by Mayumi-H | Nov 17, 2012 | Fearless, Process, Short Stories
Though currently embroiled in my NaNoWriMo tale of soldiers and stowaways, I was abruptly struck by Julia’s prompt for this week’s 100-Word Challenge for Grown-Ups:
…the silence was deafening…
WordPress and Twitter friends itsjennythewren and sjbwriting said I should feel free to indulge my pestering inner muse on this one, though, so I’ve done. (Make sure to check out their blogs, too!)
If you don’t like my story, that’s fine. Sometimes, we just have to write for ourselves.
“It should have stayed that way”
The blaring horns, the cawing gulls, even the roar of rolling waves…none of them matched the sounds of Ross’s heartbreak: hitching breaths exploding like dynamite, staccato bursts of emotion spit wet and raw between his teeth.
Yet, still, he was beautiful.
And that beauty pulled, like an undertow, until his sobs became a muffled gasp of surprise from around the briny clasp of his lips.
A heartbeat later, he pulled away, his eyes clear and full. Not of love, though. And even the practised platitudes couldn’t make vanish that look of betrayal.
Wordlessly, he rose, and left. And for Neville, the silence was deafening.
I feel a bit bad that my WordPress readers only get to see this tortured side of poor Neville, when he’s really one of my more well-balanced characters. Love grows in different ways for each of us, though, and this love between him and Ross is integral to the depth of their friendship.
“Good old Nev.”
Others might say I’m pandering with my portrayal of Neville, because his sexual orientation gives no conflict to the main plot. But I always felt that, even if there’s no sexual affair between them, his love for Ross made him more honest than virtually any other character in the story. The story (and Ross) needs that. I don’t think I could make Neville straight and have him be the same character or give his perspective equal weight than it has with him being gay…and still a little bit in love with Ross.
How did you answer this week’s prompt? And/Or: What are your feelings about a character’s identity affecting (or not affecting) the plot of a story?
by Mayumi-H | Oct 22, 2012 | Fearless, Short Stories
I’m returning to Julia’s 100-Word Challenge for Grown-Ups this week, where the prompt is:
“…it can’t be that time…”
For those of you unfamiliar with this challenge, we’re to write a 100-word story using Julia’s prompt (in this particular case, we’re allowed to go to 105 words, since we have to incorporate the specific prompt phrase). Here’s mine:
“Let Go”
Tears came, despite her willing, and a rough scratching stifled the words from her throat:
“It can’t be that time,” she told him, as her hand hovered above the faint stubble of his cheek. How round it used to be, how full, when tickled laughter had been his only language. No longer, though: his face had grown so long, so narrow, like the rest of him, the very reflection of his father long past.
Now, she had to let him go, too.
She sniffed. “I’m not ready to say goodbye!”
A quiet sigh escaped him. Then, he chuckled. “Mum, I’m going to miss the bus…!”
I recently read a post over at Itsjennythewren’s blog about researching publishers. One point Jenny mentioned was that each character should “feel like they are the main focus in the book.” I have quite a few characters to deal with, so I don’t know how successful I’ve done at that bit. But, I do like thinking about each character’s life, no matter how little page time that character might get. Hopefully, this little vignette – about Maggie, Ross’s mum – manages her perspective successfully.
What did time take away from your characters, this week?
by Mayumi-H | Oct 17, 2012 | Short Stories
“DETOUR” was the prompt for this week’s Five Sentence Fiction challenge, from Lillie McFerrin. We don’t have to use the word itself, just write a five sentence story using that word as inspiration. (I’m cheating a bit this week, as I originally wrote this one for another prompt. But, I think it fits better, here.)
This one is for all the people out there who don’t always go where they want to go, but get taken to where – and with whom – they need to be.
“In a Word”
There had been other men, of course, before him: the deliriously brilliant swashbuckler who’d spoken of strange and ancient mysteries; the handsome, charming defender who’d nearly swept her off her feet with flattering want; even the wise but wicked gentleman who’d wondered with her what could have been.
He wasn’t as brilliant, handsome, or as wise as them, nor delirious, charming, nor wicked.
But, he was strong and warm when they held each other, tenderly passionate when they kissed, and he filled her with such joy when he made her laugh. And, sometimes, when she least expected, he could be stately, like a gentleman, and as courageous as any knight, and even as exciting as a daredevil…in his own sometimes silly, sweet way.
He was, simply and in a word, her husband.
Yes, yes, I know: I’m a sap. But, I write what I know, which makes me a happy sap.
What DETOUR did your characters take, with this prompt?
by Mayumi-H | Oct 1, 2012 | Fearless, Short Stories
Contributed to the Five Sentence Fiction prompt DEVOTION, from Lillie McFerrin’s blog.
My Fearless story may be about Ross and Amber, but their supporting cast is just as important. In some ways, I think supporting casts offer some of the real meat of a story. They can provide back story where necessary; they can offer contrasting views of a situation; they can help create necessary conflict – or resolution – for or between the main characters.
Neville is, without a doubt, my favorite of the Fearless supporting characters, but I’ve enjoyed creating the back stories for the others, as well….
“Onward”
She loved this tiny village by the sea, with its cool, breezy nights and crisp, sunny days; she loved the way her husband had stories to go with its every old name and hidden corner, and the way her daughter was making stories of her own, to go with every new face and open break of beach and field.
But, as much as she loved the odd eccentrics and familiar friends of this village, she loved more who she was, the purpose she knew she had. Which was why it almost broke her heart to broach the subject she’d kept secret for too long, and told her husband she had to move on, to where she could do the most good, away from here.
He paused for but a moment. Then, as though he’d only been waiting for this, he smiled, and said, “So, when do we leave?”
Which of your supporting characters do you love – or hate? Why?
by Mayumi-H | Sep 26, 2012 | Short Stories
Another double-up of prompts, mostly because I’m too tired to concentrate on each without combining them (it’s been a long week).
Lillie McFerrin’s Five Sentence Fiction prompt is “ZOMBIE” and Julia’s 100-Word Challenge for Grown-Ups prompt is a picture:
I’ve taken a fair amount of liberty with these prompts, but we write how we’re inspired.
“Last”
Palm pressed to the terminal, she paused, briefly, as the data jumped between synapses – maps, securcam feeds, personnel records, everything was open to her.
“Think you can find your friends?” the soldier asked, startling her concentration.
Pulling her hand away, she opened her eyes, empty black replacing the wild torrent of information, and frowned: how could people shuffle dead-eyed and dumb through their own world? The Institute’s doctors had said she was special, if alone – the last of her kind – and, now, she understood why.
“I may not see,” Imien said, “but that doesn’t make me blind.”
Some technobabble, but I liked getting into Imien’s head a bit, here; she’s one of the Stowaways I haven’t really examined.
What five sentences or 100 words did you write, this time?
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