March of Microanalysis: Day 2
Microfiction Entry: Day 2
"Don't leave."
Mo’ words, mo’ problems. And my first pseudo-cheating, with the use of a contraction. Oh, well. I do like this pretty well. The two words don’t leave can pack a lot of emotion. It is a threat? A plea? A warning? There’s potential here.
Everything surrounding this phrase is implied, but it is there, all shadowy-like. For example, if someone says “don’t leave,” it means they said it to someone else. So you, the reader, know that you have two people in the scene. You also have implied action: one person trying to leave, and another person trying to stop them. Which in turn implies conflict, an essential element in any story. So it this one a story? Again, I doubt it. But it’s a seed of a story.
For fun, here's some alternate two worders that didn't make the cut:
Shot. Missed. (I used this idea later).
Survive this. (Mmm. This is a hard word to use alone.)
She endures. (Endures is tempting, on account of it doesn't need to take an object. But that is its weakness in microfiction. A story needs an object, even if a sentence doesn't.)
Ophelia floated. (I liked this idea, but there just wasn't enough room to convey what I wanted to, which was that Ophelia floated…at first.)
Dude abides. (A little too Coen-y, I think.)
Through 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.