Up for a challenge? Write a "Hint Fiction" story for a contest sponsored by the author (Robert Swartwood) who recently coined the term (read his essay here). Hint Fiction is a story of under 25 words, not including the title. The winning entry will be chosen by Stewart O'Nan.
The deadline is April 30th.
The winner receives a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.
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13 comments:
Wow. Interesting. I've heard of the 6 word stories, but not 25. I love the name Hint Fiction. Thanks for the tip.
I've written several 100-word stories and those are difficult enough. Twenty-five words? Hint Fiction is the perfect name!
I love these mini-challenges.
Hi Clare, Elaine, and Lois,
I hope you give it a try! You're allowed to send in two, and I did, along with a link to our blog (the author is having a second contest if someone mentions the contest on their website or blog), so maybe we'll have some new readers stop by.
I agree with you - I think the term is really cool, and I find these challenges fun. I enjoyed writing several of them, and reading the contest entries on his blog, too.
Egads. 25 words. No way could I manage that! I remember years ago reading a poem entitled "Horror Story Written For The Cover Of A Matchbook," that went something along the lines of:
In the dark [girl's name]
Mistook a shard of
Broken lightbulb
For her contact lens.
I can find references to it -- it's by Chuck Watchtel -- but I can't find the actual poem anywhere. I originally had it in a book called Up Late: American Poetry Since 1970, which I no longer have.
Laura - That's a wild one...you can't help but react to it! I love the title - it's perfect. I can see why it stayed with you all these years. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Under 25 words... I agree, Hint Fiction is a very cool name, the haiku of prose. I'm not sure that I could manage this challenge.
(That was exactly 25 words. It's so short!)
Please visit my blog for details of my Virtual Book Launch, or just to glance through my ramblings on writing and being published. As a newcomer to this world, I really appreciate insights from fellow writers.
I'm glad to know about this. It would be worth entering just to have your work read by Stewart O'Nan. I'm a huge fan. I strongly recommend "Songs for the Missing" and "Last Night at the Lobster."
Anita
Leigh - Thanks for stopping by. I read your blog - congrats on your upcoming "Cut Short." You have quite a busy schedule ahead of you. How exciting! Nice to meet a writer from the UK. My grandfather was born in London; his mom was born in Bristol; I've researched over six generations of my father's family, and very conveniently for genealogy purposes, they were all from one county - Gloucestershire. Best wishes to you.
Anita - I haven't read Stewart's books, but thanks for the suggestions...I'll check it out next trip to the library. Isn't it wonderful that he will be the final judge? You should give it a try...good luck!
Hi Kathleen,
i can't say hello in less than three paragraphs! Still, this is a fine idea. I scrolled through and red your submissions. I really liked them, especially the first one.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Terrie
Hi Terrie! You're so funny...I love your sense of humor.
Thanks for checking out my submissions. I have to say, both are based on true events. I responded to that scene, where two little boys were killed because they hid behind the dresser when their mother screamed about them playing with matches on the mattress and it caught on fire. She thought she could take the fire outside by dragging the mattress down the steps and out on the front lawn. She couldn't get back into the house to save the boys. The story's haunted me ever since.
The second was true, too; Out of habit, I picked up the phone to call my grandpa (we had lived on the same property for 23 years); as I began dialing, I remembered he was gone. I didn't want to put the phone down; I wanted to click the receiver, dial an operator, and ask her to dial Heaven direct for me - I wanted to talk with him.
Anita and Laura,
I read your entries on Robert Swartwood's blog posting. You both did an excellent job! Loved all of them. Good luck!
An update to the Hint Fiction contest:
Robert Swartwood has announced news that he was sitting on: An anthology of Hint Fiction will be published by WW Norton, featuring some of the entries to his contest! He was approached on Day 2 of his contest.
You can check out his announcement:
http://robertswartwood.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/hint-makes-history/#comment-630
The winners haven't been announced yet.
Kathy
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