Drabble

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


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    A variety of Literature constrained to exactly 100 words (though some say "as long as it's short"). Drabbles are usually written by fans (ficcers) competing to see who can write the best piece in the given size. Unlike a Feghoot, a Drabble is not necessarily a joke or Shaggy Dog Story; however, given the limitations, serious efforts tend toward vignettes rather than fully-fleshed narratives. These may also be called "micro-fics" and "nano-fics" and "flash fics"; those terms can be applied to any very short story, and are not constrained by the 100 word limit.

    Sometimes, professional authors have Drabble competitions. Larry Niven is a notable expert, and Neil Gaiman wrote one (a Darker and Edgier version of the Santa tale) as a Christmas card.

    Named after a joke in Monty Python's Big Red Book: "Drabble. A word game for 2 to 4 players. The four players sit from left to right and the first person to write a novel wins."

    Not to be confused with Kevin Fagan's long-running Newspaper Comic of the same name.