An Exercise in Brevity

The drabble, at its most basic form, is a story of exactly 100 words. Other accepted definitions include stories with less than 500 or 1000 words, or stories with no tangible plot or ‘purpose’. The drabble is one of the most difficult challenges a writer can take on. It forces one who thrives on usage of words to compact their thoughts and still get their message across. Despite its shortness, a successful drabble should leave an impact on its reader.

When creating a drabble, writers often take different approaches, but two methods stand out the most. The first involves free-writing. The author will write the story as he/she normally would, and then upon completion, go back and edit out all unnecessary words and phrases, to be left with a concise and impactful drabble. The other method, one that seems to be more in the spirit of the drabble challenge, involves the author writing the story, constantly keeping the word count in mind, and carefully choosing their words. This method often produces a more smooth and cohesive drabble, though it is much more difficult.

On Mibba, there are many writers devoted to creating drabbles. In our contest, An Exercise in Brevity: Drabble Writing, we called on these authors to write drabbles based on this issue’s theme, Coming of Age. Over twenty stories were submitted to the contest, but just two were chosen as winners.

The first story was written by xKrisxKrypticx. Playing Hayden tells the story of a boy who is learning to accept himself as he is. “Most people go their whole lives conforming to this ideal of the perfect person. Their minds are closed off,” Kristina (xkrisxkrypticx) said. “It's only when you open your mind and see the world through your own eyes that you truly grow up.” This story is a perfect example of what growing up really means. It’s not just about getting older, but evolving into a new frame of mind and beginning to see the world, and yourself, in a new light.

The next story, Just Like Millions by Aperio Oris, is a reflection of the author’s own experience. Applying to a college her parents disapproved of, Oliza (Aperio Oris), had to deal with their disappointment. “I chose a community college two hours away from home,” she said, “I had already screwed things up by not applying to a four-year university, so deciding to attend a school so far away, when I’d still have to live with my parents, wasn’t the smartest idea in their eyes.” But as time passed, her parents grew to accept her decision, though they still didn’t like it, and the rift between them soon closed.

More drabbles like this can be found on Mibba, most notably in the List of One-Shots and Drabbles thread, and drabble writing contests pop up every day in the Writing Contest forum. Writing (and reading) drabbles can be fun and challenging. It forces authors to be as concise as they can and the product is often an impacting and poignant piece that readers just can’t get out of their heads.

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^{_{21 | Godless and Grown | Responsibility | New Divide | A day can change Everything | Escape | Tomorrow | Dissent | Just Like Millions | Individual | I Can Live Without You | Turn Back Time | Responsibilty | No More | This is Youth | Spring | Running Water | When I was a Kid | Playing Hayden | A Week Till Christmas}}