A minisaga is a short piece of writing containing exactly 50 words, plus a title of up to 15 words. However, the title requirement is not always enforced and sometimes eliminated altogether. Mini sagas are alternately known as microstories and ultra-shorts.
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Minisagas were invented by famed and influential science fiction writer Brian Aldiss while he was working on a massive, 3 volume novel. As an excerise, he tried to encapsulate all the essential elements of a story in exactly 50 words.[1]
For many years, the Daily Telegraph newspaper held an annual minisaga contest with cash prizes and the winning entries compiled into a printed book edited by Brian Aldiss.[2].
Most recently, mini sagas have been popularized by author Daniel H. Pink.
Minisagas are used in business, as an educational tool,[3] a creative outlet, and a source of entertainment. They are not poems, but rather "Bite sized lessons for life and business."[4] They are often used to stimulate creativity, stretch your thinking, determine the essential elements of a story, or enhance discipline in writing. They are often funny or surprising.
Below is an example by author Daniel H. Pink[5]:
When I was shot, fear seized me at first. No surprise that. But once I realized I wasn’t going to die – despite the thermonuclear pain and widening puddle of weirdly warm blood – my mind recalibrated. And one thought, comforting yet disturbing, leapt into my head: I need to Tweet this.
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