Day 23 VCCA: Help from My Readers
Alright you writers out there…what’s your secret?
How, oh how, do you get your short stories past 12 pages? Past 15?
I’ve been blogging about process, I’ve been trudging along (quite happily, actually), and yet…
My characters are stronger and their traits more believable, but I can’t seem to break the 3,000 to 5,000 word range.
Don’t be shy! Share your thoughts, from prompts to authors you love that write long to hair-brained ideas. Even if it borders on witchcraft or suspicion… I’m all ears!
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set the scenes with sights, sounds, odors, etc. make sure the characters are really connected to their environments….
oodood15…..
Drop in on your family in Richmond for some "material"
Keep writing, is how you write more/longer.
I wouldn't even begin to obsess over length. A story is a story. My suggestion….look for some shorter stories that do what you need them to do. If you want longer…write novellas.
delp
How about this… if you fizzle in the middle, take the first sentence of your last strong paragraph as a jumping off place, and go from there.
You may need to put that strong paragraph (the one that drank up all your juice and waterlogged your story) carefully aside in a wish box for use some other place (no good writing ever does go to waste!) However, it may have coopted the answer to the question "and what happened then, Auntie Katey?"
Use, abuse, or refuse this advice as you like… KathyintheWallowas