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Ascriber / Writers Eyes Workshop - 8.

By Jacki Jackson,

(Jax) is a freelance copywriter, copy-editor and proof-reader. She lectures in Journalism and related subjects at Keele University, Staffordshire, England, UK.

She's also a published writer of articles, short stories, reviews, interviews, BBC local radio story series and more and you can find her website at   www.creativetalentdirect.co.uk .

This is the first lesson of her short story writing course.

The purpose of this worksheet is to provide guidance, inspiration and topics for study. You can do the different exercises in any order you like, whichever part appeals to you the most, start that one first! Print out all parts of this worksheet before you begin the study, and file them for reference later.

Insert:

A Cottage by the Lake

Andrea Douglas

    The year was 1956. My parents were recent immigrants from Germany, and one of their first missions upon moving to Ottawa was to find a piece of property on a lake. They had been introduced to cottage life in the Laurentians while residing in Montreal during their first few years in Canada, and they were smitten.

    That first summer, my parents would pack the car, my older brother in tow, and drive to as many lakes as they could, all the while keeping their eyes open for the perfect spot. One fine weekend, they found themselves at the end of a dusty dirt road, at the top of a hill overlooking a beautiful lake. They asked the resident farmer if he knew of any land for sale.

    'Well,' the farmer replied, 'old Mr. Chambers owns about two miles of frontage on the north side. Talk to him.'

    So off they went in search of Mr. Chambers. He soon was spotted in the middle of the lake, partaking of his fondest pastime - fishing. And since his cottage on the north side of the lake was accessible only by boat, my Dad took matters into his own hands and swam to where he was fishing.

    As Mr. Chambers reeled in his line, he was greeted not by a big pickerel but by a grinning young man with a pronounced German accent. So intrigued was the crusty old American from Pennsylvania that he offered my Dad his choice of property (even at a dollar a foot for 250 feet of frontage, it was still a princely sum for my parents), and the rest, as they say, is history.

    The first few years of ownership involved a lot of hard work. Felling trees, clearing the land and readying the site for construction. Then there was the matter of getting the lumber across the lake - by rowboat and canoe. But bit by bit, the cottage was born and began to evolve.

    By the time I arrived, a few years later, the one-room 'garage' had grown to include another room, which housed the 'kitchen'. Here, my mother toiled over a log burning stove to cook and to warm the water that was carried by bucket from the lake. And while my mother admits the very basic arrangements made for some hardship, she claims that even my first summer as a new baby was no problem.

    As I grew, so did the cottage. First a screened porch and then a bedroom were added. And that was how things remained for a number of years.

    Oh, there were improvements from time to time - like the pump my Dad

installed to eliminate the drudgery of hauling buckets of water from the lake. That was great, until it was left in the lake a little too late in the fall and the early frost claimed it. There were the new (newer) gas appliances. But I always was convinced, as I lay flat on the floor holding a match under the fridge to start the pilot light, that it was only a matter of time before it exploded in my face.

    Eventually, my parents neared retirement, and that was when things really started to change. There was a major addition that boasted not only a cathedral ceiling but also a Palladian window. Then came the wrap-around deck. And finally, what my mother had dreamed of for more than 30 years - a big, new kitchen.

    The whole 'new and improved' cottage is powered by electricity, provided by an underwater cable run across the lake. Dad still keeps the kerosene lamps, because he always was convinced that electricity would rob the cottage of some of its quaint charm and romance. But on those 30-degree summer days, when it just doesn't cool off at night, I notice he's pretty happy to be reading by electric light instead.

    He did draw the line, however, at installing an indoor toilet. The outhouse, with its windows and full screen door, lets in not only fresh air but also a beautiful view of the lake. Dad remains firmly attached to his 'loo with a view'.

    Other things have changed, too. I now bring my family to enjoy the most beautiful spot in the whole Rideau Lakes system. Well, at least that's how I see it. My family includes my hubby, three-year-old and new baby.

    As I look around the cottage, I wonder how my mother ever prevailed in those early years. In the kitchen is the microwave that I can't live without. In our bedroom stands the fold-up playpen and baby monitor, along with bags of disposable diapers and wipes. In the living room is the wind-up swing. And strewn everywhere are both big kid toys and other baby paraphernalia.

    Could I have managed parenting at the cottage like my parents did? No way. Not even close.

    Today, my parents took my three-year-old to the cottage with them, as they often do. Several hours later, a 'first' occurred. I answered the phone in the city and heard my daughter's little voice announcing the arrival of a telephone at the cottage. We really have come a long way.

    Hey, do you think they'd deliver pizza across the lake?

Exercise 1: The study of published short stories

If you want to write short stories and get them published and paid for, then it's a really good idea to study published short stories, especially the ones you have enjoyed. 'A Cottage by the Lake' is a web-published short story written by a Canadian author. Read it through, from beginning to end, then conduct the following study on this story:

1. How many words long is it? (Don't think counting the words is a pointless exercise! If you wanted to write for this particular market, then you'd have to know how many words to write for the best chance of acceptance.
2. What sort of language is used? (For example, is it ordinary, everyday language or long, complicated language?)
3. What is the story about? Could you tell someone who hasn't read this story what it's about in around 3-5 sentences? If you can, then you have an understanding of the word, 'plot'. The plot is 'what happens' in a story.
4. Study the title. Is it informative or does it ask a question? Does it issue a challenge, perhaps? Can you identify, from the title and the first paragraph, exactly what words are intending to persuade the reader to carry on reading? These early words, meant to encourage the reader to carry on reading are called 'hooks'.
5. Read the ending 2 paragraphs again. Does it end satisfyingly, with all the loose ends tied up? Or does it leave the reader wondering what happens next, an open-ended ending? Does it induce any emotion – for e.g., anger, sadness, happiness? Does it answer any of the questions or issues raised in the body of the story? Do you think the ending is satisfying?

Now you're getting a picture of what a short story should have as its main ingredients. There's a beginning, middle and end. The beginning is meant to arouse interest, to entice the reader to carry on reading. The middle is where the plot gradually unfolds and the story is revealed. The end is where the story finishes – at least for the moment. The best stories are those that stay with you long after you've finished reading them.

Incidentally, you've just conducted your first (albeit small) Market Study. I cover this further in my course. Market study gives you a complete picture of the stories a particular publication has accepted and that is the insider knowledge that gives you the edge over amateur writers when it comes to acceptance of manuscripts by editors and publishers.

Exercise 2: Go ahead and write something yourself!

I can hear you from here – arrrgh! What shall I write about?

Let's do a few small exercises to start with.

1. Look out of the window – what do you see? Describe it in a short paragraph or a series of short sentences. You've written something – well done! Now let's use a storytellers' skill on that short piece.
2. Look through the window again. What do you see in the foreground, the middle ground and the background? Describe what you see, using more words and enlarging on them with description. Use your five senses (sight, touch, hearing, smell, taste) to make that description come to life. Imagine that you are describing the scene to someone who is blind. For an example read the two short pieces below:

What do I see from my window? The road, trees. A field beyond. A kid walking along the footpath outside. Nothing special.

That's what one student wrote in response to that first exercise. And here's what she wrote the second time:

The road winds like a snake, along the hill and out of sight. Trees, mid-winter, rattle their bony, unclothed limbs towards the clouded grey sky, as if pleading for the summer to come. The child hurries down the pathway, the wind tearing at her clothes, buffeting her small body as she stumbles, half blind into the wind. She licks the salt from her lips, from the tears tracing a line down her cheeks to her chin.

Pretty good, don't you think? The child wasn't really crying, the student had used her imagination to create a scene which was much more interesting than what was actually there. That's part of a storytellers' skill. Making others see and feel (identify) with what they are reading. The example above could then be extended, as here we have a hook – why is the child crying? We would have to read on to find out.

1. Here's something else to get you started. Below is a list of first lines from short stories. Pick one that appeals to you and form a picture in your mind of the subject and situation. Think about what happens next and write it down. Go where your imagination takes you. You don't have to write a whole short story at this point (unless you're so inspired you can't stop – in which case, go for it!) but concentrate on just writing a page. Or see if you can keep your story going for at least four paragraphs. If you can manage this, make notes on what might happen next in your story.

Sarah picked up the glass ornament from the low shelf. She knew she shouldn't touch it, but she couldn't resist.

The man in the new grey suit finished arranging the battered suitcases above his head in the luggage rack.

The child had no shoes and no coat – in this weather!

'You're back then,' Kim said with a resigned sigh.

The first thing anybody knew about it was a crash, an echo fading away, then a deep, velvety silence.

Jay took a deep breath and plunged into the pool.

Well, you'd have done exactly the same in my place.

© JJ/2002

Prose: Send us what you've written, you've got a pretty good selection to choose from, the only restriction is to keep it below 3000 words.

Poets: Using the same Exercises, we'd like to see your poetry. Your restrictions are - no more than three poems of a maximum of 40 lines each.

Click here for 'Through the Window' by Wilson Irving (Short Story)

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