Microfiction - Adventures in Narratives

Over the course of several weeks we are going to write a series of 8-12 short stories called Microfiction - short stories that tell a complete story in 250 words (225-275 is fine).  We will share the stories regularly, each with its own unique skill or technique.  When we are done, you will receive credit for all your completed Microfictions and will choose a favorite to revise for a grade. Each Microfiction should be typed in MLA form.

 

Example: Retell the story of Romeo and Juliet in a Modern Setting

You'll Ruin Your Lives, R & J

This is a story of ruined lives. Someone will die.  We will blame the parents.

Becky had never, in her sixteen years, actually met with more than the rumor of her father. In recent years her mother had drifted in and out of bars and rehab centers. Becky lived with her grandmother, who disliked Joe Jr., the boy she was in love with, on principle. "Watch out for that one," her grandmother grumbled from deep in the cushions of the only comfortable chair in the living room. "He'll ruin your life."

Joe Jr.'s parents feared she might get pregnant and force their son to ruin his life by marrying her.

During Joe's second year of college and Becky's last year of high school, Becky found that she was pregnant. She first talked to her grandmother who sighed and said she was like her mother. That very afternoon Becky's mother, who was on parole and needed a haircut, had warned the girl against running around after a college boy who would surely forget her. Joe's roommate told her he had been instructed by Joe's parents to tell her that Joe was not there, whether or not he was there, which he wasn't. She ought to know . . . and so on and so forth. Becky picked up her grandmother's car keys, and drove south fast straight into a tree. She died at the scene.

 

Week 1 Retell the story of Romeo and Juliet in a Modern Setting but way better than the example!
Week 2 Retell the story of The Three Little Pigs from the Wolf's point of view.
Week 3 Write the story of the last good argument you had in nothing but dialogue.
Week 4 Ok, let's admit it: we've all told a lie to avoid punishment for something we shouldn't have done.  Write the story of what you did or the lie you told as if it were a suspense mystery, building to an exciting or unexpected climax.  You need no resolution.
Week 5 Think of a great family story of some type. Now, write the story but add a fictitious relative to the story who somehow affects the plot.
Week 6 Think of a particularly intense episode you have experienced as recently as possible - a concert, a ball game, a party, that sort of thing.  Now write a short narrative of it using all five of your senses to create "thick" imagery.


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