Short Shorts

No, not summer attire. I'm talking about stories that can be told in less than a page, perhaps even in a few lines. Condensing a thought to its essentials is a help to even longer writing. Short writing relies on imagery and emotion, while a longer piece lets a writer be lazy and merely describe.

A group that I'm in has seven-word story challenges. The moderator throws out a topic and the group responds with stories of exactly seven words. Here are a few of my recent attempts.

TIME TRAVEL

The Flintstones are actually Jurassic Park survivors

SUPERHERO

Captain Malaprop blamed the evil Escape Goat

WEREWOLF

I am cursed. I’m allergic to fur.

URBAN FANTASY

At night, the faeries switched test tubes.

After reading an article about SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) and exoplanets, I wrote this little tale.

SETI

We received an exquisite poem from the tenth planet of Beta Orionis, the day before it went nova.

What would it be like getting confirmation that we weren't alone and at the same time know that they were now gone?

What We're Watching

Since my last notes on shows seemed popular, here's some more. We just finished Blue Period, an anime about a high school student who suddenly finds his passion for art, and throws himself into preparing for the grueling entrance exams to the best school in Tokyo. We've also just watched After Yang, an atmospheric movie about a family that has an android as an older sibling for their adopted daughter. When the android stops working one day, they learn about the history of this second-hand sentient being, and also themselves. Every shot is taken through a pane of glass, or in a reflection, or at a distance down a hallway, half-obscured. There's as much nuance and meaning conveyed by the cinematography as by the very sparse dialog. Finally, Picard seems to have found its balance and is moving forward, though the motives of several of the characters haven't been revealed yet. Oh, and Q has a business card in the previous episode. Call the number on the card! It's a hoot. (323) 634-5667