Breaking with the narrative form again today, after flogging it’s poor dead horse corpse at the beginning of the week. Today we tackle a form for which I have an inexplicable and enduring love: letters!
The Prompt
Write An Epistolary Story (i.e. One Told As A Series of Letters/Documents)
Tips
- Take the term “Letters/Documents” with a huge pinch of salt. Write a story made up of Tweets, Facebook updates, text messages between friends, comments on a Vine video, an author Q&A, whatever tickles your fancy.
- Write a ‘story’ as a list (think McSweeneys).
- Write a mock guidebook to some place you know well (or some experience you’ve been through)
- Write an open letter to someone your character hates/loves/has a bone to pick with. Consider including a response from their object of scorn/affection/correction.
GO!
What form did you choose? How did it work out for you? Leave a comment or join the conversation in the community.
Drifted off to sleep last night and forgot to post what I wrote. This was one of my favorite stories for the month so far, an oft-told tale of my husband and myself that I managed to do slightly differently: http://guptacarlsonshortstories.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-piano.html
I did a (very rough!) Facebook private conversation exchange. It’s here: https://storyaday.org/prompt-epistle/
I’m terrible at trying to include texting or Facebook or Twitter in stories (which is why I like historical fiction because I can avoid all that), but I do love putting letters in stories. I had wanted to write several letters and weave in a lot of other information, but I wanted to have a somewhat succinct first draft. You can read the story at http://storiesbystolle.wordpress.com/2014/05/20/storyaday-20 by using the password stollewords.