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Latest Fiction Writing Articles from About.com
There are some very cool opportunities in April -- and some I'd never heard of until recently, such as the Lake Forest College Emerging Writer's Residency (April 1) and the New Michigan Press / DIAGRAM Chapbook Contest (April 30). Old standbys include the Thurber Prize for American Fiction (April 1), the Crab Orchard Review Literary Contests (April 30), and the Dylan Thomas Centre Dylan Prize (April 30), and more. Check out the full list for other contests and residencies.
April Contest Deadlines originally appeared on About.com Fiction Writing on Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at 09:26:41.
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For some people, plot does come naturally, but more of us benefit from studying the basic elements -- which, sadly, most fiction workshops don't seem to cover. By mastering the basics of plot, you deliver a satisfying experience to your readers and arm yourself with the tools you'll need to tell more complicated stories. Begin thinking about plot with this short article on the subject.
Plot 101 originally appeared on About.com Fiction Writing on Sunday, March 7th, 2010 at 09:55:26.
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How Do We Establish a Sense of Place?
This week I've been corresponding with a writer about settings. She had asked for feedback on her wedding cake story, and my initial response was confusion: I didn't know where the characters were. It got me thinking about the importance of setting, and the difficulties of establishing it in a very short story. How do we successfully establish a sense of place without writing something that sounds contrived?
Fortunately a few stories from last month's challenge came to mind as examples. In his story, George Belezos just laid it out in the first sentence: "Costas Sepervides sat in an old lawn chair under a tired oak at the edge of his property on Ledra Street, a narrow road in the Midwestern bedroom community of Centerville." For his story, which involves a family feud that began in Cyprus decades before, it was crucial that he make the present-day setting clear from the outset: otherwise, his readers would get confused as he went back and forth in both time and place.
Other writers could be less specific, using small details to communicate a sense of place. "They pulled into the gravel drive of her daddy's old farmhouse late that September morning," is the sentence that grounds Janette McKinley Long's story. A few sentences later, she refers to an "old Chevy," which reinforces our sense of being in the rural United States. Cassandra Barclift likewise relies on telling details to signal a suburban location (though she does become more explicit later): "All five of the neighborhood children were gathered around the mysterious confection. Their bikes were carelessly thrown on Mr. Green's manicured lawn."
For other readers, the setting was a more important element of the story, and thus described in greater detail. For John E. Abel, the protagonist's story is intimately tied to two landscapes, and especially to that of the Southwestern U.S.: "But the most distinguishing feature of the scenery is its hills and buttes and mountains that offer shades of rust and purple-gray. Their silhouette against the hazy Southwestern sky triggers images of faraway elephants lumbering through the arid heat."
How much do you think about setting when you're writing or revising a story? How do you make sure it comes through in a way that seems natural to the story you're telling?
How Do We Establish a Sense of Place? originally appeared on About.com Fiction Writing on Friday, March 5th, 2010 at 12:13:29.
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