 Short Stories: July 24, 2019 Issue [#9672] |
This week: Ack! I'm Bleeding! 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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Ack, I'm Bleeding!
This newsletter is based on the thought process of building a short story. My daughter has a business doing horror and special effect makeup. She's done a few films and during October, does a LOT of horror makeup for Halloween parties and Fright Night amusements. One year, a man wanted to be a minotaur and went to her house early on Halloween morning to get his makeup done for a huge office party/competition.
While I was looking at some still photos of all her creations, I started to think about the creative process involved in morphing a human into something else. Obviously...you need a plan. A plan as to what you want the person to look like when you're finished and then plot the steps needed to get there. That plan is much like a story outline, you need to have some idea of where your story is going, then break down the sections of your story arc into steps needed to reach your goal.
For horror makeup, you need to create special effects like cuts and bleeding. Of course...lots of bleeding. So the treatment starts with building the edges of the cut (introducing your characters), then coloring the wound (building the scene), and then finalizing the look with makeup and realistic paint and blood (plot and story arc). During each step, more of the story becomes realistic to the reader. Then when it is all put together, it comes to life in a story.
Next time you have a story idea, think about turning it into a big bloody cut. 
This month's question: What steps do you take to create a story? Do you make outlines or are you the slap and dash type of writer? Send in your answer below!  Editors love feedback!
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| |  | The Vulture (13+)
How a vulture helps in the invention of Star Trek's transporter.
#269840 by Dad  |
Excerpt: Alec shook his head in exasperation. "Dammit, Vic! I'm the obvious choice," he said forcefully. Long ago, he had tired of arguing with Vic about the project. "It has to be done eventually. I've teleported before. No one else knows exactly what to expect!"
Vic's knotted brow deepened. "You don't really know, either," he pointed out.
Excerpt: Two stories up stood a tall, male figure in a long coat watching a form below. He sniffed the air and turned as if he'd caught the scent of a prey. He could pick it out from the other scents vying for attention. The cool, clean smell of the lake with the near-by docks, the acidic smoke from a factory's stack and the smell of fish guts mixed with the sweat of the dockworkers blocks away.
The form crouched below was young,and female from the sweet scent he got. He smiled to himself, fangs extended at the smell of food.
Letting out a long hiss to claim the prey he had found. It also alerted the prey, which caused her instincts to kick in and produce fear for the monster to revel in.
Excerpt: My grandchildren stopped their screeching. Trevor, the younger one, paused in mid-swing, dropping his grandmother’s favorite pillow in a cloud of feathers. “Ice cream?!” he shrieked.
| |  | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#2196220 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: I was miles from anywhere when I first saw him. He was walking at the side of the road, gas can in hand, and I assumed that he'd run out of fuel somewhere. I didn't remember passing any stranded cars on the road but figured he could have broken down on a side road. Anyone would have stopped to give him a ride.
Because I had one of those mental debates while deciding whether or not to stop, the car was quite a distance ahead of him when I brought it to a halt. I watched in the mirror as he approached. He was in no hurry, it seemed, just ambling along as though out for a stroll. When he came level with the passenger window, I leaned over and called out to him.
"D'you need a ride to the next gas station, pal?"
He stopped and leaned over so that he could see my face.
"Actually, David, I was hoping you'd take me all the way to Akron."
Excerpt: Once upon a time, there was a lone demon spawn, lying in the dark, waiting. Every day, he waited for his chance; his chance to strike, his chance to live, his chance to be. One day, it happened, a miracle and a tragedy. The parents of an ailing child in the Midwest learned their precious babe had passed in the night. The spawn drew near from shadows and watched the little soul float off into the light. When the body was cold and blue, he took it for his own. Moments later, the babe drew breath, and his cheeks pinked, as did the parents' at the sound of his shrill, little cry.
Excerpt: Delmira sat cloaked in a salty mixture of sweat and seawater. Adrift for days following a storm at sea, she had all but given up hope of living. Her only companions had been the torn and broken rigging banging against the hull of the schooner and the gruesome floating bodies that occasionally slipped past her in the briny and brackish water, as if to foreshadow her future.
Each day around 12pm NOON WDC time, one of our dedicated volunteer judges will judge the previous day's entries and post a writing prompt. The contest for that prompt ends before NOON (11:59am WDC time) the next day. All entries that follow ALL of the prompt requirements will be judged according to the creativity in responding to the writing prompt only. This means that grammatical errors WILL NOT be a determining factor in deciding the winner!
Excerpt: Moonlight shines on the river. It's just Ellis and Essex; they sit in Essex's new Volvo XC90. The car is parked near the shore of the York river. Ellis is still in his academic dress, and underneath it, he has on a suit; it's modest, but still, it looks nice. Essex wears an expensive suit, designer. The windows to the car are open. The light from the moon, and its reflection from the river, wrap around everything.
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This month's question: What steps do you take to create a story? Do you make outlines or are you the slap and dash type of writer? Send in your answer below! Editors love feedback!?
Last month's question: Do videos inspire you? Which are your favorites?
GaelicQueen  replied: Any type of animal films or photos. A cockatoo dance to rock music is always a winner.
s  answered: I avoid videos - I find myself merely aping the characters that I'm seeing or else my description is too much like what I've seen, and publishers don't like that. I find music is what helps me.
BIG BAD WOLF is hopping  responds: Over on Youtube is a guy that uses the name Shadiversity, and they talk a lot about medieval weapons and armor. One of his playlists, "Fantasy Re-Armed" is about how fantasy creatures and classes should really be armed, with some weapons being rather ironic, like nets and hooks for merfolk in order to snag sailors and such from boats, or seemingly counter-intuitive, like maces for vampires in order to keep their victims' bodies intact for later. Some seem strange, yet make sense, like having a centaur let a human ride their back for combat. As for fairies, they aren't using old needles - they get rapiers twice their height to stab people through the eyes, or long razor blades to slit their wrists and throat. Skeletons, plenty of nasty weapons.
Pepper submits: I have discovered Dry Bar Comedy on YouTube. The skits are hilarious without all of the foul language that permeates so much of our culture. It not only puts a smile on my face, but it reminds me that the best humor is often found in the telling of stories.
Quick-Quill  sends: I love watching Susan Boyle, The Chippendoubles, Stravos Flatly and Jonathan and Charlotte's auditions on BGT. I've watched them over and over. I watch my favorite episodes of Returning the favor on FB. I've begun to check out Graham Norton's show on YouTube also.
blueflowers777 tells: Some of my favorite videos I love to watch are a singer's named Enya. I especially love her Caribbean Blue or China Roses ones and a Day Without Rain. Her music inspires me to write my short stories!
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