How To Write A Fib.

Maybe you're wondering about my title. You're probably thinking: I'm already an expert, I'm fibbing all the time. But I'm not talking about a fib meaning "a trivial and harmless lie". I'm talking about a very new, simple but hot form of poetry that you may or may not have heard of. It's related to the ancient art of Japanese haiku (or senryu) in that it is short and has a strict syllable distribution.

'Fib' is short for 'fibonacci poem'. As you'll probably know, the basic Japanese haiku has three lines with five, seven and five syllables, making a grand total of seventeen syllables (or less in Western interpretations of haikus).

WARNING: IF YOU HATE MATHS, SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH!
If you're into maths you'll immediately grasp the numerical beauty of the Japanese haiku. Because five, seven and seventeen are all prime numbers. A fib has a similar numerical beauty, but it's not based on prime numbers. Instead the number of syllables in every line of a fib is based on the so-called Fibonacci sequence. The Fibonacci sequence is a simple mathematical concept : each number in the sequence is the sum of the two previous numbers.

Although nice to know, it's not important to understand any of the mathematical background. The only thing you need to know if you want to write a fib is that the Fibonacci sequence starts as follows:
0
1
1
2
3
5
8
13
21

Etcetera... the sequence can be extended into infinity. But since we are going to use these numbers for the numbers of syllables in our poem, we usually don't need to go any further. Fibs with more than seven lines are very rare. Because if you use more then seven lines, the number of syllables per line becomes very large very quickly. On the other hand: if you want a challenge, try it. Another challenge would be to use the Fibonacci sequence for example for the number of words on each line. There are many possible variations you could sink your teeth into.

The most common form of a fib however has six lines, with the following number of syllables on each line:
1
1
2
3
5
8

If you look at the Fibonacci sequence again, you'll see that strictly speaking, these six lines should be preceded by a line with 0 (zero) syllables. Of course on paper such a line with zero syllables is just a blank line with maybe a full stop or a comma. So it's hardly visible. Some people leave it out completely. But some purists are adamant that it belongs to the fib. This means that when you read a fib aloud, this zero syllable line is interpreted as a moment of silence. Sweet!

A simple example of a fib could be:
.
I
Like
Surfing
To the site
Literotica
Because I have a dirty mind.

You can immediately see the resemblance with a haiku/senryu. But what makes a fib so special is the fact that it seems to grow in a natural fashion from one small nucleus that's almost unnoticeable into an ever bigger and stronger organism. This is especially the case if you read it out loud. That organic growth is no coincidence. Because as it turns out many organisms and populations in nature grow according to the Fibonacci sequence. Shells and sunflowers for example grow spirally outward according to this sequence.

The fib has been described as early as 1974. But since 2006 fibs are really starting to take off, especially on the net. I think its organically growing rhythm should lend itself very well to erotic poetry. It can seem to start very slow and sensuous, ever gaining momentum, until that climax at the end. It did remind me of the noises my girlfriend made the other night.

.
Yes.
Come.
Fuck me.
Deep inside.
Faster now, baby .
Holy mother of God, that's good.


Okay, I admit: that wasn't an exact transcription. But I didn't have to change a whole lot to make it fit into the Fibonacci syllable sequence.

The fib is also ideal if you want to create mystery, because the first few lines have so little syllables that they cannot contain very much information. They serve perfectly as teasers or to set a mood. You can also create contrast in the same way as is usually done in a haiku. You can set people up to expect one thing and then surprise them by flying off into a completely different direction at the end. For example:

.
Fish.
Net.
Stockings.
Stranglehold.
Look through the keyhole.
See the mayor on his day off.

When reading a fib out loud, getting the rhythm right so the poem flows naturally is difficult. It takes practice. I usually read the first lines in a slower rhythm than the last line. However, changing the rhythm so much that all six lines last exactly the same amount of time doesn't work, because the last line has eight times the syllables the first line had. So the last line would then require a rhythm eight times faster. If you really do that then either you have to rush the last line in tongue tripping speed or you have to read the first two lines so slowly that your audience starts to yawn. However, I do like it if a fib starts out in a slow rhythm and picks up speed towards the end.

Because the fib is still a very young form, the conventions on how to write and read a fib haven't fully developed yet. So everybody who gets into fibs can still make a difference and put his personal stamp on the form for years to come. It seems that currently most fibs are written by people with a science background. That's great. But I'd love to see more poets with a literary background get into fibs as well so the development of this new form gets a broader base.