Write a 100 Word Story TODAY - Microfiction Writing Exercise

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

👉 Join my Writing Club - patreon.com/kierenwestwoodwriting 👉 Hire me to work on your story - kierenwestwood.com/editing 👉 My free newsletter - tinyurl.com/4z7mee38

[@chacker21]

Saved for later. For the record, I loved your story. Crazy how visual and emotional a short piece can be.

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Thank you so much! Absolutely, that's what I love about microfiction too.

[@danielRpauls]

I actually have a book called "Nothing short of 100" a selection of 100 stories from various authors and are 100 words long. I recommend this book alongside the others.

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Great recommendation, thank you!

[@durupthy]

Thank you, because it really helped me unblock my writing (I tend to overthink my stories and have trouble writing scenes). 100 words is actually fun! Reading your microfiction makes me want to have the same courage to publish mine. Here’s mine, first written in my native language (unedited) and then translated into English (thanks chatGPT for the translation) :) "He brushed over the dusty cover and ran his hand across it to reveal the title: ‘Chaos.’ His heart was pounding, he wasn’t supposed to read this book. He looked around to make sure he was alone in the crypt. He pried the book from the skeletal hands of the tomb he had just desecrated. A draft blew through his mage’s robe as he stepped back and began to read. The pages were yellowed, on the verge of crumbling under his fingers. He took in the symbols, moving his lips in rhythm, muttering in a long-forgotten language."

[@WrittenByFrank]

This is what came of this exercise for me. Watching a bunch of your videos, thanks. He’s always staring out the window like that, as if holding onto a memory with desperation. There isn’t a piece of equipment that sparks intrigue, nor a distraction that will contend for the space in his mind. He’s been like this since we found him, with a mind floating much as his body was. While his body is warm now, That boy's heart grows colder every time he changes posture. You can’t expect him to be like you, he’ll always fall short of such a condition. Instead ask yourself, how does one tend to a cardinal with an injury? The answer is to first acknowledge the storm they’d been flying through in hours prior. I titled it "Celestial Orphan"

[@СумирэЛаоши]

I needed 20 mins to write my short story, actually. It turned out to be 223 words. I don't think the execution is great, but I managed to find one really interesting idea, and the story was exciting to write. Thank you so much for sharing these writing exercises. They are a perfect way to make me write at least something as a total beginner

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

They're really aimed for exactly that, just getting things going and getting writers past that initial hump. It works on me as well!

[@johnbentley1056]

I just found your video and decided to give it a go. What a marvelous exercise. I wrote 133 words that just seemed to flow. I will be doing this exercise again. Perhaps as a daily thing to practice writing. Thank you for sharing.

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

I'm really glad it worked for you! I think doing this daily sounds like a great idea.

[@Grain-h7u]

This was amazing! I'm loving this type of videos - In my experience, the most actionable videos on writing craft!! It went to 170😬 but I need to edit it and maybe it'll get in the range. But really, loved the exercise so much - it came out so wonky and so unhinged! :No fruits for him: He was pawing at the glass windows, a little fogged up beneath his shallow breaths. He'd always liked to watch rain drops lit under the streetlights, trickling down their sedan's windshield and petting the unruly grass bed to sleep. But that monsoon, he hadn’t been watching the rain. Tonight, since the thunder started to rumble, he'd been at the glass window, looking at the coldly lit silhouette of him, laying behind him on the unvarnished dining table. Voiceless on the glass and if he tuned his hearing to the rain falling on the terracotta roof. But he could hear it, his gasps, slipping between the crevices of the bunch of bananas he had put on his face and with the weight of the mesh of grapefruits draped on his chest. He said it helped him, the weight, to feel more grounded. But he couldn't ever tell the difference, even if he'd let him close. He wouldn't let him see his face. He tuned his hearing to the drizzle once again. There were no grapefruits. There were no bananas for him. *** Please share any reviews or suggestions!

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

170 is okay! There's no hard limit on 100, just my suggestion. What I like about microfiction is that it often feels like one moment, almost frozen in time, a sort of hyper-focus on a few seconds of someone's life, and I think you have that feel in your story. Also rain just makes everything more atmospheric. Gotta love a bit of rain!

[@malinheleneanderberg934]

I like it! Had to limit my library from 11 cases to 4 shelves in 1 due to reasons. Random number news. I used several news sites and finally my mind apparently picked up Police Vehicle. I wrote a tiny futuristic? thing about a teen being carted off to new horizons.

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Fantastic! Any way to come up with an idea is a good one I think ☺️

[@GlowOfFarore]

Loved this exercise! I'm an artist by trade, but dabble in writing, and I've found that writing microfic scratches the same itch as composing a still image for an illustration. It's the same idea of suggesting a bigger story through a single snapshot.

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Exactly yeah! I can definitely see the comparison there

[@TanoxBranar]

this ended up being a fun little exercise for me, I haven't written in quite some years, but I'm still pleased with what I ended up with so thank you :)

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Excellent, I think even if you don't plan on writing microfiction all the time, or regularly, you can still benefit from it as an exercise from time to time. Glad you ended up with something you're pleased with!

[@craigbarnes2160]

An excellent video to get the juices flowing, Kieren! I managed to hit 100 words (with some editing) as the buzzer went. I find I go to negative emotions (sadness or fear) when feeling a little pressure to write. It just seems easier. I read Laura Besley's book entirely today, there's some FANTASTIC stories in there (the first book you mentioned), and they are a study in creating implication of a larger background story. A great read!

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Great stuff! It's quite surprising what can come out of a ten minute exercise I find. So glad you enjoyed Laura's work, she's fantastic, I agree!

[@ruchitimes739]

106 words! 😂❤ Thanks a lot... I will do this exercise daily now thank you!!!! ❤❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Fantastic!

[@gizzellemcleish1837]

I tried this alongside the 30-day writing challenge I'm currently engaged in, so I already had a prompt prepared as a part of that. It was interesting writing down my ideas based on the prompt in the brainstorming section, and then condensing the story into 100 words. What an exciting challenge that was. I can say I am pleased with my attempt, and the idea itself is something I'd love to expand into a full short story. I've definitely taken a lot of value away from this exercise, thanks so much for sharing. Happy Writing!

[@bunyamin5195]

I did to this exercise because it's been a minute since I wrote something shorter. Though it did go a bit over by 24 words, I like how it turned out 😃👍. Surprisingly will do more of this before doing work on my main project.

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Fantastic! Glad to hear it went well and was useful :) Definitely a fun exercise.

[@water-trineflow8111]

That was great! Thank you! My piece came out to 103 words. I wrote it with one story idea, but as I read it over and exchanged some words with keywords from my inspo page, it took on an entirely different expression. Big fun!

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

It is fun isn't it! I'm glad it worked for you, even if it ended up changing direction. Mine changed too, but turned out alright generally.

[@LiteraryStoner]

Mine turned out 66 words and I like it. Thank you for the video :)

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Fantastic! That works. Thanks for watching!

[@muzickman76]

I really enjoyed this and will try it out. Your 100 words needs extending as I want to know what happens next, and where the RV is going, and why he needs to get out of the city 😃 Love your content and channel

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Glad you enjoyed it, definitely give it a go! And thank you, I didn't think too much of that story, but I think that was mainly because it didn't go exactly where I wanted. Nothing's ever perfect though.

[@ChrisNye-n6o]

Thank you , so much sir.

[@brendalu4665]

This was so cool! Thx! I'm at 101 words, but I'm fairly certain I can rework things, and get it down to 100. 😉 You did a great job of explaining the microfiction concept, and the "idea generator" was most helpful. I pretty much captured exactly what I intended, so tomorrow, I'm going to sit down and do "1 hr of rainy day writing" with you. Looking frwd to it🍻 And yes, subscribed

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

That one extra word! That's often how it goes for me too. Thanks so much for subscribing!

[@BrittanyPutzer]

Oh! This looks like fun 👀. I'm going to bookmark to try it out soon. Thank you for the video ❤ and inspiration

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

It’s fun! Even if you’re not too into microfiction as a regular thing, it could be a little palate cleanser I think!

[@IrradiatedWhiskeyX13]

This was fun. I wrote an escalating horror, and it rhymes more than it should. Then it ends like a series finale. 🙃

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Fun is always the goal! Sounds like you've maybe got some prose poetry on your hands there even!?

[@rohinaarif2401]

I wote 141 words, didn't turn out as I expected it to be but to be honest it was a fun experience. The random book my color generator picked up was about domestic abuse and the page I got as my inspiration was about the woman justifying her husband actions because he is not as bad as her father so the idea I got was self coaxing herself that its love so this is what I wrote. Lexi looked in the mirror, tracing all the scars with her hand. Letting her fingers run all over the old and new bruises, the bruises of love. He hit her but not out of anger, but because he love her. When they love you, they just can't hurt you. He always wants her to do best. If only she do her best, he won't be disappointed. She just disappoint him with everything. He is nothing like her father, her father never tend to her mother wounds. Alan is not like that at all. Alab makes sure to bandaged her. Not like her father at all. Alan loves her. But she wished, one day he shows his love in a different way. In a way that don't end up leaving these scars. Even though these are scars and bruises of love they still make her feel ugly. I know it has a lot of grammar mistakes, but this is my first draft. I wrote it on notebook, and i have not edited it yet. So do tell me what you think. Also just to mention first attempt at writing anything.

[@EthanS1481]

It went great, though I have around 15 non fiction books on my book shelf 😂 I ended up writing about an experience I had with my father around 40 years ago in 3rd person perspective. It was fun, and really helped me come up close to that moment in time once again!

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

That's great! It's quite amazing what you can do in 100 words I think. I'm glad it came out as something so meaningful in your case, too. That seems like the perfect kind of subject matter for microfiction.

[@JamingR]

I'm starting to write fan-fictions as a young person so your channel has been helping me a lot on creating characters and touching topics I have never seen before but I had one problem with this exercise...XD The exercise: DO 100 words, a bit more, or a bit less.... What I did: {I passed what I wrote in Word I passed it into docs to see the word count} and the count I did was 269 ;-; I tend ti extend things and descriptions, but...I still don't know how to shorten it, I need a bit of feedback on my work so... CONTEXT: The cousin had always thought that he was the right heir, but the little brother of the MC {narrator} was always intended to become the heir, but the cousin took a step too far this day THE WORK: (Since we were little, my cousin and brother didn't get along so well-but today was different, I was lying on the ground, clenching my bleeding side as I lay on the ground-groaning in pain. “Well, well, would you look at yourself, cousin”. I didn’t have to look up to hear his smirk, “You were so easy to go through…and here I thought it would- “ “Brother”!! I slowly moved my head to look forward, and I couldn’t help the slight smile forming on my face, he came-no matter how I warned him not to come, he came “Well, well, well, won’t you look who it is, the king of Helleborine” He mocked I gritted my teeth before I erupted into a small fit of coughing, slight drips of blood coming out of my mouth, I glanced up to look at my brother-who’s now being held back by the guards of my cousin “We all knew that you weren’t the rightful king, and I guess you.” He pointed at my brother “Are an impostor, as simple as that”. He called out I groaned slightly as I shifted to face him, rage and pain flashing in my expression before I declared with between my teeth. “You’re not the king of Helleborine…why can’t you just get that...” I glared up at my cousin before letting out a grunt as he stepped on my head “You should learn when to shut up for once, cousin. That smart mouth will bring a lot of consequences to you in the future.” He smirked down at me, and all I could do was bear the pain on my side…)

[@RuneMoenHolmen]

Great. I came up with the idea of “digital parking lots”. It’s 142 words now, but I will work on it. I think it will be ok. Thank you for the video

[@megandunn8925]

Loved this! ❤❤❤

[@lewisharwood3870]

I will watch this tomorrow.

[@RaefonB]

Other microfiction writers I'd recommend: David Gaffney ('Sawn-off Tales'), Tania Hershman ('My Mother Was an Upright Piano') and Lydia Davis. Thanks for the suggestion of Laura Besley, she's a writer I've not encountered before. 👍

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Hugely helpful, thank you for this ☺️

[@RaefonB]

@@KierenWestwoodWriting Thanks for all the great writing advice videos.

[@wakiej87]

Great content as always, i really enjoy your videos and especially this one. Inspired by this video I decided to write and submit a 116 word conversation entitled "...and it fades to black" to Fractured Literary. This is the first time I've ever submitted anything but it will not be the last. If, in a few months, they decide to publish, I'll update this comment. Keep up the great work.

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Fantastic! Good luck with it, I’ve got my fingers crossed for you ☺️

[@psithurismin]

This was helpful, my writing goal is to write 1k a day but my writing feels flat and uninteresting so far I’ve managed 300 words on a good day but I need to go back to writing 100 words exactly.

[@GregoryHuntingtonJr]

Jorge Luis Borges comes to mind to show the potential of the Micro Story.

[@jnmortell66]

Tiger Soul The naked shaman wore the gathering smoke like a cloak, moving her hand across the sedated tiger as she plucked pieces of its soul to be distributed among the villagers crowded in her healing tent. The apprentice waited until the ceremony was over to quietly ask for his share, only to be told what he'd subconsciously known all along: That the sorcery was a charade to help people with their ailments. “They believe the souls of animals transform the weak and sick,” she told him, “imbuing them with all manner of strength and longevity.” She was simply acting according to their expectations. One day he'd leave this place and return to school, where they studied things like DNA and genetic engineering. I’ll find my own pieces, he thought as he watched the beast's massive frame move up and down like an otherworldly flame in a storm, impervious to wind and rain. (153 words. This was a good exercise and meditation on the economy of words.)

[@giftapfel]

Death March The night was cold and wet from the pouring rain and the cobblestone pathway glowed with a soft orange luminescence, it was a torrential rain season. A man's hands lay bound behind his back as he marched towards his fate, contemplating his regrets. The executioner stood at the finish of the path which was slick with mud and grime. The hooded figure stood as a paragon of punishment, and his axe was chipped and dull. The bound man kneeled on the ground whispering a prayer, a chop and a scream followed, it did not take his head with one blow. --- This is my first ever attempt at creative writing, any tips are much appreciated.

[@bruceryba5740]

Wow. I cried at what I wrote. can’t do that again, that’s too scary

[@DeusDoctrina]

what is scary exactly?

[@bruceryba5740]

@@DeusDoctrina The power to evoke that emotion via writing. I just watched the 1965 movie 'Shenandoah' and the ending scene where the youngest son finally comes home from the war evoked some powerful emotion. Catch that power on the keyboard, pen or brush----wow.

[@AnnCedeno]

Micro fiction is new to me but would you say it’s similar to writing a chapter?

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

I’d say it’s a little different, just because microfiction has no requirement to go any further, whereas a chapter is intended to contribute towards a much bigger picture. There’s definitely overlap though, it’s all storytelling when you boil it down ☺️

[@ZakJames]

Turns out there is a reason to colour code your bookshelves! I always thought those people were psychopaths. They were micro-fiction writers all along! Who knew?

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

It does come in handy for this kind of exercise, but I cannot claim to be responsible for that bookshelf, the coordinated one was my wife! If it had been me, it would be ordered like library probably. It looks nice in the background though!

[@PeterMacansky]

[@PhantomRangerEarth1397]

I'm far too wordy to ever only write 100 words