He watched her work the room, a tray of hors d’ouevres balanced on her sleek hand. The other fluttered about, stroking the errant shoulder, squeezing the outreached hand, waving across the room to new arrivals. He marveled at her grace, her distinct ability to make the room of 50 people feel like a special event in honor of each person she spoke to. Her laughter tantalized the ear, making each encounter want to bring it forth, lit with her smile. She made a half turn and caught his eye, lowering her lashes to signal her desire. He made his move.
DRABBLE. A story of exactly 100 words, no more, no less. Up to 15 words extra are allowed for the title. Hyphenated-words-are-argued-about. The drabble craze started in British SF fandom in the late 1980s, and the term originates from a Monty Python skit: "Drabble. A word game for 2 to 4 players. The four players sit from left to right and the first person to write a novel wins." However to be playable, the 'novel' had to be cut short. Brian Aldiss became enthusiastic about mini-sagas of 50 words, and one writer even advocated 8 words, but eventually the Birmingham University SF Society decided on 100 words. Many respected SF writers joined in the The Drabble Project and the resulting collections were sold, all proceeds going to charity. Lately, drabbles have been drawing attention again, beginning in Doctor Who fanfic and then other bigger fandoms like Trek. Variants of 150, 200, or 350 words have appeared. However, the most common form is still the 100 word drabble.
I'll not put many restrictions on the content, just make sure it is not a hate filled rampage or illegal. I reserve the right to remove any content I deem unacceptable. NC-17, Fan fiction, Real Person fiction (RPF of celebrities) or just general fiction are allowable as long as it is not defamitory. Poetry is acceptable. If you choose to write adult content, please make sure to put NC-17 or a rating in the header for your post so that others will know BEFORE reading it. (Not everyone likes to read that, and if they are warned, well, they read it at their own risk.)
Please note that I am making no money off of this. I just enjoy the challenges and constraints and have found it a useful tool in my own writing, and I wanted to share the fun with others. I will not tolerate flaming or disrespect on this blog. You are reading the content here at your own risk, so to speak, so if you come across something that upsets or offends you, please do not rage about it here. This is not the place.
You may post your drabble directly as a comment, or place a perma-link to your own blog in the comment box. Either way is perfectly acceptable, since we are dealing with a limited word count for the posts.
1 comment:
He watched her work the room, a tray of hors d’ouevres balanced on her sleek hand. The other fluttered about, stroking the errant shoulder, squeezing the outreached hand, waving across the room to new arrivals. He marveled at her grace, her distinct ability to make the room of 50 people feel like a special event in honor of each person she spoke to. Her laughter tantalized the ear, making each encounter want to bring it forth, lit with her smile. She made a half turn and caught his eye, lowering her lashes to signal her desire. He made his move.
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