If you write a story here

[Elsie]

Make sure it is short,
One line, maybe only two
Or it will go poof!

 

[LadyEmeraude]

Elsie, did a story of yours go missing or something?

Hope not ...

 

[horseless carriage]

Sometimes, when story telling, it's easy to get caught up in crafting beautiful sentences and creating a flow of ideas. You can lose sight of the bigger picture, or what the story is really about. In those moments, it's worth asking. “What am I actually trying to say?” Try to boil everything down to the simple, underlying concept. Write really basic sentences to reflect that concept, you can always come back and embellish later, if you think that the storyline needs it.

 

[Paco Dennis]

There once was a bow wow doggy that got lost for 10 years while on a camping trip with his family. He walked 300 miles to get home.

 

[Naturally]

She knocked on the door of the house she’d only seen in dreams and waited for someone to remember her.

 

[Trila]

Once upon a time there was a little girl who's Daddy told her every day, that she was a Princess. When she became of age, she married a Prince, only to find that he was really a toad....and she was never actually a Princess at all.

 

[squatting dog]

I had a daughter. She died, I cried... still do.

 

[DaveA]

Sometimes, when story telling, it's easy to get caught up in crafting beautiful sentences and creating a flow of ideas. You can lose sight of the bigger picture, or what the story is really about. In those moments, it's worth asking. “What am I actually trying to say?” Try to boil everything down to the simple, underlying concept. Write really basic sentences to reflect that concept, you can always come back and embellish later, if you think that the storyline needs it.

Sometimes, when story telling, it's easy to get caught up in crafting beautiful sentences and creating a flow of ideas. You can lose sight of the bigger picture, or what the story is really about. In those moments, it's worth asking. “What am I actually trying to say?” Try to boil everything down to the simple, underlying concept. Write really basic sentences to reflect that concept, you can always come back and embellish later, if you think that the storyline needs it.

How's this HC. Did I get it right?
JACK MET MARY. HE CHASES MARY. HE CATCHES HER. THEY HAVE SEX. MARY GETS PREGNANT ! JACK LEAVES TOWN !

 

[VaughanJB]

I don't do short - which will be of no surprise to anyone here.

I have started and stopped writing that novel so many times...... I still want to write just one piece of fiction. I have four chapters, but that's it. I've not worked on it for forever.

Still, this reminded my, and the opening four paragraphs are currently thus:

For some time his sleep had been troubled. It was as though someone stood over him, constantly chattering or laying their hands upon him in some modern sacrifice to the Gods of convenience and urgency, his rest a currency in modern times.

It was much later that he came to realize that his many quests for convenience had in fact constructed an elaborate roller coaster of predictable, but none the less jarring, highs and lows. From the screech of alarm clocks, to the clicking expanse of plastic heating in his apartment, to the crackle of electricity as it lit his TV screen, his life was a cycle of balancing OFF with ON, as though equilibrium could only be achieved by ensuring he was equally plugged in, whether he slept or not.

This may have been a comfort were it not for the constant worry that one or more of these devices might fail to catastrophic effect. A complex web of dependencies had built up, and if any one of a string of events failed, or even slightly changed, then the entire operation became unpredictable and dangerous. A failing alarm would make him late, throwing off an entire day that had been meticulously planned in messaging systems, on multiple electronic calendars, and social media updates that broadcast his every significant, and insignificant event.

A burned out fuse could delay his coffee, unsettling his palette, so even his lunch, several hours later, would somehow be tainted as his senses suffered from an imbalance of planning. Electronic calendars shifted gears without ever moving, but a missed synchronization would alert everyone, broadcasting his tardiness.

The freedom of convenience meant he was now invested in hundreds, thousands, of people he wasn’t even sure existed. Somewhere in the planetary system, hanging in low orbits, were actions and planned inactions that targeted him, and constantly weighed up how events in distant places would affect his decision-tree. Technicians, engineers, administrators, and astronauts all played a part in ensuring that the range of choices were sufficiently overwhelming. Choice meant endless choice, endless choice led, intrinsically, to a need and desire for simple binary.

 

[Paco Dennis]

I don't do short - which will be of no surprise to anyone here.

I have started and stopped writing that novel so many times...... I still want to write just one piece of fiction. I have four chapters, but that's it. I've not worked on it for forever.

Still, this reminded my, and the opening four paragraphs are currently thus:

For some time his sleep had been troubled. It was as though someone stood over him, constantly chattering or laying their hands upon him in some modern sacrifice to the Gods of convenience and urgency, his rest a currency in modern times.

It was much later that he came to realize that his many quests for convenience had in fact constructed an elaborate roller coaster of predictable, but none the less jarring, highs and lows. From the screech of alarm clocks, to the clicking expanse of plastic heating in his apartment, to the crackle of electricity as it lit his TV screen, his life was a cycle of balancing OFF with ON, as though equilibrium could only be achieved by ensuring he was equally plugged in, whether he slept or not.

This may have been a comfort were it not for the constant worry that one or more of these devices might fail to catastrophic effect. A complex web of dependencies had built up, and if any one of a string of events failed, or even slightly changed, then the entire operation became unpredictable and dangerous. A failing alarm would make him late, throwing off an entire day that had been meticulously planned in messaging systems, on multiple electronic calendars, and social media updates that broadcast his every significant, and insignificant event.

A burned out fuse could delay his coffee, unsettling his palette, so even his lunch, several hours later, would somehow be tainted as his senses suffered from an imbalance of planning. Electronic calendars shifted gears without ever moving, but a missed synchronization would alert everyone, broadcasting his tardiness.

The freedom of convenience meant he was now invested in hundreds, thousands, of people he wasn’t even sure existed. Somewhere in the planetary system, hanging in low orbits, were actions and planned inactions that targeted him, and constantly weighed up how events in distant places would affect his decision-tree. Technicians, engineers, administrators, and astronauts all played a part in ensuring that the range of choices were sufficiently overwhelming. Choice meant endless choice, endless choice led, intrinsically, to a need and desire for simple binary.

I like it just as is. Very well written, and conveys the dilemma. I guess getting 4 paragraphs published is tough.

 

[VaughanJB]

I like it just as is. Very well written, and conveys the dilemma. I guess getting 4 paragraphs published is tough.

Yeah, it would be better if it rhymed. Thanks for the comment.

I have four full chapters in place, but as I said, haven't revisited it for a very long time. Still, perhaps I'll get back to it at some point.

Sometimes, when story telling, it's easy to get caught up in crafting beautiful sentences and creating a flow of ideas. You can lose sight of the bigger picture, or what the story is really about. In those moments, it's worth asking. “What am I actually trying to say?” Try to boil everything down to the simple, underlying concept. Write really basic sentences to reflect that concept, you can always come back and embellish later, if you think that the storyline needs it.

I hear you, but it's not how I work. I'm more a "stream of consciousness" type writer. As my posts on this site will illustrate, I simply don't know how to do minimal. It may have been a good skill to develop, but I'm unlikely to change now.

I think the correct thing to do is whatever gives you satisfaction and makes you happy.

 

[OldOld]

A forum story, all join in.