Drabble
Encyclopedia
A drabble is an extremely short work of fiction of exactly one hundred words in length, although the term is often erroneously used to indicate a short story of fewer than 1000 words. The purpose of the drabble is brevity, testing the author's ability to express interesting and meaningful ideas in an extremely confined space.
The concept is said to have originated in UK
science fiction fandom in the 1980s; the 100-word format was established by the Birmingham University SF Society, taking a term from Monty Python
's 1971 Big Red Book
. In the book, "Drabble" was described as a word game where the first participant to write a novel
was the winner. In order to make the game possible in the real world, it was agreed that 100 words would suffice. In drabble contests, participants are given a theme and a certain amount of time to write. Drabble contests, and drabbles in general, are popular in science fiction fandom
and in fan fiction
. Beccon Publications published three volumes, "The Drabble Project" (1988) and "Drabble II: Double Century" (1990), both edited by Rob Meades and David Wake, and "Drabble Who" (1993), edited by David J. Howe
and David Wake. It was popularized online at 100Words.com.
"Drabble" is also sometimes used colloquially to refer to any short piece of literature
, usually fan fiction, where brevity is its outstanding feature. Some stories, called "drabbles" by their authors or readers, total as many as 1,000 words in length. However, such a story should be labeled by the more accurate description of "flashfic", "shortfic," or "ficlet," in addition to the older "short-short story".
The particular language used may greatly affect the ease or difficulty of writing a drabble. For example, the Finnish
two-word sentence "Heittäytyisinköhän seikkailuun?" translates into English
as "What if I should throw myself into an adventure?", a sentence of nine words. This density of meaning makes Finnish a much easier language in which to write a drabble than English. Even easier languages include those with extreme polysynthesis, such as Cherokee
, where an entire English sentence can often be expressed in a single word.
The concept is said to have originated in UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction fandom in the 1980s; the 100-word format was established by the Birmingham University SF Society, taking a term from Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
's 1971 Big Red Book
Monty Python's Big Red Book
Monty Python's Big Red Book is a humour book comprising mostly material derived and reworked from the first few years of the Monty Python's Flying Circus BBC television series. It was first published in 1971 by Methuen Publishing Ltd....
. In the book, "Drabble" was described as a word game where the first participant to write a novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
was the winner. In order to make the game possible in the real world, it was agreed that 100 words would suffice. In drabble contests, participants are given a theme and a certain amount of time to write. Drabble contests, and drabbles in general, are popular in science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or "fandom" of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy and in contact with one another based upon that interest...
and in fan fiction
Fan fiction
Fan fiction is a broadly-defined term for fan labor regarding stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator...
. Beccon Publications published three volumes, "The Drabble Project" (1988) and "Drabble II: Double Century" (1990), both edited by Rob Meades and David Wake, and "Drabble Who" (1993), edited by David J. Howe
David J. Howe
David J. Howe is a British writer, journalist, publisher, and media historian.-Biography:David Howe was born in 1961 and established himself as an authoritative media historian through writing articles for fanzines and other publications...
and David Wake. It was popularized online at 100Words.com.
"Drabble" is also sometimes used colloquially to refer to any short piece of literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, usually fan fiction, where brevity is its outstanding feature. Some stories, called "drabbles" by their authors or readers, total as many as 1,000 words in length. However, such a story should be labeled by the more accurate description of "flashfic", "shortfic," or "ficlet," in addition to the older "short-short story".
The particular language used may greatly affect the ease or difficulty of writing a drabble. For example, the Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
two-word sentence "Heittäytyisinköhän seikkailuun?" translates into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as "What if I should throw myself into an adventure?", a sentence of nine words. This density of meaning makes Finnish a much easier language in which to write a drabble than English. Even easier languages include those with extreme polysynthesis, such as Cherokee
Cherokee language
Cherokee is an Iroquoian language spoken by the Cherokee people which uses a unique syllabary writing system. It is the only Southern Iroquoian language that remains spoken. Cherokee is a polysynthetic language.-North American etymology:...
, where an entire English sentence can often be expressed in a single word.
External links
- Article on drabbles and their origin
- The Drabble Project One version of "How It All Began"