In honor of Halloween, I've been looking at Two Sentence Horror Stories.
There are tons of them out there on the interwebs. Some are amusing:
a few are quite good:
but most are predictable:
And very few are complete stories:
Think about it. You can imagine that entire short story, fleshed (pun intended) out, beginning, middle, and end. Would it be worth writing out in full? Probably not, unless the author was exceedingly clever in their execution. Again, too predictable. But, as a Two Sentence Horror Story, well done.
But wait! Before I get all judgy in my judgebox - maybe I should try it myself.
*some time later*
Oh, crud.
Not easy.
But here's my attempt.
Martha knew Janey's secret: the ever-growing belly she tried to hide under layers of boys' shirts and baggy sweaters.
As they walked deeper into the woods, Martha had a secret hidden beneath her clothes as well: their daddy's biggest hog knife.
Cons: Not a complete story. Maybe too wordy? (Always my bugaboo.)
Pros: I think this raises a lot of questions, and gives readers room to speculate. I flatter myself to think all the possibilities are pretty creepy.
Whatever you think of the results, it's a terrific writing exercise. You have to be concise, and you have to be very specific. With such limited space, I found myself carefully choosing every word to paint a picture of who these characters are, and what motivates them.
Imagine approaching every line in your novel with such care. Somewhat exhausting, but I imagine the results would be worth the effort.
So then. If you dare, post your Two Sentence Horror Story below. Let the games begin!
This is hard, but fun. No one will judge you harshly. Give it a whirl!
-Q
