It's Summer, So Let's Talk Shorts

I've always considered myself more of a novelist than a short story writer, but my current publication record begs to differ. It's not that I don't try to publish my novels, they just take much longer to find a home and/or for me to set aside the time and energy to make a home on my own for them.

So what do I do between putting my novels on the query bus and wistfully waving them goodbye? I write short stories. Yes, I work on editing the several other novels I have at various stages too, but editing a novel takes more time, at least for me, than writing the rough draft, and as I've been harping on for well over a year now, time is something I don't have much of at this particular stage of life.

One acceptance away from crossing into double digits of published shorts, I thought I'd take a little blog time to explore my world of short story writing: Where I started, the process, submitting, and juggling.

Let's start at the start, shall we?

My relationship with short stories began back in third grade with a teacher who picked the shyest kid in the class to ship off to the local college where I had to stand up in front of a room full of other students and tell them a couple sentences about the story I'd written. It was about a dog that got lost. I have no idea what I said about it or if words actually made their way out of my mouth when the microphone ended up in my clammy hands. All I remember is that I was terrified and praying my chaperone parent would not forget me there because the place was huge and crammed with people who were much taller than me.

The next year, I slipped stories to my social studies teacher. She was really nice and didn't ask me to answer questions much in class. The whole talking in public thing was a major issue for me as a kid. She would write notes on the stories and hand them back to me the next day after class. We had a really great non-verbal, written encouragement thing going on. The thoughtful few words she shared and the fact that the teacher from the year before had picked my story above all the others, made me want to keep writing.

Over the next several years, I wrote a few stories. I didn't show them to anyone. Not because I thought they were bad at the time (they are, I kept a few), but because I didn't find the right person to share them with again, someone I felt safe with, who wouldn't go at them with a red pen and tell me they sucked and I should go find something else to do.

It wasn't until my junior year in high school that I took a creative writing class and found another teacher to share my work with. She did go at them with a red pen, but she was encouraging too. There were days I loved her and days I hated her. In between those days, I wrote stories and poems for the student writing journals she put together throughout the year. Seeing my work all typed up and in other people's hands was exhilarating.

With her encouragement, I started working on a short story, that grew into a novella, that eventually, countless drafts, nearly twenty years, and numerous total rewrites later, became my first novel. At this point, I was of the belief that the longer the story, the better. No seriously, my novel draft was 320,000 words. Join me in a headdesk, would you?

After finishing one of those major rewrites, I stumbled across a fanfic site for a TV show I'd loved years before. There, I found a writing community that reminded me of that creative writing class and those teachers that had gently prodded me along. I wrote a fanfic novella. Readers liked it. I decided I'd try writing something short. I hadn't done that since high school and it took me a few drafts to remember how to cram a whole story into a couple thousand words.

The first comment I received on that story was that I'd made the reader cry. And no, not because it was a horrible story, though it may well be, I haven't gone back to read it to find out. Then more comments came in saying similar things. I'd made readers feel the emotions I'd felt when I wove the words together. That was pretty damn awesome. And quick to write, so much more so than the monster novel I'd been working on forever or even the novella I'd slaved over for months. I wanted to do it again.

Then I discovered NaNoWriMo. Novels. In a Month. Holy crap. This could happen? They didn't take years? I had to check this out.

Enter the sparkly distraction chicken. I wrote novels. Four of them. Found a real critique group. Learned what I was writing was not good and how to fix it. Dove into fixing it. Rewrote my first novel yet again, but in 200K less words. Made lots of writer friends all around the world. Yes, I danced the tango with the sparkly chicken of distraction for years. Then a writing prompt jogged my memory about wanting to write a short story. Ooooh yeah. That.

I wrote a short story. It wasn't very good. But I liked it. I pondered the responses from those who didn't like it and those who did, weighing what I liked about the story with the things they suggested needed work. This feedback went into the percolator for a good long while. I had no intention of rewriting that story. It was an exercise in learning to write short again.

When the next prompt grabbed my attention, I was ready. Solitude was born.

Better Late Than Never

I'm pleased to announce that after bouncing around in my submission juggling routine for a year, and a recent rewrite to polish a few details, Late has been accepted for publication in Bards and Sages Quarterly. It is slated to be in the April 2015 issue. So what's it about? An incident with a cart sidetracks a man and his date with true love. Late is a favorite of mine. Well, okay, they all are, the stories that I submit, but this story is a little different. It's a fairy tale with elderly characters. And I don't kill anyone. Amazing, I know. I'm also excited for this one because it will be available in print and haven't had anything in print to add to my physical bookshelf in awhile. Now then, back to juggling.

Published: Space Commander

Though no longer exactly Independence Day, (a fact I wish some firework-happy folks in my neighborhood would recognize) , The First Annual IWM Indie-Pendence Day Anthology: Time Travel! is now available. I'll allow a few fireworks today just for that reason.

This lovely anthology is filled with time travel stories and features Space Commander, a short story I wrote last May. A big thank you to Nick Wilford of Scattergun Scribblings for the prompt from which this story sprang.

May Summary

Wow, May sped right by.

I knew A Story A Day In May would be a challenge thanks to my busy schedule, but it was really a challenge this year. Previously, there were days I could blow off work for an hour or two and get into a story that might be taking longer than my one hour morning writing break allowed. But oh no, not this year. Most mornings I didn't even have that single hour to create thanks to other writing obligations such as the critiques I owed to people and editing the novel others are critiquing, and sometimes, the work phone demanded to be answered and rush jobs required my time instead.

What I did get accomplished:
Sipper for a proposed colonization anthology.
Space Commander for the IWM time travel anthology.
And the following that need titles yet:
Cat
Dare
Treasured
Spell

Then there are the few story starts that didn't quite pan out but might become something later.

So thank you, A Story A Day In May, for helping me birth six stories that have promise and to all of you supportive folks who stopped by to comment on my update posts throughout the month. Also, a big thank you to everyone who offered up prompts on X day during Blogging A to Z in April. Those prompts were a lot of fun to work with! I do want to get to a few more of those as time allows.

What's next for me?

Back to work on:
Editing Sahmara's novel
Editing shorts: Mother, Justice and Mary's Garden and the May stories
Submitting shorts: Giving Chase, Healer, Devolution and Late
Submitting novels: Trust and A Broken Race
Contemplating edits on: Not Another Bard's Tale, Jackpot and Angelic Intentions

May stories update #4

May 22: Ugh.

May 23: Progress on Colonization 2.0

May 24. Yes, a Saturday, but its done!!! At 6,100 words, Sipper (Colonization 2.0) is now complete.

May 25: Sunday was head out to look at entry doors for the house that would totally blow our door budget and then shop online at home for ones that we can afford. I also managed to get Sipper and Space Commander edited and sent off.

May 26: Memorial Day, which means up early for the parade and running the boy around for marching band, but I got some critiquing done before heading out to haul branches and logs at the construction site.

May 27: X marks the spot prompt contemplation day. I got the story mostly ironed out in my head, but after 14 hours straight of work and running errands, I find myself lacking the ability to REfreakingLAX enough to write.

May 28: Treasured is complete at 500 words. Contemplating whether I'm happy with the title or story.

May 29: Really want to get to Braine's ear flap hat prompt, but work and bills and house stuff had my brain scattered all day. Did some editing on Treasured (still teetering on the might be good or shelf scale) and played with tweaking my blog during writing time instead.

May 30: Lost cause

May 31: Saturday. There seem to be a lot of weekends this month. Well, weekends that would seem to lend themselves to some quiet time where I should be able to write. But that doesn't seem to happen. I should stop being even remotely optimistic about this and avoid the guilt of getting anything writing related accomplished.


Current tally: Shorts that worked and might become something good: 6
Shorts that I set aside for later: 4

May stories update #3

May 16: Prompt: Shame. I started out writing a shame story but that didn't last much past the concept stage. Then it became a 700 word story about Ambrose reading a spell and trying to figure out how to not become bacon in the future.

May 17 & 18: Another weekend. Forgive me as I wander off a bit here.

I've been in novel mode straight up until May 1. And beyond. In the midst of everything else going on, I'm editing novel chapters as critiques come in (and I'm behind. Surprise, surprise.). I'm still rather in that mode. I'm supposed to be in short story mode, and even though I pants my way through both lengths, shorts take a very different focus. No matter which angle I headed off in with this story, the idea kept getting too big and too many characters wanted in on the action.

I'd started out with a nugget of an idea. I liked this idea. Then I re-read the theme for the anthology I was asked to attempt to try for and, gah, my idea didn't exactly fit. It was off in sorta kinda territory. But liked it. But it didn't fit. So I changed it up. And nope. So I went a step back to where I'd been originally heading. Nope. Okay fine. I went to back to the story I wanted to tell. And things clicked. Now I just need to find time to finish it. Will it fit? More importantly, will I even get it done by the 20th? We'll see.

Knowing I was percolating Colonization 2.0 and changes to Sahmara's novel, I spent the majority of the weekend working on the new house: digging footings and leveling the entire basement floor on my hand and knees. It was quite a workout, but yay for progress. Geothermal and concrete are going on this week and next week: the framing begins! Exciting stuff.

Exhausted by the end of each day, I indulged in some book crack: Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dream Warrior. I did enjoy this installment in her world, but the ending was disappointing...because it didn't end. The romance plot was resolved but the other half of the plot was left dangling. While I didn't throw the book (Yes, I have really done that.), turning that last page left me annoyed. However, I do love her world so I'm sure we'll make up soon.

May 19: I know how Colonization 2.0 ends. I just can't get time to write it. So frustrating!

May 20: Oh hey, another day happened with a whole paragraph of writing accomplished. On the brighter side, framing on the house starts next week, and thanks to a massive rush of work, I know my bills will be paid.

May 21: Headdesk.

Current tally: Shorts that worked and might become something good: 4
Shorts that I set aside for later: 3
Days I didn't get to write: Too many

May stories update #2

May 7: Umm. Life happened.

May 8: It's 11pm already?  Yawn.

May 9: Prompt: Colonization - 2,100 words (attempting to make up for yesterday) into the 4K story I'm aiming for. Tia wanted a better and exciting life. The colony on Jaboa might be better, but better for whom?

May 10 & 11: Ah the weekend: So full of aspirations... So few things actually accomplished. And none of them writing related. Well, except for reviewing the pile of critiques that came in on my current novel project and realizing how much more work it still needs.

May 12: Back to work on Colonization. After staring the cursor for an hour and forcing out a few lackluster paragraphs, I've come to the conclusion that this story is just not going anywhere. Which is annoying because it started out with promise. Started on a new Colonization story going in a different direction. Got 430 words into that effort so far.

May 13: Hit 2K on Colonization 2.0. Not sure this one is working either, but it's keeping my interest more so than the first attempt. We'll see what happens with it tomorrow.

May 14: Taking a colonization break. Today's prompt (slightly altered): via Nick from X day:  Xerxes and his smoking Xbox and I'm also working in the IWM time travel prompt. Got 900 words in before life took over

May 15: Worked out the end of the Xbox story. Finished at: 2,300


May Current tally: Shorts that worked and might become something good: 3
Shorts that I set aside for later: 3
Days I didn't get to write: 7

A Short Story To Tide You Over: To Exist

For those of you who have made sad faces that I'm not sharing my May stories, I give you one of my old favorites from the dusty back burner file.

To Exist

Overmind’s query interrupted Observer’s study of the humans. “Are they ready for assimilation?”

“Negative.”

Another query flowed into Observer’s neural network. “They show no sign of evolution?”

Through the shimmering glow of the field that hid them from view, Observer watched the room full of humans, milling, crying, and talking with one another. In the midst of embraces, patting of shoulders and the shaking of hands, sat a box which contained the body of a human who had ceased to exist. Beside the box stood a young girl and an older woman locked in a tight embrace. Tears flowed down their faces.

“Our original estimations failed to correctly account for their unsystematic rate of evolution. They have not yet advanced to anything resembling our state.”

Overmind said, “Current projections reveal our total degradation is imminent. We must assimilate new members into our system. Our observations of this solar system must continue.”

Observer became aware of Overmind accessing its visual data. Another query formed. “What is their prime directive?”

“To exist.”

Humans flowed to the woman and child, touching, speaking, and sharing tears.

“They exist by consuming various mixtures of oxygen, hydrogen and carbons. Clarify.”

Observer scanned the thousand years worth of data it had gathered since noticing the humans as a possibility for assimilation. “They seek to continue their existence.”

“They exist and then cease to exist. There is no continuing without evolving. They fail their prime objective.”

“They would disagree.”

The humans left the room one by one, until only the woman and child remained. The woman paused to press her lips to those of the man in the box before taking the child’s hand and following the way the others had gone.

“Clarify.”

“They believe they continue after permanent shut down.”

“Have you gathered evidence of this?” Overmind inquired.

“Negative, yet the humans have held this belief in various forms throughout my entire period of observation.”

“On what do they base this hypothesis?”

“Unknown.”

The field flickered, a once minor error within the system that now occurred with frequency. Observer extended its manipulator arm to adjust the view.

A small crowd gathered around the woman and child now seated at the edge of a hole in the ground. The box, closed and sealed, sat opposite them. A single man stood at the edge of the hole, speaking to the crowd.

“Unproven hypotheses do not yield the desired result. We do not have the time or resources remaining to search out alternative assistance. When our systems fail, we will be discovered,” said Overmind.

Observer had listened to common human theories of what happened after their existence ceased millions of times. The words altered within the variables of geographic location and time period, but the central thread remained the same: there was something beyond this existence.

Overmind accessed Observer’s files. “All evidence suggests these humans will not take the revelation of our presence peacefully. They will destroy our data. It is imperative that our research on the creation and progression of this solar system remain for any that may come after our shut down. The humans must be terminated.”

The man finished speaking to those that had gathered. The child stood and tossed a white flower into the hole. The woman led her away as the crowd dispersed.

“They could be granted more time. Others may come.”

“Sensors have not indicated other contact since we arrived in this solar system. Waiting is futile. We must begin a full download to archive before further system glitches make it impossible. Terminate the humans.”

A machine lowered the box into the hole. Another covered it with dirt and grass.

Overmind vacated Observer’s network. Data streamed through the system, flowing to Overmind’s archives as the all-encompassing download commenced.

The grass surrounding the rows of stones showed no sign of the boxes hidden beneath. Yet, humans came. They spoke to the stones, the grass, and the sky above. They brought flowers, shed tears, shared words and wore forlorn smiles for those who had ceased to be, as if they communed with those gone before them.

Could they see and hear something sensors missed? Had proof been there all along?

Observer’s network hummed as it considered the implications.

Observer’s manipulator arm hovered over the final keystrokes of the termination sequence. Its neural network formulated new hypotheses: Humans did evolve, but only after they ceased to exist. If Humans evolved though belief, Observer could do the same. It knew the words of belief from each and every culture in existence.

It analyzed the gathered data one last time before Overmind’s download filtered through its files and discarded this new hypothesis as a glitch.  

Without any operational threat, the humans would be more inclined to study what they discovered than destroy it, and given time, the humans would advance to a point where Overmind’s data would be of use to them. If the hypothesis proved correct, Overmind could commune with the humans as they did with their own kind that had evolved. The research would continue.

Observer recited the words he’d heard in churches, in grassy fields, beside blazing infernos, alongside holes and trenches, speeches of men behind pulpits, and whispers of men and women and children uttered in the dark.

There was only one way to prove the hypothesis.

The download began to sift through Observer’s recent files. It shut down all but its upload systems.

No longer having a need for power, Observer funneled its entire backup repository into a surge that shattered Overmind’s system along with its own.

Together, they ceased to exist.

May stories update #1

May 2: Prompt - Valley, Lissy & Jarrell - when these three names come together, what happens? Apparently my next attempt at a 500 word story turns into a 1000+ word fable about Jarrell and Lissy doing a challenge to get married in the valley. Will they make it? I don't know. I'm cutting myself off at 1K. I'll make some notes and return to that another day.

May 3 and 4: I'm giving myself a pass on the weekends, but if the story and time to write it pops up, I'm not going to stand in the way.

After working most of Saturday, I had Sunday pegged as a mostly writing day - which is good because I have a lot of edits to catch up on from critiques coming in on my novel. But, alas, running kids around, planting my garden, and house projects took over and I didn't get a damn thing done on the writing front.

May 5: Andrew's prompt: That cat had been a pain in the neck for years but, now, it had literally become a pain in his neck. Annnd... picking the prompt and doing a little brainstorming was as far as life allowed me to get.

May 6: The cat story is complete at 1,070 words. Sorceress Shireen likes cats, and men. Her cats don't share the same affections.

Current tally:
Shorts that worked and might become something good: 2
Shorts that I set aside for later: 1
Days I didn't get to write: 3

Its May!

...and that means is short story month, thanks to A Story A Day In May. I won't be posting stories here because, assuming they don't totally suck, I'll be attempting to publish some of them. However, I will be updating my progress every few days.

I work best from a prompt so thanks to all of you who dropped by on X day to offer up some great ideas. I'll be digging into those throughout the month. I also get daily prompts from the storyaday website and have grabbed a few from other sources yesterday. (Have I mentioned my procrastination problem?) As long as I can make time to write and my brain doesn't turn to mush, I have plenty of idea fodder to work with.

That alone puts me ahead of last year. To make things even slightly more successful this year, I'm attempting to keep my stories short. To date, 1,500 words is really darn short for me. I'm going to a attempt to keep them more in the 500 to 1,000 range, even if that means just getting the bones written so I can add the meat later.

Day 1: Prompt: Fear I went for a 900 word MG (I don't write MG so this was new for me) about girls in a cemetery. One is dared by the others to steal something.

A to Z X

Welcome to the 2014  A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is why I shouldn't be participating. Thank you to David for writing the post that got the voices in my head working against me.

X is a letter that I have to get pretty darn creative to use for today. So we're going roman. 10.

Due to spending the month with you, I've neglected spending time gathering prompts for A Story a Day In May. Today's challenge: gather 10 prompts.

A word, an opening line, a character name, whatever you've got. Help me out by leaving a comment.

A to Z May

Welcome to the 2014  A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is why I shouldn't be participating. Thank you to David for writing the post that got the voices in my head working against me.

May: when I participate in A Story A Day in May. This requires a good deal of planning...or not. I've done it both ways. Neither was totally successful, but I did get some good stories out of both years and have gone one to sell them. A few of them are right over here ----->

I should be spending April gathering ideas for May. Obviously, I'm not. So this is going to be a wing it year. Given that most of my shorts grow from a couple lines of description, a single character or one line of a plot idea, I can probably make this happen as much as I could with planning in this, the year of Jean the Zombie.

If you've tried NaNoWriMo and enjoyed it, give this a try. It's a fun month long challenge without the commitment to one single novel that may or may not pan out after thirty days. And if a novel in a month is too much to take on, how about tackling one story a day? You set the length. Make it 100 words if that suits you. And if the story just isn't working out? Jot some notes about where you'd intended it to go in case you decide to revisit it down the road and try a new one the next day.

Stop by in May and see how my progress going and share your own if you leap into the challenge with me.

Another Short Story Published

Sunset Cruise has been published on the Writing Through Your Divorce Blog. This is a great collection of stories of all sorts from people dealing with all angles of divorce.

Though mine was long ago and relegated to 'things we don't talk about anymore' territory, it was still therapeutic to write this story and share it with others.

May all your relationships be free of shining knights on horseback.

Another short story published

Nothing makes my morning like seeing one of my stories in print. Check out A Little Thing Like Death in Issue 11 of Isotropic Fiction

Bill wants to know why Kate never returned from Cedar Springs Revival Center. What he finds doesn't make the truth any easier to bear.

When bad things turn into something good

Two years ago, in a fit of allegory, I decided to write about my long ago first marriage and subsequent divorce. It wasn't a messy thing in a legal-wise. However, that doesn't mean it wasn't terribly painful to arrive at that point in the relationship or to move forward after the fact.

I wrote a little story about it. The good thing? It just sold.

It was hard to find a market that fit this particular tale. It's a bit off the wall, you might say, but I really wanted to share it. Without the preface of knowing it what it was about, the general reaction was to read it on the surface level. That made it more of a Weird Tale or Fairy Tale. It needed a nudge to read deeper for the story between the words. The angels sang when I spotted, Writing Through Your Divorce. Well that's just perfect isn't it? Turns out, that yes, it is.

Now that's some great therapy.

Look for Sunset Cruise on March 24.

To Be Published: Taking a Breather

It happens that this one weekend I hadn't been stalking my inbox and that's when an acceptance arrives. Maybe this means I should take a break from stalking more often. Easier said that done.

Taking A Breather will be published in an upcoming issue of STUPEFYING STORIES. While I like all of my stories, this one was a favorite so I'm so happy it found a home.

And now it's back to cleaning up the house after a weekend of purging a kid's messy room and putting up the Christmas tree. At least I'll be smiling while cleaning.

Juggling, Folding, and Hauling

I'm happy to say that one of the short stories in my juggling routine has found a home. A Little Thing Like Death will be in an upcoming issue of Isotropic Fiction. In the midst of all the non-writerly stuff taking over my waking hours, it feels good to know that productive things are still happening on that front.

This is what my weekends look like.

I did manage to find a couple hours to pound out some book page crafts after a long day of branch and log hauling last weekend.

Did you know that you can turn a tattered paperback into an ornament?

Outdated financial and internet books can become artwork for your walls.

Getting up two hours early on the weekend and ten minutes here and there throughout the day allowed me to draft seven NaNo preparation emails for my region. They will be appearing here as well in the upcoming weeks if you're interested in joining the November novel writing frenzy. I guess that also proves that I can find time to write as long if I don't sleep much. However, I'm not sure how many days I can do that in a row. This is the first November that I'm seriously doubting my ability to reach 50K in a month AND get everything done that I need to do every day. Time will tell.

Short vs. Long

Short stories or novels? Both, please.

Novels give me the opportunity to sink into a whole new world (even if it's this one), to live life through someone else's eyes and to know everything about them. I get to let the character lose in a world, through obstacles at them, give them subplots and secondary characters, to watch them grow and learn and adapt. Apparently, I get to like them so much that I'm mostly inclined to grant them a happy ending.

Shorts give me the chance to walk a bit more twisted path. I get to focus on one big scene, one character, one big obstacle. I can tell the story in ways I'd not typically use for a novel, experiment, and try new genres or methods without a big time investment. The challenge is to pack a lot of bang into far fewer words, without the sinking into the world, without the getting comfortable with the character, without meandering through the plot idea to wait for it to really get rolling. Shorts really help me focus on the story itself, and that in turn gives me better focus when I'm working on novels.

Writing shorts helped ease me into the idea of writing shorter novels. I'd always been a long involved novel kinda girl until the short story bug bit me. They gave me the freedom to admit that I only had to write the story that needed to be written without having to complicate things with additional subplots and characters. I like to write complicated. I still do if the story needs it. But I don't need to every time. Sometimes a beautiful story is a simple one.

One of these days I'd like to venture into the novella zone. That's one length I've not tried yet. Who knows what I'll learn there?

What about you? Short or long?

In This Corner: The Juggler

My juggling act is in high gear after May's short stories joined in. At least I feel like I'm accomplishing something writing related while the rest of my life spirals into long days of work and a new major time sucker: we may finally be building our dream house.

After six long feeling-like-we're-throwing-money-into-a-black-sucking-pit-of-disappointment, (aka: our land payments and extra property taxes) the stars aligned and we found a buyer for our current house that will let us live in it while we build our new house so we can maintain our home business until the new location is finished. Now the "fun" of meshing our dreams with the available funds is in full swing. While that's all going on behind the scenes--or in front, depending on where you're standing--I'm busy submitting stories.

Two novels are in submission along with eight shorts. At least with multiple balls in the air, when one falls, there's still optimism for the rest. It makes it easier to pick that one up and get it back in the air. It's definitely less painful than hinging all hope on one project at a time.

The Grinder has been great fun, as much as researching markets and sending your babies into the fray can be such a thing. I particularly love the feature that appears immediately after entering a rejection update: Find a new home for this story. It grabs your hand, hands you a tissue, and points you back toward the action. Get back in there!

One of these days I need to update my writing page with the new additions. Until then, here's the list:
The Boy
Justice
A Little Thing Like Death
Devolution
Healer
Late
Sunset Cruise
Taking A Breather

Speaking of which, I have a ball to pick up.

Putting on my writing shorts

After this focus on short story month, I thought I share my process on the difference between pounding out 2K of promising story and 200 words of suck.

There are couple factors at play with each story:

The Idea - The spark, the thought, the lightbulb that illuminates it all. This is the thing that breathes life into the story. Sometimes this is just an idea that pops into my head, a simple line or two of dialogue, an interstesting situation, a quick character sketch. Othertimes a prompt will light my creative fires. I have the most productive ideas from prompts, especially during May, when I attempt to get out my short story urges for the year. Thankfully for A Story A Day In May, prompts are supplied each day by email. Sometimes those caught my interest, some days they didn't. Short story markets will sometimes have a themes or first line prompts. Then there's the file of ideas I jot down when the mood strikes but time doesn't allow for writing.

The Conflict - The thing that makes this all interesting. While a novel can have lots of main characters and conflicts and resolutions, a short usually only has one of each of these. This requires a bit more planning so words aren't wasted and the story stays on track. Yes, novels need that too, but a short can't afford to wander off on subplots and characters can't take their time to find out who they really are. There's no big plot breakthrough in chapter twelve that pulls everything together. Identifying the thing that makes the story tick from the get go is important. If all you've got is an interesting character there's not much to write about.

The Ending - Be it happy, twisted, or killing everyone, we need resolution. I've noticed I'm more inclined to kill people than have things end happily. I'm sure that says something about me, but we'll save that analysis for another time. It's great to have an idea and a conflict, but if you write yourself into a corner or a plot so twisted that the resolution can't be found, the story goes splat.

These are the big three that I have to have a grasp of before I can embark on a short story. At the beginning of last month I seemed to have my thoughts in order. However, as the month progressed, life intruded, thoughts scattered, and I'd get one or two of these things down, but the rest just didn't fall into place. Over the years I've come to know when something is going to (probably) work, be it a novel or a short. Sometimes I have to push through some rough patches but it works out, other times I'm just spinning my wheels and I need to walk away. I wish I could put my finger on that deciding factor, but it's just a gut feeling learned by writing lots of different stories of lots of different lengths.