Time to Write.

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”

― Anton Chekhov

My latest published short story: now published on CafeLit

As you know, I plan to have ten short stories published this year. The Sea Witch is the first of my ten. It’s published on CafeLit today.

Since I first started writing, I fell in love with the art of writing short stories. It is a skill, and many great authors have written short tales. Telling a tale to a word count quickly teaches you to select your words carefully. Every word in your story has to earn its place. You’ll learn how changing one word can create a different image in your reader’s mind.

Just think about the simple word Walk. We all understand the word. It tells us the action. The man is walking down the street. Does it tell us anything else? No, not really. Yet if I was to change the word from Walk to Staggered your mind would suddenly start asking questions. Is the man drunk? Has he just come back from a party? Maybe, if the scene were in a crime novel, you would be wondering if the man has been stabbed or shot.

Now let’s try changing the word to sauntered or minced. Now we are learning more about the man. If we say, he sauntered along the road, we know the man isn’t in a hurry. He’s relaxed as he ambles along slowly. Now let’s see what happens if we say that he minces along the road, pausing to look in shop windows. On catching his reflection, he brushes his hair back. Suddenly, we have created a picture of our character. The word minces means to walk in an affected manner, with short, quick steps and swinging hips.

Writing short stories is more about what you leave the words to say for themselves rather than describing everything in fine detail. Remember the saying, Reading between the lines. Well, that’s exactly what you must trust your reader to do. Don’t tell your readers, as Anton Chekhov tells us, “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”

Please check out my latest published short story The Sea Witch and let me know what you think.

Thank you for following my blog.

Happy Writing.