  Short Stories
This week: Edited by: Vivian  
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I was glancing through all my notes about writing short stories, notes from my reading from writing magazines, from my lesson plans, from my own writings, and from what speakers at conferences said and decided to jot down a few of the writing tips found in those words of wisdom.
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Bits 'n Pieces of Short Story Writing
1. Find inspiration around you. Eavesdrop, read headlines, observe people around you. Ask yourself, "What if ..." and let that lead you to a story. Be inquisitive.
2. Attend a conference, workshop, class about writing. If you haven't written or finished a story, use what you hear and learn to jump start your story or finish it. If you have something finished, use what you learn to give your work another once over, and when satisfied, submit it.
3. Build your characters. Have their actions and reactions meet their ages as well as the age in which they are living. Both help create a believable character.
4. Show, don't tell. If dad was to pick up junior at day care, and his car breaks down, he calls mom ten minutes before day care locks its doors. Mom rushes from her office to drive a fifteen-minute trip. She is frantic and harried. How can that be shown?
Marcia half-threw the phone across her desk. She grabbed her purse and jacket as she ran from the office passed her assistant's desk. "Tonya, Greg's car broke down. Have to get Jackie."
"Come on, Marcia," she muttered as she fumbled with her car keys. "Come on. You have ten minutes, just ten minutes."
Fear clutched her chest as she sped through traffic lights turning red and passed slower traffic with inches to spare. Her eyes kept turning toward the dash clock. "They'll be closing the doors. Jackie will be so scared."
She reached the day care building in less than ten minutes, a trip that usually took fifteen. Marcia slid from the driver's seat, leaving the car door opened, and ran toward the door where parents gathered their children.
Mrs. Cross, the attendant guarding the door, unlocked the door she had just locked. With a glance at Marcia's disheveled hair and jacket half off her shoulders, the older woman asked, "Well, Mrs. Ross, you cut it rather close, didn't you?"
5. Choose a point of view that works for the story. Some stories require first person; another needs third person. A short story isn't long enough to switch POV successfully.
6. Be sure spelling is correct. Yes, spell-checker catches many misspelled words, but it cannot tell which homophone is correct (homophones - words that sound the same but are different). Also it can't tell if you've used the wrong word or not. If the word is correctly spelled, spell-check will not mark it wrong.
7. Check grammar and mechanics. MS Word is often wrong about grammar. Therefore you can't depend on it to catch errors or how to correct them.
8. Have a plot. If a writing doesn't have a plot, it is a narrative or something else, but it is not a story.
9. Play with characters and technique. Have fun writing.
10. Make dialogue believable.
No, those are not all the writing tips available to help write a good short story, but they are a start.
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From W.Com Writers
Once again, many of the highlighted items came from
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Words from Our Readers
April Sunday 
Agree .. short story contests are the bomb! Nice to see a few listed here, cuts down on research seeking same. I featured the same subject on my forums earlier in the year.
I have found contests to be extremely helpful for my writing improvement. An editor from Random house critiqued my latest try, and she gave wonderful help in her evaluation.
sdodger
There is a good magazine that still buys short stories that I know about personally. Capper Magazine pays $100 for family, g-rated, short stories fiction-drama. They really love stories about farm families and relationship-love stories, as long as they are very g-rated. Circulation is roughly 100,000 readers. Check their website www.cappersmagazine.com
Thank you for the information.
inform1
Thanks for the contest info. I was wondering though. Are there very many contests that are free to enter?
Most contests charge an entry fee because of the cost involved in having a contest. Judges/readers have to be paid, and much time is involved in organizing the entries, etc.
bazilbob
Thanks. I could have looked them up for myself if I wanted to, but you just made my life a little bit easier, albeit lazier. Can I just plug Mslexia while I'm here? A magazine for women who write, positive discrimination, I know, but it is good. Let me return the favour and link you up: http://www.mslexia.co.uk/ enjoy!
Thank you. It's nice to have more sources.
Maria Mize 
I found this a very informative newsletter... I've saved the different web sites for contests to "my favorites." I appreciate all the links you provided from writing.com as well, and have added them to "my favorites" on writing.com. Thank you.
I'm glad the list is helpful. Good luck with entering your work. Please let me know if you succeed.
faithjourney
I look forward to your next newsletter! Now that I finished writing my novel, I really need to work on the art of writing a short story. And, yes, it is an art. It takes a particular talent to tell a powerful story in few words. Thanks for the great newsletter!
You are correct: Writing a short story is an art. I hope to see yours soon.
Thank you for joining me this week. Be sure to be back next week for Legerdemain  , and to join me again next month.
Vivian |
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Short Stories: April 09, 2008 Issue [#2320]
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