Short Story Month 2012, Day 5. Why short story month?

There hasn't been time to do much blog posting today, so instead I'll send you to Emerging Writers Network on why we're celebrating short story month. I think all too often the short story is seen as a means to some other, more important, and definitely more lucrative end. But just as a haiku is not a step on the way to an epic poem, the short story is not just writer's training for working up to a novel. It is complete in itself.

Here's the prompt.

The story is about a scuba diver who is in debt to an immoral college professor. It starts in a gun shop in a small city. The crux of the story involves a birthday celebration.

The story is about a scuba diver who is in debt to an immoral college professor. It starts in a gun shop in a small city. The crux of the story involves a birthday celebration.

logo bySteve Seighman http://stevenseighmandesign.com/

Short Story Month 2012--Day One. Introductions

This is year six of Short Story Month over at Dan Wickett's Emerging Writers Network. I got the cool logo from him, which was designed for his site by Steven Seighman . I've decided to follow Dan's lead and refresh this foundering blog by celebrating the short story during the month of May as well. It's a bit of a commitment, so I've been wavering, but I'm plunging in at the last minute.

My running idea is to post something story-related here every day. I don't lack for links to interesting things--stories, blogs, websites, etc. It's just a matter of finding the time and energy to post them.

The other purpose, though, is to get people writing stories. Or at least sidling up to the idea of writing a story sometime. I think we get too hung up sometimes on the idea of publication and forget that this is both a challenging and pleasurable activity. To this end, I'm going to post a writing prompt every day as well. This isn't going to be the hard part, because I am going to mostly use one of several random story generators. Seventh Sanctum is a very enjoyable one, though it leans heavily toward sci fi and fantasy, so it won't be the only one I'll use. Here's today's:

The story is about an environmentalist who has a mysterious admirier: a hermit. It takes place in a village in the Arctic. The story begins with someone getting drunk, climaxes with a kidnapping, and ends with a massacre. The story is about a philanthropist who hates children. It takes place in a hardware store. The story begins with an accident and ends with a surgery. International crime plays a major role in this story.

The story is about committed midwives. It starts in a tourist town in a magical alternate universe. The critical element of the story is a war.<P>The story is about a wanderer who is obsessed with a romantic clerk. It starts on a frozen planet. The role of artificial intelligence in society plays a major role in the story.<P>This is a fish-out-of-water story with an emphasis on the dangers of small-mindedness. The story is about a starship communications officer, a moralistic thief, and an electrician who is engaged to an altruistic merchant. It starts on a post-apocalyptic planet. The crux of the story involves someone waking up up. The issues surrounding first-contact with an alien species is a major element of the story.<P>This is a tale about alienation. The story is about a naive CFO who is constantly annoyed by a rude pundit. It takes place on a mountainous planet. The story begins with someone buying a dwelling.<P>The story is about a philanthropist who hates children. It takes place in a hardware store. The story begins with an accident and ends with a surgery. International crime plays a major role in this story.

Feel free to alter that in any way you want, or go to Seventh Sanctum and generate your own prompt!

(And you can certainly post links in the comments to anything you'd like to share...)

The story is about a detective and a neurotic newscaster. It takes place in a town. The story begins with a death, climaxes with someone getting lost, and ends with hunting.