Writing Short Stories

After all the frivolity yesterday, it's time to get back to business. And the business here is writing. Well, I admit I get distracted easily, so sometimes it's vampires, and occasionally pirates, but on Saturdays, writing is the priority.

Today I want to talk about writing short stories. At the risk of blowing my own horn a little too loud, since December of last year I've had something appear in publication every month. That's five pieces pub'ed, and the longest was my 40k word novella, A Vampire's Deadly Delight. All the other pieces were in the 5 to 10k word range. I don't have some grand underlying strategy; it's just how things worked out. 

Right now seems like a pretty good time to write short stories. In January of 2011, Amazon opened its Kindle Singles store. Since then, they’ve sold more than two million singles*, or shorter stories between 5,000 and 30,000 words. Singles sell for between $0.99 to $4.99, and, as you can see from the numbers, they are selling like crazy. I don’t tell you this to advocate for Amazon or the Kindle, but to explain one of the reasons I think short stories are cool.

IMHO, the key to writing a good short story is to remember your limits. You’ve got 5,000 words, not 500 pages. That makes it essential that you start strong and make every word count. The first sentence or two needs to sell your voice, hint at conflict, and show some heart. You don’t have the luxury of a whole chapter to do that.

As an example, here are the first couple sentences from my short story ”Tangled Dreams”, from the anthology Bites – Ten Tales of Vampires:

I am an unapologetic choir geek. That’s probably not the sexiest thing you can imagine, but it usually doesn’t get me into trouble. Except the one time it did.

Right off you’ve got those three elements – a quirky voice, conflict, and an element of self-deprecation that suggests that this is a person you can care about. One reviewer even included this quote in their review because it made such an impression on them.  You need to start off with a strong hook, because you can’t waste time – or words – gradually acclimating the reader to what’s going on.

Another limit to keep in mind has to do with the scope of the action. I’ve read good short stories that covered long stretches of time, but those were the exceptions. I think it’s more effective to limit your plot to one episode where a spark is lit, it bursts into flame, and then the fire goes out. The main action in “Tangled Dreams” happens over the course of one evening and involves one conflict, and there aren’t a bunch of sub-plots that need to be resolved before everybody can go home. You can (and should) drop hints that there’s more involved, but keeping your focus on one event will make for a really tight piece.

The third limit I wanted to talk about has to do with your characters. You don’t have the space to really develop more than three or four, and if you try, you run the risk of confusing the reader. This goes hand-in-hand with the idea of keeping a tight leash on the action.  A streamlined plot with just a few essential characters will make for a stronger piece. If you’ve got a bigger crowd in your head, you’re going to have to aim your work towards novella-land, or else maybe you need to have a little ‘come-to-Jesus’ moment with your characters and see if they really want to be a novel.

It takes discipline to write a good short story. Every word is important, and you need to start strong, limit the scope of the action, and keep the number of characters to a manageable level. I find it really satisfying, though, to be able to create entire worlds in the space of twenty pages. It takes work, but it’s a whole lot of fun. Of course, this may also have something to do with my short attention span.

;)

If all of this has intrigued you, Bites – Ten Tales of Vampires is available from Amazon. So is Cutlass - Ten Tales of Pirates. You can also check out my story “Temptation’s Touch” in the newly released anthology Spellbound Hearts from Still Moments Publishing. And for those of you with a longer attention span, there’s my novella, A Vampire’s Deadly Delight, available from Amazon and Black Opal Books.

Peace,

Liv

*Amazon statistics from: http://bizmology.hoovers.com/2012/03/22/amazon-finds-an-audience-for-bite-sized-stories-with-kindle-singles/

Monday Morning Post: The Cutlass Edition

Happy release day to me! Er, well, to US, since it was a group effort. I am proud to announce the release of Cutlass - Ten Tales of Pirates, a new anthology that was compiled and edited by the amazing Rayne Hall. It's available on Smashwords and Amazon (so far). Check out the company I'm keeping on this one!

1. KHABALLO by Margo Lerwill
Careened on a cursed island, the old captain and her men are caught between warring navies. 

2. VICTORIA AND THE IRONCLAD by Douglas Kolacki
An escaped slave and a pirate captain race to capture the Confederacy's ultimate weapon.

3. BLIND MAN'S BLUFF by Jonathan Broughton
The trickster's reward is deceit.

4. SKRITCH by John Blackport
Your enemy may be your best ally.

5. DIAMONDS AND BONES by Kris Austen Radcliffe
In space, you may need to deal for the diamonds your bones need.

6. UN HOMME DE COULEUR LIBRE by Liv Rancourt
Fate sets Robert's life on a new course.
(Yeah, I made mine bigger. So? It's my blog.)

7. SCYLLA AND THE PEPPER PIRATES by Rayne Hall
A spunky young woman sets out to rescue her long-lost lover.

8. BROADSIDED by JK Kiegan
Love can take you off course.

9. THE PENSIONER PIRATES OF MARINE PARADE by Jonathan Broughton
Rebel pensioners revolt.

10. THE BOOK OF ADVENTURES by Douglas Kolacki
In the Great Depression, two brothers find two kinds of escape.

For those of you who have been following along with this blog, my short story, Un Homme De Couleur Libre was written from the perspective of a 16 year old boy (check out my post here), and the piece is set in 1810 New Orleans. I'd love for you to read it and let me know if I managed to pull it off - both the perspective and the historical setting. And in the interest of garnering that feedback, I'd like to give away three copies of Cutlass. Leave a comment on this post, and next week I'll announce the winners. 

There's a snippet below to whet your appetite. Thanks so much for reading along!

Peace,

Liv

Excerpt...

February 4, 1810

New Orleans, Louisiana

             They say I am not yet a man. Maybe not in years on earth, but by my own measure, yes. I am old enough to love and I promise I am old enough to bed a woman. I am old enough to lie, and I'm old enough to do what I believe is right, even when it leads me to kill. The last one has aged me faster than any other thing.   
            At first, I was simply running, while trying not to appear rushed. The streets of the French Quarter were busy with people celebrating the start of Carnivale. I moved quickly through the laughing crowds, their gaudy silks and linens splattered by mud from the street and their perfumes barely covering the stench of the open sewers. They were French and Spanish and Creole, along with a few rude Americans, and everywhere there were dark-eyed women on the arms of fair-skinned men. 

            At Canal Street, I passed a pair of lamplighters working together to raise the ladders needed to light the oil-fueled lanterns that hung from iron poles along the street. I had run out in only my breeches, shirt and waistcoat, and while I blended with the rowdy crowds on Decatur street, here my missing coat would raise questions. I hoped to avoid notice because although I was one of the gens de couleur libres, or the free men of color, without the backing of my family, my safety was not guaranteed.

            The French Quarter's gardens and wrought iron balconies were replaced by the raw and unfinished American Quarter. I turned onto Magasine Street, a block away from a stretch of warehouses that covered the ground down to the banks of the Mississippi River. If I could make it to the river, I could perhaps climb aboard a barge heading north towards Destrehan, my father's plantation. I knew I couldn’t stay there, but it was the only idea I had. Before I could take action, the lamplighters turned the corner and began working their way towards me.

            I dropped into the shadow of a spare two-story clapboard building and pressed myself up against the wall, then slowly edged around until I was in the strip of weeds that separated this building from its neighbor. The clatter of horses’ hooves told me another party of men had joined the lamplighters. Angry voices knifed back at me from the street. I recognized my brother's friend Philippe. Someone must had watched me leave the lodging and followed, or else they never would have come this close. I couldn't clearly distinguish their words, but from the ire in Philippe’s voice I guessed that the lamplighters weren't providing him the information he sought. I had a moment of hope that they would pass by.

            A soft growl from behind me destroyed my tenuous sense of relief. I glanced back and saw the glistening eyes of an angry dog. The growl erupted into a staccato burst of barking.

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