Wednesday, August 20, 2014

The #BME Experiment



@WatersAuthor
Using Twitter, with its 140 characters, assures I make every word count. And those 140 characters include punctuation and hash tags.

For a while, I’ve been intrigued with the idea of capturing a story in 140 characters. A complete story. Beginning, Middle, and End. Why? I think exercises like this can only make us stronger as writers. Of course, if we take this seriously, we have to subtract four characters to accommodate the tag #BME.

Here are a few attempts:

Crime
#BME Ann shivered and cried. Joe smirked. “No money from daddy? You’re done.” A gun. A growl. A leap. Bang! Joe lay still by Spot, her hero.

Adventure
#BME Jack tied the canvas flap. Where was Al? A storm was coming. “I found it!” Al raced in and threw the bag on the table. “We’re rich!”

Romance
#BME Ali’s heart flipped when she saw Bo. She slipped on the ice. But it was Evan who rushed to her side. “And that’s how I met your dad.”

Mystery
#BME “The thief had a beard.” All men had a beard. Except one. “Elementary. He shaved as a disguise. His tanned forehead gave him away.”


Let’s have a little fun. I’m sure you’ll come up with even better stories than I did for this experiment. Post your short pieces in the comments section. You don’t have to post them elsewhere, but if you are a Twitter fan, feel free to tweet. Be sure to use the #BME. No profanity, please.



4 comments:

  1. Here are some attempts of mine:

    #BME Where? The frantic search yielded nothing. Would he stay long enough for her to find it? No. Her spirits drooped. She sighed.

    #BME She knew her place. She insisted I stay in mine. Should I? A toddler’s autonomy makes rigid rules for others. I laughed and complied.

    #BME She laughed at the idea. Really? That? She stopped. Thought again and smiled. Yes. She had found her story. She wrote with passion.

    #BME The child played behind the piano. The singing began. She peeked her head out and made faces. The choir laughed. She hid giggling.

    #BME It sounded like something worth trying. Searching her mind for ideas she wrote. There. 5 small stories. Commitment done for the day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I particularly like the last one! You are so creative! Mind if I tweet?

      Delete
  2. #BME He pulled away from her neck, blood dripping. Her smile faded, she wavered and slid to the floor. The girl melted into the ground before his eyes. He cringed, "No!”

    #BME Silve stopped, the sea lapping at her toes. She giggled. Krell touched her leg with his head in goodbye. She saw her Tad waist deep, arms stretched out. “Brother!”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for taking the challenge! Interesting stories.

      Delete

Leave your comments here. I look forward to hearing from you.