Early Resolutions and writing short stories

cj Sez: First: Congratulations to the international organization, Sisters in Crime, for their well-deserved Raven Award. Sah – lute! (I am a member, woo hoo!)

I like to think of myself as still a member of the Mobile Public Library’s “Classics Revisited” book group even though I am no longer able to attend the gatherings (time/date conflict).  Because I think of myself as being on hiatus, I’m planning to challenge myself to complete their 2016 reading list as one of my New Year's resolutions. So here’s six months of my to-do list:    

January- The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
February- The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
March- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
April- The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (12 short stories in all.)
May- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
June- Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe

The book I’m most fascinated by at this point is The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes. Not only because it’s a classic, but also because it’s a collection of short stories. For me, a true short story is “the” most difficult to write. I have, in a How-To-Write file, a copy of Anne Lamott’s ABCDE formula for writing short stories (Action, Background, Conflict, Development, and Ending).

Action — Start with something happening to draw the reader into the story. 
Background — Provide context for readers to understand how the characters came to the current situation
Conflict — The characters must want something they don’t have and work to achieve it (sometimes against each other)
Development — Makes up 70-80% of the story describing the characters’ struggle to get what they want. Each time it appears they have the goal within reach, give them something more difficult to overcome until they reach the climax 
Ending — What happens after they reach their goal. In a romance, the hero and heroine realize their “happily-ever-after”. In a mystery or thriller, all the loose ends are tied up. In a literary story, the ending is often ambiguous

So there you have it, laid out in black and white…the formula for writing short stories. She makes it look easy, doesn’t she? So did Nic Wallenda when he walked a tightrope across Niagara Falls.

I also have a tiny, silver empty picture frame to help me keep my focus. In her book, Bird by Bird,* Lamott describes how she has a one-inch picture frame on her desk. The little picture frame reminds her to focus on just a small piece of the whole story. She says when a writer starts with a small focus and then gradually widens it, the story will come together more easily. (cj Sez: I keep trying.)

Crappy first drafts shouldn’t stop you from finishing your story. I hope you keep working at it. You do, don’t you?

Okay, you-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

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Choosing Carter  -- Kindle  /  Nook  /  Kobo   

Deadly Star --  Kindle  / Nook  / Kobo 

PS:  The stories in CHOOSING CARTER and DEADLY STAR could have been gleaned from today’s headlines, but as Oscar Wilde said:

“The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.” 

― Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest 

*Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, by Anne Lamott

2015 Writers' Resolutions

cj Sez:  Here is an offering of Writer’s Resolutions for 2015. Pick and choose as you like, but I think they’re all do-able.

Anne Lamott, in her national best-seller how-to book Bird by Bird, Some Instructions on Writing and Life wrote:

"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy.  Just take it bird by bird.'"

That’s some of the best advice ever for writers . . . take it one word at a time, one paragraph at a time, one chapter at a time, until you’ve (surprise!) reached the end.

You won’t always feel like writing, not every day, and some days, what appears on the page will look like pure crap to you. The thing to remember is, you should expect that your first effort is ALWAYS a crappy draft. The goal is to write down the nuggets of your story idea. On blank paper or on a blank computer screen. Doesn’t make any difference if the spelling is correct, or the grammar, or the format. You can fix all that later.

So many people I know have an idea for a story. They read a book and say, “I could do that. If I had the time.”

If you really, really (notice there are two “really’s” here) want to write, You. Will. Make. Time. Aren’t a morning person? Write at night. Too pooped at night? Write before the rest of your family gets up. The important thing is to make a habit of writing: same time every day. If you’re also working a full-time job, no problem. I always found that when I was super busy at work, I was more efficient with my time at home.

Do your story research one day and write the next. If you try to integrate the two, you’ll surely find yourself down an interesting but time-consuming rabbit hole and having not written one word of your novel. That also means No Facebook, No eMail, and No Twitter. They have No Place in your writing time. They’re for personal time or marketing your book.

Writing a novel takes dedication and discipline. Think of it as a commitment, a job (or another job) that you go to every day. Set up a place and establish an hour or two or more for just for that purpose. Let your family know you’re not to be interrupted when you’re at work . . . just as it would be if you worked at a job away from the house. Set a realistic daily goal for your writing. Maybe it’s five pages or a chapter or “x” number of words a day. Whatever it is that you know you can accomplish if you stay disciplined. The result will be that you can also set a deadline for completion, that exciting ultimate goal: The End. And the novel won’t linger on for years and years (as I have been known to do).

Just to make sure your writing is not all work and no play, when you achieve one of your interim goals, reward yourself. Take a break. Take a walk in the park, a trip to a coffee shop, a visit to a library or book store. Take time to feel good about those little successes and re-energize.

 

Okay, enough preaching to the choir, but let me know what you think. You-all guys keep on keeping on in this new year of 2015, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

Note: The photo is by Jeff D. Johnston. What looks like a snow-covered shoreline is really the pale, warm sands of Dauphin Island, AL.