 Short Stories: May 16, 2012 Issue [#5040] |
  Short Stories
This week: I Object! 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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We are surrounded by story ideas everywhere we go, but we often fail to recognize their potential. Sometimes our muses need a helping hand, and sometimes that requires thinking outside the box.
I've heard writers say, "I sit at my computer for three hours every day whether I write anything or not." I agree with daily writing practice, but if you're sitting for three hours each day and not writing a single word, that's twenty-one hours every week that could be spent more productively.
Sometimes you need to take action to make inspiration happen. Here are a few suggestions to get those creative juices flowing:
 Attend a court proceeding
Sit in on a seminar that interests you
Buy a ticket to an event you've never attended before (horse race, boxing match, drag show, etc.)
Take a class at your local college
Volunteer at a homeless shelter
Take notes: write down what you see, hear, feel, taste, and smell, and be specific. Slow down. Pay attention. Be present in the moment. Observe. Let others do the talking. Practice active listening. Here are a few more ideas:
Take the bus to work for a week
Go to a church of a different faith
Buy your next coffee at the airport coffee shop and ask travelers where they're from and where they're going
Attend a political rally
Do a ride-along with the police department
Shake things up a bit. Step outside your comfort zone and see what happens ... and if something does happen, write about it!
Thank you for reading.
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I hope you enjoy this week's featured selections. Please remember to do the authors the courtesy of reviewing the ones you read. Thank you, and have a great week!
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The following is in response to "Short Stories Newsletter (April 25, 2012)" :
bertiebrite hoping for peace  says, "You are always able to write something I can tune into. So pertinent. I garner many of my stories from dreams. In fact, I have a list of those that I have not even been able to tackle as yet. My story The Darkened Corner sprang entirely from a dream that I still can recall weeks after I had it. It is a constant well-spring of imagination and once remembered can be a fertile area for more stories." Aw, thank you, Bertie! I love your description of dreams being "a constant well-spring of imagination and once remembered can be a fertile area for more stories," and I couldn't agree more. Thanks again!
Mara ♣ McBain  says, "Thanks for including Love of the Game in your NL. I really enjoyed reading how you came up with the opening of The Death of Tucker Ray! That was so vivid and when I read it not only did it make me grimace and my stomach roll ...*giggles* BUT ... as a writer I thought ..'Ohhh I've never heard that before!' Awesome job!!!" LOL. Thanks, Mara. I was so repulsed by the dream that it woke me out of a dead sleep. I may never eat shrimp again! 
Zeke  says, "I keep a small note pad and a pencil on my nightstand so I can make notes about my dreams." I think that is an excellent practice, Zeke. I can't tell you how many times I've had a dream that I knew would make an interesting story, but by failing to write it down was lost forever. Having had that happen a few times is all it took for me to start sleeping with a notepad on my bedside table. Thank you for reading and commenting!
Doug Rainbow says, "I am a member of a small minority here who believes that reviews should be for the primary benefit of the readership as opposed to the author of the piece. A number of positives flow from this perspective. Recapitulation is not a bad thing and even the author can benefit from the insight a good summary provides." I understand your point, and I agree to an extent. When someone recommends a book or story to me I may ask what it's about, but I don't want a play-by-play or a summary of everything that happens. When I read a review that reveals a story's plot, I'm left with absolutely no interest in reading the piece myself because, as B.B. King would say, "The thrill is gone." Here on WDC we have what I consider to be an often underutilized tool called the brief description (use this text box to your advantage. It provides you with a quick and easy way to immediately grab the readers' attention in 90 characters or less) that should suffice to pique the potential reader's interest. And on a more personal note, it's because a few wonderful WDC members took their time writing detailed reviews of my work that my writing has improved 1000% since becoming a member in 2006, and this significant improvement led to subsequent publication which is why I believe reviews should be for the writer, not the reader ... at least on this website. Reviews on Goodreads.com are obviously written for the reader, but WDC is a writing website. Of course this is just my personal opinion. Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts, Doug. 
st.ifa says, "This is great." Thanks! 
blunderbuss says, "On Dreams, this made me reflect on the fact that dreams are so topsy-turvy and do not conform to any kind of rules (Physics or otherwise) and that can be really creative, because it is so unexpected. At the time, those events in your dreams can seem perfectly rational. I don't so much remember what happened in my dreams but if it's a powerful one I can wake up with the emotion and it can stay with me all day. Perhaps I should record that emotion in all its aspects - could be useful." Yes! Writing down detailed descriptions of the emotion is very useful and will transport the reader into the story quickly. Thank you!
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