
One hundred words. Is it a constraint, or a freedom?
What I do know is that it is enough.
Enough to tell a tale, introduce a character, and leave a reader wanting more. One hundred words is enough to hook me in … oh, and I am hooked on writing them.
The appeal of 100-word stories, in one hundred words
The clock is ticking. Time is short. Attention spans even shorter. For writer and reader alike, moments are precious, tumbling through the hourglass we call life. Twenty minutes with a pen and a piece of paper and I’ll have scribbled a first draft. Five minutes between chores, edited. Press {publish}, my work is done. But if, as Samuel Johnson says, “A writer only begins a book. A reader finishes it”, then a short burst also works for the time-poor devourer of words. Find a couple of minutes before supper and consume a hundred word snack without spoiling your dinner.
(100)
A small buffet of recent 100-word ‘snacks’ to consume without spoiling your supper
Just Say It
"Finally, he said it out loud. What he’d always held back. It had been in his heart, on the tip of his tongue once, but never spoken."
Custodian
"Shrieking winds whistled through cracked panes, echoing like the voices of a hundred banshees. Winter changed the mood at Rolling Hills. The troubled souls occupying the padded rooms were edgy."
Helter Skelter
"I see you, spoiled child, pestering for sweets. It makes me laugh when the wind blows your candy floss into a puddle."
If you prefer your stories as the main course and not just the hors d’oeuvre you should tuck into ‘Comedy of Errors’, a dish of revenge served cold.
Never a truer a word spoken... perfectly baked, bite size and digestible!
I love how you've given us a compendium of your recent stories. What a fabulous idea. And I agree with your comment about being hooked. They really are an excellent way to keep exercising the writing muscle. I hope you do more! 😊