FICTION, LIMITED.

The concept: Given 5-10 words, I type you a quick short story based on them. Except that I'm not taking new orders yet. Maybe soon.

Thanks to everyone who's requested a story, past and present.

See all stories, indexed by number, word or description.

Recently:
#100 written for Nina, known as nne in Cambridge, MA 11/9/08
#104 written for Lisa Lassner in the upstairs room 11/8/08
#103 written for Oana M C on the opposite couch 11/2/08
#102 written for Holly on the opposite couch 11/2/08
#101 written for Susan Futurebird while standing up 11/1/08


Some of my favorites so far: #97, #89, #86, #88, #78, #71, #67, #54, #57, #59, #2, #11, #25, #26, #34, #36, #37, Cast (#44), Forum (#46).

That's not writing, that's typing.
- Truman Capote

The small print: I will spend no more than 90 minutes (I aim for 60) writing roughly one page on my typewriter, without revising or erasing. I won't look at your words until I sit down to write the story; in fact, you should leave a lot of blank space at the top of your email to protect the words.

My address: trap @ pastemob . org.
A certain heathen came to Shammai and said to him: Convert me provided that you teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one foot.

Shammai drove him away with the builder's cubit which was in his hand.
- Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31

The history: A guy named Kay Neuenhofen was doing this at Burning Man in 2001 (as he has documented here) and suggested I take the hot seat for a few hours. I had a great time. I found a cheap portable Royal when I got back and wrote on that for a while; I then got some more typewriters, lost them, found them again, etc. At the moment, I'm back to just my first.
Rabbi Henry
studied the Torah, writing commentaries
more likely to be burnt than printed.
It was rumoured that they needed revision.
- John Berryman, Dream Song 136

STATISTICS through #84:

Word usage:

  • 577 total
  • 365 (63%) literal
  • 194 (34%) implicit
  • 18 (3%) dropped
One should make his decisions within the space of seven breaths.
- Hagakure, The Book Of The Samurai