March of Microanalysis: Day 1
Microfiction Entry: Day 1
Run.
My smartypants brother summed up this story with one off-hand FB comment: “This one is all action.” And indeed it is. If you can only use one word, you damn well better make it a verb. A one word story is the literary laboratory to test the active voice/passive voice debate. I don’t always agree with the active voice advocates; sometimes they can get bit overzealous, like well-meaning Jehovah’s Witnesses with an all active-voice Watchtower that they want you to take. Oy, vey.
Anyway, verbs really can help you make the most of limited time. Especially imperative verbs that incorporate their own subject, in this case the understood You. That’s a hard-working word. One doesn’t have to use a verb, of course. I thought of one alternate story: Rats!, which is basically the lead-in to the Pied Piper of Hamelin, or perhaps a thriller set in Europe in 1348. Nouns can bear weight too. Adjectives? Probably not. If you do think of a adjectival one-word story, send it my way. I’m curious.
So, this is the microiest of microfiction. Is this a story? I doubt it. But it’s a start.
In March, I'm posting a breakdown/analysis of the microfiction I posted on the corresponding day in February. This is probably only interesting to you if you care about the mechanics of writing, or if you know me personally. Anyway, thanks for stopping by, San Diego.