Dissecting a piece of microfiction during a short story session of the Philadelphia Writers’ Conference provided a revealing blueprint for tight, character-driven stories. Our facilitator, Carla Spataro, used author Bob Thurber’s writing exercise “Anatomy of a MicroFiction” to illustrate how focused character development and deliberate action can evoke emotional reactions. Spataro prompted us to use Thurber’s line-by-line anatomy of Three Days of Mourning as a template to create a microfiction. We had to use a prop from the session’s venue, a hotel ballroom, and we had five minutes to write:
Climbing a ladder to replace a bulb knowing he’d just do it again and again seemed–.
If only he felt like he once had felt and his aching swollen knees moved as they once had carried him through this world. The rungs were so much harder to climb than last time; yet, climb he did.
He twisted the blackened glass.
Until it broke.
A shard cut his thumb.
The sting reached his brain.
“Damn.” He paused to consider the yawning light socket– then smiled.
He descended with his thumb in his mouth, put away the ladder, went to his study, and addressed a letter to corporate.
Check out Thurber’s “Anatomy of a MicroFiction” and consider using it as a writing exercise. He suggests letting your piece rest then to revisit it several times over the span of several days to continue tightening the lines. I think you might be surprised by what you come up with and what this exercise reveals about the writing process.
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