Take Angel Zapata's Challenge- Can you tell a story in only 25 words? Find out what 5x5 really is!

[Giovanni Gelati]

  5x5 Fiction: Skillfully Shortening the Short Story

Just about everyone, at one time or another, has read a short story. But ask someone if they’ve ever read any flash fiction, stories told in less than 1,000 words. You’ll most likely get a cocked eyebrow. Ask them about micro fiction, stories told in less than 500 words. It’s probable the reaction will be a deeper furrow of the brow. Now ask them about the possibility of reading a complete story told in just 100 words (a drabble), or in 50 words (a dribble). How about in 6 sentences? 6 words?

 

Most will say it can’t be successfully done. They’ll say there’s no way a story can have a beginning, middle, and an end in so few words.

I’m here to dispel that belief.

Ernest Hemingway, author of such classics as The Sun Also Rises, To Have and Have Not, and For Whom the Bell Tolls, was allegedly put to this very challenge in the early twentieth century. He said he could spin a yarn in only 6 words. This is what he wrote:

“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

Wow. It’s amazing how much story is packed into these 6 small words. I know qualifying his sentence as a ‘story’ opens a forum for debate, but think about this: this will probably be one of the only stories you’ll ever be able to quote simply by memory. And isn’t the longevity, the timeless impact of such a succinct tale, what every writer aspires to give the reader?

Whichever side of the fence you find yourself, I’m here to expose you to one such possibility of storytelling. It’s called 5x5 Fiction: stories told in 5 sentences of 5 words each. These are complete stories, not poems or rantings. I’m the creator and editor for this online magazine. 4 times a year I publish the very best 25-word stories you’re likely to ever read.

In radio terminology, ‘5x5’ is the shortwave code for ‘Loud and Clear’. Using this code verifies the transmission signal is at optimal ‘strength and clarity’. To apply this definition to a tight, concise story is the challenge; a challenge many writers do incredibly well. Let me share a few with you. These have all appeared in previous issues of 5x5 Fiction.

Bonemeal  By Simon Kewin

 

 

 

“My, such glorious roses, Pamela.”

“I feed the soil well.”

“What do you use, bonemeal?”

Sunlight glints off raised shears.

“Something like that,” she says.

Dog By Scott Cole

Dog dog dog dog dog. That was all she said. I glanced over her shoulder. And saw nothing but darkness. Then suddenly… nothing but teeth.

A Night in the Morgue By Kevin G. Bufton

Dr. Marsden’s heart was pounding. He recalled his Hippocratic Oath. Thou shall do no harm. Trembling, he completed his form. Patient’s cause of death: autopsy.

Love Means…By Debbi Antebi

They opened a champagne bottle. He celebrated their 40th anniversary. She celebrated keeping her secret. The doctors had all agreed. Next year, she’d be gone.

Confession By L. Muñoz

“Bless me, father, I’ve sinned.” Transgressions spilled from her mouth. The priest remained silent, trembling. Suddenly the monster grabbed her. “Forgive me,” the priest sobbed.

My hope is these stories have thrilled you, transformed you by their remarkable energy, and have left you gasping for more. I invite readers and writers alike to visit 5x5fiction.blogspot.com. And if you’re inspired to create some of your own, read the guidelines and submit them for consideration.

I leave you with the words of English poet, Robert Southey. “It is with words as with sunbeams, the more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.”

Angel Zapata grew up in NYC, but now resides near Augusta, Georgia. Some of his fiction and poetry has appeared at The Boston Literary Review, The Glass Coin, In Between Altered States, Erotica Quarterly, and the Pill Hill Press anthology: Monster Gallery. He is author of the Trestle Press short story horror series, The Man of Shadows. He also edits 5x5 Fiction: 25-word stories told in 5 sentences of 5 words each. Visit him at arageofangel.blogspot.com and 5x5Fiction.blogspot.com