It's time for the annual 55 Fiction short story contest if anyone's interested in entering. =) Here's the information the New Times provided in the latest issue:

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Become a famous author!
It's time for our annual 55 Fiction short story contest

How do you go about writing a 55-word story? Although the creative process remains complex and unfathomable, the rules are simple.

It's time again for the short story contest we call 55 Fiction, a time to show off your literary prowess by writing us a short story using only 55 words.

For thos of you who already understand the basics of storytelling, the following text will be redundant, so you can skip all this verbiage and get to writing. But others new to this genre should keep in mind what elements an effective tale require.

In the first place, stories have to take place somewhere, so be sure your story has one. I know that sounds obvious, but we've discovered over the years that some writers end up creating tiny essays instead of stories.

You also need some characters. Again, this sounds obvious, but it's something lacking, especially when writers mistakea poem for a story. Characters don't have to be people, of course. They can have infinite variations. Animals, rocks, microbes, ghosts. Anything.

To be effective, a story also needs conflict. The word itself can be misleading; conflict doesn't mean that your story needs a war or people fighting in the streets. It simply means that something has to happen in your story. The lovers argue. The deer flees. The alien is preplexed by the creatures below him on that strange, blue planet. Even in this last example, something is happening, even though our alien isn't moving or talking. There is conflict; a tension is present in the narraive.

This leads us to the outcome of the story, also known as resolution. This doesn't necessarily mean that the story has to have a moral ("Justice is its own reward," "In the end, love triumphs"), or even that the conflict itself is resolved. It may or may not be.

But what it does mean is that when the story ends, someone has to have learned something: He found out his wife wanted to kill him and grind him up in the garbage disposal; the star troopers successfully eluded the elien armada when they thought they'd been discovered; Jim was show to be as much of a liar as his father; whatever.

The characters in your story don't neccessarily have to have learned anything. But if they don't, then the reader must. The story's resolution is what creates its impacta nd meaning, giving readers a sense of completion and satisfaction.

Again, we can't stress enough the importance of making certain you're writing a story, not just a situation taking place that has nothing happening. So examine your work honestly. A lot of well-written entries have often contained intriguing characters in situations going nowhere, thus leaving the story's outcome uncertain or non-existant.

A few other things to keep in mind when you write your story: You can write about anything you like, but you can't use more than 55 words. A word is anything that's in the dictionary no matter how long or short. And, yes, that includes teensy words like "a" and "of."

Contractiosn count as single words, so if you're really seeking word economy, keep this in mind. If you write, "He will jump," it's three words. But if you write, "He'll jump," it's only two. Very economical. Also, any contraction that's a shortened form of a word is counted as a full word. Like using 'em for "them."

Hyphenated words don't count as single words. A compound adjective like "dyed-in-the-wool commie" is five words, not one. So is "long-time friend," etc. are good examples. But there is an exception: Any word that doesn't become two distinct, freestanding words when the hypen is removed. For example, "re" doesn't become a word when the hyphen is removed from "re-written," but "written" is.

And, no, the title of your story isn't included in the word count--but it can't be over six words long.

An initial also counts as a word (L.L. Bean, e.e. cummings, etc.) since it's basically an abbreviation of a full word. The only exception is when it's part of an acronym, like MGM or FBI.

Also remember that numbers count as words, too, expressed as either numberals (8, 28, 500, or 1984), or as words (eight, twenty-eight, etc.). Our hyphenated word rule applies here, too. Twenty-eight is two words, but when it's only one word when expressed as 28. Don't cheat yourself out of an extra word that you may need.

Any punctuation is allowed, and none count as words, so don't worry about being miserly with them if they do work to some effect.

And no jokes. In the past, we've tried to week out stories that are actually just old jokes re-written in a 55-word format.

You can submit as many stories as you want, but each story must be submitted typed on its own individual sheet of paper. Make sure your name, address, and telephone number of included on each story submission so we can contact you should you be one of our winners.

The deadline for all entries is 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 6. We'll publish the winners in our June 16 issue, so put a stamp on that envelope and mail your story to New Times 55 Fiction, 505 Higuera St., San Luis Obispo, CA 93401.

And remember: Just 55 words.

There's also a small sidebar with a bit of history about the contest you might find interesting:

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The devil's in the details

It was a devilishly impossible idea: ask someone to write a story in 55 words or less--a real story, one with, as E. M. Forester would say, "a beginning, a middle, and an end." Anyone who knows writers knows that demanding brevity of them is sheer torture, so of course such an idea had to be the brainchild of Steve Moss, a man who loved to torture writers. For instance, if this were a 55-word story, I'd now be 26 words too long. Oops, 31.

When he first conceived of the idea in 1986, he never could have foreseen its popularity, which spawned two books, a series of seven one-act plays, and a short film. The books have been translated into several languages, offered as books-on-tap, packaged as bar coasters. And the stories just keep on coming, not just when New Times puts out the call for submissions, but year around and from all over the globe.

Steve received letters from teachers praising this exercise in economy, letters from angry writers explaining in many more than 55 words why it was an impossible task. Of course it wasn't impossible, it was just very, very hard, and the results were very, very fun.

The 55-Word Fiction contest is just one legacy left by Steve Moss, who I imagine is in heaven right now, sitting around a fluffy white cloud, challenging Hemingway, Faulkner, and Melville to a write-off. My money's on Steve.

-- Glen Starkey

As an FYI about that last paragraph, Steve Moss died four days ago which is why its sappy as it is. He founded the New Times, so this latest issue is essentially dedicated to him, his life, and all that.

And finally, the New Times website can be found at http://www.newtimes-slo.com/

I'd have just pointed a link to the rules for the contest, but I couldn't find them on the website anywhere. But if you're really serious about submitting an entry, they usually have examples from yesteryears in the weeks leading up to the deadline, so it might be worth checking out. =) If I see any news of it pop up, I'll let you know as well, but I'm not always reliable. ;o) Any information will probably be in the Arts section.

Okay, I'm done now. Any takers? =)

-- Ryan

I found some past entries. They are very fun to read!

http://newtimes-slo.com/archive/2004-06-10/55_fiction/55_story.html