So, what exactly is a "drabble". I mean, the loose definition is any piece of writing, focusing on a piece of a scene, that is exactly 100 words long. But what is 100 words long and is not a drabble? In poetry, a fourteen line poem, ten syllables per line, with one of a couple particular rhyme schemes is a sonnet, is it not? Very traditional. Easy to memorize, since they were meant to be used as an address, orally, not read from a sheet of paper. I have seen poems entitled "sonnet" that had no particular rhyme scheme, no carefully crafted iambic pentameter, not even ten syllables per line, or fourteen lines in total. Why are they entitled sonnets? Because they are reactions to sonnets. Because they were written with the form and intention of a sonnet in mind. I mentioned the form of a drabble, but what is the intention of a drabble? The one whom I love said tonight that the purpose is to present a beautifully crafted image based on a story that is already recognizable, so that background information is unnecessary. It is not meant to tell a story. Does that mean that a story cannot be a series of beautifully crafted images? I have watched several anime series that do just that. It takes half the season to learn much of anything. Noir, for example. Long shots, beautiful music, repetition of the same memories in multiple episodes, and it doesn't go anywhere quickly, and any question it answers only spawns more. But then, might I create something in 100 word segments that is not images, that each one is, in fact, a plot element, moves the story forward? I admit that the "beautifully crafted" part may not always succeed. I am but a poor writer hacking out things in his head because it would explode if he did not. Like the sonnet that has the form but not the function of a sonnet, and might be called a dirge, or a ditty, or anything but a sonnet, my drabbles have the form but not the function of drabbles. Because it is the form that my story wants to present itself in. If I fail, it is not the story's fault. It is my fault. Stories are perfect and alive, like children that are perfect, even while you have to feed them and change their diapers and pay to educate them. The price of telling a story is putting up with where it wants to go, while still trying to guide it to be the best that it possibly can be. I sometimes feel a poor parent, that the stories would be better served by coming to another. But I am not ungrateful, no. I love my stories. All of them. No matter how much agony they cause me. I thank you for your suggestions. I will take them to mind in the same spirit in which they were given, to help make my stories come across better. But it still hurts when someone tells you your child is ugly, or would have been better as a girl, or should have been taught better manners. I think it's time for bed. Allow my stories more time to incubate, or whatever.