One of the greater curiosities about microfiction is how a writer can tell a complete story in fewer than 300 words. Even more, for those who write 100-word stories (drabbles) or 50-word stories (dribbles), putting such a hard word count on a story requires even greater effort. There are numerous ways to tell a story in such a limited number of words, though: starting a story immediately after the climax to explore the protagonist’s reaction to the highest point of tension; using an epistolary style where the protagonist is communicating via text or mail; using descriptions to zero in on something unusual; providing commentary on a moment; or even using the contents of a receipt to infer the entire plot. As many ways as there are to tell stories in general, there are likely even more ways to tell stories through microfiction. Due in part to microfiction having a word count closer to that of poetry, the form can easily tap into similar techniques that have made for successful poems in the past, on top of those that have worked successfully for longer fiction.
One of the things I often remind my students is that there are many forms of entertainment vying for
