Meaning drabbled in the mud of misuse. [1]

[changeling]

A DRABBLE IS EXACTLY 100 WORDS LONG.

This is something that has been on my mind for quite some time. In the HP fandom world (and I daresay, fandom in general), "drabble" seems to be a byword for the short-short story, or "flash fiction".

I happen to be very fond of the drabble. I once wrote a short story for my uni class that was ten drabbles linked together, each their own discrete story. I regard the drabble as prose's answer to the haiku. The chartered accountant in me gets all warm and squishy at the thought of the challenge of making exactly one hundred words.

I also write quite a lot of flash fiction. I tend to define "flash fiction" as something under 600 words, and if you take the Writer's Encyclopaedia's definition of Short-Short Stories, which defines the short-short as anything under 1500 words, it's damn rare I write anything else. All of my 2500 word assignments to Short Story class this year had at least two stories to make the word count.

And dammit, I'm training as an editor and a writer both. So if words aren't my tools, I don't know what is. I get passionate about it. Because if you're not passionate about what you do, you might as well be dead. And part of the purpose of words is to convey meaning, so I get a little upset when people water that meaning down with incorrect usage of terms. "Short-short"; "flash fiction", or its counterpart "microfiction" (which is a term I despise); novella; novelette: these are all terms that are open to interpretation. One site (that thankfully shares the same angst I have about drabbles) defines flash fiction as 500 words and under, and short-shorts as 500 words to 1000. These terms are ranges. Different magazines or publishing houses might have definitions. Not so the drabble. It may be argued whether the title ought to be included in the word count (a standard seems to be no, but the title may only be up to 15 words long), but all informed sources agree: drabbles are 100 words long.

Repeat after me: All drabbles are flash fiction, but not all flash fiction stories are drabbles. Universal affirmatives can only be partially converted.²

To quote from Rana Eros' article, "It's all about clarity of communication, folks. Otherwise, we're all just talking gibberish at each other. Which can be fun, but really doesn't help you get your point across."


¹ Man, if that's not a pun worthy of The Age, I don't know what is.

²My wife does not understand this necessary limitation of conversion of a proposition; consequently, she does not understand me.

Comments

[apiphile.livejournal.com]

I'm presuming you've encountered the drabble's diminutive cousin, the Mini-saga - at 50 words long, no title, in which there must be a beginning, middle and end.

We had to write five for a week's assignment in my first year, and it was possibly one of the hardest parts of the course (that and finding something good to say about Nike's poetry).

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

Oh my God, I never have.

O.O

That would be AWESOME *is in quiet geeky bliss*

[apiphile.livejournal.com]

Some TV channel/Radio station related to the BBC did a competition a while back, and I think there's a book of the winners/entrants available somewhere.

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

That's very cool. I'll have to see if I can hunt it down ...

[mawaridi.livejournal.com]

How fascinating. I was never aware that "drabble" actually had such a precise definition, I guess having been introduced to the term through similarly mis-informed fandom folks. *feels ignorant, but, now enlightened, will not make the same mistake again*

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

*pleased* My hope was to inform. :D

[celeloriel.livejournal.com]

Finally, a referee to remove the blindfold of the slalomer in my mind.

(see, I read.)

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

*laughs* And I'm just perplexed.

...mind you, I had to look up "slalomer" before my brain went, just as the page loaded, "someone who slaloms. DUUH."

[notfudge.livejournal.com]

Damn it, I keep meaning to rummage around the house and find my copy of an anthology called "Paper Windows" for you to read. It's all short-short stories (or what they term as such). They're almost universally brilliant. Where have I put the damn thing?

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

Is it hidden behind other books on your bookshelf?

[notfudge.livejournal.com]

Hrmmm. Not sure. Will look after nano finished.

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

Kinda want to pull another all-nighter tonight. Not quite the same without someone else here, though.

[notfudge.livejournal.com]

No, it's not. Good luck if you try though!!

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

Thanks, love. :D