Currently I'm on a quest.
I want to learn how to write flash fiction. Flash fiction by definition is know for it's extreme brevity, (>1,000 words). Call me long winded but I struggle when trying to write something that fits this rule. Struggle to the point where I think I may be more likely to find Betty White naked riding a unicorn on her way to the lost island of Atlantis, than to piece together a collection of a thousand or less words that convey a meaningful message. (Probably because of dreadful sentences like that.) Every time I think I might finally have done it, I find myself wanting to go on, and on, and on, teetering on the edges of my personal word count limit. "How can people put together so many layers in such short work?", I think. Yet they do it. They do it masterfully. Some of the best stories I've ever read have been also some of the shortest, fiction or otherwise.
I know that people here tend to glorify longer posts, because "they provide value". But do longer posts really provide more value than a shorter post? I personally believe that there are so many content creators here, spending countless hours creating, that many users don't have time to read longer works. I hate to even admit it, but more than a couple times I've opened up posts to find verbose novellas and decided to move on without finishing it. (And I live on this site. Seriously, I'm waiting for the day that @dan and @ned knock on my door and say, "hey there fuck boi, rent is due".)
I think people need to embrace shorter posts here, and in the future writing shorter works will become necessity. Time is becoming more valuable and scarce everyday in our fast-paced society. Short posts are not necessarily "shit-posts". Word count doesn't have any direct correlation with the time an author spends on a post. Nor, does a word count decide the impact a piece may have on upon a reader. If you're engaged don't be stingy with that slider bar, just because it's short.
Take this example of a brilliant short work from Israeli author Etgar Keret:
With just over 100 words Etgar has summed up the importance of succinctly telling a story. Call it confirmation bias if you'd like but to me this story helps reinforce my point. I heard a photographer say one time, "what you leave out of the photo is just as important as what is actually in the photo". Looking back I know nothing about photography but this definitely applies to writing. I have a bad habit of not being succinct enough and/or being so descriptive I leave nothing to the magic of my reader's imagination.
In case that last example wasn't powerful enough for you take a look at Amy Hempel's work here (One of my favorite authors):
This is the kind of work I'm shooting for. Maybe it's just me but this is absolutely amazing in my opinion. I do think that my posts will constantly be pushing to the edge of the limits of my word count boundaries, but wow we can all take a seat and learn something from a master like Hempel. (Read her work by the way!!!).
I will be working hard to write more succinctly. I encourage you to do the same. In fact, I believe in you so much I'll pay you to do it.
There is a famed (reportedly false) story where Hemingway was dining with fellow authors and bet them all 10 dollars he could write a great story in just six words. He wrote a line on a napkin, passed it around the table, and collected money with this, "For sale, Baby shoes, never worn". It may seem like nothing but think about the line and how dark that story is. I like to romanticize that Hemingway actually wrote this but according to most he did not. Anyway....
Regardless of whom it was that wrote this wonderfully inspiring line, I CHALLENGE YOU TO WRITE A SIX WORD STORY IN THE COMMENT SECTION OF MY POST! Make sure to add in how long it took to write, in the comment. (Please, be honest about it). I will give 25% of my SBD earned from this post to the 6 word story with the most votes and 10% of the total SBD earned to my favorite!!! Make sure to have fun and to put some effort in on these.