Saying More with Less

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine     

I recently spoke with a friend that is a writer and managing editor of a magazine. The conversation soon turned to current day styles of writing including shorter, more condensed versions like blogs. My friend writes articles and blogs for the magazine. She finds that material is plentiful, which is a blessing, but you can get it all on the page. After three hours of a great interview she must condense some things to 500 words. Articles must be reduced to 1200 words.  It can be a chore. How do you do this?

In our writing classes we challenge each other to write nonstop for 5 minutes. With a topic in mind we set the timer and begin. At the end of the 5 minutes we look over our work, count the words and challenge ourselves to reduce our word count by half. As impossible as it appears to be, you will be surprised how easy it is to do.

We are a wordy bunch, especially in the South. We can say something with 100 words when 30 would do. We speak with flowery detail on each subject. It is beautiful and comforting to me because I am from the South but it isn’t needed for the rapid fire, interest holding, quick read crowds of today. It is great for a lingering novel to read at leisure but that’s another style altogether. Today we want to know the topic, the message and the punch line but we want it in 500-1200 words or less.

Writing like this is not only a style but an art. It is a great way to enter the world of writing. As a matter of fact I have recommended to writers to start a blog. Keep it within 300 to 500 words and fill it with interesting topics, phrases and bottom lines. Perfecting this, which I am trying to do, can make you think and become more aware of what can be said with less.

I challenge you to do the same exercise we do in writing class. Give yourself 5 minutes of breakneck speed writing. Don’t think just write. Once you have finished go back and count your words then reduce the word count by half.  You will amaze yourself at how easy it is to do and how much better it reads.

Give it a try and let me know of your success.    

  

Beginner's Luck? I don't think so

by Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor

Elizabeth B. Elliott, Cheryl Hilderbrand and Sherry Perkins grace the cover of our SouthernWriters Short Stories from the South, Special Edition. Elizabeth was our First Place Winner with Cheryl Second Place and Sherry Third place. They, along with the Top Ten Finalists, had some amazing stories of humor, drama, mystery and romance. Their stories touched the heart and filled the soul with emotion. Reading them has been enjoyable and a study in imagination, creativity and storytelling. All are fantastic and their stories are something I will share with others.

I am told when Elizabeth was contacted to inform her she had won; she was very excited and exclaimed this was her first time to submit a story. Considering the brilliance of her writing and the emotion of the story, that was amazing to hear. Some may call it beginner's luck but after you read her story you will know that cannot be. Apparently Elizabeth’s talent has been there all along but Elizabeth is just now sharing it with the world. I feel we are fortunate that she did and even more fortunate that she chose Southern Writers Short Stories from the South to debut her talent.

This special issue of Short Stories from the South epitomizes the mission of Southern Writers. We exist to nurture and encourage writers, promote and market their books and build a network of authors. I think all would agree this anthology of short stories touches on all we endeavor to achieve. After reading this special issue I hope you will be encouraged and will encourage others to take that next step like Elizabeth B. Elliott did. Southern Writers is intent on making opportunities available. We hope you are as intent on sharing your talent with the world. If you are, we are here for you.

I Love To Bragg On This Author

by Sherry Perkins

I have lived in southwest Louisiana my whole life, except for the seven years I was in the army and lived other places. I have also been a life-long reader and if I was to guess how many books I’ve read it would probably number in the hundreds. Mind you, I’m not one of those who finish four or five books in a month, but I am an avid reader, always have been. No book has touched me personally like “All Over but the Shoutin’.” 

My uncle let my mama borrow it. She then passed it to me. When I next saw my uncle I said, “I can’t put that book down.” He replied of the author, another man named Rick whom he had met at a writing conference, “He’s as country as turnip greens.” The book is “All Over but the Shoutin’,” and the author is none other than the Pulitzer-prize winning Alabama writer Rick Bragg.

Although Rick Bragg was born 12 years before me, reading his life story was like reading my own. They were poor; we were poor. Although I don’t think my parents would agree, now that I’m 41, I know it.

He writes about witnessing a Southern Baptist baptism in a creek and the congregation on the banks singing “I’ll Fly Away.” I don’t know how many of those I’ve been to, and that song is burnt in my memory from my tiny country church. It’s my favorite hymnal.

He recounts his older brother Sam running away from his mama when she tried to whip him, and when she caught up to him, she gave him a whippin’ of a lifetime as he yelled for God! My brother Charlie did the same thing one time as my mama straddled him and whipped him good. Some would call it a beatin’, but it was just a good old-fashioned whippin’ he deserved.

He writes about collecting Coke bottles for change. We did that too. He writes about his dad being a drunk, and I remember mama telling the same of her dad. Although I loved my grandpa to death, like most of us, it’s hard for me to imagine he was a drinker in his younger years.

He talked of his mama taking in ironing and cleaning peoples’ houses. My grandma did that too. There are so many parallels to his upbringing in Alabama and mine is Louisiana that I laughed aloud and swallowed hard to prevent myself from crying, which didn’t work at times. They even got commodity cheese like we did.

If you are looking for a true southern story, I encourage you to read “All Over but the Shoutin’.” It will touch you, I promise. Then you will understand how a famous writer like Rick Bragg really is “as country as turnip greens” as my uncle put it. After I read the last word of the last page, I wanted more. Hands down, he is now my favorite author.

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Sherry Perkins is president of Bayou Writers’ Group of Lake Charles, Louisiana,  and has had several articles and photographs published. She resides in DeRidder, Louisiana, with her husband, step-daughter, two cats, a fish, and a ball python named Richard Pryor.  Visit Sherry at www.sherryperkins.blogspot.com