  Action/Adventure
This week: TWEET! Edited by: Legerdemain  
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Tweet!
Stories told around the fire could have been an old source of inspiration for new stories, but in the modern world, social media is king. While names need to be changed to protect the innocent (unless it's an autobiography), story ideas can emerge from media sources like Facebook and Twitter. Instead of spending time reposting the latest joke (ugh!), think about turning some of the anecdotes from friends into an inspiration source.
Travel might not be a possibility for you, but friends who post pictures and messages about far-off places can turn your idea blender on high. A friend of a friend posted a picture on his Facebook page, of a state trooper texting on his phone while driving down the Interstate. While many people posted outrage at the officer, I started thinking about what the consequences of that action might be. What if he crashed? What if he killed someone? What if another driver got it on video?
"What if?" is always a good source of ideas for me and probably a lot of other writers. Where the "what if" goes will probably be entirely different from author to author, but that is the beautiful thing about imagination, we all travel different roads. If all stories turned out the same, there would be no reason for books; we would know the ending.
If you're not into social media, I'll suggest a second source, image sites. I've written newsletters about image inspiration before but along with travel sites and Google, sites like Tumblr, Getty Images and Corbis Images are fun idea sources. Take a look around! You might even find a new image for your desktop.
This month's question: Has social media inspired a story in your portfolio? Do you find it too distracting?
How do you use that in your writing? |
Excerpt: The task is simple: get inspired by the photograph above and write a short story using this inspiration!
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#2157352 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: He took the job as a fire watchman in the Cherokee National Forest to get away. The view of the sun sinking into the depths of the mountains caught his breath.
| | Matilda (18+)
Scavenging the wasteland, Max and Spell stumble into the territory of a fearsome cult.
#2155953 by James Heyward  |
Excerpt: FROM THIS DISTANCE THE mark could have been dirt, or the scorch of a phosphorous gun, but it looked like the Twisted Heart. Max scratched at the stubs where his left pinky and ring finger used to be, as he crouched in the brush, wondering. The sight of the brand always set his fingers itching.
Excerpt: It was only the second time in two years that their holidays – Chris went to Egerton and Louisa to Nairobi University – had coincided. But it had taken most of the first holiday for Chris to make her feel obliged to change her Facebook status to "in a relationship".
Excerpt: Silence reigns – king of the desolate plain.
Excerpt: "Firetruck!" yelled 5 year old Billy.
Excerpt: He couldn't figure out why she would be texting him so late at night, especially when she knew he was out of town on a business trip.
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This item number is not valid.
#1885993 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Sitting down at her computer, Dee yawned, trying to see the screen. Taking a long sip of her coffee, she blinked a few times, clearing her vision, the typed in her password, logging into Facebook. The top of the screen said she had twenty-seven messages.
Excerpt: She was staring at a distraught photo of Kate with a blazing inferno in the background and the status update said "Everything's gone, Brian's dead".
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This month's question: Has social media inspired a story in your portfolio? Do you find it too distracting?
How do you use that in your writing?
Answer below  Editors love feedback! 
Last month's question: What are your hints for rebuilding a story that falls?
LJ hiding under the bed  responds: All stories have a basic structure and if something is not working, a character, for example, remove them. If that is when the story falls apart, you realize you need a character there. Do not just reinsert that character that wasn't working, create an entirely new character. I've also had stories fall apart because the basic supporting structures were not in the right place in the story. I simply moved the event to a different part of the story. This was a difficult one for my current novel because I was convinced that A had to happen before B. It didn't and it's a better novel for making that change. I had to cut scenes that I loved to accomplish that, but you have to be bold and sometimes ruthless when editing.
Quick-Quill  sent: I'm still in that process. I have a 48K story that needs to be 85-100K I've deleted things that don't move the story and had to reweave parts in and add more setting, motivation and conflicts. Not an easy task.
Thank you for the responses, I enjoy your perspectives and feedback!
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Action/Adventure: May 09, 2018 Issue [#8897]
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