Extra Credit: Microfiction

This is my blog for 100-word stories (as you can see, I write a lot of them!), and this post is about a Microfiction extra credit option for the Myth-Folklore and Indian Epics online classes.

For this extra credit option, you will be writing TWO very short stories. One of these stories should be a 100-word story, also known as a "drabble" (see list of terms below). Then you will write another story, either another 100-word story or something in a shorter form: 50 words, 25 words, 6 words, 140 or 280 characters, or a two-sentence story.

They might be the same story told in two different lengths, or you might do two totally different stories; that's up to you! If you're interested in learning more about styles and strategies for writing microfiction, I've got a list of Microfiction Resources here.

LENGTHS. Here are the microfiction lengths that are 100 words or shorter, based on counting words, or characters, or sentences:
drabbles: 100 words (plus title)
dribbles: 50 words (plus title)
hint fiction: 25 words (plus title)
six-word stories: 6 words (plus title)
old Twitter: 140 characters (no title)
new Twitter: 280 characters (no title)
two-sentence stories: two sentences (plus title)

You'll want to make sure you have a good word count extension in your browser so you can check your work as you compose; I like Word Count Tool. It shows words and also characters:

SOURCES. For these extra credit stories, you might use source material from the class reading like usual (in which case, include information about your source), OR you might just write a story from your own imagination, OR you might write autobiographical microfiction, treating your life as a story.

TITLE. The title can sometimes be a big part of the microfiction experience, and it does not count against your work or sentence count, so make sure to choose a good title.

AUTHOR'S NOTE. You'll want to add an author's note as usual. With microfiction, it is really helpful to have the author's note; that way, in case your story is not clear to the reader, they can get some help from your note. Then, they can let you know if there's a gap between your idea for the story and what comes across. (See below for getting reader comments on your microfiction stories.)

IMAGE. Please include an image with image information as usual. Sometimes an image can really help your reader in understanding just what's going on in a microfiction story.

COMMENTS. I try to keep up with the microfiction posts but since they are extra credit, I sometimes lose track of them, so if you want to make absolutely sure you'll get comments on something you've written, just fill out the form below: Microfiction for Comment. (The form is also embedded at the bottom of his post.)

Follow-up options: Next time you might want to do a revision option for your microfiction, and after you revise, I hope you will consider putting your story in a class microfiction anthology we can publish as a book; here's the book by the Fall 2020 classes: Tiny Tales from Fall 2020.

Here's the Declaration you will complete:

TITLE: I used the word "Microfiction" in the blog post title (for example, Microfiction: Two Tiny Ghost Stories) LABELS: I used the label "Microfiction" plus the week's label. (Microfiction, Week ## separated by a comma) NOTE: The note explains my process for writing the microfiction stories and the choices I made. LENGTH. I wrote two stories: one story that is 100-words long, plus and another story that is 100 words or some other, shorter length. IMAGE. I included at least one image with image information (caption and link). BIBLIOGRAPHY. I included bibliography for any story sources I used (if any; there may or may not be bibliography needed).

I'll try to snag the microfictions automatically but, just in case, you can fill out this form to make absolutely sure I get your post included in the randomizer for comments: