  Short Stories
This week: Repetition, Repetition, Repetition Edited by: Jay's debut novel is out now!  
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This Issue:
Repetition, Repetition, Repetition
Using repeating words, elements, or themes can enhance meaning in a short story. |
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We all try not to repeat ourselves when we write-- using repeating words can create confusion in readers, for example.
Sometimes, though, it's necessary. Using repetition can create meaning by imprinting motifs in your stories. A repeated word or phrase can also have very different meanings as the story progresses. Words which have multiple layers of meaning can be enhanced by using them in different contexts.
When we use patterns, we create resonance for the reader-- this is one of the secret tricks of writing, in my opinion. Readers want to feel like they have a certain grasp of the story at hand, and using repetition can lead them to the deeper meaning of the story.
Many different kinds of short stories can use repetition very keenly-- one of my favorite types is the list story, where any number of items can be compared against one another. When items in a list repeat, they create a sense of volume or evenness which can later be unbalanced by revealing more details as the story goes on.
Another common use of repetition can be found in children's stories-- "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie," say. One famous short story which cribbed this format is Rachel Swirsky's award-winning "If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love," which tells a story by unfolding the details through the repeated wording and is transformed by this story-shape.
How have you used repetition in your own stories to generate more intricacy?
Until Next Time,
Take Care and Write on!
~jay
Rachel Swirsky's story: http://www.apex-magazine.com/if-you-were-a-dinosaur-my-love/ |
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Feedback from: "What's the Deal with Cover Letters?"
Osirantinous  writes:
I'm no where near submitting a cover letter but I admit I was thinking of it in terms of an application type letter. I'm so glad to have been corrected in that thought!
It's an easy mistake to make! There are not a lot of sources of information on this, and again, many are aimed at the job market.
vada  writes:
Hi Jay, Thanks for the newsletter on cover letters. Very good info! I do have a basic letter that has worked well for me for my short stories. It contains a few more details than your example, but I have sold the stories for which I used it.
Vada
Excellent, Vada!
Rhyssa
Just a note, from working as a fiction editor at a university literary journal, if you use an editor's name, make sure you have the right information. At a university journal like ours, the editors were part of a class, so we changed every semester. I had a semester as the assistant fiction editor and then the fiction editor--and I got mail addressed to everyone who'd been fiction editor for the past ten years. We never corrected anyone, but we did find it amusing. It's also harder to take a writer seriously if they include any information except the name of the story, the word count, genre, and a brief, relevant synopsis of the writer's educational or publication history(for example, you don't need to tell us the names of your cats or other pets--also, try not to come across as rude).
Never assume that the information that you researched six months ago is still the current information for the journal.
I agree completely, Rhyssa! When in doubt, "Dear Editors" is always perfectly fine. Also, worth mentioning that it is ideal to research your market beforehand, but that's still not a guarantee that you'll get the right person. My suggestion to use the editor's name is really specific to a situation where you can be sure you're talking to the right person. |
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Short Stories: March 02, 2016 Issue [#7507]
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