Product Description Peter Marsh, an academic philosopher, weighs modern life in a conversation with his friend, David Emerson, a businessman. Brought together after long separation by the brutal murder of Mary, Peter s wife, a time of devastating loss and crisis, their friendship inspires a dark night of the soul, during which Peter’s meditations range over several hundred years of philosophy, politics, religion, social change, the dilemmas of existence, evoking a vision of the complexities of the 21st Century, the United Nations, and global governance.
Most of us will never be as talented as say Edgar Allen Poe, but that doesn’t mean that you are incapable of becoming a skilled writer of short stories. Writing short stories is a great way to express your thoughts, dreams and creativity on paper. And the best part is that you are writing for yourself and no one else. You can feel free to completely botch things up and no one will be there to judge you for it. If you’re completely new to writing, starting your story or choosing a focus can be incredibly difficult. Check out my tips and suggestions below.
First come up with an idea. It’s much easier to start out with a plan than to just write out of nowhere. If you’re struggling for ideas, think about interesting people you’ve met in your lifetime or strange dreams you’ve had in the past. Brainstorm as many ideas as you can and then think of ways that you can incorporate one of them into a narrative. Once you’ve come up with a topic, you should then structure your short story. Create a very basic outline of the theme. It can be anywhere from a few lines to a whole page. It’s best to start the story out with a specific situation in mind. Create a problem or dilemma that must be resolved by the protagonist of the story. Then present the problems that can or do occur as a result. And finally end with a conclusion or solution to the initial problem. Next you should define the time span of your story. Because you are forming a short story, it can be rather limiting. In general, covering a short period of time will make it easier to convey your overall message. It can be a short moment in the protagonists life, an hour or a whole day. It just depends on how descriptive you want to be. Now choose a setting for your story. Try to avoid cliché settings like cemeteries for horror stories. You can have a very dynamic and frightening horror story that doesn’t take place in a cemetery. Choosing a normal setting that readers are familiar with will be much more appealing to their senses. Choose your characters. In general, around three or less characters is ideal for a short story. Anything more will be too complicated to describe in detail. Begin writing. You should have a rough idea of your plot already on paper. Its best to begin your story with a eye-catching statement and some vivid imagery. This will draw reader’s attention in. As you continue to add to your story, avoid moving too quickly, but also avoid moving to slowly. You shouldn’t spend several valuable pages describing a vintage bird cage or a strand of hair. You are pressed for space, so every word and every sentence should be vital to the plot. You want the and make sure that there is a clear beginning, middle and end. This will help with the writing process. - Kasan Groupe
Whether you’re working on a narrative or instructional manuscript, self-editing skills are important to your success as a writer. However, many writers don’t know where to start when it comes to looking at their own writing objectively. They can easily skim through for grammar and punctuation errors, but when it comes to the effectiveness of the content and images they create on the page, their own perceptions can be very different from what a reader reads.
Every writer needs an editor, but all writers can use the following ten self-editing questions to think critically and objectively about their own work.
1. Are your chapter titles effective and clear? For instructional works, they should tell readers what’s coming up in the chapter. For creative works, chapter titles can be more creative in their purpose. Still, look at them all to determine how they work together and whether or not they help establish the theme for your narrative.
2. Do your opening sentences hook your readers? This is critical for both narrative and instructional works—grab your readers right away and don’t let them go.
3. Do your introduction paragraphs effectively introduce the content contained in that chapter? For creative works, the first paragraph should set the tone for what’s coming.
4. Are your subheads effective and clear? This obviously applies primarily to how-to nonfiction and instructional works, but creative writers should look at what each chapter title reveals about the chapter it introduces.
5. Do your chapter titles and/or subheads collectively work together to reinforce the theme and goals of the book as a whole?
6. Where do you need more subheads to make the information more manageable for your readers? Again, subheads are primarily for instructional works, but creative writers should look at how their narrative flows and scenes change in each chapter to find where readers may potentially feel lost.
7. Are the examples you use effective in illustrating your points, and reinforcing the theme? For creative writers, does each scene move the narrative forward?
8. Are your main points clear throughout your chapters? For creative writers, is your theme and narrative line clear throughout each chapter?
9. Is the information, or scenes, within each chapter presented to the reader in a logical way?
10. Does each chapter close in such a way that leaves your readers anxious for what comes next? In other words, don’t let them put your book down for long!
Just like every writer needs an editor, every writer needs to learn how to think about their own work objectively—they need to see their own words as a reader will see them. This can be challenging, but it’s definitely not impossible. When you use these ten self-editing questions, you’ll be able to better see the challenges and inconsistencies in your own writing, and your writing project—whether it’s the great American novel or the next bestselling how-to book—will be much better as a result.
I want to write this story where a woman who was once a ‘nightwalker’…in other words, serviced other men, but changed. However, her family never forgave her and she spent many Christmases without them. One year she is determined to resolve their problems and have a cozy Christmas again. I wanted to contrast her old memories of Christmas with the present narrative in the books through two or three flashbacks–is that too many? Can flashbacks ruin a story? I also want to tell about her fall into prostituion without making it a long story. How can I work it into a narrative? This is how I’m working my flashbacks in now, BTW: She is drifting in and out of sleep on a cold December night, and relives various memories of the happy Christmases. Is this too chintzy? - BudgieTweet
