Hints were a Hit!

The blogpost from last week seemed to generate quite a bit of interest, and I'm so glad about that!

(Okay, yes, the amount of interest was heightened by the discussion about how I could do away with Dan, but the hint fiction itself did get some legitimate feedback. I promise.)

One of the most fun things about Hint Fiction is that they are short, short indeed, and their wittle-bitty-ness enables an author to write four or five first drafts in one setting, and if none of them are any good, you can just scrap the whole lot, and lose very little time in the process! I happen to think the dwarf-esque qualities of Hint Fiction also makes it seem like an attainable goal for all authors...because, let's face it, the prospect of an entire novel can make even a seasoned short-story veteran shake in the knees. Twenty-five words, though? We can handle that, easy!!


So I've had an idea. Why don't you try your hand at a Hint Fiction piece or two? Come on, I know you like Hint Fiction...you told me so! The rules are easy: the story should be 25 words or less; the title is not included in the word count. You can email them to me via this link or the one at the bottom, I will peruse them, get a little other English-major input, and post the top 5 next week. What do you think, will you play with me? Email your submissions by Sunday, April 3rd, with the subject filled in as "Hint Fiction," and we'll set this thing rolling.

(If no one sends me anything...I'll just make up some of my own and pretend like people were interested.)

Maybe I'll be able to come up with some sort of prize? Now are you enticed?


Here are some helpful tips:

1.) Use the freedom of the title to your advantage--it should add to the story, not just label it.

2.) Don't offer little pieces of advice, i.e. "The yellow snow is not for eating." This may be the result of a story, but it is not a story.

3.) A successful piece of super-short fiction is one that requires the reader to piece some things together. They should be able to take the clues, the hints, you've given, and make sense of what happened in the story. If your reader, after having thought things through, is still saying, "What happened?" after reading your hint fiction, one of two things is true: 1.)Your reader is not very bright, or 2.) Your story is not actually a story. The latter of these two things is more often the case. Here's an example of that which is not a story: The red shoe sat in the driveway. What happened? I don't know, and neither do you, and there's no way either of us will be able to figure it out.





Okay. So. Have fun! :)



(I'd also like to give a shout out to Mrs. Brondyke's computer classes, both 4th and 5th grades. Pay attention, and be nice to my mom. :) If one of you creates a blog, let me know. I'll hit it up.)

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!