This week: Make It Relevant Edited by: Leger~  
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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.
This week's Short Story Editor
Leger~ |
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Make It Relevant
I'm going to talk about Peach Fuzz . Nope, not the kind on your face. This is the color of the year 2024 for designers. How is that relevant? Well, you'll be seeing this color coming out in high-end design in the next year, and in regular stores in following years. So if you're painting a bedroom, choose that color or a coordinating one so you'll be able to buy accessories to match for a while. For fun, you can create a swatch set from any photo at Design Seeds
You're thinking, how does this relate to the short story? If I say "Harvest Gold" to you, do you think of grandma's kitchen appliances? This fits into the Suburban Modern era of the 50's. Mojolica Green harkens to the Victorian era, the 1830's - 1910. Researching historical colors can help you paint a picture or a mood with very few words. Historic Colors at Sherwin Williams is a fun resource. There are more.
Yes, it takes a little time to confirm a color works within the story but these small details are what help paint a rich scene, one a reader can see very clearly in their mind. You don't have to be an interior designer to refine your word choices, just know where to research.
Color and Write On! 
This month's question: For historical writing, do you research the details? Send in your answer below!  Editors love feedback!
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February Site Contest
Genre Prompt for February 2024: Music (and/or) Sports
Excerpt: It took him less than a minute to decide what he would do with his unexpected freedom. Stopping by his room first to drop off his books and grab his knapsack and some snacks, Tobias fled the college grounds.
Excerpt: Scree's inner ear jangled. Life-holder was alive with sonar. Unfortunately, they came from no particular direction. Whoever the signal-sender was, they did not have any concept of control. Either that or were too frightened to care.
Excerpt: Sammy Masters was dead. Bullet in the head, dead. He was now rolled inside a fake Persian rug in the trunk of Nicky Tomasino’s Ford Taurus, and he was just starting to smell, which worried Nicky Tomasino to no end.
“We gotta make this quick,” he said.
Excerpt: That was all the internal conflict he could take. For that reason, he had to leave. Through the crowd he pushed to the old Ford F-100, yanking the door open, and falling into a pile in the driver's seat, starting to bellow like a little boy.
Excerpt: The story begins on a crisp autumn morning. Elias was assisting his father, a skilled carpenter, in their small workshop. As he worked, his mind wandered to the legends of celestial paths. He yearned to discover if such paths truly existed and, if so, how one might find them.
Excerpt: When I announced that I was going hiking in the wilderness of West Tasmania, people thought I was raving. “Why there?” they asked. “It’s all just bush and thick forest. You’ll get lost and fall off a cliff or something.”
“I have my reasons,” I said. “To me it sounds exactly the place to get away from it all.”
Excerpt: A train he didn’t want to board. A whole life spent dreading its arrival. Yet, here he was, at the end of himself. The last ticket tucked firmly against his breast.
“Dad, hey, Dad. Are you awake?” Georgia peered at him over the railings of his bed.
Unable to focus his thoughts, he stared blankly at his daughter. If only he could tell her how much he loved her. How proud he was of her. She would want to hear that, for sure. He’d never been one for giving praise, and even though Georgia had desperately needed to hear those words, he remained silent. And now, it was too late.
Excerpt: A cool October wind whipped Patrick’s face as he walked the familiar route to Amanda’s dorm. His steps were a map in his head: right at the green fountain, left past the gym block, then the first girls’ building on the right.
Standing outside the dimly lit window, he could see Amanda sitting on the couch, her golden hair falling around her shoulders, making her ethereal.
Excerpt: Howard Carter blinked. The tomb was filled with gold. Gold, Gold, and ,more Gold. It was casting a glow on the faces of his assistants, Campbell and Anwar.
Actually, it might have been more than the light which was making their faces glow. Campbell was eagerly counting the artifacts he found. "A statue for me. A statue for you. A gold piece for me. . ."
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This month's question: For historical writing, do you research the details? Send in your answer below! Editors love feedback!
Last month's "Short Stories Newsletter (January 31, 2024)" question: What little tricks do you use to remember something?
Osirantinous  : Thanks for including "The LGBT Writing Contest" , Leger!! As to tricks for remembering things - for general things (rubbish day, dentist, you know--excitign stuff) I actually a small whiteboard by my front door. Because I pass it on my way out, it makes for a great way of reminding me of things to do. Yet.... I'll still walk 20 steps from one end of the house to the other and totally not remember just why I was doing so. Words.... I'm doing things like Wordle and Connections and games like that which, aside from remembering they're US spelling and things, does help increase your vocab and word associations. Could be good, though, when you learn a new word remember a synonym for it too. That way when you forget the 'main' one, you've got the backup (hopefully!)
Mousewitch  : keeping notes (but I lose the little scraps of paper I jot them on)
StoneHeart  : I have utterly no idea, I just seem to be able to remember the plot and each character's arc... Don't ask how I haven't a damn clue.
Loyd Gardner  : Turn back the clock twenty years. The present elder version of me can't remember whether or not I'm wearing a wristwatch.
Dad : I have a very effective, efficient and very simple method for remembering things. I wish I remembered it! 
kimauge : something different than normal.
Bianca  : Use the Writing.com notepad. I always forget the code for the countdown timer.
deemac  : My remembering device is called a wife.
Tannus : Since I am getting older, I keep a notebook and write things down. Sometimes I don't remember to write things down.
Dave : Notebooks in my shirt pocket, beside my bed, in my car.
ThereIwas68 : I snap my fingers to help me remember (right?) but really it's to save my place in the conversation while I try to remember that word.
Humble Poet PNG  : I have many little tricks to help me remember things, but I can't think of any right now.
On the advice of a fellow WdC member, I've started using a new strategy when I can't think of a word. I just say, "I don't remember the English word." That way, the person I'm talking to will think I'm bi-lingual rather than an idiot.
Paul  : I make up stories that involve what I need to remember such as when I go to the grocery store after milk, eggs and vegetables I picture myself entering the store having a cow and chicken throwing the vegetables I want at me. A technique I learned from a stage performer who worked the audience and could remember all their names.
markmore : If what I’m trying to remember is important I say it out loud. Then write It down by hand. Then read it to myself. Other wise I’m guessing like everybody else.
Moonstone : I like to think I can remember things quite easily, but I'd be lying to myself. In reality, if my brain deems something "unworthy" of being remembered, it will be forgotten within a minute. Like dreams, or what I had for breakfast this morning. Other times, my brain will remember the stupidest things at the randomest times, and I have no clue why. As for memorization techniques, I can proudly say I know 100 digits of pi and 100 elements of the periodic table due to my nerdiness and song memorization in middle school.
Thanks for all the tips and tricks you submitted. Hopefully, I'll remember a few  Leger~
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Short Stories: February 28, 2024 Issue [#12440]
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