Oolite Bulletins

There's a 'drabbles' thing going on on the Writers' forum, this one isn't in-game enough for the powers that be, so I thought I'd zap it across here for kicks. I know there are a few drabblers about on these boards...

Cheers,

Drew.

"They fear me, and well they should. I'm a mass murderer. I've smuggled illicit cargoes across anarchic systems, assassinated important dignitaries, flirted with the law makers. Iron ass? Oh yeah, kinda essential really.

Dangerous, they say. Whatever. I'll be deadly soon, just you wait and see. Doesn't stop there though does it? I'll be demanding even more of your respect when I become, well you know what I'm after. You'll remember me then. Right on.

I impress space Commander, so better watch your six.

So who am I? I'm Mary Spencer, Class 5b, St. Anne's Secondary School, Southampton, circa 1985."

Deleted - Frontier's decided to use it!

Cheers,

Drew.

I'm not going to share my Drabble - since I've submitted to Selezen already, having, pledged it for inclusion in Elite Encounters (subject to Frontier approval). However, if I think of another one, I will share it here.

Note: Both of yours are very good Drew!

Very nice - read then on the Frontier forum already, but better to have them here as well.

Personally, I don't really think these drabble things are my thing (to write, that is). I'm not really into formulaic stories with "a surprise twist" at the end in general (even in short stories), because the entire point of the story, then, becomes to fool the readers one way and then surprise them the other way. Reading them quickly deteriorates into a game of "Can i guess the twist before I read the last line?"

If I've misunderstood the concept of a drabble, I'm sorry. I only learned about them a week or so ago and all the examples I've seen are from the Frontier authors' thread. If you are allowed to use them for more than just the surprise twist, then my opinion might change.

As an example, I like Drew's poem because it does not deteriorate into the surprise twist formula.

Agreed. Not really my thing either. It's too constructive having a 100 word count. I felt I was compromising my little tale to make it fit into an arbitrary limit for no good reason other than 'rulez'.

I don't mind a good twist, rather fond of them actually, but like you say, it's a bit formulaic every single time. Need to concentrate on my book anyway!

Cheers,

Drew.

As somebody who has had seven 75-word paragraphs published on the Paragraph Planet website, I find the constraint very liberating and very good at encouraging tight descriptive writing (since I'm prone to flowery prose otherwise) - I use it as a writing exercise... (twists are not mandatory, he one given to Selezen certainly doesn't have one)