A drabble is a short story that is 100 words in length. It has roots in science fiction, where they're popular, and they're also popular in fanfiction. They're structured more around a theme or a prompt than a character if you're writing original fiction and around a character thrown into the prompt in fanfiction. Here's an example of one of my drabbles of a original character with the prompt of pillow:
Feathers were
flying everywhere as laughter filled the room from the slowly ending pillow
fight. It was something that all three
of them needed. Kendra from the drama of
her family, Cleo from the drama of Marcus and Matthew, and Adora from the drama
of Gabriel not being able to choose – all of the drama made them just want to
hit things. They were able to get their
frustrations out in a safe way that made them all giggle in the end. The giggling slowly ended as they slowly
drifted into a sleep that would better prepare them for tomorrow.
It's a scene, basically, but it has a beginning and an end. You have three characters but you don't really touch on any of them to give a link to the reader. However, what the scene does, or at least I hope it does, is bring a bit of a smile to the reader's face. Or maybe a laugh. Or maybe rolling the eyes and moving on. But that is a drabble and you can find a lot of different prompts, for both fanfiction and original fiction, via a simple Google search.
My opinions on this is that it is one of the harder short stories to write, especially when you can't really explain your characters, but it is over as fast as you start. As always, it is best to edit - the example above started out 50 words over - and you can get that one little sweet scene. So, readers, what do you think of drabbles? Do you think it's something you would try out or do you think it's one of those funny little challenges of writing? Tell me what you think in the comments below and, until next time, keep on writing.
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