaw

    Hah! I just about died laughing at that one. I wonder how many people will get that.

    My contribution, in the same vein:
    Phat lewt engenders drama. DKP decides.

  4. # Steven Gouldon 30 Oct 2006 at 2:19 pm

    Regency romance:

    Attraction. Confusion. Disillusion. Collision. Profusion. Married.

  5. # Wenamunon 04 Nov 2006 at 1:10 pm

    Oh, what fun! I can’t resist.

    Divine pharaoh has died! God? God?

  6. # Hughon 08 Nov 2006 at 6:29 pm

    Haven’t visited the site so don’t know how it was presented, but it reminds me of a story about Hemingway (not that I’m actually a big fan of his stuff) and some critics or other cultural figures sitting in a bar, where they were teasing him about his writing style. They all agreed on a bet that he couldn’t write a story with only six words. He won the bet with “Baby shoes for sale. Never worn.”

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