Ke's Tales Short Story Ideas

[Garr123]

Re: Ke's Tales Short Story Ideas

just FYI it was an anthology of like 16 stories, and like 200 people got rejected including someone who won a Bram Stoker award.

it was admittedly a minor league publisher, and I still think the story is mediocre.

BUT HOW DOES IT FEEL UNFF UNFFFF *slathers self in modest sum of money received for meh story*

it didn't hurt that the editor was probably the nicest and most polite man I've ever had the pleasure of corresponding with.

[162]

What Garr already said.

And while it's not bad to take note of idea fragments for stories you want to write in the future, it doesn't seem to me that you're committing to any one of these. Just coming up with an idea, patting yourself on the back, then moving on without seriously attempting to flesh it out. It's like when someone makes a demo for a RPGM game, releases it, basks in the feedback and then never makes the goddamn game. Commit to actually fleshing out one of these into an ACTUAL short story and then post it if you really want something that can be criticized. Because criticizing IDEAS for short story ideas is a bit silly.

Look, the main reason I write these ideas out (besides getting some imput, if possible) is that....well....I like writing them.

I dunno, whenever I read the back section of a Petshop of Horrors volume, I like to read those little story tidbits in the back.

But yes, I'm trying to focus on a single story...but I just get so excited about another story and well....

it's a girl?

...

is she hot

....You must be kidding me! "Bohemian/Hippie Queen"?! "The female presence of the pavilion"?! (Okay, granted, "presence" is probably spelled wrong.) How can you not know?!

....As for me being hot....Well...I'm not Carmen Electra......but I'm not totally ugly....

No, I doubt I have. I don't really know how to give gentle criticism, and when it comes to debating I'm usually pretty assured the person isn't going to change their mind and am basically just trying to dissuade anyone else that might have agreed with them if they hadn't been challenged.

Everyone gets kind criticism from their friends or family, and I don't think it does much good. The first short story I sent out got rejected, and the editor basically told me it sucked a big bag of dicks--he said it floridly and politely, but it was harsh.

Also, it made me really rethink my style and I spent a year basically reading and rereading books I thought had fantastic prose and trying to understand WHY I thought that. The second story I finished got a "It's good, but not good enough" response. The third got accepted, despite being a first draft, and the only changes I had to make were petty quibbles me and the editor had over phrasing or use of punctuation.

Ah, criticism can be a difficult thing. I suppose one could adopt a Simon Cowell-esque "that sucked more than both verions of The Thomas Crown Affair combined" attitude. But do expect some backlash from people who can't handle criticism.

In a Drama class I took, we had to learn how to criticize in a "sandwitch style." Basically, it follows a comilment, improvment, compilment style. Yes, this method was okay, but I think it's okay to be a little bit more harsher (but that's just me).

Hell, do whatever turns you on. That's what I say.

Yes, I also agree that family and friends don't make the best editors, due to the fact that they don't want to hurt your feelings. That's why I come here.

Garr's mostly right. Even if it's just a "first draft" as you say, it's incredibly lacking in most of the ways he mentioned. "Show, Don't Tell" is the one that's hardest to convey in a critical analysis without completely rewriting your work, and I struggle with it every time I sit down to write (which isn't often enough anymore D=), so for a first draft, don't concentrate on "show don't tell." Concentrate on getting the ideas down, however bad and scattered they are. First drafts (if done the way school means you to do them) aren't meant to be anything near a finished product, so you should worry less about having something that works and gels and does everything right instead of just getting the ideas down, making special note of specific things that need to be conveyed and any time you come up with a good line or bit of dialogue during the first draft, all's the better to incorporate it into your revisions and eventually, the final draft.

The one I might not agree with Garr on is "Again, thanks for just telling me and not letting me glean that from the writing." Certainly, if you're writing an adult novel this is excellent satiric advice, and another one I hate because I never know when enough is enough or when it's too much, and I always think I haven't spelled it out enough by the end of the day and that sucks. But what I gather from your writing and from your general attitude on these stories is that they would be focused on a young adult / teen audience, where subtle storytelling is still welcome, but not nearly as mandatory. So... don't discount that bit of his advice, however ill-conceived he was about it, but think about your audience and what's an appropriate amount of "glean versus reveal" for the age group.

Well, kinda. The age range I'm shooting for is....oh, actually that sounds right...But I hope to go farther than young adult.....maybe....

But yes, I do agree with Garr on most of his points (if not all). I also agree with you that it's hard to know when enough is enough. I'm afraid that some people might not grasp what is going on as well.

[Big Rick Cook]

Re: Ke's Tales Short Story Ideas

I've been finding more and more lately that whatever I think is enough is usually too much, and that it's very rare to need more. But that's me and I'm not a case study on what's right.

[John Mora]

Re: Ke's Tales Short Story Ideas

I just find it more satisfying to err on the fact that whoever is reading what you're writing is intelligent enough to not need to be told certain things point blank.

[162]

Re: Ke's Tales Short Story Ideas

But that's me and I'm not a case study on what's right.

No, that's me. (Hee hee, I'm kidding.) I do share in your plight, though.

I just find it more satisfying to err on the fact that whoever is reading what you're writing is intelligent enough to not need to be told certain things point blank.

True, but I've met some pretty slow people in life....

[Garr123]

Re: Ke's Tales Short Story Ideas

What the hell are you guys talking about when you say stuff like "spelling things out"?

also another random bit from my writing:

He mounted the pedestal with blood slick hands and stood a vulgar edifice, crying congratulations to his fellows.

[162]

Re: Ke's Tales Short Story Ideas

Huh, interesting tidbit. (Kinda seems to be Charles Dickens meets Edgar Allan Poe wordplay-wise, but that's just me.)

By spelling out, we mean bluntly stating the obvious or "things left unsaid" aspects in written work. (I believe that's what you're reffering to.)

For example, in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, the main character (Janie) tells you this about her father (I'm paraphrasing, mind you):

"I never met my father. He was my mother's teacher back when she was a teenager. To this day, other kids taunt me about how the police and their dogs chased him though the woods when he did that bad thing to my mother when she was seventeen. The last time she saw him was him coming to her at night, begging for forgivenes for betraying her like that. He wanted to do the right thing and marry her."

For the record, I was just relaying the main idea of the section and wasn't trying to be artsy. (I suppose only Miss Hurston could give that part justice.) Without it being said, you gather that Janie's father raped her mother, tried to marry her, and was chased off by the police. Now, by "spelling it out", you would put in a phrase like "He raped my mother."

Yes, though, some people need it to be spelled out. This one girl in my English class (where I had to read this book) had to be blunty told about Janie's father (by me, a few classmates, and our teacher) before she caught on. (Granted, though, she is a very nice girl.)

[John Mora]

Re: Ke's Tales Short Story Ideas

(Granted, though, she is a very nice girl.)

The stupid ones always are.