The Revival Pt. 5: A New Admiration for Micro-Fiction

In an excerpt from An Anthology of Really Short Stories edited by Jerome Stern, Peggy McNally explains in her contribution, “Waiting” a tale of a substitute teacher. Although her piece is one long sentence, she still manages to visually place you in the school she works, the car she drives, and the relationship with her father. In fact, I didn’t even realize until about three quarters the way through her piece that there was no punctuation other than several commas throughout.

So, when reading these “really short stories” from An Anthology of Really Short Stories I was overwhelmed with a sense of admiration. I never realized that in so few words so much emotion could be expressed. I read the story “Wrong Channel”and in just a few short paragraphs and some dialogue Roberto Fernandez created such humor and, in my mind, a vibrant vision of a Spanish woman awaiting her approval for her green card. Mima’s likeable naïve personality radiated a familiar feeling with anyone who knows an elder with a hearing deficiency.

When I saw the heading of micro-fiction on the front page of this reading, I reminisced about my creative writing class. It was at the beginning of my journey to a Writing Arts degree, and I had not envisioned myself as a writer yet. Yes, I wrote like I always have, but I lacked the ability to revise. Why would I revise my work? I am a perfectionist! I don’t leave the computer until it is perfect. But, then we covered micro-fiction and I realized how much “fluff” I included in my writing. I came slowly adapted to the revision process, although I initially struggled with the task.

I eventually began to appreciate revision to convey the “meat” to my readers. I now read with a “writer’s mind” so to speak, and I truly admire the authors in this collection due to their ability to revise. They concisely use their words to create characters, visions, and memorable moments in their stories.

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