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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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The Symbol of Water
Last month I wrote about the symbol of fire. This month I'd like to cover another basic element, water. In writing, elements in description, scenes or plot can subliminally suggest an internal element. Water is a basic sustenance and nourishment; humans are 72% water and without it will die.
Rain showers or a spring can show a sign of baptism or a blessing. They are symbols of purity, chasteness, cleansing and new beginnings. A river can suggest birth or bring change. A meandering river shows calmness, tranquility and grace. A fast moving river can represent strength or impending calamity. A raging river or flood can create disastrous destruction and signal resurrection.
The ocean has power and strength. It is the primordial environment, a source of creation. The sound of waves can bring comfort or fear. Crashing waves are danger and destruction. Circular waves expanding from a tossed pebble or water drop can demonstrate an outward awareness or radiation toward others.
Puddles or damp footprints can show your character has missed something. An opportunity missed or a narrow escape from danger. A sign a recent change has occurred.
When writing or editing your story, think about the images you'd like to project within your plot. Do you want to foreshadow or create change? Do you want show purity? Water could be your answer.
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Excerpt: There was the beginning, and there was the first life. I was born even then from the ashes, inside the smoke-filled pit they called a cave.
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Excerpt: “But you’ve been dead for, what, over thirty years now?”
She cringed, almost imperceptibly. “Thirty? My-oh-my.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
This item has a companion, meet Grandma: "Invalid Item"
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#1620370 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Two small, callused hands dig into hard, arid ground. Blisters peel off each fingertip, the fresh blood staining the dirt red where the scrawny hands work.
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#1620472 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Down in the darkest depths of the Endless Sea resides a creature both granted with immense size and strength, power and talents. No one knew the origins of this beast: the upper body of a man if not covered in a slimming aqua membrane with four massive and muscled arms, the lower body of a very unique cross of mantis and fish, insect and water-dweller.
Excerpt: At last, as the lanes to the left and right took on the semblance of twin blurs, Jerry began to understand that this was not a random occurance. This was a mystical phenomenon, perhaps owing to a congruence of planets or stars or bottles of ketchup on Aisle Three.
Excerpt: He was a manitou, like myself. A spirit. Created by Gitchi Manitou, the Great Spirit, so they say, to live upon the Island. He was one of the first of his kind, at least in these parts, and so the Island pretty much belonged to him alone. Gitchi Manitou entrusted it to him, told him that he and the Island were intertwined--one would not live without the other. Such is the way of things with manitous.
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Excerpt: They race along the shoreline, their hooves pounding, their manes flailing in the breeze while the surf rages like chariots of old. This is freedom and it cannot be expressed in any other way.
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#1616114 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: She felt no pain, but the shock hit Tara like a blow. One moment she had been driving down the road, thinking about her bio test the next day and texting her best friend about plans for the weekend, and the next she found herself in total blackness.
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#1609987 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: "How could I commit such an error...how could I end up being with someone I knew would make me cry one day?” An SMS flashed on my mobile screen. I saved it; it was just one more of the thousands she'd text me right from the day we met, until now.
| | | Hunger (13+)
A carnivorous monster with insatiable hunger is locked in a room with a defenseless human.
#1453398 by JDMac  |
Excerpt: It’s all I can think about. All I’m capable of thinking about. Food. I must get food. They’re keeping me hungry. They’re keeping me hungry on purpose. Because they want me to eat. They want me to eat him. Eat him alive.
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This month's question: What other elements of water can we use in writing?
Last month's question: What symbols of fire have you used in your writing?
Catherine Hall : Thank you for explaining the symbolism of red fire and how to use it to hint at coming events. I also appreciate the excerpts from your recommended reads, so we can better decide which links to follow.
LJPC - the tortoise : Hi Leger! Thanks for bringing up the use of symbolism and metaphor. I tend to forget the devices that make writing interesting; I'm too busy getting the basics down. Thanks for the reminder!  Laura
emerin-liseli : This newsletter made me smile because I've been recently struggling with a flash fiction piece involving a phoenix. Great newsletter, and thanks for the cool information. Cheers, Em
StephBee  : Leger, fantastic inspiration this week with your use of fire! Two thumbs up! Steph
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Short Stories: November 25, 2009 Issue [#3402]
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