I hadn’t logged in to my del.icio.us for a while; when I did so today, one of the “popular” links on the main page caught my eye.
One Sentence - True stories, told in one sentence. [link]
Since I’m the resident doyenne of fast fiction (ironic, innit?), I was predictably and immediately interested.
As soon as I thought, “This might be fun for 55Friday,” your torment was assured. Last week, we had as many haikus as we did examples of nanofiction, so I know you like to change things up a bit. Oh, and to those who wondered out loud why we do this writing-thing/expressed how you’d like to see less of these posts on SM, I have three things to type:
1) Others actually love what you dislike.
2) It’s a tradition! We’re desi, we love rituals and routines!
3) As one of you put it in a very kind email:
I noticed that you haven’t posted a 55Friday topic in a while. I hope you didn’t discontinue it. I love 55Friday because it’s the only time during the week when I’m creative. One day a week, I get to feel like I’m living up to that ever-present new year’s resolution to “write more”, so please bring it back if you can.
So, please ignore this if it doesn’t have any effect on your knickers and move on to something which will— and that’s solid advice for every post you wrinkle your cute little nose at, not just 55Fridays.
Okay, back to one-sentence wonders. The most significant difference between this and our typical 55s? These are supposed to be true, real, non-fiction. I chose a few from the site, to inspire you and help demonstrate what to do. Most of these were plucked from the “Best of” section.
I don’t wish that I had Jesse’s girl…why did he find a woman like this:
Jesse
She’s ruined half of my music library for me.
Since these are true stories, this one made my heart crack:
zot
I am heart-sick because, like many parents of children with profound disabilities, my most secret and unspoken prayer is “Dear God, please let me outlive my child.”
This (since they’re supposed to be true!) is just wrong :)
Adam
The pedestrian looked concerned, as he bounced off the bonnet of my car.
The following reminds me of my little sister; though she pretends to scribble in the air to quickly figure out which her right is, instead of doing what’s below.
Jabberwocky
I know 18 digits of pi and can recite the quadratic equation, but I still need to make an L with my hand to find out where left is.
This could have been written by one of my closest friends, a quondam lawyer and current SAHM:
ilinapde
I always thought I’d be a type-A career woman my whole life, but there he was on my chest, squirming, blinking, crying, clutching my little finger with all his might.
If this IS a true story, wow:
countedx58
How fitting it was that my best friend’s abusive husband died a painful death from melanoma of the rectum.
Have a bit o’ humor:
Erik Wennstrom
It was one of those exams that you absolutely must pass if you want to continue in the program, and I failed the set-your-alarm-clock-properly portion.
THIS is for the most unsuitable girl I know:
dooya
Recently I realized that I waste my life on the internet … and published this insight in a blog.
Kinda poignant:
denton
I want to hold her to stop her tears, but I know my girlfriend would not appreciate that.
And a final pinch of humor:
zooey
Only later did I realize that the taxi driver wasn’t making an obscene gesture, but rather, trying to inform me that I had left a box of takeout on the roof of my car.
See? Wasn’t that swift and yet satisfying? :) Some of you are intimidated by the prospect of writing 55 words which contain an entire story; maybe creating something zimbler, like one sentence will free you from your fears.
Here, the silk ties which will bind your hands, if you so desire:
All stories must be one sentence and one sentence only. Yes, there are ways you can write a gramatically correct sentence that goes on and on and on (hello, semicolon!) but please keep it reasonable. The idea is to tell a story from your life in as little space as possible.
The best One Sentence stories are ones that give the reader a clear picture but also leaves them thinking, “I wonder what happened after that…”
Try to avoid starting your story with “One time…” or “I remember when…” and other similar crutch openings. [link]
If you love what you’ve done and care to submit it to the actual “One Sentence” website where I pulled all of today’s examples from, click here and paste away.
And finally, our standard fine-print:
Obviously, you may ignore this new kink in our virtual writing-orgy and 55 away, especially if you prefer creating fictional stories vs. retelling true ones. We’ll love you and your nanofiction just as much, I promise. The point is to write, right? :)



