Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 2 Volume 9 | Page 9

E VOLUTION OF A S HORT S TORY
F RED R AYWORTH
T HIS IS A REPRINT OF ONE OF F RED ’ S ARTICLES WRITTEN BACK IN 2015, BUT TOTALLY APPRO-
PRIATE TO RUN AGAIN , CONSIDERING THAT A NEW SERIES OF SHORT STORIES BY R ON C ORBIN IS
LAUNCHING WITH THIS ISSUE . H OW DOES ONE CONSTRUCT A SHORT STORY ? T HERE ARE LESS
OPTIONS WORKING IN A LIMITED NUMBER OF WORDS THAN WHEN YOU HAVE 50,000 TO 70,000 WORDS TO WORK
WITH . W ELL , THIS IS F RED ’ S METHOD . A S A VERY WISE MAN ONCE SAID , “A NY SYSTEM IS A SYSTEM IF IT WORKS FOR
YOU .”
A
s much as I talk about writing, I never
sat down and analyzed, or gave a step-
by-step process of how I go about writing a
short story. This is especially true of when
it’s actually happening, or in this case, just
happened. While it’s fresh and raw off the
press, I thought I’d outline how I just did
one. It might give you all insight.
T HE N UGGET O F I NSPIRATION , T HE M USE , T HE P USH
T O C REATE
It’s been a while since I’ve written a
true one-of-a-kind short story. It’s not like I
don’t write something every day, but usual-
ly that’s part of something else, mainte-
nance as I like to call it (especially coming
from that world). It’s not like I’m not busy
either. I have a lot on my plate, getting
ready for my book launch, keeping up my
web site (this article being an example),
and I’m also editing a manuscript. However,
when the muse strikes, I have to go with it.
I got the nugget for this inspiration
about a week ago at the writer’s group
meeting. Though I have several short sto-
ries still in the archives, when our secretary
Audrey Balzart brought up that we only
have two weeks left to submit to the new-
est Writer’s Bloc annual anthology, her an-
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE
nouncement prompted me to come up with
something fresh. I’d been brewing on it for
a bit but with so much going on, I’d left this
short story thing on the back burner. That
evening, something popped into my head
out of the blue. I won’t say what it is, that’s
the surprise of the story, but that nugget of
inspiration brewed in my brain a bit and I
thought about it off and on for a few days.
Once in a while it would pop up in my
mind as things around me inspired me. I’d
think about it, then brew on it a bit more.
That, my friends was the seed for the story.
F ORMING T HE B ASIS F OR T HE S TORY
As with any story I write, I want to
know where to start and where to end.
That’s pretty much my entire outline. I
don’t need to write any of that down. All I
need to do is settle that in my head, and I’m
good to go.
I thought about that nugget of inspira-
tion and after brewing on it for those few
days, I thought about where to begin and
where to end, the key elements, so to speak.
Truth be told, the ending came to me right
away. It didn’t take more than one take, to
use movie jargon, to come up with the end-
ing. In fact, that part came to me when I got
P AGE 4
S UMMER 2019