April 27 update-instruction

          Finished writing a story that was supposed to be done last Sunday. It is quite  a bit longer then expected but what really slowed me was moving a lot of my wife’s craft stuff then helping to put it back. And some playing around Monday night. 

      The story was part of a mini challenge for the writer’s forum at WotF. Two days of writing--a story a day. I got my first tale done Saturday evening but as I said not the second Sunday. 

Both stories are what I call Urban Alchemy. I now have four stories with the same Alchemist set in current times. Different MCs though. Well, I said four but I am still working on one at work. I take my laptop to work and write during breaks, lunch and before work if I get there early enough. I know there is a fifth some place. It might be on paper, if so I hope I can find it. It’s flash as is one of the four. I thought all of them would be but I added a try-fail cycles __which is good for stories__ and the five human senses__ which is also good for stories__ and some clarification. One story is 4,200 and some words. Another is in the 3,300 range. The one I am working will probably be over 3,000 maybe even over 4,400.  Oh, I just found the missing story. I have been sending it out. Oops. That one is 2,100 words or so. Which means there is only one flash story after all. Unless I add to it and get it over 1,000 words. Oops, just checked it is over 1,200 words. Oh well, no flash there. 

I am thinking of putting them in a set for E-publishing. But I will probably send a couple out a few times before I do that though.  Had fun doing them even if one is late.

Right now I am about to start the next revision of my Q3 WotF story.  From what the first two critiquers said it needs more help than I hoped. It doesn’t look good for that story. I think I will redo one plot point. I magnified it and changed the location of one short scene because I thought David at WotF would like more emotional angst, but Dean Wesley Smith says Do Not Second Guess and Trust Your Instincts. He’s not the only one either. So I undid that change. I also with the help of one certain Critiquer tightened the story. I kept over half of what he suggested to cut bit I also cut some things on my own. So far one more crit to go through--supposedly I will have two more soon. But it doesn’t look good for that story either. 

I have not worked on either of my novels for two weeks at least. I thought I could revise my stories and crit other stories for WotF and still revise at least one novel but so far it isn’t working. Of course I have been writing short stories and revising other stories too--gotta stop that for a week or three. 

My vacation is coming up at the end of June and I want to get one maybe two sets of five stories ready for e-publishing. But I may have to spend that time on the novels. 

I didn’t send a story to Fantasy and Science Fiction this week, Scott P. is probably relieved. This was so because of two reasons. First I ran out of brown clasp envelopes and kept forgetting to get more. Second even though I have one story done and I hope mostly revised, I decided I didn’t want to rush through spell and proofreader check and getting it formatted correctly. 

So next week then, and send out two others too. The number of snail mail submissions is down to those three I believe. 

Oh, I have mentioned Try-fail cycles. According to a certain story structure format. I can’t recall the name right now though. I need to find my notes. Anyway, it says that all stories need at least one Try-fail cycle. Where the MC tries to do what he-she-it needs to but fails. David Farland over at WotF likes three or four. 

Another point a story needs is the problem that needs solving. 

And a hero of some type.

And he-she-it solves the problem. 

There are a couple of other points but I can’t recall right now those either...when I find my notes I will get back with them all. I may have a post with them all already.

I also mentioned the Five human senses. I’m sure I have mentioned these a time or three but to rehash. Dean Wesley Smith encourages writers to do all five senses every two pages instead of worrying about Show. Other writers, like his wife, agree with him. 

Speaking of his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch has a column in WotF 28 talking about writing. It alone would be worth getting the book. 

And while I’m at it I will add that in case you haven’t heard already the Main Character has to change in a story. It can be a small change but readers will be disappointed if they don’t. I wonder about that last but more than one editor has stated it.  I didn’t know that for a couple of years and it surprised me when I heard it.  Personally I wonder how they know and if it is really true but it is counted as an established fact.