  Short Stories
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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
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WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR STORY DIES
Well, first things first...stop staring at the computer screen expecting something to happen. The only thing that happens is your eyes dry out.
Next, take a step back and use a critical eye on your work. Here are a few suggestion to help:
 Try to find what stalled your work. Was it dialog? Was it plot? Did the characters run off on you and you're not sure how to get them back?
 Review your plot and characters. Use the five W's...Who, What, Where, Why, When. Sometimes answering these questions helps you realign your plot.
Who are my main characters? Have you added too many side players?
What is my goal? Do you have a set conclusion to your story?
Where is your story set? Did your fantasy story get too complicated?
Did your horror focus too much on the gore and not the plot?
Did you spend excess time on setting description?
Why did my characters act this way? Have you given a modicum of back history?
Are my characters just crazy or will there be an explanation for their behavior?
When will this ever end?  !!! Actually, do you have an ending plotted out?
 Get out! I mean, get out and get some fresh air. Exercise is good - oxygenation, blood flow, endorphins, all that! Go stroll in the mall and clear your head, do some people watching! Visit a museum, or a zoo. Sometimes stepping away and feeding your creative spirit can help.
Take a long hot shower/bath with a few drops of lemongrass oil or rosemary (oil, or clipping) both of these are great stimulants for the brain.
Read! Read other stories in your genre and be inspired. Something light and humorous might help you relax and create.
Read your work aloud, into a voice recorder, or have a friend read it aloud for you. Hearing your words in voice might help spur your story into action. You can also use the recorder to brainstorm.
Freewrite! Jot down ideas and possible changes in your story, Don't try to outline with this method, just scribble on paper or turn off your monitor and type.
Get a good night's sleep! How can your creative mind work on half-power?
Edit! Review your work and correct grammar and spelling errors. Sometimes running through the story several times will help you find plot errors or where you began to stall.
Start an outline! If you don't normally use one to plot your story, try it. Perhaps a visual diagram will help a writer see what is needed to complete the story.
Send your story to cold storage.  I've saved a partial story that I lost interest in for two years! In a lull, I reread it and knew exactly what I needed to do to finish it. If anything, you can reuse a great character description in a story that IS working.
Next time you get frustrated over a story that isn't working perfectly, don't delete! Look over these ideas and see if you can get it started again.
Good luck!
Thanks to these members for their help with this newsletter: Sweets  , Turkey DrumStik  , The StoryMaster  , Texas Belle 
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Excerpt: Shortly after turning eleven in July, dressed in denim overalls, blacktop tennis shoes and a burr haircut, I scoured the creekbank for a nice frog. I found a fat one, chased him through some bushes as he croaked, and snagged him. I climbed back to the road just in time to see a black Lincoln force the Crooked Creek Town Sheriff's police car from the pavement.
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Excerpt: *Wine and blood are red, the color of his coat when they found him dead*
I remember him so well, his name was Ted and I could never understand how he ended up a homeless man.
Excerpt: I hurried to where she was kneeling, crouched over a ceramic bowl about ten inches in diameter that was protruding from the ground. I bent down and carefully pried it out of the dried earth.
“Oh, no,” we both cried; it was only half a bowl.
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#1196024 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: The sun rose higher in the blue, cloudless sky. The heat had become oppressive, bearing down on the small group like a physical burden. It was the third day of the trek, a trek commissioned by a group of humans.
Excerpt: Jon peeked through the dirty window of the cabin watching it, considering its strange behavior with a tightening in his throat. He had seen it move before while gathering wood: large mounds of it, sliding a couple of feet at a time, and closing in like a pack of hungry wolves.
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#1187521 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: The black stone in my hand pulsed like a heart pumping blood; only the stone seemed to be emanating darkness. The heat oozed from the stone over my fist with each throb. The heat slowly spread from my palm up my arm. The darkness crept around me like a wicked fog, slowly getting heavier and darker until I was erased from sight.
Excerpt: The heat was unbearable. Sweat was dripping off her and she had long given up trying to wipe it from her brow. She raised her head and shielded her eyes from the sun
Excerpt: Silently, he pushed open the door to the darkened bedroom and approached the woman lying in innocent repose. His ice blue eyes, shimmering in the moonlight, took in her ethereal beauty, and hardened in regret.
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#1198494 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: She dyed her hair bright pink and she was the most beautiful thing in the world. She would go around in that haircut with a crazy bombardier’s leather fleece-lined jacket and tight jeans that drew everyone’s eyes.
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#1085717 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Colon Cancer. Two small words, gigantic in their finality.
I'm dying, and I have many regrets as I lie on my death bed.
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#1198097 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: “Don’t worry about what’s on the other side of the fog.”
The men were huddled beside a river bank. It was warm and humid. ‘Nam was smeared across the men’s faces and legs and stuck deep within their finger nails.
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#1193034 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: I see Eve coming toward me and she is carrying something in her hand. I wonder what it is. As she approaches closer, I notice that it's a piece of fruit. She also seems to look different, but I can't put my finger on what it is. I wait for her to come up to me.
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#1059944 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Mrs. Broomtickle’s funeral was the grandest affair the village of Ploughfield had ever seen. She had truly made it as a local bigwig. Everybody in Ploughfield knew her and knew her opinion on just about everything. Despite being born the mere daughter of a spade-handle maker, she had climbed the dizzy heights of Ploughfield’s social ladder.
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 This month's question: What do you do with stories that stall?
Last month's question: Do you change your writing style to try and win contests?
Replies:
Bluesman  : You can't please every writing judge or the mood they are in when they are reading your entry, so changing styles to try to win a contest would be a moot point in my opinion. But, changing writing styles to explore something else within yourself is more important. You might find an easier way to express dialog or take care of descriptions by changing style just a tad.
spazmom : I have to plead guilty to that question. I have changed writing styles just to see if I could win...and many times I have--perhaps not always first place, but I placed somewhere. I feel it's a challenge to see if I can step out of my norm and try something new.
Breezy-E ~ In College : Now you'll have to write an NL on writing styles!
I don't really have one of my own (that I know of, at least), so I can't really say if I change it or not.
Everyone has their own style and voice. And that's a great suggestion. I'll do a future newsletter on that subject.
Ronis brain tumor is gone! : I think that I write what ever comes to mind. I think that when i get in the mood to write I do not actually have a style. Pretty much what comes out from typing is what I write I am trying to write more for different contests, lately though I have been discouraged. I am going to try to enter 2 contests a month starting Jan.
Good luck!
patheral: I do my best to change my writing style to win contests. It doesn't always work, but it's a great way to explore other styles of writing, and to not get stuck in one "voice".
Comments:
jimhutch: Aloha. I submitted my first item to my portfolio and it fits the subject of your picks. What do I do next?
You can submit it for consideration in the field at the bottom of the newsletter. Just put in the item number and click submit.
writeone : Thanks for another great newsletter! I do have a question for you which you might be able to address. You say to polish up our stories and then send them out. I agree. However, some of the places where I am sending my things do not accept anything that has been published either in print or online. For that reason, I deleted most of the items in my portfolio. What exactly is the proper protocol on that. When we send things out, do we need to say that they are already on writing.com, or should we delete them from this site because someone who really is a stickler for detail will eventually find them online, or what? Any suggestions?
Writing.Com is not a publishing venue - but a peer to peer writing community for the purpose of exchanging feedback to improve work.
Writing.Com offers a variety of means to limit access to work, include limiting to authors and limiting to passkeys. Members can invite specific reviewer to review their work through the use of the passkey system.
For those really concerned about rights issues, members can join groups of reviewers and limit access only to those within the group. Most of these groups are anywhere from a few to a few dozen members in size.
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Short Stories: January 10, 2007 Issue [#1477]
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