Sometimes, fourth place pays cash.
Some time ago, Friday Challenge was brought back - well, not from the dead - but off serious life support, in spectacular fashion. Dozens of entries were made under the new system of combat. The charge?
To make an editor turn the page after 120 words. I, like many others, put my best foot forward, and, like 23 other entries or so, it wasn't enough to win.
I thought I had a good start to a story of 2000-3000 words, so I went forward with it.
It didn't take. I went back to my start, had flash on the brain, and tied the thing off in less than 200 words.
Brain Harvest Magazine liked it enough to pay me cold, hard Washingtons.
And in my house, it is all about the Washingtons.
Flash Fic Advisory #15: In the marketplace of ideas, a Friday Challenge loser smells like victory. And also cash.
Showing posts with label Flash Fiction Advisory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Flash Fiction Advisory. Show all posts
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Flash Fiction Advisory
Today, You Will Be With Me in Paradox.
The Goat's post* on Gen Con got me thinking.
Okay, admittedly, it got me thinking about this guy:
But it also got me thinking about lighting out into the world, encountering strange creatures and returning home alive to tell the tale.
And commerce.
Okay, its a jumble, but my point is this - professional (or semiprofessional) writing is a solitary art business for a community of individuals. I count a good number of contradictions in that definition, but it is the only one that makes sense to me, and I've been trying to make sense of this writing game/business for a dorkily** long time.
Speaking of game/business, Gen Con is a great example: it is an entertainment, it is a community, it is a business whose product is Fun, whose market is built on the detail of fantasy.
All this to say, it is important to remember for the lonely writer to at least occasionally (once every dozen years, at least, just to let the troll slaves clean up the cave) make a point of going to events where business, entertainment and end users might be found. I'll be going to the Ragged Edge, a decidedly unconference conference this week, with a report to follow.
Flash Fiction Advisory #14: Walking around a big room with people inside can be pointless or important. Pick the right room.
*Not to be confused with Ghost to the Post.
**Take a geek's time preference, combined with a square's attention to detail and a nerd's clear social calendar and you get a rough estimate of the epoch known as the Dork Ages.
The Goat's post* on Gen Con got me thinking.
Okay, admittedly, it got me thinking about this guy:
But it also got me thinking about lighting out into the world, encountering strange creatures and returning home alive to tell the tale.
And commerce.
Okay, its a jumble, but my point is this - professional (or semiprofessional) writing is a solitary art business for a community of individuals. I count a good number of contradictions in that definition, but it is the only one that makes sense to me, and I've been trying to make sense of this writing game/business for a dorkily** long time.
Speaking of game/business, Gen Con is a great example: it is an entertainment, it is a community, it is a business whose product is Fun, whose market is built on the detail of fantasy.
All this to say, it is important to remember for the lonely writer to at least occasionally (once every dozen years, at least, just to let the troll slaves clean up the cave) make a point of going to events where business, entertainment and end users might be found. I'll be going to the Ragged Edge, a decidedly unconference conference this week, with a report to follow.
Flash Fiction Advisory #14: Walking around a big room with people inside can be pointless or important. Pick the right room.
*Not to be confused with Ghost to the Post.
**Take a geek's time preference, combined with a square's attention to detail and a nerd's clear social calendar and you get a rough estimate of the epoch known as the Dork Ages.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Flash Fiction Advisory
License to steal?
Independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch is famous for maintaining a unique vision in a highly corporate medium. One of his most famous quotes on inspiration reads like flash:
This philosophy makes you a criminal.
Regardless of what the imdb says, Rudy Wurlitzer, not Jim Jarmusch, was the screenwriter for Dead Man. You can read all about the theft here. More importantly, you can read the real Dead Man in Wurlitzer's novel, The Drop Edge of Yonder.
But I guess you could say that Jarmusch's philosophy works: steal from others and profit. You might even get a high-falutin' quote out of it.
But whether you call plagiarism "theft" or "devouring" or "inspiration," the thing hurts people. Author Neal Bowers wrote a wonderful non-fiction detective book about the wrenching experience of being plagiarized by someone else (and hunting the dastard down) in Words for the Taking.
As for me? Give me Wurlitzer: a true original.
Flash Fic Advisory #13: Life, like flash, is too short to waste on plagiarism.
Independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch is famous for maintaining a unique vision in a highly corporate medium. One of his most famous quotes on inspiration reads like flash:
Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery—celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from—it’s where you take them to.”Great, huh? It's even a mere 100 words! The only bad part?
This philosophy makes you a criminal.
Regardless of what the imdb says, Rudy Wurlitzer, not Jim Jarmusch, was the screenwriter for Dead Man. You can read all about the theft here. More importantly, you can read the real Dead Man in Wurlitzer's novel, The Drop Edge of Yonder.
But I guess you could say that Jarmusch's philosophy works: steal from others and profit. You might even get a high-falutin' quote out of it.
But whether you call plagiarism "theft" or "devouring" or "inspiration," the thing hurts people. Author Neal Bowers wrote a wonderful non-fiction detective book about the wrenching experience of being plagiarized by someone else (and hunting the dastard down) in Words for the Taking.
As for me? Give me Wurlitzer: a true original.
Flash Fic Advisory #13: Life, like flash, is too short to waste on plagiarism.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Flash Fiction Advisory
The Television Will Not Be Revolutionized.
Last week, Henry took a long hard look at terrible film adaptations of books.
Well, there is a bit of flash fiction that most television watchers read every day, and most of them are terrible adaptations.
For example:
A New Yorker beheads a swordsman in a parking lot, continuing a battle of immortals.
That's right, I'm talking about the "plot capsules" that accompany the viewer guide on television programs. The capsule above is the official flash "adaptation" of the film Highlander.
Not all capsules are terrible - some are better than the movie they preview.
The giant moth travels back in time to save the world from a powerful monster.
Okay, not exactly poetry, but I assure you, that synopsis is far more riveting than its object, Rebirth of Mothra 3.
So - here's a fun, fast little exercise: imagine your life's masterpiece (novel, short story, whatever.) Now imagine it as movie. Now write the "capsule" of the movie for the tv guide. You have 15 words to play with.
Flash Fic Advisory #12: Boil it down to the basics.
Last week, Henry took a long hard look at terrible film adaptations of books.
Well, there is a bit of flash fiction that most television watchers read every day, and most of them are terrible adaptations.
For example:
A New Yorker beheads a swordsman in a parking lot, continuing a battle of immortals.
That's right, I'm talking about the "plot capsules" that accompany the viewer guide on television programs. The capsule above is the official flash "adaptation" of the film Highlander.
Not all capsules are terrible - some are better than the movie they preview.
The giant moth travels back in time to save the world from a powerful monster.
Okay, not exactly poetry, but I assure you, that synopsis is far more riveting than its object, Rebirth of Mothra 3.
So - here's a fun, fast little exercise: imagine your life's masterpiece (novel, short story, whatever.) Now imagine it as movie. Now write the "capsule" of the movie for the tv guide. You have 15 words to play with.
Flash Fic Advisory #12: Boil it down to the basics.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Flash Fiction Advisory
SceneQuest DSV* Good shots can come down to lighting.
Rockne S. O’Bannon, the son of a Hollywood gaffer, certainly understands the importance of economy in illumination.
He's also creator of Alien Nation, Farscape and, yes, SeaQuest DSV, and the author of this little story:
"It’s behind you! Hurry before it"
Yes, it is a trick that Lovecraft employed with wild abandon, as countless others have before and hence.
But it's a good trick. Shine that little lamp at the right time, in the proper direction, and it can show a lot more than a bunch of extra words can.
Flash Fic Advisory #11: Know what to keep in the dark: illuminate through interruption.
*DSV is an acronym for Deep Submergence Vehicle, which is what I think good flash exercises are like: intensive explorations of dark and drowning places. A lot of times you hit mud. It is the rare shimmering yttrium deposit that makes the spotlighting worth it.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Flash Fiction Advisory
Write for speed. Hopefully.
Stuck? Here's an exercise in flash: write 100 words, as fast as you can.
Now, go back and highlight any phrases that make sense.
Hopefully, you'll find three. Now, circle the words you like.
Hopefully, you'll find three. Now, find a character.
Hopefully, you'll find one.
Rewrite it as a story, using only those little brain grenades that did the most literary damage.
Now, what do you have?
A good start on a fiction idea, with a few key images that will add depth that you would have otherwise missed when trying to crank out an orderly, plausible story.
Hopefully.
Flash Fic Advisory #10: If you can't write good, write fast.
Note: I've been trying this lately, getting interesting results. I invite anyone else's experience with this. The first part takes less than 60 seconds if you push it and don't worry about spelling errrors. 90 if you are pokey.
Stuck? Here's an exercise in flash: write 100 words, as fast as you can.
Now, go back and highlight any phrases that make sense.
Hopefully, you'll find three. Now, circle the words you like.
Hopefully, you'll find three. Now, find a character.
Hopefully, you'll find one.
Rewrite it as a story, using only those little brain grenades that did the most literary damage.
Now, what do you have?
A good start on a fiction idea, with a few key images that will add depth that you would have otherwise missed when trying to crank out an orderly, plausible story.
Hopefully.
Flash Fic Advisory #10: If you can't write good, write fast.
Note: I've been trying this lately, getting interesting results. I invite anyone else's experience with this. The first part takes less than 60 seconds if you push it and don't worry about spelling errrors. 90 if you are pokey.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Flash Fiction Advisory
Alec d'Urberville's Pitchfork.
Brutality is the easy mark of a villain, but may fall flat in flash. Violence jars, and there is usually not enough space to unjar. And just forget about the necessary heightening of tension: there’s no time.
Try this. Demonstrate the villain’s predilections through symbols:
Does he carry a toy for a small child?
Does she wear an ancient fur coat with the eye sockets still in?
In small spaces, the “potential energy” of menace comes on with greater force than the “kinetic energy” of violence.
If violence is a stumbling block, let menace be a bridge over it.
Flash Fic Advisory #9: Menace, not violence, may be the fastest way to evoke villainy.
Brutality is the easy mark of a villain, but may fall flat in flash. Violence jars, and there is usually not enough space to unjar. And just forget about the necessary heightening of tension: there’s no time.
Try this. Demonstrate the villain’s predilections through symbols:
Does he carry a toy for a small child?
Does she wear an ancient fur coat with the eye sockets still in?
In small spaces, the “potential energy” of menace comes on with greater force than the “kinetic energy” of violence.
If violence is a stumbling block, let menace be a bridge over it.
Flash Fic Advisory #9: Menace, not violence, may be the fastest way to evoke villainy.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Flash Fiction Advisory
Any Drier and You’d Be Drowning
Arisia made an excellent point last week about some flash having the elements of a riddle.
That calls for careful set-up and perfect delivery.
Like a joke.
Marx Brothers screenwriter Irving Brecher got attention with a crafty bit of “nano-flash.” As an aspiring joke writer, he ran an advertisement in Variety:
“Jokes so bad, even Milton Berle wouldn’t steal them.”
This bit of fiction takes into account three particular things about Milton Berle: he was widely famous, a teller of bad gags and a notorious joke thief.
The ad worked.
Brecher got hired as a joke writer.
By Milton Berle.
Flash Fic Advisory #8: Prep the punchline. Then punch the punchline.
Arisia made an excellent point last week about some flash having the elements of a riddle.
That calls for careful set-up and perfect delivery.
Like a joke.
Marx Brothers screenwriter Irving Brecher got attention with a crafty bit of “nano-flash.” As an aspiring joke writer, he ran an advertisement in Variety:
“Jokes so bad, even Milton Berle wouldn’t steal them.”
This bit of fiction takes into account three particular things about Milton Berle: he was widely famous, a teller of bad gags and a notorious joke thief.
The ad worked.
Brecher got hired as a joke writer.
By Milton Berle.
Flash Fic Advisory #8: Prep the punchline. Then punch the punchline.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Flash Fiction Advisory
Spill the Ink
It may seem a waste of time to sketch a “never-to-be-read” backstory for a super short work, but it is a good way to create a solvable mystery.
A mystery left unanswered in a story may have a non-evident, but real, resolution.
I very much doubt that Frank Stockton had to resolve for himself the answer to “The Lady or the Tiger?” but Emily Bronte probably knew whether Heathcliff was an actual murderer or not.
For flash, try being Bronte.
Figure out exactly what is going in the world before, during and after the actual story’s events.
Flash Fic Advisory #7: Put time into the backstory.
Note: Here's an example of a tiny story I wrote based on a massive backstory. Can you deduce any details from the evidence of what is "seen?"
It may seem a waste of time to sketch a “never-to-be-read” backstory for a super short work, but it is a good way to create a solvable mystery.
A mystery left unanswered in a story may have a non-evident, but real, resolution.
I very much doubt that Frank Stockton had to resolve for himself the answer to “The Lady or the Tiger?” but Emily Bronte probably knew whether Heathcliff was an actual murderer or not.
For flash, try being Bronte.
Figure out exactly what is going in the world before, during and after the actual story’s events.
Flash Fic Advisory #7: Put time into the backstory.
Note: Here's an example of a tiny story I wrote based on a massive backstory. Can you deduce any details from the evidence of what is "seen?"
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Flash Fiction Advisory
Two Much?
J.D. Salinger illustrated a character in a mere seven words: “efficient-looking woman in a limp felt hat.”
The combination of concrete detail (the hat) with an expressive general assessment (efficient-looking) is a great trick for quickly sketching a character.
There’s only one problem: seven is too wordy.
So take the principle and condense it. Instead of two contrasts of a few words each, find two words only, one concrete, one general, to define your flash character.
Is she the “fussy notetaker” or “efficient recorder?” Is he a “jovial drunk” or a “slurring boozer?” Are they a “jocular group” or “noisy gang?”
Flash Fic Advisory #6: Define characters in two words. Or less.
[Note: I won't link to unauthorized online reprints of For Esme - With Love and Squalor, but if you haven't read it, track it down in a Salinger anthology, or subscribe to the New Yorker archive: it is an amazing read.]
J.D. Salinger illustrated a character in a mere seven words: “efficient-looking woman in a limp felt hat.”
The combination of concrete detail (the hat) with an expressive general assessment (efficient-looking) is a great trick for quickly sketching a character.
There’s only one problem: seven is too wordy.
So take the principle and condense it. Instead of two contrasts of a few words each, find two words only, one concrete, one general, to define your flash character.
Is she the “fussy notetaker” or “efficient recorder?” Is he a “jovial drunk” or a “slurring boozer?” Are they a “jocular group” or “noisy gang?”
Flash Fic Advisory #6: Define characters in two words. Or less.
[Note: I won't link to unauthorized online reprints of For Esme - With Love and Squalor, but if you haven't read it, track it down in a Salinger anthology, or subscribe to the New Yorker archive: it is an amazing read.]
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Flash Fiction Advisory
Leave Coy for the Ponds.
I’m not a jerk (just ask my parole officer) but it doesn’t hurt to be one for flashcraft. Readers are drawn to the “pop!” and that means subtleties can become liabilities. Being rude about the story is something flash readers want: they want to “get it” quick.
Don’t take my word for it. Some of my flash “rejection notes,” all helpful critiques, are ones that have never applied toward my longer stories or novel proposals:
“I like the way this is written, but I'm afraid I just don't get it.”
“Obviously too subtle.”
“Can't decipher this.”
“Confusing.”
Flash Fic Advisory #5: Don’t be coy.
[Note: Perhaps a writer's corollary to John Scalzi's "Failure Mode of Clever."]
I’m not a jerk (just ask my parole officer) but it doesn’t hurt to be one for flashcraft. Readers are drawn to the “pop!” and that means subtleties can become liabilities. Being rude about the story is something flash readers want: they want to “get it” quick.
Don’t take my word for it. Some of my flash “rejection notes,” all helpful critiques, are ones that have never applied toward my longer stories or novel proposals:
“I like the way this is written, but I'm afraid I just don't get it.”
“Obviously too subtle.”
“Can't decipher this.”
“Confusing.”
Flash Fic Advisory #5: Don’t be coy.
[Note: Perhaps a writer's corollary to John Scalzi's "Failure Mode of Clever."]
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Flash Fiction Advisory
Unwarranted Warrants.
Identify the assumption at the base of the story. In a space story, does the plot rely on the assumption of FTL travel? If a fantasy, is the Divine Right of Kings critical?
Assumptions, aka “warrants,” are any truths that must be easily, subconsciously accepted by the reader for the story to work. If a warrant starts an argument in the reader’s mind, uh-oh.
When a warrant is controversial: say, “humans aren’t worth saving from disaster,” those who recoil against it will reject the story, no matter how well-written.
Example: Fiction with a warrant problem noted in the reader commentary.
Flash Fic Advisory #4: Identify your warrant.
Identify the assumption at the base of the story. In a space story, does the plot rely on the assumption of FTL travel? If a fantasy, is the Divine Right of Kings critical?
Assumptions, aka “warrants,” are any truths that must be easily, subconsciously accepted by the reader for the story to work. If a warrant starts an argument in the reader’s mind, uh-oh.
When a warrant is controversial: say, “humans aren’t worth saving from disaster,” those who recoil against it will reject the story, no matter how well-written.
Example: Fiction with a warrant problem noted in the reader commentary.
Flash Fic Advisory #4: Identify your warrant.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Flash Fiction Advisory
Word-taming.
When writing a novel, it is often said that every word matters.
This is a lie.
Many words matter in a novel or even in short fiction, and, when going through the editing process, it may seem as if every word is being scrutinized.
The truth is that for work over 1000 words, practiced editing technique is more of a mine-sweeping exercise than a bomb-defusing exercise: you catch the ones in the way.
In flash fiction, you aren’t looking for trouble spots, you must rattle each word until it squeaks. Edit the story, assuming that each word isn’t quite right.
Flash Fic Advisory #3: Train every word.
When writing a novel, it is often said that every word matters.
This is a lie.
Many words matter in a novel or even in short fiction, and, when going through the editing process, it may seem as if every word is being scrutinized.
The truth is that for work over 1000 words, practiced editing technique is more of a mine-sweeping exercise than a bomb-defusing exercise: you catch the ones in the way.
In flash fiction, you aren’t looking for trouble spots, you must rattle each word until it squeaks. Edit the story, assuming that each word isn’t quite right.
Flash Fic Advisory #3: Train every word.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Flash Fiction Advisory
Flash Fic Advisory: Worldbuilding
Worldbuilding in a short-short “weird” fiction is like making a ship in a bottle: the space is limited and imprecise tools must perform like precision instruments. Words matter. Contrary to a lot of advice on flash fiction, avoid words with double meanings. A word with a double meaning can carry more water for the author in limited space, but the risk of confusion is too great. When building a world in less than a hundred words, tangible meaning gives the story direction. An author plays too clever for the medium by conveying a vampire herbologist who casually “drinks her mate.”
Flash Fic Advisory #2: Use Single-Meaning Words.
xdpaul's recurring, supershort weekly column focuses on insight into the practice of Flash Fiction. An unpublished novelist by pseudotrade, he mostly does flash as a writing exercise, but has had flashes published at Ideomancer, Don Muchow's Would That It Were? and Diagram's first anthology.
Worldbuilding in a short-short “weird” fiction is like making a ship in a bottle: the space is limited and imprecise tools must perform like precision instruments. Words matter. Contrary to a lot of advice on flash fiction, avoid words with double meanings. A word with a double meaning can carry more water for the author in limited space, but the risk of confusion is too great. When building a world in less than a hundred words, tangible meaning gives the story direction. An author plays too clever for the medium by conveying a vampire herbologist who casually “drinks her mate.”
Flash Fic Advisory #2: Use Single-Meaning Words.
xdpaul's recurring, supershort weekly column focuses on insight into the practice of Flash Fiction. An unpublished novelist by pseudotrade, he mostly does flash as a writing exercise, but has had flashes published at Ideomancer, Don Muchow's Would That It Were? and Diagram's first anthology.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Flash Fiction Advisory
Flash Fic Advisory: An Introduction
The National Weather Service has not issued a single advisory on the threat of flash fiction since the Secretary of War established the agency. So I’m a-gonna issue one: flash fiction is lightning for a reader – a spectacular show, but bad landings are fatal. Much like the Good Friday Challenge of ’11, crafting flash is excellent practice in the unforgiving art of instant gratification. Whether it gets an editor to turn the page or a quick pleasure for the reader, good flash is like Iowa climate. It can brew a storm in no time. The author is a rainmaker… or soaked.
Flash Fic Advisory #1: It is better to be Thor than the lightning rod.
xdpaul's recurring, supershort weekly column focuses on insight into the practice of Flash Fiction. An unpublished novelist by pseudotrade, he mostly does flash as a writing exercise, but has had flashes published at Ideomancer, Don Muchow's Would That It Were? and Diagram's first anthology.
The National Weather Service has not issued a single advisory on the threat of flash fiction since the Secretary of War established the agency. So I’m a-gonna issue one: flash fiction is lightning for a reader – a spectacular show, but bad landings are fatal. Much like the Good Friday Challenge of ’11, crafting flash is excellent practice in the unforgiving art of instant gratification. Whether it gets an editor to turn the page or a quick pleasure for the reader, good flash is like Iowa climate. It can brew a storm in no time. The author is a rainmaker… or soaked.
Flash Fic Advisory #1: It is better to be Thor than the lightning rod.
xdpaul's recurring, supershort weekly column focuses on insight into the practice of Flash Fiction. An unpublished novelist by pseudotrade, he mostly does flash as a writing exercise, but has had flashes published at Ideomancer, Don Muchow's Would That It Were? and Diagram's first anthology.
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