Dear Gatherists:
It's 12:45 a.m. PDT. ?My son is coming at 8 in the morning to go bike riding. ?This column is going to be really thin on theory, and the links to previous responses will be added later in the day...
What is a story?
"In a story we expect a quality of completion, of roundedness, which sets it apart from a sketch, an incident, or an anecdote." ?Damon Knight, Creating Short Fiction
This, says Knight, is a story:
"The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. ?There was a knock on the door."
The story, he says, "although it is only two sentences long, is complete by implication and is charged with meaning in a way that none of the others [i.e. sketch, incident, anecdote] are."
Here's an even shorter story, by Ernest Hemingway:
"For sale: baby shoes, never worn."
There are of course volumes more to be said about what a story is--the entirety of Mr. Knight's book, for starters.
What I want to do this week is to think about brevity and shape. Think about writing a story in 150 words or less with a sense of completeness. ?It's an ancient art. ?We know them as fables or parables.
A very popular form on Gather is the drabble (<100 words) or (somewhat longer but still very short) flash fiction. ?Some of these are stories, others sketches. ?If you are a drabblist, as an exercise, you might go back through some of your drabbles and ask yourself, "Is this a story or a sketch or something else?"
It occurred to me that a good exercise to make one think about what makes short short fiction a story would be to write a fable or a parable. ?In both of these forms, a kernel of truth or wisdom is embedded inside an instructive or fanciful story.
Here are some examples:
From "Three Parables" by DW
It was on the Via Dolorosa.? The little booth was so unassuming I almost missed it.? On the table were tiny vials containing what looked to be clods of dirt no bigger than the head of a pin.? A craggy little man almost as tiny as the vials sat behind the table.? "Jesus' fingernail dirt," he barked, "lovingly collected by Mary Magdelene and recently discovered in a cave near the Jordan River.? Amazing healing powers.? Only 100 shekels.? Each vial comes with a certificate of authenticity.? Ten times as effective ounce for ounce as Lourdes water."
"You actually sell this stuff?" I asked the man.
"Sell it!" he said.? "It pays for my villa on the Adriatic!"
I started to walk away.? "Okay, for you, fifty shekels."
"Twenty," I replied.
"Sold!"
I've been had, I thought as I walked on past the day-glo rosaries and the holy cards to Mary, Queen Of Too Much Makeup--clutching my vial and periodically checking behind me to see if any old women were touching the hem of my cloak.
From ??"Aesop In The City" by Yoni Brenner
The Mouse and the Donald
Ambling through Central Park one day, a mouse happens upon Donald Trump, trapped in a hunter?s net. The mouse asks the Donald if he can be of any assistance. ?How could?you help?me?? scoffs the Donald. ?I am Donald Trump and you are just a lowly mouse.?
Several years later, the Donald calls the mouse into his office. ?Your division underperformed again, Johnson,? says the Donald. ?Someone?s gonna have to take the fall.? ?But, Donald!? cries the mouse. ?Don?t you remember why you hired me? How I nibbled through that net and saved you from the hunters?? The Donald thinks for a moment, then replies, ?I don?t remember it that way.?
Moral: Success is fleeting, so keep a paper trail.
?
Luke 10:30-37 (NIV) "The Good Samaritan"
?A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan,?as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii?and gave them to the innkeeper. ?Look after him,? he said, ?and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.?
36 ?Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers??
37 The expert in the law replied, ?The one who had mercy on him.?
?
From "My Philosophy" by Woody Allen
A man approaches a palace. Its only entrance is guarded by some fierce Huns who will only let men named Julius enter. The man tries to bribe the guards by offering them a year's supply of choice chicken parts. They neither scorn his offer nor accept it, but merely take, his nose and twist it till it looks like a Molly screw. The man says it is imperative that he enter the palace because he is bringing the emperor a change of underwear. When the guards still refuse, the man begins to Charleston. They seem to enjoy his dancing but soon become morose over the treatment of the Navajos by the federal government. Out of breath, the man collapses. He dies, never having seen the emperor and owing the Steinway people sixty dollars on a piano he had rented from them in August.
A Hershele Ostropoler Story (Yiddish Folk Story)
One day Hershele was traveling, and he stopped for the night at an inn. The place was deserted: there were no other guests, and even the innkeeper was away, leaving his wife in charge.
?I?m dying of hunger,? Hershele told her. ?Please give me something to eat.?
The innkeeper?s wife took a good look at her guest, and she didn?t like what she saw. Hershele was unkempt, his coat was torn, and he looked altogether unsavory. This fellow will never be able to pay the bill, she thought.
?I?m sorry, sir,? she said to Hershele, ?but the kitchen is closed.?
Hershele shook his head and said nothing. Then he looked straight ahead and said to the woman, ?In that case I?m going to have to do what my father did.?
Immediately the woman grew frightened. ?What did your father do?? she asked.
?My father,? replied Hershele, ?did what he had to do.?
Hearing this, the woman grew more frightened. Who knew what kind of father this man had? And she alone in the house! Perhaps his father was a thief, a murderer, or worse.
?Just a minute, sir,? she said, and soon returned with a full plate of chicken, kishka, fish, and black bread. Hershele devoured it all, as the woman looked on in amazement. When he had finished, he told her, ?Lady, that was a wonderful meal, the best thing I?ve tasted since Passover.?
Seeing her guest was finally relaxed and satisfied, the innkeeper?s wife dared to ask?the question that had been burning in?her all evening. ?Good sir.? She said, ?Please tell me, what was it that your father did??
?My father?? said Hershele. ?Oh yes, my?father. You see, whenever my father couldn?t?get?anything to eat?he went to bed hungry.?
Lazy Jack (English Fairy Tale)
The Two Kings and The Two Labyrinths?by Jorge Luis Borges
?
The Prompt: ?Write a fable or parable (max. 300 words).
- Put SunWE in the title and tags.
- Share the post with the Gather Writing Essential group.
- Indicate in some way which devices or techniques I should be paying attention to. ?(If responding to today?s, put?Fable in the title field.)
- This prompt does not turn into a pumpkin a week (or even two) from today.? If your piece isn?t done in the next week or two, get it in when you can.? This is supposed to be fun.
- I will comment on every submission and include a link to it in the next column.
- If you would like a little more academic critique--but still very friendly and positive--include the word "rigorous" in your post (e.g. "rigorous critique wanted").
As ever,
Doug
Responses to Previous Prompts: Please take a minute and read some or all. ?Let me know if I missed yours.
Gertrude Stein's Mentoring (Sunday Writing Essential) SunWinks! Abstract Poetry
by?Irina Dimitric
A New Spring (SunWE-abstract)
by?Virginia M.
by Ms. Lee P.
? 2012 Douglas J. Westberg. All Rights Reserved. ?Please share this on Gather.com, and elsewhere on the web by means of a link back to this page, but please do not copy. ? Doug's latest book is The Depressed Guy's Book of Wisdom from Chipmunka Publishing.?
Doug's Gather Group is Depression and Creativity, devoted to creative writing about depression and related illnesses, and creative writing as therapy. ?Please consider joining. ?You can read more of Doug's posts there, or here.
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