Writing Shorts

By Janice S. Garey    

Writing and running have similarities. Both involve gearing up, establishing schedules, training in increasing increments, and fine tuning to increase competence. Both engage in competition for prizes. Runners don’t start with a marathon. Neither do writers. I began writing shorts in the forms of haiku, prayer, flash fiction, and copy partly as practice toward attaining my next level as a writer.

C. J. Hitz, a runner’s coach in Colorado, gives training advice which can apply to writers. “In terms of ‘short practice,’ I would say, “strides” are something I recommend for runners of all levels. Strides are short 20-30 second bursts in order to activate faster twitch muscle fibers and stay tuned to faster running.” Essentially for the writer, that equals producing quality short works. Physically, the writer trains by keying in their thoughts quickly. Mentally, the writer practices self editing. Proficiency results from writers practicing “strides.”

Another observation made by C. J. was, “It’s very easy to run at the same pace day in and day out without going outside the comfort zone into faster stride turnovers.” Writers, like runners, can get stuck in a groove of what works. They initially worked hard to attain a goal, but then decided to let comfort rule. But writing is an endeavor which can always be improved upon. Writing a short piece gives a jolt to the senses. Stale, routine writing may regain sparkle.

Haiku, the seventeen syllable form of Japanese poetry, gives practice in observation and compression. It records a moment in time, a unique flash of insight, and the feelings evoked. The writer must be in the moment, keenly observant, able to weed out and rearrange words for the most impact.

Prayer does double duty through communicating to God and practicing empathy and compassion. Again, this short practice puts the writer in the moment. Prayer requests are found throughout social media.

Flash fiction generally refers to a very short story which includes: few characters; plot with a beginning, middle, and end; and minimal setting. This requires compression, but can span a longer time period than haiku. It gives practice in plotting, description, character development, and following through to an effective ending.

Copy writing practice abounds daily in composing subject lines for email, preparing ads to sell author’s works, making comments on social media, and when composing article and book titles. It gives the ultimate practice in weeding out unnecessary words.

Runners practice movements outside of routine to fine tune their abilities. Writers, also, need to practice outside their normal routines to advance. Personally, I have been writing shorts for an extended time. That has been my comfort zone. Others reading this may be comfortable focused solely on writing novels.

Opportunity abounds for each writer to go out of their comfort zone. Perhaps soon I will attempt the writer’s marathon, NaNoWriMo. Are you up for the challenge of attempting some new to you form of writer’s “strides?”

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Janice S. Garey has a background in accounting, homeschooling, teaching preschool, and learning the craft of writing through Christian Writers Guild courses. Her publishing credits include flash fiction in QPB Presents the World’s Best Shortest Stories (of all times), stories in the Moments compilation series, Christmas Moments, Spoken Moments, and future editions, an article in Church Libraries Journal, and book reviews and an article in the Christian Library International (prison ministry) newsletters. She reviews books as a member of Bookfun.org, and she frequently posts photos and haiku on social media. Currently, Janice works toward publication of a devotional type coloring book/journal which utilizes her flash fiction and prayer shorts, with a WIP title of Color Away My Hurts. Janice and her husband, Art, live in the Atlanta, GA vicinity with their cat, Miss Bosley. They have one son who is getting his PhD in English. You may connect with Janice at: Twitter @janciegme  Instagram @janciegme Wordpress  janicegareyblog  (under reconstruction)

LinkedIn  Janice S. Garey  Facebook  Janice Garey  www.janicegarey.com  

           

           

           

Spring Writing

By Marianne Evans

It happens to me every spring. As the days grow long, temperatures creep upward, flowers bloom and the grass thickens and greens, the thought occurs that I . . .  Hate Yard Work.

Trouble is, when you live in Michigan, there's an unwritten rule of spring landscaping that goes something like this: Mornings full of cool fresh air, capped by an azure sky and kissed by golden sunlight are meant to be savored. So, ignoring the siren call of adding fresh chapters to my WIP (Work in Progress), I recently gave up several hours of my Saturday to putter outside, clean and position outdoor furniture, weed flowerbeds and repair latticework on my deck. I found joy in the simple pleasure of breathing in fresh air just starting to carry with it an undercurrent of sweet hyacinth.

That’s when the strangest thing happened. My WIP came to life despite my absence from the computer. Although I fought the idea of leaving book creation behind in favor of manual labor, once I landed in the thick of it, guess who came to visit: my currently developing characters – and the plot elements they faced. They acted out scenes for me, sent me ideas to forward their development. Before long, my flowers, wood chips, leaf remnants and lattice nailing were secondary to the delight I found in letting the words and images flow through my mind. I didn’t even mind the sweat, the black lines of dirt compressed beneath my fingernails.

What happened next? Rain. Hours of it.  The deluge started just after I returned inside from my exercise in Lawn Care 101. I parked myself in front of my computer and crafted a couple chapters of my new book, The Return—Book 1 of The Fishermen of Antioch series. The day ended up being the best of both worlds!

Refocusing, surrendering, allowed me to find a pathway to physical revitalization, mental nourishment and forward momentum in my writing. Keep watch over what appear to be unexpected roadblocks—many times those walls turn into blessings…I hope you find that to be true in your journey as well. If you’re struggling with similar issues, try to give yourself a breather, a shift of emphasis, and see what happens next!

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Marianne Evans is an award-winning author of Christian romance and fiction. Her hope is to spread the faith-affirming message of God’s love through the stories He prompts her to create. Devotion, earned the Bookseller’s Best Award as well as the Heart of Excellence Award. Hearts Communion earned a win for Best Romance from the Christian Small Publisher's Association. Finding Home won the Selah award for Best Novella. Marianne is a lifelong resident of Michigan and an active member of Romance Writers of America, most notably the Greater Detroit Chapter where she served two terms as President. Connect with Marianne at: www.marianneevans.com www.marianneevans.blogspot.com Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/marianneevansauthor/ Twitter: MarEvansAuthor

Writing a What If about The Greatest and The King

By Annette Cole Mastron, Communications Director for Southern Writers Magazine

As a member of a writer's group, each year, we write a short story and are published in an anthology book. It's a great opportunity to be published annually. The writer's group has covered a number of different topics. Our last published book was a fictional dinner with a historical figure entitled, Dinner with Destiny.

Our new anthology book subject is "What If." Take a true fact and write a "What if" this happened instead of what did happen and write 1800 words. It sounded easy at the time we voted on the subject of the book, but we have a deadline to email the editor on our specific scenario. The purpose is to commit to your topic so there is no duplication of facts. With the deadline looming, I've been wracking my mind as to what fact to use. This is hard. What fact would you use?

Frankly, I was stumped. I had written and rejected several ideas as too complicated to explain within a word count of 1800 words. Then, I found inspiration via an article in our local paper, The Commercial Appeal. I get a lot of story ideas from reading the daily paper. With the recent death of Muhammad Ali, numerous articles were everywhere about his humble beginnings, controversial stands, talent for the sport of boxing, self-proclamation of being "The Greatest," etc. 

However, not one article connected Muhammad Ali (The Greatest) with Elvis Presley (The King) until I read Geoff Calkins column in Sunday's paper. Half way through the article I knew I had my "What If" story idea for my fictional piece. I'm writing a story about Ali and Elvis with an interesting spin. 

What inspires your writing? Do you keep an inspiration file? Do you log what inspires your published work? 

Write Naked

By J. Todd Scott

I’m often asked how I started writing again after a twenty-year hiatus: why now? And why this book?

That’s never an easy question to answer; or rather, there’s no easy answer. But I do know that once I decided to put my shoulder against the wheel again, I promised myself I’d write for the only audience that truly mattered; an audience of exactly one – Me.

Writing a novel is an unbelievable act of faith. It’s a long journey to an uncertain destination, and whatever your process (plotting or “pantsing;” a rigid daily word count or something more flexible) it requires complete commitment not only to the process itself, but more importantly, to yourself. I discovered the only way I could embark on that journey was to travel extremely light: stripping bare every preconceived notion of what sort of book I should write, what type of story might sell, what a “real” author would do, or what an “ideal” audience might enjoy, and simply wrote the story that I wanted to, the only way I knew how to tell it. I left behind the inner critic and the self-doubt and the fear that had always accompanied my earlier “travels” (i.e., attempts) and committed myself to just walking…every single day, 600 to 1100 words at a time. I didn’t use Beta readers or critique partners or even discuss the book with my friends or family (most of whom didn’t know I was writing), and because I have a very demanding full-time career, my writing time was something I had to consciously steal first thing in the morning, before the day caught up to me. Consequently, The Far Empty ended up being all me: it was my solo circumnavigation of a novel. I spent the whole trip naked and alone…and had to start out anew early each and every morning! But it worked, and I enjoyed every step of the journey in a way I hadn’t during any of my earlier failed attempts to get a book done. In fact, it was liberating.

It was my voice, my story.

In some ways this is self-evident; just another version of advice I’m sure you’ve heard before. But writing this way can be surprisingly hard, requiring an easy acceptance of failure – if failure means not getting published. Not every book is saleable, not every story – no matter how personally compelling to you – will find a wider, “professional” audience. It’s daunting to start that journey having already accepted at the outset your book may never see the light of day, and still be completely comfortable with that. But that’s the only way I can do it. I’ve “trunked” several books written in the wake of The Far Empty that I was just as excited to start, and just as satisfied with when I finished, because I told my story to the only audience I really cared about: me.

And that’s what I learned when I started writing again…it’s just the journey, after all. 

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J. Todd Scott has been a federal agent with the DEA for more than twenty years, working cases investigating international maritime smuggling, domestic meth labs, and Mexican cartels. He has a law degree from George Mason University and is a father of three. A Kentucky native, he now resides in the Southwest, which provided the backdrop for The Far Empty.

How Do You Choose A Topic?

By Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief for Southern Writers Magazine

It seems lately my inbox is drowning with emails from people sending me all sorts of information on how to write non-fiction “help” books. Reading a few of the emails,   most of them are trying to sell me their information on writing a nonfiction book. Just $9.99 is the price most quote. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying we should not invest in materials to help with our writing. I am saying we need to determine what we need before grabbing something out of the inbox. Most everyone I read said, “Choose your Topic”, and then it went on with other suggestions of how we needed their help to choose these topics.  Some of them try to sell you a list on topics to pick.  I was curious as to how difficult it might be to choose a topic without buying their material.

The first thing I did, taking a pad and pen, was watch the news streaming across my computer. It didn’t take long until I had these topics listed:

Integrity, honesty, ethics, discipline, principals, health, wealth, time, organizing…well you get the idea. Just on watching these streamers, I came up with a list of about fifteen items in less than five minutes.

I am sure most everyone now has heard about the children ganging up on another kid at school and beating them not to mention the kids ganging up on a person coming out of a grocery store and beating them. I could go on with the knifings, shootings, road rage. It’s a long list. The sad part is that the behavior of kid’s gave me the items for this list. The ages are under 18. Watching the news that night, needless to say, I added to my list of topics for non-fiction books.  Here are just a few I listed:

Bullying, intimidating, physical violence, passive-aggressive behavior, abuse, harassment, humiliation, demeaning, negative thinking and actions, power, and jealousy. These are more choices for topics.

My point is we don’t have to buy a list from someone to come up with topics to write non-fiction books. Look around–listen to the news, read the paper, watch the streamers on the computer. Topics are everywhere.

Even personal topics abound.  How do we find those? Grab a cup of tea, (or coffee) sit out on our porch looking at the scenery and let our mind wander. What things pop in your head?  Jot them down. There’s loneliness, love-having or wanting, companionship, nature, creation. Anything that pops up put on the list. Let our feelings take over for a few minutes and we’ll have many topics.

In reality, finding a topic to write about is not the hard part. Topics are everywhere. The hard part would be choosing a topic from our list because there are many. We could choose anyone of them and write our slant, our thoughts and our ideas in a nonfiction book. In other words, we will write the topic with our voice. It makes no difference how many books are out there on the subject. Our voice will make the difference; what we bring to the subject.

So, now that we decide to choose one of our topics, what do we do next?

Is it time to do the research or is it time to write an outline? What are your thoughts? Do you have some topics in mind to write a non-fiction book?

Side-Characters Speak Up

By Clarissa Johal

I enjoy writing side-characters as much as main characters. They can flesh out the story and make it interesting, alter the path of a protagonist, or stop the actions of an antagonist. There are no “throwaways” in my novels. Each side-character has a back-story, motivation and voice of their own. 

I try to write them as quirky and as interesting as possible. However, when Struck was released, I never expected that my readers would fall in love with, not one, but two of my side-characters.

Struck is about a young woman who is struck by lightning. Soon after, she’s repeatedly visited by a stranger offering her a gift to stay the hands to death. The novel is focused upon Gwynneth, the unfortunate protagonist. Poppy is one of the side-characters. She’s a smart and sassy mortician who can speak to the dead. Dante, her co-worker, is a moody funeral director who’d prefer not to speak to anyone. They made the perfect pair. When Struck was released, I thought that was it—Poppy and Dante’s story was done. They had fulfilled their rolls as side-characters.

But Poppy was not to be forgotten, and Dante was right along with her.

“I loved Poppy! Are you going to do a spin-off?”

“Dante is so sexy. Can you write a book about him?”

“Are you doing a sequel to Struck? Poppy was my favorite character, can you include her?”

The requests went on and on. Who knew a mortician and a funeral director would get so much love? I usually don’t write sequels or spin-offs, but I had no choice but to give their story a try. After spending a day writing, I concluded that yes, Poppy had a story to tell.

It takes me a year to write a novel and this one was no exception. But it was beyond difficult. Poppy is a mortician, and with that came a ton of research. I researched mortician job duties, I researched the chemicals and machines they used, I read mortician blogs (yes, they exist), and I interviewed a local mortician about what it was like to work at a funeral home. I even watched YouTube videos on embalming procedures (I don’t recommend watching those, they’re quite graphic). I came face-to-face with my mortality, and I have to say, it was quite depressing. There were times I had to set my writing research aside in order to breathe. The story and characters weren’t depressing, but the research was kicking my butt. Oddly, Poppy is one of the most upbeat characters I’ve ever written—even in the face of peril. Like many morticians, she views her job as “the last help” she can offer the newly departed. Kudos to her, and kudos to the profession. I couldn’t do it.

My side-characters are speaking up more now. Rowan, a side-character from Poppy, has her own story. But…that’s another novel. Right now, I leave you with Poppy.

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Clarissa Johal is the bestselling author of paranormal novels, THE ISLAND, POPPY, VOICES, STRUCK and BETWEEN. When she’s not listening to the ghosts in her head, she’s dancing, taking pictures of gargoyles, or swinging from a trapeze. She shares her life with her husband, two daughters, and every stray animal that darkens their doorstep. Find Clarissa Online: Author Website Blog   Facebook  YouTube  Twitter  Goodreads  Amazon Author Page   Pinterest

Writing a Process and Product

By Jerry Slauter

Writing is a process and a product. We have to accept that it will never be perfect, although we want it to be. The attitude of waiting until the project will be perfect leads to “paralysis by analysis” or procrastination. Woodcutter’s Revival was published in 2012. The project began in 1982 when my family was visiting my brother in Durango Colorado. I had read Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken. I was also reading Pilgrim’s Progress

As we drove through the San Luis Valley and proceeded through Wolf Creek Pass in the San Juan Mountains, I thought, “This would make a perfect setting for this story.”

I began my rough draft that summer. In August, I had to go back to teach school. I worked through Chapter 4 several times. I always put the project away as summer or Christmas break ended and it was time to return to school. One time about half way through this period of time, I was in a writing club. We had to have something to read each week we met, so I completed the rough draft up through chapter 7. This see saw went on until I retired from teaching in 2011. About Thanksgiving, I said to myself, “I did not go back to school. Burn the notes and quit calling myself a writer or finish the project.”

I had a rough draft completed by mid-February of 2012. I worked on editing and proofreading until June and finally submitted the text for printing. I scheduled two book signings for August and September 1. It was difficult to finally say, “This is enough. Let them print it.”

The printing took longer than expected and I received my first shipment of books a day before my first book signing. Fine Line: Passion and Providence,the sequel to Woodcutter’s Revival was published in January of 2015.

I would advise beginning and veteran writers to experience life at a different level than “ordinary.” View every situation as one that could potentially give insight to human behavior or themes and plots that could be integrated into a story, a chapter or an article. Integrate all experience and research to make ideals simple enough, yet intriguing. If you write fiction, make it believable. And, of course, 

NEVER GIVE UP!

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Jerry is a retired school teacher. He love s to spend time with family, including children and grandchildren. He works in his wood, leather and metal shops at home. Jerry published Woodcutter's Revival in 2012. The sequel, Fine Line: Passion and Providence was published in January of 2015. He is the author of  Revived: Story of Publishing a Christian Novel. You can also see Jerry's essay/articles at his web site: www.woodcuttersrevival.com or on FaithWriters.com. My web site is www.wodcuttersrevival.com</a>

Roots – Dancing to A New Tune

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine    

It has been almost 40 years since the original TV series Roots came to us in a 12 episode series. It was one of the most watched series in TV history and was based on the book by Alex Haley. Currently we are halfway thru the new Roots, a 4 episode series which is billed as “an epic family saga with a new vision that is both inspiring and tremendously entertaining.” LeVar Burton, the actor that played the original Kunta Kinte, is a Co-executive producer who was originally against any remake of the story but was persuaded to do so after being visited by Executive Producer Mark Wolper.

Wolper explained to Burton that a great story should be told to each generation. I think that has been done since the beginning of time. Burton agreed but still questioned the remake. Wolper went on to explain he had asked his 16 year old son to sit and watch the original series. Wolper’s father, his son’s grandfather, had produced the 1977 series so it was important he watch it for many reasons.

Young Wolper sat and watched it and although he was impressed, he said it would not play well for current audiences, meaning millennials. It was too frightening. Young Wolper went on to explain to his Dad that it was like his music. Great in his day but it isn’t current. Dad understood that analogy, thus the remake.

I think this is a lesson we could all learn from. Updating a story, whether a new one or a remake, to the current audience or reader. How will it play with today’s reader? What are they looking for? What entertains them? Will they understand it as I present it or do I need to learn to speak their language? This must all be considered.

When considering all these things we must be willing to compromise. We may have limitations to how far we will go. Know your boundaries. As was said, a great story should be told to each generation but do remember the words of Young Wolper to his Dad, “Dad it’s like your music. It was great in your day but it doesn’t speak to us today.”