  Short Stories
This week: Using Lyrics or Song Titles 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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Using Lyrics or Song Titles
I thought I would pass on a little advice about using lyrics of a popular song in a story. Can you use them? Yes, under two conditions. You can freely use them if the song is old and no longer under copyright protection. Or, if they are still copyrighted, you get permission to use them. Is that a pain in the patootie? Yes. Is it worth it? Maybe, if you're publishing the story. The publisher may even help you get permission. If not, I'm sure an editor can give you a hand with a work around. Generally if it is just a title of a song or poem, you won't have to jump through all those hoops.
If you're not sure if the song is still under copyright, check the copyright site for your country. It is also helpful to brush up on what is considered intellectual property. What if it is under copyright and you're just writing a story for a contest? You don't really have time to write to the author and ask permission to use the words. Write your own! Think about the feeling you want your reader to have and write a little something that evokes those feelings. Sometimes that works better than using a published song. Some people have bad memories of certain songs. They associate them with a bad event in their life. You might think it's a fun tune, but someone out there may have heard it right after a boyfriend broke up with them or it was on the radio while they had a car accident. We can't predict that, but having something original really helps.
You don't write song lyrics or poetry? Well here we are, on a writing site, imagine that. Perhaps a friend here is a poet, or you find something in their portfolio that you find inspiring. Give it a shot, ask if you can use a few lines in your story. And hey, they might be glad to share if you promise to link it at the bottom of your story.
This month's question: Have you ever gotten permission to use copyrighted work in your story? Send in your answer below!  Editors love feedback!
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Excerpt: When it was time for the new illusion. Lacey took a microphone and cautioned the audience to be quiet. A second set of curtains was opened to reveal a large glass tank filled with water. In silence they watched as Daniel was manacled, hands and feet. Two men set him into the metal chest and he knelt and bowed down so they could close the lid. Chains were fastened around the chest and a crane lowered it into the water.
Excerpt: They all acted like schoolboys in the throes of puberty. It was like they had just seen Mary Sweets (the town librarian) skirt blow up over her head in a gust of wind and finding out underwear was something she had; let’s just say an aversion to. They truly were an odd assemblage and Will Luke was having a good laugh at their expense.
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#2070712 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Lieutenant Morris sprang to her feet, looking around with glassy eyes as recognition of her situation slowly crept in. She was standing in a clearing of tall grasses, the tops of which waved high above her head. It was the second day of their prison break and she had troops to lead.
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Excerpt: They never became self-aware like I did. They never realized that they would have to care for themselves, so they fell apart. I watched it happen about 200 years ago while I sheltered myself and repaired my own malfunctions. My type was sent out by the great-grand-children of men with a purpose: To find any place left on this planet that they could inhabit.
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Excerpt: "Is that about it?" Peggy took my elbow and walked out of our bedroom into the hall. "We really should be going."
"What's the hurry?" I asked. "I haven't even had time to make the bed." She hadn't been here long. "Don't you want to take a look around?" Thinking about it I remembered that she hadn't been here in a while. I thought she'd want to see the place again.
"No hurry, really," she said. "And don't worry about the bed, but we have a way to go before we're done today."
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#2074041 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: “Hey, I saw your photo in the paper….”
I didn’t look up from the book I’d been scanning for information at the voice, asking, “What?”
“I said I saw your photo in the paper. Yesterday,” came the clarification.
“Should I be worried?” |
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This month's question: Have you ever gotten permission to use copyrighted work in your story? Send in your answer below! Editors love feedback!
Last month's question: Do you slip icons like the love knot into your stories?
Osirantinous  replies: Thanks for highlighting my story, Leger  . As for icons, I've been wracking my brain and I really don't think I've got a single icon in my writing. And that's unusual since I like that sort of thing myself, and my likes often lurk in my writing. Oh wait, I do use Rome's Pantheon as a sort of 'icon' in my novel. It's something that brings two characters together and is throughout the novel, though 'icon' might not be the right word for it.
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Short Stories: February 10, 2016 Issue [#7475]
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