I have to agree with Grusha, Kistinspencil has elevated the Micro to an incredible level. She's written 100 of them and each one is truly a complete story! A number of authors have also written wonderful micros, but I think kistin has been specializing in them and the focus and attention to each of hers is remarkable!
Jen's directions and advice should be well taken by anyone who tries a micro, they are much harder than they look. Trying to condense an entire story down to 100 words is more than an exercise in editing. You have to carefully choose each word for not only what it brings to the immediate story, but how it contributes to the subtle concepts that allow the reader to see the depth that is there, even if the words are not.
One of my favorite writers, Dashiell Hammett, was known for agonizing over each word in his stories. You might recognize him from stories like The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man. Yes the movies are good, but the books are better :-)
But that's the kind of commitment necessary for a good micro. You have to squeeze every last nuance out of each and every word to not only meet the word count, but tell a complete story. I know, I've written a few and also had many rejected for not quite getting there! So when I read Sprite's, NaughtyAnnie's, KimmieBeGood's, (to name a few that come immediately to mind) in addition to Kistinspencil's, I know how hard every one of those micros was to write!
I know I missed quite a few of you whose micro's I have read and enjoyed, you can blame my warped mind for not having the list at hand right this second. But know I will keep reading your micro's and enjoying them and also appreciating the effort that goes into them!
Love,
Brooke
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Brookell
3 hours ago
Lesbian Female, 55
0 miles · New York
Forum
A legend in my own mind!
While I was born in Brooklyn, I don't have much of a Brooklyn accent. Most people who hear me speak put me in the Northeast of the US, but that's more word choice than accent. While I never had a strong Brooklyn, I think living all over the place helped soften it and remove most of it. Although the first time I said "Y'all" in front of my Mom after living in the South for several years, you should have seen the look on her face.
A legend in my own mind!
Quote by Meggsy
You forgot the "Eh" .... "Eh.
Like Dave- Aussie English --- without the "Eh" I am from New South Wales.
Only Aussies will get this one.
Actually Western Canadians will get it as well. I had to ask one of my friends one day why every sentence seemed to end with an 'eh' and like it was a question. She shrugged and said "Eh?"
A legend in my own mind!
Congratulations to the the winners and the honorable mentions. I managed to read them all and, to be honest, so many of the stories in this Comp were fabulous, I have no idea how the judges do it! Which is why lovely Nicola will never ask me to judge, unless she is seriously into the wine!! She best be sharing because that's probably the only way she'd talk me into it! I did notice the Aussies and the UK did particularly well. Hmmm, I have several Brit friends and foolish is not the word that comes to mind when I think of them! I think they've been holding out on me!
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A legend in my own mind!
I don't know if this will help anyone, but my own guide for chapters has less to do with length, and more to do with where is a good place to break the story. For example my longest chapter story, "Conversations with Amy" has eight chapters, and they range from 5000 to over 9000 words each. What was important to me was to make each chapter a complete story rather than an obvious 'Continued in the next chapter". Oh, there are story threads that link the whole, but each one has to feel like a solid story and part of the overall. Using word count as a way to divide up a story just never works well for me.
Another example is my "Is Being Used a Bad Thing?". Only four chapters (so far) and each one is just under 2000 words. But each one is a distinct story, connected true, but each one has a unique aspect of it and each ending is a solid end point for that part of the story. I know I could have lumped them all together into one long story, but I liked the chapter idea for this one, it made them more individual to me. I didn't plan on less than 2K words per story, the end points simply were a natural spot to end a chapter. I don't know how long the next chapter will be, but I will still try and make is a unique take and an appropriate ending, even if it's less than 2000 or more than 9000 :-)
I guess I should really mention that Conversations with Amy is actually part of a larger story, which also consists of Conversations with Jessie, Conversations with Donna, Conversations with Katherine, and Conversations with Greg. I've been working on and off with a Conversations with Gem. The stories all share a common set of characters and there is some overlap between Amy and Donna's stories. Writing chapter stories is pretty challenging, there is so much happening and so many characters. but totalling out over 100,000 words might make it a bit long, but it was a fun set of stories to write up. (Yes, the last part is a shameless plug, so sue me!) LOL!
Good luck to all who attempt chapter stories,
Brooke
Another example is my "Is Being Used a Bad Thing?". Only four chapters (so far) and each one is just under 2000 words. But each one is a distinct story, connected true, but each one has a unique aspect of it and each ending is a solid end point for that part of the story. I know I could have lumped them all together into one long story, but I liked the chapter idea for this one, it made them more individual to me. I didn't plan on less than 2K words per story, the end points simply were a natural spot to end a chapter. I don't know how long the next chapter will be, but I will still try and make is a unique take and an appropriate ending, even if it's less than 2000 or more than 9000 :-)
I guess I should really mention that Conversations with Amy is actually part of a larger story, which also consists of Conversations with Jessie, Conversations with Donna, Conversations with Katherine, and Conversations with Greg. I've been working on and off with a Conversations with Gem. The stories all share a common set of characters and there is some overlap between Amy and Donna's stories. Writing chapter stories is pretty challenging, there is so much happening and so many characters. but totalling out over 100,000 words might make it a bit long, but it was a fun set of stories to write up. (Yes, the last part is a shameless plug, so sue me!) LOL!
Good luck to all who attempt chapter stories,
Brooke
A legend in my own mind!
Quote by Annacurious
Congratulations Sir!
You are an amazing author. You and my friend brookell have together written quite beautiful lesbian-themed stories. Thanks for sharing your work.
This is my first forum post, but I have been reading the stories on here for a long time
Thank you for such a sweet post, especially your first ever post!
A legend in my own mind!
Quote by heidi
My Cousin Vinny ( I liked "My Biological Clock is Ticking"(stomping her foot)
"When you grow up your heart dies"
A favorite of mine, "The Breakfast Club", if memory serves, Ally Sheedy's character.
How about "I now pronounce you man and wife, proceed with the execution."
A legend in my own mind!
I used to get free tickets from a GF who worked at a radio station for a number of movies over the years. Some were excellent, like 'Casper', others less so. A few were so bad I left the theater and sat in the lobby reading a book waiting for my friends to come out. One was "My Father The Hero" starring a french actor I've loved in many things, Gérard Depardieu, and a young Katherine Heigl. It was just awful, I couldn't take it any more. Another one I left early was "Matinee" with John Goodman. I love John Goodman and think he's one of the most underrated actors to this day. But not in that movie. I understand it was supposed to be kitschy, but it was too ridiculous for words. Hot Shots Part Deaux was another one. I left and went into another theater to watch something else. I don't mind screwball comedies! I loved Airplane! and even The Groove Tube, but Hot Shots! No way!
There were other movies I didn't like, often at odds with critics. Often I have to wonder if they saw the same movie I did, but those three are the only ones I walked out on. OK, there was another one, i can't remember the name. I took my niece and several of her friends (6-7 year olds) to see a kids movies they were all hot about. I had to walk out, luckily I had my phone and Kindle App. They loved it, but I just couldn't watch, not in a theater loaded with screaming kids LOL
There were other movies I didn't like, often at odds with critics. Often I have to wonder if they saw the same movie I did, but those three are the only ones I walked out on. OK, there was another one, i can't remember the name. I took my niece and several of her friends (6-7 year olds) to see a kids movies they were all hot about. I had to walk out, luckily I had my phone and Kindle App. They loved it, but I just couldn't watch, not in a theater loaded with screaming kids LOL
A legend in my own mind!
Many of you know ChrisM, he's been hard at work , not only as a Mod, but he is now the latest author to get his Omnium Badge. For those of you who don't know, that means he has published a story in every one of Lush's categories! That's a huge achievement because many of those categories are uncomfortable for many of us to do.
Please join me in congratulating Chris. It's not just the number of stories, but the quality of them that makes him one of the most popular and prolific authors!!
Please join me in congratulating Chris. It's not just the number of stories, but the quality of them that makes him one of the most popular and prolific authors!!
A legend in my own mind!
Let's see, when i lived in Florida my home didn't even have a heater. The few times the temp dropped I had a wood stove to warm things up. In Northern Ca, I found a minimum of 70 was needed to be comfortable. But it was also an old apartment building, retrofitted with heat so the 70 on the thermostat meant about 65 in the apartment. The was doable, but the weird thing is if you bumped the 'stat to 71, the apartment was over 70 for some reason and too warm. Here in NY, north of NYC, my thermostat sits at 66 in the winter. A separate thermometer says it keeps my house between 64 and 68 and works pretty well. Anything cooler and I found my hands start to hurt, the beginnings of arthritis, I believe. Anything warmer and it's actually uncomfortable, especially going in and out.
A legend in my own mind!
Quote by Brookell
Harry Dean Stanton in the Green mile!
How about a surprisingly good movie with some good music. Not usually on my radar, but watched it with a niece, a 10-year-old niece.
"What happened? Did you all get hit by a bus or something?"
No one got it? I actually found myself surprised at enjoying "Lemonade Mouth", a Disney movie about some disparate kids who form a band. Average story, surprisingly good music. My niece loved it!
How about this one: "Anger's a potent spice. A pinch wakes you up. Too much dulls your senses. "
A legend in my own mind!
Quote by heidi
Grace's was Split Second
Brook's was Fellow Ship of the Rings
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I want a fried chicken dinner with gravy on the side , I want to shit in your hat and I want Mae West to sit on my face because I am one horny motherfucker!
Harry Dean Stanton in the Green mile!
How about a surprisingly good movie with some good music. Not usually on my radar, but watched it with a niece, a 10-year-old niece.
"What happened? Did you all get hit by a bus or something?"
A legend in my own mind!
One of my issues with Comps is that I have no idea if I have read and scored a story yet. In the main story list, you can see the one's you have scored, but in the Comp list, the only way to tell is to re-open each story. It would be great if the Comp story list displayed like the main list and showed the stories you scored. There are so many entries for some of these comps, you cannot read them in one sitting.
A legend in my own mind!
Quote by Grace
the irishman
we're going to need bigger guns. much bigger fucking guns.
Damn, I can picture the movie, Rutger Hauer and the always sexy Kim Cattrall, but it was another character who said that line, but I cannot remember the name of the movie. Late 80's or early 90's! OK, I give -- I will have to look it up! But since I can't get the title, I won't post it here and spoil it for someone else!
A legend in my own mind!
Quote by Beffer
Jimmy Cagney in White Heat
"Oh Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars!"
Another old movie fan, I see. One of the few Bette Davis movies I really liked, Now Voyager! Here's another old fav or mine:
"You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow."
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