THE LITERARY IMPULSE CHALLENGE RETURNS
Uncommon Fiction Forms
Are they really uncommon?
After the humongous response to our earlier challenge on “Uncommon Poetic Forms”, I had asked the wonderful Medium community about what they want next. Many had said about something to do with Fiction.
I know there are many poetry lovers and many others had really wanted a second part of “Uncommon Poetic Forms”, but we thought, let’s go with fiction, this time around. We want all the wonderful poets to dabble with fiction, maybe for some time. We are really, really confident that we’ll receive some amazing responses here, too. Looking forward to the same.
And yes, another series of “Uncommon Poetic Forms” would arrive soon.
Thank you Monoreena Acharjee Majumdar for agreeing to let me use her exquisite artworks(one at the top, another at the bottom, please scroll till the end). Anyone who’s reading this, please do navigate to her Medium profile and check her artworks and poetry. You’ll be amazed, just like I was. Trust me!
So, here goes the challenge details. To the wonderfully talented Medium community, we are ready once again to read your exceptional words.
There’s no specific rule, except the ones below:-
Mandatory tags:- Literary Impulse, fiction, LI-UFF. Mandatory:- Do mention the fiction form you’re using anywhere in your piece. Mandatory:- Please do drop a link to this post at the end so that anyone else can read and submit, if interested. Non-mandatory:- Please do tag any three or more of your favourite writer friends on Medium so as to keep the challenge moving forward.
And yes, we would be publishing the piece as soon as we see it, there’s no waiting time here. The only condition being it is properly formatted as per Medium’s guidelines.
You can start submitting as soon as you see the post, of course after you finish writing it. This continues till the end of January 2022(will extend if needed).
We’ll put up a dedicated page with all the fiction pieces that’ll send to us. So, the extra tag: LI-UFF.
Without further ado, here goes the list of the uncommon fiction forms that we have thought of. Get scribbling.
You can submit any number of fiction pieces on any of your favourite forms from below.
We’re already waiting to see what wonders the amazing Medium community conjures out of it all. Excited to the fullest!!
Anecdote:
An anecdote is a type of storytelling about a real person and/or incident. This short account of something is interesting as well as amusing. Often, anecdotes are used to illustrate or support a point in an essay, article, or chapter. They are very short but have no specific limits.
Drabble:
The purpose of this type of storytelling is briefness. Exceptionally short, they comprise 100 words. Here an author’s writing skill is out to test, as she/he has to express himself meaningfully in a very confined space. Just because the form is short doesn’t mean you can skimp on the basics of a good story. It should have a beginning, middle, and end, and include conflict and resolution. You can read examples of drabbles at 100WordStory.org.
Fable:
It features anthropomorphic creatures (usually animals, but also mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature) telling a story with a moral. Most popular among children’s stories, often the moral is revealed at the end. The most well-known example of a fable would be any of the many told in Aesop’s Fables. Their length generally falls between 200 and 1,500 words; however, some do fall outside that scope.
Parable:
Along similar lines are parables, which are also didactic. But instead of using animals or other creatures, they rely solely on humans to illustrate their point. Essentially, they are metaphors in narrative form and have a similar length to fables. The Bible holds many examples of such stories.
Lyrical short-story:
The lyrical short story revolves around a recurring image or symbol with minimal focus on the plot. Though a plotline is present as the symbol is developed throughout the narrative, it isn’t the central focus of the story. Instead, the image, which tends to remain static throughout the story, recurs in order to give readers an understanding of the plot.
Unlike plot-driven short stories that have a finite resolution, lyrical short stories have open endings. There is no definite resolution. The open ending allows for flexible readings of the central image, which gives readers the chance to reinterpret the meaning of the symbol during and after the story.
Six-word stories:
Ready to boil down a story and squeeze out its essence? Try writing a six-word story. It’s not easy, but it’s possible to write a complete story with conflict and resolution in six words, according to flash fiction enthusiasts.
The most well-known example of a six-word story, often misattributed to Ernest Hemingway, is, “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” The story evokes deep emotion, causing the reader to ponder the circumstances that brought the character to post the advertisement. You can read more examples of six-word stories on Narrative Magazine’s website (with a free account), which are more carefully selected, or you can browse user-submitted stories on Reddit. Some authors also write flash nonfiction, composing six-word memoirs.
Feghoot:
With humour form as the most essential part of its storytelling and short length enough to lead the piece with the pun, Feghootis a story pun or a poetic story joke — a type of short story.
Flash Fiction:
This is an extremely short piece of literature. It has no widely accepted length but has a debated cap of between 300 and 1000 words.
Frame Story:
Also known as a frame tale or a nested narrative, it is a technique of placing a story within a story, for the purpose of introducing or setting the stage for the main narrative or a series of short stories.
Dribble/Mini-Saga:
If you can manage to tell a story in exactly 50 words you can call it a mini-saga. It is about saying a lot with a little.
Story Sequence:
When a group of short stories works together to form a longer piece — it is called a story sequence. However, each story functions as a complete short story on its own. It is also called a short story cycle or a composite novel.
Sketch Story:
If you come across a description of a character or a location it can be referred to as a sketch story. The story is a shorter than average piece containing little or no plot. Character sketches are common, and a good way to build a character that will eventually be part of a longer piece.
Vignette:
A vignette is a short piece that focuses on a single scene, character, idea, setting, or object. There is little emphasis on adhering to conventional theatrical or literary structure or story development. It can be a stand-alone piece or part of a larger work.
Postcard fiction:
Postcard fiction is just what it sounds like — a story that could fit on a postcard. It’s typically around 250 words but could be as much as 500 or as few as 25. An image often accompanies the text to create the feeling of looking at a postcard, with the reader turning it over to read the inscription on the back.
Conte:
Conte comes from the French word conter, “to relate”. The French term conte encompasses a wide range of narrative forms that are not limited to written accounts. No clear English equivalent for conte exists in English as it includes folktales, fairy tales, short stories, oral tales, etc.
Conte is a literary genre of tales, often short, characterized by fantasy or wit. Contes are contrasted with short stories not only in length but the subject matter. Whereas short stories are about recent (“novel”) events, contes tend to be either fairy tales or philosophical stories.
There are actually many many more but we thought to include the uncommon ones that are not very complex to start with. Also, many of these may be common to many of you, so if you have any extra tidbits on them, do let us know. Also, if you have a poetic form that you want us to know about, do drop a note as well.
Best regards, Som (Somsubhra Banerjee)
Medium Editors:- Priyanka Srivastava/ Elisabeth Khan/ Nachi Keta
Tagging a few of our regular contributors and well-wishers. This is not to spam your notifications. But just to let you know so that if you are interested, you can chip in with your fantastic wordplay. Please let us know in case you do not want to be tagged in the future and we’ll keep that in mind. Thanks!
Jonah Lightwhale/ Samantha Lazar/ William J Spirdione/ David Rudder/ Jessica Lee McMillan/ Upasana Sharma/ Joseph Lieungh/ Pablo Pereyra/ Lee Ameka/ Dr. Preeti Singh/ Paroma Sen/ Jack Herlocker /Jessica Lee McMillan/ James G Brennan/ Tree Langdon/ Jenine Bsharah Baines/ Deborah Barchi/ Pierre Trudel/ Shalini C/ Iva Hotko/ Dr. Jackie Greenwood/ Vinitha Dileep/ Erika Burkhalter/ Ruchi Thalwal/ R. Rangan PhD/ Chris Mooney-Singh/ Eli Snow/ Joe Barca/ Era Garg/ Aparna Das Sadhukhan/ Sylvia Wohlfarth/ MDSHall/ Wolfie Bain/ Dr. Fatima Imam/ James G Brennan/ Saurabh/ Adam, Diabetic Cyborg/ Lubna Yusuf/ Ruchi Thalwal/ Venkataraman Mahalingam/ Iva Hotko/ Iulia Halatz/ Unni Nambiar/ Sylvia Wohlfarth/ Franco Amati/ Wolfie Bain/ Carolyn Hastings/ Frank Moone/ Erika Burkhalter/ Monoreena Acharjee Majumdar/ Era Garg/ Marcus/ Anne Chisom/ Setraj Jahan/ Mario López-Goicoechea/ Penofgold/ Viraji Ogodapola/ Venkataraman Mahalingam/ Frank Larkin/ Margie Willis/ CARMEN F MICSA/ Iulia Halatz/ Saurabh/ Stephen Chamberlin
Apologies if we’ve missed anyone. Please feel free to join in. Also, do let us know if you want to write for LI by dropping a comment on this post.
Glossary:
1)Wikipedia 2)https://www.authorlearningcenter.com/writing/fiction/w/identifying-your-genre/7125/short-fiction-forms-novella-novelette-short-story-and-flash-fiction-defined 3)http://blog.janicehardy.com/2021/07/10-alternative-types-of-short-fiction.html
