This week: Interactives Edited by: Leger~  
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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.
This week's Short Story Editor
Leger~ |
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Interactives
I've noticed a lot of people who have interactive story items tag their items with "Action/Adventure". For those who never delved into interactive stories, it's a type of choose-your-adventure story, you read the intro and then choose whichever following chapter sounds most interesting to you. After you read to the end of that story string, you can add your own chapter in the item. You add at least a few paragraphs and then leave the ending open for others to add more to the story. For more explanation about the item type, check out the entry in "Writing.Com 101" >>>> "Interactive Story"
As the creator of interactives, you're responsible for maintaining the item, keeping the rating on the item high enough to cover the content. While checking content is not always the first thing you want to do when you see notification that a chapter has been added, you should keep up with your portfolio. It's a lot of work for moderators to check 1.8 million interactive chapters and change ratings as needed.
When looking for an interactive story to read and perhaps participate in, you can find them all by clicking Browse by Type in the left column and choosing Interactive Stories. To further filter the list, you can choose to filter out the "most common topics". This filters out many of the most popular kink / fetish stories. If you want to take a peek, leave the list unfiltered.
Once you choose an interesting title, you can read the introduction and then "Click here to enter this story..." to read Chapter one and the next suggested chapter links. To quickly scan the chapter titles, you can click Story Outline and see how long the item is and how many choices you'll have for additions along the way.
Don't forget to leave a review if you find an interesting story, it's a great way to promote the item and have chapters added by new visitors. And don't forget to favorite the item if you really loved the story, so you can add more!
Write On!
This month's question: Do you like finding ways to add interesting content to interactives?
Which are some of your favorites?
Answer below  Editors love feedback!  |
Excerpt: When the party had settled into the suite, Malusk locked the door and seated the party around the room's small table. The big half-orc was visibly anxious and even embarrassed, to Skrie's reckoning. He wrapped his gigantic hands around a large tankard of dark ale as he locked eyes with each of his companions.
Excerpt: “Oh, my god, Poppyseed, keep all your paws crossed. Pray nothing goes wrong today.”
Her Jack Russell puppy cocked his head before giving a yap and leaping on to the gleaming vessel as if to say, “let’s show ‘em Hannah”
Excerpt: Regeneration was never predictable. It wasn't just that the Doctor never knew what he'd end up looking like, though some, like Romana, had had the knack of trying several appearances before deciding which to run with, and even Riversong had been able to concentrate on a bra size. The Doctor however had nearly always had to settle for pot luck. No, it was not just the change of physical appearance that he found near impossible to control, it was the whole process, and especially the energy involved. He had ruined several Tardis control rooms due to the excess power seeking an outlet.
Excerpt: In Africa, up on the high plateau in the centre of the continent, there is a wide valley between a range of hills that march to the horizon. Through this valley wanders a river, a string of unconnected pools in the dry season, but a raging torrent after every storm in the rainy season. A dirt road, seldom used, crosses the river at the lowest point of the valley.
Excerpt: "It is your child and I am keeping it," Sarah had said to him ending the conversation over the phone. Bill put his hand to his mouth as he put down his mobile. He looked awkwardly at his fiance Mia seated opposite at the breakfast table. They were in their apartment in the Stirling Lines army base in Herefordshire.
Excerpt: “What happened,” shouted Willunan Rootun. Willunan tried sitting in a chair behind his parents, Casum Rootun and Heluna Rootun.
“I don’t know,” said Casum as he continued trying to get their family spacecraft from tossing and turning.
| |  | Invalid Item
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#2291568 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: “We’re gonna catch that hideous fiend tonight,” said a strong and dignified voice, “I will not tolerate the headline’s deliberate disparaging of my department ever again.”
Excerpt: The waitress buzzed by and topped off my fifth cup of coffee, walking away with a 'tsk'. Angered because I wasn't a regular customer, and worse, I didn't belong in this restaurant near Kennedy Space Center. This is astronaut and astronaut-related territory. There were a few men at the bar, and one man I spent the last half hour taking clandestine glimpses of, before working up the courage to approach.
A place to answer daily questions and spark conversations.
Excerpt: We are firm believers that far too many writers dwell so much on the grammatical portion of their writing, they stop the creative juices from spilling out of their fingers. A good writer does not stop to correct mistakes along the way. A good writer WRITES until they have extracted every bit of juice from their creative selves. Only then, does a good writer stop to edit (which you can do later).
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This month's question: Do you like finding ways to add interesting content to interactives?
Which are some of your favorites?
Answer below Editors love feedback!
Last month's "Short Stories Newsletter (February 1, 2023)" question: Do you compare your writing to other authors?
dogpack saving 4premium  : I write because my imagination, characters, and words keep me producing word art. I don't compare my writing to anyone else's. Everyone is an individual with different experiences and points of view. Reading and reviewing helps me learn different things about the writing craft/art. I may like the way something is written, but I do not try to write like whoever I like nor follow their steps. I want to write my very best by learning not imitating. Writing is a process. It is a craft and an art form. We write using words to show a picture as in show rather than tell. Word pictures are wonderful. Write with might for reader's delight.
oldgreywolf on wheels  : Yes.
And no.
My goal is for my craft to attain the overall level of Stanley WEINBAUM, Robert HEINLEIN, H Beam PIPER, William F JENKINS, Jack WILLIAMSON, AE van VOGT (whose novella, "Black Destroyer", 1939, is consifered the beginning of the Golden Age of science fiction), John CAMPBELL, Roger ZELAZNY, and a whole slew whom other writers on WDC will start naming to themselves when the read this. (Okay, IF they read this.)
Competition (read: Stress) is essential to an organism (individual, ecosystem, society) to cause it to evolve from its stasis.
That applies to writers, too.
And to those of us who cook for ourselves. (It's beginning to boil. 'Bye.)
Nobody’s Home  : OF COURSE I compare my work to other authors. We've been taught compare ourselves to others since childhood. "Don't you want to be good like so-and-so?" I admit that before I found WdC, I'd never shared my work with anyone because I was scared stiff. On WdC, I've allowed others to review my work and I've reviewed theirs, and I've learned and grown exponentially as a person and a writer. Now I know I'm capable of learning and growing, and I don't feel the need to compare my work to others as often to decide whether I'm worthy of being here. I feel good knowing I'm improving and I'm (usually) loving the process.
GaelicQueen  : Unless someone feels really confident in him or her self, I think it is human nature to doubt we are good enough in whatever profession or project we do. I read stories I wrote and cringe a little, but I also read other stories I've written and am surprised the piece was good.
Aiva Raine  : Yes, I constantly compare myself to both my favorite authors and random authors of books I tried to read and failed to make it through. For my favorites, I envy their abilities and styles as my attempts to follow in the same style fall short.
For the ones that got published and I wonder how that ever happened, it makes me wonder- what magical pill did they take that allowed their crap to get published when mine isn't?
And then I doubt my writing all over again.
SSpark : Thank you, Legerdemain! Do I compare my writing to others? After reading your article, I'm sorry to so I DO!
You are 100% correct - my voice is different than others, and sometimes people even like it. That ol' comparison virus has robbed my creativity, and drive, on more than one occasion. From now on, every time I start to go there I'm going to think of you instead!
Turkey DrumStik  : "Comparison is the thief of JOY."
Honestly, this quote kinda irritates me. Then again, I have an analytic approach that tempers my competitive soul. This has resulted in me finding ways to make comparison useful. I can say something along the lines of, "Yeah, the story's engaging. However, what sacrifices did the author make to broaden the appeal of the story?" Personally, I'd like to compare my work to someone else's. Finding anytging remotely similar to what/how I write is not currently happening, though. 
I would if I could find writers that like to bend genres in similars ways to what I do.
Bearclaw  : I try not to compare myself with others, besides the fact we are Human.
omnivore: No, I compare there writing to mine. Seeing how almost all the time their writing has under gone the trial and tribulation of being published it has a ere of standard to it. Where as mine all most never see the light of day, thus has an scent of dust and mold.🤣
bryanmchunter: I guess you could say some users inspire me.
Paul  : Not like most, I’ll read another authors turn of phrase in describing a scene and how it made me FEEL, vs a similar one of mine. If it doesn’t make me cry or laugh it won’t make a reader do it either.
I do the same with films. I’l rewatch a film multiple times just to figure out how the actor made me believe what I saw. I try to incorporate those things I discover in my stories. I also file it away for possible future work on stage, I absolutely adore being in the light on stage.
Moonstone : Sometimes I'll take other writers' styles into account. Like if I read a story where someone really builds characters, I might try that in the ways they do.
~Lifelessons~ : There are always authors that make me think, am I good enough. I critique myself to a fault some times. Other authors are a huge inspiration me
Osirantinous  : All the time! It's a natural response. It can be depressing as hell, but also inspirational.
But I don't recommend reading in your own genre just before you're about to publish--that's when 'am I good enough?' really hits, and it's tough to break free from negative thoughts then.
s : No. We all write differently. It's really only myself I compare myself to as a writer.
However, on publishing I do sometimes wonder how some books get published by trad publishers. Then again, some people have said the same about my published works, so...
I prefer to judge a work by how it's presented to me, and that includes my own.
hectorscofield: Imagine a parent bringing up their child. Spending much time and energy to turn it into a healthy, happy, successful young adult. That approach might work with this particular kid, but not necessarily with every child, as they are all different, have their own minds and needs. Some need more independence, others more care and love, or parents who know how to handle certain problems. You can look at other parents for guidance, but in the end you have to figure out YOUR child!
TheBusmanPoet : No. I only worry about what I write. I'm not in competition with anyone else.
Humble Poet PNG  : Of course! That's how I can follow the work of good writers to learn ways to improve my own writing. It's also how I can follow the work of lousy writers --- or excuse me, to be politically correct (which I never am), I should say "writers whose work doesn't impress me." That, too, shows me where I can make improvements in my own work. It's all about improvement. If I honestly thought that my writing would never get any better, I'd never write or type another word. Since I love writing (and Writing,com), I have a very strong incentive to strive to do better.
Writing is therapeutic for me. Partly because of recent progress in my writing and in spite of recent setbacks in my friendships, I love this site! Writing eases my worries and soothes me. Maybe this site should be named Writing .calm?
Thanks for all your responses! |
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Short Stories: March 01, 2023 Issue [#11841]
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