Weekly Prompt: Tiny Boxes for Massive Stories

This is the edge of the chasm, time to leap and fly

Welcome to the fourth and final weekly challenge for September, where the theme is Swopping (or Swapping if that’s your preference) Conventions.

As we said in the Monthly Theme announcement, the goal is to get you to try different styles, rules and conventions out by swopping your usual genre out for something new.

Now’s the moment we’ve been trumpeting. Now’s when things get really weird. We’ve been toying with this and now I want to see you let your hair down and try the oddest of the odd. Have fun and just experiment.

So for this week, my recommendation is to aim for stories that are 200–300 words. That length is easy enough with a low enough time investment that even a dad of two energetic young astronaut hopefuls can bang out an oddly specific tale.

This week we have microgenres so small they hold a single film or a handful of books. Even so, some of those are bestsellers.

People like what people like.

Ours is not to reason why, Ours is but to write and die.

So fight on, battle your inhibitions, your preferences or your comfortable norms, those padded places where your weird and wonderful mind feels safe and at home. Nudge the porridgey mass into a new and wonderful challenge.

Try your hand at the following microgenres. This is where I let go of that hand. This week you’re on your own. These can’t really be googled. They exist best in your mind.

Your Microgenre Options

Now you must know that these are Categories and Sub-categories that include specific elements. You could make your own or do a bit of research by drilling down into Amazon’s Sub-categories.

There are plenty of odd ones out there. Autoethnography, using your own personal experience to reflect on the meaning of experience. Or something like that. Dinosaur Erotica, there are hundreds of those. And no, I’m not linking to something called “Taken by the T-Rex.” Then there’s Nascar Romance, which also sounds pretty racy. 🥁

But the ones I had much more fun with (and I hope you do too) are the ones I discovered on Amazon.

Humorous Dystopian Science Fiction with Mutants

A grand total of 43 books, and apparently, I bought one in 2014. Here I was, trying to be silly. Well, Amazon showed me.

A Dragons & Mythical Creatures Fantasy with a Mystery and Pirates

There are just 14 books on Amazon that fit into this microgenre. This one (of fourteen books) is also a USA Today Bestseller. Go figure.

Passage to Dawn feels like a better fit though, if I’m honest. There’s a sea and a multi-armed snake person sword fight right there on the cover.

Maybe a unicorn-riding Captain Jack solving the one about his missing boat?

Or how about this for an example story:

I had so much fun writing this story I’ve already drafted the second part.

Action-Packed Small-Town Kidnapping Thriller with a British Detective

There are ten titles in this microgenre. I can just picture Holmes getting sunburnt while trying to track down whoever has stolen away with Watson.

Well, if I’ve learned anything from this, it's that mico-genres have their fair share of bestsellers. 😆

Challenge Requirements

Your story must:

1. Use one of the three microgenres
2. Be min 100 and max 1000 words long, excluding the title, subtitle, and any post-story bio/links. (We use Medium’s own word count feature.)
3. Be fictional, even if it includes factual information or concerns.
4. Use “Long Tail” as one of your five tags.

“Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.” — Bruce Lee.

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They're evergreen. You can write to any one that catches your fancy.