  Short Stories
This week: Edited by: InkyShadows  
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Short stories present the reader with a glimpse into the life of a certain character, location or situation. As a writer of short stories, it is absolutely mandatory to write with the idea of the complete encapsulation of the plot, from start to finish, in the piece that is being written, while keeping in mind the impression that the story exudes that there is much more happening out there in the world, nay--universe, just beyond what the human eye can ever hope to be capable of seeing.
My newsletters will attempt to help you, as a reader/writer of short stories, to be aware of the dual nature of short stories. It is my goal to help you to become a more critical reader/writer of the anomoly we have entitled "the short story."
So, read on, and enjoy, and maybe, just maybe, if you learn something from what I write, please let me know.
Thanks!
InkyShadows |
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Hello there, Short Story Newsletter readers! This is my first time working as an editor on this particular newsletter, and I am really glad to be here. I not only love to write short stories, but I have also taught creative writing courses for gifted and talented students in grades 4 through 10, and I have taught college writing courses such as Basic Writing, Freshman Composition and Technical Writing. So, I do have a bit of experience behind me going into this. However, I would really like to hear from you about various aspects of short story writing that you would like me to address in my newsletters, so please, don't hesitate to reply to this newsletter and tell me what you want, okay? Okay! Now, on to the newsletter!
When a writer sits down to write a short story, there are several things that need to be considered both before and as the writing takes place. First of all, the writer must select an audience to aim the story toward; for example, a story for young children would definitely be written differently than one for a group of college students, wouldn't it. Depending upon the audience chosen, the writer must adapt his/her writing style toward what that given age group can handle. For young children, short sentences and easily recognizable sight words need to be used, whereas for college students, more elaborate sentence structure and multisyllabic words can be used.
Another concern is what to write about. The topic, setting, characters, actions, etc. must all be age appropriate and carefully planned out. All of these things sort of link together because the writer would probably not have New York City upper eschelon business types on a rundown farm in the middle of the rocky Maine landscape unless they are there hiding out from someone or something. And the writer would probably not have a scientist working on highly technical forensic studies in a story for young children. The choice of topic, setting, characters, actions, etc., set the tone of the piece along with the choice of audience.
The length of the story is yet another concern that the writer must address. Most markets for short stories have prescribed lengths that they are searching for in the stories that they accept for publication, and if a story doesn't fit the market parameters, it will hit the scrap heap quicker than lightning flashes across the sky. This is especially true of children's stories, which have varying lengths for several different age groups. The writer cannot simply say that the story is written for children. The writer must decide if the children are ages 2-4 or 5-7 or 8-10 or 12-18, and then adjust the length according to the publisher's guidelines. This is why it is good to ask various publishers for their guidelines for fictional stories; it makes the writer's task of choosing a market that much easier, and cuts down on the rejection slips one gets.
Once all of these things have been settled, the writer is free to sit down and actually write the story, but always remember that the first draft is always the worst draft! The writer must seek out reviews and revise, revise, revise. I always tell my students that writing is a process of on-going consecutive and overlapping revisions, and we simply stop revising when we hit a deadline.
I hope this overview of the writing process has proven to be helpful to you.
This is InkyShadows signing off till next time! |
Hey, I know that you are just chomping at the bit to get at the picks that I have for you this week, so I'll just get right to them, but please remember, as you read, please give the author the courtesy of rating and reviewing. We all learn from constructive criticism to be better writers, so be sure to tell what you liked, what you didn't like, and most of all why you liked/disliked what you read. It is the why part that is most helpful in editing, so please don't leave it out.
And now, without further ado...here are my short story picks for you...
Please be aware of the 18+ rating on this next item! If you are younger than 18, please skip this one:
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#1135798 by Not Available. |
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#1131608 by Not Available. |
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#1135754 by Not Available. |
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This next one is a biographical short story:
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Hope you enjoyed reading my selections. If you have a story of your own, or one that you read by someone else that you would like to have featured in the short story newsletter, be sure to reply to this newsletter and submit the story to us! |
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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Be sure to tell me what sort of things you'd like to see in this question and answer section. I'm thinking maybe a poll or a contest or two that are short story related might be interesting to put in here, but I'd like to know what you'd think, okay?
So, respond to this newsletter and voice your opinions! Come on, now! Don't be shy! I really do want to hear from you! |
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Short Stories: August 02, 2006 Issue [#1174]
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