“ All eyes were on Wall Street, but truth be told, the market crash paled in comparison to the Navarro County drought.”
“The news of Black Tuesday came and went as little more than dry morsels between flapjacks and red-eyed gravy.”
Black Thursday was no different. Margin calls and ticker-talk; it was all a foreign language to the average man of Navarro county. New York, Chicago and any place not adjacent to the dying province could have just as well been another country – another planet. Suicides headlined newspapers across the globe. Although desperate men (and women) chose gas or bullets; poison or tablets to avoid poverty the stories of men leaping from windows sold more papers and it seemed to pacify the masses, at least for a while.
EIGHT MORE TAKE THE PLUNGE.
The headlines went on and on. Tales of a brutal bearish market where stock prices were plummeting and fortunes were being dissolved. The days grew long and the soup lines grew longer…
She would be 66 years old today. Instead, she is frozen in time at 17 and I ….
I sit with what I have left of her – a lot of cherished memories, a handful of photographs, her purse, her wallet, her 45 records and her old scrap book.
This piece for National Short Story Month was written with writers in mind, but readers are welcomed. We’re all one great big happy [most of us anyway] family here. After all writers are readers too.
I did a live presentation some years back titled The Art of the Short Story. In preparing the notes for said exhibition I borrowed a large portion of material from a fellow author. She is a veracious source of information and her published works are impressive. For the presentation I also offered my own sparse works as examples.
Word count matters.
Learn how to use the word count and check it frequently.
The nice thing about writing short stories verses novels/novellas [for me] is you don’t have to fluff up the word count with senseless babbling to make sure you hit the mark. But you do have to keep the word count at/around what your publisher requires; that can be very challenging sometimes. Especially if you get too attached or involved as I mentioned in an earlier post.
Writing short works helps you hone your writing skills.
When every word counts, writers tighten their prose. They eliminate filler words, passive voice, weak writing, or tangential thoughts—pretty much anything that requires extra words. No um’s or uh’s or well’s. No “was walking” when “walked” suffices. No “walked slowly” when “strolled” captures the mood better. No drifting into a daydream that doesn’t advance the plot.
These things slip in when we write novels, but they don’t really belong there, either. And just think how strong your novels will be when you develop these stylistic choices and apply them to your longer works.
The short story can be used to introduce one of your longer works.
Regardless of the theme of the anthology, you can write a companion piece to an existing novel or series. This can be an excellent marketing tool.
For example, say you have a paranormal romance series you’d like to promote, and you have an opportunity to contribute to a horror anthology. You could tailor your horror story so that it’s a prequel or sequel to the first book in your paranormal romance series. You might even choose to weave in a little romance so readers have a better understanding of what to expect in the series. As long as the story meets the requirements for the anthology, you’ll have a great introduction to your longer work placed in front of an already interested audience.
The short story format allows you the opportunity to explore different genres without committing time to compose a longer work.
Instead of expanding your series offering, you might take the opportunity to try something completely different from what you normally write. For example, a regency romance writer might choose to craft a futuristic sci-fi story.
What do you gain from such a departure?
Well, not only do you get to flex your creative muscles, the departure might actually recharge your batteries and give you a fresh perspective on the novel you’re working on. Furthermore, you may just find another genre that you enjoy writing in and a new fan base should you decide to become a multi-genre author.
Short stories are ideal for a genre driven magazine.
Potential acceptance equals potential income and exposure.
There are literally thousands of genre magazines that accept submissions. If you have an agent great. If you don’t that’s okay, you can submit it yourself; that is if they accept direct submissions. Its easy enough to find those answers with a little research.
A short stories work well in creating a series. Think of each new release as an episode.
A series can be done on a weekly or monthly basis. This can be fun without being time consuming.
Short stories allow you to participate in anthologieswith other writers.
psst, I was able to share the spotlight with a few others in Unshod
When you participate in anthologies, you will most likely have to adhere to a set word count, one that is substantially smaller than that of the novels you’re used to writing. While this virtually eliminates the possibility of introducing secondary characters and developing subplots, it does teach economy of phrase.
How to Publish Short Stories
Submit Your Stories to Magazines and Online Magazine-Type Websites. .
Enter Short Story Contests.
Join a Site for Authors to Offer Subscriptions to Readers.
Write/Publish Your Short Stories in Book.
If you have questions drop me a lineand I’ll try to help you.
Door Number Four was possibly one of the funnest short stories I’ve ever written.
It was originally written as a paid assignment but blew through the word count.
They weren’t budging on the number of words they wanted and I could not imagine what more I could cut from the story and make it readable.
We were at a stalemate so the deal was abolished. Oh well Que Será, Será.
I admit I may have become too attached to the story — and too detached from the individual $pecs. So all there was left to do was publish Door Number Four my damn self. This book (like most) has undergone at least one cover change.
I’m not in love with the current cover but I can change it whenever I want. That’s always fun too.
Here’s the intro.
Donald S. Crowley was a CPA by day; a bean counter; a number cruncher and a certified bore. By night he was as stimulating as the hero in his latest read with all the social skills of a brick. To make matters worse he was in love with a door. Not just any door, number four was special. Donald had become enamored with her when he was just a boy and he believed that she called him by name. Now he would risk his life to see her again and to finally know what lay behind Door Number IIII.
I hope you have endeavored to read a short story, or two, this month. And if you are a writer, I hope that you have written at least one short story.
I think that’s all I shall ever from here forward. 
This short story is actually based on a true story. Yes, really!
It is not a biography nor is it considered a historical account.
August Wolf was a real person and he reportedly worked in the lab with the atomic bomb — that was a real thing.
Him being left on the side of the road for dead was true enough.
But the rest – the names and places have been changed to protect the guilty.
I dropped the e in Wolf like that would somehow protect me from his “handlers”.
I named the character Jason Carroll, after my parents, combining their names, but they had nothing to do with the story. I’m not sure I ever told them about the real character I knew named August Wolf.
The Real Janna Hill in 