  Short Stories
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This Short Stories newsletter is dedicated to readers and writers of short fiction, discussing what we write and why we write it. 
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Hello again! I'm Jay's debut novel is out now! , back again to edit for the Short Stories Newsletter.
This week I thought I would talk about a writing exercise that I've been experimenting with lately: the art of creating a vignette. In literary or theatrical terms, a vignette is essentially a scene. It is typically focused, with a singular viewpoint. A vignette generally lacks the plot structure of a straight short story with conflicts and resolutions but can be used to show character personalities, delve deeper into a setting, or any number of other applications.
While a vignette by itself is not a short story, it's certainly an avenue toward building more compelling scenes in your short stories. If you think about it, a short story is really just a series of related vignettes with an overarching plot line, conflict and resolution!
I like to use vignettes to experiment with various compositions-- setting, characters, all the little details. It's a way to test drive concepts and to play with descriptions. Sometimes a vignette will end up making it into a full blown story-- it all depends on the elements you include.
These are by no means an absolute list, but a few different types of vignettes I like to write:
A setting in the senses: Find a way to express the way that a particular setting looks, sounds, and smells. What objects are there? What textures does the scenery have? Is there food (and how does it taste)?
Dialogue-based exposition: Okay, so some of you know that I am a dialogue fiend. (I've actually been putting off doing an issue about dialogue...) but one of my favorite exercises, especially when I can't figure out how to "expose" some information within my story, is to use dialogue to showcase a point between two characters. I start off using only the dialogue, and then as the scene unfolds, I will go back in and write in the details surrounding the conversation.
Vignette-as-story: There are times when I don't have the full idea for a story fleshed out in my head, so what I do is write the parts that are fleshed out as a separate piece, and figure out what it goes with later on. I have made some surprising combinations by using details that I thought were going to be for a certain story, only to find they belonged somewhere else entirely! Usually this happens to me with bits about characters and settings.
What uses have you come up with for your vignettes?
That's all for this month!
Until next time, take care and Write on!
~j |
This month's picks are a pretty diverse assortment of old and new work from a variety of authors. Can you figure out why I picked each one?
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Feedback from "Make Me Care... About Your Character!" :
Stephanie  writes:
I took exception to your comment that primary characters need to be bold and that no one wants to read about "wimps." "Wimps "are people too, with stories of their own sometimes, and there's no reason a good author can't tell that story. The characters I've fallen in love with, both in my own writing and in what I've read, have been decidedly ordinary. It's the settings we, as writers, put them into, and their reactions to it, that make a story interesting.
I think you're looking for "situations" here, not "settings," but a situation alone doesn't make a character-- however, any good character will have SOME response to a situation! That's what I'm trying to say when I say don't write about "wimps." In the vernacular of the author I was quoting for this article, a "wimp" is basically a character who does *not* respond to a situation. As an example, he's the type of character who, when confronted with any kind of threat, sits back down and keeps watching TV while the other characters figure out what to do. And man, that guy is boring... hopefully that's not the kind of wimp you're thinking of! Don't think 'wimp' like 'underdog'-- that's totally different and acceptable.
Feedback from "Resolutions of the "Ending" Kind..." :
Smee  writes:
"Do you use prompts in your writing? Why or why not?"
I turn to prompts when I'm looking for a challenge, to be taken out of my comfort zone. A prompt gives me a direction, a restriction and often something I've never considered before. As such I have to break out of some of my usual habits and usually discover something new which helps me grow as a writer.
I can relate here! I think most of my best exploratory work has been through prompted writings of some sort.
Summer Day♥ writes:
Hi, thank you for writing this newsletter. It was very helpful. Oddly enough it sees the hardest part for me is actually beginning the book. Hopefully, I'll be able to just get to the end.
Summer
Glad I could help, Summer!
esprit writes:
J, thanks for including one of my quick flashes in this NL-I appreciate it. Good job on the NL and your comments in the feedback section make an excellent 'Tips' section on their own. Well done!
Aw thanks, esprit! It was my pleasure.
atwhatcost writes:
I love reading how other writers figure things out. Until last week, I couldn't imagine starting a story before knowing the ending, and then I had a vivid dream. I wrote it out, revamping it as dreams need to be, but came across that very problem. I wake up from dreams when they startle me, so I have a great climax, but no ending. I hoped writing it would give me the ending.
I might have to try that sometime! 
Will Dee writes:
The hardest part in writing a short story is transition and planning. I enjoy reading your article on the topic. It has given me a new approach to address my problem.
Glad I could help! Learning to plan takes practice, but it is so helpful you'll be glad you did.
Doug Rainbow writes:
People who expose themselves to various sights, sounds, smells, and textures write better stories. People who sense and experience different feelings -- joy, disappointment, pride, humility, even anger -- write better stories. Good people, people with solid moral judgment, write better stories. I resolve to be more aware, more feeling, and more moral.
A sound resolution, Doug!
cookie_writer writes:
Hi ~j Thanks for another fantastic NL and the advice on dialogue, will give it a go. I use prompts in my writing as it encourages me to stretch my mind and write about things I may not come up with myself.
Anytime! Best of luck with your dialogue. (I'll do a dialogue-centric NL soon, I promise. )
drifter46 writes:
An interesting letter. I learned a similar lesson from NaNo but that's not what this is about.
Do I use prompts? Well yes and no. If, by a prompt, you mean a written idea from someone, designed to get me to write about that specific thing, then I'd say, sometimes. More to the point however, I'd say yet in that prompts are all around me. It could be something I over heard or a person I saw or maybe a picture but if it gets my attention then I'll ask the all important "what if" question. It's amazing how many ideas pop into my head when I do that. All it takes is a little nudge and that question and away I go.
Why do I use them? Because I can. Sometimes it helps jump start the process. Sometimes I have nothing in mind so a prompt just works.
Couldn't have said it better myself! Thanks for the great comments.
Can't wait to hear from you and I look forward to writing another NL for you soon!  |
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Short Stories: February 09, 2011 Issue [#4230]
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