One Real Story

Editor’s Note: Going to a Conference

August 20th, 2008 · No Comments

One Real Story is going to a conference for three days. But don’t worry, we’ll be up and running when I get back. Keep writing and get in those submissions.

The Editor

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Short Story Review: Much more than “Awake”

August 19th, 2008 · 1 Comment

The New Yorker: Awake
by Tobias Wolff

awakeI was highly impressed with Awake by Tobias Wolff all the way through the read. It catches you initially by reminding you of the days when you too had to struggle through the Odyssey. The fumbling while reading through chapters and the flash when the light bulb finally goes on. The story manages to maintain the same style as the Odyssey in that you are reading it not just for the meaning, but to “earn” your way to the good parts. The trick is that subconsciously you are enjoying it all along for the simplistic beauty of the words themselves.

The reward?

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Monday Market: 2008.08.18

August 18th, 2008 · No Comments

fiction writers - now accepting short story submissions

Your short fiction can be submitted to submissions@underthisredrock.com - Please review the site philosophy and read a few stories to get an idea of the

DarkHart Press: Submissions

We are now closed for submissions to THE TERRIBLE BEAUTY, We do accept short story submissions via email—but ONLY for anthologies during the times when

Wordclay Short Story Contests Now Open: Submission Guidelines

Are you accepting flash fiction pieces? -MSK. 18. angiekp | June 23, 2008 at 3:34 pm. Sorry, but the Short Story Contest in now closed (the entry deadline

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Weekly Creative Writing Tip: Kill Your Darlings

August 16th, 2008 · No Comments

Variation: Kill your babies (Albert Herring)

typewriterSome attribute this quote, or the slightly different version “Kill all your darlings”, to Mark Twain and some claim that it was F. Scott Fitzgerald who said it. However, it was author William Faulkner who said it first and teachers of creative writing, film makers, journalist and other kinds of storytellers have been carrying it forward ever since: Kill your darlings.

Note: This does not mean that you should kill your loved ones. What it does mean is that you should cut the crap in your writing, even if it hurts. As a writer you have to have the backbone to get rid of the needless elements in your stories, even if you love them, when they don’t add any value or significance to the piece. These elements are detrimental to your writing, no matter how small, and can weaken the message you are trying to get across.

So what is a “darling”?

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Flash Fiction Prompt #30

August 15th, 2008 · No Comments

Write a short story. The title of your story must contain at least three of the following words:

  • fish
  • winter
  • alien
  • turnip
  • ashen
  • travel
  • calendar
  • lunchbox
  • tradition
  • harmonica
  • silver

It’s really simple. Write the title, then write the story.

Good Luck!

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Poetry Series by Michael Lee Johnson: Ginger Bread Lady

August 14th, 2008 · No Comments

Table of contents for Poetry Series by Michael Lee Johnson

  1. Poetry Series by Michael Lee Johnson: Ginger Bread Lady

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