Tag Archives: fiction

Short Stories

Experimenting With Stories

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I’ve found myself experimenting with stories recently, which is a bit surprising since I’ve been writing on and off for most of my life and haven’t typically been too experimental. But lately I’ve concocted three different experiments.

First, I wrote a story in an unusual style. Rather than the narration and dialogue that typify most tales, “Testimony” is a science fiction tale told as a condemned prisoner’s appeal to a planetary governor. More unusual still, due to a nefarious form of espionage technology, the condemned has no memory of events and must rely upon the testimony given by others to construct his defense.

Second, by way of illustrating the writing process, I wrote two stories, revised them, and polished them “as readers watch.” Obviously readers weren’t really watching, but I annotated these works as I developed them, to show my thought processes. The first story, “Zoe,” is one of my recent favorites. I presented it in both first draft with annotations and final draft without annotations. The second story, “The Test,” was presented in three drafts, first, revised, and final, with annotations on the first and revised drafts. Taken together, these two experiments offer a number of insights into the writing process.

Finally, “The Stones on the Shore” was originally written as a flash fiction story, then expanded to a longer short story. This is an interesting creative exercise, because every story has its natural length. You can’t just lengthen a story. It changes in the process. In this case, a new character appeared in the longer version, and the ending differs significantly.

I hope you enjoy all of these experiments. Feel free to let me know what you think.

Image “purple outdoor light turned on” by mahda doglek on Unsplash

Reading, Writing

A Place for Readers and Writers

For the past few months, I’ve been a member of Medium.com and have been posting stories there, some fiction, some nonfiction.  The idea behind Medium is simple. Writers post stories, then readers read them and “clap” for the ones they like. (There’s a little hand icon you can click repeatedly to signal how much you like a story. That’s “clapping.”) Writers get paid based on how well their work is received, measured by story views, time spent reading a story, and claps.

How do writers get paid? Medium could have splashed ads all over the place, but they don’t do that. Instead, they charge a small subscription fee. You can read three stories per month for free, but to really use the service you’ll need to pay $5.00 per month, or $50 per year (which saves you $10 over the monthly rate). Do that and you’ll have access to everything Medium offers. The writers you engage with (by reading and clapping) earn a share of your subscription fee.

For readers, this isn’t a bad deal. What else can you get for $5.00 per month? Not even your morning coffee, or if you’re a coffee-hater like me, your morning tea. It’s really a very small price to pay, especially since there are a wide variety of stories to read, written by a wide variety of writers.

For writers, it’s also a great deal, because you can get paid for your work. Likely you won’t get rich off of it, but I and a number of other writers I know who have ventured into the world of Medium find it insanely easy to make back that investment of $50 per year plus a small profit. Initially I was making about $5 per week. By now, I’m earning nearly $30 per month, and I expect that to slowly rise as I gain more followers and publish more stories.

Of course, you want to publish good stories that people enjoy reading. It also helps if you can be accepted as a writer for a publication. Publications can be created by anyone and run the gamut from one-person shows to major productions like the one managed by the Washington Post. Generally, publications have much wider reach than most individuals can achieve. I’m currently writing for two publications, The Writing Cooperative, which is all about writing and the writing life, and Lit Up, which focuses on short fiction and poetry. I’ve also published material under my own account, mostly nonfiction as well as flash fiction I’ve written for the weekly Indies Unlimited contests.

I’d encourage you to check out Medium and consider joining. If you do, please follow me and read my stories. Here are a few to whet your appetite, but remember, you can only read three a month without joining:

Running Down the Track – a short story from Lit Up

How a Roadrunner Saved my Wife’s Sanity – a true story of parental genius

Moonlight Sonata – a flash fiction SF tale

Baha’i Houses of Worship – the growth of a religion illustrated in architecture

Plotting When you Hate Plotting – advice for writers like me from The Writing Cooperative

Enjoy, and see you there!

Novels, Reading, Writing

Stevie Turner: Addictive Personalities

Frances and Martin Andrews have a serious problem: he’s addicted to pornography, and she’s addicted to spying on him to secure evidence of his transgressions. The lack of trust between them has shattered their marriage, and even counseling doesn’t offer much hope. Martin’s repeated lies render impotent his protestations that he’s changed. He desperately wants her back, but she desperately wants to be free of him.

That’s the set-up. What follows in this fast-paced and relatively short novel spans a few emotionally-charged years in which husband and wife must face their own flaws as well as each other’s. It’s a compelling read about a life-destroying indulgence that has ensnared all too many people, particularly in the Internet age. Turner does a creditable job of portraying the addiction and its effects, although I suspect she’s captured the wife’s trauma better than the husband’s. Frances grows considerably through the story, while Martin’s journey through hell ultimately seems fruitless. I’ll grant that’s one plausible outcome, but I found it disheartening. Maybe that’s the point? I at least would have liked a bit deeper glimpse into Martin’s psyche at the end to understand better how he ends up where he does.

The writing is good enough, although I thought phrases containing the word “porn” occurred a bit too often, and some of the dialogue, particularly with the counselor, seemed a bit stilted. (However, I’ve never been in a counseling session, so maybe that’s how it really is.) I also think the author missed some opportunities to delve deeper into the characters through the action. This is a complex situation that could easily support another fifty pages of development without feeling stretched.

A word of caution: Although this work is neither romance nor erotica, there are a few explicit passages, not excessively graphic but very direct.

The strengths and weaknesses of “Mind Games” had me hemming and hawing over a rating. I’ve settled on 4.5 stars for story and a bit better than 3.5 for the writing, yielding 4 stars overall.

 I recently asked Stevie Turner about the novel and her writing. Here’s what she said:

It looks like you’ve written a number of books. What subjects have you addressed, and where does “Mind Games” fit in?

Yes I have written a number of books over a 5 year period.  I always try to tackle subjects that haven’t been written about too many times before.  I am more interested in writing about relationships between middle-aged couples, as I find their problems and issues more interesting. With young people there is always the sexual chemistry and the bed-hopping which has been covered countless times in many different ways, but what happens to a couple when they age and passion dies away?  I prefer to write of problems that can occur in fifty-somethings, as they are more likely to face this scenario.

Addiction has become a major social issue. Readers might see aspects of their own lives mirrored in your  fiction and wonder if they could help someone who has an addiction. What has your research suggested?

No, it is not possible to change somebody who has an addictive nature. The change and motivation to stop needs to come from the person themselves.  Usually they would have to hit rock bottom before they decide to stop.

Which at one point in Mind Games seems to be where Martin ends up. But did he learn anything through his experience, or as the title suggests, has it indeed all been a game to him?

Martin is the kind of man that will not be told what to do by a woman, as he feels this will emasculate him.  However, he still loves Frances and wants her to return to the marital home.  If there is any chance that this might happen he would be prepared to do and say anything, but just as long as he can remain true to his own beliefs.

What are you working on now?

I am working on a novel-length version of one of my short stories which is in my published book Life: 18 Short Stories about Significant Life Events.  I think it might be ready later this year, because at the moment the words are tumbling out!

What advice to you have for readers or writers?

I would say for a start that unless writers read a lot, then they won’t learn to hone their craft.  It’s no good saying “I don’t get time to read because I’m too busy writing.”  If nobody is reading, then what’s the point of writing?  Also it’s best to have another source of income rather than rely on book royalties!  Beaver away and don’t give up writing just because somebody thinks your book sucks; sooner or later somebody will like it, it’s all a matter of opinion.

Where can readers find you? (You can just give me the links. I’ll format them for you.)