So, you want to write a drabble... a guide

[mhalachai]

How to write drabbles: an unofficial guide
So, you've a lurker on a drabble community and sort of want to join in the fun, but have no idea how to start. You've tried writing 100 words, but you think what you've written is crap/dull/disjointed. What are you going to do?

I've come up with some helpful tips that you might be able to use to drabble with the best of them.

To start, you need a fandom. Or even two, if you plan to cross. I've found that it's easier to begin drabbling your favorite characters, the ones you know best. Even now, there are some characters I just can't drabble because, quite frankly, I can't care enough. And if I don't care, the reader will be able to tell.

Now, as we're only writing 100 words, the scene you write will be necessarily short. A brief snapshot, if you will. Things that work well as drabbles include missing scenes, character introspection, jokes, and a two-person conversation (in person or over the phone).

I've found the easiest way to do these things is to get the scene in my head, then write it out, then after it's done to go back and cut. I find that once I know what I want to say, I can change the way I say it easier.

Maybe it might be useful to show you how I do a drabble:

First, I had to come up with an idea for my 100 words of solid gold. I knew I was going to be having Xander in it, as he's the challenge this week at tthdrabbles. I also knew it needed to be a crossover. But which crossover? I default thought of Anita Blake, as she's my main fandom, but I couldn't come up with any good ideas. After a few false starts in other fandoms, I started thinking about what I've written in the past. Then I remembered I'd written a Xander/Merry Gentry thing a while back. Why not a follow-up to that? And you can do the same thing, a follow-up to a scene in canon, something you wish had been dealt with. A word of caution, if you want to drabble something in someone else's fic world, maybe ask first. Some people get pissy about it, and others would just like to know.

So, I have a Merry Gentry crossover to write. Here is my first go.

=====
Xander sat down beside Dawn at the outdoor cafe in Rome, sipping his cappuccino. Dawn looked up from her magazine.

"Any luck?"

Xander shook his head. "Buffy's still out."

Dawn shrugged. "No big." She turned a page, and squeaked.

"What?"

Dawn squealed again and pointed at the magazine. Xander turned it around. It was an article about the Unseelie princess, Meredith. "So?"

Dawn jabbed at the paper with her finger. "Are you even looking? That's her!"

Xander looked at the picture. It seemed familiar, but then Meredith was famous, right?

"The woman in the coffee shop in LA three years ago, remember?" Dawn hissed. "You called her Merry, but this was her!" She looked at the article. "Now she has to get pregnant to become queen."

"Dawn..."

"With five of them?" Dawn's eyebrows went up. "I wonder if it's all at once."
=====

Okay, it's a complete scene, but it's 144 words. Now I need to whittle away at the text, to try and keep the meaning. First of all, I may kill most of the opening line, and the stuff about Buffy. We're in Rome, with Xander and Dawn. Do we need the rest? No. Also, I may need to add words to fix what I'm taking out.

=====
Xander sat down beside Dawn at the outdoor cafe in Rome, sipping his cappuccino. Dawn looked up from her magazine.

"Any luck?"

Xander shook his head. "Buffy's still out."

Dawn shrugged. "No big." Dawn turned a page in her magazine, and squeaked.

"What?"

Dawn squealed again and pointed at the magazine. Xander turned it around looked. It was an article about the American Unseelie princess, Meredith. "So?"

Dawn jabbed at the page with her finger. "Are you even looking? That's her!"

Xander looked at the picture again. It seemed familiar, but then Princess Meredith was famous, right?

"That woman in the coffee shop in LA three years ago, remember?" Dawn hissed. "You called her Merry, but this was her!" She looked at the article. "Now she has to get pregnant to become queen."

"Dawn..."

"With five of them?" Dawn's eyebrows went up. "I wonder if it's all at once."
=====

Okay, down to 117 words. Time to get all contract-y and to mush sentences together. When I'm done, it will look like this:

=====
Xander sat beside Dawn in a Rome cafe. Dawn turned a page in her magazine, and squeaked.

"What?" Xander asked.

Dawn pointed at an article about the Unseelie princess, Meredith.

"So?"

"Are you looking?" Dawn demanded "That's her!"

Xander looked at the familiar picture again, but then, Princess Meredith was famous, right?

"That woman in the coffee shop in LA three years ago, remember?" Dawn hissed. "You called her Merry, but this was totally her!" She looked at the article. "To marry, she needs to get pregnant."

"Dawn..."

"With five of her guards?" Dawn blushed. "Is it all at once?"
=====

I added a few things, making minor changes. I realized that I needed to attribute Xander's comments at the top, or risk making it appear as if Dawn was talking to herself. Also, having Dawn blush when she's wondering if someone that she once met is getting it on with five guys at once, is more in character than having her eyebrows go up. Faith might do that, or maybe Kennedy, but not our sweet Dawnie.

So it's 100 words. Now, I need to do is reread it to make sure that the scene is complete, my reader will not wonder what I'm on about, and then post it.

How other people make drabbles:
semirhage527 does things similar to me: "I actually do it pretty much the same way. Idea, write, cut, cut again, fix stuff and cut some more."

houses7177: "I think up a zinger end and beginning line to fit a particular character or scenario then backfill. I usually come in very close to 100 words."

She also says: "To me, the point of a drabble is to pack a punch. Think up your punch first, then how to deliver it. I also suggest people start by learning to write 200 worders first. I think that's what I did, and it helped learn the paring process. Once you've figured out the vitals, and shortcuts, then it makes writing the 100 real ones easier."

waterfall8484: "I get an idea, usually a setting, something I want to happen, or the opening line. Then I write the drabble, counting the words as I go along, usually every paragraph or so. When I'm done I may be anywhere from ninety-something to a hundred-something words, which is relatively easy to adjust to 100."


A few hints about drabbles:
--Contractions are one word. People talk in contractions. Yay!
--You don't necessarily need to attribute each line of dialogue, as long as it's clear who's talking.
--Too many people on screen adds words. One or two characters is enough to start with.
-A character thinking about something is easy: All you need to do is plunk him or her on the stage and have them think.
--If you need to set the stage but cannot fit it all in the drabble, use a note in the header, to say something like, "Xander and Dawn are in Rome after Sunnydale imploded, but the past can still catch up with them..." This gives your reader the time and place of the drabble, and saves you on words.
--And to repeat, drabble does mean 100 words. I'm just saying :P

Most important in all of this, is that it takes practice. Which means you need to start. It's all in good fun, and all of the drabbles communities I seen on LJ are friendly places. Have at it!

Love,
Mhalachai

Comments

[taligator.livejournal.com]

This is a great introduction to drabbling. I might have to take a peek at the community and see if I want to try my hand at writing them.

I've only done two drabbles for Stargate Atlantis but it was fun. I think drabbles are important to do because it teaches you how to write tight and write well.

Thanks

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

write tight and write we

Nail on head: direct hit! Exactly. And the thing about drabbles is you can't really get discouraged because it takes too long. 100 words. Yum yum.

[waterfall8484]

Hey - this is great! A really good idea... Would you mind posting it (or something like it) on abvh100 as well? I think it would be a great help.

Strange, though, I do drabbles very different from you. I get an idea, usually a setting, something I want to happen, or the opening line. Then I write the drabble, counting the words as I go along, usually every paragraph or so. When I'm done I may be anywhere from ninety-something to a hundred-something words, which is relatively easy to adjust to 100.

I wonder if there are more ways of doing it? (And I hope I didn't just say a lot of uninteresting stuff...)

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

*g* I was actually going to email you and see if we would put something like this up, or link to it, in the comm. I want those lurkers to participate, damn it!

Can I put your drabble method up in the post for everyone to see? As many ideas as possible.

[waterfall8484]

Sure, I kind of had that in mind when I said it (and I also like compairing methods and stuff, but you've probably realised that by now).

And ditto the lurker comment...

[houses7177.livejournal.com]

Please link this far and wide- some people desperately need to read it.

Interestingly enough, it's not the way I drabble. I dunno, I think up a zinger end and beginning line to fit a particular character or scenario then backfill. I usually come in very close to 100 words- but I'm not sure I did when I first started writing drabbles. I probably screwed up a lot more then.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

I'm probably going to see if anyone wants to link back, and I'm going to put it up on the abvh100 community. What prompted me to spend half an hour at work today doing this was that I'm now co-mod at the place, and no one's playing along* :( So I'm trying to get more of the lurkers involved.

DO you mind if I put your drabble method up in the post for everyone to see? A compare and contrast, as it were?

(*) exaggeration

[houses7177.livejournal.com]

Sure. And you can even fix the spelling mistakes! [eyeroll]

To me, the point of a drabble is to pack a punch. Think up your punch first, then how to deliver it. I also suggest people start by learning to write 200 worders first. I think that's what I did, and it helped learn the paring process. Once you've figured out the vitals, and shortcuts, then it makes writing the 100 real ones easier.

[semirose.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's fabulous. Do you mind if I link to it in the info on my new drabble community wicked100?

I actually do it pretty much the same way. Idea, write, cut, cut again, fix stuff and cut some more.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Go ahead. I'll be putting up another section this afternoon, but that won't make a change to you linking, I think.

[semirose.livejournal.com]

Awesome, thanks.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

k, I'm made the additions, so feel free to do whatever you like :)

[deepfishy.livejournal.com]

Cool. ithurtsmybrain just put up their new Pairing List That Ate Fandom, and your drabble post has got me twirling my pointy Evil Overlord mustachios and making speculative noises.

"Hmmmm!..." *twirl, twirl*
*false mustache falls off. surreptitiously reattaches, resumes twirling*

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

then my work here is done.

[deepfishy.livejournal.com]

Considering I don't even write fanfic, let alone drabbles, I'd say your work has gone above and beyond the call of duty.

And I don't know about you, but #230 - Hikaru Shindou (Hikaru no Go)/Arthur Dent (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)/Edward (Anita Blake novels) - has my brain hurting, even if it doesn't have to be pairings this time. I just wonder if anyone will write it, cos I'm having trouble wrapping my head around it...

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Hikaru Shindou (Hikaru no Go)/Arthur Dent (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)/Edward (Anita Blake novels)

*head go boom*