Just a Hint of Creativity...

Oh, hallo.



(In my mind, that's what "hello" sounds like with a distinguished, Oxford English accent.)



I broke my promise and didn't post last week but that's okay. It's okay. I was kind of expecting I would have thousands of emails from my many, many followers, begging me to return, saying that they couldn't carry on without a weekly blogpost...



...but apparently the internet crashed all over the world for the entire week, because I received no emails. Hate when that happens.



I didn't notice the crash because I was in Orlando for the week. (HA! Did you see how I did that, internet predators? How I excersized caution by not informing you of my absence until after I'd returned? Did you notice? Are you disappointed that you can't rob me now? You should be. That's safe blogging, folks. Learn it. Love it.)



But I'm back now! Yippee! Back at school, back to work, back to the grind...



...and back to my creative writing class!



I like creative writing. I'm a little shy about it, but I have had so much fun this semester learning some of the ins and outs of the crafts. It's so neat to, in one 75 minute class period, identify some of the rookie mistakes that have really been holding back my writing. I'm learning much, my friends, much indeed.



Over break we had an assignment/experiment in Flash Fiction and Hint Fiction. Flash Fiction is essentially a very short story, 100-500 words. Hint Fiction is an even shorter story, around 25 words or less.



Whaaaaat? Can you even get a whole story into twenty-five words?



Turns out you can.



The whole thing apparently stemmed off the famous six word novel by Ernest Hemingway:



"For sale: baby shoes, never worn"



Sad and short, that's the novel. It amazes me that this is a legitimate form of literature. I am not entirely sure how I feel about it, it seems like some of it just alludes to a story rather than tells one, but hey, it is referred to as "hint" fiction, right?



There is an anthology of Hint Fiction available. We read some of the stories in class. I remember my favorite:





"Peanut Butter"

He was allergic. She pretended not to know.





Is it awful that that was my favorite? Sorry. I wish I could remember the one Flannery O'Connor wrote...it would help prove that it's a legitimate form of literature, because she's a legitimate author...albeit a creepy, dark, weirdly religious author...


I digress.




I wrote some hint fiction myself! (Cue exciting music!)

And okay, okay, okay!!! Since you're begging, I'll share a couple of them with you. But just two! Don't get greedy, now. I hope you like them. They're little. And fun.






"On Your Wedding Day"

Today's the big day. I wanted to help, so I washed your veil. I didn't even know I owned red socks. Sorry.





"Lesson for an Eight-Year-Old"

No one ever told him that adults drank iced coffee, or that despite their similar appearances, it tasted nothing like Coca-cola.







The first one is my favorite. The second one...well, they're both up for revision. But I thought I'd share them. Have a good day!