55-word story, PM your story before 29th

[Andail]

The 55-word story competition

Hello.
We all know this community has a plethora of gifted writers, but most of them are much too lazy to enter the regular fortnightly writing, so this is a competition just for them.

Being concise and to the point is indeed a difficult art to master. Many an aspiring writer has failed at preventing their stories - or any text type for that matter; essays, treatises, poems - from meandering aimlessly and unreined, flooding the pages with their thick, opulent ink; sentences and paragraphs so fattened with superfluous words they are nothing less than chunks of textual foie gras; so many adverbs and synonyms stacked upon each other the actual essence is long since buried beneath the sediments of redundant, wayward letters.   

Ever since Hemmingway wrote his famous 6-word story (which, translated to Swedish, would be only three words long, proving what an efficient language my mother tongue happens to be) writing with brevity and pertinence has been regarded as something noble, something to strive for.

Only the most skillful authors know not to waste words - they realize the beauty of keeping it simple, and they learn to recognize a wordy and flowery diction as the hallmark of pretentious dilettantes and precocious novices, and they vow never to belong to that notorious group of sesquipedalian orators, those who abuse and take advantage of the written - or spoken for that matter - word as if the well whence it's drawn will indeed not one day peter and dry out, and, well, yes that is indeed actually pretty darn hard.

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If you want to participate, PM me your 55-word story. The only rule is that it has to be exactly 55 words long. Don't put the story in this thread - I want all the entries to be anonymous. After one week I will announce all the entries here, and the voting will commence.
Good luck!

[Misj']

While it can be disputed whether Hemingway actually wrote that story (let alone whether he was the first to do so), I do accept the challenge

So I wrote you a story that is not only life-altering, and provides a critical view of our culture and society. It's also filled with action and adventure, has got an epic middle, a beginning, and an end. Moreover, it is not afraid to ask questions, but doesn't steer away from the tough answers either. And most of all: is shorter than this description.

[Yeppoh]

But-but-but... I love sesquipedalian loquaciousness!

Like presenting with a sequence of compressed and depressed air in high frequency my abstract feeling of welcome about the current daytime cycle as saying "Hello"!

Anyway. Challenge accepted.

[WHAM]

Either you have a great timing or you've been watching the same youtube channels as I have. In any case, LOVE THE IDEA! Will be participating!

[Stupot]

I'm in.
Is this limited to one entry per person or are we allowed multiple entries?
Also, can I ask why 55?  Is that a random arbitrary number you chose or is the 55-word story a 'thing'?

[Baron]

We all know this community has a plethora of gifted writers, but most of them are much too lazy to enter the regular fortnightly writing

....well, they could always just read what we few diligent toilers have written and vote. 

[Eric]

I accidentally emailed mine because I don't understand icons. Does this mean I'm disqualified?

[FatCactus]

Also, can I ask why 55?  Is that a random arbitrary number you chose or is the 55-word story a 'thing'?

It's an established form of short fictionâ€"more info here.

Lurker scuttling back into the woodwork now ...

[Andail]

I'm in.
Is this limited to one entry per person or are we allowed multiple entries?
Also, can I ask why 55?  Is that a random arbitrary number you chose or is the 55-word story a 'thing'?

I guess you can submit more stories, but then I'll pick one myself for the voting phase!

And FatCactus, why not take the step from lurkdom now, and participate in this activity?

[Fitz]

I'd love to give it a try! There were some fun contests like that, such as the two-sentence horror story on Reddit. And there's the six word stories, started (or maybe just popularized) by Kurt Vonnegut. I had one, too:

"A Love not Meant to Be": Rocky Hill never met Sandy Shore.

[frenzykitty]

I'm so excited to see the entries P.S. Im in

[Mandle]

In!

[Atelier]

Maan I'm so lazy, even 55 words seems a stretch to me now I only spontaneously write poetry because I can't be dealing with all that commitment to anything more.

Edit: actually, do you think you could extend the deadline by a couple of days please Andail? I have an exam on the 30th and will feel super guilty wasting cramming time on trying to cobble something together!

[selmiak]

this has to be a real good story you are planning, though I think if you can't write some 55 words within the deadline you won't write them within the extented deadline too. 55 words is... nothing, a teardrop into the ocean to stay with poetry. This whole post already has exactly 55 words btw

[Andail]

Maan I'm so lazy, even 55 words seems a stretch to me now I only spontaneously write poetry because I can't be dealing with all that commitment to anything more.

Edit: actually, do you think you could extend the deadline by a couple of days please Andail? I have an exam on the 30th and will feel super guilty wasting cramming time on trying to cobble something together!

Hehe, sorry mate, no dice! Don't write that you're lazy and request a deadline extension in the same post! That makes a teacher like me weep blood

[CaptainD]

So... many entries yet?

[FatCactus]

Fine, I'll unlurk. I'm in!