Very, very short stories

Wow. I have renewed respect for writers of flash fiction. It's difficult to tell a complete story in 500 words or less. A beginning, a middle, and an end within the boundaries of an estimated 166.67 words per section. Without sounding choppy or abbreviated.

Since I love to read flash fiction, I thought I'd try it. I trimmed "The Painting" yesterday. At 1200 words, it seemed short to this writer who loves to indulge in a good, long chapter. But an interesting thing happened when I was trimming: I had to weigh every sentence against the major dramatic question. Yep, back to the basics.

I wrote "The Painting" from a contest prompt, so my first step was to eliminate the prompt but retain the story. It's amazing what happens when you get caught up in following a prompt. My next step was to dissect every sentence for the following:

1. Usefulness in moving the story forward
2. Mood
3. Aesthetics (how the words look, visually, on the page, and how it sounds to my ear)
4. Characterization. To me, a story is nothing without a strong character to pull me in.

Now I'm ready for the ultimate test: run it by a few brutally honest friends.

Not Your Average Joe

Joe didn't win the Lunch Hour Stories 2007 short story contest, but it was mentioned.

http://www.lunchhourstories.com/contest_winners.html

Of course, now I'm wondering a few things, such as how many entries there were. 10? :) (Hey, I'm being honest. My immediate reaction was to count the honorable mentions and notice "Joe" was at the bottom of the list.) Do I email the editor at Lunch Hour Stories and ask them to use my pseudonym on the website or just leave it? I'm free to send "Joe" elsewhere. So does it even matter that they used the wrong name?

The Dakota Family?

Most of you know my real name isn't Janelle Dakota. That's my pseudonym. But it's so much fun to have an online persona. Freedom! I can be Janelle, the author! I can indulge in my first love: writing.

But the majority of my heart belongs to my family: My husband of almost 19 years, my 12 year old son, my 9 year old daughter, and my old dog, Sadie. Of course, what person doesn't have extended family and the obligations therewith? And let's not forget to add homeschooling to the Dakota family recipe and the addition we're building on our house. All in all, I have the usual amount of distractions that any writer has to attend to.

My children love to write. They love to read. What more could a writing mom desire, besides a little writing time of her own? I am thrilled whenever I see my kids catch the writing buzz and really get into their stories. My children and I often read the same books and the discussions we have are enlightening for me as a writer.

But this year, I am missing my son. He started 7th grade at the local school. I know he is well-prepared and a great student (Honors! Proud Mom moment!) and my daughter and I are enjoying the one-on-one time, but...I miss homeschooling my son.

Lyrics

Where has the time gone? While I've been busy with renovations to the house, bloggers have been running circles around me. I can't possibly bore you with the details of my life since my last blog, so instead I'll offer up an exposition.

Music. Have you ever taken music lessons? My son is taking piano and my daughter is taking flute and piano. Weekly lessons, new songs, practice, practice, practice, right? I have never taken lessons for a musical instrument, but in my youth, I sang. I had voice class every weekday morning from the 4th grade to the 12th, vocal competitions, concerts, music camp, performances, even road trips with the jazz choir. As with playing an instrument, to achieve optimum performance, I had to practice daily. I had to warm up. I had to run through all the songs I was learning. I had to practice each song until I got it right. I had to work at it.

Why is it we writers expect to write a novel without daily practice? Shouldn't we warm up our instrument? Run through the scales, so to speak? But we don't: we sit down at the computer or with our pad and pen and expect an optimum performance of ourselves. We expect that if we start writing the lyrics, we'll find a song.

Just a thought.

Four of my...

Four places I have worked during my life:
1. Sears gas station, as an attendant.
2. Wendy's: first, in the restaurant, and later as a payroll clerk in the main office.
3. My illustrious accounting career where my jobs ranged from G/L entry to internal auditing.
4. Real estate sales.

Four places I have lived during my life:
1. Bellevue, WA
2. Redmond, WA
3. Bothell, WA
4. Lynnwood, WA (I don't get around much)

Four TV shows I like to watch:
1. Um...I don't watch too much TV. I can't think of one TV show I'd be sad to miss.

Four Vacationed Places:
1. Lincoln City, OR
2. Mazatlan, Mexico (to visit my mom)
3. Las Vegas, NV
4. Orlando, FL

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Does espresso count?
2. Buttered popcorn - yum!
3. Tortilla chips and FRESH salsa. Homemade, of course.
4. Anything with cheese on it.

Four places where I would rather be right now:
1. Signing a contract with a publisher
2. Sitting in my FINISHED house addition
3. On a romantic weekend away with my husband
4. At the beach, watching the kids play while I read a good book

Four friends or relatives I think will respond:
1. Anyone who feels like procrastinating

Four things I'd like to do:
1. See answers to "Four places I'd rather be"
2. Finish writing all 3 of my novels
3. Get over my irrational fears (heights, flying, large crowds, and all those fears that go hand-in-hand with being a mom)
4. Um...can't think of anything else. I'm basically pretty happy.

Now, IF YOU FEEL LIKE PARTICIPATING, here's what you're supposed to do...Copy and paste this to a new email, delete my answers, and type in your own. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know INCLUDING the person who sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little known facts about those who know you.

House vs. Muse

Two months into the remodel and my excitement for the project is dwindling rapidly. I'm distracted, tense, sore, and I can't seem to sleep through the night. I think it's a classic case of a woman who likes a tidy house but is forced to live in chaos.

After discovering that I cannot attend to writing and remodeling simultaneously, I sent my characters, Heidi and Dave, on vacation. I occasionally hear snippets of scenes from them in the wee hours when I'm teetering between awake and asleep. It's then that I wish I had a method for capturing thoughts because by the time I get to pad and pen the snippets are gone. Anyone know where I can get my hands on a brain recorder? REM transcriptionist? Sleep slate?

Meanwhile, back to the remodel. I finally chose windows only to find out that my husband disagrees with my choices on window placement. Fine time to tell me. More than one friend has commented that a certain percentage of remodels ends in divorce. No kidding. I love my husband very much, but I wish he'd voiced his opinion some earlier time during the two weeks I spent trying to decide on what windows to buy and exactly where I wanted them.

I need to find a way to relax and enjoy the home makeover experience. We have this wonderful neighbor who comes over every day and works on the remodel. Seriously, he is a nice guy who enjoys the work and wants to help out. There's no way we could do this without his assitance. My husband isn't an outgoing person, so it's been interesting to watch as he and the neighbor form a friendship. My husband's younger brother has come over a few times to help, too, especially when there has been heavy work. I pitch in where/when I can, but a lot of the heavier work falls to the guys, thanks to my health issues. All in all, I have a lot to enjoy. Friends, family, progress...and let's not forget the (eventual) end result. If anyone has remedies for the stress that goes along with remodeling, clue me in, because I'd rather not wallow in tension!

And no, I am not going to write a story in which my characters are remodeling. Nuh-uh. No way. There is no drama in waiting for a sales associate at the home improvement warehouse to answer your questions about galvanized nails.

Blog for all ages

My site is rated G! Thanks to http://elysabethsstories.blogspot.com/ for the idea and her friend http://justlikethenut.blogspot.com/ for the link.

Mingle²