  Short Stories
This week: Get Cookin'! 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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Whatcha Cookin'?
A short story is like a recipe, you have to follow a general set of rules to make it work. Some recipes allow you to put your own twist on them, but others need exact measurements to work. Like souffles, if you don't follow those rules, you just get a big eggy pancake. Even beef ribs have to be treated with care or they end up big chew-sticks for the dog.
Part of the short story recipe is characters. Good characters can drive a plot in the right direction. A main character has to be 3-D, show the plot problem, and the desire to overcome the problem. The characters are the base part of the recipe, once you create them, don't tinker too much. The next part is setting. The setting is like the pan you cook in. Your setting should be interesting, surround the story, and keep it moving in the right direction. Then there is plot. Plot has to have internal or external conflict and a climax. That's the part of solving a recipe, if the cake doesn't rise, solve the problem. The point of view is like an oven, it has to be steady and reliable. No jumping from head to head, going from the bakery to the barbecue. Stay with a point of view, whether omniscient p.o.v, first person narrator, or a detached observer narration.
Last is theme. A theme is an overall idea or moral that evolves though the conflict experienced by the main character. Using imagery can help, death / birth, light / dark, or space, time and seasons. Try not to mix your theme. It will taste like tapas appetizers, teriyaki chicken and tiramisu for dessert. Now that I've made you hungry, put on your toque blanche and get cookin'!
This month's question: Do you follow a formula for your short stories?
Send in your reply below!  |
Excerpt: "Kate Batts. She purchased slaves from John Bell and felt he overcharged her. She stayed angry with him ever since. But, before all that happened, they dated for a while. Thinking she was going to get married soon, she put together a dowry. But John up and married somebody else and Kate became the laughingstock of the whole town. That didn't go over too well either! When she passed away under unexplained circumstances..."
| |  | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1410605 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: As suddenly as light floods a darkened room with the flick of a switch, the feeling left him. It happened when he heard the scream. Although, he was not certain he heard anything at all above the roar of the wind and the pounding of the waves against the sides of the precipice. But, the scream occurred twice. At the second scream, he was concentrating to hear it; there was no doubt about it, someone screamed.
Excerpt: I turn away. I don't want to see the next message I know is flashing on the bright screen.
Excerpt: "Cut it out," Dana said. The blast stopped and one of Odin's articulated arms whirred softly, curling away behind her chair. Resorting to the fastest and most uncomfortable method to wake her, apart from his high pressure water hose, she felt her on-board had some explaining to do. "What the hell is so important?"
| |  | Stranded (E)
Flash fiction entry which has over 4000 words - oops!
#1568138 by Tadpole1  |
Excerpt: Finally, it occurred to me that the berries could not have simply fallen, on what appeared to be a path, by accident. Someone was baiting me, and it was working. My physical needs had surpassed my prudence. Standing and surveying my surroundings for the first time, I wondered if I was in danger. Normally, I did not consider myself foolish, but this time, the thought crossed my mind that I should have been more careful.
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1718621 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Today, the longest in my professional career, drew blood every minute. Why were people so stupid? For more than a year, warnings of the crash headlined newspapers like a Geiger counter over a piece of yellow cake. I bailed out three months ago with minimal loss, but my friend Bert refused to sell his diminishing portfolio like a blind man needing his white cane. Fool.
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1767413 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: That's when I saw them. There were three pieces of broccoli half hidden and lurking beneath the noodles, carrots and zucchini. I screamed and quickly ran to the sink. So as to not waste time, I grabbed a used silicon spatula from a plate on the counter top and quickly flipped the largest piece into the disposal.
Excerpt: As I come down the stairs and through the dimly-lit living room, I don't make eye contact with the Giant. He's sitting in his favorite Lazy-Boy chair. It's his chair, and no one else is allowed to sit in it. He has all his favorite things around it, like his Pioneer Press crosswords, his peanuts in the little blue can, with the peanut man, Planter's Cheeseballs, and lots of other little items you're not suppose to touch, except if you're dusting, then you need to put them back as they were.
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1735797 by Not Available. |
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This month's question: Do you follow a formula for your short stories?
Last month's question: Has a character you invented inspired more than one story?
dmack  replied: You ask, Has a character you invented inspired more than one story? I have had several, but the one that stands out for me is Daniel Mason. The first piece I wrote was actually his funeral. Now I have four pieces in my folder titled "Daniel Mason" [E]. I hope some day to tie the stories together into one long story. Please check them out and let me know what you think.
BIG BAD WOLF is Merry  answered: Short answer- Yes, Zena has made plenty of stories. Long answer- Zena! Stop stealing those jewels! Zena! Stop fighting with all of those outlaws! Zena! Stop taking all of the women! Zena! The museum called- return the painting! Zena! The neighbor said that you best fix his window! Zena!- she's always up to trouble. "Zena's Interview" [18+]
Nomar Knight tells: Yes, Kim, I've had a several characters inspire short stories, novellas, and novel length works. It's always fun to revisit these characters. Thanks for the great advice. It is easy to forget little details about a character, especially if you regularly write about other protagonists. Write on, indeed!
J. A. Buxton  says: Yes, many of them have. One in particular, Julius Orange, was so much fun to originally write about that I wrote a second story for him. I may return to let him and his off-world friends have more adventures in the future. "Invalid Item"
Arwen9 sends: Oh yes. Both my current WIPs were inspired by previous characters. Not just as a continuation of their stories, but as a way to explore a few secondary characters that needed their stories told too.
hvysmker submits: Has a character you invented inspired more than one story?
Very often. I have many series going. They all started as individual shorts:
Two hard-boiled detectives in what you call a "Noir" style, as well as an unrepentant criminal in the same style.
I have an Alice in Wonderland series. She started as a 300 word challenge.
A good demon banished to earth started as a contest entry.
A comic western hero I have put together into a novel.
A criminal from the slums of Chicago during WWII. He uses mob training to survive as a prisoner in Nazi Germany. He's not a very nice guy.
My Oscar Rat character has many stories. His sub-dir. has 352 files in it, not that they're all unique stories.
There are many more characters that I've left open-ended.
I've tried several times to profile characters in advance but finally given up. They seem to develop themselves as the story progresses. I find it easier to simply go back and rewrite later. |
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Short Stories: March 14, 2012 Issue [#4928]
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