  Short Stories
This week: Birthday Week Edited by: Legerdemain  
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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.
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Birthday Week
Writing.com's birthday is fast approaching, with lots of new activities and contests. As a short story author, there is a lot of opportunity for entering contests and perhaps winning a prize. Some contests will involve a prompt, so how does a writer prepare for a prompted contest? Ideas.
If you're like me, you come up with more ideas than you have time to flesh out and write. I write them down. I take a little time to write an overall summary and then character or plot details that have already formed in my head. I admit, sometimes I go back to what I wrote, and the idea has completely flown from my head and I'm convinced another person wrote the notes. Others, the story pops right back and I can start the writing process. If you're a note taker, you have a great cache of story structure for contest entries.
Obviously, you'll have to gear your story to the prompt, but at least the main character and setting is there for you. Adding the details like a purple shoe to the story arc can be a bit tricky, you can't merely plop it in there, but the possibility is there. So I find it interesting when someone says they couldn't think of a story for a contest. I just need to find the time.
Also, remember if you're entering contests, to read the rules carefully, and make sure your item is accessible and participate in the forum. Stopping in to congratulate the winners is always a nice community detail. Write on!
This month's question: Do you cache story ideas? Do you use them for contests?
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This item number is not valid.
#2006301 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Something moved out of the corner of my eye, and I looked away from Stephen to the boat. The back deck lead up to a glass sliding door. I could see right through to the front deck, and aside from the built in furniture, it appeared empty. Yet I’d seen something move, I was sure of it. A chill touched the back of my neck that had nothing to do with standing wet in the shade.
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This item number is not valid.
#1951294 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: I looked around frantically. All these corridors and doorways – where did they lead? I couldn’t resist a quick glance at the time, and was shocked at how long it had already taken me. Oh dear, I was so late, so late. Oh dear, oh dear… I threw open one door after another, but didn’t recognise any of the rooms.
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This item number is not valid.
#2005954 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Before he finally threw me out of the family hovel, after I'd sold his dog to the local butcher, my father used to bore the pants off me with his mantra - Read the small print - the devil is in the detail.
Excerpt: From the doorstep of their house in the foothills, Raza and his son Raith watched the two armies face one another across the expanse of the Bloody Plains. The siege engines and armored forces of Abergast aligned themselves on the eastern side of the ancestral battleground, while a smaller faction of robed Priests of Zava faced them across the famed red grass. Upon first glance, one might think this were a horribly mismatched contest; several hundred unarmed clergymen and women against several thousand soldiers and their war machines. The thing was, though, Zavans weren't actually unarmed, and they technically weren't even priests. The residents of Zava were, in fact, each and every one of them casters, and the city had sent several hundred of its most powerful to take on their rival to the east.
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This item number is not valid.
#2005870 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Was that it? Yes, in the corner of her mind, a soft whisper echoed. Indecipherable, but there, nonetheless. Pushing all other thoughts from her mind, Maytish focused on one word: Valera.
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This item number is not valid.
#2006031 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Lorelei ignored him. He would say that about anything if it didn't involve a new ship. She couldn't afford that; she could barely get enough credit for one of these junkers. She expected Uehe to join in, since her mechanic nitpicked everything about the current shuttle, but he remained silent.
Excerpt: We are firm believers that far too many writers dwell so much on the grammatical portion of their writing, they stop the creative juices from spilling out of their fingers. A good writer does not stop to correct mistakes along the way. A good writer WRITES until they have extracted every bit of juice from their creative selves. Only then, does a good writer stop to edit.
Keeping that in mind, this daily contest will get your creative mind to write, write, write! How? You won't have TIME to correct. :) The judging will be based on how well you followed the prompt and how creative you were with it, not just on how well you write.
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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This month's question: Do you cache story ideas? Do you use them for contests?
Last month's question: What advice from above do you need to work on? What's your weakness?
Dragon is hiding  replied: To answer the question, I probably need to work on #10. My punctuation with quotation marks is usually iffy at best.
Siobhan Falen  sent: First off, thank you for highlighting my story, tickled me. Secondly... I think one of my biggest weaknesses is that I often get too descriptive. I want to tell you how everything was done, not just that it was done. I've also been called out on the "said" tags, but as reader, I get seriously bored with reading "She said, he said, she said, he asked, she said..." Give me some spice, "said" is such an easy word to replace. Anyways, some interesting points and certainly something I'll be keeping in mind.
Readers don't really register "he said", so if you use an adverbial tag, be wise and sparing. The dialog should do the talking.
dragonwoman  answered: Dialogue tags and punctuation are my bugaboos. I don't know why I feel I have to get so fancy with the tags, or even have them sometimes.
aegreenfield confessed: Great advice. I have been criticized for not using proper grammar in dialogue. The thing is, though, we are supposed to write how people talk.
For example, a kid's dialogue wouldn't read: "I am going to get us some toys."
Instead, it would read: "I'm gonna get us some toys."
Elisa the Bunny Stik  tells: One thing I'll do with my dialogue sometimes is describe an action that takes place right before the character speaks. The way I see it, it helps me the readers keep track of who's talking, and it adds a more active dimension to the scene. Here's a quick example: Maura shook her head and slid down the side. "Nah. Besides, we still have at least two hours before we get to Des Moines. I'll have some time to recover."
Elle - on hiatus  says: I liked your tip #3 about using dialogue and accents with caution. I plan to enter the "Invalid Item" but am wary of writing Scottish accents. Hannah Howell, my favourite author of Scottish historical novels, does it so well that it feels natural. Some other authors make it seem ridiculous and clumsy. I have yet to figure out what the difference is and where that line lies!
I think it's okay to spell some dialect phonetically, but it still has to be deciphered by the reader. Use it sparingly.
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Short Stories: August 27, 2014 Issue [#6522]
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