Tony, I didn't invent the 200 word story In fact, I'm not even the first person to do it on ABCtales.
I think that Rioja (Fergal) might have been first:
http://www.abctales.com/user/rioja
In fact it was her that set me on the road!
I am, though, probably the only person to have spent a year writing them and only them.
I loved Drew's story.
I remember reading an evangelical Christian pamphlet that expressed the idea that most young people who had sexual contact with another person of the same gender were not gay or bisexual but were in fact 'same sex sexual adventurers'.
Drew's story reminded me of that. And the Raymond Carver story 'Neighbours'.
Wahay!
Cheers,
Mark
Cheers Mark. I've enjoyed your 200ers all year. Yeah, it is like 'Neighbours'. That's a fantastic story. The end would be flatter if it was Carver though.
The inspiration for it was a story I read today by Etgar Keret - link is on my blog http://drewgum.wordpress.com - about a man who wakes up and finds a dog licking his penis - It's called, 'Actually I've had some phenomenal hard-ons lately'.
It's a brilliant story - interweaving his dog, his wife and his mistress. Keret is great!!!
http://www.abctales.com/story/margharita/lucky-thirteen
Don't worry Margharita, 200 word short stories don't have to be either self-reflexive or funny. They can be anything that stories can be, but just more compressed.
That's the strength of the 200 word story, it's got the constraints and freedoms of poems and the freedoms and constraints of prose.
I don't think that you need be worried about indulgence. I'd go as far as to suggest doing a draft that takes the commentary on the process out and just describes and explores the main action.
Cheers,
Mark
Thanks, Mark. I think I might have a go at more of this short fiction. It's enjoyable and strangely liberating...and good for folk like me who naturally overwrite.
Hi Lorraine,
good stuff! It's a proper satisfying story!
If it was my story (which it isn't) I'd cut the last line. It's too much of a summing up. The story works better with the ominous possibility that this woman will continue to shut her kid in the cupboard forever. The words that you save will let you stick in a little more description or thought somewhere in the middle.
Write some more 200 worders!.
Cheers,
Mark
Etgar Keret is great - I'd recommend either of his books - Missing Kissenger, or The Nimrod Flip-out.
Mark,
I agree about the last line on Lorraine's story.
Cheers,
Drew.
www.lorrainemace.com
Thanks Margharita. Isn't it frightening how easy it is for writers to come up with dark stuff? I bet my children are relieved they managed to survive childhood.
Lorraine
I too thought your posting excellent. I've read it a number of times and regard it as the best of the 200ers, if a bit chilling.
I hope you won't mind my saying that I wouldn't have removed that last line. For two reasons:
One I never alter anything I have written unless there is a factual error. Any advice I receive I assess and try to build into my future work. But secondly and more importantly, it seems to me that by removing the line you restrict the piece to a single interpretation.
Leaving the line in cleverley opens the possiblity that that the 'actions' taken by your character are those she imagines she would take if she had a child. Now, with him gone and promotion possible the strength of her intentions find a new outlet to express themsleves, so of course her conscience would be clear.
Finally I have been assured that Grandchildren are God's way of rewarding you for not killing your own children......
www.lorrainemace.com
Thank you for the kind comments. I try to look objectively at all feedback and only act on it if I believe it is right, and, in this case, I agreed with the reviewers. I'm going to have another go at the 200 word test, it certainly makes you think about every word used.
Author Page at the 'Zon
www.lorrainemace.com
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