@cernoblog -- whose literary gems are regularly featured on this blog -- recently wrote a blog post titled "Sri Lanka stories blog : brief survival guide and realisations about writing".
This contemplative, funny and all-round-awesome piece talks about the process of writing 55-word stories -- the frustration of being limited to such few words, the slipperiness of language and the rewards of brevity.
The Sri Lanka stories blog is turning out to be a dangerously compulsive online project. The premise is simple. Write a 55-word story based on a word announced via a twitter account. I find this to be brutally hard. It also forces you to notice themes and ideas lurking in the dimly lit parts of the subconscious.
The first hurdle is producing something bearable to read in 55 WORDS (not characters) within 24 hours or less. The other is keeping up with the daily word that is fired at you. I have found that the key is not to think too much and leave it to the voices in the head to do the heavy lifting. If the word triggers anything that doesn’t feel embarrassing you are in luck. All that’s left is the grind of squeezing out the 55 words or less.
To read the rest of @cernoblog's illuminating post, click here.
Thx for curating this important project. Great resource @templeberg
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