Monday, August 10, 2009

Hint Fiction!

Robert Swartwood coined a wonderful term called hint fiction, which is a story of 25 words or less that suggests a larger, more complex story. The definition was taken directly from his website: Robert Swartwood.

W.W. Norton will publish an anthology of hint fiction in the fall of 2010. Oh, and anyone can submit for a chance to be published in the anthology with some well-known authors. For more details, check out his site: Robert Swartwood.

And if you are accepted into the anthology, please let me know. :-)

11 comments:

David L. McAfee said...

Thanks for the heads up. I'm all over this. :)

writtenwyrdd said...

Strange concept. Not really of interest to me, I'm afraid. I really find it disturbing that the tendency is for stories to become shorter and shorter. Not to sound elitist, but it sort of gives the impression that everyone can be a writer with no effort at all; and that can't be good for the craft of writing in the long term!

Charles Gramlich said...

I entered mine.

Writtenwyrd, I can see your point but I think hint fiction is different. It's definitely 'not' a story but merely a hint of a story that might be. I am bothered by the twitter stories, though.

Robin said...

I don't even understand how this can be done. I'll go over just to check out the concept.

I can barely bitch out my kids in 25 words or less.

Harry Markov said...

There are TWITTER stories?!? OMG. That is frightening. I like the concept of micro-fiction taken to extremes. :) It just shows how much you can command language and add power despite the length.

Tyhitia Green said...

David,
I know you'll do well. :-)

Written,
It's more difficult than one would think. :-)

Charles,
Good point. :-)

Robin,
LOL. It can be done! :-)

Harry,
I like it. It's just a one time deal and it's no biggie. :-) The stories that are being selected are good, trust me. Some of the established authors that are going to contribute are Joyce Carol Oates, Jack Ketchum, and Peter Straub, to name a few.

Harry Markov said...

I am sending in mine, but will probably wait until the last moment to do so. I am not a master of short short and competition is fierce as it would seem, so I will take my time.

Lana Gramlich said...

That sounds like a neat idea.

LoveRundle said...

Hint Fiction. This sounds very new. I remember when Flash Fiction took the stage. Some people are so incredibly talented with their ability to get a story across with very few words. I'll have to check this out.

Tyhitia Green said...

Take your time, Harry. But remember you have until the end of the month. Good luck. ;-)

Lana,
It is, isn't it? :-)

Christina,
I promise, it's worth your time. I submitted three, since I blogged about it before the deadline. :-)

Barry Napier said...

I subbed 2 entries for this one. His blog states that he's started picking out the likely candidates.