In Defense of the Drabble
It seems there’s been a recent thread on When I Kissed the Teacher on the merits of drabbles. I wish I could make my defense of the form as succinct and punchy as many a drabble I’ve read, but I doubt that, so I will mercifully put most of my defense behind a cut.
However, above the fold, I’d like to mention that drabbles are not for fanfic only. They are published professionally, as you can see on this online publishing market search engine, Duotrope. As a Wikipedia Article states, the “concept is said to have originated in UK science fiction fandom in the 1980s; the 100-word format was established by the Birmingham University SF Society.” Another site says “[l]iterary historians have traced the name back to the 1971 Monty Python’s Big Red Book: ‘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.’”
A history and famous authors who have written drabbles.
A history of the form and list of science-fiction writers who participated in the first published volumes of the genre can be found on Meade’s Website. The list includes such notables as Brian Aldiss, Isaac Asimov, C. J. Cherryh, Neil Gaiman, Larry Niven, Terry Pratchett (here’s a link to his “Incubust”), Brian Stableford and Roger Zelazny.
The drabble can be seen as a form of “flash fiction”-which is variously defined in terms of minimum and maximum lengths-from 250 to 2000 sometimes, with the drabble obviously at the low end of the continuum, even if not the extreme end. One of the most famous examples, by Ernest Hemingway, consists of six words: For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.
Why I Drabble
I’ll admit it. I haven’t always been a fan of the form. They used to annoy the hell out of me in Trek. It seemed to me that they’d be posted for a quick review high by lazy writers. But that was on newsgroups and Yahoo Groups where I’d just find myself annoyed to click on a story just to find this 100 word thing. It feels different consumed off LJ, where drabbles from grangersnape100 show on my f-list like little SSHG bon bons to be taken in at a glance. I think particularly in SSHG, where we run to epic, I’ve learned to appreciate this pithy form as a reader.
As a writer, I think it pays dividends. I wrote my SSHG short story “Janus” in a form reminiscent of the drabble. I did each year of the books in two scenes of 500 words each-first canon, then alternate universe. I did it mostly as a writing exercise, because I wanted the discipline of being limited to a certain amount of words. Among other things, I think I tend to be too interior-state too much about my characters’ thoughts rather than revealing emotions through dialogue, gestures, and actions, and the drabble format forces you to choose. I thought the format served “Janus” particularly well, because the theme of the story was (pre-DH) that the way Snape acted was not self-serving, not villainous, and that had he chosen to be, he could have done so much more damage. I wanted the parallel stories side by side for that, and I think had the portions been lengthier, readers would have lost sight of the point I was trying to make.
I’m posting a drabble series, “Ghostly Visitations”, right now on grangersnape100, and I find that since I’m forced to make trade offs in order to wedge in information I need, I’m more ruthless than I usually am cutting every superfluous word.
Yes, the form does also have limitations. People on the WIKTT thread have accused drabble series in particular of being more outlines than stories and I’ll admit there’s truth to that. That the series I’m writing above feels sketchy, and that if I were writing a “real story” thoughts, descriptions, exposition would be fuller and richer. A series of drabbles is no more a short story than a string of short stories is a novel-even if they’re in the same universe.
Which doesn’t mean there’s not enjoyment to be had in the sketchier form. And if I didn’t have this form to play in, I actually doubt this story would have been written at all. But as a break and ice-breaker from my albatross WIP, it’s been fun to write. And make no mistake-fun in writing is damn important in keeping you going.
Also, the format can be less intimidating, especially in its SSHG home of grangersnape100 for a newbie. As far as I know, the recent drabbles of kribu have been the first HP fanfic she’s posted. And damn they’ve been fun to read. Ditto such writers as a_bees_buzz-I first encountered her through her drabbles.
HP Drabbles I've Known and Loved
And sometimes... sometimes... there have been drabbles that you can just love straight out-no excuses. Try some of the below:
1. moaningmyrtle, “What the Heart Knows” 100 words, Romance, Angst Snape/Hermione (PG-13)
Summary: My response to the Mirror of Erised 100 Words challenge at WIKTT
This punched me in the guts. If any drabble I read in HP made me sit up straight and demand my respect, it’s this one.
2. sinick, “Hair” 100 words, Angst, Snape-centric (PG-13)
Summary: Written for the “Snape the Death Eater” challenge for the snape100 LJ Community. Snapecentric
When I gave tkurogrym the example of the above drabble by Moaning Myrtle as one that had punched me in the guts, she countered with this one, and this one left me aching with sympathy for Snape.
3. ladyofthemasque, “Do You Think I’m Pretty?” 100 words, Drama, Angst, Romance, Fluff Snape/Hermione (G)
Summary: 100 words of why ‘No’ should always be explained.
Awww. OK, so it’s sweet-short and sweet. Sometimes a drabble is pure fluff. And sometimes that truly hits the spot.
4. argosy, “Dangerous Words In a Foreign Language” 100 words, Romance, Angst, Humor Draco/Hermione (PG-13)
Summary: One of Argosy’s responses to the famous Drabble Meme.
This one was the inspiration for a WIP by darth_luna of the same title I’d dearly love to see completed.
5. pearle9240, “Delusions of Grandeur” 100 words, Romance, Humor Snape/Hermione, Minerva (G)
Summary: Comic by Usagi (Melanie) from drabble by Pearle
More than a drabble with Usagi’s illustration, but the words alone drip with charm.
6. rozarka, “Amortentia Hangover” 100 words, Drama, Romance, Viktor/Hermione (G)
Summary: Amortentia at a stag night, now that’s inviting trouble. :)
This drabble does not feel like there’s an extra word in it-or that it needs more.
7. wailing_owl, “Protean” 100 words, General, Drama, Snapecentric (G)
Summary: Snape had, like water, shaped himself to fit what surrounded him. Written for the “element” challenge on hp100.
This drabble was nominated on Quill to Parchment-and boy, did it deserve it.
8. whitehound, “Flower Remedy” 101 words, General, Humor Hermione, Ron, Snape (G)
Summary: 100 word drabble DH spoiler: sometimes the old ways are the best.
Really Snape and Hermione rather than SSHG, but this resurrection fic did make me smile.
9. a_bees_buzz, “What's in a name?” 100 words, General, Humor, Hermione, Ron (PG)
Summary: All dialogue challenge on grangersnape100.
Put off by the epilogue? Feel there’s no canonical way beyond it to SSHG? Read this, and get ready to smile. This short drabble posted very close to DH’s publication has I think already been influential in the ship.
10. kribu, “The Secret” 100 words, General, Drama (PG-13)
Summary: Snape and Hermione discuss a revelation about Dumbledore.
This itty bitty thing packs a heft that belies its size and leaves you frantically speculating-just ask bambu345.
And then there’s the drabble series-two spring to mind immediately. There’s remusseverus's very funny, even raunchy, “Sponge Bath Series” and bambu345’s very original and affecting, “Silly Little Girl”-both SSHG and both originally posted on grangersnape100
GrangerSnape100 - A love story
grangersnape100 is droxy’s group, for Snape/Hermione drabbles, and it’s my favorite SSHG hangout for many reasons, because it’s stress-free and friendly and Droxy keeps it that way. No moderation. No hoops to jump through. No flames. No wank. No fandom cliques. In contrast to my fuller stories, I don’t even bother getting my drabbles betaed. I just go and post and reel in some ego boo.
What I hear you sniff? You wimp! How about all your love of constructive crit! How about substance! Well, yeah... but sometimes, it’s nice to go to a place where everybody knows your name... ::whistles the theme to Cheers::
I post there IOWs, cuz it’s a pleasure to.
However, above the fold, I’d like to mention that drabbles are not for fanfic only. They are published professionally, as you can see on this online publishing market search engine, Duotrope. As a Wikipedia Article states, the “concept is said to have originated in UK science fiction fandom in the 1980s; the 100-word format was established by the Birmingham University SF Society.” Another site says “[l]iterary historians have traced the name back to the 1971 Monty Python’s Big Red Book: ‘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.’”
A history and famous authors who have written drabbles.
A history of the form and list of science-fiction writers who participated in the first published volumes of the genre can be found on Meade’s Website. The list includes such notables as Brian Aldiss, Isaac Asimov, C. J. Cherryh, Neil Gaiman, Larry Niven, Terry Pratchett (here’s a link to his “Incubust”), Brian Stableford and Roger Zelazny.
The drabble can be seen as a form of “flash fiction”-which is variously defined in terms of minimum and maximum lengths-from 250 to 2000 sometimes, with the drabble obviously at the low end of the continuum, even if not the extreme end. One of the most famous examples, by Ernest Hemingway, consists of six words: For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.
Why I Drabble
I’ll admit it. I haven’t always been a fan of the form. They used to annoy the hell out of me in Trek. It seemed to me that they’d be posted for a quick review high by lazy writers. But that was on newsgroups and Yahoo Groups where I’d just find myself annoyed to click on a story just to find this 100 word thing. It feels different consumed off LJ, where drabbles from grangersnape100 show on my f-list like little SSHG bon bons to be taken in at a glance. I think particularly in SSHG, where we run to epic, I’ve learned to appreciate this pithy form as a reader.
As a writer, I think it pays dividends. I wrote my SSHG short story “Janus” in a form reminiscent of the drabble. I did each year of the books in two scenes of 500 words each-first canon, then alternate universe. I did it mostly as a writing exercise, because I wanted the discipline of being limited to a certain amount of words. Among other things, I think I tend to be too interior-state too much about my characters’ thoughts rather than revealing emotions through dialogue, gestures, and actions, and the drabble format forces you to choose. I thought the format served “Janus” particularly well, because the theme of the story was (pre-DH) that the way Snape acted was not self-serving, not villainous, and that had he chosen to be, he could have done so much more damage. I wanted the parallel stories side by side for that, and I think had the portions been lengthier, readers would have lost sight of the point I was trying to make.
I’m posting a drabble series, “Ghostly Visitations”, right now on grangersnape100, and I find that since I’m forced to make trade offs in order to wedge in information I need, I’m more ruthless than I usually am cutting every superfluous word.
Yes, the form does also have limitations. People on the WIKTT thread have accused drabble series in particular of being more outlines than stories and I’ll admit there’s truth to that. That the series I’m writing above feels sketchy, and that if I were writing a “real story” thoughts, descriptions, exposition would be fuller and richer. A series of drabbles is no more a short story than a string of short stories is a novel-even if they’re in the same universe.
Which doesn’t mean there’s not enjoyment to be had in the sketchier form. And if I didn’t have this form to play in, I actually doubt this story would have been written at all. But as a break and ice-breaker from my albatross WIP, it’s been fun to write. And make no mistake-fun in writing is damn important in keeping you going.
Also, the format can be less intimidating, especially in its SSHG home of grangersnape100 for a newbie. As far as I know, the recent drabbles of kribu have been the first HP fanfic she’s posted. And damn they’ve been fun to read. Ditto such writers as a_bees_buzz-I first encountered her through her drabbles.
HP Drabbles I've Known and Loved
And sometimes... sometimes... there have been drabbles that you can just love straight out-no excuses. Try some of the below:
1. moaningmyrtle, “What the Heart Knows” 100 words, Romance, Angst Snape/Hermione (PG-13)
Summary: My response to the Mirror of Erised 100 Words challenge at WIKTT
This punched me in the guts. If any drabble I read in HP made me sit up straight and demand my respect, it’s this one.
2. sinick, “Hair” 100 words, Angst, Snape-centric (PG-13)
Summary: Written for the “Snape the Death Eater” challenge for the snape100 LJ Community. Snapecentric
When I gave tkurogrym the example of the above drabble by Moaning Myrtle as one that had punched me in the guts, she countered with this one, and this one left me aching with sympathy for Snape.
3. ladyofthemasque, “Do You Think I’m Pretty?” 100 words, Drama, Angst, Romance, Fluff Snape/Hermione (G)
Summary: 100 words of why ‘No’ should always be explained.
Awww. OK, so it’s sweet-short and sweet. Sometimes a drabble is pure fluff. And sometimes that truly hits the spot.
4. argosy, “Dangerous Words In a Foreign Language” 100 words, Romance, Angst, Humor Draco/Hermione (PG-13)
Summary: One of Argosy’s responses to the famous Drabble Meme.
This one was the inspiration for a WIP by darth_luna of the same title I’d dearly love to see completed.
5. pearle9240, “Delusions of Grandeur” 100 words, Romance, Humor Snape/Hermione, Minerva (G)
Summary: Comic by Usagi (Melanie) from drabble by Pearle
More than a drabble with Usagi’s illustration, but the words alone drip with charm.
6. rozarka, “Amortentia Hangover” 100 words, Drama, Romance, Viktor/Hermione (G)
Summary: Amortentia at a stag night, now that’s inviting trouble. :)
This drabble does not feel like there’s an extra word in it-or that it needs more.
7. wailing_owl, “Protean” 100 words, General, Drama, Snapecentric (G)
Summary: Snape had, like water, shaped himself to fit what surrounded him. Written for the “element” challenge on hp100.
This drabble was nominated on Quill to Parchment-and boy, did it deserve it.
8. whitehound, “Flower Remedy” 101 words, General, Humor Hermione, Ron, Snape (G)
Summary: 100 word drabble DH spoiler: sometimes the old ways are the best.
Really Snape and Hermione rather than SSHG, but this resurrection fic did make me smile.
9. a_bees_buzz, “What's in a name?” 100 words, General, Humor, Hermione, Ron (PG)
Summary: All dialogue challenge on grangersnape100.
Put off by the epilogue? Feel there’s no canonical way beyond it to SSHG? Read this, and get ready to smile. This short drabble posted very close to DH’s publication has I think already been influential in the ship.
10. kribu, “The Secret” 100 words, General, Drama (PG-13)
Summary: Snape and Hermione discuss a revelation about Dumbledore.
This itty bitty thing packs a heft that belies its size and leaves you frantically speculating-just ask bambu345.
And then there’s the drabble series-two spring to mind immediately. There’s remusseverus's very funny, even raunchy, “Sponge Bath Series” and bambu345’s very original and affecting, “Silly Little Girl”-both SSHG and both originally posted on grangersnape100
GrangerSnape100 - A love story
grangersnape100 is droxy’s group, for Snape/Hermione drabbles, and it’s my favorite SSHG hangout for many reasons, because it’s stress-free and friendly and Droxy keeps it that way. No moderation. No hoops to jump through. No flames. No wank. No fandom cliques. In contrast to my fuller stories, I don’t even bother getting my drabbles betaed. I just go and post and reel in some ego boo.
What I hear you sniff? You wimp! How about all your love of constructive crit! How about substance! Well, yeah... but sometimes, it’s nice to go to a place where everybody knows your name... ::whistles the theme to Cheers::
I post there IOWs, cuz it’s a pleasure to.