  Short Stories
This week: The Long and Short of IT Edited by: Legerdemain  
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The purpose of this newsletter is to help the Writing.com short story author hone their craft and improve their skills. Along with that I would like to inform, advocate, and create new, fresh ideas for the short story author. Write to me if you have an idea you would like presented.
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The Long and Short of IT
You know what IT is... Sure you do. IT is an idea. Some people have ideas all the time. Some people even write their ideas down. Some go so far as to write the idea, a plot line, character sketches and photos. Then there's some people who like to write but have no ideas. I know, there should be a charity campaign for those people. They walk around, unburdened by voices telling them they need to write. They have a neat conscience, sparkly clean and clear, with nothing but a grocery list and a reminder about their mother's upcoming birthday. I hate envy those people.
Unfortunately, many of you are like me. My mind is filled with ideas, scattered among the dust bunnies monsters, clamoring characters and half-baked ideas. I try to write them down, but something blew a fuse between the thoughts I had while sitting at a stoplight and saving them on my computer.
A good way for those neatnik brains to gather an idea, or for the messy basket brain to sort one out is to check out the contests being hosted in our community. I'll post a few down below but you can find them anytime by going to the left column navigation, clicking Things To Do & Read, and then choosing Contests. For a starter story idea, click Writing.Com Tools, then click  Writing Prompts.
Not everything will turn into a story, maybe just a great character sketch, but you will get something going, I promise. And if you get a story written, but perhaps not perfected, enter it in the contest and see what the judge has to say about it. A fresh set of eyes can be great help as you get started. And if the reviewers like your story, think about turning it into a chapter in your character's life. Maybe the story will exceed the contest word count limit, but keep writing, you might have a fantastic novel on your hands.
 Write On!
This month's question: Is your mind sparkling clear or a host for dust monsters?
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Excerpt: Every night she was admired but forgotten by every mind that passed her way. And given her species, that was a serious problem.
Have you ever wondered what happened to thoughts when you forgot them?
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#1980493 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: “There’s the easy way, and the hard way. The easy way’s got its consequences.”
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Excerpt: I put a finger to my lips and motioned for her to sit. My focus returned to the monitor screen, which showed the view from twenty-seven cameras placed at strategic locations through the facility. Five years of research, hours of over time, and astronomical amounts of money had been poured into this project.
Excerpt: He wasn't part of the family, yet the community associated him with our family: kind of like the bald eagle mascot suit worn at a Seahawks football game. Only, Arthur wasn't that cute. Arthur was, well, Arthur. He was a scruffy free spirit who hung around our house. Oh, but he didn't like everyone in our family. In fact, he loved Davey and barely put up with the rest of us.
Excerpt: He sat bolt upright and reached for the phone. "Tell me what's missing!" He clutched it with his shoulder while he rummaged through his side table for a pen and paper.
"The coffee pot," I choked out.
Excerpt: Always, I remained her cheerleader, her confidante, and, most importantly, her wardrobe consultant/stylist/dresser extraordinaire |
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This month's question: Is your mind sparkling clear or a host for dust monsters?
Last month's question: What do you with your unfinished work?
Quick-Quill replies: I have a file of my unfinished plots. Normally they are being worked on, however, I'm busy trying to edit my MS for publishing and they sit there waiting to see which one I pick up and finish. There is a romance I started here on line that got out of control and I had to cut the WC off to finish it for the WC limit. There is the Thriller I have taking up space in my port that is desperately seeking new life. An old novel I wrote from actual events has had some interest from a guy working on that old murder case. Until I get this MS ready for publishing I ignore their calls for attention.
Elfin Dragon-finally published tells: Since I write both stories and poetry I have a number of different ideas which I've written down and I'm not sure what they'll become. But I make sure and hang onto them in a file I've labeled either "Short Story Pieces" or "Poetry Pieces". Sometimes one will become the other and vice versa. But I definitely never get rid of them because I know I'll use them at some point and they become beautiful creations.
Alicia Ranea admits: Personally, I keep all my writing together, whether it's finished nor not. Most of the finished stories are just the skeletons of stories that just need some more padding before they're ready to head out in the world. Or they need tweaks. They are stored together in note books or folders or sometimes they are stored on my phone as a text massage (when you forget your pen and paper at home a text message is an awesome way to remember an idea). That is until I think they're ready to be copied and handed out to my family/friends to read and critique/spot mistakes.
The Run-on King PDG Member's method: I create a folder and drop it in along withe the original idea so I always know why I started it. I find that sometimes things need more time to cook in your mind, and then you get the rest of the story.
blue jellybaby says: Haha what an awesome analogy! I have lots of bananas hanging out with friends at the minute. They're still not quite ready but some of them have been stored in the freezer 
billwilcox has advice: To answer your question, I believe it is safe to say that even finished work is never really finished. I've edited stories until they were down to two words "THE END" and I'm still working on that one.  And as far as monkeys and bananas, what you need is a Honey Badger, it'll eat anything regardless of the color.
Jacqueline responds: Hello there thank you for your newsletter. I t made me laugh, as my bananas disappear before I have a change to have one. Okay my banana stories are stored in a file called short stories, some are finish to a point of needing to be read through,and some only have one sentence. I love banana bread so it might be time to revisit them.
dragonwoman sends: Put them in a UFO folder on my desktop and dip into them now and then for nostalgia or when need to write and have no new idea.
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Short Stories: May 07, 2014 Issue [#6308]
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