February 24th, 2009 | 
Perhaps the most famous piece of very short fiction is the story Ernest Hemingway apparently considered his best prose:
"For sale: baby shoes, never used."
Like most things Hemingway, the few words expand into a massive picture in one’s mind. A real work of art and, in this case, very sad.
While cruising around the ‘Net the other day, I ran into an old Wired Magazine blog post which had similarly short pieces by various sci-fi, fantasy and horror writers.
My favorites are:
“Failed SAT. Lost scholarship. Invented rocket.”
- William Shatner
“Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time”
- Alan Moore
“Internet “wakes up?” Ridicu –
no carrier.”
- Charles Stross
For those that remember actually needing a carrier signal.
“It’s behind you! Hurry before it “
- Rockne S. O’Bannon
“Easy. Just touch the match to”
- Ursula K. Le Guin
Loads of fun ones. Check ‘em out.
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Very funny. Particularly related to:
“The baby’s blood type? Human, mostly.”
- Orson Scott Card
Small canvas; great art. Limited attention.
Kendall,
That’s a great one. Six words. Huge story.
Lorne,
Creative as always. I presume you’re referring to my blog, of course.
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Eight word story … sorry for wasting space:
“I hate my mother. I’m running away! Tomorrow.”