Author: dannedmind

An author, artist, and filmmaker. Interested in telling stories.

FREE SHORT STORY: THIS ONE IS BENJAMIN

Dear Potential Reader, 

Welcome to this month’s free short story. But wait . . . did you want to spoil a novella called THIS ONE IS DEADLY? Because if you’re fine spoiling the expanded version of the following short story then proceed and read the original: THIS ONE IS BENJAMIN.  

CLICK HERE TO READ   

The following tale was originally written as an exercise in shifting viewpoints to tell a story. I liked it then and still enjoy the brevity of it now. But at some point, years and years ago, I decided to expand it into a novella. When that novella was originally published, this original short story version was included in the back pages as an extra and now it’s here, free to read.  

The novella will be anchoring an upcoming short story collection sometime in the coming year or so . . . titled THIS IS DEADLY.  

Hope you enjoy.   

All the best,   

DAN JIRE   

WRITING TIPS: FORMULAS ARE YOU FRIEND: HATCHBACK WOMAN EDITION

I practice writing. A lot.

I write throwaway stories. I write stories with goals to practice things like dialogue or action or group conversations.

The tales of THE HATCHBACK WOMAN began only as an exercise. I set a goal to write 10 short stories using a formula. Each story had to fulfill the formula in different ways.

The original formula to any HATCHBACK WOMAN tale was:

  1. Character receives an item from the HATCHBACK WOMAN.
  2. The item has a magical power.
  3. The use of the item changes the character’s life.

Pretty simple, but not when you have to come up with ten stories (or the ongoing case of HATCHBACK WOMAN, where I’m over 30 tales as of this writing).

For #1 I came up with: theft, found, given, left in new character’s possession, rewarded, demanded, offered a choice, given by a person other than the HATCHBACK WOMAN and a few variations, like dug up after witnessing her bury something.

For #2, I tried to think of different superpowers. Whatever I could think of, from invisibility to fire power and control over time.

For #3, I tried to vary how the item affected the character. Did it make their life better or worse? The character ended up deciding this each time. And it’s what I ended up loving about writing the HATCHBACK WOMAN tales. It was hard to know if she was good or evil or if it was the character’s choice.

I’ve written a few HATCHBACK WOMAN tales that failed. But practice makes perfect, and sometimes, I just needed to change up who the character was that received the item or how they received it.

Setting formulas gives us a chance to change up what we’re brainstorming.

Instead of trying to come up with an original idea, we’re asking ‘how do we make this different than what others have read?’

Want other ideas on how you could write? I’ve got more, every LAST WEDNESDAY of EVERY MONTH.

FREE SHORT STORY: ADAM UNLUCKY

Dear Potential Reader,

It’s September, and it might even still be hot where you are, but it seems unfair to leave summer without a story set in the season. Just one more reminded of why you might be happy Summer is over.

Join Adam and his mother on a trip to a friend’s pool party that includes a very uninvited guest . . .

CLICK HERE TO READ

The following tale was forgotten. I have many of these short stories that I write and then move on to far more interesting ideas. They’re exercises in craft, strengthening of muscles, realizations of faults. But every now and then I stumble back upon them and wonder what they were about. Sometimes, their rediscovery reminds me of plans forgotten or send me off into tangents and series development. ADAM UNLUCKY, is such a short story and maybe you’ll see why it is forgettable, but I do have a soft spot for straight-forward horror tales and maybe, this is just the kind of refreshing quick read you need as the last few hot days of the year trickle toward fall.

Hope you enjoy.

All the best,

DAN JIRE

WRITING TIPS: FORMULAS ARE YOUR FRIEND- THE 3 QUESTIONS

No one likes formulaic writing. It’s a bad.

It’s what is the lowest form of television is.

It’s been there done that.

Yes.

But I’m not talking about those formulas. All stories are a formula. Some people break them down into acts. Some just say, beginning, middle, end. But I’m talking about asking yourself 3 questions to get your story started. From there, you can cut your own path . . .

  1. What has disrupted your character’s normal routine?

Do they always get to work on time, but today the alarm didn’t go off? Going off this example it tells us your character is punctual and responsible. But now, they’re panicked. By defining what their normal day is like, you define them.

2. Why is this important on this day?

Is today their yearly review? Did they hope to catch their crush at the coffee shop around the corner? Here you’re defining their goal now that the chaos of their broken routine is happening. You are telling us why this is important. How are they going to try and achieve that goal?

3. Why will they fail to achieve their goal?

Is there a monster around the corner? Did they arrive to find the coffee shop missing? Create another layer of conflict. Feel free to repeat this as often as needed to keep your plot engaging.

Now I used the word ‘fail’ above, and that should be on your mind, but it doesn’t mean the story ends that way. These three questions serve as prompts to let the character you defined in #1 achieve #2 (or not) by resolving of succumbing to #3.

Need more advice you’re not sure you asked for about writing that story of yours? You’ve come to the right place, there are older tips, but new ones arrive every LAST WEDNESDAY of every month.

FREE SHORT STORY: BUT HE DID BITE

Dear Potential Reader, 

Welcome to this month’s free short story. Join me as a character tries to better his physical existence with exercise in, BUT HE DID BITE. 

CLICK HERE TO READ 

The following tale was written after a similar experience. I have a long history of planning to get into the habit of regular exercise only to have an injury derail the efforts. It’s inevitable. 

Now, most of the time it’s because I try to push too hard too soon. The same thing can happen after taking time off from writing. If I try to write too much in one day, I’ll be dead the next day, but if I build up my strength, I can go on long stretches. 

You might wonder how this fits into the JIREverse, so I’ll just point out there are some characters in this one you’ll meet again someday and get to learn just what this story is also about. Like what’s happening ‘between’ the lines.

Hope you enjoy. 

All the best, 

DAN JIRE