For the Love of Short Stories

Thirty-five years ago, I began my career by writing short stories. I thought that if I started on something short, I had a better chance of finishing and submitting work. I learned a lot about writing succinctly and the constructive criticism of editors who eventually published my work really helped. I also read numerous short story magazines and collections. It was a great education before I turned to novels. When I found a publisher for my Casey Holland series, I stopped writing short fiction altogether. Frankly, I’ve missed it, so I plan to start again while also tackling novellas. I love short stories, always will. While some say that they don’t sell and aren’t widely read, others maintain that short fiction is a good fit for busy readers who don’t want to take the time to invest in a 350 page book. It makes sense to me.

While mulling over what to write, a couple of colleagues suggested that I work on pieces featuring my novels’ protagonists. They said this could be a great promotional tool for the books and help boost discoverability. Will it, though? I’ve read conflicting opinions about whether short stories sell by themselves, so I’m still trying to figure things out.

This week, I read an interesting piece in The Guardian about Comma Press, a publisher that is launching a self-publishing platform for short stories, essays, and poetry in text and audio versions. Writers can upload their work and tag it in appropriate categories. The piece doesn’t mention anything about payment, which is something to consider. The platform, known as MacGuffin, will provide visible stats as to how many times the piece is read, if it is finished, when the reader stopped, and so on. In other words, the author might also be subjecting themselves to fair, or possibly unfair, criticism.

This method of showcasing one’s work isn’t new. In fact, websites and other forums have been posting stories for feedback for years. The author of The Guardian piece thinks this is innovative idea because it will enable Comma Press to directly mine more detailed information from customers. Again, I think that some publishers have been doing that for a while now.

In any event, I’m happy to see that short stories are being given more platforms. Short stories are just as capable as giving one a satisfying reading experience as a novel and don’t allow room for the padding that reviewers often complain about in larger books. If MacGuffin helps raise awareness of short stories, then maybe that’s a good thing. If you know of other platforms, websites, and forums devoted to short stories, I’d love to hear about them.

Debra

On Doing @StoryADayMay

May is Short Story Month, and this is the second year I've participated in Story A Day May.

Last year, I grabbed a prompt from a different place every morning: on-line prompt generators, random lines from books, prompt words from one of the writers' groups I belong to.

This year, I wandered around the house, taking pictures of stuff, then randomly numbered them from 1-31, and I've been taking them in order.

Of the two methods, the photographs are the more difficult. I think it's because I know what the objects are, where they are, where they came from. It's difficult to untether them from actuality and let my imagination play.

The Story A Day website has a prompt every day, and I may very well shoot my hard-headed independence in the butt next year and immerse myself in the community. I think I've proved to myself that I can do it on my own, so I'll feel free to work in company.

It's always fun to write, always exciting to belt something out without planning it to death first, but it's been a bit of a chore this year, possibly because of that extra effort it's taken to see the familiar as something else.

Have you ever participated in an "extreme writing challenge" or done guided freewriting? How did that work for you, if you've done either or both?

Marian Allen, Author Lady
Fantasies, mysteries, comedies, recipes

Introducing the Books of A. F. Stewart

Once Upon a Dark and Eerie... :

An ebook collection of dark short fiction, sonnets and snippets to make you shiver. A morbid and morose collection of tales designed to scare, dismay and leave you wondering. Open the pages into worlds of horror, dark fantasy, and satire, where things creep in shadowy corners, where they like to hear you scream.

Once Upon a Dark and Eerie... will show you it isn’t safe in space, why fairy tales, clowns and rubber duckies are more than what they seem and why you should lock your doors in the dark.

Chronicles of the Undead:

Temptation, vengeance, redemption. Family Secrets.

Inside the personal journals of the Harrington family, a dark and dangerous odyssey unfolds. Three members of this tormented family, Samuel, his son Edmund, and Edmund’s daughter Charlotte, struggle during the 18th and 19th century in London, England, as the lives of this family intersects with supernatural forces. Two intriguing vampires befriend, manipulate and play with all three souls, altering their lives forever. Their fears, private confidences and weaknesses are revealed as one selfish act ends in horrific tragedy, with far-reaching consequences.

Who succumbs to the seduction and danger of the vampire? Who grapples to combat the evil influence that permeates their lives?


Passing Fancies:

A book of collected short fiction, written mostly in the fantasy genre with a smattering of crime and sci-fi dropping by as well. You will find tales short to long, amusing to chilling, wandering about the pages. Take delight in the saga of werewolves, vengeful gods, and virtual reality. Thrill to accounts of murder most strange, quiver as mummies, ghosts,
and demons walk. See the end of the world and the beginning of space.

Stroll the pages of imagination.

Shadows of Poetry:

Poetry written for the blackness in your soul. Wrenching, dismal, bleak verse for those who want to walk on the dark side. Enter into a fateful and shadowy world. Shadows of Poetry is a collection of introspective poetry that skirts
the darker side of life and imagination. Verses include forlorn musings on nature, a harsher glimpse at life and a grim view of fantasy and myth. No sappy, cheerful love poems allowed.

The Incomplete Guide to Action Movies:

Here it is at last -- almost everything you need to know to enjoy an action film! Presenting an irreverent manual for dissecting an action movie, a guide to the nuances of that summer blockbuster. Consider musings about crashes, clichés and cannon fodder. Discover how to survive an action movie.Learn the proper way to watch a bad action film.

Bio:

A. F. Stewart was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada, and still calls it home. The youngest of a family of seven children, she has always had an overly creative mind, and an active imagination. She is fond of good books (especially science fiction/fantasy), action movies, and oil painting as a hobby.

Ms. Stewart has been writing for several years, her main focus being in the fantasy genre. She also has a great interest in history and mythology, often working those themes into her books and stories.Website: http://afallon.bravehost.com/

See Also:

Interview with A. F. Stewart
The Vampire Eleanor de Burgh from Chronicles of the Undead by A. F. Stewart
Henri Forain, a Vampire from Chronicles of the Undead by A. F. Stewart

Story v Novel In A Flash

What's The Difference?
Novel = Break open the moment.
Story = Collapse the moment.

And there you have it: a book on fiction writing in a nutshell.

"Breaking open the moment" is a phrase I picked up from the Green River Writers, and it means dispersing what's happening from a simple statement into an experience.

In any piece of fiction, there is a pivotal moment: an important thing happens, an important discovery is made, an important epiphany is experienced. That moment might be the climax of the action (the Ring of Power is destroyed) or it might be the result of the action (Boo Radley returns our friendship).

Novels take that moment and expand it with explorations of setting, multiple characters and characterization, emotions, senses, details, internal dialog, background, relevant subplots and dialog.

Short stories have all these things, but collapse them, trimming subplots and multiple characters down or out, suggesting rather than exploring. The pivotal moment is front and center, and the diffusion of that moment is minimal.

Flash fiction has been defined as from 300-1000 words, but I've seen "flash" as short as six words (Hemingway's "For sale. Baby shoes. Never used.") up to 2000. As you can see from the Hemingway example, flash fiction can be so collapsed that even the pivotal moment is only implied.

So there you have it. Love to write novels and want to write a short story? Get an idea for your novel's pivotal moment and collapse the surrounding elements. Distill them to their essences. Love to write short stories and want to write a novel? Write a short story and then break open the pivotal moment. Sound easy? No? Maybe or maybe not, but I assure you it's doable.

Go forth, ye writers! Go forth and have fun with it!

Marian Allen is the author of EEL'S REVERENCE, a fantasy

New release: Skeletons in the Closet & Other Creepy Stories

Today launches my new short story collection, kind of a mix between Stephen King's short collections, The Twilight Zone and The Hitchhiker.

In Skeletons in the Closet & Other Creepy Stories you'll find 13 suspenseful shorts, including my novelette Remote Control. Some of the stories are based on true events.

Skeletons in the Closet is now available in ebook edition for only $2.99 US at Amazon's Kindle Store and Smashwords.

Pick up your copy today! It makes an awesome gift for anyone who likes a good scare.

Cheryl Kaye Tardif
http://www.cherylktardif.com/

Should writers pursue print publication or publish their own ebooks?

The above question came up in a forum recently, and while everyone has to determine what's right for them as it is a very personal decision, I gave them my thoughts on the topic.

I say go for both--print and ebooks. If you have a traditional publisher for your print, all the better. But don't let that stop you from publishing your own ebooks, especially the ones your agent and publisher aren't interested in. You definitely don't want to overlook the ebook market. That's where the money is right now for authors, if you publish the ebooks yourself.

As a self-published and traditionally published print author, I've seen the pros and cons to both sides.

If you have a backlist of titles that your publisher is finished with, get them up on Amazon Kindle, KoboBooks and Smashwords right away. Sales of ebooks are on the rise, and they won't be stopping or slowing any time too soon.

Other ideas for ebooks: publish a collection of short stories or an anthology with other authors, publish a novella or novelette, publish a how-to book or a book of poetry.

I have 4 ebooks coming out between April 1, 2010 and Sept 27, 2010. :-) There's only one thing better than promoting your books, and that's writing them!

My agent is holding 2 thrillers. I'm considering taking one back and publishing it as an ebook next spring.

The key is this: you want to build momentum, then try to keep that momentum going. And the only way to do this is to keep releasing books under some semblance of regularity.

With Amazon's recent royalty raise to 70% for qualifying ebooks, it's possible for authors to now make more money selling less expensive ebooks than selling traditionally published print books. But in the end, it depends on the personal goals of each writer.

Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
bestselling author & book marketing coach
http://www.cherylktardif.com

Memories of the Past

Thirty years ago, I was studying criminology and volunteering at a youth detention centre. I visited the centre once a week for one year and learned a lot about teenaged girls in all sorts of legal trouble and emotional distress. I watched them interact, witnessed their despair, and listened to them talk with gullibility and hope about their futures and, in many cases, their mothers . . . mothers who rarely visited and who clearly preferred their new boyfriends to their daughters’ company.

I never pursued a career in criminology for a number of reasons and I stopped volunteering to venture into a different line of work. Then came marriage and a family. For some reason, though, those days at the detention centre are on my mind again.

Currently, I’m writing a short story based on a real incident in the centre. I don’t know why this particular memory has resurfaced after all these years, but I know it’s important enough to explore on the page. While I’ve been working on the piece I’ve been recalling other incidents at the centre. Those incidents have got me to thinking about kids’ problems. And kids’ problems have made me think about runaways . . . those who feel trapped in hopeless situations. Out of this, another idea has formed and it's now an integral part of a new novel I’ve started.

I have no idea if writing about this part of my past will cause the memories to fade permanently. Maybe they shouldn’t. Maybe the plight of runaway teens should be exposed and written about and shared and over and over again until folks show a tiny bit more compassion or understanding to street kids. Because as tough and belligerent and street-smart as they seem, there is still gullibility and flickers of hope behind many of those harsh stares. You just have to watch and listen awhile. I’m not sure how my novel will end, but I know that the journey will make me rethink a thing or two.

By the way, the short story is tentatively called "Birthday Girl".

To read excerpts of Fatal Encryption and Taxed to Death, visit http://www.debrapurdykong.com/.

Fatal Encryption is available through amazon.com at http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl and Taxed to Death can be found at http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n

Textnovel.com serializes REMOTE CONTROL by Cheryl Kaye Tardif

After news spread across North America about the novel I am writing on my iPhone 3G, I have had the pleasure of being interviewed for TV, radio, newspapers and websites, plus I was contacted by Stan Soper, the founder of Textnovel.com, a website devoted to cell phone novels or serialized fiction by phone.

Stan states: "I started Textnovel™ after I stumbled across an article in the New York Times on Japanese teenagers who were writing and reading fiction on their cellphones and publishing them on websites."

This fad has quickly spread across Japan over the past few years and resulted in a number of bestselling novels written mainly by teenagers with no previous writing or publishing experience. Many of the novels were written using cell phone lingo (LOL) and most are Young Adult (YA) novels.

Textnovel is the first English site to offer cell phone novels, which can be read on your computer or cell phone.

With my novel Finding Bliss I take cell phone novels to a whole new level. Not only am I the first person to attempt to write an entire novel using the Notes application on my iPhone 3G, it'll be written with my normal style (no cell phone lingo) and will feature a character who uses and iPhone 3G. This novel may one day find itself on Textnovel.com.

When Stan read about me in a recent press release, he extended a special invitation for me to check out Textnovel.com. That's when I decided to do a test run with my serialized novelette REMOTE CONTROL. I've been posting it on my website, but that will be on hold while I post it to Textnovel.com instead. Feel free to read it on Textnovel.com or you can subscribe and have new chapters delivered right to your cell phone. And don't worry, my chapters are short.

Read REMOTE CONTROL on Textnovel.com.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif
bestselling author of Whale Song

A Perfect Day

Tuesday, October 14th was a perfect day for me, one of those rare calm occasions when there are no major errands to run (except to the voting poll), the to-do chore list is about done, and all is right in one's family--no drama or things going wrong, no dog pooping on the carpet. So I allowed my mind to get into the writing groove. Not the quick, shallow groove where one writes on the fly between day-job and domestic duties, but someone who stretches out on the sofa in an empty, quiet house and picks up a chapter and allows the mind to think and create, and to edit ... a new phrase here, a crossed line there ... page after page of sharpening, tightening, clarifying.

In the afternoon, I really indulged by putting the chapter down and turning to a short story I've been trying to work on for weeks. The story will be one of my longer pieces. I've written twenty-three pages so far and the first draft is not yet finished. But once that first draft is done it will be cut and sharpened and polished ten to fifteen times--more in some spots--until I'm happy with it.

Short stories have never been a quick process for me. Even the 250 word flash fiction pieces require time and attention and rewriting, but it's one of the most satisfying types of writing I do. I've written fifty-six stories - some mysteries, others mainstream, humorous, and even a horror/ghost story. Fifty-four of them have been published, and the last two are being marketed. I've started posting some of the published pieces on Authors Den, so if you'd like to read any please visit my page at http://www.authorsden.com/debrapurdykong

When things get rough, and I'm swamped with real life, I'll remember October 14th and know that a perfect day can happen with a little planning and maybe a little luck. I wish all of you perfect days of your own.

To read excerpts of Fatal Encryption and Taxed to Death visit, http://www.debrapurdykong.com

Remote Control, a suspenseful serialized work-in-progress, is updated

If you've been following Remote Control, my suspenseful novelette that is based on a short story I wrote back in 1987, it has been updated and a new scene has been added.

Harry Fielding has just discovered that he has a strange power. And he's ready and willing to use it. No matter the consequences.

“Be careful what you wish for,” they say, but for forty-four-year-old Harold Fielding, who unfortunately isn’t one to listen to such good advice, those words will come back to haunt him...

Read Remote Control now.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif, author of Whale Song, The River and Divine Intervention