AE Microfiction Contest

[stephenspower]

AE: The Canadian SF Review just announced the theme for this year's microfiction contest: "degrees." Some details:

We will select five entries for publication in the microzine: three Canadian stories and two international. We will pay our standard rate of $.07 CAD per word for each of the five selected stories, with a minimum of $10 for any one story.

Entries must be no more than 200 words, including the title. They must be recognizably science fiction and inspired by the theme. (Using the word itself in the story is not required.) One entry per person. All entries must be previously unpublished in print or online.

Deadline: Monday, March 2, at 23:59 Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5)

All details here:

Announcing AE Micro 6

Every single Scribe can pull together 200 words of SF for this contest. Flood the zone. May the best Scribes win.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

I'm not sure I could write a story that's 200 words or less.

 

[stephenspower]

Sure you can. It's all a matter of breaking down the real estate.

Think of it as a sonnet: 3 paragraphs of 55 words each with a closing paragraph of 35. Or two paragraphs of 120 and 80 words with a volta between 105 and 120. That's an eternity, a two-minute drill, if you use your space wisely. One of my Daily Science Fiction stories was only 109 words and I got that down to 100 to submit it as a Drabble (not accepted, unfortunately).

In fact, you could break down the 200 words even further. It takes about 2 minutes to read 200 words. A professional comedian could put 8-10 laughs in that space. So think of it as a dialogue of 8-10 20-25 word comments, even if not dialogue

If you did the story as an address of some sort, you could save a ton of "saids" and names of speakers. The big soliloqueys in Hamlet are 250-275 words long and, frankly, they're pretty wordy. It can be done.

Maybe we should do a 200- or 250-word microfiction challenge. I'd be happy to judge.

 

[Terry Greer]

200 words is tough!

But if you haven't read it I can reccomend this short story from Isaac Asimov - purportedly written for a bet on the spot when challenged to write a short story:

It's about 350 words - so too long - but it's entertaining and shows what can be done with short fiction.

"Insert Knob A in Hole B" by Isaac Asimov

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

I just sent a 200 word story off to them, will see how it goes. If it doesn't go well I may post it here.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[stephenspower]

After being afraid that I couldn't come up with something, I got an idea Saturday night, and I'm about to send it off just before the deadline, dreaming it's actually finished. Fingers crossed.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

After being afraid that I couldn't come up with something, I got an idea Saturday night, and I'm about to send it off just before the deadline, dreaming it's actually finished. Fingers crossed.

Good luck!

 

[Edankyn]

Good luck to all who entered. I'll be joining psychotick in posting my story here after the winners are announced in April.

 

[Svrtnsse]

Didn't notice this one until now, sounds like fun, but I don't think I could pull off a good 200 word story in the time left.

I've always wanted to try my hand at something like this though, but never gotten around to it - and I don't want to try it badly enough to do it without some encouragement.

 

[stephenspower]

The more I think about it, I don't think I stuck the landing. I could have used 25-50 more words. So if I lose I'll just rewrite it larger and send it out.

 

[stephenspower]

Apparently I did stick the landing. Mine was one of the six stories chosen.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

Apparently I did stick the landing. Mine was one of the six stories chosen.

Congratulations!

 

[Caged Maiden]

Awesome job!

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Congrats!

I haven't heard anything so I assume it was a belly flop!

So as promised here's what I sent them:

A Few Degrees.

Indus followed the rest of the group through the ancient ruins, enjoying the tour. He'd always wanted to see one of the great cities close up, and the sight didn't disappoint.

The huge skyscrapers that had once dominated the city amazed him. How could they once have stood free – unsupported by the buoyancy of water? It seemed impossible. They were simply too big. But as he swam with the others, diving down to the city streets, the guide assured them they had.

And what did the fact that they were now completely covered by the sea say about the height the water had risen? Hundreds of metres at least. All because of a few degrees.

Those few degrees had transformed an entire world. Transformed the people too. Because as the water had slowly risen and covered the land, there had been no place left for the ancients to live. No place except the sea.

And he knew as he flicked his tail and swam after the others, that he too was just a few degrees different from what the ancients had been.

Oceans rose and cities sank. A few degrees and man had returned to the sea.


Cheers, Greg.

 

[stephenspower]

Nice pieces. I like how you bring around "degrees" to another meaning.