We had a very nice Christmas this year; spent time with our neighbor for appetizers and wine, dinner with my brother-in-law’s family for Christmas Eve, and a quiet day relaxing Christmas Day. Quiet because aside from huffing and puffing, it doesn’t involve a lot of noise to clean an oven and stove. But I did get it working (the oven wouldn’t turn on though the pilot light was lit) so the prime rib roast is scheduled for the New Year’s weekend.
Today I’m filling out forms for rebates, paying bills, cleaning the refrigerator, and getting my papers together to see a new lawyer later this week. I really need to start the New Year out without this black cloud over my head that my sister hung up two and a half years ago.
I’m going to try to keep the shop closed this week and concentrate on getting the house cleaned up, the ironing done, the frameshop books updated and of course, installing all the new computer hardware and software.
And reading; I need to get back to some mind-boggling reading. Writing’s going to take a lower priority with me this year. It just seems that I don’t really have what it takes to please the literary journal editors yet and it’s not as much fun if it doesn’t get read by others. The writers group is going to be hopefully taken over by the artistic folk at the college, or laid to rest. Once I get back into the swing of things, and really hopping with the new media stuff, I may just get inspired to try my hand at writing stories again.
Now I’m back to the drudgery of the refrigerator scum.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology
How do you write a short story. I could read a book about it, but I’d rather get insight from a source.
I can’t seem to write short stories, but wish I could. Just about all of my ideas are perfect for more lengthy tomes…maybe a novella. But a less-than 15 page story? Roadblock.
Josh, while the genre you write is more geared toward length perhaps because of journeys and action, it should be based upon the same idea as any short story versus novel argument: Make every word count even more than it does in novel form. Instead of several incidents that portray a change or a character, the short story necessarily requires that you limit it to one or two really, really telling ones. The character has to jump the arc in one bold leap (or several quick-like-a-bunny ones).
It’s hard for me to say what plan to use to set up writing a short story–I’m weird in that I start any story from the opening sentences and let it lead me from there. It’s also hard for me to give advice right now because I’ve just come to emotionally and mentally accept a reversal to an “I’m not a writer” attitude.
Whatever it is that makes the short story work, I don’t think I have a grasp of it, at least in the writing.
Yeah, I noticed that in some of the other posts. What gives? 🙂 Everyone seems to be clamboring for the door in the short story world. There definitely are not enough publications for all the short stories out there. I wonder if that’s why Jimm never sent in any of his excellent short stories (real shame that too).
I desperately hope that I can get this small press off the ground in the next year or two. You, Mr E and Jim deserve to be read out there–certainly locally here in New England.
Frustration is a natural part of the industry–I’ve had my share with the film industry certainly–but don’t wallow in it too long. You can always send your stuff to Kas and I to look at. (Jim too, if he happend to be reading this.)