  Short Stories
This week: Suspending Disbelief Edited by: Ben Langhinrichs  
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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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Suspending Disbelief
It is easy to look around at stories and think that readers will believe anything. From sexy, sparkling vampires to wizards to zombies to bizarro independent body parts, readers clearly enjoy the stories regardless of the unbelievable nature of the content. Right?
Not so fast. While it is true that readers are fine with alternate realities and fantastical creatures, they are far less forgiving of people acting in ways that people just wouldn't, even if the people are fanged were-pigs.
In fact, the more fantastical the creatures who are characters in your stories, the more they need to act in human ways. You can write a literary story in which a mother sacrifices her child due to her own desire to be young again (as I read the other day), but it is harder to do when the mother is a dragon. Readers want to see themselves and their lives in a story, and if the characters don't look like us, they had better act like us
This is not to say that vampires and dragons should act just like humans. I covered that topic before and it doesn't work. It is more like dialect in speech. A few choice words communicate the dialect, and a few choice differences communicate the vampire-ness or dragon-ness.
As you write your story, especially in science fiction or fantasy, make sure that the characters don't do things that would defy belief in a human, except maybe in what they eat (e.g., ogres eat disgusting things, werewolves and zombies and dragons eat you) or how they carelessly kill off the humans.
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Feedback from readers
Crys-not really here  Very interesting points, Ben. I don't usually read the Short Story Newsletter, but I did this one because I admire your fiction an respect your opinions. I'm looking forward to future newsletters with further elaboration!
LJPC - the tortoise  Hi Ben! Your NL was great - your points were concise and completely valid. However, I'd have an easier time taking the "Don't write about vampires" suggestion if I didn't know you were in the middle of a vampire story!  -- Laura
Milhaud - Tab B I am always amazed by the consistent high quality of your newsletters. Thanks for making them thoughtful, helpful, and to the point.
sysiongkerz so I can't recycle old stuff... ? eh... so I have to complete create something new?
An apple a day....  Great advice! Why try to compete with an idea someone else has already had...and one that everyone else thinks is great. It makes our story always trying to play catch up. Any ideas on how to improve imagination?
Jeff  Great NL, Ben! I think it's incredibly important for writers to remember that in order to stand out from the rest of aspiring writers out there and get published, you have to do something unique and original. You don't stand out by following trends; you stand out by setting them. 
Mark How dare you presume to suggest that writers use thought and logic! Next thing you know you'll be suggesting we get organized, and work on our memories! Piffle!
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Short Stories: July 14, 2010 Issue [#3857]
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