This week: Keep It Simple Edited by: Legerdemain  
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Amazon's Price: $ 12.95
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Keep It Simple
Some of the best short stories I've read were quite simple in their presentation. There was just enough written to give me an idea of the scene and characters, then some stellar dialog to let me know what the emotions were in the story, and then got to the action.
Other stories got right to the action and filled me in later on the history of the characters and how they arrived where they were. Keeping it simple and letting your reader fill in the blanks can be a benefit. The reader sees the details of a character without you having to write it all down. A "burly man", a "wizened crone" puts all the details you need into the reader's head. You don't need to write "a wizened crone with a heavily wrinkled visage and gnarled fingers gripping her cane". If the fact that she's missing her nose is important, write it. You can always add more details when editing.
I find it disappointing when a story leads me off on a tangent. I dutifully read it all only to find out that it had no relevance to the story. While I'm sure the author enjoyed exploring that aside, I find it hard to get back into the meat of the story.
Most of all, I personally love when a story wraps all the details in a beautiful way. I don't mean it has to have a happy ending, but an ending that feels satisfying. Leave the story up in the air and my poor imagination goes overboard trying to give it an ending.
Most importantly, write the story!
This month's question: What details or features do you add or delete when editing a short story? Send in your answer below!  Editors love feedback!
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Official WDC Contest
Excerpt: A brilliant flash startled him into opening his eyes. The storm had rolled in quickly, changing the golden landscape of wheat and dry grass to a grey sea of undulating waves. As thunder crackled overhead, a cloaked woman hurried up the path toward the tavern. Clair leaned his head out the window to catch a better glimpse, but she was well covered in the voluminous linen. Shaking his head at the folly of women, he relaxed back into his chair and drank some more.
Excerpt: "Beautiful day," said Rollo, turning to look at Ruby.
"If you say so," said Ruby, looking straight ahead.
Rollo turned to look at the pond of ducks and kids feeding them. "Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you."
They sat in silence until a little boy chased a ball which lay at their feet. Rollo leaned down to pick it up. He handed it to the boy. "Who is that?" asked the boy, pointing to the ferret sticking its head out of Rollo's coat pocket.
Excerpt: The foliage grew thicker the farther Doctor Kurt Prestige drove. Branches clawed the sides of the jeep he and the other two men were traveling in. The scratching and thudding sound the contact created amused the two others. “The hands of the dead,” Kurt said. Ramon and Mario burst out laughing in the backseat. Kurt wasn't sure whether or not he should be worried or happy about the men he'd hired. As guides to such a jovial mood given this remote part of the village, they were visiting could end up being their burial spots.
Fun prompts! Enter and win!
Excerpt: "What duya think, child, that running a farm is easy? That we've got nothing better to do than to laze around all day?"
Sarah's heart jumped like a toad in her chest. She tried to find her voice, but it came out dry, cracked and weak--electrified with fright.
"I'm sorry, Momma. I'm sorry!"
"Oh, no, that's what you always say. But sorry ain't gonna cut it this time."
Prompts are: Spring, A Spring or Open Prompt
April prompts: #1 Open but..... set in a historical time period of your choice. #2 Your character starts a new job. #3 Apollo
This round will run from April 1st, 2022, to May 15th, 2022
Excerpt: “How long do I have to do this?” Ralph asked as he cranked the handle. It wasn’t too difficult but he did feel a bit of resistance from it.
The guard didn’t say anything.
“What does this thing do?” Ralph tried. He cranked the handle around and around.
Still no reply.
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This month's question: What details or features do you add or delete when editing a short story? Send in your answer below! Editors love feedback!
Last month's question: What tools do you use to start a dialog between characters?
Elfin Dragon-finally published  : Tools to engage speaking? After reading this, I realize my characters work from a lot of body language when they begin speaking.
Spring in my Sox  : Talking to myself.
Richard ~ Shenanigans INC.  : The voices in my head ...
dblameck (David) : questioning is what often works for me.
s : Depends on what I need for the story. Generally, I like a conversation to start the way it does in real life - greeting, asking after one another, then letting the details of the story start to crop up. However, that is not a luxury you might have in a short story, so I would get into conversations in media res in that case.
THANKFUL SONALI 17 WDC YEARS!  : "She don't use no tool, man."
"Yeah, we just talk, that's all."
"It's fun, you know. Sometimes we go all over the place and she'll be like come back to this plot!"
"Nah, no tools man. We just talk."
tj ~ endeavors to persevere!  : Well, it's like this; I come up with an idea for a story, then I need to come up with characters that fit with the story. Then I write the story and closeout for the night. When I come back in the morning, I open the story and see what the hell they've been talking about all night. If it fits the story, I use it, if not, I delete them and write in new characters and start all over.
Actually, the only tool I use is quotation marks, the rest is done by my imagination. Instead of narrating everything, I try and write from the character's view through dialog.
For example in the narrative, or my rough notes, I would have, Tom greeted Sally when she entered the room. Then, I would write it; When Sally entered the room, Tom said, "Hello."
Humble_Poet PNG  : All that's required is to create a male character and a female character and there's sure to be a loud dialogue!  / LoL
oldgreywolf scribbles  : Dependent upon relationship to each other plus external situation.
Paul  : You have 2 characters involved in some way with the same object and they’re together, what “Tools” do you need?
louiselamb: What's the motivation for writing the dialog. To build emotion for the character, development of the character, and to advance the story forward.
Thanks to everyone for their feedback, your comments are always appreciated!
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Short Stories: April 27, 2022 Issue [#11335]
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