I like writing fiction: feat. two micro-stories

agj — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:39:55 +0000

I’m a very amateurish yet enthusiastic writer. I started when I was about 14 years old; back then it had not been too long since I had discovered anime through Ranma 1/2, which aired on TV here starting from around 1998, probably, so it also became the subject of my AltaVista searches of those days of my young Internet persona. This is how I discovered fanfics, which I first thought were official, alternative stories, but, I soon realized, were actually written by fans like me. I became fascinated by them, and they provided a good part of my learning of the English language. Eventually, I too became interested in writing them, which is a shameful admission in many circles; I got to completing around five (in Spanish,) most pretty short (what some call ‘one-shots,’) and even though they were not terribly good, the standard was so low for the literary genre in Spanish that at least one of my stories became rather well-known, which means that around ten individuals read it in total. I wouldn’t dare share those, though. Later, during my latter years in high school I got into an elective subject about creative writing, which was terribly mild but did get me writing a couple of things, though nothing noteworthy; and that subject marks the extent of my literary training.

The year before last I discovered Santiago en 100 Palabras (Santiago in 100 Words,) a literary competition of micro-stories of a hundred words or less, which had actually been going for a couple of years already; I just never learned of it because it’s main form of promotion was through the Metro’s (Santiago’s subway system) ad spaces, and I only took buses back then. Last year I was actually able to participate, by submitting two stories that I wrote the very day of the deadline, which was a terrible move. This year’s competition has already started, so I intend to take this chance to send better stories. Either way, here are the two from last year, for your perusal:

Regreso / Return

Sólo al detenerse el avión en la pista, mientras buscaba una lapicera en mi pecho, reparé en que había dejado olvidado el corazón.

Only after the plane had stopped, as I searched for a pen in my breast pocket, did I notice that I’d left my heart forgotten.

Un día / One day

Año espacial 20XX, un miércoles en Santiagópolis. Llego tarde porque, pasando por hiperplaza Neo-Italia, la microbot se detuvo a defender a la ciudad de una amenaza alienígena. El profesor de taller no oye excusas, me pone un uno en la tarea. Pero profe, cómo iba a saber que iba a haber una invasión.

Space year 20XX; it’s a Wednesday in Santiagopolis. I’m late because, passing by Neo-Italy Hypersquare, the robobus stopped to defend the city from an alien threat. The workshop’s teacher hears no excuses, grades me with a 1 in the assignment. But teach, how was I supposed to know that there was going to be an invasion.

Forgive the clumsy translation, though they’re not that much better in Spanish. I love writing such short stories because they’re quick and dirty and leave me a good opportunity to be meticulous: I’m a natural perfectionist, so I’m only ever happy with something if it’s been rid of every wrinkle. I should actually write more of these. Just now I found an incomplete one, which is pretty interesting (I’m wielding the perspective that over a year of distance rewards me with,) though it needs some cleaning up. I might post it later, as it’s a tad too long for the contest either way.

agj writes: » anime

I like writing fiction: feat. two micro-stories

Regreso / Return

Un día / One day