  Short Stories
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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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And the Oscar Goes To...
In a short story, using supporting characters can be tricky. Because you want to keep the focus of the story within the story arc, you have to be careful about giving secondary or supporting characters too much life. It's a delicate balance between keeping your reader's interest, and using your external characters to keep the story moving. Usually supporting characters don't create change in the story, the main characters do.
A static supporting character can be the doorman that holds the cab door open for your leading lady, or the gum-snapping teen taking tickets at the theater. Whatever their role, it's generally brief and remains in the background of the story. You don't need to give them too much background or attention. Your job as an author is to keep their personalities quietly shuttered and in the background while still giving them a motivation and desire of their own. Sometimes that's hard! In the middle of a story you can become enamored with your doorman and suddenly he's taking over the story line. If you're comfortable with veering off in a new direction, that's okay, if not...edit. During edit, ask yourself if this character enhances or distracts from the story or if a better-supported character can do the job.
Lastly, don't forget to exit your supporting cast. Leaving the pizza delivery guy standing on the doorstep waiting for a tip while your character continues dialog and rummages in her pocketbook is not only frustrating for the pizza guy, but for your reader. Write on!
This month's question: What is your most frustrating problem with secondary characters?
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Excerpt: That moment in time when she was ready to leap, when she had to patiently wait for the air to catch the sail of the glider just right, that was one of the moments she savored. There was just something about that space of time, balanced at the edge of forever, when it all came down to taking that step into nothingness where if the fates didn't align, she would be stepping into her own demise.
Excerpt: Saratoga, New Mexico is a big small town. It's the sort of place where one traffic light suffices for the three hundred odd residents living across sixty square acres. We have two eateries, a gas station, a school building, and a lot of empty space in between. Next door the barren New Mexico frontier stretches into the horizon.
The government likes it desolate because a local US military base uses for the desert for internal activities - usually violent experiments. To their credit, an alarm always goes off prior to any major activity. The base is the biggest employer for Saratogans, who mostly supply menial labor for relatively decent wages. I suppose the government presence is also why Saratoga is so scarcely populated and why people my age aim to get out after high school and never look back.
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Excerpt: Life's cycles are laced with irony. Before my daughter left home with a quest to wipe out all the mistakes of The Baby Boomers, she bought me a 12-week-old cattle dog. She satisfied her own insecurities of 'being alone' by putting herself in my place: a dog would be good for what she called replacement therapy. I didn't have the heart to scream, "Don't worry, darling, I earned this space in my life, and I'm looking forward to it." I also didn't mention how excited I was at my plans to transform her bedroom into an office. " Anyway, it's just me and my dog, Lucy.
Excerpt: "Ivan? He's one of our best agents. He's broken Russian codes, served as a translator, even gone in the field several times. The others?"
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Excerpt: "It looks," she smiled back at him, "as if you and your little playmate here were having a bit of an afternoon romp, you slipped up and asked the wrong thing, so she tied you up and would have killed you if I hadn't come in."
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The gameboards first special edition- a gift to a POW that allows escape
#1740994 by Amay  |
Excerpt: "I've never told anyone that story, you know. It just didn't seem right. Brittany, it was so horrible. Nobody should remember those days."
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Excerpt: Shieo struck swiftly and ferociously. The fish didn't have time to even realize what had happened before its head was crushed by a massive hand, instantaneous death. He preferred it that way, the way his mother had taught him. The hunt was to be enjoyed, the food to be savored, but the kill should always be merciful. Not all of his kind believed in such kindness, some of them enjoyed torturing their food before eating it; such primitive and cruel behavior was unconscionable.
Excerpt: One night at the dinner table, my daughter and her boyfriend started teasing me about my hair turning grey. The next evening while watching a television program, I took notice when an advertisement boasted its products ability to turn back the tide of time in a way uniquely, "Just for Men." Mulling over the possibility of dying my hair, another advertisement confirmed enhancement of my sex appeal was inevitable, if my hair colour reflected a youthful spirit, all of which grabbed me by the collar and pushed me over the edge. Taking a detour on the way home from work the next night, found me exiting the drug store with a suave bounce in my step. Deep within my coat pocket, the men's hair colour kit was hidden away, lest anyone observe my vanity.
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This month's question: What is your most frustrating problem with secondary characters?
Last month's question: What tips can you offer others for keeping your story simple?
Zeke answered: I've found that an ending unexpected twist works well.
johnny1209 replied: Good news letter. I agree that a good story will follow a path that is understandable, is backed up with good character development, good setting and back story and without excessive frills. I just judged a short story for my contest. The writer had eight paragraphs about a dinner that had no connection to the characters or the plot. It's like when I am white water rafting and the boat takes off and I have no power over it.
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Short Stories: November 20, 2012 Issue [#5378]
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