Month: December 2008

Short Story Tips

/ Ev Bishop / 1 Comment

To help in our quest to write ever better, I’m going to list some of the things that are considered in the TWG Fiction Contest’s judging. I suspect other contests look at similar elements.

1. Opening ~ Is there something in your first line, first paragraph, or first page that hooks the reader and makes him/her want to read on?

2. Characters ~ Do your characters live off the page; do they seem like they must be real, living breathing people somewhere?

3. Dialogue ~ Do the things your characters say “ring true”? And does your dialogue move the story forward and add to characterization?

4. Plot ~ What does your character want and what’s getting in the way of his achieving that goal? Make sure it’s clear!

5. Theme ~ Does your story have some sort of lasting power? Does it give the reader something to think about after the last page is read? Is it about more than just the actions and events that take place between its pages?

6. Involvement ~ Does your reader get so caught up in the story that they forget they’re reading? Watch out for “telling” and explaining everything.

7. Language ~ Do you show a masterful command of language—maybe even flashes of brilliance? Find and destroy language/usage/grammar problems!

8. Pace ~ Page by page, do you create a “must keep reading” feeling?

9. Ending ~ Does your ending give your reader that “ahhh” feeling (happy or sad); does it add to the story as a whole?

That little extra ~ There are many other qualities that make a story jump off the page and into a reader’s head, so pay attention to the above, but don’t treat it like a check-list. Have fun with your stories; run with your inspirations. Concentrate on showing the story that you’re burning to tell, and regardless of contest or market response, don’t get discouraged. Keep getting the words out on paper!

Happy writing to us all,

Ev

2nd Annual TWG Fiction Contest Announces Winners

/ Ev Bishop / 1 Comment

Well, the TWG Fiction Contest has ended for another year. The judges have made their decisions and the winners have been notified:

First Place: “Temper, Temper” by Barbara Cameron of Courtney, BC
Barbara will receive $250.00 from UNBC and paid publication in Northword Magazine.

Second Place: “Click” by Valerie Laub of Smithers, BC
Valerie will receive $200 from TWG.

Third Place: “Ice Heart” by Angela Dorsey of Sooke, BC
Angela will receive $150.00 from Marion Olson of Re/Max.

Honorable Mention: “We’ve Got Plans” by Catherine Hart of Terrace, BC
Catherine will receive $75.00 from Saz Communications.

I was nominated to be the giver of the good news, and it was very fun to hear the excitement and to listen to the neurosis—“At the end….” “Did you catch….” “Could you check….” Aw, writers, what a lovely, anal bunch we are! But it is that obsession with detail, with getting it right—emotionally and mechanically—that set the winning stories apart this year.

Congratulations to everyone who entered the 2nd Annual TWG Fiction Contest. It will sound corny or trite, perhaps, but there were no losers. By sending in, by being brave, by disciplining yourself to the task of submitting, each was a winner.

A rejection a day….

/ Ev Bishop / 2 Comments

I woke up bright and early, went to the gym, came home and got a start on my workday (checking e-mail is something I can do while my kids get ready for school). The first thing I opened was a rejection to one of the queries I sent last week. At least it was a quick response, and really, a rejection is a great way to start the day. It’s a) affirming—you can only be rejected when you’re actually submitting, and b) inspiring—every rejection fuels the motivation to receive an acceptance.

If there was a downside to this one, it was that it was the worst kind of chastisement. You know how I mentioned in my last post that I sent queries I’d been sitting on too long? The rejection read, in part, that it was “a good idea, but that they were already working on something similar.” The same thing happened last year re: a gym article I wanted to write.

The moral of the story? Writers should abide by the rule I’ve heard applies to patenting ideas—from the time you get your idea, you have three months maximum to flesh it out and patent it, because if you take any longer than that, whatever combination of things—overheard conversation at Safeway, article browsed through at the Dr’s office, television ad campaign—that caused you to get the idea, will have done the same (or too similar) in someone else’s head. Don’t sit on your ideas and stories! Write them—or write of them—and send them out. It’s one thing to be told your idea stinks, it’s another to be told, “Oh, if only you’d sent it a bit sooner….”

I think I will scrawl that last bit on a sticky note and add it to my “Note to self” wall.

Have a great day!

~Ev

Do What You Want Day

/ Ev Bishop / 2 Comments

One of the disadvantages (or advantages, depending on your type-A, work obsessive personality ☺) of working at home is that you can always work. I try to have set work hours, and adhered to play, family and “normal” person hours, but I confess that whenever I have a few spare moments, especially if the house is empty, I find myself working overtime. And why not? My office is right here…. I’ll just catch up on that one more thing, write that one line, get that one idea jotted down so it doesn’t slip my mind.  And I’m happy with that. As I wrote in a recent e-mail to a good friend, “I don’t feel horribly busy. I’m still playing games at night with the kids, reading, etc…  I guess I don’t really socialize a lot—but I do a bit, so yeah…. my schedule is do-able and good. :)”

Yesterday though, I kind of played hooky (another advantage/disadvantage, depending on your viewpoint—I’m my own boss. I may be unhappy with my work habits, but am I gonna get canned?  No way.). I’d come home from the gym and every muscle felt delicious—that good tired where everything’s been stretched and pulled and worked, but it’s the day before it hurts. Crispy-pretty blue-with-cold late autumn had turned into white, wonderful winter and everything was muted and made dreamy by a quickly thickening blanket. I had my double-cream coffee in hand, the woodstove was crackling away, and the animals were in various positions of complete sloth—cat sprawled belly up on back of chair, old dog curled up in a ball behind big plant, small dog sleeping on my feet.

Sitting in my office chair, I lifted my arms as high as I could stretch them and just felt good. I considered my long to-do list and hesitated. I have a big project with an open- ended deadline (ugh, the worst kind!), an editing job, and a column due soon. Plus, my latest WIP sits fresh and deserted from its first edit, ready for me to really put some teeth into it. I like each job, and I had an industrious day planned, but still I stalled…. And then I said, “It’s too good a day for a to-do list; it’s do what you want day!”

I spent some time on the Internet, browsing writing sites and boards that I don’t frequent as much as some others. I researched a few markets for articles I’ve let rest for too long—and then, feeling very motivated, I pitched two of them.  I finished two novels. Good stuff!  I split up my full day with an hour-long tub…. All in all, it was wonderful.  And productive.

It makes me laugh that even when I do exactly what I want, I end up doing exactly the same type of stuff I do on days that I’m sticking to a schedule. How lucky am I?  My real job is also my dream job.

If you work from home and the odd day calls, “Do you what you want, do what you want!”  I recommend listening to it.  Worse case scenario, you have to pull a few longer days later in the week or work Saturday morning (but come on, you do that anyway!).  Best case, you remember exactly why you work at home, alone, in the first place.