This week: Finding Creativity Within Edited by: Legerdemain  
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Finding Creativity Within
We all have challenges in our lives. Things that drain us emotionally, especially during the holidays. For many of us, it affects our writing. I know when I'm feeling down, I'd much rather just scroll around on click bait, shop and read news, rather than do something that is productive. The ideas for stories are still there, those have never gone away since I was three years old, I just don't write them down. Sometimes I'll jot the beginnings of something, or an outline, even things like a scene sketch, it just doesn't GO anywhere.
In these busy times, I still sit down to write. It's important to maintain your habits. Even if it means just fixing the grammar on what's already on the page, I still open it up and look at it. It's a habit I am loathe to break, even when life is tossing me some pretty major challenges. On paper I can still run, jump and fly; can still do magical things and be who I want to be. I might be writing a big pile of manure, but it's distracting me from other unhappy thoughts and making me smile.
So if you're distracted, or bored, or....whatever, it's perfectly fine to fiddle around in your portfolio and tidy things up. I'm sure there's a few things in there that need editing after the big site birthday celebration. And don't forget this month's site contest: "Quotation Inspiration: Official Contest" with the character prompt for December 2020:
Write a story about someone committing (or attempting to commit) a very serious crime at Santa's workshop.
With only a little over 15 days until Christmas, you might think about organizing your time and portfolio in preparation. I wouldn't say you should pick up your fruitcake quite yet. But give it some thought. And as always, keep your chin up and Write On!
This month's question: What do you do when you don't feel like writing? Send in your answer below!  Editors love feedback!
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Excerpt: “Looks like a skull, pelvis, femur… some dainty phalanges or such,” Larry mused as Dr. Bartoszek shifted through the remains half-covered in muck.
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Excerpt: Mrs. Claus was bustling around the baking kitchen trying to get all the goodies ready in time, when the front doorbell rang. Heaving a sigh, she sent Elmo, one of the prep elves, to answer it. He came hurrying back.
“I have a message for you!” he said.
“Good candy canes, a telegram!”
Excerpt:John Adams felt he knew where he was, that this snaky alley filled with tiny lookalike shops was familiar; he must have seen something similar in a Hitchcock movie. Strolling along the curvy path, he occasionally stopped, for each shop had a large window display filled with an eye catching arrangement of wares. His steps slowed.
Excerpt: Hello and welcome! This forum is designed to get your creative juices flowing. 10,000 gps will be given away every 24 hours!
Excerpt: Daniel Williams was looking forward to tonight. It would be the first time that he visited Sierra at home. She had invited him to have supper with her at her house. He had been dating Sierra Ferguson for about a month. She was sweet, and pretty without being 'fru fru', as his mother always called it. This suited him. He remembered the overly made-up girls in high school. He hated having to wash the makeup off after a date. He much preferred Sierra’s natural beauty. He also liked her kind ways. She had a quiet, kind vibe about her that eased his anxiety-ridden soul. Sierra was looking forward to it too.
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Excerpt: The midnight rainstorm had turned to frozen morning fog as winter swallowed the last memories of autumn. A small, familiar handprint grew in the middle of the frosty window.
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Excerpt: I don't know her name. I don't know any of my neighbors' names. I've lived in this rural neighborhood for years, but I don't want to know anything about the family across the street who parties every weekend or the people who live in the trailers on the other side of my backyard privacy fence. To one side of my house is an empty lot, but on the other I catch glimpses of her hanging the laundry out to dry.
Excerpt: 'Tis the season to be giving... And we've got some AMAZING gifts to give out!
Purchase Writing.Com Raffle Tickets for yourself and your friends!
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This month's question: What do you do when you don't feel like writing? Send in your answer below! Editors love feedback!
Last month's "Short Stories Newsletter (November 11, 2020)" question: What advice from above do you need to work on? What's your weakness?
Bikerider  : About accents in dialogue. I've real all four of Jeff Shaara's World War II books. The POV's go back and forth between American servicemen/officers and German army/officers. Rather than having a reader work though dialogue that needs interpretation, Shaara adds a note at the beginning of his books that is something like this. "While all the dialogue is written in English, I believe my readers are smart enough to know that the German characters are speaking German, the Japanese characters are speaking Japanese." Seems to me like an easy fix for what to do when one character only speaks a language other than the one the novel is written for.
Odessa Molinari  : I try to avoid tags as much as possible but sometimes the dialogue just takes over. It can easily become more of a script than a story. I usually go back and edit to put in some form of action or description which lets you know who is speaking rather than a lot of he said/she said.
flyfishercacher  : #6 All my characters sound like me. I need to find a source for different speech patterns that go with different times and places. Imagine Ernest Hemmingway and William Shakespeare walking down a street in Hannibal, MO and coming upon Tom Sawyer painting the fence. What would that conversation sound like?
Quick-Quill  : Distinct character patterns. I need to understand voice. I just write. I don’t HEAR my character’s voices. I don’t know how to fix it.
s : In short stories, the thing I need to work on is not over-filling them with characters who have influence on the plot. That's novel/novella thing.
woolwaulker: Deciding if an iPad Pro will enhance my ability to write more than the (older) Macbook Pro and iPhone I now have. I am always tempted to get one, but does it have what it takes to become my new writing nook companion? Recommendations welcome.
Elycia Lee ☮  woolwaulker, because I've been through it myself, no. Buying new devices won't enhance your writing. You commitment and discipline do. The purchases are usually excuses that you'd do better by rewarding yourself first. It doesn't always happen that way.
TheBusmanPoet : Everything always needs work, anyone who says otherwise is lying.
elephantsealer : I need to work on my grammar!!! Is there such a thing as a grammar book? Help!!!!
keyisfake : My editing. I suck at it.
Anna Marie Carlson : Becoming a good writer. I'm beginning to see that I'm getting better. I just attempted to put an entry into The Humorous Short Story Contest. I felt good writing it; I'm hoping that it can make others' laugh; this would be the highlight of my day.
 Thank you for all your feedback, it is much appreciated...and happy holidays to all! |
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Short Stories: December 09, 2020 Issue [#10511]
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