Thank you to SingLit Station and the Migrant Writers of Singapore for organizing last Saturday’s Introduction to Microfiction session. We had a full house of 21 writers — mostly poets who wanted to try their hand at narrative writing.
Why is it important for writers to learn how to craft microfiction?
Writing microfiction requires you to identify the essential elements of a story — protagonist, conflict, resolution — and to convey them effectively within a limited space. Moreover, the form forces you to be very concise and efficient with your words, as you need to make every word count. Lastly, writing within tight word limits can stimulate your creativity and provide opportunities for experimenting with different styles and techniques.
Victor Fernando R. Ocampo is the author of the International Rubery Book Award shortlisted The Infinite Library and Other Stories (Math Paper Press, 2017 ; US edition: Gaudy Boy, 2021) and Here be Dragons (Canvas Press, 2015), which won the Romeo Forbes Children’s Story Award in 2012. His play-by-email interactive fiction piece “The Book of Red Shadows” debuted at the Singapore Writers Festival in 2020.
His writing has appeared in many publications including Apex Magazine, Daily Science Fiction, Likhaan Journal, Strange Horizons, Philippines Graphic, Science Fiction World and The Quarterly Literature Review of Singapore, as well as anthologies like The Best New Singapore Short Stories, Fish Eats Lion: New Singaporean Speculative Fiction, LONTAR: The Journal of Southeast Asian Speculative Fiction, the Philippine Speculative Fiction series and Mapping New Stars: A Sourcebook on Philippine Speculative Fiction.
He is a fellow at the Milford Science Fiction Writers’ Conference (UK) and the Cinemalaya Ricky Lee Film Scriptwriting Workshop, as well as a Jalan Besar writer-in-residence at Sing Lit Station (2020/2021).
Visit his blog at vrocampo.com
View all posts by Victor Fernando R. Ocampo
The Infinite Library and Other Stories 