Posts Tagged ‘stories’

The Midnight Gypsy

In Fiction on May 10, 2012 at 2:54 pm

Raindrops falling on water

“She’s a witch.”

“Is not.”

“Is too – and I’ll prove it to you.”

“Well hurry up. I’m soaked.”

Sean and Milo stood at the entrance of the shuttered drug store, the only place on the street sheltered from the pounding rain. The runoff was pooling against Milo’s shoes. Read the rest of this entry »

The Old Bagel Biddy

In Fiction, Writing on May 8, 2012 at 3:39 pm
Im Café

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If there was anything she hated worse than backtalk it was sass, and these little bastards today were full of both, right up to their baby teeth.

The boy kicked his fat little legs against the booster seat.

Pbbfth,” he said.

Nefarious.

“You’re sure you don’t mind, Batia?”

“Goodness, no, dear. You go ahead — we’ll be fine.”

“Thank you so much.”  Mrs. Dierbach leaned down and kissed her son. “Five minutes, I promise.”

“Take your time.”

Batia settled back into her chair and looked the boy over. He was patting his hands on the table, a line of drool marching unchecked down his chin. Read the rest of this entry »

The Mirror Lady

In Fiction, Writing on May 7, 2012 at 5:54 pm

Mirrored Alfama

We were born when I was nine. Or is it that I was born when we were nine? It doesn’t really matter; I picked it up and there we both were.

Mind you, I am not crazy. Neither is she. But my mother used to read to me when I was young, and told me how the characters only lived for as long as I would listen. Read the rest of this entry »

The Swan (and how to end your short story)

In Fiction, Writing on April 26, 2012 at 1:32 pm
Cygnus olor Deutsch: Höckerschwan am Rathausma...

A swan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I stumbled across a story of mine this afternoon, one I wrote a while back, and decided to post it — not just because I like it (it’s about a man who wants to eat a swan, not to spoil it), but because it raised a couple general questions for me when it comes to writing. Read the rest of this entry »

In a perfect world…

In Writing on April 23, 2012 at 1:25 pm

I’ve posted a few writing exercises, but so far no straight up story prompts, so today I thought I would do exactly that!

Line art representation of a Quill

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Imagine a perfect world. No one suffers, no one wants for anything, and no one sees any way in which the world could be improved. Now pretend you’re a writer in this world (if you think writers would even exist) and write the kind of story you think that writer would write. What would the story be about? Does it serve any function?

Get creative and try to keep to a 1000 word limit. When you’re done, comment with your story or a link to it.

Next week, I’ll choose a few and post them (with credits, of course) in a follow-up post!

Avoiding ‘punchlines’

In Writing on April 17, 2012 at 7:22 am

After yesterday’s post, I thought it might be useful today to talk about a writing principle related to that story: the principle of avoiding ‘punchlines.’

What is a ‘punchline’ story?

We’ve all read punchline stories — stories where the whole meaning or effect hinges on a twist at the very end. Punchlines are the basis not only of jokes but also of mystery stories and spy thrillers and many a metaphysical mind-bender. These stories, just like jokes, are better or worse depending on how hard or easy it is to predict their final twist.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Regenerating Man

In Fiction on April 16, 2012 at 6:53 pm

My job gets me up early, when the streets are empty and quiet except for the growls of far-away trucks, the chirps of their reversals, and the shuffling feet and subdued grumbles of the vagrants at the station.

So I am walking now, through this silent, noisy landscape,  and here, with all the others, I see a homeless man sitting on a blanket, a knife in one hand and three fingers missing on the other. Blood is pouring from what’s left of pinky, ring and middle.

Read the rest of this entry »