The man was heard saying, in answer to a question about how he was going, “Oh, not too bad. Busy writing. Mainly stories. In slightly over two months, done 250-odd stories. That’s four stories on average per day. Not anything in particular. Anything and everything. No, no, no. No plot. No characterisation. No denouement. No setting. No points of view. No conflicts. No tone. No theme. All eight essential elements completely ignored. Why not? Do we live according to those elements? Aren’t there enough rules in life to make it feel like a lifetime prison? No word limits. That is,…