Just Not Hero Material

I am fond of believing that anybody can be hero material. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. Some are bold; some are quiet. Some are fearless; some press through their fears. Some are strong; some are weak. Some are crazy geniuses; others are simple folks. Even the unlikeliest character can become a hero...

...But only if you have enough time to show the change. Readers still demand a certain level of action and sacrifice by the end of the book. Being able to take a un-hero-like character and push him through trials that show his true metal is part of what makes a great book. But what if you are writing a short story?

Short stories can cover some of the same epic changes, but, due to the...well...shortness of a short story, you don't have as much room to cover the changes. Fewer characters can go through big changes, and the big changes cannot be quite so big. There simply isn't enough word-space to do it justice.

Which is why I had to rethink the hero in one of my Sleeping Beauty retellings. I pulled in too many "lies" for him to overcome, and he simply didn't have enough time to do it. I had to go back and cut down on his troubles so that I could do justice to the troubles he had.

How about you? Are your characters facing big changes in their lives?

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A Short Story Break

via Pinterest It has been a while since I penned a short story. Usually it takes something like a "short story contest" to inspire me. But I have noticed my writing skills improve with each contest so there is something to be said for writing short stories. I say all this to lead into the fact that I am going to try another short story. There is no contest looming on the horizon, but it has been so long that I think I am due to write a short piece. Life cannot be entirely devoted to novel-length plots... I am rolling around different ideas in my head. There is no one to give me the first three words or a picture to base my story on. There are no restrictions, no props, and no judges. Methinks I will try something that is both epic and ordinary...something I have seen before. After all, personal experience, great things, and the expression of the...

More Snippets from Snow White Rose Red

One of the shadows moved. “Were you just going to chuck it in there with no thought for the poor folks on the other side?” Flip’s voice drawled out. It was a deep voice and it made my heart skip a beat. He moved away from the trees and came to stand in front of me. “Some hard-working fellow is plowing his field and then – whop! Out of nowhere, a poisoned apple flies out and hits him upside the head.” He clucked his tongue reproachfully.

Goodbye and God Be With You

It's rather fitting that some things come to a close on this day -- the last day of the year. I submitted my last entry into the Rooglewood contest this morning. I can hardly believe it took me until the day of the deadline to send it in because I'm usually earlier than that. And, even with the extra time I took, I still felt a little bit like maybe I could have done better if I had more time. But there was no feeling of regret when I hit "send." Mostly it was just a prayer that Rooglewood would hear the heart of the message when they read it and that maybe, if I win, they could help me bring the full potential out of my little story. And there was also a feeling, after working on these stories for more than six months, that it felt good to close that chapter and move on to the next one. I did it. I wrote them. And I'm really proud of them. Last year, the act of hitting "send" on my contest entry catapulted me into an anticipatory state....

The Pen of a Ready Writer

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