  Short Stories
This week: Writing Creatively Edited by: Shannon  
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Welcome to the Short Stories Newsletter. I am Shannon and I'm your editor this week. |
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"You always need that spark of imagination. Sometimes I'm midway through a book before it happens. However, I don't wait for the muse to descend, I sit down every day and I work when I'm not delivering lambs on the farm." ~ Barbara Kingsolver
Have your creative juices gelatinized into a slow-moving sludge? Is Muse playing hide and seek with Imagination while Composition counts to fifty? If you or someone you know has, is, or will experience Writer's Block, call the law offices of ... oh, sorry. Got a little carried away there.
As Barbara Kingsolver said, professional writers (i.e. those who make a living and actually pay their bills with the earnings they receive from their writing) treat writing like a job. It is their job. Every successful writer I've met says they sit down to write at a certain time every day and stop writing at a certain time every day, regardless of whether or not they're inspired.
If inspiration doesn't come until you've written half the story ... well, that's what second drafts are for, and third drafts, and margins, and Post-it notes. Your initial job is to get it down on paper (or screen, as the case may be), even if it's nonsensical tripe.
I can count on one hand the times I've truly felt inspired while writing a story--as if an external force was working through me. I have to admit it's a cool feeling, like puzzle pieces clicked into place on their own with little or no effort on my part. I couldn't type fast enough. It was magical, and the stories practically wrote themselves. I was just the instrument through which the stories chose to be told.
But what if writing is a laborious, frustrating process? Sometimes it helps to prime the pump, so to speak, with creative writing exercises before sitting down with your work in progress:
 Think of your favorite place and write about a memory associated with that place.
 Look around the room you're in and pick three items. Write a flash fiction piece containing all three.
 Sort through some old family photos that were taken before you were born. Choose one that speaks to you and make up a story about events that lead to the photo being taken.
 Write a letter to your inner critic.
 Google the phrase "paint swatches." Pick/click on a link and choose a color you like. Use the color's name (the one I chose is called "Mark Twain House Olive") in a short story or essay.
 Go to Wikipedia and click on Random Article (fifth link from the top in the left-hand column on any Wikipedia page). I got an article about Bengali professor of chemistry Animesh Chakravorty). Write a fictional essay, poem, or short story about whatever subject you get.
 Imagine finding a box. How big is it? What's it made of? Is it heavy or light? What does it look like? What's inside? Will there be ramifications if you keep it? Why?
 Choose a year in the future and write a short story about it. What will the world be like? Is it utopia or hell on earth?
A blank page can be daunting, and the task of writing an entire novel seems overwhelming, but you have to start somewhere. Don't wait for inspiration. Whether you start typing your WOP or begin with a simple writing exercise, get to work. After all, the story won't really write itself. 
Thank you for reading.
“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” ~ Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft |
I hope you enjoy this week's featured selections. Please do the authors the courtesy of reviewing the ones you read. Thank you, and have a great week!
| |  | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1092086 by Not Available. |
|  | Gray House (13+)
Suffering from writer's block, Aaron experiences a bizarre trip into truth and fiction.
#1723954 by Kris D'Amato  |
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1523918 by Not Available. |
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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The following is in response to "The Faces of a Stranger" :
GaelicQueen  writes, "You wrote an intriguing article. As I walk around my neighborhood, I wonder what some homeowners do for a living or why they keep their curtains open after dusk, why other close up curtains tightly. I just heard a car peel around the corner with the stop sign...waiting to hear the crash." Yes! Now I want to read the rest of the story. 
LostGhost: Seeking & Learning  writes, "Thanks for the NL, Shannon. I found a lot of fascinating sites through your newsletter. Maybe some will inspire me." Thank you! I hope you found at least one of them to be useful. Thank you for reading and commenting. 
Callie hears Angels these days writes, "I really enjoyed your short story article on the weird world we live in. Frankly, being able to write out the strange thoughts I have has helped me cope with some of the tragic and frightening elements of the world." Aw, thank you, Callie! And I agree with you: writing definitely helps me cope, too. 
Quick-Quill  writes, "I'm keeping this NL. My family and myself have had a working relationship with West Publishing (now Thomson-Reuters) They publish Law books and run WESTLAW on line. I began watching True TV and was fascinated by court trials. They went away. TrueTV went on line and took over the True Crime library. Life is filled with many plots. As I wrote my novel I watched the entire trial of Jodi Arias. I incorporated things from her trial into my book. I've just purchased Juan Martinez' book about the trial. He was the prosecuting Attorney. So far Its a good book, but I'd fire the editor in a heartbeat. I think it was the same on that edited mine." LOVE TruTV and Crime Library, too. Thank you for sharing, Tina! 
remusmdh writes, "As someone else who loves to hear the story of the lives of others, yes, yes to all the above, lol. Oh yeah, I've heard some horrible things from combat vets, survivors of natural disasters (been through a few hurricanes myself), survivor of a murder attempt that almost succeeded, amputations, etc.. But I've also seen life born. Heard people talk excitedly about a trip they did, vacation they took, joys of being able to hear, see, walk again. Etc. And it all can help us as writers, and I agree, being curious and observing all these things, does mean there is a storyteller within these listeners, and it likes to hear and tell stories. I hope I am never one of those people content to sit before the TV 24/7 and idle away the time, oblivious to the bees flitting amongst the flowers blooming outside, the storm flowing past shaking the trees, and the new faces of the new kids at the bus stop this year, particularly when they are laughing in that way only children can." Yes! I agree with you 100%. Thank you so much for reading, commenting, and sharing. 
writetight writes, "Thank you, Shannon for featuring my "Invalid Item" in your newsletter. It's one of my personal favorites.  ." You are most welcome, Dan! It was my pleasure.
The following is in response to " A Rose by Any Other Name" :
Pumpkin writes, "I'm cleaning up and catching up on my inbox. Your article reminds me of the movie with Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman from the 1940's by the name Gaslight. It was based on a play from the previous decade called Gas Light. The burglar/murderer used dimming gas lights to convince his rich wife she was losing her mind. The young and pretty Angela Lansbury played the maid who didn't like the rich wife and helped make it all sinister. Your description of the man who turns his bad behavior back on the woman reminds me of a book from the 90's, Men Who Hate Women and The Women Who Love Them. That book describes the man as a fisherman. He treats her really nice, reeling her in, then beats her up verbally or otherwise and throws her back, only to repent and reel her in again. This man usually has an inferiority complex and picks a woman who is smarter or makes more money or somehow makes him look up to her. Then he controls her in this way to get feelings of power. He undermines her (or gas lights her) to make himself feel better. If he can control a strong, independent woman, he must be pretty good, right? So he thinks." Yes! That's exactly where the term came from. Thank you for taking the time to respond to the newsletter, and thank you so much for reading.  |
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Short Stories: March 23, 2016 Issue [#7541]
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