In Today’s Journal
* My Quote of the Day
* The Bradbury Challenge Report
* Questions?
* Recommendations
* Of Interest
My Quote of the Day
“Technique transcends genre. In fiction writing, if you master the technique—hooks and cliffhangers; openings and resolutions; dialogue; and depth of description in settings, scenes, and characters—the content will take care of itself.”
The Bradbury Challenge Report
Participating in any challenge is a great way to have fun and grow as a writer.
The requirement is to write at least one short story per week, then let me know the title, word count, and genre per the format below. During the past week, the following writers wrote these new stories:
- Erin Donoho “July 3rd Superman” 2800 contemporary
- Balázs Jámbor “Everyone should have a ghost” 4000 fantasy
- Vanessa V. Kilmer “Ever On” 3099 Adventure
- Christopher Ridge “What Ails Him” dark fiction 3307
- Christopher Ridge “Gas Station Roadkill” horror 1118
- Christopher Ridge “Clean Bill of Health” dark humor 744
- Christopher Ridge “The Recliner” dark comedy 1817
- Christopher Ridge “For Your Own Good” dark comedy 1081
- Christopher Ridge “A Seat at the Table” Shock horror 1202
- KC Riggs “The Bluebird” 2097 Paranormal
- Dave Taylor “The Girl in the Painting ” 895 Paranormal
- Dave Taylor ” The Living Room ” 2,227 Paranormal
- Glynn Young “Aidan” 2269 General
Congratulations to all of these writers. And good on Chris for continuing his Story a Day challenge!
Questions?
Just a reminder, I’m available to answer any questions you might have about writing or publishing.
The questions might be about something you’ve heard that sounds suspect, something you’ve always wondered about or assumed, examples I’ve used in any of my nonfiction writing (books or posts), or anything in between.
I’m also open to suggestions and recommendations regarding new writing challenges, other writing-related blogs, etc.
You can always email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com. I’ll get back to you as soon as I see your email, most often within the hour.
Recommendations
Several times when I’ve drifted off the path as a writer, I’ve reread stories from The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: Finca Vigia Edition to serve as a catalyst or for story ideas. I can’t recommend that book strongly enough.
In fact, I recently ordered another brand new copy of the original 1987 edition because pages are starting to fall out from overuse of the one I’ve read and reread so many times. A later edition is available at Amazon, and several pre-owned copies of both editions are available at eBay.
I often use a particularly striking sentence or short paragraph from a Hemingway novel or short story as a story starter or even as an epigram. Then I write the part of the story he didn’t write as my POV character takes a turn Hemingway’s character didn’t take.
You can find some of my Hemingway-inspired stories at my Stanbrough Writes substack. The recently posted “Big Steve Jensen” is one.
Other include “Someone You will Never Have to Be,” “Keep Calm & Carry On,” the four novels in the Nick Spaulding saga, and bits and pieces of other stories and novels.
I enjoy Hemingway’s somber tone and his clean, clear depth of description. The latter is an invaluable skill no matter what genre(s) you write.
I’m also a student of his “iceberg theory” of fiction writing, in which so much intentionally never makes it to the page but is implied in a way that ensures the reader ‘gets’ it. The guy was an absolute master at manipulating and controlling the reader.
But there are other masters.
For example, multiple times I’ve held up Stephen King’s works (especially The Stand) as examples of mastery in storytelling.
I especially recommend Raymond Chandler’s The Simple Art of Murder and The Notebooks of Raymond Chandler as well as his Collected Stories (and of course, his novels), particularly for his unique ability to turn a phrase and for his excellent use of simile and metaphor.
Like Hemingway’s clear depth of description, the ability to turn a phrase and use simile and metaphor effectively is an invaluable skill no matter what genre(s) you write.
I also recommend
- The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard,
- The Collected Stories Of Eudora Welty,
- Shirley Jackson: Novels and Stories,
- anything, fiction or nonfiction, by Lawrence Block,
- anything, fiction or nonfiction, by Aldous Huxley or George Orwell,
- anything, fiction or nonfiction, by Ray Bradbury, and
- anything by Dorothy Parker, with whom I was completely smitten at an early age (for more on DP, see Dr. Mardy’s Quotes, which I’ve repeated in Of Interest).
And of course there are many other examples of excellence by many other writers. If I’ve omitted your favorite go-to writer for technique and skill at storytelling, email me to let me know.
I haven’t included links to these, but you can find them almost anywhere, including Amazon, eBay, etc.
Happy reading and studying!
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
In case you missed it on Sunday, Dr. Mardy’s Quotes of the Week: Wit A great post and a lot of great comments.
You Do What You Can Do Good post.
Charting Your Course #3: Self-Publish Online (Part 2) This post contains links to three earlier posts in the series. Not fully vetted.