55 FICTION ASSIGNMENT
Our first task this semester (other than acclemating ourselves to the site) was to write a short story. Being an English teacher, I thought this was right up my alley. However, there was a catch...it could only be 55 words. That's it, no more and no less. So, here is what I came up with...
She looked in the mirror and saw the latest casualty of their love.
He was sorry.
It didn’t hurt that bad, she shouldn’t have made him so mad.
Tonight there would be flowers.
She would make him dinner.
The bruise would fade along with his anger.
They would be happy, at least for a while.
At the time I wrote it my reflections of it were...
I think if we were given a specific topic we had to write about it would have been much harder, but because it was fictional and could be about anything, I didn’t think it was that constraining to do. I like to write creatively and so I just began typing, I wrote this in about one minute. The first time I checked my word count I was at 28 words at the conclusion of the third line. I just continued to type how it would progress and after I typed the last line, I checked the word count and was at exactly 55. I think the problem arose when I thought about whether or not I should post something like this? When people begin to think about what others will say about your writing, is when most people start to tinker with their writing. I am certain I could change things and edit this a million ways over…but I just began to type and got lucky to stop right at 55. It is not funny or cute, nor do I think incredibly unique. But, it was what came out of me at the moment and instead of doubting it, I am posting it.
However, after working my way through this course, I think the purpose of this assignment is to see how hard it can be to create something good, within specific limitations. I wanted a 're-do' for this assignment so many times because had I spent more time, I think I would have not only challenged myself more, but definitely did something that I felt was better.
She looked in the mirror and saw the latest casualty of their love.
He was sorry.
It didn’t hurt that bad, she shouldn’t have made him so mad.
Tonight there would be flowers.
She would make him dinner.
The bruise would fade along with his anger.
They would be happy, at least for a while.
At the time I wrote it my reflections of it were...
I think if we were given a specific topic we had to write about it would have been much harder, but because it was fictional and could be about anything, I didn’t think it was that constraining to do. I like to write creatively and so I just began typing, I wrote this in about one minute. The first time I checked my word count I was at 28 words at the conclusion of the third line. I just continued to type how it would progress and after I typed the last line, I checked the word count and was at exactly 55. I think the problem arose when I thought about whether or not I should post something like this? When people begin to think about what others will say about your writing, is when most people start to tinker with their writing. I am certain I could change things and edit this a million ways over…but I just began to type and got lucky to stop right at 55. It is not funny or cute, nor do I think incredibly unique. But, it was what came out of me at the moment and instead of doubting it, I am posting it.
However, after working my way through this course, I think the purpose of this assignment is to see how hard it can be to create something good, within specific limitations. I wanted a 're-do' for this assignment so many times because had I spent more time, I think I would have not only challenged myself more, but definitely did something that I felt was better.