No sooner does gjstruthseeker quote someone else's rant about drabbles or someone else goes and posts this HP drabble which pretty much redeems the whole form. Go read. It's only a 100 words. :)
Honestly, I think it's another case of 'unless it's done well'. The pitfalls of the short stuff she points out are real and specific to the form, but hey, it's just as valid to say the problem with epics is that they tend to be aimless, that they drag and swerve plot-wise and trudge on and on without ever resolving anything. Unless it's done well, of course. *g*
And that's why I pointed to this example where I can't believe it's only 100 words, there's so much in there, and things happen and there are consequences and stuff.
It's a form quite specifically auited to a genre which relies a lot on shared information. In fanfic you don't always have to spend time establishing chracters and place, and setting up killer endings, cos someone already did that... so drabblers can and often do go straight to the killer ending - one reason astrogirl2 says she likes drabbles and other short fic. Thanks for this ref.
Huh. Interesting. The HP drabble is self-contained, has a plot, has many characters - all admirable things and very very hard to achieve in this form, I think - yet it didn't do much for me. Am I missing something meta that would make it funnier? Or is it just me?
Well, I'm a sucker for seeing romance being tipped over and landing hard, that might help. I love seeing Snape's cantankerous nature and prejudice against werewolves assert itself even in the face of true love. I suppose it helps that Snape being made a lot more sensitive and deep and glamorous (not to mention better looking) than he is in the books is something I certainly *notice* in a fic, even if I do manage to go with it. Seeing that tipped on it's ass as well certainly adds to my enjoyment of this fic. But I think I would greatly enjoy this scenario anyway. It's something unexpected happening, you know? And that great little Harry & Dumbledore interaction is just delightful in it's own right, as well as a Snape/everything-on-two-legs-and-then-some sorta meta-comment.
It's a form quite specifically auited to a genre which relies a lot on shared information.
*nods* Yes indeed. Mimesere called it a prose haiku, but I think it's more often a prose limerick. It's very referential. Though I hear drabbles didn't originate with fanfic but with shortshort science-fiction. Go figure.
I read a long piece on the origin which put it in SF. Can't find it now, but this site says:
Set by the Birmingham University SF Society as thus: a self-contained vignette of exactly 100 words, no more, no less, with up to 15 more words are allowed for the title. Hyphenated words are in dispute. The term originates from a Monty Python skit: "Drabble. A word game for 2 to 4 players. The four players sit from left to right and the first person to write a novel wins." Drabbles started in British SF fandom in the late '80s. A half-drabble is fifty words long; a double drabble is 200 words long.
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Honestly, I think it's another case of 'unless it's done well'. The pitfalls of the short stuff she points out are real and specific to the form, but hey, it's just as valid to say the problem with epics is that they tend to be aimless, that they drag and swerve plot-wise and trudge on and on without ever resolving anything. Unless it's done well, of course. *g*
And that's why I pointed to this example where I can't believe it's only 100 words, there's so much in there, and things happen and there are consequences and stuff.
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*nods* Yes indeed. Mimesere called it a prose haiku, but I think it's more often a prose limerick. It's very referential. Though I hear drabbles didn't originate with fanfic but with shortshort science-fiction. Go figure.
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Set by the Birmingham University SF Society as thus: a self-contained vignette of exactly 100 words, no more, no less, with up to 15 more words are allowed for the title. Hyphenated words are in dispute. The term originates from a Monty Python skit: "Drabble. A word game for 2 to 4 players. The four players sit from left to right and the first person to write a novel wins." Drabbles started in British SF fandom in the late '80s. A half-drabble is fifty words long; a double drabble is 200 words long.
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