I decided to write another short story because, to be blunt, I need some fiction sales. I went to my bookshelf and took out a book on American Indian mythology for some story fodder. This time, I didn't intend to cripple my efforts by writing in dialect, or by writing a racy story. You would think that raciness would help, but it hurts. 75% of markets won't take a story with racy content. And I went and made it integral to the plot.
Not this time. I'm going for some drama here, but I also want the weird plot twists you come to expect when reading short stories. I'm definitely approaching this one with more of a business sense than any of my recent shorts. No sex. It's not even in first person.
I'm finding the Native American concepts of totemism and fetishism (not what you think) to be excellent story fodder. I'm not going to focus on any particular tribe--I don't have enough expertise for that. It will be a fictional, unnamed tribe. The hardest thing so far is the names. Do I make up my own names, or attempt to find Native American names? I haven't decided yet, but I'm using made-up names as placeholders.
I definitely do better with short stories if I have some sort of idea to glom off of. It's like I need a writing prompt. Recently, it's been fairy tales and gas prices. I'm also started plenty of stories that went nowhere after writing myself into a corner. That's probably my single biggest problem when it comes to short stories.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Good luck with the new story. {SMILE}
ReplyDeletePrompts are fun, but true prompts have their hazards. That's part of how I ended up with over a dozen WIPs at the moment. {smile}
Not that I mean to complain. With that many, writer's block is not the problem it could be. It's really hard for them all to get stuck at once. {SMILE}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
I'm one of the ones that don't really care for racey content.
ReplyDeletegood luck - it's hard to write something with the intent on pleasing others.
Good luck!
Thanks, guys! I'm trying to write a story I like, first. I have found that if I focus too much on what others might like, I end up hating it.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm also trying to avoid the mistakes I've made recently.
That sounds like a pretty tough balancing act. I hope it goes well. {SMILE}
ReplyDeleteAnne Elizabeth Baldwin
I wrote about 5000 words in order to produce a 2500 word short story. I have the plot, but it zips along a bit too fast. That's typical for me. I usually have to slow things down in a draft or two. Still, I don't expect this story to be over 4000 words.
ReplyDeleteWhile I was polishing, I tried to think of some other cool settings to act as story fodder. I'm thinking ancient Rome.
Good luck with the revising. {Smile}
ReplyDeleteAncient Rome can be fun, tho I'm not quite comfortable with their cruelty. {Smile}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin