I sold a story today which should be up very soon at Susan Neely's website. Here is a direct link to the page my story will appear on. Ms. Neely is an architect with some amazing projects under her belt. I've checked out the gallery pictures of her past work and they are really amazing. She decided to dedicate a portion of her page to New Orleans arts and culture and doing a wonderful job helping out local artists by including their work on her site.
Another common error young writers make is telling a story, rather than showing a story. This is probably because many of the short stories they have been exposed to are fairy tales, which have a distant point of view and summary-like narration. They start with phrases like "There once was..." and use direct characterization, like "She was the kindest girl in all the land." When we write, we need to show our stories, using vivid verbs, specific details, and deep point of view. Here's an example of a passage that is told. The action is summarized and the reader feels as if the action is happening far away: It was June of 1943. Eric's older brother had gone away to become a fighter pilot. Eric wanted to be a pilot too, so he got in the family's crop dusting plane and started it up. He flew it out of the barn and crashed it into the old oak tree in the yard. He hit his head. The doctor had to come. His brother came back, injured from the war. The two healed...
It's a great story. Anyone who lives in New Orleans or wants a slice of the sliver by the river should read this.
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