Have you written a short storty, novella etc?

[Bad Bear]

I've attempted a couple of novels, but way back in the crusty days of ye olde ball point pen. More recently, however, I had to write a fictional piece as part of my English degree (about 5,000 words), and it came out okay - it was a bit of a modern-day Poe parody. I don't think thare is ny danger of it getting published, so I would be happy to share on the forum (though I doubt it would fit!).

Anyone else got a story in the works?

[Moderator]

We can't post your story on the site but you're welcome to discuss writing in general terms. There is also a Social Group you can join.

[JRLauer]

I wrote a couple of stories in my college days. One of them I entered into a fiction contest. The rules stated that anything sent in became the property of those running the contest. A warning to other writers, don't do that. Three years later, I saw my story on the silver screen and I got nothing out of it.

[DarkWriter]

Do not sell yourself or work short. We are often most critical of our own work.

If you are not under the gun to have it published let it rest for a period of time. This means putting it away and forgetting about it. After a month or two, maybe three--take it out and read it as if someone else had written it. Mind you, as you are reading you will probably make a change here, edit a little there and make a few corrections...Nevertheless, when you have read the last word, on the last page, ask yourself if you saw it in a magazine would you take the time to read it--or better yet would you buy it.

If you have not read Stephen King On Writing, I think you will find it interesting as a fan and a writer.

As for your question, I always have something in the works. One day they will find me dead and buried under a mountain of pencil shavings.




If you hear swearing coming from the chimney...it may not be Santa

[Timur Takeshi]

I tried to write but I am afraid you don`t speak Russian...

[Anni M]

Have written little stories and illustrated them all my life, more for my family's amusement. Stories with morals and friendly pictures (but with a dark side--that will get the little buggers attention!!! :cool2:) for my younger brother and sisters, later on, my child enjoyed them...I wrote some for him, of course...one, a neat little story about the seasons changing and what happens as they do.
Then just after joining the SKMD, something smacked me in the haid and I popped out 2 large novella's back to back-- novel size, maybe? Both books were around 60,000 words. I can't believe those came out of me.:eek2: They aren't bad, but I don't care if they never see the light of day. :)
Anyway. I wrote a little longer, tested out the erotica genre and wrote a few shorties before taking on videos. :smile2:

[Bryan James]

Four books, two on hold...the other two I bounce back and forth as the mood takes me, but they're progressing. Sneak in a (very) short story here and there. I am a horribly unregimented writer.

BJS

[Kim L.]

As a kid, I made up stories about a family of puppies to tell my younger brothers & sisters on long car rides and I wrote poems. Wrote some short stories, starting in high school. No publications except for one of the "Dark and Stormy Night" Bulwer-Lytton series (a contest to write the worst opening sentence of a novel). I think mine was in "Bride of Dark And Stormy."

[Solar-Pavlova]

So Anni M, have you any tips for writing for the erotic genre as i have wrote a few lines to test 'em out on myself and a friend.

I would love to finish my book but I have started a screenplay also for an idea I had before I started my book.

But I'm kinda stuck as to where to take the direction, and as for poetry it's none stop, constant writing.

:smile2:

[Anni M]

As a kid, I made up stories about a family of puppies to tell my younger brothers & sisters on long car rides and I wrote poems. Wrote some short stories, starting in high school. No publications except for one of the "Dark and Stormy Night" Bulwer-Lytton series (a contest to write the worst opening sentence of a novel). I think mine was in "Bride of Dark And Stormy."
:cool2:

[Anni M]

So Anni M, have you any tips for writing for the erotic genre as i have wrote a few lines to test 'em out on myself and a friend.

I would love to finish my book but I have started a screenplay also for an idea I had before I started my book.

But I'm kinda stuck as to where to take the direction, and as for poetry it's none stop, constant writing.

:smile2:
I guess you start off with what you know... :laugh:
tips, tips...
Hmmm... if the story gives you a " special feeling down there", then you're probably headed in the right direction! :rofl: :blush:

Okay, (be an adult, Ann:biggrin2:)--- first, I had a look at what was out there in the market for one handed reading and started jotting down ideas. Also the best erotica should be subtle, well detailed and not in the readers face--so to speak. That is porn.
There is a big difference!

[BlueCeleste]

Have written one short, just for the fun of it but my ideas gets the best of me and eventually it snowball into a novel...
Delved into Erotica as well, now that was fun!

[Dylan Roberts]

hmmm...

I wrote a couple of screenplays when I was much younger. Those are scattered to the winds now, left in somebody's attic or basement, I think...along with a lot of notebooks of my very early poetry...which I recall was pretty heavily influenced by Rimbaud, Verlaine, and probably Jim Morrison. (I was into the Doors back then. Now, I only listen to them occasionally. However, if it hadn't been for them, I'd have never really gotten into the blues :-) .)

Of course, most of my song lyrics end up being the length of novels...hahaha....and I have actually written a three or four cd's worth concept album. Don't know if that counts.

[Balrog21]

sure have! check out the new thread in Chattery Teeth!
Best,
Bal

[Maddie]

Yes I have written two short stories inspired by Stephen King, and by that I mean hes in them, yea I drag him in there, :laugh:

and well, if anyone wants to check out my short stories, pm and I will send you the links, (if I can find them, lol)

and, my sh!t is not professional, I dont follow any rules, no critiquing allowed, lol.

[kingricefan]

Way back when the Castle rock newsletter was up and running I submitted a short story to Stephanie Leonard, who was the editor at the time and she published it in the Febuary 1987 issue, it's entitled The Exit if any of you have old copies of the newsletter laying around. That was the very first story I ever submitted and the last also, guess I've been alittle busy............

[Kim L.]

Also wrote a screenplay for Miami Vice. (it wasn't accepted.)

[Maddie]

oh, wait, don't pm me, my inbox is too full, lol, just, ship it over to my page if you wanna check out my short stories inspired by Stephen King, come on, just do it. :biggrin2:

oh and Im currenlty working on another one, for about a year now, yea its more like a novel, where, I honestly cant figure out what to do with Stephen in there :laugh:

and Im not even a writer, wtf?

[Kahllie]

I have written newsletters, newspaper columns, some feature stories, and articles included in magazines, but I only have one short story (that I illustrated) on one of my websites. It is based on a real life technical issue, and the concept was cited in an encyclopedia of science, but it is rather obscure. Fourth and fifth grade children I tested the original story on loved it. Their teachers had read the piece and offered to share it with the students for their reactions. The teachers thought the tribal names too complex, however.
So much for dreams of "success."
The site address has a link to my business site, so it is not posted.
I enjoy writing, and am working on other fiction, but end up mostly churning out informational pieces because I am good at putting some technical things into terms that the general public can understand. Other than my one online piece, I don't have any short stories or other fiction accessible to the public, but I would like to have something...some day.

[KyleKarabekian]

I wrote a couple of stories in my college days. One of them I entered into a fiction contest. The rules stated that anything sent in became the property of those running the contest. A warning to other writers, don't do that. Three years later, I saw my story on the silver screen and I got nothing out of it.


What was the story?! If you don't mind me asking, that is :D.

[Matthew.Degnan]

I've written loads of short stories and 1 novel. I'm also working on a novella collection at the moment. Novel should be published in about a year, year 1/2.

[wally wonder]

lost a novel manuscript on the greyhound...between 500-600 pages...they actually paid me $32601 dollars for losing my bag...was a mistake, my zip at the time...heh heh....but next time you travel greyhound, look for it in the seatback, there w/the barf bags and exit information....maybe some kind of gideon bible thingy, doggy-style....figure to go out like emily...i believe she showed her stuff to someone who knocked it down...wimmen...whud they know, anyway...and can't imagine ever getting anything published....my neighbor's dog, odie (some kind of brd-head term) is supportive, but even he takes a dump at times...it happens....and i did eventually get the right amount from greyhound, two hundred some off dollars...never did see the seabag again...:(

[fushingfeef]

Bluey, was that the only copy of the novel you had? I always back up my work 4 different ways.

[fushingfeef]

I've written loads of short stories and 1 novel. I'm also working on a novella collection at the moment. Novel should be published in about a year, year 1/2.

Congrats Matthew! Let us know when it's available!

[wally wonder]

Bluey, was that the only copy of the novel you had? I always back up my work 4 different ways.

well, it was the only copy of that draft...it might have been the first and probably the best...who knows...i've got another draft of it, not as long, and maybe someday i go back to it....tried a few times, different takes on it...and i haven't learned, as i have two hard drives, removed from the tower, gathering dust...i think there's at least one longer something and a pile of short stuff...maybe someone could report me, tell the effa bee eye there's porno on there, maybe they could retrieve the stuff....i thought i read something, someone found a manuscript, offered it on ebay, can't remember the details...and since the last thunderstorm virus storm i've tried to back stuff up...if i could figure out how to get the printer to work, maybe i'd do that, print....right now, i have to take it from one, plug it into another...ink is too expensive and i guess kodak has some kind of printer, 8 bucks for ink....whereas the other stuff is...too much....i guess it would make sense to print it out....who knows what could happen to discs.

[xkittyx]

Eh, mostly just what we had to write in school, though one short story 4 pgs typed or sumthin like that. Got me really good reviews from my English teacher and she shared it with the other English teachers and they liked it and submitted it to a contest or sumthin but I must not've won since I never heard anything afterwards. :oops: It was influenced by SK for sure... I was reading The Stand at the time I think.

[Tayyab Saeed]

I've written some short stories. Here are some of them:
1. "New Identity"
2. "Ghosts in the Photographs"
3. "Call from the Dead"
4. "Bad Dreams"
5. "Die and Lose"
6. "The Mermaid"
All are horror stories. Well, at least these six are.

[smerdyakov]

I'm more into poetry, but I've written short stories. One I'm working on involves a simple-minded vagrant who lives in a shack next to a sewage pond. The county wants to do away with the pond, so the vagrant goes into the city to petition its preservation (because it's an historical landmark, he argues). Heh.

[randallFlaggfan1]

I've attempted a couple of novels, but way back in the crusty days of ye olde ball point pen. More recently, however, I had to write a fictional piece as part of my English degree (about 5,000 words), and it came out okay - it was a bit of a modern-day Poe parody. I don't think thare is ny danger of it getting published, so I would be happy to share on the forum (though I doubt it would fit!).

Anyone else got a story in the works?

I'm currently working on a long, character-driven novel.

[Kahllie]

I've attempted a couple of novels, but way back in the crusty days of ye olde ball point pen. More recently, however, I had to write a fictional piece as part of my English degree (about 5,000 words), and it came out okay - it was a bit of a modern-day Poe parody. I don't think thare is ny danger of it getting published, so I would be happy to share on the forum (though I doubt it would fit!).

Anyone else got a story in the works?

I have a short story that I illustrated online on one of my websites. It illustrates a scientific theory that has recently been considered valid. I wrote it for children and it has questions and helps for teachers who use it for discussion in their classrooms.
That and some artwork that I did of my theoretical interpretation of what I guess could be called some "natural events" have been verified by recent discoveries.
Kinda makes you happy to think that your imagination can go beyond what is known and trace it back to origins that can't even be proven until the technology catches up.
When I first proposed the theory and sent an editorial to a scientific magazine, the editor told me that I needed to get back in the kitchen and bake cookies and leave the theorizing to the scientists who had specialized degrees in those subjects.
Maybe they need to take a break occasionally and make cookies.
My business site and this site are tied together, so I never release site information publicly or privately.

[Tayyab Saeed]

I have started two new novels: "Doctor" and "Misfortune". "Doctor" is about a doctor who starts his own clinic and gives poisonous medicines to his patients. "Misfortune" is about a man whose fingerprints spell the word "misfortune" with each letter of the word on each finger.

[Bryan James]

Yes. And I'm slowly adding more yes.

[Maddie]

Oh heres that old thread, now I remember, I forgot all about posting in here, I followed in pretending to be like the real writers that do that, 'pm me for my stuff' (as if) and someone actually really contacted me just lately and they said they loved it and that I am an original. :biggrin2: thank you fush.

Once a writer here actually sent me a short story they wrote, based on a spooky true encounter Id shared on the board out here, which did not escape my permission, that was very flattering, long as it beknownst that I have my own version too, first. :laugh: and no telling when or where it will pop up.

Im not a writer grammatically but I can twist some tales of humor and horror, Theres a group story in the 'If you scare easy Do Not click here' its covered in cobwebs, but if anyone cares to dust if off, I am Abigail Van Nelson, :glare:

[Mookie]

I write a lot of short stories for my kids. That's always fun for me. Never thought about doing it seriously though.

[Christiane17]

I have written a few short novels since I have retired from work. I'm in the process of having my last written work being published. Only a few authors here in Quebec make a living of their works, and I know I'll never have a bestseller in library, but I try my luck with a publisher who's very enthousiastic about my ''baby'', because it's a story about a travelling cat who has psychology skills. Some kind of zootherapy story I should say. Of course, my novel is in french. My eventual publishers are a couple and they have 7 cats. I didn't know that they were cat lovers before I contacted them. Is that a sign? I wish SK would tell me, but I think I'll follow my little inside voice. :grinning:

[Maddie]

I write a lot of short stories for my kids. That's always fun for me. Never thought about doing it seriously though.


I have written short stories for my little girl, and her obsession with food, she will give me a title, like 'Birthday Surprise' or 'Pizza Party' and I will write the story, theyre always so funny, but the main character is always 'Miranda' my sister tells me I should write children's books, I thought of ever having put up an Autism page, those would be part of it. :smile2:

[Mary Strickland]

Always a fan of Erma Bombeck, sometimes I try writing in that general style. She could take an almost non-subject and put so much humor into it. I'm working on two subjects: City people moving to a rural setting & city people trying to raise chickens (I think chickens are strange.)

[Bryan James]

I'm writing something called "Francis Takes His Pants Off." It's a YA novel written in Braille.

So far all I have is the title, but my target/research audience seems to be enthusiatic.

They are taking a strong hands-on approach as they help me develop the story.

Sinseerly,
Francis

[Natjen26]

I wrote a couple of short stories.
Since I took writing seriously I wanted to tackle the great novel immediately, but lately I seem to find my voice better in short stories and poems.
And I write for the love of it, so I'll see when I get something worth to write 300 pages about :)

[Sundrop]

I'm finally putting together the story of my dad's family.....truth is definitely stranger than fiction, btw!

Had to change all the names and locations though, in order to protect the guilty.....

[kingfanalaska09]

I've been writing for quite sometime written short stories, novellas and wrote afew books on a old Mac wrote my versions of The Stand (The Journey), The Tommyknockers (The Dollyknockers), It (The Scary Clown) they were different. I have submitted short stories to magazines got rejection letters but not giving up

[am78]

When I was 15 I tried to write two novels.
Novel 1# was heavily influenced by S.E Hinton books. At that age I loved books about troubled teenagers.

Anyway, I based it on my friends. I gave that novel up after awhile because the plot didn't seem to have a point. I opened the novel with one of the girls writing in a composition book. This really resembled the scene in The Outsiders movie where the Ponyboy character is writing something like 'nothing gold stays forever'. One of the characters was name Violet. I had Violet and friends driving drunk and escaping from the police. I later had Violet and a bullied/teased girl run away. Later, Violet committed suicide. The plot just kind of went on and on. After about 200 pages and no ideal how to end the story, I gave the novel up.

Novel 2# that I wrote at 15 was about a troubled teenage boy who lived in Chicago. I opened the book with the boy getting pushed and punched by a gang. A police car stops the fight. I also gave that novel up after a few hundred pages because the plot didn't have an end in sight.

I finished a rough draft of novel 3# sometime in 2009. I still haven't rewrote it. That novel was based on an article I read about a mining town. The town sits over a mine that has been burning for years, and the town is in danger of collapsing. I set the novel in 1900 in a small town in the south.

I wrote a short story when I was in 1rst or 2nd grade. That story was about an ant who searches for home. Along the way, the ant meets various other creatures; a bee, a snake, a butterfly. Eventually they take up residents inside an old pumpkin.
I wrote another story when I was child. (I don't remember the age). This story was about an old house that sat next to a cemetery. One night, at the stroke of midnight, hands begin reaching up out of the graves.

[Wayne C. Rogers]

During the past year I've been writing like my life depends on it--four novellas, six short stories, two movie scripts, a dozen book reviews (including one on Blockade Billy), and a new edition on a previously published novel. I'm now seventy-two pages into a third screenplay and 12,000 words into a short novel. This doesn't, however, cover all the rewriting I've done on every single story. Once I start back to work in two weeks and with my health problems, my writing will drop off tremendously, but I'm hoping to have enough stuff out there so I'll be remembered when I kick the bucket, and not as Trapper John on Mash or Mr. Rogers and his neighborhood.

[Damaris]

I've written several short stories and more poems than I care to admit (because most are worth forgetting) but my attempts at longer fiction generally failed. I began several novellas and novels that meandered off into no man's land and were never finished. The one I did finish, somewhere in the misty moors of my college days, now makes me cringe (and not in a good way). After years of not writing, I'm currently working on one that shows actual potential of being finished (:eek2:) and I have a couple ideas I'd like to look into in future.
Exciting times, I tell ya. :wink2:

[am78]

I keep a notebook of novel ideals,too.
I recently began writing fanfiction(mostly soap opera fan fiction.) I really enjoy writing the fan fiction.

There are several projects I want to begin soon. I started out wanting to write horror fiction but in recent years I've been drawn to uh....well, the romance genre,lol. I go back forth between the two genres. I have an ideal for a novel about a group of witches, and several ideals for romance novels I want to develope into novels.
I have a handful of short stories that unfortunately no longer exist. I thought they were bad and detroyed them.

For a few years now I've suffered from writers block. I have some great ideals but become blocked when I try to write. Now I pick a word out of dictionary and just start writing a short story. I don't care if its bad or good. This has seemed to help the writers block some. When I was a teenager I use to write for hours. I'd write 2 or 3 chapters a day; sometimes as many 40 or 50 pages a day. Single spaced, too. I went through 4 or 5 packs of copying paper a month,lol.

[Mr Nobody]

am78: I think you've hit upon a 'secret' there - just do it. Freewriting doesn't always clear the block (and tbh I've found most blocks come when I'm taking it all/myself way too seriously - though you also have to treat the craft with the respect it deserves, so there can be a very fine line there), but it might trigger a few ideas for when the block does shift. And it always does clear, eventually. I see freewriting in the same way as clearing a drain: sometimes it's easy, the block was slight; other times you really have to keep at it, time and again, and you wonder if it'll ever go away...and then it suddenly does. That's when I tend to get those rare and wonderful times where the words just pour out and there aren't enough writing hours in the day.

[am78]

those rare and wonderful times where the words just pour out and there aren't enough writing hours in the day.

Thats so true. How I miss those days.

[HorrorMama]

I've had a recurring dream since the age of 7 that gets worse with age. I had it again last night and I'm turning 20 in a month. I usually draw to get my feelings out, but this dream is something that's much more than a page can hold. I figure if I write it in novel form and get it all out, maybe it'll stop. It's awful and I feel weird about it, but who knows. Maybe it'll be worth something to someone other than me when I'm done.

[muskrat]

I have a handful of manuscripts I've been knocking around for several years...been writing and drawing all my life...a couple horror novels, a couple hard-boiled Chandler-esque crime novels, a massive sword and sorcery epic that just goes on and on and on, and other various things...

One of these days, baby, One of these days...

[Petrollika]

We dug out our old computer about a month ago and I discovered a story that I intended to post to the Sims 2 website (I'm a geek, so sue me)

It's only a few pages long, as I have a great habit of starting something, having ideas for it, then forgetting the ideas and abandoning it