A vignette is a short text that aims for something essential.
Essential?
Yes, essential, as in the essence of a moment, a mood, a scene, a character, a relationship, an encounter, an incident, a description, a sketch, a snapshot, an idea, a place or some combination thereof. And in doing so it leaves the reader with… something.
Something?
Yes, an emotion, a reaction, a mood, a bemusement, an insight, an impression, a smile… something.
Well, that’s rather vague, isn’t it? Does that mean that a vignette can be just about anything and everything as long as it’s a short text?
No, it can also be an audio or video recording.
Not helping. As text, how long is a vignette?
Most vignettes weigh in at under 1200 words—and we only accept submissions of up to that length—however there’s truly no set limit. After a certain length a text “wants” to become an essay, a short story, a memoir, even a novel. Whether that occurs after 500, 1000, 1200, 1500 or 2000 words, well, you just feel it. Beyond a certain length, another kind of genie has been let loose.
Having said that, a vignette can be a part of a larger work, for example, a passage, scene or section in an essay, short story, memoir or novel—the type of passage, scene or section that you find yourself wanting to reread before going forward. Whether part of something larger or not, the vignettes published in this journal can be read as stand-alone or self-contained works.
There’s a wholeness to vignettes that isn’t necessarily the wholeness of conflict-resolution as in a short story. A vignette generally does not explain or give much background, though that’s not a strict rule. A vignette can feel urgent without relying on high drama. A vignette can aim for essence quietly or brashly, urgently or subtly. A vignette can unfold slowly and directly or unravel in a head-spinning frenzy.
Whatever the approach, whether through a focus that is direct, indirect, circuitous, spiraling, subtle, etc., a vignette aims for something essential and finds it.
Do the vignettes that you publish have to take place in Paris?
No. You’ll find that many of the vignettes that we publish have a sense of place, however that place needn’t be Paris or elsewhere in France or even have a name. It could be anywhere: a city neighborhood, a village square, a café, a kitchen, a bedroom, a forest, a snow-covered field, a path to the beach, etc. While a vignette is typically character-driven, we use place as the French might use terroir in speaking about wine and food, meaning the complete set of factors and conditions that contribute to the distinctiveness of what’s produced there, or as an architect might use the term genius loci. Place (terroir, genius loci) is not the only element we are looking for, yet you will find in reading the work on The Paris Vignette that these vignettes are often rooted somewhere. You might say that the art form that we call “the Paris vignette” is a vignette with a sense of place. As we’ve noted throughout this page, there are few hard fast rules as to what comprises a vignette. We know one when we read (or hear or see) one.