  Short Stories
This week: Edited by: Ms Kimmie  
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Short Story writing, while it can be engrossing, frustrating, and sometimes difficult, is still, through the good and the bad writing, fun. If it wasn't, we wouldn't do it. The more you learn about your medium and how to play with it, bend it, twist it, and make it come to life, the more fun it becomes. In this edition, the Editorial will give you ideas on how to strengthen your writing. The Editor's Picks section will highlight related stories from authors who have captured the essence of the topic and whose stories can serve as added inspiration in your own storytelling. Lastly, the Ask and Answer section is where you get to voice your opinions or ask questions on anything to do with short story writing. And don't forget to submit your own stories for consideration in upcoming newsletters.
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Hello my Babies, my Darlings! I'm here to present an amazing, life-changing, incredible newsletter just for you!
Okay, quick, what did that greeting make you feel?
For some of you, it was grating, irritating. Others may have found it welcoming because you know me or at least get my sense of humor. And still others felt . . . who knows? Myriad emotions and opinions are possible.
The point is, you thought something, you felt something. Do I really talk like that? Not even close!
Character Voice
So, if that greeting isn't how I really talk, why "speak" that way here? To illustrate the importance of accuracy in Character Voice.
Perhaps you have a great idea for a story. Maybe it’s just a line, or it came to you fully formed, or it’s just a basic outline with the potential to really go somewhere. Whatever your story, your characters will be the ones to live it, to dig in and experience it, to bring it to life and compel your readers to live it too. You need to give your characters, character.
Picture a scene where a character (let’s call her Mabel) decides to serve cheesecake to three guests. One guest says, “Mmm, I love cheesecake. With strawberries. Or cherries. Or plain is okay too. I like plain cheesecake too if you don’t have strawberries or cherries. Don’t get me wrong though—if you have something else in mind, I could maybe try it.”
Oh, I'd say this woman is indecisive and willing to please.
Another says, her eyes wide, “Cheesecake? I adore cheesecake! That’s my all-time favorite comfort food. But of course you knew that! That's why you're serving it, aren't you?” She rises and goes to the counter to help. “You’ve done enough, Mabel. Appetizers, a three course meal and now this. Really, you go sit down and I’ll serve dessert.”
Well, this character is ever so slightly self-centered and maybe a little bit of a Drama Queen. Is she helping because she's kind or because she intends on helping herself to the largest piece?
Another watches over the cutting process. “Oh, thank you but no. I couldn't eat a big piece like that! I’m so full, but I will have a little. No, smaller, please. Smaller. Just a little smaller. Okay, that’s too small. Oh, well now that's as big as the piece you tried to give me to begin with. Smaller . . . smaller. Stop! Perfect. Thanks.”
I think this character would be the type to sigh a lot, and may be prone to fits of exasperation at the imperfect world around her.
They aren't the greatest characters considering their only role is limited to this newsletter, but they serve their purpose. But, if we were to put these characters into a comedic short story or a drama, we would already have a sense of what to expect from them, and get an idea of how they might help or hinder the tale we want to tell.
You can further liven up your characters by showing their actions as they speak. The first woman might be absently picking at the corner of a napkin, or rolling and unrolling it without being aware of the nervous habit.
The second might take the knife right out of Mabel's hand so that Mabel feels forced to retreat.
The third might stand stiffly and give a look of annoyance when the slice of cheesecake is cut too small and give a slight nod of approval when the right size is selected.
Have you read books on short story writing where great, long sections are dedicated to helping you "get to know your character" better? The authors suggest writing out lengthy biographies, genealogies, and motivations for behavior. By the time you’re done, you know more about them than you do yourself. Those questionnaires can be fun to do, but not effective in getting you any closer to “The End” when you want to write a short story. They are wonderful procrastination tools and I will forever value those questionnaires for that. But when you want to get into your story, just get in there.
Short stories are “short” because you, wonderful writer and editor that you are, or are becoming, are able to impart a lot of information in a smaller amount of words and space than a novelist does. The more “characterization” you have in your characters, the stronger your story will be without you having to stop to give lengthy monologues on character, and instead can rely more on what I call "asides":
Bob was a great guy – everybody thought so. He went to church on Sundays, took in stray cats and dogs, and kept a larger than average emergency kit in the trunk of his car to help wayward motorists who invariably got lost on the back roads. He knew these roads better than he knew the lines on his seventy-six-year-old face.
Now my job, once I've created this bit of description about Bob, is to make sure Bob talks like the man I just described. His speech patterns, inflections and common phrases are going to be a lot different than mine are with my city-suburb lifestyle.
Unfortunately, I see improper dialogue use more than I'd like. I might like how a story begins, I like where it's going and then I find that the 15-year-old boy who is the main character talks like a 58-year-old woman, or worse, talks the way a 58-year-old woman assumes a 15-year-old boy would when she hasn't actually listened to one in a decade or two. Or a married man burdened with a low-paying job, four kids, and a hefty mortgage speaks with the voice of a high school senior.
If you're worried this may be a problem in your writing, try just listening to your characters as you write the story. Pause and let yourself "hear" their distinct voices. Or if the story has ground to a halt, go through your typical day and every now and then, check in with your “characters of the moment.” See how they would react to this real-life situation or that one. Study their facial movements in your mind’s eye. What would he or she say? What are they really thinking, even if different from what they’d say?
Try surfing channels for a television character who reminds you of your paper one, and listen to the nuances of his dialogue. Watch home videos online. Or come up with your own way of developing character through voice. Do what you have to do to know your characters enough to make them come to life when you sit down to write their story; and it is their story. Sure it was your idea, but once you hand it over to a character, it moves to a whole new realm and you become the narrator.
Don't stifle your creations by giving them all your voice. Let them speak! Let them be free, even if that means you have to suppress your inner editor because you would never say something like that, or your friends would be shocked and your family would call the local Mental Health Association. Never mind the critics. Just give those characters freedom to be characters.
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All of the stories below were chosen because of how they used character voice. Some authors have done the exchanges between characters with such a subtle touch, and the stories are so compelling and well-told that you hardly notice the voice treatment. However, if you go back and read only the dialogue of each character individually, you'll find they are distinct from one another.
Other authors in the selections below created such highly recognizable voices for their characters, you are immediately aware of it. But as you read those stories, you'll find that such voice treatments added to the story in vivid and significant ways.
The one at the end was included even though it may not, technically, be a short story. While I believe the author may have started out writing a short story, it grew to become a chapter. I may be wrong, since it is categorized as a short story, but the note at the end of her piece leads me to believe my assumption is correct. Feel free to set me straight, Alyndria! So why include it here? Because there are several clearly defined voices included in this short piece and that was the basis for all the stories chosen for this week's newsletter.
Enjoy!
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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!
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No letters here today. This is my first Short Story Newsletter editorial and I wouldn't feel right using some of the letters currently available to the editors; they obviously weren't sent in regards to anything I addressed in this newsletter!
I look forward to hearing from you - feel free to stop by and say hi, send in a submission for the newsletter, and let your fellow Writing.Commers know you're here and avidly writing!
Ms Kimmie
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Short Stories: August 29, 2007 Issue [#1913]
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