How Do You Decide What to Write About?

alj wrote:

...and the slimy frogs did croak and ribbit in the darkness.

The sound was drowned out by a thunderous sound of thunder followed by a lightning flash of lightning.

12/31/2012

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

Call me Ishmael.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

Now how would that opening line produce a short story ... unless it was a family arrangement?

Shelagh, it could also be the reverse. A single man without a fortune, seeks a wife that has one.

That is scary. How does a wealthy person ever marry? It would be hard to know if you were the object of affection or your money.

How it has worked out for me, I get an idea, I outline it and see if it will turn into a story. So far four have turned into stories, two more are outlined and waiting for me to get in the mood to write again, a dozen or so never made it past trying to outline.

When Amazon Shorts was active, I was popping off short stories - a dozen or so - on a regular basis. When it fizzled, so did most of my incentive to write short stories.

I found Amazon Shorts an inspiring experience. Amazon Singles is in the same league with less inspiration.

Amazon shorts still exist -- the 99c short stories on Kindle offer the same reading experience.

My problem is covers. Amazon Shorts made cute covers. I have no talent for covers at all. Don Harpe had a series of covers that I thought looked easy and clever. I wish I had a template that I could just change the inner picture to go with the story


A cover like Ghost Orchid with D. K. Christi at the top, then a box in the middle (or circle - maybe the ability to change it) and then the book title at the bottom. I would just plug in a picture in the middle and the title at the bottom. I would change the color palette as required.

DK, I sent a file that you can edit online. It's a large file (7MB) so will take a few minutes to download.

Thank you! I'll give it a whirl. Maybe I'll catch up the short story crowd yet....:-)

By the way - does anyone buy the short stories at .99 ?

So far this year I've sold four. Last month I sold 20.

Here's a book cover I designed using the template I sent, DK:

Is that Cujo? lol

1/4/2012

What is the site for Amazon short stories ? I was thinking

of putting on there " The Boys From Brooklyn," Also is there

a site where I can create a cover with four young boys with

a wagon ? Thanks..

Cheers...Joe...

Yes, LC, this is how he looked before he became mean:

It's the same site as for longer works, Joe. The "Product Details" section will include an approximate number of pages. You might want to point out that it is a short story in your description as well.

1/4/2013

Ann...

Thanks, I'll check it out.

Cheers.Joe..

My best fiction has always come from ideas that have stopped me in my tracks... made me pause and think, "Hell, that just might work". And they're normally a single idea, like a single notion.
As Abe mentions, I think inspired ideas or thoughts out of the blue are always way better than concepts you've hammered out. They become hard work, but that initial, breath-taking lightbulb in your head alway creates more passion and determination to write than any workman-like mental slog to cook something up.

Graeme.

I took a walk in Corkscrew Swamp on my birthday in 2007. I saw a lot of excitement about a flower - a ghost orchid - high in the cypress canopy. I looked into the scope - and was mesmerized. It was the most beautiful orchid I had ever seen - with tendrils dancing in the swamp breeze. I took more than my time at the scope. Others who finally had their turn were equally as excited - it was the only known ghost orchid plant in the sanctuary.

I wandered through the swamp the rest of my walk, still taken by the beauty of the ghost orchid. I noticed in a new way the volunteers, the couples walking - it was as though the beauty of that gossamer, white flower had opened my eyes My ears heard more frogs and bigger gator calls and owls followed me with their eyes. Truly, that beautiful flower was my birthday gift.

I returned to my office and wrote about the experience, more or less a journal entry, to share with a friend. As I wrote, my typewriter was moving on its own, fingers flying across the keys, inventing a story about someone else in that swamp with the orchid experience - a family grew, a family with secrets that only the ghost orchid could release.

I have felt similarly when writing short stories, moved by the environment to put in characters to have that experience.

You were inspired by beauty and shared it with others through your novel.
Strange how inspiration comes to us when least expecting it.