A Drabble is a extremely short work of fiction of exactly 100 words, and as its purpose is brevity, it can be a way to test the author's ability to express interesting and meaningful ideas to provoke strong emotions in the reader in an extremely confined space.
Drabbles originated from the UK - some say they were purportedly named after British author Phil Drabble, are said to have originated in UK science fiction fandom in the 1980s. Another source is said to have been an episode of Monty Python (1971 Big Red Book). In a book in the skit, "Drabble" was a word game where the first participant to write a novel wins. In order to make the game possible in the real world, it was agreed that 100 words would suffice.
'Drabbles' have evolved from their original creation and use and now are used by many people, including most famous authors.
They are an excellent help in breaking writer's block as well as being excellent practice for writing. As they are brief, can be a way of breathing life into ideas that may not have enough form to be used to create a full length story. The results can often be hilarious, interesting, deeply disturbing or just plain entertaining.
I have included some examples:
'26 Different Letters in the Meaning of Life'
by Charles Sundt
Shapes in ink. They mean nothing except to us. Letters. They grow into words. They rule our lives. The words join to make sentences. Sentences can only harm humans. Often they are the most effective weapon. Often they are the only way of making peace. Sentences unite to make stories. Stories that can bring together entire nations, stories that can ruin anyone of their choosing, all because of the way ink is arranged on a piece of paper.
Everything the human race has ever known or dreamed, past and future can be written. Words are more powerful than you think.
***
'Hallucinations'
by Charles Sundt
Sure enough, that night, he was trapped in the same dream yet again. He smiled. He walked up to his bedroom window, climbed onto the sill, took a soft lump of his skin, squeezed it, nodded to himself, then jumped out.
Just like every other night, he flew. The wonderfully exhilarating feeling filled him again as he sped over unfamiliar, slightly surreal landscapes that he could only wish existed. The worst part of it was waking up.
It was all very well until one night when he forgot to pinch himself. It took his parents ages to clean the porch.
***
'The End'
by Gordon H Sharp
Weariness began to cover my old body - like a well loved blanket.
The will to achieve anything more in my life no longer existed.
My thoughts dwelt for a moment on my offspring; they seemed so distant in my mind.
Were they uncaring? Or was it me that shut them out as exhaustion cloaked my body like a benign and welcoming shadow.
My nearest and dearest knowingly took my hand as if she knew somehow that I was ready to depart; leaving behind the loving years we'd shared.
Death was sudden and wanted. I slipped easily into the dark abyss.
***
'Rover'
by Gordon H Sharp
Sensations are mixed, and seek explanation. Warm, wet, slurping movements over reluctant skin. Softly emitted sounds interrupt the unwanted, but welcome sensations; accompanied by the wet, impatient nudge of a cold, soft object. Further warm and wet disruption, vigourously applied until skin moves in vain to evade the mysterious contact.
Stillness reigns, then eyelids flutter. Rapid, warm, and wet attempts now made to establish a permanent consciousness. Grudging, and reluctant, but the lids grind open. Eye contact is made.
Wagging commences - success seems imminent. Arms extend wearily, and gentle hands grasp silken ears. Tail, now encouraged, moves swiftly into overdrive.
***
For this contest I would like people to write as many drabbles as they wish - remembering this;
THEY MUST BE EXACTLY 100 WORDS
RULES:
1. Must contain EXACTLY 100 words, excluding the title. NO LESS, NO MORE.
2. Any genre. Adult themes welcome, but please categorize appropriately.
3. Enter as many times as you like.
4. I will allow netspeak and unusually hyphenated words (those that are hyphenated count as one word). However, please DO NOT use sticky caps outside of netspeak.
5. I will allow foreign language words as long they are a minority in the piece. Please provide definitions in author notes.
HINT: foreign words can be especially handy if they portray an idea that, in english words, is longer in word count.
6. Fresh writes only.
7. No poetry, rants or sermons please.
8. Fan fiction acceptable: Harry Potter, Twilight, TV Shows (please specify in author's notes), Fantasy/Sci Fi TV/Film/Books(please specify in author's notes). NO Animae or anything else not listed.
9. Proper grammar, spelling and punctuation is appreciated.
Drabbles will be judged based on how well an idea is portrayed, the emotion evoked, and the originality involved.
Entries that exceed 100 words will be DQ'd. Please check that you have 100 words before choosing to submit.
Drabbles originated from the UK - some say they were purportedly named after British author Phil Drabble, are said to have originated in UK science fiction fandom in the 1980s. Another source is said to have been an episode of Monty Python (1971 Big Red Book). In a book in the skit, "Drabble" was a word game where the first participant to write a novel wins. In order to make the game possible in the real world, it was agreed that 100 words would suffice.
'Drabbles' have evolved from their original creation and use and now are used by many people, including most famous authors.
They are an excellent help in breaking writer's block as well as being excellent practice for writing. As they are brief, can be a way of breathing life into ideas that may not have enough form to be used to create a full length story. The results can often be hilarious, interesting, deeply disturbing or just plain entertaining.
I have included some examples:
'26 Different Letters in the Meaning of Life'
by Charles Sundt
Shapes in ink. They mean nothing except to us. Letters. They grow into words. They rule our lives. The words join to make sentences. Sentences can only harm humans. Often they are the most effective weapon. Often they are the only way of making peace. Sentences unite to make stories. Stories that can bring together entire nations, stories that can ruin anyone of their choosing, all because of the way ink is arranged on a piece of paper.
Everything the human race has ever known or dreamed, past and future can be written. Words are more powerful than you think.
***
'Hallucinations'
by Charles Sundt
Sure enough, that night, he was trapped in the same dream yet again. He smiled. He walked up to his bedroom window, climbed onto the sill, took a soft lump of his skin, squeezed it, nodded to himself, then jumped out.
Just like every other night, he flew. The wonderfully exhilarating feeling filled him again as he sped over unfamiliar, slightly surreal landscapes that he could only wish existed. The worst part of it was waking up.
It was all very well until one night when he forgot to pinch himself. It took his parents ages to clean the porch.
***
'The End'
by Gordon H Sharp
Weariness began to cover my old body - like a well loved blanket.
The will to achieve anything more in my life no longer existed.
My thoughts dwelt for a moment on my offspring; they seemed so distant in my mind.
Were they uncaring? Or was it me that shut them out as exhaustion cloaked my body like a benign and welcoming shadow.
My nearest and dearest knowingly took my hand as if she knew somehow that I was ready to depart; leaving behind the loving years we'd shared.
Death was sudden and wanted. I slipped easily into the dark abyss.
***
'Rover'
by Gordon H Sharp
Sensations are mixed, and seek explanation. Warm, wet, slurping movements over reluctant skin. Softly emitted sounds interrupt the unwanted, but welcome sensations; accompanied by the wet, impatient nudge of a cold, soft object. Further warm and wet disruption, vigourously applied until skin moves in vain to evade the mysterious contact.
Stillness reigns, then eyelids flutter. Rapid, warm, and wet attempts now made to establish a permanent consciousness. Grudging, and reluctant, but the lids grind open. Eye contact is made.
Wagging commences - success seems imminent. Arms extend wearily, and gentle hands grasp silken ears. Tail, now encouraged, moves swiftly into overdrive.
***
For this contest I would like people to write as many drabbles as they wish - remembering this;
THEY MUST BE EXACTLY 100 WORDS
RULES:
1. Must contain EXACTLY 100 words, excluding the title. NO LESS, NO MORE.
2. Any genre. Adult themes welcome, but please categorize appropriately.
3. Enter as many times as you like.
4. I will allow netspeak and unusually hyphenated words (those that are hyphenated count as one word). However, please DO NOT use sticky caps outside of netspeak.
5. I will allow foreign language words as long they are a minority in the piece. Please provide definitions in author notes.
HINT: foreign words can be especially handy if they portray an idea that, in english words, is longer in word count.
6. Fresh writes only.
7. No poetry, rants or sermons please.
8. Fan fiction acceptable: Harry Potter, Twilight, TV Shows (please specify in author's notes), Fantasy/Sci Fi TV/Film/Books(please specify in author's notes). NO Animae or anything else not listed.
9. Proper grammar, spelling and punctuation is appreciated.
Drabbles will be judged based on how well an idea is portrayed, the emotion evoked, and the originality involved.
Entries that exceed 100 words will be DQ'd. Please check that you have 100 words before choosing to submit.
Contest is Over
- Contest was judged on August 23, 2008
- Rewards: Gold: 250, Silver: 150, Bronze: 100, Honorable mention: 15 people
- Final notes: Thank you all for your entries! Some great drabbles entered - in fact enough to make judging fairly hard.
Added some HM's - please note - these are in place order. Those that placed in the top ten runner's up will receive an additional 20 points per story as part of their reward.
Again - thank you for your entry and good luck with your writing endeavours!
Contest Winners
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The synchronicity machine sputters on in his brain and he's a lion of the scions of Generation Rx, purring into the metacogue cogs and clawby Lion-Serpent 100 words, 4 comments, on Jul 13 1:06 AM 2008. In , Inspirational, Life, Pain, Personal, Society, Spiritual
Gold trophy winner
• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
His frail tired body lay still on the care home bed in peace. He smiled.1
by Melancholic Smile 100 words, 4 comments, on Aug 21 9:27 AM 2008. In , Drabble, Sad
Silver trophy winner
• Commented on by judge. [remove] - Error: Unable to find finalist item 189088, it seems to have been deleted :( [remove]
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by Tiger-Lily 500 words, 11 comments, on Aug 11 8:15 AM 2008. In Dark, Fantasy, Fiction, First person, Horror, Young adult
Honorable mention
• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
This is a short, interesting way to look at the universe• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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It was an epidemic. 1 / The myth of creatures crawling in the cinema -- never the person you'd give your life for scraping their viral fingertips against the paper-thin door you stand behind... wby Smell Before Rain 100 words, 5 comments, on Jul 12 2:24 PM 2008. In Dark, Horror Honorable mention
• Commented on by judge. [remove]
- Error: Unable to find finalist item 191252, it seems to have been deleted :( [remove]
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He breathes in the air, alien dust filling his unaccustomed lungs. The expedition sleeps tonight in a drunken stupor, their beer bottles scattered on the earth of dead hosts, oblivious to their intrusion on antiquity.• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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Arrakis—Dune—Desert Planet. Echoes in the mind of Paul Atreides. He gazes upon it from space and something inside whispers, “Destiny.” But the Golden Path waits in shadow and he is only a boy.1 /• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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Wind drove the emerald leaves into a frenzy. Each of them hiding a dark secret. They spoke to each other of the coming days when their lo• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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The old robot spluttered to life, gears slowely grinding on their old rusted shafts, the sound of tortured machinery rang through the air.by caffeineaddict 100 words, 2 comments, on Jul 14 8:17 PM 2008. In Other, Science fiction Honorable mention
• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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My cold fingers wrapped around the stake, just as the cafeteria doors burst open, a plethora of people erupting through, remarkably like aby Tiger-Lily 100 words, 11 comments, on Aug 11 7:21 AM 2008. In , Dark, Fiction, First person, Horror, Romance, Vampires, Young adul Honorable mention
• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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He had lived a good and honorable life. For years, toward the end, he had done everything he was supposed to have done...particularly in the way of burial affairs. He had even purchased, at considerable expense, a large plot,• Commented on by judge. [remove]
- Error: Unable to find finalist item 189522, it seems to have been deleted :( [remove]
Entries [34]
1 - 34 of 34
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My best friend Kelly was having her thirteenth birthday party. David, Kelly’s fourteen year-old cousin from Virginia would be there. 1 / W• Commented on by judge.
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She turned her eyes to the cloud shapes. They often spoke to her in different ways, clouds coming and going, swirling in and out in random forms. Today, there was only one in the sky. It was white, and fluffy. Staring in amazby simply.me 100 words, 3 comments, on Jul 12 1:35 PM 2008• Commented on by judge.
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Flat on my back heart pulsating weakly; I suffer in defiance refusing to admit I was in pain. Shivering inside I felt my feet, hands so col• Commented on by judge.
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He took her breath away. Every time his smoldering eyes glanced her ways, short sharp electric sparks convulsed through her body. Raggedby moonwriter 100 words, 2 comments, on Jul 12 3:19 PM 2008. In• Commented on by judge.
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The music flowed through her. It coursed through her every vein.by moonwriter 100 words, 2 comments, on Jul 12 3:26 PM 2008• Commented on by judge.
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The door swung open.by The-Geebung 100 words, 4 comments, on Jul 16 4:45 AM 2008. In Fiction• Commented on by judge.
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Zacharias; cursed, has one out - for someone who loves him to sing in front of a thousand people for him, before the full moon. He finds a lover, who, on the last night, in the rain, in a busy road, she sings for love. 900by Armaan 100 words, 5 comments, on Jul 27 11:09 AM 2008• Commented on by judge.
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by trekkergirl 100 words, 6 comments, on Aug 3 12:03 PM 2008. In Contest, Murderer, Science fiction, Star Trek• Commented on by judge.
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There was rain and the train tracks underneath her back. She clutched her chest in pain, shivering uncontrollably from the cold, and willed the vision-blurring migraine to dissipate. Emotions had abandoned her, and there sheby disturbed-dreamer 100 words, 4 comments, on Aug 22 12:04 AM 2008• Commented on by judge.
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My three year old cousin, Poppy, screams as her mother tries to get her to eat her cheesy potatoes and carrots. The five year old, Violet, hugs me so tightly I can't breathe. Jingle bells is playing for the twenty second time• Commented on by judge.
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Comments
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Oh my God...I did this for my vamp novel. I just didn't know what this was called. Great contest, TB. You get some sweet ideas.
HT -
No prewrites because I just did something that is 100 words that would fit perfectly with this. Except I already posted it on SW
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word count
Exactly how are words counted on SW? In my word processor it said I had exactly 100 words, after I submitted to SW it say's I have 96. Does it not count articles or something?
(I did a manual count and came up with 98, but I might have missed an "a" or two)
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