Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Looking at the subject of your story

The stories you write may be good or bad or they may be neither. As a writer, you must decide if you want to go with the flow or take your own path. Taking your own path can be difficult but following the latest trend can also keep you from soaring as a writer. So how do you choose to do this. Every writer aspires to become one of the best but not many will make it, especially in today's market. So there are some things to look at.

Difuse versus complex - Choosing the length of a story often depends on the complexity. A friend asked me how she could write a shorter piece involving characters in a series she is writing. She talked about what she had planned and to me it sounded too complicated for a short piece. For me a short story involved just one incident from a character's life. Not a complicated story that involves many levels. So choosing the length of a story is one way to make the story shine.

So when you're planning your story decide if you're writing about a person's single incident that brings a change to him or her or if this is a longer change based on what happens over a span of time. Look at the strength of the story and the complexity of the idea. Are there going to be many viewpoint characters or just one or two. The more people whose eyes are in the story, the more complex the story. Finally look at the amount of time the story will take. A day usuallly means a short story, though not always but years make for a long story.

So there are decisions only you as the writer can make. So ask yourself these questions before you begin the story and decide on the length,