  Short Stories
This week: Seeing Double! Edited by: Legerdemain  
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Seeing Double!
I was watching television this week and I noticed something that was a bit of an epiphany. The program started with the shot coming from the interior of a refrigerator, you know, the frig door slamming in our face and then an exterior kitchen shot of the rest of the conversation. At that point in the show, I wasn't engaged and gave thought to how the camera shot was done...did they actually cut out the back of a frig? Or just set a small camera inside?
Anyway, the epiphany came at the end of the show when the characters were back in the kitchen at night and the last shot ended up being just like the first scene. This time the last phrase of the conversation was spoken into the frig and then shut the door, fade to black. There are a lot of parallels in life, you have to admit. Things that compliment each other, yin and yang, masculine and feminine, and bacon and eggs. (Okay, maybe not the last one, but I'm hungry.) And then there's the classic opposites of good and evil or dark and light.
Sometimes we can get stuck while writing. Perhaps, a good segue is needed from one scene to another, or a meaningful ending to a well written story is desired. Not every cowboy can ride off into the sunset. So think about your first scene, or something significant built during your rising action scenes and dialog...then find an opposite or complimentary scene to use while wrapping up your story. Write on!
This month's question: Do you use duality in your writing?
Send in your reply below! 
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#1852282 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: It was midnight, the witching hour and the devil was bored. He decided to hold a contest among all of his witches to find out who was the most heinous and vile. The prize would be magic red slippers encrusted with rubies
Excerpt: Haroon locked the bathroom door, silenced the electronic muezzin blasting the call to prayer from his phone and hoped Asiyah hadn’t heard. He didn’t have the energy for the discussion that would follow if she had.
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#1800509 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Princess Takara watched in horror as the giant dragon sailed over the Imperial Palace. Her dark smoke-colored eyes widened when she saw the sunlight dance off the icy lavender-and-blue scales of the creature. Its scale shone like fiery gemstones. She still couldn’t believe her father intended to marry her to that . . . that monster.
Excerpt: On the seventh day, God rested.
But He didn’t rest the whole day – nobody ever said that. By two in the afternoon, God had already begun to grow antsy. He was a Type A personality, after all. Slacking wasn’t in His nature.
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On her delicate finger, the gold ring sparkled in the fading sunlight.
#1881617 by Bikerider  |
Excerpt: Chair legs scraped against the wooden floor as students gathered their belongings and left the classroom. Miranda, a raven-haired young student, remained in her seat until the classroom emptied, then walked to the teacher's desk. Her long lashes swept the air as she lowered her gaze, trying to hide the sadness filling her dark eyes.
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Excerpt: “Oh sure,” Lance Rogers said, peeling off his sunglasses and glancing at the Cessna 206, which was approximately the size of a sardine can. “Been in those things since I was a kid. Did my first solo at twelve, much to the consternation of my dad.” He grinned at her, showing a perfect white smile, even further removing him from the ‘Experienced Bush Pilot’ column in Blaze’s head. “Didn’t fly again until I was sixteen, after that. Dad started locking the keys in his safe.” Rubbing the little blue airplane beside him like an old friend, Lance said with a note of wistful regret, “Never did figure out how to hotwire ‘em.”
Excerpt: But it had worked. A small victory but a victory nonetheless. Albert felt taller. Then he felt peculiar. He looked around. Was he usually taller than Mr Briand?
Albert looked down, and to his amazement, his feet were not touching the ground. He flexed his left foot experimentally. He felt the impact of his toe tapping the linoleum.
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This month's question: Do you use duality in your writing? Send in your reply below!
Last month's question: Have you used a personal anecdote or family member as a character in your stories?
Estes  responded: Most of my stories feature at least one character carved from a personal reference. It makes a story more believable because really all a writer has otherwise as references to base a character on is themselves- which can become flat when one has numerous characters/heroes/villians.
Jeannie Cheering for Martel  answered: I have done both. I wrote a children's story about my daughter and granddaughter on a bunny disagreement and I wrote a personal story on my husband's and my travels camping out with a tent in bear and mountain lion territory. We finally wised up and started taking a camper where I felt more safe from the elements. So yes, I have done a few stories about my family and personnel experiences.
Thank you Leger for posting one of my stories, "The Bell Witch Cave Mystery" , it's greatly appreciated.
blunderbuss replied: I use anecdotes all the time, sometimes of the sad variety, but always put changes in - and not just names - to protect the actual people. It's amazing how many 'bits' of people you know or have known that crop up insistently in characters, too. Often that's what makes you feel your way into characters and provides the firmly 'realistic' nature of them. I don't know anything about blogs but I do keep a computer journal and all kinds of things get fed into that; chance encounters and even snippets of the way people speak which are memorable at the time.
jackflash sent: All of my character are based on personal anecdotes or family members. Ha!
LJPC - the tortoise offers: I loved the anecdote about Erle Stanley Gardner -- 200,000 words per month -- wow! In answer to your question, I find the closer my novels reflect my real life, the more CPs comment that my characters and situations are "unrealistic." 
shaara comments: Good ideas. Very useful newsletter. Thanks!
My thanks to everyone sending a reply, your comments are much appreciated! Leger~ |
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Short Stories: August 01, 2012 Issue [#5186]
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