Last week, we opened our series, Building a Short Story , by introducing a method of constructing a valid short piece from a micro-fiction, 55 word fiction to be exact, and rewriting by doubling the word count with each edit.

We had a choice to make in the expansion to 110 words, and that choice was between lengthening the scene set up in the initial 55 words, or broadening the scene. We chose to broaden the scene so that we could begin to give it some depth and feel.

This will most likely be the opening act of the tale,  so we want to set as much of the tone here, as well as set the hook for the readers. After all, once you get past the title, the opening words are where we begin to reel ‘em in.

Carrie says, “Although we’re getting closer to what I call my home turf (i.e short story length), we’re still very much in micro/flash fiction territory. However I am anticipating that as our story becomes longer in length and fleshed out more, I can finally get into my stride and contribute a lot more to the story with regards to the characters and storyline. “

There was one minor change to the original story, but the word count was maintained at 55. This change was made to keep the tense and POV correct.

The Heart of the Hound

The night air was whisking away the sounds of an ambulance as I stood inside of Detective Denny Samson’s brick ranch. Getting inside the living room where Denny was sitting on the couch was made easier by the front door being torn from the hinges.

Broken furniture, memories and blood littered the pale blue carpet and off white walls.

Denny’s hands were covered with blood and shards of flesh.

“Did you see it?”

“Detective?”

“The Hound. Blazing eyes, heart shaped patch of deep red hair on its chest.”

Crazy, just like the Bentley chick. “Nora’s fine, but you killed the attacker.”

Denny replied with fear, “No. Not me. The beast.”

At 110 words, we have set the beginning of our story in a single floor home at night. There has been a brutal attack which involved a policeman, a woman, a now dead attacker, and a mysterious beast. We also have a yet unnamed acquaintance of the policeman, and someone else who may have encountered the aforementioned mystery beast.

Not bad for such few words, that at this point could still pass as a valid flash fiction piece.

If you are following along and  trying this at home, don’t forget to send us a link to your creations so we can promo them at the bottom of each post.

© 2010, Alex Crabtree. All rights reserved.

Years ago I started writing Flash Fiction for just the sheer enjoyment of writing, and now it has turned into a full blown addiction. I can't quit the horse, man! Another dirty little secret about me is my ability to write all kinds of web content. SEO content, articles, blog posts, manifests; you name it, I'll write it. Looking for some help? My gun hangs at r.alex.crabtree@gmail.com

Alex Crabtree

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Tags: 55 word fiction, Fiction, flash, short story, Writing

This entry was posted on May 28, 2010 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Building A Short Story, Featured, Series, Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.