Why not wait, and write “some day”? Spend 15 minutes with Julie Duffy, write and host of the StoryADay May challenge (storyaday.org) and find out why you should be writing NOW, not later.
Don’t Wait! Write Now!
This week’s writing assignment mines your memories of life at different stages.
Write a story that takes place over eons
Source: Hubblesite.org
Last week we talked about writing a story in the moment before a car crash: everything in the story took place during a few seconds in the brain of your main character. This week we’re going to the opposite extreme
Write A Story That Takes Place Over Eons
(or just a really long time)
Go!
A house stands alone in a post-nuclear-strike landscape. It is one of those Tomorrowland kind of houses that people dreamed of in the 1950s: the stove is cooking eggs and bacon, the mice-robots are scurrying out to clean, the automatic systems are trying to entertain the absent occupants. Absent? Yes, and we find out what happened to those occupants in a shocking moment that is less shocking nowadays, because we’ve seen it before. But Bradbury was writing when these ideas and fears were new.
The story continues without a single human in it and yet it we come to know the former occupants of the house, their culture and also the character of the house.
Ray Bradbury’s writing is deeply poetic and thoroughly unique. It is a wonderful example of how you can find your voice only be being unapologetically yourself. Written by anyone else, this kind of lyrical writing would be overblown and possibly embarrassing. In Bradbury’s handling, it is just….well, Bradbury.
It’s also a wonderful example of how you can write a story without a traditional protagonist and yet still have a character.
In this story the house is definitely the protagonist, if a protagonist’s job is to guide us through a story and show us a new world in a new way. The house in this story is very much that protagonist. It tells us about the world that humanity has created for itself. It tells us what we have done to ourselves and points out the folly of the story’s human race: concentrating all its creative energies on making gadgets to make life comfortable instead of on solving the looming nuclear threat.
The story has secondary characters too: the family that lived in the house and the former household pet (who play the classic ‘secondary character role’ by being referenced in the story only when they contribute something to our understanding of the protagonist — in this case, the house).
Write A Prompt In The Moment Before An Accident
You know that old cliché: time slowed?
Well, if you’ve ever been in a car crash or any kind of accident, you’ll know exactly what that means: the amygdala (the seat of emotion in your brain) kicks in and calmly starts recording every detail. When you go back over your memories, the moment will seem to have lasted at least 30% longer than it actually could have.
The way to recreate this in fiction Continue reading “[Write On Wednesday] Time Slowed Down”
Here are your StoryADay May 2014 Participant Badges!
Download them and use them on your websites or where ever you like.
Let everyone know you’re planning on taking part!
(Right-click to download whichever size you like) Continue reading “StoryADay 2014 Participant Badges”
Before and After: Do a Little Work, Every Single Day. « The Happiness Project
http://gretchenrubin.com/happiness_project/2014/01/before-and-after-do-a-little-work-every-single-day/
Guest blogger Caroline McGraw talks to Gretchen about how working a little every day can make big scary tasks (writing a completed work) less scary and less hard.
This guest post by Aidyl Ewoh could just as easily be called “Tips For Writers”. Great stuff here from “Surround yourself with positive people” to “Consistency trumps quantity” to “Read a lot” and “Find a writing community”… This blogger is singing my song!
A rumination on the magic of the “New Year”, which we writers can apply at any point in the calendar:
“…human belief is an incredibly powerful thing. When we believe something is possible, no matter how enormous a task it may be, if we really believe we can do it…we will. As long as we do not succumb to doubt, as long as we are willing to keep getting up after we’ve taken a fall, as long as we see these failures not as hard-stops but rather as learning how not to do that totally possible thing – we will do it.”
Yup, I’m late discovering this post, but if you’re looking for something to read (or for places to send your own fiction) this is a great starting point.
3 Writing Tips You Can Steal From Animators
http://thewritepractice.com/animator-tips/
Three great tips here. Not the usual rehashing of story structure tips or character tips or how to make your dialogue sound real. Instead, this article talks about three great ways to actually make the writing happen.
This is both a short story and an admonition to other artists, from Erin Morgenstern, author of the wildly successful novel The Night Circus. Read it slowly, then follow her advice!
When You’re Feeling Self-Doubt & a Lack of Motivation : zenhabits
http://zenhabits.net/down/
Not writing advice but great living advice that will help you get back to your writing on a day when you’re not sure you’re really a writer. (Hint: you are. Use the steps in this article to get yourself back to a place where you can be)
“In real life, it’s not what a person says that shows us who they are, it’s what they do…” Lovely short article on how to make your characters reveal themselves with subtlety.
Chuck Wendig talks about his 20-year-long overnight success, and gives hope to the most impatient among us.
What to write when you don’t have time to write 😉
Do you put off until tomorrow what could be done today?
Write Until You Die
http://killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/2014/01/write-until-you-die.html
James Scott Bell advocates never giving up on creativity, and offers some suggestions on how to do that! (Includes an adorable picture of Herman Wouk)
This is just awesome. Go and look.
Yesterday I wrote about “Hint Fiction”, a book of stories told in fewer than 25 words.
Write A Story In No More Than 25 Words
Here’s mine:
The Moment That Altered The Course Of Her Life
Her arm, casually draped across his chest, felt a sudden, pounding footrace: his brain vainly chasing the escaping heart-words. Her pause, a lifetime. Then: yes.
Go!
UPDATE: Hint Fiction is launching a second anthology: deadline April 30, 2014 (thanks to Flash Fiction Chronicles for the update)
However, each story is only 25 words long.
In the introduction, editor Robert Swartwood says that short fiction,
“…should be complete by standing by itself as its own little world”
Here’s one of my favorite stories in the collection:
“Jermaine’s Postscript to His Seventh-Grade Poem Assignment,” by Christoffer Molnar.
“Ms. Tyler, the girl part was about Shantell. Please don’t tell anyone.”
Writing a 25 word story seems like it would be easy, but reading through the more-and-less successful stories in this collection three things stood out
To distill the essence of a moment, a person, an interaction, down to 25 words takes a lot of effort and these writers have done an amazing job!
Kind of makes you want to try it, doesn’t it?
“…I only have to turn up at my coworking space 10 times a month to make it cheaper than a coffeeshop…and here I don’t have to ask a stranger to guard my gadgets while I run to the loo… “and other, cheaper ways to carve out a writing space
Over at my personal blog today I wrote about my love for the coworking space I rent in my town. I jokingly call the old industrial building my ‘writer’s garret’ and my post was called “Everybody Needs A Garret”.
Which got me thinking. While it’s important to be able to write everywhere and any time and in long or short increments, it is incredibly powerful to have a space or a routine that helps you focus on your writing.
Some people, like me, have the luxury of time, a hip hometown and a little extra moolah, and can rent cheap, shared office space as a writing garrett.
Other people carve out space in a disused closet or the space under the stairs, jam headphones on their ears and pound away at the keys there.
Some people write in bed, on buses, in libraries and coffee shops.
If you haven’t set up your own writing space yet, experiment with some of these ideas until you find out what works for you.
If you want to try out having a writing space here are some tips:
Carve out a space in your home. It can be as little as an under-used corner of the kitchen, under the stairs, below an awkwardly sloped ceiling, in the space between two doorways. Pick up a cheap desk or, if you want a standing desk, pop this lap desk on top of a sideboard/buffet and call it your ‘desk’. (This really cuts down on the amount of space you need, as there is no chair to worry about). Maybe order an lightweight room divider screen that you can set up around yourself while you work and fold up when you’re finished. Get a desk lamp to illuminate (and focus) your little corner. Let everyone know that, when you’re in your writing space, this is Writing Time and tell them how long they have to leave you alone before they are allowed to have their next emergency. [2. It will probably take a long time and some persistence before this lesson kicks in at all, even with other adults.]
Remember, a Writing Garrett isn’t an office. You don’t have to have filing cabinets and lots of shelves [4. You already have books all over your house, don’t you?]. I keep my essential writing supplies for the major current projects together in a backpack. I grab that, and go – whether my writing space for the day is the Garrett or ‘back under the covers’.Do you have a space where you write? Post a comment (or share a picture) below.
Writing prompt: what if a bunch of glamorous and exciting people came to your podunk hometown?
Does your everyday life seem pretty unglamorous? What about your town?
What if you walked down the street one morning and discovered that a whole bunch of glamorous, exciting people had come to town for a spell?
Write a story about a small town invaded by glamorous/exciting people
The exciting people could be movie or pop stars on a location shoot, or high-profile politicians in town for a rally, or scientists flocking to study an unnatural phenomenon (think: Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver), just as long as it upsets the status quo.
Who are they? Why are they there? Who do they meet?
What do the local people think about all this?
What does your main character feel about them at the start of the story? At the end?
Who learns something from this visit? What?
Also, if you have only ever lived somewhere exciting, seeing celebrities at every coffee counter, write instead about someone really ordinary coming into a situation filled with glamour. Ask the same questions as above?
Go!
Every Friday Erin Morgenstern (author of The Night Circus) posts a Flax-Golden Tale: a ten-sentence story inspired by a photograph by Colin Farrell.
The stories themselves range from quirky to thought-provoking to funny and back again. Often the story gives a character to an inanimate object. The narrator’s voice is always strong. The writing is poetic, concise, efficient and a great model for how you might approach a short-short story, yourself.
Not the words. (That would be plagiarism and that would be bad.) But we can learn from her practice.
What about you? Could you commit to a writing exercise like this? What would yours look like? Would you work with a collaborator? Leave a comment->
Write a open letter from a misunderstood character
Nobody loves the traffic warden. Or the referee. Or the person who tells you that yes, it’s going to be a root canal. But these people are, well, people, aren’t they?
Write an open letter to the world from an unloved character
Go!
I find it useful to read case studies from people who have actually WRITTEN books (and possibly had them published and worked on a sequel). Theory is all very well, but hearing from someone who has actually done it? Much more inspiring. They also tend to be more passionate, less forgiving and much, much more practical.
Here are a bunch of articles from working writers who answer the second-most-asked question they hear. [1. The first, of course, being “where do you get your ideas?”]
Jon Scalzi is a speculative fiction writer, Hugo award winner and creative consultant on the SyFy Network’s Stargate: Universe. He wrote an energetic answer to the time question which includes this choice paragraph,
There are lots of things I think I’d like to do, and yet if I don’t actually make the time and effort to do them, they don’t get done. This is why I don’t have an acting career, or am a musician — because as much as I’d like those, I somehow stubbornly don’t actually do the things I need to do in order to achieve them. So I guess in really fundamental way I don’t want them, otherwise I’d make the time. C’est la vie.
Jackie Kessler has written 12 novels (not all of them published, but hey, that’s a lot of writing time) and refuses to apologize for taking time to write [link no longer valid].
Screenwriter John August shares his work-a-day experience of becoming a professional writer. (“my general point is that you need to actively clear time in your day to write, which means giving up something.”) It’s not sexy, but it worked.
Jane Friedman talks about what it takes to make time to write.
Chip Scanlan talks about writing in small chunks, lowering your standards, rejecting the Soup Nazi.
And to finish things off for today:
Joanna Penn, The Creative Penn (@creativepenn on Twitter) shares this personal story, which debunks the ‘if I only had time’ myth a bit:
I once decided that I needed time to write my book. I had some money from the sale of my house, took 3 months off and tried to write every day. It didn’t work. I didn’t have anything to show for it, and went back to work disheartened at my inability to write. It was 4 years until I actually decided to try again.
Then I wrote “How to Enjoy Your Job” in 9 months of evenings, weekends and days off while working fulltime.”.
You can find the time – you just need to re-prioritise!
[updated 3/3/2020 with corrected and new links]
Write a story in which the main character acts on something that really irritates YOU
“Don’t you just wish…”
Have you ever said those words when something has really, REALLY irritated you?
Imagine what would happen if you followed through on all those little revenge-daydreams you have after someone scratches your car/talks incessantly on their phone in the library/dogears the corners of Volume 4 of your collectable edition of The Sandman 10 Volume Slipcase Set…
Write A Revenge-Fantasy Story
Pick something that really irritates you and write about a character who actually DOES the things you can only dream of doing (as a respectable member of a mostly-functional society).
Go!
Having trouble finishing your stories? Try this technique…
I once read an article that suggested it’s easier to talk to men/boys when you’re doing something else at the same time than by trying to sit down and have a deep and meaningful conversation with them.
[Update from 10 years after I wrote this post: Gender politics aside, this observation turned out to be super-valuable as I negotiated the tightrope walk of ‘raising’ teenagers. The conversations we had in the car, while not-looking-at-each-other have been some of the most, ah, enlightening!]
Some serious research hours went into this study that showed men (and I assume some women) find it easier to have more meaningful conversations when engaged in an activity together, than if encouraged to sit and talk things out.
Maybe they’re hiding something, or maybe they’ve just been socialized to believe feelings are icky.
Either way, it struck me that this is perfect guidance for writers: assume your characters are always hiding something (from themselves or others). Write your scenes with them as if you were a parent trying to have a heart-to-heart with a seventeen year old!
In this week’s prompt, I’m building in the activity. You get to pick the characters, the conflict, and how deep you go.
Write A Story Where the Characters are Engaged In A Hobby/Group
Come back and leave a comment to let us know how you got on, this week!
[updated: 11 March 2024]
WANACon (run behind the minds behind the We Are Not Alone Tribe for writers) is coming!
The World Wide Writers Conference You Can Attend In Your PJs runs February 21-22, 2014 and it is going to be great.
I say this, in all modesty, as one of the speakers 🙂 I’ll be speaking with Gabriela Pereira of DIYMFA.com on “A Simple System To Rock Your Revisions” that works for novels AND short stories.
You can WIN a FREE pass to the conference here:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
This idea for a story is ripped from the song “Them’s The Vagaries” by Half Man Half Biscuit (thanks, guys!). The narrator says, near the start of the song, “Now we’ve kissed I’ve prepared this list, I thought you ought to know…” and goes on to tell his new love about all his quirks starting with “I’ll not sit backwards on the train” and proceeding down to the most bizarre of pet peeves.
Write a story that begins “Now that we’ve kissed, here are some things you ought to know”
Your character is at work, in a place they know well. Suddenly they notice something that wasn’t there last time they looked…
This week I’m giving you a fairly specific prompt, and guiding you through the story opening with a series of questions. Use this prompt in any setting, any genre, any time period. Use it again, in a completely different setting. In fact, why not bookmark it now (do people still bookmark things?) and come back to it whenever you’re stuck.
Your character is at work, in a place they know well. Suddenly they notice something that wasn’t there last time they looked.
Don’t try to answer all these questions at once. Write a sentence or two before you look at the next question:
Go!
Oh families. The source of so many off the stories we whisper to friends, but are afraid to commit to paper for fear of offending anyone. Today’s prompt encourages you to dig into that vast repository of family stories for a ‘cheap’ way to find a plot.
The Prompt
Write a story about a stranger at a family gathering.
Tips
Think about a family gathering you’ve been to (yours or someone else’s) – preferably one where one of your most colorful relatives was on great form.
What would that look like to a stranger? (Uncle Bob’s new girlfriend or the lonely new neighbor someone invited as a nice gesture)
Take that real-life story as a jumping-off point.
Decide on a protagonist: is it your stranger or the person who invited them? Think about the protagonist’s history. What’s in their past that’s going to make this situation especially hilarious or poignant or tragic? (You don’t have to explain this in the story, but if you know about it, you’ll be able to make this character richer as you write.)
Pick one tiny incident — someone storms out, someone smashes a plate in frustration, someone swears inappropriately. Illustrate the moment and/or the ripples around the room after it happens. (Remember, this is a short story. You can’t tell too much.)
Concentrate on making the reader feel something: make me cringe with embarrassment, make me love the old grandpa, make me feel your protagonist’s regret when he misses a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to say what he really feels…
Go!
Around here we’re all about creativity. I don’t talk much about publishing because:
a, there’s plenty of material online about how to publish/get published and
b, Worrying about the publishing part before the writing part seems like putting the cart before the horse.
However, many of you have come along on the StoryADay May creativity binge a few times now and are starting to wonder “What Next?”
I strongly advocate trying many different things to get your work into the hands of readers, from submitting to traditionally-published magazines, publishing online, and yes, even self-publishing.
This summer and autumn I focused on putting together batches of stories that could be packaged together and sold as ebooks. Then I published them myself.
I’ve never felt more inspired, so I wanted to share the steps with you.
A resounding success.
My experiment is still a bit of a work in progress as I have only released a few things, and my marketing is designed to produce results over the long haul. But I can tell you that I have never been more inspired or productive in my writing life. Just the thought of taking control, seeking feedback from trusted writing friends, polishing and releasing these stories, has filled me with drive and broken through any number of writing blocks in the past few months.
Because my marketing plan isn’t fully in place yet (and relies on more collections being released over the next year), I’m not going to talk about sales figures yet.
Get The Blueprint – Free!I am, however, going to share how I got the books out into the world, created mechanisms for gathering reader feedback and began to share my stories with the world.
If you’re already on the StoryADay mailing list you should have received a copy of the lesson I put together, sharing what I did (check your email).
It contains everything from:
If you’re not on the mailing list you can add yourself now and receive your free copy of my detailed guide to Publishing Your Own Short Story Ebook Collection
You’re busy. Or you’re sad. Or you’re conflicted. Or over scheduled. Or delirious with excitement.
Whatever the holidays mean to you, this time of year can be a killer for your writing productivity.
Depending on what you’re working on, that can be OK. Or perhaps you will need to continue to carve out some serious work time even though the 12 Tribes of HisFamilyAndYours are descending on you, daily.
Here are some encouraging words from me to you, on how to keep your inner writer and your outer productive-member-of-society happy together at the year’s end.
We’re used to asking what our characters need, but for once, let’s look at what YOU need, as a writer.
If you have an ongoing project like a long short story, a story you’ve just started or a novel, you really will have to make time every day to write. The good news is you don’t have to do much. Even 250 words a day will keep your head in the project and your characters in your head. The even better news is that getting back to your imaginary world for even this little time every day, will be an incredible mood booster. Sneak off to a spare room for 30 minutes, come out smiling (and get the extended family talking about what on earth you keep in there!).
If you don’t have an ongoing project, my best advice for you is: don’t worry.
We write because we need to get the voices out of our heads, or because we need to know how we feel about things.
Just because you don’t have time to craft short stories over the holidays, don’t let that drive you insane.
Take a pretty notebook with you (keep it safe) and your favorite pen, and just write. At the start or end of the day, or in any stolen moment, write about your day.
You don’t need ever look at this journal again (though it might be useful to drag it out in July when you are both thinking of writing holiday stories for submission to winter holiday markets and making your own Christmas plans for next year!)
Here’s wishing you a peaceful and fruitful holiday season. I hope you get some rest, and manage to keep your inner writer healthy, wealthy and raring to go in the New Year.
Every so often I post lists like this (like a real, old-fashioned ‘weblog’) of recommended reading from around the web, especially curated for short story writers. Here’s the latest. You can read more like this here.
Write Every Day
http://www.salon.com/2013/11/25/nicholson_bakers_best_advice_writers_must_write_every_day/
Nicholson Baker says you should write every day
(And provides a few ways you can cheat and still succeed!)
Four Reasons To Write The Hell Out of What’s Left Of 2013
http://blog.pshares.org/index.php/four-reasons-to-write-the-hell-out-of-whats-left-of-2013/
by Ploughshares Literary Magazine
A funny-serious look at productivity in December (and why not to wait for Jan 1)
It’s Alive! When Your Hibernating Story Wakes Up
http://www.everydayfiction.com/flashfictionblog/its-alive-when-your-hibernating-story-wakes-up/
by Sarah Crysl Akhtar …because flash stories don’t prey on your mind the way a novel would, writing them is refreshing rather than exhausting…
Finding Focus
http://zenhabits.net/finding-focus/
By Leo Babauta Do you ever have one of those days when you just can’t seem to find focus? When you fritter away your time on nothingnesses, distractions, wandering without really doing something important? Or one of those weeks?
Shared Storytelling Challenge
http://isawlightningfall.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/shared-storytelling-advent-ghosts-2013.html
by Loren Eaten
Advent Ghosts seeks to recreate the classic British tradition of swapping spooky stories at Yuletide. However, instead of penning longer pieces, we post bite-sized pieces of flash fiction for everyone to enjoy. It’s an open call for anyone interested, so why not join us? December 20 is Ghost Day!
From Novels to Shorts and back again
http://womagwriter.blogspot.com/2013/11/guest-post-sam-tonge-from-novels-to.html
by Sam Tonge. How writing short stories after writing novels helped her become a better (more marketable) writer.
The Rule of Three
http://thewritepractice.com/the-rule-of-three/
Part of storytelling is creating something memorable… One of the most effective ways to enforce memory is through repetition, and so one of the most common storytelling techniques was born: the Rule of Three.
What Every Writer Must Know About “Hero Fact”
http://storyfix.com/what-every-writer-must-know-about-hero-fact
A guest post by Jennifer Blanchard In my work as a writing coach, I come across a lot of stories where the hero isn’t being heroic. Either the hero is being saved by someone else or there’s not enough conflict to force the hero to actually step up and earn the title.
Secrets of The Phantom Tollbooth: Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer on Creativity, Anxiety, and Failure
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/10/04/the-phantom-tollbooth-documentary/
“Failure is a process … you have to fail over and over and over again to get anything that’s worthwhile.”
A Little Bit of Me In All My Stories
http://womagwriter.blogspot.com/2013/09/guest-post-lynne-hackles.html
by Lynne Hackles – When someone asked Lynn for her secret ingredient, she told them…
Peruvian Writers Face Off in Lucha Libro
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/peruvian-writers-face-off-in-lucha-libro_b78563
Could you write a story in five minutes? In front of a live audience? While wearing a mask?
The Big List Counts 1,500+ Literary Magazines
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/the-big-list-counts-1500-literary-magazines_b78692
Looking for the ideal place to publish your writing? Check out The Big List, a collection of 1,500+ links to literary journals around the world.
Don’t Apologize For Wanting To Be Paid, Flannery O’Connor Didn’t
(But that doesn’t necessarily mean expecting to be paid while you’re still learning your craft)
For writers having a hard time
“Life is sometimes hard. Things go wrong, in life and in love and in business and in friendship and in health and in all the other ways that life can go wrong. And when things get tough, this is what…
It’s back: the ever-popular (no really, it is!) exercise where we all write stories using the same list of words.
It’s silly, it’s low-stress, it is, frankly, ridiculous and it makes for a great way to break blocks or take a break after a longer or more serious project.
So here goes:
Write a story containing the following words
Monthly
Cute
Shortest
Wolfish
Plot
Master
World
Valuable
December
Go!
It’s almost Thanksgiving here in the US (for those non-US people: it’s a Big Deal with lots of travel and turkey and non-productivity).
So, in an effort to keep you writing but not overwhelm you, this week I’m assigning a Drabble, a 100 word story.
Write A 100 Word Story
Go!
It’s November and the writing blogs have all turned their attention to the novel. What’s a short story writer to do?
For while we love our novel-writing fellows, we lovers of the short story don’t always want to write novels in November. Or maybe we’re just not in a novel-place right now. Sometimes we just want to write stories. Sometimes it’s just as hard to sit down and write a short story as it is to sit down and write a novel. And we get grumpy in November, when we’re forgotten about.
Well grump no more.
The StoryADay Warm Up Course is back, but this time it’s personal.
Seriously.
I’ve beefed up the course with personal coaching calls and expanded materials, without losing any of the awesome results-driven focus of the original course. This time you get at least one personal call with me as well as a Q&A teleseminar. You also get worksheets to keep track of your progress (and I’ll be asking to see them!)
That’s right, it’s a Bootcamp and I’m your drill sergeant, only friendlier. A friend-sergeant. A drill-friend. Something.
The course starts on Monday November 18, 2013. Three weeks later you’ll have:
$147 $97
(until midnight Sunday, 17, 2013)
But wait, there’s more
(Yeah, I said it)
You can also add on four additional coaching sessions (one for each of the second and third weeks of the course, one at the end to launch you into the next phase of your writing life, and another one a few weeks later to make sure you’re still on track).
During these 45 minute sessions we can tackle:
And I will critique one of your stories each week, to review your progress and help with your writing development.
If you’re really serious about getting your writing life in gear, this kind accountability will make the difference between wishing and doing.
Just the course? $147 $97
Add on the Bonus Coaching now? $147
Write A Valentine’s Story
I know, you think I’m crazy, right? But if you’re a sick as I am (already) of the Christmas music in the mall (it’s early NOVEMBER!) and the magazine articles about ‘holiday entertaining’, then why not strike back, by skipping the festive season altogether and writing a Valentine’s story?
The bonus here is that, should you happen to write a story draft that has promise, you’ll have plenty of time to polish it and submit it well before the Valentine’s magazine deadlines roll around (end of Nov/early Dec). If you’re more of the Do-It-Yourself-er, then you’ll still need time to polish, format and market your story before February strikes.
And if you’re just writing for fun, what could be better than letting your story take you away from the present day?
Go!
This week a major art discovery was made in Bavaria: a hoard of 1000+ art works (many by masters like Chagall and Renoir) was found in the apartment of the son of an art dealer.
These art works, it is thought, were ‘lost’ during WWII (i.e. looted, forced sales, etc.). 70 years on, many of these works must surely have been forgotten about entirely. For certain, many have never been seen by art historians. But there have been people who have pursued this type of art down through the decades since the war ended.
Which got me thinking. There have been many people who mourned, pursued and talked about this art down through the decades since the war ended. As time passed, they may have gone from sounding like crusaders to sounding like cranks. How must they have felt yesterday, when this hoard was revealed?
Write a story that features an obsessed character who is suddenly, unexpectedly vindicated.
Go!
This story is a lovely illustration of how to take one of those factual tidbits we often run across and turn them into a compelling and short story. It’s also written in the second person.
The author starts by writing about the Santorini eruption that wiped out the Minoan civilization 1600 years ago. He starts with an almost clinical, scientific description of what you would have seen if you had been standing on a beach on Crete at the time of the eruption. He quickly begins to introduce descriptive and poetic elements, along with people and relationships. Before long, the ‘you’ of the story has a family, and an urgent desire to fulfill.
What started out as a remote, impersonal “Imagine if” story has quickly become a heart-wrenching race to the finish that has the reader rooting for the unnamed protagonist and ends with a huge compelling message for us all.
Shivers up the spine!
This Selected Shorts episode features a great short interview with Jim Shepard who explains how his obsession with the Santorini eruption turned into this beautiful, moving story (and how it helped him in his everyday life!)
This story was an absolute delight: an agricultural historian is putting off getting-down-to-work on his publication with one last research trip. Feeling restless with his usual accommodations, he tries a recommended ‘bed & breakfast’ for a change….and he gets it!
I like humor and I like twists (and I love The Twilight Zone), so I loved this story. It starts with a slow burn, but the details are so delightful that you can’t resist reading on to find out what this pompous little man and his odd new hosts get up to. I get the impression the author had some fun researching obscure agricultural equipment and skewering the academic propensity to obsess over minutiae, but he does both with a relatively light hand. It’s funny but not labored, and beneath it all the mystery ticks on.
The climax is surprising and then, once you’re in on the secret, the author lets you see the ending coming; lets you unwrap it along with him as it happens. Really, really satisfying. And a little bit evil. 🙂
I’m not sure when this story was written so I’m not sure if it predates or post-dates other stories about cities within domes, but when a story is this well-written it hardly matters.
This story is fascinating in several ways. Firstly, the writing is just great. If you like language, and like a little humor in your stories, get a copy of this (you can find it at Selected Shorts, read by Alec Baldwin, who does a great job).
Second, it breaks rules — or at least bends them. I’m always reading that stories have to have a character and the character has to want something. This story does not seem (at first) to have a character. And it’s not at all clear who wants what. But it turns out that the ‘character’ could be said to be ‘humanity’. Later in the story it becomes clear that if there is a protagonist, it is the contemporary group of dome-dwelling humans of which the narrator is one.
But it’s refreshing to read something so engaging that breaks from expected patterns and still manages to hold the reader’s attention all the way through.
Steven Millhauser won the Pulitzer Prize in 1997 for his novel Martin Dressler, which prompted publishers to bring some of his older story collections back into print. I’m off to see if I can get hold of some of them…
Today’s is a silly prompt designed to get you to lighten up about your writing.
One of the best ways to become blocked is to put pressure on yourself to write something good.
Today’s gift to you is a list if words it’s going to be very hard to turn into a good story.
So write something silly. Have some fun:
The only qualification to be a ‘Superstar” is a desire to write and support your fellow writers.
A supportive group of committed writers, who meet virtually, support each other’s efforts, and inspire each other.
Registration for 2024 open now-June 8, 2024
The only qualification to be a ‘Superstar” is a desire to write and support your fellow writers.
A supportive group of committed writers, who meet virtually, support each other’s efforts, and inspire each other.
Registration for 2024 open now-June 8, 2024
A 6-part journey through the short story.
Starts July 28, 2023
![[Write on Wednesday] Eons](https://storyaday.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Screen-Shot-2014-02-10-at-1.49.51-PM.png)
![[Write On Wednesday] Time Slowed Down](https://storyaday.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Screen-Shot-2014-02-10-at-1.35.17-PM.png)
![[Write On Wednesday] The Glitterati](https://storyaday.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Screen-Shot-2014-02-10-at-12.31.58-PM.png)
![[Reading Room] Flax-Golden Tales by Erin Morgenstern](https://storyaday.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Screen-Shot-2014-03-06-at-1.18.51-PM.png)
![[Write On Wednesday] Misunderstood](https://storyaday.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Screen-Shot-2014-02-10-at-12.10.36-PM.png)
![[Write On Wednesday] The Irritable Author](https://storyaday.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Screen-Shot-2014-02-10-at-11.52.10-AM.png)
![[Write On Wednesday] Sidelong Glances](https://storyaday.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Screen-Shot-2014-02-10-at-12.08.23-PM.png)