Stalking Penda

[pt_tangles]

I am using my attempt to get my novel finished and a portfolio created as an excuse to stalk Penda around teh Intarwebs (shhh! Don't tell!).

As such, I have opened a new account at WritersCafe.com under my soon to be pen name, A C Whittet. Kewl, eh? The purpose of this little story is to serve as a background for when I say that I am cross-posting a question to LJ that was first posted there.

I know that I am not the only writer on my Flist, so I am asking my fellow authors to give me a hand. I want to write short stories again. Unfortunately, I seem to have forgotten how. I need pointers.

What makes a good short story? What makes one bad? I had thought that a glimpse at one particular moment in a character's life is what would do it, but every attempt at that has gotten me another novel length story to write.

Anyone? Help a pink haired Witch out? I'll even take recommendations on authors who write great short stories that I can read.

--Phae

Comments

[pjvj.livejournal.com]

Do you write poetry? If you do, write a poem of your short story idea. Poems rely on very few filler words. Keep it terse, descriptive, and following a story outline of introduction, middle, climax, and end. Once you have the (non-wordy) poem, flesh that out to short story length.

Since your "shorts" turn into novels this technique* follows your inclination to make things longer and fuller. Starting with a tight, relatively short poem may help you to end with short story length.

*Warning - I just made this technique up off of the top of my head so it may not work. It sounds logical in my head. Heh!

[pt_tangles]

What's funny is that I used a very similar technique when I was 17 to teach myself to write novel length stories. Bit me in the ass, it did!

And no, I don't write poetry. In fact, that is always the hardest part of spellcrafting for me. The rhyming charm part. I suppose that would be a pretty good writing practice for me.

Start with easy little chants and charms, and work from there. Thanks :)

--Phae

[pjvj.livejournal.com]

You don't have to rhyme for this, at least. Just tight and no extraneous words. As in, so few words it pains you to do it ~ maybe that will help.

I wrote a ton of poetry growing up (few of it rhyming) and when it came to writing term papers in college that experience was very helpful. It kept my writing tight and fact-filled. Learning to add fluff and words to get to a word count was quite challenging for me.

Penda writes screenplays and struggles with adding in the empty places to make a novel, maybe writing screenplay style would help? Lots of descriptives left out for dialog and setting to be in, the empty places are for the director to fill in - so for you the empty places are for the reader to fill in?

The guy she is writing with now, Rob Callahan has an excellent compilation of shorts called "Damaged Goods". You may want to check him out. The pdf dowload is free in this entry in his LJ: http://robcallahan.livejournal.com/213423.html

Great Short Stories

[dbmyrrha.livejournal.com]

Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger
Sadness by Donald Bathelme
Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges
Moonlight and Vines by Charles de Lint
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie

Re: Great Short Stories

[pt_tangles]

Ooo, thanks! Time for a trip to the bookstore!! Yay!

--Phae

Re: Great Short Stories

[(Anonymous)]

Oops, i noticed a typo! it's Donald Barthelme...with an R.

Good reading!