This week: Are you looking at me? 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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Are You Looking at Me?
There are a few authors in the bookstores that have made millions writing stories about military espionage. The word "espionage" means "the act or practice of spying or of using spies to obtain secret information" - the definition "French espionnage, from Middle French, from espionner to spy, from espion spy, from Old Italian spione, from spia, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German spehōn to spy."
I found a couple paragraphs explaining "digital espionage" from www.technopedia.com by Cory Janssen: Hackers who engage in digital espionage sometimes conduct these activities out of patriotism brought on by real or perceived threats or disrespect from other countries. Government intelligence is compromised when hackers successfully perform digital espionage because the information contained in classified documents may contain advanced technology or national defense information. Digital espionage often occurs without a trace, so it is difficult to know just how often it takes place. Sometimes even when digital espionage has been discovered, it is still impossible to trace the responsible parties due to the sophisticated techniques the hackers have used.
The United States has thwarted attempts by Russia, China and other countries to infiltrate electrical grids and other infrastructure such as major water and sewage systems. It is easy to imagine that these types of infrastructure, as well as nuclear power plants, financial networks, electrical companies and transportation have been illegally tapped via digital espionage. This not only compromises business network security, but it weakens homeland security as well."
We've watched dozens of movies full of adventure and intrigue which had the background based on espionage. But spying can include more than governments or politics. It can be based in corporate competition. Think about adding a few spy techniques to your action, adventure, or even mystery writing. The spying point of view can be accomplished through dialog, an equipment monitor, or even stolen data. You could even fall back on the classic overheard conversation. In this way, you can be sure to add another layer to your story and sense of mystery to your characters.
Write on and Spy on!
This month's question: What techniques do you use to add intrigue to your story?
Send in your answer below!  Editors love feedback!
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| |  | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1515478 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: If Andrew was working she needed to be quiet. But she could listen.
“Natalia, why are you acting like this? We were having such a pleasant afternoon.”
“You should never have asked me about Sergei and that canister of nuclear waste.”
“But, you’re the one who mentioned Sergei—I didn’t.”
| |  | It Had to Happen (ASR)
A spoof of James Bond's ilk: villains, weapons, evil plots, and more! (Honorable Mention)
#1152876 by LeeReay  |
Excerpt: Harvey Bond had established his cover well. He had become a highly respected member of the terrorist group he had been assigned to infiltrate. The information he needed was being saved to a flash drive hidden in his lapel pin, which he had connected to the back of the Command Center’s main computer. All he had left to do was get the needed information to HQ and destroy all other traces of it. Not a problem for Harvey Bond.
Excerpt: The heels of his boots clanked against the metal companionway of the British submarine, the HMS Mountbatten. The ship was close to the surface, rocking gently from side to side under the waves as the storm rolled over the south Baltic Sea. The autumn chill made him shiver.
The sub was running on minimal power to avoid detection. This would be a dangerous insertion. They had to avoid the German sub, Hindenburg, that was patrolling the quadrant.
“Leftantant Kent, I’ve got your final instructions.”
| | Monopoly Spies (E)
The gameboards first special edition- a gift to a POW that allows escape
#1740994 by Amay  |
Excerpt: Sam stood in front of the picture box display hanging in the museum. Everything in the case belonged to him. He carried it and cherished it all of his free adult life. Through the years he’d kept it safely hidden as a pirate would treasure his booty. Sam longed to touch it once more, maybe even to play it for the last time. His fingers slid over the cool glass. He nodded; his smile vanished as the memories washed over him. He leaned heavier on his cane. His head dropped, his shoulders drooped, his body slowly gave in and released the memories that he’d kept hidden for so long. He remembered the band of men that made it out. The band of just a few that came home to live, while others suffered and died in that horrible camp.
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#593300 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Look, I'll give you three more dollars off if you stop complaining about your mother!"
Oh my. A woman behind her was quarreling with a merchant. She was dying to, but did not dare turn. Instead, she pretended to admire the blanket in her hand and went into eavesdropping mode. She almost giggled. It had just occurred to her that eavesdropping was what she was getting paid for. I’m a spy for heavens sake.
"Santa Madre de Dios mujer! Just for that, I am raising the price five dollars!"
Excerpt: The bullet tugged the right sleeve of his body armor as it passed through. Shinto thought that he had been hit for a moment. Before he could feel any relief, another round found its target, taking him in the calf, just below the knee.
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This month's question: What techniques do you use to add intrigue to your story?
Send in your answer below! Editors love feedback!
Last month's question: What steps do you take to create a story? Do you make outlines or are you the slap and dash type of writer? Send in your answer below! *Down* Editors love feedback!?
Quick-Quill  responded: I'm a slap and dash writer. I write and rewrite the beginning and fill in here and there. Then I go back and look at what I wrote and start to fill in a separate page of each character's backstory/background. what makes them what they are. Who are their parents and what influence did they have? I have a couple of few plots-in-progress that are still in the filling-out area. I have an idea of the plot line but there is still a lot of research that needs to be done.
Bikerider  replied: Great newsletter! I think when you outline a story, or do it slap and dash, you have to keep in mind that (at least) the main character should exhibit some kind of change. Image using makeup to change your character, each application of makeup slowly making your character into something else, can express the slow changes that come over a character.
Beholden  sent: Thanks indeed for including my story, Living Backwards, among your Editor's Picks.
You ask what steps I take to create a story and whether I make outlines or am just the slap and dash type of writer. Is it always one or the other? I admit that I've never made an outline for a story but I wouldn't describe my method as being "slap and dash" either. I t might be - I'm not entirely sure I know what "slap and dash" means but it sounds a bit more haphazard than even I would attempt!
In my experience, stories happen in many ways. Some come to me already wrapped and tied up with a great big bow - no planning needed. Others happen because I started and then let the story tell itself until I could see the end coming (at which point I take over). But most are a combination of the two. Living Backwards happened because I wanted to play with TH White's concept of a character living backwards. But it was the character, Merlin, who told me, just before the story ended, how I should finish it. And it is an entirely happy coincidence that the name Merlin is quite close to Melchior.
It's those "happy coincidences" that are the clue to what's really going on. They show that the unconscious mind has been working on the story for a long time, sometimes for years, before we actually sit down to write it. Thank goodness for the Unconscious (not Subconscious - we can look into that whenever we please) - it has saved me an enormous amount of work over the years.
Thanks for the replies! |
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Short Stories: August 21, 2019 Issue [#9722]
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