 Short Stories: November 06, 2012 Issue [#5346] |
  Short Stories
This week: Teensy Tiny Tricks that Titillate Edited by: Shannon  
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Welcome to the Short Stories Newsletter. I am Shannon and I'm your editor this week.
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Writing in an art form. No one expects a layman to pick up a Midas Rex and perform a craniotomy (not successfully, anyway). Likewise, it behooves would-be writers to practice, practice, practice. Read anything and everything you can get your hands on. How else will you know what good writing looks and sounds like? And write. Write a lot. Once you have the basics down, try your hand at something new.
She shivers in her shorts and sleeveless shirt as she shines the shoes of sailors at sea with shampoo from the shop across the street. She smiles--her eyes shimmering with suspense at someday showing the selfish shrews on shore her significant savings and stash of silver shells she keeps on shelves in her shed. ~ © 2007 Shannon Chapel
I wrote that tongue twister back in 2007, and it is an excellent example of alliteration. Alliteration (repeating the initial consonant sound in a string of words) is often used in newspaper headlines (Miners Mingle at Mining Expo), but it's found in all types of writing. Its sing-song quality is an excellent way to grab your reader's attention.
Antimetabole is repetition of words or phrases, but in reverse order. "Ride to live, live to ride," comes to mind. Also "I work to live, not live to work." It's a simple way for your character to stress his or her point.
A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes one thing as if it were something else. Anton Chekhov said, "Medicine is my lawful wife and literature my mistress; when I tire of one, I spend the night with the other." Other metaphors you may have heard are "the apple of my eye," "the light of my life," and "raining cats and dogs." Many metaphors are so overused they're cliche, so use them sparingly. And be careful not to mix your metaphors, although it has been done successfully and to hilarious effect. In the film The Boondock Saints the bartender, Doc, is constantly mixing his metaphors and similes and saying things like, "Well, you know what they say... people in glass houses sink ships, " "Make like a tree and get the [expletive] outta here," "A penny saved is worth two in the bush," and "Don't cross the road if you can't get out of the kitchen." Doc's character (and the unpredictable things that come out of his mouth) made the film worth watching.
A simile is a figure of speech that compares two dissimilar things, typically by using the words like or as (blind as a bat, slow as molasses, swims like a fish, happy as a clam, mad as a hatter, clean as a whistle, busy as a bee). Like the aforementioned metaphors, these similes have been way overused and should be avoided, but an original, properly-written simile is beautiful to behold, instantly creating a vivid image in the reader's mind that isn't easily forgotten: "Elderly American ladies leaning on their canes listed toward me like towers of Pisa." ~ Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov
Litotes is a form of ironic understatement in which the speaker says something but means the opposite: "It isn't very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain." ~ Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye. If a man looked at a photo of Miss America and said, "She's not that repulsive," he's using litotes to say she's beautiful. As writers, creating sympathetic characters is an absolute must, and including a character who speaks in litotes is challenging and fun.
An oxymoron combines contradictory terms (found missing, deafening silence, passive aggressive, negative growth, honest thief, working vacation). Samuel Goldwyn is credited with some of the funniest, wittiest oxymorons ever spoken and is famous for saying things like "A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on. Include me out," and "If you fall and break your legs, don't come running to me." As I read through some of his most memorable oxymorons in an attempt to pick just two to include in this newsletter, I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. To be as good as Goldwyn takes practice and God-given wit, but they are an excellent tool for all writers to have in their toolbox.
But none of these tricks matter if readers aren't compelled to open your book (or click on your short story). Your title is the reader's introduction to your work, and if the title stinks readers won't bother to venture further. Intrigue them! Hook them from the very first word, and the very first word is your title. Do you think Psycho would have been the cult classic it is today if it had been titled Nutty Norman? I don't think so. Make them want more. Put some time into it. Run a few possible titles by friends, family, and coworkers. Is there one that stands out? Ask them why they liked one as opposed to another. Ask what emotion each title evokes (if any) and why. Choose your titles wisely, choose all your words wisely, and the reading will be better for it.
Thank you for reading.
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I hope you enjoy this week's featured selections. Please remember to do the authors the courtesy of reviewing the ones you read. Thank you, and have a great week!
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A young surgeon discovers the real reason his fiancee disappeared two years earlier
#661067 by Bobbi  |
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#963434 by Not Available. |
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The following is in response to "Short Stories Newsletter (October 10, 2012)" :
NickiD89  says, "Free-writing exercises in a journal like you described, using a scent, family photograph, or sound to trigger memories, are my favorite writing past-times. Think I'll do some today...! Great NL, as always!!" Thank you, Nicki! I'm glad you found it helpful. 
Zeke  says, "A personal journal is a way of becoming immortal in my opinion." I couldn't agree more, Zeke. Thank you so much for reading and commenting. 
bronxbishop says, "What wonderful advice. I used to incorporate experiences into my work, like Field of the Broken Heart and how I felt when I first lost my precious gift from someone dear, or Three Minutes to Glory, my short about a boxer and what it feels like to get your clock cleaned by a well-landed left hook. I have neglected to do this in my recent work and so I do not feel as close to the writing as I do the older work. Thank you for the reminder." Thank you, Scott! And thank you for submitting a story for this week's NL. 
writetight says, "Shannon, your 'Gone but Not Forgotten' newsletter prompted me to submit this item [see below] for your consideration." Thank you, Dan! It's wonderful to see all the submissions this NL prompted. Thank you so much for sending your work, and thank you for taking the time to read and comment. 
NORS says, "I also agree that we should think about what we say to avoid hurting others. Nice story." Thank you, Nors. I'm glad you liked the newsletter, and I appreciate your feedback. 
blunderbuss says, "Hi Shannon. This was an astounding newsletter, especially your childhood in Alaska. Such a tough environment! I have always kept a journal. Recently I found a really old one from schooldays; I needed it because I had joined a friend's reunited site. I found an entry in my old journal (full of childish rubbish!), but 'started my 8th book today' was my casual note on one page. A revelation to me as I had no idea I was writing that young. I could 'hear' my own voice, and it was intriguing to read something really authentically youthful. Now that could help me with my story writing! There are three things I never dreamed I would see in my lifetime (thinking of those events you listed): the end of South African apartheid, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the end of the troubles in Ireland. I feel truly privileged to have seen those. Thank you for sparking off a lot of personal memories as well as public and collective ones." It's amazing when you think about it, isn't it, Diane? All the things we see in our lifetime? Fifty years from now someone who wasn't around will be intrigued by your first-hand experience just as we are today by things that happened before our time. It's amazing that you were writing so prolifically at such a young age. Write on! 
readsalot says, "I thought this was going to give me help and tips on my many short stories. I didn't find any information that really suited me. I am rather young and would know how to make my short stories better than what they are but how can I do that when I don't get good advice? This wasn't what I expected and I think the writer of this could of gave more advice than keep a journal (which I do) and make more details. I agree with the writer that you should keep a journal. Check out The Last Kiss by cam and A message in the Bottle by cam." Hi, Cam, and welcome to WDC! There are four Short Story Newsletters each and every month, and they're all different and written by different editors. We try to change it up and make each one unique by touching on every aspect of the writing biz, so if you hang in there I'm sure you'll find something you like (if you click on "Newsletter Archives" [E] you'll see I've written 94 newsletters since 2009, and 53 of them Short Stories Newsletters. Maybe something in there will be what you're looking for). Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment, and best of luck with all your writing endeavors. 
katherinerose says, "An interesting newsletter. Thank you. Can't wait to write up my own memories of my late mother and late grandmother." Thank you, Primrose! Please send them in to the NL or email me personally once you're finished with your memoirs. I'd love to read them. 
Quick-Quill  says, "Shannon, I was born in 1952 and when I turned 40 I got the itch to research my family tree. This was before the availability of online information that we have today. What I learned, or rather observed, is we all think we are 'NORMAL.' There is nothing interesting about our daily life that is different than anyone else in our era. Me included. I wondered what the days were like in 1888-1920. What did THEY think about the war or the political world around them? What were their thoughts of the future? I didn't learn a lot as some notebooks and journals were destroyed by uncaring family members. When I asked my grandmother what was invented in her lifetime, she said, 'Everything.' I look at my life; I had an IBM compatible PC in the early 1980's and it ran on DOS. I had a microwave when they first came out. We had a cell phone when it was a box as big as a car battery we carried around ... yet I think my life so normal and boring. Who would want to know what I think? What would I have to say that would be worth writing in a journal? I see blogs and wonder unless you are the Pioneer Woman or my friend who has an interesting mind, what would I write and who would care? Then I look at Facebook. We comment on things that are posted now they are sent to cyberspace after a while. Maybe it is important to respond to a comment, but what if we copied and pasted those comments every day? Would we have a journal someone 50 years from now would want to read?" To answer your final question ... absolutely! My kids think it's hilarious when I tell them about 8-track tapes and Saturday morning cartoons (the only cartoons we had) and growing up without a phone and having to communicate with our neighbors via CB radio. Once the days you lived are gone they are interesting to anyone who didn't live them! And even those who DID live them right along with you (9/11, Katrina, Y2K, etc.) like to hear about them from someone else's perspective. Look at documentaries (my favorite film genre): people love them! We all like to connect with the protagonist, and how better to connect than by shared experience? I would like you to share a personal story (essay, memoir, etc.) with next month's NL readers. Do you have one in your portfolio that you can send me the bitem link to? Thank you so much for reading and commenting, and write on! The Next Day Tina emailed me to say she'd started blogging again.  She said, "You got me going. Shame that it is just before Nano." Check out her first day of journaling on Wdc: "Oct 18" Thank you, Tina!
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