Can you tell a story in 100 words?

And more importantly…does it have to be any good?

Here’s a 100-word flash fiction I did on Tuesday for the prompt “For once, everything goes right.”

What day is it? I rub a tired eye. I’ve lost count…

This time, I catch the ketchup bottle before it hits the floor. I don’t even look. The waitress apologizes like before and I wave her off with a smile.

I hear the door open–the little bell jingles and the sound of traffic swells for a second.

Lily walks in–I know she does, but I don’t turn. I know how things end when I turn.

This time, I just wait. I mind my business. Drink my coffee…

I wait…

And when the sun comes up again, it’s finally tomorrow.

Now, you’re either thinking “Wow Lucy, what genius!” or “Wow Lucy, that made no sense!”

But either way, that’s not the point.

So…what is the point of writing little 100-word stories?

I’ve started writing one of these little babies every day, always with a different prompt than before. And you know what? It’s taught me a lot about self-applied pressure, and how there’s joy to be found in doing things for nobody.

The roadblocks we make for ourselves.

I write all the time. Every day, for long periods of time. It’s my job! Both fiction and non-fiction–writing fills my week, every week, pretty much all year.

And while writing used to be something I did in my free time, now it’s something I do for a reason. A purpose. And that’s great! But sometimes I miss doing the things I love the way I used to do them: just because I love them.

There’s a Billie Eilish song called “Getting Older,” and one of the lyrics is “The things I once enjoyed just keep me employed now.”

Boy, do I never want that to be my life! And yet, so often, Friday comes and I’m about ready to lose my mind because I’m a perfectionist–I spend all day writing and editing and managing things, only for my fleshy little brain to go, “Hey, no, that’s not good enough,” and then all the pleasure I once took in writing, reading, drawing–you name it–is drained away and I just feel like a creative-less husk.

I make a lot of roadblocks for myself, and then I drive straight into them.

And I know for a FACT that I am the ONLLYYY creative person to EVER deal with this. (That’s sarcasm, okay, put your torches and pitchforks down.)

But I was scrolling one day on Instagram (as you do) and I saw a post by an author I follow named J.B. Ryder. Now, I’ve never read his books and I’m not that familiar with what he does outside of Instagram, but I always appreciate the memes and things he posts there so all-in-all he was a familiar-ish face.

And he was posting about this flash fiction thing he’d written, with a very specific look to it in the formatting. This wasn’t the first time I’d seen him post about flash fiction that looked like this, so I did a little digging and learned that he made an app called SnipFic.

It’s sort of like Instagram, except it’s all just words. Stories! And only up to 100 words. You can scroll and scroll like on Reels, but now you’re actually reading and growing in a writer’s community made by writers for writers.

Cool, right? If you’re a writer you should totally check it out.

But my point is this: It opened a door for me.

Every day, there’s a new prompt. The word limit is always 100 words. That cuts down all the thinking for me, really–I don’t have to think of where to start, and I’m forced to wrap things up quickly. It removes the obstacles I make for myself.

And so I’ve had a whole week where I take a few minutes to just sit down, think, and challenge myself to write a small piece of flash fiction. To apply things I’ve been learning at school for two years into a little, simple, independant thing in my own time.

And it’s so refreshing.

But that’s not just because of the simplicity of it, and it’s not just the routine.

Who cares?

Exactly! Who cares! Who am I writing the flash fiction for? Who cares!

Sure, I got a couple of my friends to get the app and write with me. Some strangers even read my stuff, it seems.

But that’s not why I do it. I do it because I need an outlet–an outlet to be as angsty, cringy, meticulous, or boring as I feel like being.

It’s not for anybody but me.

There’s a real freedom in not doing things for an audience. And don’t get me wrong–it’s great to have a community. To have folks like you all reading this!

But when we do things, they can’t all be for somebody else. The only person we should “do all things unto” is the Lord.

When you don’t make it about pleasing people, impressing people, or even getting people to simply notice you, then there’s really no way to mess it up. All the roadblocks you make for yourself are stripped away, and you’re left with a simple, fun thing to enjoy. You can be real. Sometimes, when there’s no risk, that is the reward.

And I began to wonder how this can apply to other areas of my life–what else do I do that’s smothered in expectations? Where am I trying to please, impress, perform?

I used to be on the worship team at my church. I loved it, and it’s just a temporary hiatus while I’m finishing school, but I’ve noticed something interesting. Now that I’m not in that position of “professional worship,” I worship differently. I enjoy it more. I feel more in my natural element–I’m reminded in fun ways about my love for musical theater, ballet, and other musical things when I praise. I feel more connected.

And I think it’s because, whether I knew it or not, I put an expectation on myself whenever I worshiped on the team. I couldn’t get the idea of “I need to get this right” out of my head. But just like with SnipFic…I don’t need to “get it right.”

I just need to do it in faith. “In spirit and in truth,” right?

And just like with flash fiction, worship is something I can do every day in little ways. Does it really take so long to sit on the couch and take five minutes to tell the Lord you love him?

My question for you is this: Is there something that you’re doing for all the wrong reasons?

And I guess a follow up would be: What would happen if you stopped doing it for an audience?

Happy Friday, everyone!

I’ll see you next week!

And for all of you still hanging around, drop a comment saying hi and if you’ve ever tried your hand at flash fiction.