Sprouting Ink: Short Stories

National Short Story Month

May 07, 2021

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Happy Valentine's Day! (+ advice on writing about love)

Happy Valentine's Day, my friends! For most of us, especially in quarantine, today is just another day. But, this also gives us an excuse to ponder what love is, what it looks like, and how we feel about it.

As I was trying to write a couple of love poems for an ASB contest, I found that it is really hard to write about love. How do you articulate it in a way that isn't cliched, when the word itself feels overused? How do we write about something so fundamental in us, but in a way where it is also unique in comparison to the billions of pieces that have done it before?

So, I went and did a bit of research, stumbling upon some fantastic advice, interesting articles, and a new lense on what "love" can mean.

I began with this article by the New York Times, called "How We Write About Love". I highly recommend you read it. It discusses patterns we fall into depending on factors like our age and gender, a some cliches that didn't even register to me as cliches previously. Part of this is because of my lack of romantic experience-- how on Earth am I supposed to portray love in a unique way if I've never even been in love?

So naturally, I resort to the common phrases of "meet cute", "electrifying", "smelled like cinnamon", etc. Now, I don't think that recognizing that young people write about wanting love as opposed to being in it is a bad thing. Rather, seeing this helped me embrace it. Yes, many other young writers might write about similar experiences, but I can consciously make my way of describing it uniquely my own, while still knowing that the feelings I depict are accurate.

Some other tips I got from my friends on Young Writers Project were also enlightening. One placed an emphasis on writing from experience, and said that instead of using cliches, we can spin them. Another reminded me that love pieces don't need to be happy. Not all love is. The last one told me to look at love from my own perspective, which is an interesting thought. Write about how love affects you, affects your characters, as opposed to the relationship itself.

Lastly, I understood that love poems don't need to necessarily be romantic. You may have heard this before-- I know I have many times before. I took it with a grain of salt though, because as I noticed in songwriting, we can write about other loves in our lives, but most times people will assume it's romantic. In my songwriting workshop this past fall, I wanted us to write about our good friends. It ended up sounding like a love song, because all of the ways we described our best friends could be easily applicable to a romantic partner.

So, if anything actually, I think non-romantic love is even harder to write. Once you recognize this though, it becomes easier to remedy. They are not impossible to write-- rather, be more specific. Explore what makes you differentiate a friend from a potential romantic partner. Or the different types of loves, be it one between you and a grandparent, or between your cousins. Only then, I think, can we really dig into the different nuances of all the various relationships we have in our lives. That is how we differentiate our loves in this life, and our pieces from others'.

I've been struggling lately with trying to find pieces to recommend you guys to read. I don't have that many to be honest, because most times I read the pieces of other young people simply because they feel closer to myself. I have though, come up with a small list. This will sound extremely weird, but I love love. I hope you will enjoy these pieces as much as I did.

Poetry:

On This 100th Anniversary of the Sinking of the Titanic, We Reconsider the Buoyancy of the Human Heart by Laura Lamb Brown Lavoie
The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Elliot
Stone Arch or Conch Shells by eyesofiris (Stone Arch isn't strictly romantic, but a wonderful poem with stanzas about love :)

Short Stories

The Gift of The Magi by O. Henry
The Last Leaf by O. Henry
In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried by Amy Hempel
Anything on NYT's Modern Love column

Novels

can I say anything YA? Depends on what you like. If I think of any super standout ones I'll put them here, but feel free to comment below if you have any personalized requests (I really read too many)

Songs

Let Me Go by Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso (ft. Florida Georgia Line)
Supermarket Flowers by Ed Sheeran
Castle on the Hill by Ed Sheeran
Cardigan by Taylor Swift
Told You So by Little Mix
Never Be Alone by Shawn Mendes
Tuesdays by Jake Scott
Die From A Broken Heart by Maddie & Tae
...and 90% of the English songs on my Spotify playlist (I'm a hopeless romantic)

If you have any more rec's you think should 100% be up here or some more advice, please put it down in the comments! Love y'all (in the way one loves everything beautiful they don't know yet)

February 14, 2021

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Overview

Short Stories

So. Hello. This is the short stories post. Short stories sounds kind of official, doesn't it? I know that, at least for me, sitting down to write a short story can be pretty intimidating, especially with the added pressure you may put on yourself to make it *perfect*. But, as you probably know logically, there is no concrete definition of perfection. So, in an attempt to possibly relieve some of that apprehension, let's just dive into what a short story is and how to write one.

A short story is a short story is a short story. If you take a second to just let a short story be a short story (if that makes sense), then already this arduous task seems a lot simpler. As humans, our race been that of storytellers from the very beginning. Just take a look at how many stories exist in this world today. Fiction or nonfiction, old or new, heartwarming or sorrowful. These are the realities we gift one another with, pairs of shoes crafted for our experience. A story is a story. Now just make it shorter, also known as less than 7,500 words (any longer than that is a novelette). No biggie. Let's look behind the writer's workbench and see what we need.

Supplies:

an idea
a method of getting it down

Method of getting it down? Why, that can be practically anything. Crayon and scrap paper, a quick notes app on your phone, a haphazard recording where you say "um..." wayyyyyyyy too much. Although, for practicality purposes, I suggest sticking to an online medium, especially since some short stories can get rather lengthy. Plus, it also makes it that much easier to edit (which is VERY important).

Here's a how-to from an excellent short story writer and an acquaintance of mine, Ashlyn Hayes, also know as Fire_Hazard on NaNoWriMo YWP. You can read tons of brilliant stories on her blog, which is linked here.

I think she sums it up quite neatly here, but I'll just highlight a few points.

First, recognize when you have an idea, even if it doesn't seem that good, and GET IT DOWN. Of course, aim to flesh the whole story out right when inspiration hits, as that will likely yield the best results, but worst case scenario make a quick doc during school (doc.new is a lifesaver) and come back to it later. This method of trying to reheat the inspiration sometimes gives you icky results, but sometimes you'll get delectable microwave pizza. You never know until you try!

Along the same lines, if you're having trouble with the intro or "hook", skip it! Aim to pin down the bulk of the story, and you can go back and figure out you hook later.

Lastly, from my personal experience, try to stick with what you know, or do research first. For instance, I tried to write a truly awful murder mystery once, where a guy dies via choking on an eggshell. The next week, I lazily left some egg shell in my egg sandwich (which is really good, btw) and miraculously lived. Obviously. This isn't meant to deter you from fantasy or sci-fi short stories, but if you're going to write about it, make sure that before or after you flesh it out you do some research and make the effort to either get your world down pat (fantasy) or get your facts straight (sci-fi). Google was created for a reason, and the FBI joke is definitely a super relatable one within writing communities.

And.... I think that's a wrap for this short story overview! I know a lot of y'all out there are fantastic short story writers though, so feel free to comment or contact me if you think I missed something. Otherwise, go forth and write!

October 25, 2020

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Short Stories

Editing Short Stories

Hello again! In this post, we'll be discussing tips on how to cut down the word count and edit your short stories. This is one of the key steps of the whole writing process, and something you'll definitely want to do prior to sending it off for competitions and publications.

Before I start, I'd like to credit an acquaintance of mine on NaNoWriMo YWP for coming up with a great chunk of these.

1. Cut down on passive voice.

Passive voice makes your writing stronger, and often allows you to cut down on a few words. Passive voice is where the subject of the sentence is the one being acted upon. Here's an example:

"the apple was cut by the girl" (passive voice) VS "the girl cut the apple" (active voice)

You just cut down two words! Although this might not seem like a lot in the grand scheme of things, it's these small edits that can slowly help you pull down your word count.

2. Eliminate Adverbs

I quite like adverbs myself, but when your trying to cut down on your wc this tip is particularly applicable. Adverbs are often the ones that end in "-ly", like "thoughtfully" or "horribly". Sometimes, removing them can also propel you to use better vocabulary. For instance,

"he walked slowly" (slowly being the adverb) VS "he trudged"

In this instance, the word "trudged" also just paints a better picture with the connotation and feeling of the word that "walked slowly" doesn't elicit.

3. Cut down on excessive dialogue tags.

This tip can also be very useful in editing novels or any form of prose really. The idea is that when you have the characters converse, you don't have to use a "he said" or "she mumbled" after every single piece of dialogue. Often times it is implied who is speaking, and a lot of that is also the various personalities injected into your characters' voices. This will also make the section flow better, and your reader won't notice a thing. Do be careful of going overboard with this though, as you do want a few dialogue tags every now and then as to not confuse the reader (which is where proofreading by trusted mentors and friends can be helpful).

4. Combine phrases.

You can utilize verbs with "-ing" to combine clauses or phrases. This sounds a tad complicated, but can be as simple as turning

"May huffed and crossed her arms" VS "May huffed, crossing her arms"

In this way, you eliminate one word "and". Again, this may seem very minor, but every bit counts sometimes.

5. ~~Make use of~~ Employ Strong Verbs

This was slightly touched on in adverbs, but leveling up your word choice can help make your writing more concise and push it to a higher level. Thesauri are amazing for this, but beware of totally bombarding your audience with caviar and escargot when all they wanted was a good burger.

6. Metaphors > Similes

...when it comes to word count, really. Metaphors compare things more directly whereas similes are slightly more wordy with "like"' and "as". For example,

"her hair bounced like flower petals on her shoulders" VS "petals of hair bounced on her shoulders"

Again, 2 word difference, but a difference nonetheless.

7. Contractions
This one feels a little more obvious, but you can consolidate two words like "do not" into "don't". Of course, this rule doesn't always apply, as there are times you may want to emphasize these words, which is more effective when separated into "do not" because it forces the reader to spend more time on the phrase.

8. Skip the Small Talk

Your audience doesn't really care for small talk if it doesn't contribute to the storyline, so take out length dialogue purely concerning the weather or introductions if it doesn't add to or further your story at all.

9. Onomatopoeia

This is helpful when you only have a few words to cut down, but don't go overboard with it. Rather than

"a gunshot rang out, and we all looked up in fear" VS "Bang! We looked up in fear"

Too much of this is going to sound juvenile, but in moderation it's fine.

10. Avoid Tangents
In short fiction, there's a lot of objects, characters, and scenes, you can describe in lengthy detail. This can be dangerous for two reasons. One, your story takes forever to get to the point. Two, readers quickly lose interest as a result of all this description that seemingly doesn't have a purpose (*cough wuthering cough heights*). Does the reader really need to know Ruby was named after her mom's favorite gemstone? Thus, try to only include the details that will progress the story, rather than pulling the reader away from the story and allowing them to lose interest.

11. Inferences
Inferences are a huge part of short stories as a whole, but you can also utilize them with smaller details. So, instead of saying

"Samuel refused, shaking his head" VS "Samuel shook his head"

Too much is of this is going to sound juvenile, but in moderation it's fine.

10. Vary Sentence Length
Try to ensure, when reading it over, that there is good amount of sentence length variation. Too little, and you could easily lose your reader in a chunk of long sentences or sound super choppy. This can pretty much be fixed by a read through aloud, because if the story flows right off the tongue chances are you have a good amount of variation in sentence length.

So, I hope these helped, and happy editing. If there's anything you think I might've missed, feel free to drop a comment down below and I'll add it to our list. :)

October 25, 2020