Julie Duffy's Blog, page 182
May 2, 2013
[Writing Prompt] Character Counts
As I pointed out yesterday, story can be all about character.
Sometimes the idea of plot can trip us up (“How do I make it interesting? What should I make *happen*?”). But the truth is, write an interesting character, give them some need, put an obstacle in their way, and you need never worry about ‘plot’.
The Prompt
Think of a fascinating character from your life (past or present). Think about what they wanted on a particular day. Write that story.
Tips
Short stories are about a moment in time, when something changes in a character’s life. What one thing tips the balance for your character today?
The change doesn’t need to be life-shattering. Sometimes small changes in perspective have a huge impact on the rest of someone’s life.
For examples of what I’m talking about think of episodic TV. Not every episode deals with the overall arc of the season. Sometimes it’s just a fun story about a day in the life of one of the characters. Maybe Data is trying to learn to sneeze and discovers some truths about life as an android. Perhaps someone goes on a really bad date and discovers that what he really needs right now is to stop dating for a while and hang out with friends.
May 1, 2013
[Writing Prompt] A Picture’s Worth A Thousand Words
…but sometimes so are a thousand words!
The Prompt
Go to the Flickr Explore page and pick the first photo that catches your eye.
Stare at it for five minutes or so and write a story inspired by it.
Tips
Pick the most visually arresting picture, the one that interests you immediately.
It might not be obvious what the story is going to be.
This will probably make the story better.
Don’t waste any time writing backstory. Think hard then start when something is happening or about to.
Remember that stories are all about character. What does your character want? What is getting in her way?
Remember to post in The Victory Dance when you’ve finished your story today. You’ll get congratulations and inspire everyone else to finish their stories.
(You don’t have to post your story anywhere, just let us know you have written today)
Site Maintenance
Doing a little fiddling around behind the scenes in hopes of fixing the forum problems.
I know, I know, this should have been done last month, but it was working fine for previous users and…excuses, excuses.
Hopefully things will be back up shortly. Go and write a story instead 
April 30, 2013
[Writing Prompt] Let’s Get Started!
Welcome to StoryADay May 2013!!
Well done you, for deciding to take on this challenge. Check out the community and all the support you can find in there. But first, let’s get started!
The Prompt
Write A 100 Word Story (“Drabble”)
I’m starting the challenge with a Drabble because although a 100 word story will probably take longer than you expect, it’s still going to take a manageable amount of time.
Many people who sign up for StoryADay are looking for a creativity boost. Plunging into a 3,000 word story on the first day is a bit intimidating.
Tips
To make a drabble work,
Choose one or two characters
Take one single moment/action/choice and show us how it unfolds
Give us one or two vibrant details in as few words as possible
Show us (hint) how this moment/action/choice is more significant than the characters probably realize in the moment
April 23, 2013
[Writing Prompt] Game-ify
I love stealing inspiration from other sources.
The Prompt
Write A Story Based On A Character or Scenario From A Game
Tips
This could be a scenario from a video game or a board game (what if you WERE Mario — or met him on the road? What if you were Miss Scarlet. Were you framed?)
What if you really were living on a farm, trying to meet all its demands, like Farmville?
What if you were a character in a Sims-like game and gradually started to realize that was the case?
Think of any game you’ve ever played and use it as a jumping-off point for a story.
If you think you might publish the story, be sure not to step on anyone else’s copyright (you could use a different “colored” character from a mystery board game that was definitely not Clue/Cluedo) 
April 21, 2013
Best of the Web for Short Story Writers April 21 2013
I’m all about creativity over here. I try to not to encourage you to obsess about the market and the audience and how to get published. But, when you’ve been writing for a while, it’s a logical next step. I’ve worked in and around publishing since 1998 and know enough to know that epublishing and self-publishing are often the best option for today’s writer. If you want to publish/be published, you need to educate yourself about the realities of the business. Jane’s is extremely knowledgable and rather smart, so I heartily recommend this class.
LINK:http://store.digitalbookworld.com/sel...
The Character Therapist
Written by a licensed therapist, this blog offers wonderful insights into character motivation, specifically aimed at creative writers.
LINK: http://charactertherapist.blogspot.com
April 16, 2013
[Writing Prompt] By The Numbers
This prompt was inspired by a link Dan Blank shared. Apparently there’s weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth in the artistic community about how the rise of data is crushing creativity.
The gist is: storytelling is changing. We’re not writing or consuming stories the same way. What does that mean for creativity?
Personally I think it’s awesome. Some of the best stories I’ve read in recent years eschewed the straight narrative (this happend, then that happened, crisis, climax, resolution, the end). One was written as answers to a police investigation, some have been written as lists, or tweets. A recent best-selling novel is written in second person, as a faux self-help book.
Of course, the straight narrative will always have its place, and it’s certainly a helpful structure on which to hang a story (more on that tomorrow), but it can help us stay out of a rut if we try new things. So:
The Prompt
Write a Story That Uses Numbers To Shape The Structure.
Tips
You might time-stamp each of the ‘scenes’ within the story
You might write snippets of things that happen in different houses in one street, using house numbers to break up the flow. Pull the whole thing together with one theme or by having one character who pops up in each different house for some reason.
You can use weight: the weight of a feather, the weight of a newborn, the weight your main character was at 15, then the weight she is at 30 and what that means. The weight a crane can lift.
Use multiple numbers in your story to tie together each scene (or break them apart).
Have fun!
[Reading Room] The Distance of The Moon by Italo Calvino
This wonderful sci-fi fairy tale will certainly feel familiar to anyone who saw one of the more recent Pixar shorts, La Luna (in fact the director freely credits Calvino with inspiring elements of the film).
It is funny, and wildly imaginative and, perhaps necessarily, told in a very prosaic, almost pedestrian way. You probably have to write in an almost documentary style when you are writing a story as fantastic as this: the premise being that, years and years ago, the moon was so close to the earth that you could climb up to it at certain times of the month.
It is a wonderful example of how to let your creativity fly free, and still end up with a story that talks about essential truths everyone can relate to.
April 14, 2013
The Best Of The Web For Short Story Writers — April 14, 2013
Here are the best of the articles, quotes and links I found this week for short story tellers. Enjoy!
Here’s What Makes Stories So Powerful
Benton Weyi, host of Orastories (a new site dedicated to oral storytelling), writes a passionate call to arms to each of us to value our stories and tell our stories. I defy you to get to the end of this without feeling like grabbing a pen!
The Short Story On Structuring Your Short Story
Larry Brooks, aka The StoryFixer is the host of Storyfix.com and the author of Story Engineering, among other things (a great book that I recommend if you’re trying to structure a novel or longer work). This time he’s writing about short stories. At the beginning of the article I was worried he was going to say we should all be writing stories with some simple four-act structure and I was going to have to lose some respect for him. But of course he doesn’t. My favorite lines from the article?
Which is why short stories are so damn hard to put into a box.
Because the box comes in all sizes, shapes and colors, and can be made from virtually anything.
Which is why I love to write them. How about you?
Jurgen Wolff isn’t talking specifically about short stories here (he’s talking about a movie), but it’s an interesting reflection of good story practices that I found useful.
A Guide To Practical Contentment
Again, not directly about storytelling, but here Leo Babauta is talking about how to live a good life, how to connect to your passions and how to make small changes in your life that lead you towards the bigger ones (writing a little everyday, perhaps?)
Selected Shorts: The Sun and The Moon<
I just loved both of these short stories, one by Italo Calvino that will seem strangely familiar if you saw the Pixar short film “La Luna”, and one by Ray Bradbury about children who have never seen the sun. Sometimes listening to great short stories is so darned inspiring!
Quotes
If you’re not lying awake at night worrying about it, the reader isn’t going to either.
James M. Cain
-quoted in The Paris Review
The Muse visits during the process of creation, not before.”
Roger Ebert
I suppose the more you have to do, the more you learn to organize and concentrate—or else get fragmented into bits. I have learned to use my ‘ten minutes’. I once thought it was not worth sitting down for a time as short as that; now I know differently and, if I have ten minutes, I use them, even if they bring only two lines, and it keeps the book alive.”
Rumer Godden, author
-quoted in The Happiness Project
Finally I am coming to the conclusion that my highest ambition is to be what I already I am.
Thomas Merton
-quoted in The Happiness Project
April 3, 2013
[Writing Prompt] Social Speech
Can you imagine your life without email, Facebook, Twitter, text messages?
Photo by John Frassinet
Can your characters?
If you’re writing contemporary fiction and your characters are still calling and popping round to see each other, you might want to rethink that.
This is something new in life and newer in fiction. How to integrate this stuff into the narrative? It’s an exciting chance to do something new. But “exciting” and “new” can also mean “challenging” and “fraught with clunky first attempts”.
Why not get your first attempts out of the way today?
The Prompt
Write A Story Using A Facebook Timeline
Tips
It doesn’t have to be Facebook, but some electronic form of communication should feature prominently.
Try to have your characters use the e-communication the way you do.
You might want to write the whole story as a series of Facebook conversations (how would you format that?) or texts between different friends (like an update of this phone scene from “Mean Girls”, which must seem hopelessly outdated to today’s teens!)
Streams of status updates and back and forth conversation threads (interspersed with direct messages (“who is ‘Janice Atherton’? And why is she commenting on my photo?!”)
