Dave Owens - Micro Writing Part 1

For the next several days, Dave Owens will be guest blogging a series on Micro Writing, one of his many specialties. I am honored to have him share his knowledge. Besides being an author, editor and writing mentor, he is an absolute genius at getting the most bang out of every word. Here is Part 1 of his long piece on Micro writing. Enjoy.

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Micro Fiction Part – 1

Think Big, Start Small

Micro Fiction is a great way for new writers to “break into” fiction writing, an enjoyable process, and a wonderful way to build your writing credits. Writing credits are important and a part of your resume for you to proudly display when someone reads your work. Over time, you develop your resume, and weed the weaker entries, until your resume reflects who you are: a well-published writer.

What is Micro Fiction? Depending on whom you ask, the answers will be “all over the place,” but a few basics remain constant. You will enjoy a wide range of possibilities to excite your storytelling wonders.

Definitions (sort of)

Twits are stories written with exactly 140 characters (do you see it coming?), yes – for Twitter fans. 53 word stories, for the sci-fi crowd (53 is a prime number), consist of exactly 53 words. Next, come the Drabbles - exactly 100 words, no more no less. The next group consists of 125, 150, 300, 750 word stories, and as far as I know, this group has no title, but it’s a fine market for writers.

Finally, Flash Fiction enters the picture, but even there the 750-1500 word categories cross over. In general, Flash fiction contains 1000 words or less – I guess that means all the other groups are also Flashes. Do you get the picture? These are terrific markets for your shorts and many of the publishers pay professional rates. You won’t earn the “big bucks,” but you’ll be published and build your credits.

Don’t become distracted by the apparent ease of entry. Micro Fiction requires serious thought, focus, and a tight writing style. How do you write Micro Fiction?  

In Part 2, I’ll discuss Micro writing technique, and offer an example of one of my student’s stories (a drabble), and perhaps one of my own shorts.

Part 3 should be fun. I’ll tear, I mean edit, a piece Frank has donated for review. An exercise in short revisions. I invite you to send your work to me for critique and advice. Stay tuned, and tell Frank you’re interested in this series.

Part 4 will include market listings for your shorts.

I leave you with a micro (32 words) I wrote last week.

New Sun
The brilliant flash from the new sun burned Jane’s face, but she did not feel the shockwave.

Her blind eyes saw not the elegant beauty of the mushroom cloud’s ascent into Heaven.

David Alan Owens is an internationally published writer, teacher, mentor, and editor.

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Thank you Dave for your insights!

On a somewhat related tangent, in that cartoons are an excellent example of micro writing, I want to highlight a wonderful cartoonist named Joshua. He has a strip called False Knees. His work tickles my science teacher funny bone and my art teacher's love of beauty. Enjoy.