  Short Stories
This week: 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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Grammar Goblins
October is a scary month. Oh yes, yes, I know, it's Halloween. What is worse, I've been working on one of my novels. Every few thousand words, I look back at what I've written and I cringe. How could I have made that many mistakes? Where did that comma come from? Why did I capitalize that? I need help!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctuation
While I don't think you'll need to know what a guillemet or an interrobang is for your everyday writing, I do think it's important to make an effort to have correct grammar and punctuation in your writing. We all make mistakes and need to edit. It's not easy, but the payoff when posting corrected work here at Writing.com is that reviewers will delve deeper with their reviews if they're not hung up on bad grammar and spelling. Take the quiz!
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#1151693 by Not Available. |
Punctuation Panic
Have you been typing in Microsoft's Word program and wondered what all those red and green squiggly lines under your type is all about? The red ones are suggestions for spelling and the green are suggestions for grammar. Aren't you glad you read this newsletter?  Did you know there is spell check on this site? It is on the black tool line in your item, click "/Spell/".
Did you know there is a National Punctuation Day? Okay, it's new in the United States. I found a website that celebrates it on September 24th.
http://www.nationalpunctuationday.com/
Check out the Dear John letter. Which one would you like to receive?
The Comma Dilemma
A teacher once told my daughter, "Commas are not like croutons to be sprinkled liberally on a salad." There are times when I agonize in edit over leaving a comma in a sentence or taking it out.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/
The OWL has some good suggestions for deciding.
Apostrophe Atrophy
It's important to your readers to know whether a word is plural or possesive. There's a diner near my house and on the big sign out front it says "Cocktail's". I fight the urge to roll down my window and yell, "Cocktail's what?"
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/
While you're on Writing.com, do a Power Search on the word "Punctuation". There's lots to learn right here!
Now if you'll excuse me...I have some editing to do.
Here's a fun way to learn
http://eatsshootsandleaves.com/ESLquiz.html
http://www.iknowthat.com/com/L3?Area=Paintball&COOK=
http://www.gamequarium.com/punctuation.html
More interesting reading on punctuation:
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/721833.html
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/GramPunct.html
http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/catalogue.html#punct
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A great contest accepting short stories:
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Excerpt: For this contest, I am seeking writers who can successfully combine the Comedy and Fantasy genres.
Stop in and check out this flash from a talented young writer:
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Three days passed before they found the body....
#1162698 by Andrew  |
Excerpt: Three days passed before they found the body. Three long days filled with anguish and desperation.
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#1067496 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: With all the kids who went missing that summer and fall, it seemed like the thing to do. James took Tommy with him. Tommy was new in town and he’d never seen the Demon Den.
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#1140420 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: The question reverberated though Andrew Goodman's mind. Each time was the same; the beginning, the middle, and the end. For over forty years he had been summoned from the grave to relive the incident that took his life.
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#1102250 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Dripping candles illuminated blue stained-glass windows, as a teen-aged Sara eased into a darkened back pew of the pristine chapel. Looking down at her black-gloved hands, she despised the feel of strangers' empty eyes upon her.
I love shoes!
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#1032017 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: One morning I awoke exhausted from my night’s sleep. I want to say repose; however, I’m afraid that would imply something restful. Repose (when not speaking of the dead) is a place where lovely euphoria is awaiting one as they slip into that dark suspended realm of unconsciousness known as slumber.
Excerpt: The thick grasses acted as a fog for vision as Franklin sought to see where his feet would go next. Sharp plants within the thick, wild mixture he sought to walk through continued to grab at him as though beseeching him to stay for some unknown reason.
Excerpt: A frail old man sits on what he knows will be his death bed. He watches the sun set, both outside his window and inside his heart. So many doctors have been to see him, each with hopeful half-smiles and terribly cold eyes.
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#1165103 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: The footsteps reverberated around the small block of garages. She stopped, as did they, a quick look about confirmed what she had already known; she was alone.
How to dispose of a rat.
Excerpt: She races around the house in a hurry looking for the missing car keys. Ready to walk out the door, dressed in her waitress uniform.
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#1164874 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: I watched an old man getting off a city bus today. He was engaged in a bit of bus stop nose-picking while I waited for the light to change. He looked at me and I looked at him. He didn't even care, pulled his finger out and examined his find.
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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
Don't forget to support our sponsor!
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This month's question: How much time do you spend improving your grammar?
August's newsletter question:
What method do you use to stay within the confines of a short story?
Replies from readers:
writeone  : Another fine newsletter! One note my professor-turned-mentor gave me: don't turn your conclusion into something didactic! Let the reader decide how to feel without your narrator becoming preachy. Leave that to Guideposts! It is great advice - now if you'll excuse me, I have to edit all my conclusions! 
Robert Waltz  : I end it whenever I reach a predetermined word count.  Just kidding I go by the KISS principle: Keep It Simple, Scribe! One hook, one (okay, sometimes two) important characters, and a limited setting.
Besides, NO ONE wants to read more than 2500 words of my jokes
Turkey DrumStik  : Since I ramble, I use two parameters to keep my stories to short story length. I have one conflict with only a couple complications (but meaty ones, at that) and only one or two main characters. If I feel I can write a story with a solid conclusion yet not exceed 7500 words, though, I might add another main character or complication.
Reader comments:
billwilcox: Leger,
What a wealth of information! I have found that a GREAT story idea is nothing without a GREAT character to live through it: someone we can all relate to--someone like us.
April Sunday : I agree wholeheartedly with the flounce shown re: char. past. If not relevant to plot line, barely expected these days.
And unless authors handle groups well, extra char. merely come off as pure filler.
TEFF
I look forward to hearing from you! |
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Short Stories: October 11, 2006 Issue [#1310]
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