Living the Fictional Dream

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of craziness, made up mostly of home improvement projects (specifically, getting everything ready for new carpet to be laid in the nursery and the master bedroom).

With all that home improvement going on, publication of the inaugural issue of 10Flash totally snuck up on me! But, it is live today, and everyone should go check it out. What are you waiting for? Do it now!

K.C. has done a great job compiling an awesome line-up of stories for the first issue based on the theme of a librarian on vacation in a foreign land. If you have time, you should check out all 11 of the stories in this issue (they are all flash — it won’t take you that much time!), but if you don’t have time to read them all, I do want to point out to you “Four Liars” by my writing group mate, Alex, and “The Scorpion-Charmer’s Daughter” by Gay Degani, a regular commenter on this blog.

My story in this issue is called “The Last Ball at Concord House.” When K.C. invited me to submit a story for this issue, I wasn’t sure what tack to take on the librarian theme. I really wanted to write a story about Sarah Kirby, the main character from “The Widow and the Stranger,” as she seemed like just the type of woman this theme was meant to embrace. Howeer, Sarah is a shopkeeper on vacation, not a librarian, so I nixed that idea.

Then my writing group had its monthly prompts contest, and one of the prompts was to write a story about the belle of the ball who had a secret. I got this image of a librarian crashing a high society ball while trying to conceal the fact that she is a mere librarian, and suddenly, I was off a running on “The Last Ball at Concord House.”

Of course, the story needed an element of the fantastic, as well, so I mixed in a little of one of my favorite supernatural elements (the one that gives me the most cold chills), and the story came together (with a little post-first-draft help from my writing group).

If you read tLBaCH, I’d love to know what you think of it. You can leave a comment here on this blog, or you can leave a comment over at 10Flash.

Again, congrats to K.C. for putting together a really great first issue, and congrats to all the contributing authors. I haven’t had time to read all of them yet, but I can’t wait to do so!

In one of the SED stories that I wrote last week, my main character was the reluctant queen of a kingdom that was getting overrun by civil war. She and her daughter’s life were in danger after the king’s death.

For some reason, when I wrote this story, the queen did not have a name. I just referred to her throughout as “the queen” or by various pronouns. I don’t know why… maybe because it was such a short piece — under 1,000 words. Maybe I just hadn’t had enough time to get to know her yet and learn her name?

Then again, I have read some storie where the main character (sometimes stories where none of the characters have names) and I have enjoyed them. The technique lends a certain amount of mystery to the story. Not having a name is a barrier between the reader and the character, and sometimes that barrier can be put to good use.

But, sometimes I’ve read nameless stories and just been irritated by them. So, as with many writing techniques, it probably depends most heavily on the skill of the writer who created the story and character in the first place. What some writers can pull off, others can’t.

Ultimately, this is a choice that I would not make in too many stories. Overuse of the nameless technique would not be a good thing. Also, I think it’s something better limited to shorter stories. Too much “the queen” would get really old — in an 8,000 word story, no way! (Of course, there is an exception to every rule — I could see writing a longer story about some kind of anti-social character and not using a name because he doesn’t attribute one to himself. It would have to be well done and it would have to be a compelling character detail).

If I got back to this SED story, I think I will give the queen a name and move on from there. She has more of a story to tell, and I think she could be a very personable character given a chance (and a name!). But the idea of writing without one on occasion is intriguing.

OK… that title is a little dramatic, LOL! However, I have bid farewell to my chances of being the SED contest champion two years in a row. That honor will go to someone else this year, as I have now missed two days. Well, it’s theoretically possible that the leaders could also miss days, but with three people averaging 100% success so far, I doubt it.

But, I don’t mind. I’ve gotten a few interesting things written so far. A couple that might actually turn into something. And, I still have time to write a few more.

Good luck to all the SEDers out there — and I wish especially fleet pens and keyboards to Stephanie, Sandra, and Donna as they rush for that 100%!

…14 more to go.

I was thinking this SED contest required 14 stories total, then I realized, since we start and end on a Wednesday, it’s actually 15 stories total. Wowzers.

I’m just glad to have one written!

Six members of the group turned in a story for yesterday, which is awesome turn-out, in my opinion. Congrats to all of y’all!

And now I must find an idea for today’s story. There is something pecking at the back of my brain about a superhero ball, but I can’t quite suss out what the plot would be.

The sad thing is that I kept having these little story ideas recently, but I was saving them for the SED contest. But now the ideas all seem to have flown away. I knew I should have made a list! Curses!

Once again, my writing group is challenging itself to write a story every day for two weeks in the month of June. Last year, I got several good stories out of the SED contest, some of which were published. I wrote a lot of dreck, as well, but that always happens with a challenge of this sort. You have to write through the dreck to get to the good stuff. Any any amount of good stories makes the goal worth attempting!

Hopefully, this will be the challenge that I need to help my writing motiviation. I’m not sure I’ll have the same stamina for it that I had last year (I won the 2008 SED contest), but I’m looking forward to trying.

If you don’t see as much of me around here from 6/10 to 6/24, you’ll know that I’m (hopefully) slaving away on my daily story!

Good luck to all the Writer’s Ink members as they dive into this contest tomorrow. I hope we all get lots of good stories out of it!

In other news, if you’re looking for a fun story to read to pass the time, check out “Seaside Sideshow” by writing group mate Stephanie. It’s a unique take on the selkie myth. I tried my hand at a selkie story last year, but I think that hers is better! It’s up at Bewildering Stories.

And, if you’re looking for something to read that’s more informative but less fun (strictly speaking) check out writing group mate Jens’s blog article, “Korean Suicide Culture.” I don’t have any formulated thoughts to share on this yet, but reading about it really made me think.

I didn’t end up actually writing at my writing group’s write-in last night (hmm… how many times can I get a form of the word “write” into one sentence?). But, I’m pleased with the way I spent my two hours.

I dug back into my pool of rejected stories and found new markets to target them to. My writing group makes goals for writing-related tasks that we will hold each other accountable for accomplishing between meetings. My goal for the next meeting was to submit a story. I did one better last night and submitted two. Go me!

Lack of writing (be that because of work, the baby, or just a stellar lack of motivation) is one reason that my publications have tapered off so since January. But, the other reason is that I have not kept on top of my rejections. The best thing to do is get a rejection and send the story right back out again (or, if needed, revise and then submit again, depending of the story). It’s important to keep stories in circulation!

Add these two stories to the two that I submitted at the end of May, and now I have four stories making the rounds again. It’s definitely progress! Perhaps the end of the year will hold a few more publications for me than the beginning has. If one of the four were accepted, I would call it a win.

And, in the meantime, no matter what happens with those four stories, I do have two upcoming publications to look forward to. I will have a story (”The Last Ball at Concord House”) in the first issue of 10Flash later this summer, and one of the later issues of A Thousand Faces this year will feature a superhero short story that I wrote last year (”Dinner for Three” — a story that can loosely be termed a sequel to “Bridge Club”).

Oh, and speaking of superhero fiction, the new issue of A Thousand Faces is available, and it features an amusing flash piece from writing group mate, Jens. It is even set in Fort Worth! Give it a look when you have some time.

Happy writing and submitting, every one!

The other day, I suddenly had the urge to pull my copy of The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew down off my bookshelf. If you’ve never heard of the Peppers, they were the stars of Margaret Sidney’s children’s book series, which was originally published from 1881 to 1916. It took me a year or so of active Ebaying, but I finally managed to get copies of the whole Pepper series.

I remember finding the first Pepper book in my elementary school library and devouring it as a child. I always loved classic children’s stories from the turn of the century. Little Women still tops my favorite books of all time list (as well as being the book I’ve read the most ever), and some of my other childhood favorites included A Little Princess and The Secret Garden.

The great thing about these books is how uplifting they are. They create likable characters that you can whole-heartedly root for as they navigate their way through various imaginative and home-spun situations. Good always wins in the end, the villains are either truly evil or redeemed, the good guys are stalwart and true, and happiness is ultimately attained for those who deserve it.

Part of me has always longed to visit a world in which there was both the time and gumption to think of elaborate theatricals and perform them for one’s friends. A time when a trip to the store was an event to be dressed up for, not an errand to run. A time when occaions were marked with imaginative and homemade gifts, and good-natured frolics and outings were encouraged regularly. A time when sitting around telling each other stories was a favorite way to pass the time.

I suppose some people would think these stories too sweet or that they have too few dimensions. I will admit, they are not adult fair, but as a child, I loved them. And I still appreciate them today. When Jasper and Mr. King invite the whole of the Pepper family to move into the mansion in the city so they can have a better life than the hand-to-mouth existence they eeked out on Mrs. Pepper’s sewing and brother Ben’s wood chopping, it still gives me a little thrill of excitement. They met their hardships and travails with courage and good humor, and in the end, they got everything they ever wanted. It’s the same kind of thrill I get when Sara Crewe from A Little Princess wakes up to find that her cold attic bedroom has become a wonderful fairyland full of food and new clothes.

However, going back and reading these books as an adult does give one another perspective on them. There are some strange points of view in these old stories that were probably prevalent when they were published, but that seem very strange to the modern eye.

For instance, there is a scene at the beginning of The Five Little Peppers Midway in which the youngest Pepper, Phronsie, decides to bake a pie for her sister Polly. She asks Mr. King’s cook for help, and, of course, the cook is thrilled to help her with her project, as Phronsie is the pet of the household. Phronsie reaches out to take the cook’s hand as they walk to the kitchen, but the cook, a black man, is afraid to let her take it because (he says) he is too black to sully a lily like Phronsie.

I must admit, reading that scene made me cringe. If I ever read this to my little girl, I will be tempted to skip right over that scene entirely, and go straight to the baking scene. The fact that someone would feel that another person was worth more than them based on the color of skin — it rubs me the wrong way. And, it also says something about the attitude of Sidney that she would write it this way instead of, perhaps, that he was afraid to take her hand because he would get in trouble for stepping above his station, not because he thought she was that much more wonderful than he. But, the scene is moderately redeemed by the fact that Phronsie does not let the cook get away without holding her hand, because it’s his hand, therefore part of him, and she likes him just the way he is.

There is also a prevalent attitude that it is bad for children to cry. I suspect it was prevalent at the time of publication — or at least very strongly believed in by Sidney. That tempertantrums are things to be avoided is not so strange, but so are tears shed for sadness or other reasons that today would be encouraged as self-expression or being in touch with one’s emotions. If a character in the Pepper books has the need for a good cry, they are always begged not to let the tears go for the sake of their health (it will make you sick!) and so as not to distress their mother, Mr. King, or whatever adult happens to be around.

But, despite some foibles because these books were written over 100 years ago, over all, I still like them. And, even as an adult, every once in a while, I like diving into that simpler time. Staying there all the time would be too much, but an occasional visit to the old fashioned land of the Peppers, the Marches, or Sara Crewe can be quite refreshing.

During my dip, though, I will have to be careful not to follow Sidney’s writing style. She seldom uses the word “said,” instead favoring more descriptive terms, no matter how absurd they seem (e.g., cried, screamed, laughed). And don’t get me started on her overuse of adverbs and words that don’t mean anything — like “just” and “almost.”

And when I’m reading about the Peppers, I find myself wanting to use their pet phrases, such as “I almost know” (i.e., I almost know that Mom will let me adopt this puppy), in every day conversation.

If you hear me utter one of those old fashioned phrases, just smile and nod… and perhaps grant me an invitation to your next amateur theatrical, if you please!

This is a little belated, but last week one of my archived posts from this blog was reprinted over at EDF’s Flash Fiction Blog. It’s called “Excuses, Excuses,” and originally appeared here last July. Head on over and take a look. And, while you’re there, read some of the other recent blog entries. Jordan wrote an interesting one on dialog-only stories, K.C. contributed one about common story ideas, and there are quite a few other interesting reads, as well. This is a very informational and helpful blog if you write fiction — flash or otherwise.

Sorry I’ve been M.I.A. in the blog-o-sphere lately. The craziness keeps increasing. I guess it will be that way until the baby makes her appearance (estimated at the end of August). My husband and I have been/will be booked every weekend between Memorial Day and the end of June! Trips home, attending weddings (3 in June!), helping my sister move (well, he did that last weekend — I supervised and fetched lunch!), and baby showers. It’s all fun and/or important stuff, but leaves little time on the weekends for writing or blogging. Add to that a huge slew of projects at work that have to get done before I go on maternity leave and all the house projects we want to complete before the baby comes (finishing the nursery paint job, new carpet in the nursery, putting together baby furniture), and I’m definitely feeling the pressure.

However, I am looking forward to my writing group’s write-in this week. Those are always fun, and I know I’ll have at least a couple of hours that I can devote only to writing. It will be a nice change of pace from the hectic day-to-day.

I hope everyone else is having a less hectic time than I am, and that you all have ample time to pound away on those works in progress! Happy writing, everyone!

I think writers walk a fine line when they create dialog. You want dialog that sounds like something people would actually say, but you don’t want to get too bogged down in the realism, either.

Shows like My So Called Life that really get into the “realistic” dialog (complete with a full complements of ums and stutters and run-on sentences) get on my nerves before too long. And reading such things instead of just listening to it would be even more irritating. Dialog is such an important part of a story, that if it irritates me, I’m very likely to get thrown out of the fictional dream and not care about fighting my way back in.

I like dialog that is crisp and clear and that portrays important information. I want it to be realistic, but in the best way possible — realistic for someone who’s into public speaking or has had training. Forget “uh” and “um,” and also forget boring dialog that, while we might say it in real life, has no bearing on the actual scene at hand. We don’t have time for that in our fiction today!

Writers have to be careful about information portrayal in dialog, though. Too much is just as much of a faux pas and dialog that is not relevant enough.

I get turned off when I read a conversation between two characters where they tell each other stuff that they would already know. For example:

Joe: When are you coming home tonight, honey?

Jane: Well, I work in a law office, so I have to stay until all the other partners are gone for the night. I probably won’t be home until 9.

If Joe and Jane are close enough that he would call her honey, they are close enough that he would already know she worked in a law office, so Jane would not feel the need to say that. The information was just thrown in so that the reader would get it. If that’s the only reason the information is in the dialog, cut it right out of there. If it’s that necessary to the story, find a way to get it in through narration or naturally in a scene. Don’t shoe-horn it into dialog.

And, now I’m off. A long weekend at the cabin. No internet — I hope I manage to get some writing done. Perhaps I’ll work on dialog! Either way, I expect to enjoy a relaxing weekend, which is probably the most important thing!