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mary rosenblum
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Hi! This is our regular Friday
After Hours forum with me, your web editor, Mary Rosenblum. I've published
3 SF novels, 4 Mysteries, and more than 50 short stories in multiple
genres, as well as nonfiction. I'm here to answer any questions you have
about writing, editors, submitting, agents, or whatever.
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mary rosenblum
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If you're new here, remember
that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble'
next to the red question mark at the top of the screen in order to ask a
question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask and
type your question into the regular send bar if that works better for you.
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mary rosenblum
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I hope you have all had a
great week and are enjoying sunny June weather.
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mary rosenblum
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I wanted to talk about the
short short story a bit tonight.
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mary rosenblum
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I used to think of that form
as a writing exercise primarily. Very few fiction markets would touch it.
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mary rosenblum
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But it has been growing in
popularity.
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mary rosenblum
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I have a recommendation for a
good book on it...one that I have on my shelves.
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mary rosenblum
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This is Fast Fiction by
Roberta Allen
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mary rosenblum
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She takes you through the
process of learning to sit down and do a story in five minutes.
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mary rosenblum
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I find that it is a great
exercise in idea generation which is why I originally bought it.
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mary rosenblum
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What the book teaches you is
how to simply throw down a rough idea and then find a way to make that a
good story.
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mary rosenblum
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It's a way of loosening
yourself up so that you don't freeze when you suddenly find that you need a
new story idea.
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info
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that doesn't include coming up
with the idea does it?
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, and she does a nice job
of teaching you how to find ideas anywhwere.
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mary rosenblum
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I routinely use her method to
find ideas in things like pictures, for example...any picture.
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mary rosenblum
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She gives you pictures and
then a list of questions to answer.
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mary rosenblum
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Generally, answering one or
more of those questions will inspire an idea.
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mary rosenblum
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She also takes you through the
refining and polishing process from rough five minute don't-stop draft to
the finished short short...
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mary rosenblum
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and she includes a couple of
examples that go through the revisions for you to compare.
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mary rosenblum
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It's an excellent book,
whether you want to write short short or just get better at writing short
stories on demand...
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mary rosenblum
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and coming up with good story
ideas at the drop of a hat.
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mary rosenblum
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The book is 'Fast Fiction' by
Roberta Allen, publislhed by Story Press ISBN: 1-884910-27-0
It’s available from
Amazon.com Fast
Fiction
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ptomainebrain
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holy speed typing batman, five
minutes? I needed that back when I started the course!
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mary rosenblum
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Essentially, her exercises
begin with you taking an assignment: set a timer for 5 minutes, choose an
exercise...ie. write a story about a lie...and then write without stopping
or editing for exactly five minutes and STOP>
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mary rosenblum
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What it does is to turn off
the doubt-machine..that whispering string of 'is this anygood' questions
that can really stop you.
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coway
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I was at Waffle house in Perry,
drinking coffee, and came up with idea, got out pen and notebook and wrote
rough draft on an ariticle
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mary rosenblum
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Good for you, coway. If no
notebook, you use a napkin. :-)
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rupbert
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Hi Mary. How do you focus in but
still keep it flowing?
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mary rosenblum
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YOu don't focus, that's the
point.
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mary rosenblum
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What she is teaching is to
just get it down.
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mary rosenblum
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Fix it later.
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mary rosenblum
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She teaches you how to find
the gold in the rough stuff.
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mary rosenblum
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It's a way to learn that it's
okay to start, it doesn't have to be perfect first.
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coway
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I did the napkin the other
day,,,,it was a bit wet so was hard LOL
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mary rosenblum
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Just don't use a water base
felt pen, coway! LOL
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doodledorry
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I use to have my students do
that--just called it a "free write"
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mary rosenblum
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That's it, doodle. It begins
with free writing, but it's a bit more focused, since you choose a topic.
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twhorn
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I have just checked the web
pages for the 2 big books stores near hear. No new copies, but used copies
are available of the book you mentioned.
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mary rosenblum
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It's available new and used
from amazon.com
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mary rosenblum
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Starts used at 7.49
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mary rosenblum
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That may be the price for the
new hardcover, too.
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mary rosenblum
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I didn't check beyond the main
listing.
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mary rosenblum
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I paid a lot more than that!
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mary rosenblum
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I think it's one of the handful
of how to write books that is worth it.
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mary rosenblum
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BUt that is what short shorts
are good for, whether you sell them or not.
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mary rosenblum
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You can learn to write fast
and revise without committing yourself to weeks of time and pages of prose.
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mary rosenblum
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And it is a way to really
focus in on strong language.
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mary rosenblum
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Short shorts are more like
poetry. The words themselves play a very significant role in the piece.
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ptomainebrain
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do you think the book has the
potential to break through to those edit-as-we-go hard-heads like me? You
know, "it was the best of times it was the worst of times... no wait...
it was a pretty good time but not really... no wait, it was a halfway
decent time but could've been better... no wait...
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mary rosenblum
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If you do what she says and
don't cheat, pto. :-) It can feel very strained at first...
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mary rosenblum
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Back when I was first writing,
I really got in my own way.
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mary rosenblum
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I spent too much time worrying
over that first draft. The book really helped but I didn't like the
exercises much at first.
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mary rosenblum
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Now, going back, they are a
relaxation exercise and a way to generate good story ideas. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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I do them for recreation.
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mystery2me
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Hi Mary! I am on assignment 5
and find myself struggling to
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mystery2me
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keep my idea at 1500 words
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mary rosenblum
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The problem is nearly always
in your idea itself, mystery.
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mary rosenblum
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Every story idea has a natural
length.
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mary rosenblum
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If you come up with a 6000
word idea, you'll need to write a 6000 word story or it will read like a
summary.
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mary rosenblum
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That's why LR includes three
summary exercises.
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mary rosenblum
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It gives your instructor a
chance to say, 'hold on, this is going to be long...'
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mary rosenblum
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Anyone got a story idea you
want to contribute as a 'hands on' exercise?
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mary rosenblum
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I'll give you my take on
length and we'll whack it down to under 1500 words.
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mary rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. If you're new here, remember that
you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next
to the red question mark at the top of the screen in order to ask a
question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask and
type your question into the regular send bar if that works better for you.
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coway
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I have pieces of paper all over
the place where at different places, when time permits, I write..then keep
the papers for later ideas
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coway
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Mary, I went through while
thinking that I was too used to computer and could only write on
computer,,,,had a change of mind a couple of months ago
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mary rosenblum
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Ha, coway! I went through the
OTHER stage...
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mary rosenblum
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I started writing back before
a computer stood on every desk. I had to learn to compose on screen.
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mary rosenblum
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Couldn't do a first draft on
screen to save my life at first!
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mystery2me
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So I should just plug away at my
idea and worry about the
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mystery2me
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count after I get feedback from
the instructor (you :-))
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mary rosenblum
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Aha, one of my students! Yes,
send me your plot summary but make sure that it's complete.
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mary rosenblum
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I can't tell much from
something like...this is a mystery about a serial killer...
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mary rosenblum
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there just isn't enough there.
But if you tell me where you start, where you want to end up, and more or
less how you think you'll get there, I can tell you roughly how long it
would be if I wrote it...
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mary rosenblum
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and I can also tell you how to
make the story shorter or longer by changing the idea.
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doodledorry
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How about the topic of earth?
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mary rosenblum
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That's just a topic,
doodle...you could do anything. I can put up a story idea and we can play
with it, but I thought somebody might have one. :-)
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mystery2me
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I feel better knowing I don't
have to keep track of words
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mary rosenblum
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Well, when you write the
entire piece you do. But when you turn in a summary don't worry about it.
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speckledorf
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Idea...dog returns home after
missing a couple of days...carrying a bone and with no collar
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ptomainebrain
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I was amazed Taffy gave me the
thumbs up for my young girl chess prodigy idea in #5, and I actually pulled
it off in #6 - final count 1490. And she loved it, said it was
submissable... I dunno...
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mary rosenblum
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Good for you, pto. See??? It's
not THAT hard.
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janp
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A homicide has been committed in
a rural town. Population 500. Gentle, well liked, no enemy, wife not under
suspicion
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mary rosenblum
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This is what I'm looking for.
Okay let's see what we have here.
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mary rosenblum
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We don't really have a
conflict or a main character yet.
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mary rosenblum
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Someone want to volunteer one?
A MC. And a conflict.. Either or.
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roe
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was it a human bone?
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mary rosenblum
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Oh, let's make it a human
bone!
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mary rosenblum
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Even better.
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janp
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Homicide or suicide. the man had
cancer of the stomach
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mary rosenblum
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We don't even have a murder
yet!
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peejay
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HOW OLD IS THE BONE
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mary rosenblum
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It's recent...a few years.
It's human. It's....a child.
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t green
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main character is a recluse,
watches everything that goes on on his block through the curtains. the dog
is his
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mary rosenblum
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Good, t.
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mary rosenblum
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Okay, I"m going to put in
the conflict.
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aegis1
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A man in a trench coat lurked in
the shadows.
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mary rosenblum
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We can slip that in, too.
Okay, I'll do conflict.
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mary rosenblum
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We have a woman in the small
town who isn't very well liked...not born here...
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mary rosenblum
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her daughter was supposedly
kidnapped by her ex husband and she hasn't been quite right since...
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mary rosenblum
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but the bone is the right size
to belong to a child of that age, so of course everyone suspects her of
killing her kid.
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mary rosenblum
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So this is our story idea.
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peejay
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Daughter or the woman?
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mary rosenblum
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the bone is a child and of an
age that could be her daughter when she went missing.
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mary rosenblum
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We have our recluse as MC.
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mary rosenblum
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He likes the woman. He
recognizes a kindred soul. The town sheriff is sure she did it.
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mary rosenblum
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So she is arrested instantly.
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mary rosenblum
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So how long is this story?
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doodledorry
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town small enough for lots of
gosip
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mary rosenblum
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Yep.
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roe
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3000 words
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mary rosenblum
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Well, depends on what we do
with it, roe.
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mary rosenblum
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It's a novel if we want it to
be.
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mary rosenblum
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We can take it all the way
down to a short short.
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roe
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Okay with all that info, can it
be done in 1500 or less?
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mary rosenblum
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Aha...and this is the key to
the entire matter of length.
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mary rosenblum
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No, you cannot include all
this detail in 1500 words...BUT...you can imply enough to get the story
across.
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mary rosenblum
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But not with all that detail.
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mary rosenblum
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This is where writers get into
length trouble. They come up with an idea like this. Woohoo...
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mary rosenblum
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The way I envision this story,
it would probably go 8000 words or more...
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mary rosenblum
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with a strong character in the
reclusive MC of course, a strong char in the woman, the sheriff who has
already made up his mind.
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mary rosenblum
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Whose story is it? The
recluses. He has been perceived as a stupid drunk and he's not stupid.
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mary rosenblum
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He makes the connection that
refutes all the circumstantial evidence.
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mary rosenblum
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Just because she is the only
person in town who sees through his behavior.
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janp
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Won't length depend a bit on how
many secondary characters get involved?
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mary rosenblum
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Of course. With what I just
described, it's gonna take that 8000 words of tight prose to tell this
story well.
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mary rosenblum
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Hmmm...maybe I'll do this for
Ellery Queen...as a challenge. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Anyway...that aside...
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mary rosenblum
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We can do the 3000 word
version.
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mary rosenblum
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BUT...
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mary rosenblum
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If we try to include all that
stuff...snatches of gossip, the peoples' reaction to the recluse, to the
woman..all the set up...
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mary rosenblum
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we're gonna have a summary not
a story. Thin as paper.
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mary rosenblum
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So what do we leave out?
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mary rosenblum
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This is where 'imply' is
critical.
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mary rosenblum
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We can show the reader exactly
what the town thinks in a one paragraph scene on page one...
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mary rosenblum
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as one of the townspeople
passes him as he emerges from the convenience store with his brown bag of
the day.
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mary rosenblum
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(wine)
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mary rosenblum
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And at the same time, somebody
comes running into the sheriff's office dragging the dog and bone.
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mary rosenblum
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We can skip to a visit with
the woman...he's there to sort of warn her in his rambling way...
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mary rosenblum
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he knows what's gonna happen.
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mary rosenblum
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And the next scene takes place
farther along, and we'll learn about what has gone on through someone's
conversation with the old recluse.
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mary rosenblum
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We will stick closely to him
and let him figure things out more than we do in the 8000 word version.
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janp
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How 'bout, not wine, he dosen't
drink but wants people to think so?
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janp
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Let that out later
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mary rosenblum
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Sure, janp. That depends on
how you the author feel about him, and what you want the reader to feel.
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mary rosenblum
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It could be a cover, sort of
his personal armor.
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roe
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So how do we leave out the
detail and imply it, through dialogue, would it be a fast paced story
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mary rosenblum
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Except that too much dialogue
gets boring. But yes, dialogue that occurs in front of our MC or 'over his
head' will tell us a lot.
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mary rosenblum
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His thoughts about it will
give us back story.
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t green
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couldn't you even skip the
person running into the sheriff's office? have the dog drop the bone on the
recluse's front porch. neighbor sees the recluse on the porch looking at
the dog and the bone. mc is holding the wine bottle...
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mary rosenblum
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That might be the 8000 word
version, t green.
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mary rosenblum
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But that requires a scene
where the sheriff comes to investigate, they discuss, carry the bone off,
test it for human, etc.
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mary rosenblum
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If I was writing the novel
version, I'd probably have the dog drop the bone on the lawn of the prissy
ex-school principal who throws a fit and hates it when dogs get on her lawn..
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mary rosenblum
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Make the whole episode the
opening chapter and bring in a ton of backstory about people in the town.
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mary rosenblum
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That's the Looong verson.
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mary rosenblum
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By having the owner drag dog
and bone to sheriff...we skip the conversation and discussion scene.
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mary rosenblum
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MC drops into cafe later,
hears gossip about human child bone.
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mary rosenblum
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Goes to woman's house after to
bring back a tool he borrowed and warn her...
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mary rosenblum
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Two short scenes and we're
well into the plot.
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roe
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So pretty much then , this story
is all through the eyes of the recluse, what he sees, hears, and thinks?
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mary rosenblum
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Right, roe. I would let the
reader see lots of stuff happen in the 8000 word version.
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mary rosenblum
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But for the 3000 word version,
we'll let the MC overhear what has happened. Shorter that way.
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gerryd429
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Perhaps he is a recluse because
he lost a child to kidnappin
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mary rosenblum
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Ooh, nice character twist,
gerry. That could come out at the end...after he has saved her.
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janp
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One idea and at least 27
versions!
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mary rosenblum
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That's actually an exercise I
do at workshops, janp. I give one story idea to all the participants...
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mary rosenblum
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and they write a story
summary. Same idea. They are ALL different.
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mary rosenblum
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If anyone wants to use this
idea we're doing tonight feel free. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Everyone will do a different
version.
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mermaid1110
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What if we add that the bone was
tied to the dog's collar?
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mary rosenblum
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WE could do that, but that
implies another person involved. In the 8000 word version that would be
fine. Or the novel.
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mary rosenblum
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I'm not sure I'd want that
complication if I was facing a 3000 word limit.
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roe
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can't wait to hear who done it.
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mary rosenblum
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Me, too, roe. LOL.. Or whom
the bones belong to!
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deb1234
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How do you indicate to the
reader that you have made this jump in time? Do you leave extra spaces?
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mary rosenblum
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YOu could skip a space and use
a centered * to indicate a change, deb.
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mary rosenblum
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When I'm writing short...the
3000 word version..I mostly do that.
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mary rosenblum
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Or you can use a transition
scene, but that's the 8000 word version. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. If you're new here, remember that
you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next
to the red question mark at the top of the screen in order to ask a
question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask and
type your question into the regular send bar if that works better for you.
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mary rosenblum
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After the recluse warns her,
we have also established their relationship and seen her character through
his eyes.
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mary rosenblum
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This is where we create her as
a sympathetic character...through his perception.
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mary rosenblum
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If you'll notice, all this
version is very focused on our MC.
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mary rosenblum
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The more you focus on your MC
and his/her perceptions, thoughts, the shorter the story tends to be.
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mary rosenblum
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When you show us everything
and let us figure things out, it takes many more words.
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mary rosenblum
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That is a major technique for
shortening a story.
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mary rosenblum
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Crawl into your MC's head and
don't come out!
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arfelin
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So in short shorts you don't use
transition scenes?
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mary rosenblum
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You don't have enough words
for lengthy transitions.
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mary rosenblum
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You need to really make the
shift in time or place clear so that only a word or two is needed to cue
the reader.
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mary rosenblum
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You REALLY pay attention to
your words in short shorts.
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martyg
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I see 2 FF books by R. Allen -
FF in a Minute and just FF
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mary rosenblum
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Tast Fiction: Creating Fiction
in Five Minutes is the one I have.
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mary rosenblum
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I gave the ISBN number. That
will tell you which is which.
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mary rosenblum
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It'll be in the transcripts
when I post 'em.
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deb1234
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Can we do one on a 1000 word
limit?
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mary rosenblum
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Sure. I'm not going to take
the whole story all the way through here, but I wanted you to see the
different approach.
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mary rosenblum
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In 8000 words we can watch the
dog show up with the bone, watch Mrs. Farnsby get upset when it digs up her
petunias then faint when she realizes it's a human bone...
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mary rosenblum
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IN the 3000 word version we
watch the bone get hauled onto the police station with our MC
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mary rosenblum
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And he hears about things
later.
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mary rosenblum
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We have less stuff going on...
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martyg
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Amazon didn't recognize the
Title and ISBN together
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mary rosenblum
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you have to search the title,
marty.
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mary rosenblum
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when I post the transcripts,
folks, I'll add a link directly to the page on amazon.com where you can
find the book.
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gerryd429
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Would it be shorter if,
say...the new woman in town was
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gerryd429
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accused of the murder already?
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mary rosenblum
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Bingo, gerry.
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mary rosenblum
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That is the short short.
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mary rosenblum
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It is simply a single scene...
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mary rosenblum
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an intense interaction between
our recluse and the woman.
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mary rosenblum
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And what takes place there is
the recluse letting her know that he can clear her...and will.
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mary rosenblum
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That's the 1500 word version,
but in that version we will know how the town feels about both
characters...
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mary rosenblum
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why he is helping her, and
what he can do.
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mary rosenblum
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Backstory, plot, conflict,
resolution all together.
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mary rosenblum
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Now here, we will of course be
in our MC's POV and we'll get a lot of what we had in our 3000 version in
his thoughts.
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mary rosenblum
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We won't see the dog, we won't
go with him to the cafe or her house.
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mary rosenblum
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Theyll be talking through the
jailhouse window or something like that.
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deb1234
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Has there been any collections
of short shorts or are they only seen in magazines and such?
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mary rosenblum
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Oh there are collections.
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mary rosenblum
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I've got one upstairs, but
it's hiding from me, sigh.
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mermaid1110
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How do you decide between 1st or
3rd voice?
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mary rosenblum
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Depends on what feels right to
you, mermaid.
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mary rosenblum
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If you're going to include a
lot of thought, then first person might work better.
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mary rosenblum
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But if we're going to infer
the story from seeing the characters in action, third is probably better.
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mary rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. If you're new here, remember that
you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next
to the red question mark at the top of the screen in order to ask a
question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask and
type your question into the regular send bar if that works better for you.
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mary rosenblum
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You don't have to use thought
in order to give the reader backstory.
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mary rosenblum
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We did it here, because we
have a story that mostly took place in the past.
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mary rosenblum
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But if you are creating a
short short where the story takes place in the present, you may not include
any thought at all.
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roe
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this one sounds like it can work
equeally well in either 1st or 3rd would 1st work better for the 1500 or
less?
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mary rosenblum
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Very likely, roe.
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mary rosenblum
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If you show actions that tell
a story, you may never get inside any character's head.
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mary rosenblum
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Many short shorts don't have a
Main Character per se
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mary rosenblum
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They are told in cinematic POV
and we watch the characters from a bit of a distance.
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mary rosenblum
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AS if they are onstage.
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mary rosenblum
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They can be in narrative,
where our narrator is telling us what is going on as two characters
interact.
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mary rosenblum
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But if you notice, as we got
shorter, our field of vision got narrower.
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mary rosenblum
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For the novel, we'd play with
the town, a whole lot of interesting characters, lots of back story and a
couple of sub plots.
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mary rosenblum
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For 8000 words, we still have
the town but fewer interesting characters and probably one slight subplot
or none.
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mary rosenblum
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For 3000 words, we know the
town and people through our MC.
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mary rosenblum
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for 1500 words we only really
deal with the two characters.
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gerryd429
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Looks like a short short could
always expand to novel?
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mary rosenblum
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Sure. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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That's the value of playing
with short shorts. Some of em are like seeds. Add a little water and stand
back!
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mermaid1110
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For short stories is ok to tell
the middle of the story to leave the reader wanting more?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, mermaid, as long as you
resolve the conflict that drives this story in this story, you can imply a
larger story that continues...
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mary rosenblum
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but you can't just stop and
say to your reader...stay tuned for the next installment.
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mary rosenblum
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Not unless your long story is
serialized in subsequent issues and only one or two magazines do that
anymore.
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mary rosenblum
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WHat happens a lot when you
are starting out is that you fall in love with your original plot...
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mary rosenblum
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and when you realize that your
story is going to be WAY too long for the market...
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mary rosenblum
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you try to shorten it by
leaving things out, or using less description but you don't change the
plot.
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mary rosenblum
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The way to do it well is to change
the plot.
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mary rosenblum
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I usually have a target length
for a story when I start it.
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mary rosenblum
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If I realize this story is
going to run longer than that, I go back and rethink the plot.
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mary rosenblum
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But at this point, I"m
usually pretty accurate about judging my stories. I'm rarely wrong about
the final length.
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mary rosenblum
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That comes with experience.
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mary rosenblum
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You'll learn how long it takes
you to do a scene...word wise, I mean.
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mystery2me
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If I was doing the short
version, I would open it as the MC
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mystery2me
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reports to the sheriff what he
knows as the woman is in the
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mystery2me
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jail cell behind the sheriff.
Along the lines of that.
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mary rosenblum
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That might work very well,
mystery.
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mary rosenblum
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You could imply a lot of
backstory between them in a brief exchange of words as the sheriff lets her
out.
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ptomainebrain
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so it's a matter of what to
leave in and what to leave out. perhaps letting someone else read the draft
and when they go Huh? at a certain point, you know to add a lil more or
move some things around
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mary rosenblum
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Exactly, ptomaine.
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mary rosenblum
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You'd be amazed at how much
you can leave out, if you give your reader a strong landing point between
jumps.
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t green
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we should have a contest to see
who does it the best in the least amount of words... (evil grin) ... with
this story idea.
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mary rosenblum
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Great idea, t green. :-) We
did this at the six week long writers workshop I attended when I was first
starting out. I won with a three sentence story: beginning, middle, end,
confict. resolution.
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mary rosenblum
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It was a hoot.
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mary rosenblum
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But don't ask me to judge it
until I get my current obligation of THREE book length works all turned in.
Sorry!
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mary rosenblum
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By focusing on the really
important issues that allow the reader to guess what has happened...
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mary rosenblum
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you can leave a lot out.
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mary rosenblum
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But the reason short shorts
are such great practice for fiction in general...
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mary rosenblum
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is that most of us are really
sloppy with our words when we start out. I sure was.
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mary rosenblum
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You can't be sloppy with words
when you're writing short short.
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sailor
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I'd like to see that winning 3
sentence story, Mary. Can you include it in the transcript?
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mary rosenblum
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Gosh, sailor, I don't have a
copy of it after all these years! :-) It was something to do with a man and
his wife and some kind of conflict, and then the sun went nova.
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mary rosenblum
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Resolution of a short...cheap
trick...but when you have three sentences to work with you use cheap
tricks. LOL
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mary rosenblum
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We' weren't trying to write
great fiction in three sentences. :-) We were just having a contest.
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sailor
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You mean writers don't save
everything they've ever written?
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mary rosenblum
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I should, but stuff gets lost.
I've change computer operating systems enough that I don't have electronic
versions of some old stuff.
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mary rosenblum
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I have all my published work,
but lord knows where some of my unfinished drafts are. Somewhere I think.
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mary rosenblum
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I could insulate my house with
stacks of ms pages if I kept everything, lol.
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mary rosenblum
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Come to think of that, it
would make good insulation...
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ptomainebrain
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"She wouldn't shoot
me," Max thought. "I only cheated on her once! She doesn't have
the guts to shoo- BANG"
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mary rosenblum
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There you go, pto!
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mary rosenblum
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That's exactly the kind of
thing you do in short short.
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mary rosenblum
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Look at all that is implied
here: a long time relationship that went bad, his infidelity, his ...
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mary rosenblum
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contempt that she wouldn't
dare shoot him...
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mary rosenblum
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and the fact that he is wrong.
She IS angry and strong enough to shoot him.
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mary rosenblum
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Lots of character and
backstory implication three sentences.
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mary rosenblum
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Certainly a conflict and
resolution. LOL
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mary rosenblum
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Nice job.
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gerryd429
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Another good point...back up
your stuff regularly!
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mary rosenblum
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Oh I do, gerry. Religiously.
But I started and wrote LOTS on an Apple 2C and II GS
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mary rosenblum
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They don't exist any more and
they were a different OS than MAC.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, that was a fun hour.
Talk about thinking on your feet.
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mary rosenblum
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I just may write this story
for EQ, and you're all welcome to use the idea and plot.
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mary rosenblum
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They'll all be plenty
different.
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mystery2me
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Thanks Mary-this helped alot!!!
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mary rosenblum
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I hope so.
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mary rosenblum
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Until you stumble on the magic
of changing your plot, you really struggle with story length...
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mary rosenblum
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and just cutting words usually
harms your story.
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diana
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the old juicer is flowing now!
We gotta do this again!
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mary rosenblum
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Great, diana!
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mary rosenblum
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It was fun for me, too.
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roe
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Mary, quick question, off topic.
How do I figure a word count. I'm entering a contest and they want about
20thousand words
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mary rosenblum
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Twenty thousand or two
thousand, roe?
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mary rosenblum
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I just use my computer count.
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roe
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20 thousand
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mary rosenblum
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I assume you're keeping your
chapter files separately?
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mary rosenblum
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Do a word count on each and
add them. That's how I do novels.
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roe
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so that would be accurate enough
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mary rosenblum
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It's not supposed to be
accurate, but nobody has ever complained to me and that's all I"ve
ever done.
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janp
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This has been a fun exercise
period. Thank you
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arfelin
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Thanks Mary, it was fun! Also
thanks for the advice about the shoulder vulture at tuesday's forum. I
tried it and it really works.
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mary rosenblum
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Good. And arfelin, always
throw rocks at those pesky critters!
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mary rosenblum
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I hate em.
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mary rosenblum
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See you all Sunday, for our
Sunday open chat!
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mary rosenblum
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Have a great weekend!
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mary rosenblum
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I'll post the transcript and a
link to Amazon.com.
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