tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319453613836766610.post4582133178972476574..comments2023-10-23T23:35:22.776+02:00Comments on Cross Words: Short StoriesTed Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09022309459554237650noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319453613836766610.post-38536593688153893402012-04-21T23:22:41.531+02:002012-04-21T23:22:41.531+02:00Ted, I don't have a blog or web site. You can ...Ted, I don't have a blog or web site. You can just go to Amazon. Colin Leslie Beadon Escapades and Islands part 1, Part 2, or Part 3. And you'll get more than one story to read in each part, plus book contents, preface, etc, into your computer. For that you don't need a Kindle. <br /> Glad to hear you sent one off. You must never be deterred. You should see my pile of rejection slips, among those that made it. When I started I was working over 250 hours a month in the oil fields, a night and day thing, no days off. I kept little notebooks and jotted in pencil, and used a manual typewriter at home, when I managed to get to it. <br /> I don't know what you are up against. It is a matter of cast iron resolve, as you must know. <br /> We'll keep in contract. Hope you will. ColinColin Leslie Beadonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03915309360969926141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319453613836766610.post-70547649889278454342012-04-21T18:25:27.148+02:002012-04-21T18:25:27.148+02:00Colin, I don't see a blog or website for you. ...Colin, I don't see a blog or website for you. I don't own an eReader yet, though my wife is threatening to buy one for my birthday, so I have no means of getting electronic stories yet. I did send out one story to four magazines yesterday. I expect they'll reject me, but it's a start.Ted Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09022309459554237650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319453613836766610.post-89858386580567552322012-04-21T16:33:15.571+02:002012-04-21T16:33:15.571+02:00Ted, My stories are very varied and easy to read. ...Ted, My stories are very varied and easy to read. They may change your mind, since they were also published in London Magazine, Penthouse, Mayfair, Women and Home, besides the BBC and Short Story International. One even made it to the British Arts Council Anthologies. I write about what I know well, and make them, according to one well known Caribbean editor, " As though they were true". Some are very short indeed like 1000 words. None of them pass 5000. When written, they were restricted to Magazine requirements. <br /> Anyhow. Hope you will have a bash at writing such midgets, because they might very well help you in your own writing, help stir imagination, or what ever. Best of Luck. ColinColin Leslie Beadonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03915309360969926141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319453613836766610.post-23618993648645861362012-04-20T21:45:36.377+02:002012-04-20T21:45:36.377+02:00That's probably my biggest weakness, Colin -- ...That's probably my biggest weakness, Colin -- that I don't really enjoy reading short stories and hardly ever do so. I feel like I need to write some because it's better to have some publishing credits when you try to snag an agent, but it can't be easy to try to become good at something that you don't really even like. I have a few short story collections on my shelves that I need to study at some point.Ted Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09022309459554237650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319453613836766610.post-34751133887038412412012-04-20T21:16:48.726+02:002012-04-20T21:16:48.726+02:00Sure Ted, I'd like to read the three you are ...Sure Ted, I'd like to read the three you are working on. I tend to work on more than one at a time too. I just keep hitting them every couple days, and they seem to build in their own way. It is better to write them and not think anything too specific, or tell anybody about them.I don't know if you do that too with a novel. I would not actually comment about yours, until one actually printed, and hope you'll remember to tell me. <br /> If you look at my stuff in Kindle, you'll see where and when they were mostly first published. BBC,Short Story International,etc.Colin Leslie Beadonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03915309360969926141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319453613836766610.post-22297987225076006622012-04-19T01:19:14.360+02:002012-04-19T01:19:14.360+02:00Ted, I'm sure you can. They were never that ea...Ted, I'm sure you can. They were never that easy to write though, and editors either hate your work, and with luck a few can really take to it. I've just placed three books on Kindle. Escapades and Islands Part 1,2,and 3. I've used some of the stories that I sold, and some that did not, and some that have never seen an editor, and a few news ones since Kindle has given me fresh hopes. If you pick your days right, you can get them free, but you can get a preview inside them anyhow, through your computer. Thank God for Kindle. <br /> I could tell you a lot more about how I write short stories, but perhaps you might read a few of mine first, to see if my advice is worthwhile. CLBColin Leslie Beadonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03915309360969926141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319453613836766610.post-41274954177044786362012-04-18T19:29:38.974+02:002012-04-18T19:29:38.974+02:00Thanks, Colin. You got a jump start on my, as I di...Thanks, Colin. You got a jump start on my, as I didn't start to write until my late thirties. I may find that I can't get a short story published anytime soon, but I am going to try.Ted Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09022309459554237650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319453613836766610.post-48466345915461851892012-04-18T17:17:13.338+02:002012-04-18T17:17:13.338+02:00Starting writing from scratch, it took me 7 years ...Starting writing from scratch, it took me 7 years to get my first short story printed. I started by collecting the short story writers I liked most, and reading them over and over, and over. Ones from H.E.Bates, D.H.Lawrence. Hemingway, Steinbeck, John O'hara, and Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. I was a hard working long hours oilman with a family,and aged 32 when I started to write. I still, at age 76, do my best to write them. A good short story is a bitch to write, but I still love them.Colin Leslie Beadonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03915309360969926141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319453613836766610.post-19314405903941074502012-04-18T05:52:54.255+02:002012-04-18T05:52:54.255+02:00That's what crit partners are for Ted :)
I lo...That's what crit partners are for Ted :)<br /><br />I love short stories. Once I got started on them I'm finding it hard to complete novel length plots. There has to be a balance somewhere. Stephen King figured it out . .<br /><br />........dholedolorahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08715849844092553699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319453613836766610.post-8789236109307781912012-04-18T03:59:59.442+02:002012-04-18T03:59:59.442+02:00i've never really tried a short story, but i b...i've never really tried a short story, but i bet you're right about it being a whole different bear to wrastle with!vic caswell https://www.blogger.com/profile/01218698236837610704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319453613836766610.post-39395144917972743532012-04-17T23:55:16.269+02:002012-04-17T23:55:16.269+02:00I'm with you on this. I don't like writing...I'm with you on this. I don't like writing short stories or even stand alone novels. I think in epic series. Usually I only read short stories or novellas if they were written by friends.Susan Gourley/Kelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02669793865290876168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319453613836766610.post-30499492731631344982012-04-17T21:44:49.420+02:002012-04-17T21:44:49.420+02:00I struggle with short stories too.I struggle with short stories too.Michael Offutt, Phantom Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10557969104886174930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319453613836766610.post-22559696847098313672012-04-17T18:54:57.052+02:002012-04-17T18:54:57.052+02:00It seems the shorter the form, the harder it is. ...It seems the shorter the form, the harder it is. I write novel length, short story, and poetry. The poems are the toughest, definitely. Yet I write fewer short stories than anything. Seems as though if I like an idea enough to write several pages, I probably like it enough to keep on living there until it grows and grows ...<br /><a href="http://www.onewritersmind.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">One Writer's Mind</a>JA Grier (ee/em/eir)https://www.blogger.com/profile/10733447921892286243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319453613836766610.post-41193722043183617502012-04-17T18:47:54.624+02:002012-04-17T18:47:54.624+02:00The only trick to short story telling I know of is...The only trick to short story telling I know of is to stick to one character and imagein them in a scene from a novel.Martin Willoughbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05605554706836638988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319453613836766610.post-51596571253717651822012-04-17T18:46:32.911+02:002012-04-17T18:46:32.911+02:00Simon really is the master of these. I feel like I...Simon really is the master of these. I feel like I'm good at flash-fiction, or the vignette, but not the short story.<br /><br />Looking forward to reading yours, though.Matthew MacNishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03264738483763244969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319453613836766610.post-86020656072378956212012-04-17T18:31:54.301+02:002012-04-17T18:31:54.301+02:00No, I need more room to tell a tale. If Simon is d...No, I need more room to tell a tale. If Simon is doing them successfully, he's your best bet for advice. Or Milo, as he knows every speculative fiction place accepting short stories and has had dozens published.Alex J. Cavanaughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09770065693345181702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319453613836766610.post-64533343681865279922012-04-17T18:31:39.393+02:002012-04-17T18:31:39.393+02:00That is where I may not be so good, Nick. I think ...That is where I may not be so good, Nick. I think I may be too specific in my details when it comes to short stories.Ted Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09022309459554237650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319453613836766610.post-71430003356848968872012-04-17T18:19:42.479+02:002012-04-17T18:19:42.479+02:00Well, I wouldn't say I'm a master, but I d...Well, I wouldn't say I'm a master, but I do enjoy writing short stories more these days. I think a lot of the skill is in allowing the reader to fill in the blanks - read "between the lines". If it allows for many interpretations that's great. It is a hard skill to pin down so I hope you get comments from others more well versed in the field!Nick Wilfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03841776353790635132noreply@blogger.com