Back on January 23, 2012 I blogged about 101-word stories and 50-second elevator speeches. Could we get even briefer and tell a story using just fifty-five words? We sure could! Back In fall 1987 Steve Moss created the Fifty-Five Fiction writing contest. In 1995 (and 1998) he had a book of them titled World’s Shortest Stories: Murder. Love. Horror. Suspense.
Three excellent articles discuss how 55-word stories have been used in medical education. One June 2010 article by Colleen T. Fogarty in Family Medicine is titled Fifty-five Word Stories: “Small Jewels” for Personal Reflection and Teaching. She has a table describing ten steps for writing a story. And Colleen says:
“Well-written 55-word stories include the key elements of narrative: (1) Setting, (2) Character(s), (3) Conflict (something has to happen!), and (4) Resolution (what’s the outcome of the story?) Writers of 55-word stories must remember that just because they are short doesn’t mean they are easy!”
A second article by Julie Fashner in the HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine for April 2020 (Volume 1 Number 2) on pages 115 to 117 is titled Creative Writing in Residency Training. And a third 2024 article by Nancy E. Krusen in Translational Science in Occupation (Volume 1, Number 2) is titled 55-Word Stories: Insight into Healthcare.
You could tell one or more fifty-five-word stories within a five-to-seven-minute speech for a Toastmasters club meeting.
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