  Short Stories
This week: Fantasy Traits Edited by: Leger~  
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The purpose of this newsletter is to help the Writing.com short story author hone their craft and improve their skills. Along with that I would like to inform, advocate, and create new, fresh ideas for the short story author. Write to me if you have an idea you would like presented.
This week's Short Story Editor
Leger~ |
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Giving Real Characters Fantasy Elements
I was reading a story this week where the author gave a non-fantasy character some fantasy-like elements. The girl was tall but narrow (like a nymph) and had light hair that looked like silver satin, later described as the silver strings on a harp. It gave the me the idea that this character might do something extraordinary in the story and the author was setting the tone by giving some fantastical elements to her nature.
I've seen other times when brutish characters are tall and ogre-like. We expect them to eat like hogs and break things at every turn. Even Disney got in on the act with Wreck It Ralph not knowing his own strength. Some of these characteristics are seen in tales like myths and bible stories.
This could be an advantage when working with a limited word count. If you give your character some traits similar to a fantasy element like an elf, you reader will expect your character to act similarly. This gives you the advantage of not having to describe every detail, you can merely infer traits with known images. While a reader who doesn't read much fantasy might miss shaping the character the way you intend, many will catch your clues.
In the opposite manner, one would expect a character given the gentle nature of a wind sprite to be flighty and frivolous, instead you could have that character act the complete opposite and your reader would know something momentous is happening. A small and gentle character could be used as a surprise element to cause chaos and disruption to the story line.
Next time you create a character, think about trait inference to save some word count. Write on!
This month's question: Have you used an expected character trait to create an unexpected twist?
Send in your reply below!  Editors love feedback!
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Excerpt: But he died of snakebite.
That happened in the top paddock, in summer when snakes are about. It was probably a red bellied black. Or maybe a king brown, Dad said. I hardly remember Doug. I was a little tacker back then. It was about 1974 or something.
Excerpt: The worlds that I've created have taken a life of their own. No longer can I control them. I am alone here. Lost in my mind, the bar-less prison. Trapped beneath a wall of apathy, bitterness and rage. Trapped beneath the Ice Lake.
Excerpt: Midshipman Caiabias Irden saw, but didn’t hear the ball which smashed through the starboard* hull of the Lady May in a shower of splinters. The roundshot destroyed a gun, killed three of the gun-crew and badly injured the others. Rendered deaf by the thunder of the guns on the deck, after firing another broadside at the Vardenlander’s ship, Ocean Vanquisher, she gave up shouting orders that she knew could not possibly be heard.
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#1932056 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: It would have been better if the door had remained locked. That was an understatement. I tried to comfort Jamie, my terrified poodle, who was now curled into a tight ball in a corner of the damp concrete basement. The shadow was growing, I could see the sickening evil of it, fingering under the thick oak door atop the stairs. The single light that dangled above us, chain still swaying from my hasty pull, was already flickering. Jamie whined again, a pathetic terrified sound that spoke of impending horror. They say animals are much more perceptive of supernatural than humans are. If this was a testament of that, there was no hope. My heart and lungs, and bowels jumped into my throat and silently I cursed our fate.
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This item number is not valid.
#1932051 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Antwon refused to look at his hand. Could he still call It a hand? All the fingers on that hand were gone. It was more like a paddle now. He looked across the room at his wife. They strapped her down to a small metal framed bed. Her blood soaked the mattress and dripped on the floor beneath.
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#1930226 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Sam came wobbling into the house, his hand clutching his chest and his eyes wild with fear. And his mouth—she’d never forget the way his mouth reminded her of a fish without water, gaping, gasping.
And the thud he made when he hit the floor, all 210 pounds of him, crashing to the black and white checkered linoleum. She didn’t remember calling the ambulance, but she must have, because the paramedics where there, placing him on a stretcher, covering his face with a sheet.
Excerpt: “There’s something wrong with me,” I tell Mother. She is in the kitchen washing up after breakfast. A dish clatters into the basin and she turns to look at me.
Excerpt: Once upon a time, the devil decided he wanted a wife who would bear him children. He called for all the women in his dark underworld to descend upon his throne for the opportunity to serve at his side and be his bride.
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This month's question: Have you used an expected character trait to create an unexpected twist?
Send in your reply below!
Last month's question: Do you find stories have too much or not enough character background?
Mark Allen Mc Lemore  replied: I guess it depends on the story. In flash fiction I find it challenging to give too much character history, even short stories limited to 1000 words or less is really challenging. I do like stories that flash character background and make a subplot out of it. Of course, most of these are 5000 word stories, novellas and novels. So, depending on the type of story, I have expectations of either too little or too much, both of which are good things!
Thanks for the newsletter.
Quick-Quill  answered: I find, myself included, it is one or the other. There doesn't seem to be the happy medium. What is too much and what is too little? It is subjective. In reveiws of one story I have had it both ways. How can that be? "..eye of the beholder." I take both and make little changes hope to please.
Being Diane sent: I keep a folder in my port which contains music which has made an influence in my life. I started it a long time ago but your inspiration has given me a reason to go back. Thanks for your submission "Invalid Item" - great read!
Andrew  submits: Great newsletter Leger!  You know, I actually work the other way a lot of the time: I'm a composer, and I like taking what I read (stories, poems, even letters) and writing music to express a similar feeling. Fascinating!
Silverwindrose Dragon Minstrel comments: Do I find stories have too much or not enough character background? This really depends on the story and what the story is about. If the story fallows a character about as it becomes a off topic history lesson then yes I get to much if it is not used at all, but on the other hand I have come across stories that do not have enough history and I am left wondering why this character is acting this way and what in the world is going on.
Now this has happened in descriptions of places also not enough or to much info and I just do not get what is going on to what is in the scene.
Thanks for all your replies, they were so interesting!
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Short Stories: May 08, 2013 Issue [#5662]
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