dannedmind

WRITING TIPS: CONVERSE WITH YOUR STORIES

One of the things I’ve found myself doing lately (mainly because I struggle to write sequels–but that’s another post) is that I’ll write a story and then come back and write the story that happened before it (decades, centuries prior!).

I might even just focus on a small detail like the broken-down truck in a driveway. How did it get to that state?

What this allows me to do is similar to having an ending to my story before I start, in that I know what will happen. But it’s different in that it is a different story–likely even a different tone or genre.

And this informs that story that I already wrote, so that when I go back to edit the first story, I have new details, new threads to weave into the existing story. It becomes a conversation between the two tales that allows the change for additional depth I likely had not considered when I wrote the first story.

Even if one of the stories ends up not being up to par, you’ve accomplished a different way of improving the other story by having the knowledge of one of those stories to help flesh out the other.

FREE STORY: CAVE TROLL

Dear Potential Reader,

Spelunking is most people’s nightmare, but for those that love it, something else has to push that adrenaline rush into the realms of fear. But when all you have to guide you are voices, the absolute darkness has so much more potential for terror to be waiting . . .

CLICK HERE TO READ

This was one of the first dialogue only exercises I attempted. See THE EGG for another example. But this is the one that I believe welcomed the reasoning behind only dialogue because one of our most relied upon sense is taken away: sight. Without sight, what can be described except the darkness?

Hope you enjoy.

All the best,

DAN JIRE

WRITING TIPS: EDUCATE ME

As a reader, my favorite authors often surprise me with thing I didn’t know.

While reading is primarily something I look to for entertainment, I like when the entertainment educates me or treats me to some fact I would not have looked up on my own.

Don’t stress over making sure it’s an obscure fact, many people and most people don’t know everything, and chances are something so trivial to you is news to someone else.

People like secrets, too. We don’t often read about the lives we are already living. We want to know how others live, what other people know.

FREE SHORT STORY: MOUNTAIN PASS

Dear Potential Reader,

The weather is warming up, and mountain laurels are starting to bloom all along the east coast. It might be worth the hike to the national and state forests, so long as you don’t find yourself trespassing, stumbling off the beaten path, disturbing an unnatural order as they do this short story . . .

CLICK HERE TO READ

MOUNTAIN PASS is an old tale from 2012, the 34^th short story in a goal to write 1 short story a week for the entire year. I’d over achieve on that goal and while not all are gems, it’s fun to keep returning to this tale, which was so vivid in my mind as I was also hiking almost weekly during this period—often times alone which is a great way to let the mind wander into all the what ifs.

Last year, I took a hike with a fellow writer and a few snafus in the morning had us arrive late, and so on our way down the mountain we began racing the sunset, ending up two miles away from our ride when we were plunged into darkness. Every root a possible injury and those noises in the leaves . . . well, one hoped not every creature was stirring just yet.

Of course, I’m telling you this tale, so you know it turned out fine in the end, but not every is so lucky as you’ll find out in this short story . . .

Hope you enjoy.

All the best,

DAN JIRE

WORDING: HERB

Today’s wording is all about Herb Brooks, Herbie Hankcock, Herbie the Love Bug—no I mean herbs. One of those odd things the English language makes us remember is that there are silent h’s in our language. Like hour, when talking about an herb that is pronounced with a silent h we use ‘an’ instead of ‘a’.

I know it’s a silly rule, but I’ve always secretly liked it. I like saying ‘erb’ and if ever befriend a Herbert, I’m probably going to be obnoxious and call him Erb or Erbert or Erbie. Which I’m almost certain is a terrible joke he has heard way too many times before. So I’ll only refer to him that way in my head, lest I desire to lose a friend.

The silent h in herb really makes the word flow to that b sound at the end like a bubble gently breaking the water surface. Saying ‘Herb’ with the hard H sound reminds me of a frog late at night. Herb-bert-her-bert.

Other words that begin with a silent h also include:

honest, heir, honor, and the aforementioned: hour.

That’s pretty good company our herbs are in. Enjoy the silence.

WORDING is an ongoing (but irregular) series of posts I’ll be making about words. I won’t always delve into proper use. depending on the word and what it means to me and potentially others there may be articles about words that trigger me, words I love, words that always look misspelled to me and more.