 Short Stories: February 23, 2011 Issue [#4255] |
  Short Stories
This week: A Sense of Place 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.
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A Sense of Place
Newer writers, or older ones who haven't learned yet, are often urged to "show, not tell." Most Whether you are describing a scene or building suspense or indicating that the hero is happy, don't forget that there are five senses.
For this newsletter though, I plan to focus on a place. In a short story, there is often a desire to get on with the action, but the reader will accept the action more if the scene feels real.You can describe a scene visually, but it may still feel one dimensional if you don't add a sense of small or taste or sound. A polluted river with trash along its banks is descriptive, but an acrid taste that you can't get out of the back of your throat grabs the reader.
Different cities or neighborhoods have different smells and tastes and sounds, and if you can evoke that sense in your reader, you can skip a lot of the more extensive description. A man sits on a bench and wrinkles his nose at the stale smell of urine. You don't need to talk about the graffiti on the bench or the rundown storefronts, as we already get that it is a seedy part of town.
The same is true of an office or home or boat. In an office, the smell of leather and Chanel #5 tells us one thing. In a home, the lingering scent of raspberry conditioner and bubblegum tells us something else. On a boat, a cold spray across the cheek and a salty taste on the tongue may place us better than lots of words about sun and breeze and waves.
Take a scene in a story where you have written a long description. Is it mostly visual? Would the character experiencing the scene stop to think about all that? As an experiment, try removing all visual description, and still give a sense of place using sounds, smells, tastes and touch.
When I have tried this, I find that the description is often shorter, and yet evokes a stronger reaction. We use all our sense on a regular basis. Try using them in your writing as well.
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Feedback from readers
The newsletter these readers were responding to is
"The Ending Comes Before the Beginning" by Ben Langhinrichs
Planning your story will ensure you're not just wandering about in the woods. (Short Stories Newsletter - January 26, 2011)
Half_Baked  Your words are so true. At least for me it is.
I have started couple of stories that I have never finished.
In the midst of writing, the theme have in my head keeps on changing because the things I wrote suggest it is heading somewhere else. The story start turning into something other than what I have hoped for. After awhile it becomes a mess, too much that I eventually abandon it temporarily. Then I start procrastinating.
I made a promise to myself to do the leg work. I am going to make sure that I at least know where the story is headed, know my character inside and out, and have a firm idea of what the theme of story.
Shaikh  thanks
Specter Stephen King is known as having said, "The short story is a dying art."
Rather, I find Ray Bradbury to be a competent man from the 1950's by publishing a long series of short stories combined in the novel length of the Illustrated Man.
I enjoy and appreciate brevity, whether it's a short story or a simple statement.
Once, when my child was about four, came rushing into the dinning room, made a flying leap to sit but missed the entire chair. I, rising up in anger, when she looked pitifully up at me and said, "Opps, I dropped myself."
slick
Utopian I could not agree more with you about knowing the end of a story before beginning the writing. I started a novel once without knowing how it would end and could never finish the novel. Learnt a lot from that experience.
Will Dee Your article "The beginning comes before the ending" make sense. I agree with your point that you should have a planned ending. Many things I write do not have a planned ending when I start writing. I believe it help to complete the story if I think about how the piece will end.
faithjourney I agree. I won't write a story unless I know where I want to start it and how I want it to end. After all, the whole point of writing is developing the arc from Point A (beginning) to Point B (ending).
Thanks for the great advice!
Rixfarmgirl  Loved your comments. I agree 100% that you must know the ending before you get there. Many times I have an ending in mind and then write to it. At least I know where I'm going. Sometimes your characters will have a few ideas of their own on the journey, but few have had me alter the original destination I chose when I started.
Bookie Taylor I love that you say if you don't have a destination you will never fail, but also rarely succeed. Such a simple sentence but so true! I think writing in itself is equally worthy, no matter who you are. However, this doesn't mean THE writing will be equally worthy. We might all be born equal, but we sure don't end up that way. And I think that's ok, else we wouldn't have anything to write about, would we?
Beck Firing back up!  Awesome newsletter about planning the ending! I think it's okay to "start out" not knowing the ending - but somewhere after pages and pages of rambling, a writer needs to stop and get a definite idea of where they will end, and how. Great newsletter and advice! Then we can go back and make sure what we're already written makes sense with the ending in mind.
L. Stephen O'Neill Dear Ben,
You've got me by one year and one kid. Good on you.
I think you make a very good point, though, if you aren't writing at all, then any writing is better than none. Perhaps your next newsletter could focus on the bold rewrite.
I'm sure I'm trying to justify my current writing style. I suspect there are a lot of us duffers who are just glad to be writing at all. But, to move beyond what amounts to a walk through the woods of our own imagining, I think you are right about us needing to be more intentional about our writing. I also agree that it is easier to make it good from the start than to polish a pigs ear. . .
. . .Perhaps a newsletter on mixed metaphor is warranted as well.
LSO
miller.ck Totally disagree. A story is like a dream. Too often a plot outline leads to dull, simple, predictable, point-A-to-point-B type writing where the destination trumps the journey. Write an interesting scene. Follow it with another. And another. Revel in the journey, the prose. The end will become clear. Trust your muses. Day after day, think on it. Be prepared to retrofit and rewrite, of course. The problem you describe's not not knowing the end at the beginning, but not being willing to put forth the time and effort.
miller.ck You make some great points, Ben. I used to be one of those "I just start writing" people, but those stories never got finished. Now, even if I don't exactly how a story ends when I start it, I have a couple of options in my head so the narrative can take me in one direction or the other.
aszreal offers Little Wizards with the comment: I'm a planner. In all aspects of life but usually in writing, I plot, I plan then I write. However I disagree that this is always the best way and at least two of my favourite stories of my own were begun with no end destination in mind, just a setting, a character or two and a voice. Ideas formed as the story revealed itself to me and after the first chapter or two I had an end goal in mind, but not from the outset (I have highlighted one of them if you're interested).
Rules and plans are all very well, but sometimes inspiration likes to fly at you without constraint. So I disagree with your sentiment on whether a story can work without being planned from the get go, it can and sometimes does work very well without planning.
regards
Ade
A response to an earlier newsletter, "Too Much Backstory in the Front" by Ben Langhinrichs
If you fill your first few paragraphs with backstory, you may empty out your audience (Short Stories Newsletter - August 11, 2010)
Sanchez Mr. Ben Langhinrichs, you have given me great tips on writig a story. My question is, how deep or detailed should characters I write in my semi-autobio be?
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