The Place For My Writers Notes

Original posting: Sun, 3 Aug 1997 00:04:02 EDT

The deadline is coming up day by day on the calendar, and you still haven't figured out how to shoehorn a story into just 200 words?

[Actually, this is generous. Robyn, our master of the miniature marvels, prefers the 100 word jewel--usually doing them in all one-syllable words, to make the jaw drop harder. But the contest is 200 words.]

So, let's consider blocking out a 200 word story. We probably want to go with something simple, such as:

Opening scene - 50 words. Establish main characters, show goal(s), and set the story question for the reader.

[ Once upon a time, there were three pigs and a wolf. The wolf loved nothing better than huffing and puffing and blowing houses down. The pigs, having left home because they had other fat to fry as they turned from cute little piglets into real boars, each built a home. 50 words]

One or two intermediate scenes - 100 words. Add some details, build up the tension and the stakes, and don't forget that the protagonist needs to be lose in these scenes! Things should get harder for the protagonist, not easier...

[ The first pig was way too eager to dive into the garbage that mom had always kept him out of, so he just grabbed a piece of cardboard and set up housekeeping in the street. The wolf laughed, puffed without trying, and then grabbed a tail sticking out of the pizza boxes. And that was the end of the first pig.

The second pig listened to a realtor and bought a real fixer-upper, cheap. Then he called the psychic hotline and asked when he should fix it. He was still listening when the wolf dropped by.

"I'd huff, and I'd puff, but you don't even have a door!"

That was the end of the second pig. 126 words...bit fat, there. trim later]

Then comes the ending scene, the climax of the story, where good and bad face off, where write meets rong and tells y, and all that jazz. Aim at 50 words, and you'll be pretty close.

[ The third pig founded a society.

When the wolf saw Porcine Aid Society stickers on every house, and all those eyes watching him when he walked near the home of the third pig, he gulped, swallowed, and decided to look for easier pickings.

And that's the end of this tale. 50 Words!]

Next, especially with these little beauties, go back and polish. Take out words that don't contribute. Turn the pages of your thesaurus and make sure you are using the exactly right word--show your reader Twain's lightning, not the lightning bug.

Tighten it up, make the words sing, and send it along

Tick, tick, tick...10 more days!