Monthly Archives: April 2012

The Wind Howled

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Outtakes 36

The Wind Howled

My father spent time in Amarillo during his early military training. Learning he would again be stationed here did not rank high on his bases of choice list. He remembered the wind, the dust, the heat, and the bitter cold, and he was not anxious to brave the elements a second time. Everything I’d been told about Amarillo’s climate is true. It can be sunny and cloudless, and in a matter of hours, the temperature drops and a freezing rain falls.

Weather plays an important role in our lives. Folks spend their summers in the north but winter in Arizona or Florida. We plan vacation time around the seasons. For those of us in the Panhandle, commitments are often tempered with “weather permitting.” We use Daylight Savings Time to prolong warm, summer days so that we can enjoy the outdoors. Don’t you just love those fall foliage tours?

The weather has its place in our writing. “The sky wept as the mourners gathered around the grave,” enhances the somber setting. “Bright late spring sunlight filtered through the stained glass windows. The dance of colored lights clashed with hushed strains of the funeral dirge,” provides a contrast of the weather and the occasion. Howling winds often signal something frightening.  Falling snow contrasts the warmth of a house or the desperation of the poor.

Are you looking for an antagonist for your story? Try weather. Did you see the movie The Day After Tomorrow? Dennis Quaid played a researcher who predicted an ice age in the future. Unfortunately, the future was now. With little time to prepare, the inhabitants of the library struggled to survive the deadly cold.  As a writer, could you burn books to keep warm? Would you think to line your clothes with newspaper or pages from books to add insulation? Could you brave the elements to search a marooned ship for food and medicine? The non-human antagonist threw every imaginable curve at the survivors and I believed it.

A good writer uses every means at his disposal to craft the story. Since the weather is a primary topic of everyday conversation, why not employ it to enhance and define your story. Imagine the difference rain, snow, sleet, and the dead of night could make in your current work. Enjoy.

Cait Collins

Short Fiction

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Short Fiction

Short Fiction transcends all other genre types. They are simply stories that are shorter in length than a novel yet contain a logical beginning, middle and end.

Short fiction, also called “Short Stories,” can be much more challenging to write as they often focus on a specific episode rather than a detailed life history of the characters.

Some common subgenres of Short fiction include,

55 Fiction is a subgenre of stories that must be written in exactly 55 words. Steve Moss originated the concept in 1987.

Drabble refers to stories that are precisely one hundred words long. Actual stories were first published in several British collections, beginning with The Drabble Project in 1988, edited by Rob Meades and David Wake.

Flash fiction has a loose definition. Most publications regard it as stories from about 150 to 1000 words in length, though some will extend the limit to 1200 (rarely 1500) words.

Microfiction refers to stories under one hundred words in length.

Pinhead stories, also known as ‘nanofiction’ is an informal yet widespread designation for stories under fifty words in length.

Six Word stories are exactly that. For example, Ernest Hemingway is said to have written: “For sale, baby shoes, never used.”

Twitterfic is one of the newest subgenres. Each story must fit within one Twitter post (or ‘tweet’) of fewer than 140 characters.

Any or all of these subgenres of short fiction writing are excellent ways to begin your writing journey. They are also great excersises for dissolving that writers block.

Rory C. Keel

In Search of Meaningful Critiques

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In Search of Meaningful Critiques

By Natalie Bright

The creative writing instructor provided numerous reasons for joining a critique group and I rejected the idea at once. How could I possibly find a small group of writers attempting similar goals plus a willingness to meet at the same time and place for the rest of our lives?

Let us imagine we find such an assembly.  The unattainable involves leaving your feelings at the door and listening with an open mind as complete strangers criticize your best efforts. In return, you must provide positive comments and insightful suggestions for their work.

The final deal breaker was time. Whose real world itinerary allows meetings on an already unyielding schedule? I discovered so many reasons why NOT to find a writing group.

Based on the form rejection letters I’d received, I soon realized a second opinion might be more than helpful.

I turned to a son who listened intently to my ramblings. One day, he responded to my request of “listen to this” with, “That’s okay, Mom. I’d rather not.”

Not to be discouraged, I searched my heart and contemplated my dilemma carefully. I needed someone who believed in me, someone who was not afraid to bestow the gut wrenching truth.

Behold, there he sat, relaxing comfortably in his easy chair surfing through 210 channels of mind-numbing bliss. I approached my darling husband.

He agreed to help and seemed pleased that I included him in my newfound passion. Thrilled at the possibility of sharing a common interest besides kids, I envisioned lengthy conversations into the night, deliberating words and phrases.

I recognized a pattern appearing in his critiques. He started with “Promise you won’t get mad,” and ended “You should write a Western.” The critique itself consisted of one to two word comments, such as “needs research,” “no emotion,” and my personal favorite, “cornball.”

A critique group of strangers was the only option left.

Through a local writer’s organization, I found a few critique partners, who knew of a few more. We came together preparing to pour our heart and soul onto written pages with hopes of receiving sparks of inspiration — not only to learn ways to improve our work, but starved for any words of praise. We had to know if there were any good parts.

If you have not found someone to critique your work, keep searching. In case you are wondering, my husband continues to be the first line of critique, only because once in a while he surprises me with a unique, very male perspective so amazing and so opposite of mine.

More importantly, I have learned if someone responds to your story with “cornball”, it’s probably true.

Natalie Bright