 Short Stories: October 19, 2005 Issue [#662] |
  Short Stories
This week: 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 me if you have an idea you would like presented.
This week's Short Story Editor
Leger~
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 Get it right!
I spend time here every month, reading stories and reviewing some of them. I don't always read to review, sometimes I like to read for entertainment. Have you ever read a paperback and found an error?
Present the best work you can! Unless you're marking your work as a "Work In Progress", it should be in its best form. For example, you would be offended if you ordered a meal in a restaurant and it came to your table slopped together carelessly. Wouldn't you? Present your story as something worthwhile of your reader's time.
Look over your posted work in your portfolio. Are your paragraphs separated by a line space? Are your paragraphs indented? (Use the ML tag {indent}.) Have you checked for spelling errors? Use Spell Check...please! Although it doesn't catch homonyms, it will help.
I am not a Grammar Professional, nor the Queen of Commas, but I would like to offer a few usage guidelines that I've come across. It's helped me. Some errors end up being humorous in context, most of the time, they're just plain confusing.
I hope you find these useful**:
accept, except ~ Accept is a verb, meaning "receive." Except is usually a preposition or conjunction meaning "but for" or "other than"; when it is used as a very, it means "leave out." I can accept all your suggestions except the last one. I'm sorry you excepted my last suggestion from your list.
a while, awhile ~ Awhile is an adverb; a while is an article and a noun. I will be gone awhile. I will be gone for a while.
cite, sight, site ~ Cite is a verb usually meaning "quote," "commend," or "acknowledge": You must cite your sources. Sight is both a noun meaning "the ability to see" or "a view" and a verb meaning "perceive" or "observe": What a sight you see when you sight Venus through a strong telescope. Site is a noun meaning "place or location" or a verb meaning "situate": The builder sited the house on an unlikely site.
conscience, conscious ~ Conscience is a noun meaning "a sense of right and wrong"; conscious is an adjective meaning "aware" or "awake." Though I was barely conscious, my conscience nagged me.
than, then ~ Than is a conjunction used in comparisons, then an adverb indicating time: Holmes knew then that Moriarty was wilier than he had thought.
who's, whose ~ Who's is the contraction of who is: Who's at the door? Whose is the possessive form of who: Whose book is that?
your, you're ~ Your is the possessive form of you: Your dinner is ready. You're is the contraction of you are: You're bound to be late.
A helpful link of useful links:
http://www.refdesk.com/factgram.html
Okay, okay, I've broken a few of these rules.  
**The Little Brown Compact Handbook
Jane E. Aaron
University of Phoenix
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Excerpt: Paul Wallace thought he was going crazy. There was no way that what he saw hanging from his ceiling could be real. No, the long, fleshy, segmented object that hung limply from the fan must have been a figment of his imagination. That was what worried him, though – the fact he could even imagine what looked like an intestine, squelching with each slow swing.
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Excerpt: The room had finally fallen silent. The only sound was her rhythmic breathing. It was hard for Brian not to cry seeing her lay there. One of her arms was in a cast, as were both of her legs. Bruises covered her face and neck. A section of hair had been shaved from her head. At the moment she seemed at peace, but he could help but wonder how long that would last. When she awakened would she be in pain?
Excerpt: She struggled to rise, but nylon restraining straps held her firmly to the table. The sudden movement caused the blanket to slide from her and she gazed upon the mangled corpse that had once been her body. She felt strangely detached from it—saw nothing familiar that she could use as a point of reference, yet she knew that the cracked shell of a human form was hers.
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Excerpt: You’ve probably read about me in the papers. So many people saying they knew me when. They pity my mom and me and mourn the loss of my dad. They talk about my dad as a great salesman, a community leader, and a great family man. He was my dad and he was all about control, and when talking about selling, it was always about knowing your product. In the end, I listened to my dad.
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Excerpt: There ain't no point in yellin' if God doesn't hear!" Benny belted out the line and did a shuffling dance along the side of his cave, using the handle of his shopping cart to keep himself upright.
"There ain't no point in yellin'... yeah, I said there ain't no point in yellin'... in... in... in." He cackled as the cracked notes of his singing echoed back.
An essay on one of Leger's pet peeves:
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Excerpt: But have cell phones also created a new avenue in which to demonstrate shameful levels of disrespect? Perhaps our apathy is nothing new, but it seems that cell phones amplify that problem for all to hear.
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This month's question: Do you have format or usage suggestions?
Last month's question: How do you add zip to your descriptive writing?
katherinerose writes:
Thanks Legerdemain for an interesting newsletter. Good points to keep in mind while we are writing. We all need these small reminders often.
That's why I love writing them! 
Helen Aussie Writer/Editor  says:
I really enjoyed this newsletter. Being one of those who has just realized that she has been very lazy with her descriptions. Shocking to find out, but now that I have that thesaurus is going to get a real working out.
Thanks again for a great read.
My pleasure! Write on!
schipperke notes:
Thank you for the thoughtful newsletter.
I try to include our senses when I describe my characters and settings. Since I am a visual person, I usually remember to include that. However, we experience life through the other four senses, so how something smells is important, as well as how something feels and sounds.
Many of our best memories include smells.
magdalena_b writes:
Descriptions! Arggh! These are the bane of my story-writing life. I struggle and struggle with providing details. I love getting to the MEAT of a story and details are more like the salad dressing or the plate . The more I write, the better I get at providing details, but I think it will be one of my ongoing struggles as a writer.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Details can be added in during edit but I find it helps to try to get them in while you're forming your story.
Voxxylady  comments:
I'm dialogue-strong -- description is my weak point, but I'm constantly working on it. I try to get into my artist mode during the separate editing stage where I focus only on description, and try to see my own scenes in detail, as though I were watching them in a theater. An important artist's rule is to draw/paint what you actually see, and not what you think you should see. There's the difference, and it applies to writing, as well.
Well said!
Mavis Moog writes:
I love descriptive writing, and always feel a story is missing something if there's not enough there. I love the idea of describing a snap-shot. Good advice about the Ideanary too.
Thanks!
Rixfarmgirl  says:
I really loved this weeks column. I needed to read that and I especially liked the little PHOTOS of information arrangement. Good job.
Thank you.
A.J. Possum notes:
How do I add zip to my descriptive writing, well I try to imagine as I write. I play out in my head what I want to write then sequence writes itself.
A great method!
billwilcox hollers:
SNAP! A picture of Leger writing another good newsletter 
Thanks!
Chriswriter writes:
Hyperbole works for me. If I say "old, dirty kitchen table" readers can come up with thousands of true definitions. If I say "round kitchen table on one of those elephant sized center legs, with ancient kick marks all over the stretched out feet, and gouges full of crappy old food bits on top, too many scars and scrapes to count, and so gucked together it can no longer be opened up to put the leaf in, even if anybody still living had ever seen the leaf" readers are kind of restricted to seeing the table I visualize. I hope.
Leaving something for the readers imagination is important, but we can't leave them clueless! Great advice!
scribbler says:
Hmmm, I’m one of those people who feel description IS necessary. I mean, I really am not a big fan of the meat and potatoes type of writing but that is just purely preference. But on the other hand, I hate writers who describe too much, in an almost cliché way. I guess we all have to strive for that happy medium no matter how difficult.
Avoiding cliche phrases is hard.
Strange Wulf writes:
Eh, I don't know how I "add zip" to my descriptions. I'm still kinda new at writing. From what a friend tells me, I'm pretty good at narrative prose. It's dialogue that kills me (but he showed me how to improve, and I should be fine with more practice).
Mostly, I just write. I suppose I can go in later and add more. One of my stories needs revision, and I've already got ideas.
Me, I think the best thing you can do is appeal to the five senses. This gives the best reality to your reader, since you're describing more than just the sight of things. You're describing how they are. That's the secret. Everything must be told, and in a concise way that doesn't bore them.
...I've yet to master it. =P Oh well. Write on.
Keep trying! Keep writing!
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