This week: Who Has Time To Write? 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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Who Has Time To Write?
Right now, many authors are knee-deep in NaNoWriMo and are hammering away on their novel. When November is over, hopefully some editing will occur while the ideas are still fresh in your minds. And then...the holidays! This is the time of year we pretend we have time to write but we're busy having cocktails at the work party and wrapping gifts. I always look back in January and wonder what I did with my time.
I have a few suggestions to feel productive while busy with other busy-ness. Holiday gatherings - whether it is a work party or family gathering to celebrate, keep your mind's eye on how people interact. I'm a chronic people watcher, whether it's in text on social media or at a bar watching patrons come and go. I don't really mind other people's business, but I like to watch how they interact. Be it a couple on a romantic date, or a business dinner, it can be very interesting watching people talk, move, or even their body posture and how others react to that.
Some signs to watch:
Facial expressions - often people don't realize their facial expressions are reflecting their feelings. Contempt, disgust, anger, happiness, boredom can all show on the face.
Eye contact - a direct gaze can mean interest and attention. An unwillingness to connect may mean the person is distracted or trying to conceal their feelings. Blinking rapidly can mean the person is distressed.
The mouth - biting their lip can mean the person is distressed or upset. Tightening of the lips can mean distaste, disapproval or worry. Micro gestures often occur with small changes to the lips or mouth and may indicate what the person is really feeling.
Body language - if a person's arms are folded in front of their body or their legs are crossed, it can be a subtle blocking gesture. Hands on their hips or wide motions with their arms might indicate aggression or dominance. Open gestures might indicate the person is interested or open to ideas.
People watching gives you some great non-verbal cues you can use in your writing. These are great ways to show how your character is feeling without having to tell your reader every detail.
This month's question: Do you use body language to show your character's emotions? How did you show that? Send in your answer below!  Editors love feedback!
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Excerpt: Everyone thought it was a childish phase.
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This item number is not valid.
#2256549 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Joe's boots sparked against the hard earth, each step kicked brown dust into the air and released the pungent smell of burnt grass.
Each day around 12pm NOON WDC time, one of our dedicated volunteer judges will judge the previous day's entries and post a new writing prompt.
Excerpt: Seated in her bedroom, Audette heard the insistent knocking that rattled her Paris apartment door. A knock she had been expecting, but one she wished would never come.
Excerpt: I didn’t want to go home, Beth was at me again with her constant, “Aren't you ever going to amount to anything? Where’s your promotion! Be a man, Albert, GROW UP!”
Excerpt: All I had said was “my deepest condolences,” but the raven-haired twins stared at me as if I had just said I was on my way to Mars.
| |  | Bar None (13+)
Nameless protagonist appears at a nondescript dive bar with memories of another life.
#2261162 by M. S. Bird  |
Excerpt: His eyes followed me as I approached the bar. All the while his hands worked, polishing the glass to a fine sheen. It was a small wonder, how often he cleaned, and how dingy the place was. But it wasn’t that bad, really. It was the kind of dinge you wouldn’t mind calling home.
| | | Bar None (13+)
Nameless protagonist appears at a nondescript dive bar with memories of another life.
#2261162 by M. S. Bird |
Excerpt: You always knew you were back when the neon washed over you. It was like cool water-- pinks and sky blues and greens, smoky streaks of color. An atmosphere so charged, so familiar, you couldn’t help but remember. Place always smelled the same, too. Like piss and beer.
Quote Prompt for November 2021: "That bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altschuler
{bitem:}1908150
Review and have your hard work pay off!
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This month's question: Do you use body language to show your character's emotions? How did you show that? Send in your answer below! Editors love feedback!
Last month's "Short Stories Newsletter (October 13, 2021)" question: How do you meld history and fiction in your writing?
Elfin Dragon-finally published  : I love putting history in my writing when I can. If I'm writing a piece in which my characters are on Earth, even if it's fantasy, I'll research the time period to see if I can use something for my story.
Osirantinous  : How do you meld history and fiction? I think it all depends on just what you're writing. Are you fictionalising a real event? Are you writing the kind that has the rider 'this story was based on a real event but I have taken liberties with it'? Or.... totally writing an alternative history (ie a story of the Roman Empire if Julius Caesar hadn't died that fateful day.)? I think each of these comes with a different set of requirements for including the history content. I've been writing the story of Hadrian and his lover Antinous. i have to make up a LOT because there are so few facts about Antinous and his life and of course we don't have any record of their chatter! However, there are some facts I wouldn't dare mess with because they are like gold nuggets. One of them is - Antinous has to die! The story I'm writing does include that (mostly because it never occured to me to go all out and write an alternate story). But before that... I can indulge myself a little as long as I don't stray from the bounds of portraying Greek/Roman life in as real a way as possible.
Odessa Molinari : To answer your dilemma with the bible story, create a character who witnessed what happened. You can then tell the story from his/her POV, complete with misunderstandings, forgotten details ...
Alex Morgan : I wrote a short story based on a story in the Bible. "The Hem of His Garment" Since there aren't very many details in that passage, I decided to explore what might have been. I kept the limited dialogue from the Bible and added my own details. Just speculating. I'd enjoy hearing your feedback, Legerdemain .
Aennaytte: Free & Wild in GoT  : The concept to corrupt facts for the sake of fiction comes up every now and then. I wrote a short story that retold how Thomas Jefferson made the Louisiana purchase and was told it wasn't historically accurate. I had to add a disclaimer at the bottom of the story to remind readers that the piece is fiction and the prompt specifically asked for alternate history.
On the topic of Superman being bisexual. It's not THE Superman who is bisexual. It's his son with Lois Lane and that storyline will only happen in the comics. At least for now. This storyline lives somewhere between comics imitating life and pandering to the audience while offending enough people to make it into the headlines to garner some unpaid advertisement. I think it's great that comic book characters can reflect a diverse population, but saying Superman's son is bisexual is also a cop out. Why not create Captain Gay who commands the same gravitas as Captain America? Characters that don't fit the old mold of white, straight, cis-gender are always going to be marginal characters that "don't exist" in the mainstream of the fiction universe. Considering how many characters die in comic books to just simply show up again a few episodes down, the whole bisexual idea can just as easily disappear if DC finds that it didn't land (as $$$ in their coffers).
Bob : My second novel was set during the great depression. I missed it but my parents, and older siblings lived through it. My characters were fictional as was the story. However, one of my beta readers said his parents lived in those exact circumstances. (living in a tent on the river part of the year catching and selling fish to make ends meet.) Story is yet unpublished.
TheBusmanPoet : I don't meld history and fiction. History is not to be fictionalized.
bryanmchunter: I try not to.
graybabe : I wrote a scifi book under a pseudonym where I took a piece of historical fact and made it into a plot device, making a fiction out of the result of history. The book is called The Last One: JFK Returns by Mary F. Carruthers.
Bride A. Livewire : Dont EVER do that...Thats ONE of Americas problems we got NOW...
Kåre Enga in Udon Thani  : You have to really know history (old diaries and photos are a godsend). One of the issues surrounding CriticalRaceTheory is that White America finds it uncomfortable to be presented with the history of others, especially if the viewpoint comes from the oppressed.
As for memoir... all memoir is fiction... even if you were present.
Dad : Several years ago I was involved in writing a Campfire with Dreamin and Steve Ellen and a few others. It was a pirate story and I introduced as a character Edward Teach as the lover of our pirate captain, who was female. If Edward's name sounds familiar, it should. But the other characters knew better than to call him Blackbeard. He ... didn't care for the nickname.
I also created the character of the ship's cook. I named him Basil!
elephantsealer : I would sometimes base my story on history; however, it is just impossible to "meld" history with fiction...
Cheva : I think history could possibly be the best backdrop for fiction. Well, as in I suppose some time frame has to be created for the action to occur and history should be the most believable since it has already happened. A good writer could use any time frame though.
Currently, I use history, as in my historical experiences to propel my fictional characters through their life experiences towards my plot lines. One day I will be more confident about using my imagination and reigning in my characters closer to what I intend for them. I am also keen to write historical fiction but it's well beyond my abilities at the moment.
Thanks to everyone for your helpful replies! Leger~
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Short Stories: November 10, 2021 Issue [#11069]
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