So Long, Thesis
A few weeks ago, MelinaCR referred me to a website which has replaced nearly ten of my usual hits: Matchbookstory.com. I won’t detail the interface of the site too much, as clicking on the link above is all you need to do for intuition to take over, but once you’ve registered, the goal is to write a 300 character short story. Each letter, number, space, and paragraph break counts as a character. Basically, it’s like writing an extraordinarily creative text message, but with an extra 140 characters to play with – a little extra sand to finish your castle. As you type away, a descending counter displays the remaining characters. After editing, abbreviating, swapping ands for ampersands, or whatever character maintenance strategies suit you, click the submit button and wait a few weeks to hear back from the editors. Or, you can write another story – there’s no submission limit. Winners’ stories are printed on matchbooks and distributed throughout California, and hopefully Washington, Oregon, and beyond, and shortlisters are published online. It’s free, it’s a way to get your name out there, and it’s a far better way to procrastinate than complaining on Facebook about only getting two hours of sleep, or whatever.Writing under such limitations is nothing new; I immediately think of poetry’s pantoums and sonnets, and, to a less restrictive degree, flash fiction. But seeing this marriage of writing with electronic interactivity is pretty exciting – watching the character counter fluctuate as you edit your story is satisfying in the same way stat management is. Hell, Matchbox Story is just as great an editing/decluttering exercise as it is an avenue for publication. Need some ellipses for dramatic effect, but you’ve run out of characters? Swap ostentatious for showy, and you’ve got what you need, plus a preposition. Too many conjunctions? Kill ‘em off, deploy some commas.
Matchbox Story probably isn’t for anyone. Limitations are just that for a lot of my friends who write. But poets, clutter-busters, and especially folks like me, who not only proofread, but use semicolons in their text messages, ought to check it out. Whether or not our attention spans are actually shrinking, it’s nice to know that playgrounds like this exist.
I think this kind of formal constraint is always interesting. A drastic word restriction like this puts all kinds of pressure on the lines, forcing a different kind of consideration of line itself, which is something prose writers might not do that often. And I think surprises happen as a result. So while the piece itself might ultimately not be that great, the surprises might be useful.
This is such a cool idea. It’s modern day folk art–where something surprising and creative is made from an everyday object.
Perhaps the string of matchbox stories can become your thesis.
I think Sam’s well on his way toward that…
P.S. I have more awesome referrals where that came from. I may have to make a zine about it: Constructive and Adventuresome Ways to Not Do What You’re Supposed to be Doing.
I love it. Let me know if you need any help – I’ve always got plenty of important things to avoid doing.
Haha – perhaps. My Neil Young/pink eye “story” was rejected today for reasons I cannot fathom. (He liked the alliteration, but it was too gross, apparently. Pink eye ain’t pretty. Nor is Neil Young, though. I suppose that makes sense.)
Boy, would Rachel and/or Natalie hate me.