I began writing 55-word stories after an assignment in our Capstones course last year. I took the practice up again after a prompt from Dr. Jennifer Hartmark-Hill to write about our experiences in quarantine. A 55-word story is a reflective writing practice. The premise is simple enough yet requires focus and attention to important details.
Step One: Write for 3-5 minutes without stopping without worrying about the plot or point. Many good writing practices and exercises start with something like this—a free-write.
Step Two: Reduce what you’ve written down into a “story” of just 55 words. This is another mainstay of writing and editing. The first product is not the final product.
Writing unfettered has an expansive feel. Something I’ve missed. You can write about anything, and that feels like freedom. Choosing the most important words helps me clarify the essence of a moment, most of my stories have been moments—small pieces of time. It’s hard to express more than a sliver in that many words.
It’s soothing. Like standing up for something you believe in. Saying this is important and feeling something click as if the universe is answering, Yes, it is important. Even when I begin a story thinking I’m just writing about the plants in my yard, I am often surprised at the abundant importances in my life.
Sometimes though, I feel like I’m wrestling a pile of slippery words, none saying what I think I mean. Those stories I leave for a time. Coming back fresh after a few days—sometimes weeks. I often find the difficulty has been softened with time. I’ve continued this practice and shared two recent ones below.
- Home. Is it the people or the place? Sometimes both but in two different states. My sister places a mug I like next to the coffee pot. I remember the abundance of water I grew up with. Rivers casually placed by the side of the road. The strong sweet smell of rain on the wind.
- My Arizona plants all withered except the peppers. Those sucked up the heat, growing their roots deep. Peppers and the cactus I frostbit last winter, still holding on. Those and the yucca, the agave, the bush I can’t name that needs to be tied back and trimmed every season because it takes over the walkway.
Charlotte Archuleta is a class of 2020 medical student at UACOM-P and a very happy Arizona transplant. She moved to Arizona in 2012 after graduating from UNC Chapel Hill with an English and Dramatic Arts degree. She also has a Master's degree in Physiology and Complementary and Alternative Medicine from Georgetown. She chose to pursue medicine because she loves learning. She is excited to bring this passion to her future health care career.