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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.
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Excerpt: Grey eyes peered into the darkness, seeing further into the night than any human could fathom. Jasmine heard the loud beat of music long before they reached the city, so she knew exactly where she wanted to be.
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Excerpt: I hate Thanksgiving. Friends, family, turkey, all of it. I hate going back home. I don’t miss them, and I don’t care if they miss me. Why can’t they see that I moved up here for a reason? Is it really their loss? I just want to be left alone. Especially now. It sure seems like I’m meant to be. If only she had stayed, maybe this wouldn’t have been so bad. Mom and Dad sure loved her. Then again, so did I. I can’t believe I didn’t tell them, but I sure as hell didn’t feel like discussing it. Too bad they’re going to want to hear it all. This is going to be a nightmare.
Excerpt: Reg shone the torch into the darkness and across the dust framed patches of wallpaper where paintings once hung. On the front window ledge shadows of leaves fluttered against soft orange light, glowing from the distant street lamp on the other side of the garden wall. Softly closing the door behind him he crept in and continued to scan his surroundings with the starker, white light of his own lamp.
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Excerpt: “Would you like us to call you when the procedure is completed?”
“No, no. I’ll take your word for it. Just send me the bill. Thanks.” Tim’s eyes were starting to cloud up, and he just wanted to get out of the vet's office. Besides, he needed to get his two elementary-aged children away from this unhappy place.
Excerpt: My eyes adjust to the light. Why am I here? The smell of bleach and floor cleaner, fill my nostrils. Floral pattern sheets align both sides of the single upright posture loving mattress, which I curve my body to. The white blistering light from the spotted plate glass windows onto the contrasting white walls makes it hard for my eyes to continue adjusting.
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Excerpt: Starbucks was nearly empty. That was the very reason Ilene chose Tuesday afternoons to visit. Around two o’clock the lunch crowd would be gone and the after work crowd wouldn’t be arriving for a couple of hours. She hated being there with the mad rush of mid morning and she never came on weekends. She was beginning to hate coming at all.
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Excerpt: As I looked down at my counter, my heart began to race just a little. I only two minutes left. Leaning over a small metal table, I was careful in pressing the final replacement gasket around the edges of my breathing mask. I had to make sure that there were no bulges where the seal could come loose--one mistake could literally mean the difference between life and death. It was a risk either way, and after four years of this I was almost beginning to accept it as a normal way of life.
Excerpt: Recently, the wife brought to my attention that we may have a bit of a mouse problem. She did not see any mice, per say, but they left their little bits of evidence all over the kitchen and laundry room. Truth be told, I was routing through some boxes in the basement weeks earlier and came across some piles of seeds.
Excerpt: have a mirror, a beautiful mirror, that at times, doesn't seem like a mirror at all. It sits on my dressing table so that when seated there, I can see myself from head to hip.
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Excerpt: Woods are magical places, with fairies and gnomes and lots of things adults can’t see.
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This month's question: Have you found funny sentences? Let me know!
Last month's question: Should short stories have chapters?
Replies:
spook  : It seems to me that if the way you write seems natural, and the breaks and such feel good, then go with them. Why do people get stuck on arbitrary rules? No one's going to get hurt if you break your short story into chapters, and who gets to say what is short and what is not to begin with?
merlin  : Hi there, I tend to put breaks into my short stories where they look comfortable to myself as writer, and where the reader can understand the change in scene or character. Sticking too rigidly to a rule can make the flow of the story stilted. A line break is all that is needed in a short tale, but that's my opinion.
Best Wishes, Wyvernz
Voxxylady  : I think one of the best rules of writing is to know when to break them. If your stories need chapters, they should have them. If breaks make sense to the author, they will likely make sense to the reader, as well.
Wouldn't 40,000 words be more a novella than a short story? Word count differentiating short stories and novellas is debated, but I would be inclined to call a 40K word story with chapters a novella. 
Maria Mize  : I prefer freedom over form. Too much emphasis on rules can hinder and/or confine creativity. (Look at e e cummings.)
When I think I know something and staunchly defend that belief, I am sometimes proven wrong. At the same time, considering a rule adhered to by others, promotes growth.
Since short stories are typically "short," dividing one into chapters could make it choppy and disconnected. However, an intentional extra empty line between paragraphs may be useful in creating a smooth transition.
scribbler : Well once a short stories need chapters it becomes a novella.
Helen McNicol : Thanks for the guidelines on chapters for a start. I notice that going by the guidelines you have given that I'll have to review my book! I'm pretty sure I haven't followed these rules either!
JustTurtle : I've read a good many books and believe that the way you broke up the chapters is more along the lines of how things 'should' be done, and in my humble opinion, a novella should be cut up into smaller chunks just like a juicy steak. It's easier to enjoy if one's mouth isn't so full as to make chewing nearly impossible.
lynjs : I enjoyed your email about whether or not short stories should have chapters. I am in a quandry of my own. I have a story that I have been working on. It has kind of taken a life of it's own and become rather lengthy, right now 56 pages +. I have broken it up by a scenes so to speak or subject.
Your newsletter has given me some points to ponder and at the perfect time. Thank you for advice was really needed.
Feywriter : For my longer short stories I prefer breaking them into "parts" rather than "chapters", based off periods of time or changes in plot. I think the advice you found is more opinion than set rules.
faithjourney: I believe it makes sense to use short chapters from time to time. My short story, "Nobody" has chapters. It was the only logical way I could find to organize the action. If your setting isn't confined to a specific time/setting, you may need chapters to help the action flow.
LOUISE KAY : I think that a story should make sense within itself. If it feels right to break it into pieces/chapters then that's the way it should be. Rules exist to act as guidelines - to give us somewhere to start or stop. However, there are always going to be exceptions. And not everyone uses the same set of rules. I have found conflicts between different sets.
As long as the over all flow is maintained and the reader finds satisfaction in the whole, then that is how the story should be. :)
JDowls : In my short stories, I tend to do as you said you've done. "Right before the break in suspense and moving to action." I tend to insert a bunch of chapters into my short stories. 5-7-ish seem, to me at least, to keep it flowing without ruining the story.
Seisa-sleepingcatbooks.com : On chapters in short stories: I think it's all personal opinion. If your story is borderline-novel or novella, then it's easily long enough to sustain chapters. Also, I've read full-length novels with chapters of one page. So even a shorter short story could sustain chapters. It's all about what makes the most sense to you, for that particular story, and what will aid the reader in following and comprehending your work.
Mavis Moog : I don't think there can be rules about everything. Chapters in short stories are unusual but not unheard of. It is unusual to have chapters in short stories because a short story is usually compact. The writer aims to end his story as close to the beginning (in the time-line) as possible.
In a very quick review I found four short stories by some famous American writers which have chapters:
 Double Birthday by Willa Cather.
The Evening Sun Go Down by William Faulkner.
Crazy Sunday by F Scott Fitzgerald.
Bright and Morning Star by Richard Wright.
If they felt the need to use chapters, I'm sure you needn't feel guilty about it. As to where to split your narrative; maybe you could analyse the stories I mentioned and see if they stuck to rules.
Arthur : Leger,just a little friendly tip: Examine the works by some of the past masters of the short story such as E.A. Poe, O'Henry,Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft to mention a few.
I have most of these authors in my personal library and often read them in order to get a feel for what a short story as opposed to a novella,novel, etc....The feeling I got from this article was that your work in progress is close to being a novella or short novel depending on whose definition you use. Hope this feedback helps.
Cyanvia : Good article! I think it's up to the short story itself. Sometimes short story can be a long story and should divide into few chapters. But I don't call stories that has more than 3 chapters are short story. Thanks for the newsletter!
April Sunday : Actually, L. Can't begin to fathom 40,000 words without a Part I, Part II theme. Sometimes authors are so close to their work, they just keep editing without breaking. Generally, it probably depends on the content which will let the author know when to bail for that particular part and begin anew. Citing ref is always an aide. E.g. Part I etc often appears in Ellery Queen Mag.
Ric The Woolicane : Interesting question. I have a short story (20000 words submited as possible highlight) which I have split into seven chapters. A chapter break should come in where it feels natural, I don't think there can be a hard and fast rule.
Comments:
mastery: Good read this month, Leger....Semper Fi, Bob
Thanks to everyone who sent in a comment! I appreciate all the responses!
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Short Stories: December 05, 2007 Issue [#2097]
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