Publishers of 100 word stories in Yellowknife calling for local submissions

Free stories about hard drugs, nice legs and a mom-run Ponzi scheme are available across Yellowknife as part of a free publication run by two local writers. 

Just shy of 200 copies of the zine, 2 Dozen 100 Word Stories, were printed and are now available at outdoor library boxes throughout the city. 

Stories of any genre could be submitted, but all had to adhere to a max of 110 words.

The publisher of the short independent magazine is Collective Nouns, led by Sarah Swan and Mike Mitchell. 

Swan said the project originates from a love of writing, but the prompt given to writers came after Mitchell saw a 100 word story writing challenge circulating on social media.   

"The best ones seem to have some sort of little prick or little electric shock or jab or twist or something in it that makes the reader sit up a little tighter," Mitchell told Loren McGinnis, host of CBC's The Trailbreaker.

Swan said the most challenging aspect of task is also what's makes it the most fun for writers. 

"You end up weighing and calibrating your word choices and striking out 'the's' and 'a's,'" she said.  

The first issue only included stories written by Swan and Mitchell, but the next will have a collection of 13 submitted works.

Swan said people shouldn't get discouraged if they don't like their first draft. 

"We wrote several duds, trust me, before we got going, there's lots of 100 word stories that just didn't work," Swan said. 

However, Mitchell said readers can expect some impressive stories in the upcoming issue. 

"Like there's been some that have made me feel like 'Wow I should stop writing,'" he said with a laugh.  

Anyone interested in submitting a piece can email mitchemma@yahoo.com or lilrickshaw@hotmail.com by Sept. 16.