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101 Words

101 Word Short Stories

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You Left Behind:

March 7, 2021 6 Comments

By Cassandra Hamilton

Boomerang, cracked

The Roxy’s matchbox containing fingernail clippings, snapped steel string

England’s Dreaming: dog-eared; copious underlining; margins scored by slashed exclamation marks; last page’s orange marker redaction reveals scattered-letter anthem, ‘a second birth’

Fender guitar pick, Zebra print, melted tip

Shattered 80’s One-Hit-Wonders mixtape

A moldy/latte/ciggy-butt takeout cup: Carly doodled three hearts; begged in curly cursive, ‘Call Me!’

Winston Furchill: Bulldog tripod, chronic flatulence, rabid chewer, your precious ‘rescue’

Twenty-pound bag of specialty kibble atop unpaid vet bill, three eviction notices, and one court summons

Sheet music for incomplete comeback song

Replica Grecian urn, bloody and vomit-caked

Singed tweezers

Daughter: me

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The Power of Imagery with Nina Schuyler

September 12 & 13 on Zoom
Enrollment closes Thursday, September 3 at 7:00 PM Pacific

If your descriptions are vivid but your stories still feel thin, this workshop is for you.

Join award-winning author Nina Schuyler to learn the difference between description, which tells a reader what things look like, and imagery, which carries plot, character, and meaning at the same time.

In just two days, you'll learn to choose images that hold emotion without naming it, pair them so each one deepens the other, and build patterns that gather meaning as the story moves.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Samantha Peirce says

    March 7, 2021 at 1:39 pm

    Beautiful. I really enjoyed the imagery and the emotion created. Well done!

    Reply
    • Cassandra Cassandra Hamilton says

      March 8, 2021 at 10:31 am

      Thank you for the feedback. I’m pleased to read this story evoked in you emotion.

      Reply
  2. David Pogson says

    March 8, 2021 at 10:31 am

    Like it immensely. Short, sweet and to the point.

    Reply
    • Cassandra Cassandra Hamilton says

      March 8, 2021 at 1:43 pm

      Thank you, David. Kind of you to give feedback. I appreciate it very much.

      Reply
  3. I.R.Pathak says

    March 11, 2021 at 7:36 am

    Wonderful expression through phrases without using a single sentence in the piece. Indeed these 101 words carry the meaning of a thousand words. Thank you, Cassandra, for letting me know about this technique.

    Reply
    • Cassandra Cassandra Hamilton says

      March 14, 2021 at 8:08 pm

      Am tickled, I.R. Pathak, to introduce another writer to a form. I look forward to reading how YOU use list form to tell a tale.

      Reply

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