Welcome to the first Middle Zone Musings Writing Contest, Let’s be Brief (and that’s briefs only, no boxers, if you please). If you were following along last week you probably already have a pretty good idea what’s up. But for the sake of clarity and to put everyone on the same level playing field, we shall, as Lewis Carroll put it, “Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop”. (Get it? The end? Briefs? Oh, forget it.)First, some background
In the business world (and other worlds too, I suppose), it occasionally pays to be brief (thank goodness blogging doesn’t!) Not everyone has the gift, I know, but perhaps practice is all you really need. I’m guessing lawyers would be good at it (because they’re always writing in their briefs) but I know one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do was write an abstract for the first proposal I ever did. Have you ever tried to condense and summarize 96 pages into two paragraphs? (Well, I couldn’t do it either – mine was almost two pages. Umm, I’m almost sure that’s why we didn’t get the work.)
Roger von Oech from Creative Think recently wrote about imposing limitations on yourself as one method of enhancing the creative thought process. It’s especially true when writing; limiting yourself to a specific word count or small space makes you very aware of every single word you put on the page.Have you ever tried writing within extremely severe constraints (time, space, words, content)? Sure you have! Not so easy, is it? What if you were given an assignment where you had to write a complete story, but were limited to, let’s see… we’ll make this a hard one: six – yep, you read it right – only six words?
By way of explanation, check out this article from Wired, November 2006:
“We’ll be brief: Hemingway once wrote a story in just six words (“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”) and is said to have called it his best work. So we asked sci-fi, fantasy, and horror writers from the realms of books, TV, movies, and games to take a shot themselves.”
I’ve picked a few choice ones to demonstrate what I mean. (You can find the complete list of – ahem – shorts here.):
- “Failed SAT. Lost scholarship. Invented rocket.” – William Shatner
- “Gown removed carelessly. Head, less so.” – Joss Whedon
- “Automobile warranty expires. So does engine.” – Stan Lee
- “We kissed. She melted. Mop please!” – James Patrick Kelly
- “The baby’s blood type? Human, mostly.” – Orson Scott Card
- “I couldn’t believe she’d shoot me.” – Howard Chaykin
- “I win lottery. Sun goes nova.” – Stephen Meretzky
- “In the beginning was the word” – Gregory Maguire (although Gregory apparently missed the fact that the actual author of this line was John the Apostle, and it’s from, you know, the Bible.)
I remember long ago reading the world’s shortest horror story (“The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door…”) but this – ah, this is simply brilliant! By way of example, here’s one way you might tell a similar (and somewhat modernized) version of this little story using only six words: The last Earthling’s cell phone rang.So Readers, how’s that for a challenge? Feel the creative juices flowing yet? (You do? Well, I hope you’re wearing dark pants ‘cause it’s gonna show!)
The Gauntlet is Thrown (sound of gauntlet being thrown)
Alright, readers, let’s see how many aspiring writers there really are out there. Are you willing to take the challenge? If you had exactly six words to tell an entire story, what would you say? It’s important to remember that the words you don’t use can be as important as the words you do. Since you only have six words, the key to this challenge is to make your reader’s imagination fill in the details. There can be absolutely no context or additional explanation - your reader’s imagination must do it for you.
Remember, you’re not just writing a sentence: John hugged Mary; they kissed passionately. We’re looking for six words that tell a story; words that let you know there’s a whole lot going on that hasn’t been explicitly stated: Tearfully embracing, hearts bursting, they kissed. The second one obviously has much more going on in between the written words, don’t you think?
The Contest is now officially open, and I will be accepting entries through Sunday, January 21. Here’s all you have to do:
- Read (if you like) the stories in the Wired article above to get a feel for how it’s done.
- Write a six-word story! In fact, write a bunch - the more the merrier. (There are really only two rules to this contest: a) use exactly six words, and b) because this is for general consumption, I would appreciate it if you would please keep them G-rated!)
- For those of you with blogs, post your entries on your blog, be sure to mention Middle Zone Musings, and place this hyperlink somewhere in your post (very important!) . Then, send me an email to let me know.
- For those of you without blogs (and why haven’t you started one yet?), you can enter your submissions via the comments on this post. No need to email me in this case.
- In return, I will link back to your post (or mention you by name, if you don’t have a blog) several times during the week, and once more in the archive post.
Also (in order to leave no one out), I will be happy to post your entries anonymously. Just send me an email with your entries and make sure you let me know of your wishes. I promise on my sweet grandmother’s Christmas tacos (hey, you gotta try these things to know what I mean) I will preserve your anonyminity ananominitie anonomousness secret.
AND… as a special bonus, to help determine the winners I’ve lined up a special international cast of judges from across the globe to render their opinions and pick the best (in various categories we will make up on the spot):
- John Koetsier – our distinguished Canadian judge; John runs, among other things, bizhack, a technology and business blog especially focused on “the intersection of business and technology”
- Shawn Callahan – the outstanding Australian judge; Shawn is the founder of Anecdote, a consulting firm that “tackles complex problems like organizational change, learning and project evaluation” with particular attention to storytelling and knowledge gathering
- Yours truly – representing America (with an admittedly slightly twisted point of view); an unparalleled engineering project manager, the founder and sole proprieter of Middle Zone Musings, and an imaginative, all-around nice guy (hey, it’s my blog and I can say it if I want to)
Alas, for this inaugural project I have no prizes to offer (but how would you feel about a pair of commemorative briefs?) except to say that I offer you an opportunity to exercise those creative muscles and break out of the box a bit (although it seems more like climbing into the box and nailing it shut!)But if you’re wondering, “What’s in it for me?” you might consider this: I offer you a simple way to increase the number of links to your blog (similar to the Z-blogs list floating around out there) and, more importantly, perhaps find a new friend or two “out here” in the blogosphere.
Just think – you’ll finally be able to tell everyone you’re a published author. Won’t that be a kick in the shorts! So get those cards and letters in, folks, you may be only a few keystrokes away from fame and fortune, no matter how, er, brief. (Sorry.)
Oh, and by the way, here’s some of the ones I came up with:
- Walked dog. Tripped, fell. Dog gone.
- Blue sky; daydreams drifting like clouds.
- *Ring* Help! He’s– Bang! *Click* Hmmmmmmm
- ‘Way too fast! Hey, look out–
- “I’m hungry,” it said, “come closer.”
- She lived badly, but died well.
- Bam! Pow! Oof! Splat! Thanks, Batman!
- Get back! I think it’s alive!
- “You didn’t eat that, did you?
You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!
Okay, by now some of you may be suffering from a mild case of writer’s block. No problem, just get up from the keyboard, walk around the room a few times, and shake it off. (Hey, it’s less painful than Roger von Oech’s method: a whack on the side of the head.)
Way down here in Houston, Texas, where winter lasts only three weeks and the humidity reaches new heights, we’re having a sudden blast of Old Man Winter. It might actually get below freezing tonight! Makes you want to sit inside by the fire with a favorite warm beverage and… write six-word stories!
Middle Zone Musings is a comfortable place to stop, have a cup of coffee, swap a few stories and share practical ideas for the real world. I don't ask for much, just a bit of your brain every now and then. Have a seat, take a load off, and relax...
