SO - more secrets today. Where do writers get their ideas for the stories they create?
In Monday's post I told you about my element envelopes. I used four of these envelopes when picking elements for the first two stories in Naked Ladies - Seasons of the Heart. Those envelope labels were: holiday, animal, weather, and situation. But there are more envelopes, and some new ones come into play with stories three and four.
Story three is called, "Unlikely Deliverance." Here's a short blurb: Rebecca works as a teacher's aide, and harbors a terrible secret: her father is serving time in prison. When a student, Jace, discovers - and reveals - her secret, she tries to get the young man suspended from school, only to find that his father's wrath rivals that of her own physically abusive father. To make matters worse, Rebecca's dad gets out on parole. Rebecca wonders: will I ever feel safe again?
So what kind of information is in the other element envelopes? The label on one envelope reads: Relationship. (I plucked out the word 'father' for "Unlikely Deliverance.") In this story, the envelope containing the Situation label contained the phrase: 'physical abuse.' I picked a second phrase from this same envelope to give me more ideas, and drew 'prison.'
And then, creativity takes over. My mind whirrs, and the story begins to come. There are stops and starts as the story unfolds. Times when it stops completely, and refuses to go down the path I initially chose. But eventually, my muse writes the story.
In story four, "The Liar," our protagonist is also a younger woman, in this case, a teen. The blurb: Kendra has a terrible secret: her father is terrorizing her family. Distraught over the hopelessness of her life at home, she strikes out at a popular high school teacher. Her web of lies threatens to destroy that teacher's career. Then, Kendra's home situation escalates. After all her deceit, can she admit her mistakes and find an ally who will help her save the life of her younger brother?
Can you guess the envelopes and the elements that I pulled from them? Obviously, the word 'liar' or 'deceit' was one of the elements I drew.
And again, neither of these stories is in anyway autobiographical. I was not the victim of physical abuse as a child, or as an adult. However, I have been in some scary situations and experienced verbal abuse. Those experiences help to color the story and make the dialogue more realistic.
Stay tuned for more about story development in Naked Ladies next week. Meanwhile, check out the book page on Smashwords, http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/349717.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Monday, August 26, 2013
Inside Scoop - Story Ideas
One of the most frequent questions writers get from readers has to do with ideas. Where do those story starts come from?
I'm going to share secrets today - and let you know what planted the seeds for two of the stories included in my recently published collection, Naked Ladies - Seasons of the Heart. Here's a link to the book, if you haven't seen it yet.
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/349717
The first story in the book is St Paddy's Day Leprechaun," (Cheryl's story). Here's the story's blub, "Cheryl's world is crumbling around her. With a convict for a husband, now she's lost her job, and has no prospects for future work. When her favorite holiday finally rolls around, so does a powerful storm. With no electricity and flood waters rising around her, she feels overwhelmed. Should she let herself, and her car, just wash away to end the misery?"
This story is not biographical, although sometimes I do insert biographical elements into my stories. For this story, I used a random writer's trick to generate an idea. I placed possible story elements on small slips of paper into different envelopes, like holiday, weather, situation, animal. For this story, the holiday slip was 'St. Paddy's Day'; the weather slip was 'rainstorm'; the situation was 'job loss in midlife'; and the animal was 'squirrel.' Somehow Cheryl's story came together from those four elements. It was not plotted beforehand, although it was edited afterward.
The second story in the book is "The New Year's Curse," Shannon's story. Once again, the story idea began with my element envelopes: holiday was 'New Year's Eve'; weather was 'snowy'; situation was ' fear of relationship breakup' and the animal was 'puppy.' The story's blurb reads, "Shannon has had bad luck with boyfriends lately, and her breakups all have one thing in common, the breakups happen on New Year's Eve. This year, she's in love with Justin, and scared. Will she be alone once more come New Year's Day?"
If you're curious about the other eight stories in Naked Ladies - watch for Thursday's post about how I came up with "Unlikely Deliverance" and "The Liar."
I'm going to share secrets today - and let you know what planted the seeds for two of the stories included in my recently published collection, Naked Ladies - Seasons of the Heart. Here's a link to the book, if you haven't seen it yet.
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/349717
The first story in the book is St Paddy's Day Leprechaun," (Cheryl's story). Here's the story's blub, "Cheryl's world is crumbling around her. With a convict for a husband, now she's lost her job, and has no prospects for future work. When her favorite holiday finally rolls around, so does a powerful storm. With no electricity and flood waters rising around her, she feels overwhelmed. Should she let herself, and her car, just wash away to end the misery?"
This story is not biographical, although sometimes I do insert biographical elements into my stories. For this story, I used a random writer's trick to generate an idea. I placed possible story elements on small slips of paper into different envelopes, like holiday, weather, situation, animal. For this story, the holiday slip was 'St. Paddy's Day'; the weather slip was 'rainstorm'; the situation was 'job loss in midlife'; and the animal was 'squirrel.' Somehow Cheryl's story came together from those four elements. It was not plotted beforehand, although it was edited afterward.
The second story in the book is "The New Year's Curse," Shannon's story. Once again, the story idea began with my element envelopes: holiday was 'New Year's Eve'; weather was 'snowy'; situation was ' fear of relationship breakup' and the animal was 'puppy.' The story's blurb reads, "Shannon has had bad luck with boyfriends lately, and her breakups all have one thing in common, the breakups happen on New Year's Eve. This year, she's in love with Justin, and scared. Will she be alone once more come New Year's Day?"
If you're curious about the other eight stories in Naked Ladies - watch for Thursday's post about how I came up with "Unlikely Deliverance" and "The Liar."
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Short Story Collection Published
I'm proud to announce that my first group of short stories has been published. These ten stories are collectively called Naked Ladies - Seasons of the Heart. This collection is available in all digital formats (including Kindle, Sony Reader, pdf and more) at www.smashwords.com . Cost for the collection is only $1.99!
Please check it out! You will find some of the stories I have printed on this blog included in that collection, like "Years Without Sleep."
Other stories that have been featured on this blog will soon appear in my second volume of short stories, Beneath a Wild Sky - Forest Cat and Other Stories. The expected release date for this book, also available at www.smashwords.com, is Sept. 2.
On Smashwords, you have the capability of getting a portion of the book for free before you buy it. That way you can tell if you like my writing style before you pay for the book.
Also, when you purchase Naked Ladies, a short sample is included from Beneath a Wild Sky. That sample is the story, "Forest Cat" which also appeared on this blog.
Stay tuned for more stories, and tell your friends about this blog! Thanks!
Please check it out! You will find some of the stories I have printed on this blog included in that collection, like "Years Without Sleep."
Other stories that have been featured on this blog will soon appear in my second volume of short stories, Beneath a Wild Sky - Forest Cat and Other Stories. The expected release date for this book, also available at www.smashwords.com, is Sept. 2.
On Smashwords, you have the capability of getting a portion of the book for free before you buy it. That way you can tell if you like my writing style before you pay for the book.
Also, when you purchase Naked Ladies, a short sample is included from Beneath a Wild Sky. That sample is the story, "Forest Cat" which also appeared on this blog.
Stay tuned for more stories, and tell your friends about this blog! Thanks!
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