This week: The Controversial Oxford Comma Edited by: Shannon  
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Welcome to the Short Stories Newsletter. I am Shannon and I'm your editor this week.
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"I loathe excess, but the consistent use of the Oxford comma actually makes language — reading and writing — so much easier to comprehend, and that's why I love it!" ~ Robert Lee Brewer
Google describes the Oxford comma as "a punctuation mark that appears in a series of three or more terms, right after the second to last item and before the coordinating conjunction. The conjunction is usually 'and,' 'or,' or 'nor.' The purpose of the Oxford comma is to avoid confusion or ambiguity in a sentence."
Is the Oxford comma necessary?
While its use primarily boils down to personal preference, writers have firm opinions about this topic. I am team Oxford comma, and I present my case for your consideration by writing two variations of the same sentence below:
I dedicate this short story to my parents, Truman Capote and Flannery O'Connor.
I dedicate this short story to my parents, Truman Capote, and Flannery O'Connor.
Subtle style change, huge difference in meaning.
How about this one:
We talked about her ex-lovers, Kid Rock and the starting lineup of the San Francisco 49ers.
We talked about her ex-lovers, Kid Rock, and the starting lineup of the San Francisco 49ers.
You get the idea.
Love it or hate it, the Oxford comma, also known as the serial comma, serves to clarify meaning for the reader.
Have you written a story you'd like to share with the WDC community? Every registered author who shares their ideas and/or creative endeavors relating to or inspired by this week's topic will receive an exclusive "Writing" trinket. The image used to make this month's trinket was created by yours truly. I will retire this month's limited-edition trinket in September when my next short stories newsletter goes live.
"I love that this tiny little punctuation mark is the perfect symbol of just how creative, unruly, and inconsistent language can be. I love that it exemplifies how grammar is not simply a set of rules that one follows, but instead is comprised of endless decisions a writer can make, depending on purpose, audience, and genre. I just love that a comma can be so controversial." ~ Beth Moore
Thank you for reading.
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I hope you enjoy this week's featured selections. I occasionally feature static items by members who are no longer with us; some have passed away while others simply aren't active members. Their absence doesn't render their work any less relevant, and if it fits the week's topic I will include it.
Thank you, and have a great week!
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Suffering from writer's block, Aaron experiences a bizarre trip into truth and fiction.
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The following is in response to "The Bell Jar" :
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W.D.Wilcox  writes: It was very kind of you to feature my story "Possession" in your June newsletter.
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Jeff  writes: I don't write horror much anymore, but I explored a lot of mental illness and psychological disorders as motivation for the characters in my stories. Those motivations can sometimes be more compelling (and more terrifying) than the creepiest of supernatural, paranormal, or metaphysical causes.
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Santeven Quokklaus  writes: I am somewhat nervous about including definite mental illness. I suffer from depression, PTSD and some social anxiety (I hate being in crowds, though have no trouble performing in front of them, for example), but find it really difficult to write about them. My own experiences are so cliched that if I put them onto paper, it would seem I was just spouting what had come before. Perpetuating the stereotype, I guess.
As a former teacher of those on the autism spectrum, I have tried to write about that, but struggled to not make it seem condescending.
So, apart from some depressive characters, I have not successfully included a character who would be on the DSM in a story. Then again, some entries in the DSM-5 I find to be "problematic" and so... yeah.
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SAD Holiday Potato writes: Liked the newsletter. I'd like to share a few comments. One documentary I like about Schizophrenia is A Beautiful Mind. It portrays the life and struggles of mathematician John Nash. He suffered from the disease his whole life but was able to come up with the formulas that are the foundation of modern Game Theory.
Suffering from PSTD is difficult, especially when you have nightmares and scream in your sleep. Also, never tell your college roommate you're suffering from this. They can become afraid you're going to hurt them even if you don't have a history of violence.
There is a stigma in society and literature that people with mental illness are all malevolent, dangerous, or at the very best defective. There are a lot of stereotypes. I hope if I ever make a protagonist with a mental illness that I can make a sensitive portrayal that I find lacking in a lot of portrayals of mental illness by the media.
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mike-dk writes: Two points about this newsletter.
1. Writers should be cautious when writing about mental illness. It is too easy to go with stereotypes and improperly characterize the condition. As an example, as a veteran, I dislike that veterans in TV and books are automatically assumed to have PTSD. This is a stereotype that has been propagated by writers that have never served.
2. In the introduction, you characterize LORD OF THE FLIES as an example of a book/movie about mental illness. This is incorrect. LORD OF THE FLIES is an allegory about human nature. I've used it several times as an introduction to a course on politics and literature.
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dragonwoman writes: My novel Bittersweet Goodbye is about what a soldier with PTSD does to his family. Upon his death, his wife decides to start over by burning down their vacation cottage.
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BIG BAD WOLF is Merry  writes: Most commonly, I tend to use something similar to PTSD, where the character saw someone that they cared about die in front of them, and they tend to relive those memories on occasion, or at least have nightmares involving them. A while back, I wrote a story called "Fox Hunt", where a veteran takes his young adult son deer hunting - he is troubled by memories of his wife's death. To make matters worse, the wife's killer is hunting them. Can the Veteran protect his son, and get justice for his wife?
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Jayngle Bells  writes: I've written several short stories & poems around mental health. Some were well-received, others not so much.
When it comes to Better Help, make sure to read the fine print. It's had some problems. So much so that several YouTube creators have stopped accepting sponsorships from them.
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Mara ♣ McBain  writes: Incredibly informative NL. Loved it! The heroine in my Why Not Wyoming series, Annie, suffers from Agoraphobia. She has panic attacks when she feels out of control. I started that series here with a contest entry "Make It Happen" and then "Old Glory" is about a Marine with PTSD trying to celebrate July 4th. Awesome topic, Shannon!
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Detective writes: I have not written a character with a mental illness, yet, but I'm not opposed to doing so. It's something that hasn't occurred yet among my characters. The challenge in writing a character with mental illness, at least to me, is to do it in such a way as to be respectful of the real people living with those illnesses.
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brom21 writes: As a person diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 16, I can tell you it is unlike anything I can describe. More than anything the word "fear" is applicable. I never had hallucinations, but I did have major delusions. It took many drug trials to get put on the one that finally took away all the symptoms. I thank God for it, and I have been fair-minded for over twenty years. My heart goes out to all those who still suffer like I did. I've never heard of FDIA before. All the signs fit the mold of a family member I have. This was a very enlightening NL. Thanks for this.
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Bikerider  writes: Excellent June 4th newsletter. I have favorited the links you provided, thank you.
I think PTSD is very prevalent among veterans who served in war zones, police officers, and firefighters. Having served in Vietnam and 21 years as a police officer, I can attest to the fact that more veterans and police officers, as well as firefighters, suffer from PTSD than are willing to admit. In the case of police officers, I remember a doctor telling me that most police officers who suffer from a mental illness keep it to themselves, thinking no one notices. (But they're fooling only themselves.) After all, he said, police officers believe they never need help, they provide help.
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sindbad  writes: Hi, Shannon. Bell jar is a compelling read for people struggling with mental affliction, but can't place the exact extent of his or her situation. This newsletter give a clear and simple idea with easy to understand words describing a rather complicated and taboo oriented subject. Great job indeed...sindbad
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Annette  writes: My father had schizophrenia. He was in and out of the hospital because of suicide attempts until the time he succeeded. When I was in nursing school, I had an eight week internship in a juvenile psych ward.
Both of these experiences have kept me from portraying mental illness in my fiction. In one of her book series, Cassandra Clare has an autistic character. She laid it on thick to describe his behaviors without ever mentioning autism. It got a little tedious to read at times because all of that clinical observation was in the way of the story.
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Once in Ryan David's City writes: The only thing I've written about mental health issues has been autobiographical. I was a little overweight as a teenage boy, and was forced to wear women's shapewear. (It's a long story.) It did mess me up a lot, and even now I can suffer flashbacks. Music of the period can be a strong trigger - the radio in the kitchen was always on in the mornings, and I could hear it up in my bedroom as I braced myself to pull on my panty girdle and get dressed for another long school day.
I always feel slightly guilty thinking about it as possible (C)PTSD as it seems so trivial in the grand scheme of things, but I do have some of the symptoms. If I ever decide to write any fictional work with a PTSD character, perhaps my own experiences may help make him/her more believable.
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Lilith🎄🦌Christmas Cheer  writes: Thank you for discussing this topic! Chances are we all have people in our lives who are affected by mental illness in some form. In many cases that someone is ourselves. The more this topic is discussed, the more people can hopefully be educated and empathetic.
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B↟uҽყҽ𐂂B↟itʐҽn  writes: This story is about a hoarder. I believe hoarding falls in the mental health category under obsessive-compulsive disorders. "The Descent"
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dogpack saving 4premium  writes: One word that I question is "normal." Somehow it has been defined and a line has been drawn, but who truly knows enough to say for certain exactly where this line should be placed? What if everyone used a wheelchair and only a few people walked? What if brilliant minds were normal and the rest of society was considered retarded? Lies eventually become truth if they are spoken or written enough, and generations before die off leaving the living with this lie. Are we spinning lies and believing them or are we mentally ill?
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Short Stories: July 31, 2024 Issue [#12661]
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