Shortest published story

[Munshie]

Is this the shortest published story ever?

And God said: DELETE line One to Aleph. LOAD. RUN.
And the Universe ceased to exist.
Then he pondered for a few aeons, sighed, and added: ERASE.
It never had existed.


Arthur C Clarke's siseneg is only 31 words long! Personally I really liked it when I read it in a collection of Clarke's short stories. (Sadly someone borrowed it and I have never laid eyes on it again.)

Does anyone know of anything shorter.

[JCamilo]

"When he awoke, the dinosaur was still there." by Augusto Monterroso is shorter.

[Munshie]

"When he awoke, the dinosaur was still there." by Augusto Monterroso is shorter.

Wow, that is short! (I presume some people might question whether it tells enough of a story.) Where and when was it published?

[Drkshadow03]

Nah. There are twitter zines that exist, which includes tons of stories much shorter. Such as this one (http://nanoism.net/).

[Calidore]

The following six-word story is often attributed to Hemingway, though that's questioned by others.

For sale: Baby shoes, never worn.

[Munshie]

The following six-word story is often attributed to Hemingway, though that's questioned by others.

For sale: Baby shoes, never worn.

Sorry but I don't see that as a story. Are we to take every ad to be a story?

[YesNo]

Nah. There are twitter zines that exist, which includes tons of stories much shorter. Such as this one (http://nanoism.net/).

Those nanoism stories are more interesting than haiku.

[Munshie]

Those nanoism stories are more interesting than haiku.

Give me haiku any day!

[YesNo]

Yes. There is a certain something about haiku that makes people want to write it. I'm not sure what that is, but even I get motivated once in a while. Here's a haiku I wrote many years ago and I guess I'm publishing it right now.


Haiku: Japanese
form that is unworthy of
the English language.

There are also threads of short stories on Lit Net limited to 50 and 100 words. Now that I see the nanoism stories, 50 words doesn't seem that severe of a constraint.

[Calidore]

Sorry but I don't see that as a story. Are we to take every ad to be a story?

Read it again with a different eye. It's not an ad, it tells a story in ad form.

Funny haiku, YesNo.

[YesNo]

Thanks, Calidore!

I just finished submitting a nanofiction to Nanoism. Now I'm sitting back waiting for the rejection.

[Pompey Bum]

Give me haiku any day!

O Brontosaurus!
You've had your day, like Doris:
Now you just bore us.

[YesNo]

That reminds me of Barney and Dora the Explorer.

[UlyssesE]

The following six-word story is often attributed to Hemingway, though that's questioned by others.

For sale: Baby shoes, never worn.

I came here to post this. This is one of my all time favorites.

[ennison]

Wedding dress for sale. Worn once by accident.

That probably doesn't qualify as it WAS an ad in a shop window in Inverness. But there is a story behind it.

In the dark he reached out for the matches. They were put into his hand.

That was a "story". Hmm. I guess there's fun in that sort of thing.

[YesNo]

The first story was pretty good, even if it was an ad. The second story needs more information about who put the matches there.

[Calidore]

Fredric Brown deliberately wrote the first two sentences of his short story "Knock" as a story by themselves:

The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door...

[Klasik]

Fredric Brown deliberately wrote the first two sentences of his short story "Knock" as a story by themselves:

The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door...

I remember someone mentioning that one and someone else saying there was an even shorter SF story: "That morning the sun rose in the west."

[YesNo]

I just finished submitting a nanofiction to Nanoism. Now I'm sitting back waiting for the rejection.

It got published!

http://nanoism.net/stories/667/

[Calidore]

Congratulations! I liked it.

[YesNo]

Thanks, Calidore!

Now to try something longer.

[Eiseabhal]

I liked it too. You have a good sense of humour.

[Lokasenna]

It got published!

http://nanoism.net/stories/667/

An excellent little titbit - congratulations!

[stlukesguild]

Wow, that is short! (I presume some people might question whether it tells enough of a story.) Where and when was it published?

Augusto Monterroso- The Complete Works and Other Stories.

A marvelous collection by the Guatemalan heir to/peer of J.L. Borges.

[YesNo]

An excellent little titbit - congratulations!

Thanks.

I almost forgot about this thread, but today I noticed Nicola Auckland's blog featuring weekly contests for the best six word story and remembered it. Her current prompt is "funny": https://nicolaauckland.com/2017/03/11/six-word-story-challenge-funny/ She also has an explanation of how to make such short stories: https://nicolaauckland.com/2016/09/12/how-to-write-the-best-six-word-stories/

[Danik 2016]

It got published!

http://nanoism.net/stories/667/

Congrats, Yes/No. I enjoyed mostly the biographical account of the author!:biggrin5:

[YesNo]

They limited the number of characters for that biography so I figured I best make it short and sweet.

[Danik 2016]

Another micro nano short story thread.