In Today’s Journal
* Echoes of Chandler Contest
* What Makes a Short Story
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Echoes of Chandler Contest
This thing is still wide open. I’ve received only seven entries thus far, and those are from only three writers.
Around 200 folks subscribe to TNDJ, and I assume most of you are fiction writers.
Don’t prejudge your work and assume it isn’t “good enough.” The writer who won first prize in the Echoes of Hemingway contest was shocked that I selected her work above all others, but it was absolutely excellent. Just sayin’.
Believe in yourself and your ability to tell a story. Then write it and send it. That really is all you have to do.
Unlike last time, I’ll start reading the current entries today. Of course, I can’t announce the results until August 3 (the contest closes on August 2) but I’m really looking forward to reading the stories I’ve received thus far.
I think some writers were intimidated by the Echoes of Chandler title I slapped on this thing. Want a leg-up to the saddle? Here you go:
You don’t have to write like Raymond Chandler or in his “style.” Even the genre is wide open.
Successful stories for this contest will grab my attention with the hook and hold it with the opening. Then I’ll be pulled into and kept in the story with the setting description, and with a good conflict and resolution.
There y’go. Get hot. Only a few days left.
What Makes a Short Story
There are only four elements to any story of any length: Characters, Setting, Conflict, and Resolution. If those elements are included, you’ve written a story. (If you omit resolution, you’ve written a vignette or “slice of life.”)
There are only a few craft elements—you might consider them spice—that dress up your story and make readers want to find more of your work: the hook, the opening, and description.
- The Hook entices the reader to read the opening.
- The Opening, through the introduction of the character(s) and the initial setting/scene pulls the reader into the story, and
- Description of the character and setting keeps the reader in the story and compels him to continue reading.
Back to the story elements for a moment:
- It’s impossible to write a story without Characters, so characters are a given.
- It’s also impossible to write a story without a Setting, though in novice writers much of the setting description never makes the transition from what they’re seeing in their mind onto the page.
- The Conflict is often introduced in the hook, and if not it’s almost always introduced in the opening.
- And eventually the conflict leads to Resolution. The resolution almost always occurs immediately after the climactic scene.
Note: Cliffhanger/hook combinations are useful even in short stories but are not required.
Some short story writers include a cliffhanger/hook combo at the end of the opening and the beginning of the rest of the story, often without realizing it.
When they do, the cliffhanger is an intriguing “tease” that forces the reader to want to know what happens next, and the ensuing hook, like the hook in the opening, entices the reader to continue.
Hope this helps. I’m always open to questions re writing.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
Pulphouse Fiction Magazine Subscription Drive 2025
How Substack Helped Me Publish My Novel at 55 I didn’t vet this.
Emotional Awareness Is Your Most Powerful Writing Tool Good ground-level training. Read and learn with your critical mind, create with your creative subconscious.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………… 590
Writing of Blackwell Ops 47: Sam Granger | Special Duty
Day 1…… 3250 words. To date…… 3250
Fiction for July..………………………. 5840
Fiction for 2025………………………. 526647
Nonfiction for July…………………….. 16540
Nonfiction for 2025…………………… 168170
2025 consumable words…………….. 687203
2025 Novels to Date…………………….. 13
2025 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2025 Short Stories to Date……………… 31
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………….. 117
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 301
Short story collections……………………. 29