  Short Stories
This week: Adventure Time! Edited by: Legerdemain  
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The purpose of this newsletter is to help the Writing.com short story author hone their craft and improve their skills. Along with that I would like to inform, advocate, and create new, fresh ideas for the short story author. Write to me if you have an idea you would like presented.
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Adventure Time
In the US, we're approaching vacation season, and you know what that means, travel! This is the perfect time of the year to spend time people watching and writing down a few quick character sketches. And please, don't be the dope at the stoplight texting notes in your car when it turns green... When traveling, it's interesting to see people in action in a unfamiliar environment. At rest stops and restaurants, watch people who are tired, perhaps lost or hungry, or dealing with children who are cranky and want to run around. Memorize the expressions on their faces, the tone of voice they use when speaking to others. And what better time to think up some story ideas when spending a few hours on the turnpike?
Even when shopping, the opportunities are endless, like watching the clerk deal with the angry customer, watch their faces and body language. Does the angry one lean in and use aggressive body language? Does the clerk cross his arms, subliminally making a wall between them? At what point do they calm down? Or does someone blow their top? If you're stuck in line, make the most of it and mentally note what is going on. You can always note it later, or jot something on the back of your receipt. Body language can be a useful tool to show your readers your character's emotion without having to tell them.
Best of all, watch the happy faces of children spending time with family and friends, see how a smile can start as a twitch on the lips and turn into a huge grin. The doting smile of a grandparent, the exhausted embrace of a parent, and the coo of a baby can all be saved and savored, and used in your stories. Enjoy these little moments and then....Write on!
This month's question: Do you write and save character notes and emotion studies?
How do you use them in your writing?
Send in your answer below!  Editors love feedback! |
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This item number is not valid.
#2159572 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Damn it...
Crescent grooves were whittled into the harsh folds of tired skin underneath his eyes. His blues would’ve been piercing, if not for the withering effect of obvious fatigue. Instead, they seemed diminished of hue, effectively transmitting waves of cafard.
He felt sorry for himself.
Excerpt: Fear curled in her belly, tying her stomach into knots, even though she tried desperately to be brave. Swallowing hard, she thought of the future thrust upon her. An arranged marriage, how could her father do this to her? And an elf no less.
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This item number is not valid.
#2159491 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: “You promised.” Carolyn wailed.
“I couldn’t help it. I’m sorry. I know I let you down.” Bethany apologized. She’d been caught in the act. There was nothing she could do about that. How long this had been going on was another matter. Could she say this was the first time? Would she be believed?
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Excerpt: Maggie sat on the porch of her three-story Victorian home, staring out at the surrounding waters. The house had been built sometime in the 1880’s on the end of Yarrow Point, a lush peninsula jutting out into Washington Lake. At some point in the past, not the recent past judging by how the paint was peeling from its walls, a former owner had painted the house bright yellow.
Excerpt: A hot tear slipped from beneath her eyepatch. It was always the bad eye that shed tears first. She thought of her emaciated mother dead in the spring when livestock were fat and the apple trees in early bloom. She didn't want to die, even with her bad eye and the constant nightmares. She wanted to live, to one day venture east or west to see an ocean.
The shutters and door knocked once more.
“I hate you, I hate you. Go away!”
Excerpt: Flash fiction is fun to read and a challenge to write. It must contain all the elements of a larger work of fiction, but in a much shorter space. Are you up for it?
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Excerpt: On Monday, post your goals for the week and I'll send you 1,000 Gift Points. Come back on Friday, post your updates on your goals, and I'll send you an additional 1,000 Gift Points!
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This month's question: Do you write and save character notes and emotion studies?
How do you use them in your writing?
Send in your answer below! Editors love feedback!
Last month's question: How do you keep action moving in your stories?
wrote: I was pleased to see my story "Invalid Item" featured in this newsletter. I keep action moving or try to, but using active words and inserting new movement as much as possible.
dogpack:saving 4 premium: DWG  sent: I found that using short concise sentences adds the need for movement and the feeling of urgency. Also, whenever I am able to thrust events/action in a series of one thing after the other is quick succession, this helps give the adrenalin rush effect, at least for me this is what happens.
Mary Ann MCPhedran  submitted: Hi, I enjoyed reading your news letter and liked the topics chosen,You asked did I consider, adding history to my stories and the answer is I wrote one of my books, 'No Hiding Place.' a collection of three novella on one book. They are chosen from two murders in Scotland. one of the murderers was the last person in Scotland to be hanged. I wrote a different storyline but took the idea from the newspaper.
skeeix told: Many years ago I used to sell cars. My earnings would decrease because I started believing all the excuses I heard. That was when it was time for a booster shot, as it were. This news letter is a booster shot, reminding me first drafts should be messy and filled with phrases going nowhere. Thanks for the booster.
Thank you everyone, for reading and sending your responses. It's much appreciated.  |
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Short Stories: May 30, 2018 Issue [#8932]
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