... what a "Drabble" is, as well as where I found this fun little form of writing. A "Drabble" is a story that is 100 words long. No more, no less. However, this story has to have a begging, middle and end to it. So what's the trick? I don't know because the only one I have been able to muddle out thus far is the one in the previous post. I got the idea from my mom who found it in an alumni magazine for Wilfred Laurier University. They had held a competition for the best in different categories and the winners were presented in the magazine. After reading these I thought it was an excellent idea and the strict rules would help me to whittle my ideas for "short" stories down - I always went over the suggested limit of pages in writer's craft.
Here are two things I discovered in writing this Drabble:
1. It's better to do it on lined paper
Why? Because it helps you see how many words you have left to write. What I used was a pocket sized notebook (which just so happened to have 20 lines on each page) and wrote 5, 10, 15, 20... 100 in the margins. With a word processor I find I can just write away and suddenly I'm way over 100 words.
2. It's a neat idea to take a big idea and shrink it!
Well, that worked for me. I had a big idea that I want to someday make into a bigger work. I didn't end it like I had it in my head, but that's what the word limit does. Having the idea out on paper really does help, even with some changes. Keep your Drabbles, even if you hate them because you can develop them into something bigger or they can open up more options on how to end a story you have been keeping on the back burner.
Well, now that you know what a Drabble is, have fun writing one!
