If you go to Camroc Press Review, you’ll see my micro story (aka flash fiction), “Emily’s Last Day.” Woohoo, this is my first published fictional piece!
It may sound a bit familiar. A year ago I posted here about a day at my aunt’s house. This month I wrote a brief essay, and through the process of critique with my online group, I was encouraged to work on this different version.
Lately I feel like I’m in class. I highly recommend IWW for lots of serious feedback. And great savings on gasoline.
OOOh! “Microwriting”–I’d never heard that name, but it’s something I like a lot: condensed prose. You seem to be brilliant at it. This piece is loaded with poetic images–and loveliness.
I wonder if blogging helps perfect this form? Not that all bloggers write short pieces, but I do think blogging encourages the cultivation of brevity…
There’s such a trend for this, Fresca. Some online publications want only 55 words. Some ask for a novel in seven words. It’s fun practice. Especially for one like me who needs to work on focus.
Blogging has helped me learn to write off the cuff and to recognize when I’ve said enough. Hey, that rhymes. But I don’t really do poetry.
Thanks for your compliments. :o)
I’m curious about this trend toward the tiny—like Twitter.
Is it because there’s so much to read, out there, we want it to be short?
Or have we generally lost patience for the long slog of reading hefty writing?
For me, some of both.
I’ve noticed I’ve become impatient with wandering writing, unless the writing is extraordinary in and of itself. I want the author to get to the point.
I’ve become aware that I’ve therefore become a bit of a lazy reader, with the bad habit of skimming even when a piece calls for more careful reading.
On the other hand, I do focus on intense, condensed work, such as poetry, when it’s worth it. I’ve become more selective. I relish spending time with a dense poem for the extended period it takes to make a Star Trek vid based on it, for example.
Generally I’m one of those who think the Internet and the flood of creativity it has unleashed is a good thing, even if 90% of it is fluff, or worse. And if that means I tend to read more lightly, because I’m looking at so much, I’m OK with that, as long as I make myself stop and pay attention when attention is warranted.
For me, being an active “producer” (blogger, vidder) is an important part of the goodness, though– just sitting on the sidelines and consuming makes the net just like more TV, and who needs that?
Hmmm… I guess I should blog about this, eh?
P.S. Funny thing: writing good brief pieces (a poem) doesn’t take less time than saying the same thing in longer form–sometimes it takes more time!
I bet that “flash fiction” piece of yours took a lot of construction, yes?
Really good thoughts, Fresca. I share your curiosity about the tiny trends. I also think you go about this internet plethora the right way, by participating. It’s how I like it, and it definitely beats TV (although I just finished watching the Firefly series again – had begun it when sick last week – and Joss Whedon’s amazing situations and dialogue always make me feel as though I am participating, somehow. Likely ’cause they entail some engagement of the brain and heart).
As for the flash piece, it took a long time, and then a very short time to do. Strange, but that’s how it happened.
Sometimes I spend hours on a post–yet it reads like a quick toss off. Often these are the ones where I casually mention, say, that so-and-so made such-and-such a movie in 1949. But that, and finding the attending photos, often is the distillation of a lot of time-consuming reading and researching online–and quite possibly, a lot of thinking too… and sometimes a laborious process of constructing constructing.
The posts that arise out of my own experiences, however, I usually write pretty quickly. But they took a long time, insofar as I had to LIVE through whatever I wrote about. So I guess that’s what you meant about “Emily’s Last Day”? A long time in the gestation and a short time to bring forth in the end.
P.S. Oh, right–I didn’t mean to put down TV, per se, of course! (How could I, who am deeply engaged with Star Trek? And adore Firefly.)
Congrats! This is very exciting! (I love microwriting and flash fiction and all that!)
yipee!!!!
congratulations, deanna. that’s so fantastic!
Fresca, you’ve put your finger on all of it pretty well (you’re good at that). :o)
Thanks, Sarah. There are lots of places to send such things…you probably knew that.
Thanks, Angela. It felt spiffy.
microwriting is much better than flash fiction. It’s elegant. Congratulations on your accomplishment and many many more to come in the near future. :)
Jodi, thanks much.
Deanna, congratulations! What a wonderful journey you are on!
congrats on your new publication and thanks for stopping by my blog and for listing me on your site – way cool!
Sandy, I appreciate you, journeying along there your own self. :o)
Stacy, thanks for stopping in. I’m having fun in my little website “house” (it’s kinda new).
In fact, I may learn one of these days how to do this stuff with somewhat new formats. I didn’t mean to make tons of individual comments (not that I’m rushing to lower the count here), and something keeps telling me to update my version of WordPress, but I figure if it ain’t broke…