 Short Stories: April 13, 2011 Issue [#4341] |
  Short Stories
This week: The Sound of Silence Edited by: Leger~  
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This week's Short Story Editor
Leger~ |
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The Sound of Silence
One would think silence is...well, silent. But if you think about it, the world around you is rarely silent. Close your eyes and listen. Can a character be silent? They can stop talking, but are they truly silent? He might be tapping his foot, or brushing his hand over the fabric of his wool suit making a small noise. Or she might huff in disagreement when another character is speaking. It's not always appropriate to write about everything that is heard, but it can be a subtle way to convey how a character is feeling.
Let us go to the basement. You know, the dark creepy place where just walking down the stairs creates noise. Go down there, will you? It's really not as quiet as you think. You can hear the wind blowing through the cracks in the foundation, the water heater ticking as the cycle cools, and the clap of the dryer vent cover moving. The house will make creaks and squeaks as the weight settles on the foundation. Walk across the concrete floor and open the old wooden door to the root cellar. The hinge needs oil and always squeaked, hasn't it? Cobwebs might not make a sound...but you will when they cloak your face.
Okay, it is a bit musty down there. Let's head into the woods. Even in the middle of the night, the woods will not be silent. The sound of an animal moving through the leaves on the ground can seem quite loud. Or at sunset, the frogs harrumphing their song can be quite melodious. And at daybreak, as the first rays of the sun illuminate the treetops, the scurrying of the squirrels through the branches can be heard. Noise! What about a cave? That has to be quiet, isn't it? Unfortunately, your character will realize that the very act of breathing will be heard in a cave. The scamper of a mouse along the wall sends shivers down your spine. And that drip...what is dripping? How did you think the damp got in the cave?
Think about using small details in your writing to create suspense, or to slow the action. Use them to help your reader relate to what is going on. And when you're hiding from that scary dude with the hatchet - don't make a sound.
This month's question: What are some of your favorite sounds to use when evoking emotion?
Send in your reply below! 
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Excerpt: Sitting on the toilet, I blamed her. We should have flown out the day before like normal people, but Mom was not one to plan in advance. She rushed me out of bed, into my fanciest dress and we were off like two bats in the night. Had I not spent half an hour in the restroom, we might have caught part of the service. To my mother’s credit, she handled missing all of it well. While I relieved myself, she washed her face and rehearsed apologies.
Excerpt: I knew a whisper of a name once, it was silent, it was sweet. It was as most things are, misunderstood and eventually forgotten. As revelation abandoned me I felt myself slipping, grasping at crumbling roots, and ultimately falling.
Excerpt: “It’s a tumor,” he complained to his wife.
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Excerpt: He was smiling inside again- outside again. His whole body felt like a giggling smile as he rose like a feather out the window and up...up...up into clouds that reached out for him like-
"CLEAR!!!"
The jolt made him bolt upright gasping for air as his mind reeled. He swung from left to right, taking in the scene from...from the floor?
Excerpt: Too many adverbs? -Yes indeed! And I'm here to help make sure this sort of embarrassing thing never happens to you!
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Excerpt: A dead silence ensued, one that is uncommon to London; in fact, it became so utterly and dreadfully quiet that Brian naturally thought a horrible and devastating event was about to occur. He squirmed about on his mattress until the door to the room opened and in swarmed a flash of light.
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Excerpt: "Honey? Jeff? Are you asleep?"
"I was."
"Sorry. Go back to sleep. I'll tell you in the morning."
"Tell me what?"
"It's nothing. Just go back to sleep."
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Excerpt: We knew there was a mouse in the house. We didn’t think it was a good idea to let it stay. Our old cat had long since lost his hunting instincts and had settled into the good life of being a pet. We decided to get a trap, but the idea of tempting it with a morsel and then cracking its neck with a metal spring just didn’t seem right.
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Excerpt: As the fifth child in a string of six, it was not easy to get the attention of my parents—well, not the kind of attention I longed for anyway. I decided at a very young age that I needed to be perfect. Perfection would ensure that my parents noticed me and, once they noticed me, how could they not admire me for such terrific qualities as honesty, respectfulness, obedience, and good grades?
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This month's question: What are some of your favorite sounds to use when evoking emotion?
Last month's question: Where do you hide your bodies?
I loved all the responses! Here are some of them:
alfred booth, wanbli ska  has a plan: I think that the dasterdly deeds should always be carried out in international waters. Bodies dumped overboard are food for the sharks and rarely wash up on the shores. Of course that means that my villains must be rich millionaires with yachts, but heck, this is fiction, innit? And that won't help if you're stuck with murder on your mind in Missouri! Have to drive too many miles with a body in the trunk, wrapped or not in Glad Wrap!
I guess this means I have to think of how the poor are going to get away with their crimes... How about cannibalism?
LJPC - the tortoise responded: Where do I hide my dead bodies? Not in Glad bags, that's for sure, although I think it would be pretty funny. I did put a dismembered body in boxes from the copy room once, but they weren't "Xerox" boxes. Seriously, it's usually better if you just leave the dead bodies lying out in the open. It propels the plot forward faster if the characters don't have to hunt around for them.  -- Laura
Vivian  replied: Chest freezers, in wrecked cars, buried, or in plain sight -- bodies are hidden if need be, but in Midnight Hours, the bodies had to be found to collect insurance. ~~ Viv
atwhatcost answered: Funny you should ask. I'm just starting a short story that includes my first dead body. It's a skeleton found in a muskrat hole under a river.
On the other hand, are we sure you can hide dead bodies in the Pinelands? It's hard to dig around tree roots, even if they're growing in sand. ;)
Fyn  sent: I hid one once in a dream....for he only fantasized the death...until someone else took care of the dirty work....tho, of course, he was blamed....
cheryl09 has an idea: What I think you should do with the dead bodies is to put them deep into the water or bury them under the ground about six feet deep.
Zeke  said: Dead bodies can be burned and spread out in several vacant lots. The question is how do you burn it completely?
Morgan Lynn admits: I don't hide them. I destroy them! Its much easier to get rid of the evidence that way :D
Adriana Noir responds:  Hilarious and informative, Leger. It doesn't get any better than that! I myself am not partial to the "where" when it comes to disposing of those pesky dead bodies. The important thing is to not get caught! 
YoungThoughts reveals: I wrote a story about a man who went insane and killed his family...I had the character hide them in the house. He is the only one who lives there, and no one notices that they have gone missing or are dead until the crazy person invites someone over.
Cassie Kat tells: In a story, I once hid a dead body inside a grandfather clock, and in another story I stashed a body inside a coffin in a museum
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