Centinas and Pentinas
Flash fiction writers — let’s adopt some new terms for our micro-fiction
Purveyors and lovers of short fiction, microfiction, and nanofiction, it’s time to heed the call! Every once in a while, you have to stand up for what’s right.
I have an undying love for short fiction, but there’s a couple of terms that need to go away. In case you were unaware, there’s a common classification for short fiction based on word count. It goes something like this:
The Six-Word Story = 6 words
Twitterature = 280 characters
Dribble (horrible name) = exactly 50 words
Drabble (also a horrible name) = exactly 100 words
Postcard Fiction = up to 250 words
Sudden Fiction ~750 words
Flash Fiction = up to 1,000 words
Short Story = up to 7,500 words
Novelette = 7,500 to 20K words
Novella = 20K to 50K words
I’m good with all of these terms except two: Dribble and Drabble. Those terms are just awful, conjuring images along the spectrum of drivel, boring literature, or drops of urine. “Twitterature” is pretty terrible too, but heck, it’s the internet and we gotta pick and choose our…
