Which came first, the river or the rocks? In the case of the natural stone stairway which leads from the shore of Surface Creek to our manicured lawn, the river existed first. Think of the flowing river as the context of a written story. Think of the rocks as the story. In my accompanying photo,…
Tag: character arc
Packing to Perfection in Pompeii
Around lunchtime, in the year 79 of the Christian Era, on the coast of what is now modern-day Italy, a once-dormant volcano rumbled. Ash rained down on the first day as residents of the nearby city of Pompeii gathered their belongings and debated whether to leave or stay. A day later, Mount Vesuvius erupted in…
Smashing Your Blocks
All week, I’ve balked at writing my monthly blog post, likely because my day job drains my creative reserves. Luckily, I realized my best option was to steer into the skid and write on this very topic! I doubt many of us often grapple with the basic “what to write about at all” problem. But…
The Element of Surprise
I recently started a new project at my day job, with a new team of coworkers. Naturally, the writer in me began studying these people in search of writing fodder. After just a few interactions, I could paint a picture of my colleagues’ personalities in broad strokes. Character A: confident and self-assured. Character B: easygoing…
Short Story Craft, Part 4: Conclusion
In preparation for the 2020 RMFW anthology, I’ve covered three critical elements of the short story: plot, character, and setting. These are the building blocks of short fiction; conquer them, and you’re guaranteed a good story. But a great story? A tear-in-the-eye, punch-in-the-gut, knock-it-out-of-the-park story? That requires a killer ending. In my opinion, the ending…