  Short Stories
This week: Edited by: Ben Langhinrichs  
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#1) Take a pencil to write with on aeroplanes. Pens leak. But if the pencil breaks, you can't sharpen it on the plane, because you can't take knives with you. Therefore: take two pencils.
Margaret Atwood, Canadian author
Greetings! I am one of the editors for the Short Stories Newsletter, and I hope to share some of my thoughts on writing short stories, and perhaps about writing in general. I suggest you treat these not as pearls of wisdom dropped from on high, but rather musings of a fellow writer, written to inspire, provoke or stimulate your personal muse. I welcome your thoughts, feedback and suggestions. Ben Langhinrichs |
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#1) Do not place a photograph of your favourite author on your desk, especially if the author is one of the famous ones who committed suicide.
Roddy Doyle, Irish author
Random Rules for Writing Fiction
The Guardian (in the UK) has a great list of lists up on its site, broken into two parts:
Ten rules for writing fiction, Part 1
Ten rules for writing fiction, Part 2
They describe the project this way:
Get an accountant, abstain from sex and similes, cut, rewrite, then cut and rewrite again – if all else fails, pray. Inspired by Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing, we asked authors for their personal dos and don'ts
I'll quote just a couple of my favorites, but you should go read these for yourself. Then, if you are a writer, go one step beyond and write your own list. Don't feel obligated to do ten, these authors didn't.
#5) Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.
Neil Gaiman, English author
#6) Write. No amount of self-inflicted misery, altered states, black pullovers or being publicly obnoxious will ever add up to your being a writer. Writers write. On you go.
A.L. Kennedy, Scottish author
It is not hard to read these and realize there are lots of inconsistencies and contradictions. Some say to push through writer's block, while others say to go for a walk. Some say to write what you know, and others say to write what you would like to know. There is practical advice as well as impractical and funny advice. The most important thing to take away from this diverse group of authors is that they are people just like you and me. Some things work for one, some things work for another.
Of course, it is also not hard to respect Philip Pullman, who skipped the exercise entirely, saying
My main rule is to say no to things like this, which tempt me away from my proper work.
Philip Pullman, English author
With that, I'm off to do other things besides write newsletters, such as finishing up that short story with zombies in Victorian England.
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Feedback from readers
justme  Interesting I get so caught up in trying to describe everything I really didnt think about certain things as yellow..hmm I like your advice..:)
jenn
I get caught up in it myself, but that is what rewriting is all about.
katherinerose Thank you Ben for a great newsletter on Simple Descriptions. I am off to read your other newsletters now.
Glad you enjoyed it. I have two newsletters this week, and had one last week, so plenty to choose from.
shaara Wonderful ideas for writing with varying types of description. This is very useful!
Thanks!
Leger~  An excellent NL topic. It's so very tempting to fill scenes with descriptions so readers see it as the writer does. Thanks for the reminder to keep it simple.
Easy to say, of course, but hard to follow sometimes (at least for me).
Coolhand I enjoyed your thoughts on description, Ben. Nice newsletter. May your pen-of-description overflow this year.
And yours as well.
Catherine Hall This is really useful. I struggle all the time with description, how much to do, how to do it, whether to do it, etc. I'll be keeping your newsletter in my writing guidelines folder. Thanks.
Glad to be of any assistance.
fizzyfitz In that vein, look at this snippet from a story I am working on now:
A wheezy voice startled him, and he whipped around to find himself face to face with a heavyset old man, missing more than his share of teeth, and giving off a vague indefinable odor that seemed a cross between misery and failure, with maybe a hint of burnt garlic.
Can you describe this person? Is he African-American, Caucasion or Asian? Is his hair red or grey or white or brown? Does any of it matter?
The part that matters is that you can picture the character in your head, but when you think about it you have few to no details, just a basic...aura type thing. It is the vibe, the voice of the description that tells you about the character.
You've got it!
Jacqklin Very called for, a way for us to twist our minds into new shapes to see elements of a story in different contexts...this deepens a new writer's options on how to present parts to the reader. It makes me question myself before going on. "What way should I offer this description to the reader?" To the characters... thanks.
And yours as well.
Items submitted by readers
Great newsletter. My question probably goes against the short story writing 'rule book'. I'm torn between tying up the loose ends for the reader or letting the reader make some choices. So many times you can picture the author finishing up his masterpiece, nibbling on his fingers, trying to get it right. Most of the time it isn't real. But fiction lets us get away with it. King is a big believer in 'does it work? Is is believable? I would like to let the reader do more than say "I knew it would end up this way...I was right!" or "Wow that never entered my mind it would end that way." It's the journey of the read, and yes, the climax, but so much in life isn't resolved in a pretty box with a ribbon. Life goes on, people don't change that much. Oh well, just dribble but I'm still confused - or frustrated at having to end it with a solid, complete resolution.
Thanks
I really enjoyed reading this very informative newsletter on descriptions. Sometimes I have a problem with using too much or too little myself.
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Short Stories: February 24, 2010 Issue [#3577]
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