A MicroZine Interview w/Virginia Neely

6 Questions on Microfiction

Virginia Neely

is sharing 2-Bite Stories you can sink your teeth into. She writes

Scribbles

.

1. When did you first start writing microfiction?

Gosh. That so depends on what you classify as microfiction. If you go up to about 1k words, I'd have to say back in the 60s. If you're restricting to very short length, like 100 words, then probably about 5 years ago.

1a) When I first heard about microfiction (100 words) I was intrigued. I didn't think you could tell a good story in so few words but I accepted the challenge.Since then I've been honing my skill.

2. What kind of microfiction do you write? Any specific length or genre? How often?

Most consistently, 100 words. Sometimes 250, 500, or 1,000. The last 2 only for specific challenges. As for genre, anything and everything. I actually tag my 2-Bite Stories with the genre, though sometimes genres are fluid and nebulous. For a long time I was writing a story every weekday, but life got so hectic it was hard to keep it up and do all the other things I had to do. I still try for that, but sometimes I won't write any for a week and then double up the next week.

3. Describe your microfiction writing process.

There's a process? Haha.

Something tweaks my mind or I might go from some prepared prompt or a photo or a speck of conversation I overheard. I write what comes to mind, keeping it as succinct as I can, but allowing myself to exceed the word limit if I need to, to get the entire story in. Then I edit, paring down and finding better words to express some concept. Start to finish, it takes roughly half an hour. I always try to have a surprise twist at the end. That's for my 2-Bites.

For longer micro, it's the same general process but obviously takes longer.

4. Have you ever submitted your microfiction to a contest or publication before? If so, why and where? If not, why not?

Yes, I've submitted a couple to a contest for which I forget the name. For some reason, my mind has it filed as Saturday Night Live, which of course it isn't. It's one where they assign every entrant to a group with a given prompt and must-use word. What normally happened is that I would place well in my mini-group but then a bunch of groups merge for round 2 and I fail that round. I've submitted to a couple of other places too, with no luck.I've come to the conclusion my writing isn't for everyone, and neither is the writing of whoever won.

5. What advice would you give someone who is on the fence about writing microfiction?

Try it. It's fun and it's great practice for editing. Each story can be written rather fast, depending how perfectionist you are. And if you do a few a week, before long you'll have a chap book or an anthology to print.

There are lots of variations you could try, too. For instance, every story this week will fit together to make a longer story. Or variations on a theme.

6. Share either your favorite piece or most recent microfiction that you’ve written.

One of My Favs:

All Accessories Included

Andy wanted to get his nephew a special gift for his eighth birthday.

He couldn’t have kids of his own, so he spoiled Liam.

When Andy was eight, he’d had his heart set on a train set. He never got one. But Liam would.

He looked everywhere, without finding one that was special enough.

Finally he found the perfect set on E-bay. The seller used a pseudonym.

All accessories included, only $100.

His fingers trembled as he typed in his credit card.

Two weeks later, a truck delivered his purchase: the train set in a box, and a six-year-old boy.

Special thanks to Virginia Neely for answering these questions.