S3nsitiv3

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with me? Leave me your opinion.

"You hear that?" Penny looked at
the basement door.

"Like, I ain't hear nothin', again."
Sherry rolled her eyes toward the
ceiling. "Whatcha hearin' now?"

"Same cries."

"Like, let's go see and end it."

"I don't want to go down there,"
Penny lowered her head. "End what?"

"What ya keep hearin' when I'm ova."

It's strange."

"Like, yeah." Sherry laughed out-loud.

"I hear the cries at other times, but
always when you're here."

"Let's check it out."

"Sherry," Penny took a deep breath,
"from the day we moved in, the cries
started. It kinda scared me, but I've
heard cries and voices in other places
we've lived."

"Like, you've been livin' here 'bout
five years." Sherry looked across the
table at Penny.

"Since I was ten." Penny smiled. "You
introduced yourself before the movers
were done."

"Like, I lived on this street foreva,
know everybody." Sherry paused. "Before
ya're family moved in, Ashley and her
family lived in this house. We hung-out
in the basement and neva heard..."

Penny jumped up, opened one window to
allow the Spring breeze in. The sudden
movement interrupted and startled Sherry.

"Basement, not a good idea." Penny sat
back down and didn't comment on what
Sherry said.

"Like, Ashley's younger brother
disappeared and her father weird-out
about it." Sherry laughed. "I 'member
her brother cried all the time. My
parents talked 'bout how Ashley's dad
spent too much time in the basement
after Reg went missin'."

"They say, I'm...I'm sensitive,
gifted." Penny ignored Sherry's tale.

"Always knew ya was different." Sherry
laughed. "Like, why tell me now?"

"Thought you'd understand why we can't
go in the basement."

Sherry fixed her eyes on the basement
door.

"Not going down there," Penny said.
"Let's do something else."

"Like, ya got money or ya're parents'
credit card?"

"No."

"Sherry stood, headed to the basement
door.

"Stop!" Penny shouted. "Why go in
the basement?"

"Like, I'm bored and tired of the
same conversation 'bout cries."

"Let's play with my PSP, in my bedroom,"
Penny offered.

"Don't wanna." Sherry pouted.

"Sherry, my parents will be back, soon."

"Like, so."

"I have to clean-up the kitchen."

"Not gonna take long to go down there."
Sherry smiled. "I'll even help ya
clean the kitchen."

"My parents told me not to go in the
basement when they're not here."
Penny's brows furrowed.

"Like, let's go." Sherry pulled Penny
by the arm.

Penny snatched her arm away from Sherry,
and toddler stepped over to the basement
door. Sherry stepped behind Penny. Penny
unlocked the door. It flew open. The
girls ran away from the door.

"Like, what..."

"Still want to go down there, Sherry?"
Penny faced Sherry.

"Like...like, yeah." Sherry trembled.

They inched back to the door, slowly
walked downstairs. Penny switched the
light on when her feet touched the
bottom step.

"Like, the same old basement." Sherry
broke the silence. "Ugly brick walls,
hot water heater and some new junk.

"Ready to go back upstairs?" Penny
turned around.

"Like, what's there to be scared of?"
Sherry laughed so hard that her full
figured body slammed against the wall,
several times.

Penny positioned her body where Sherry
stood.

The wall loosened, brick and other
debris fell to the floor.

Penny moved her lips, but no sounds
came out.

"What...what!" Penny's eyes became wide
as half dollar pieces. She stared at the
area of wall Sherry hit against.

"Like, run!" Sherry was half-way upstairs
before she called, "Penny!"

"Come-back," Penny said.

Sherry, eventually, returned. She pinned
herself to Penny's side.

"Like, what now, Penny?"

"Be quiet."

Penny looked at the debris that dislocated
itself from the wall. She ran her hands
across different sections of it, like
her hands searched for something. Penny
glued her face to the sections of wall
Sherry banged her body into.

"Like, I gotta go home." Sherry trembled.

Penny rushed over to where her father kept
his tools. She grabbed a hammer and hurried
back.

Penny didn't hammer long before remains
were exposed.

"Like, that's it." Sherry took two steps
at a time getting upstairs.

The tapping of her designer sneakers could
be heard stomping across the floor as she
left penny's house.

Penny dropped the hammer, and didn't stop
until she was behind her locked bedroom door.


TH3 3ND

Fiction: How To Start?

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with me? Leave me your opinion.

Fiction is exciting, fun, to write
about. Find an idea that awakens your
imagination, and has wide appeal.

Fiction is invented, imagined,
or created stories. Characters
are placed in a setting to solve a
problem(s). Look at the idea upside
down, right side-up.

The writing idea is looked at from
different view-points to decide
how best to show-case it. In
other words, make sure the writing
idea appeals to a large segment of the
population, and stirs-up your writing
ability.

Answer the following questions.

What problem will be addressed?
Perhaps, an issue from your life.
A story out of the head-lines. A
friend's plight.

A lost recipe in a certain family
member's house disappears? He/she
claims it was there before anyone
arrived.

The possible plot, problem, is which
relative took it, and why?

The plot's options are too many to
discuss. Actually, the only limit to a
plot is your imagination.

Every story has a beginning, middle, and
an ending.

Allow characters to show what is happening.
Take a look.

"I saw whole thin,'" Beverly explained.
"Pyra ran out da house with da knife in her
hand..."

"Wait," Carrie interrupted. "I don't get
it. She ain't have no knife when..."

Populate the story. Who will be the main
character? Antagonist?

The main character is Pyra in my example.

The antagonist is the person stopping your
main character from reaching his/her goals.
Or, the person pursuing the main
character.

In my example, the antagonist is the
guy in braids.

"She tried to kill my sista." The young
guy in braids spat . "Cops betta catch
her befo street justice does."

Make profiles for each character. How they
look, talk, act, relevant experiences, and
anything you feel should be included.

A main character must try, at least, three
times before reaching his/her goal.

My example will swirl Pyra and the guy
in braids together three times. The
encounters will end in fights, possibly
death.

One problem is handled in short fiction.
Longer fiction stirs-in a major problem,
and a minor one. Add as many problems
in long fiction as you can handle.

Mix-in suspense. Give the impression
something is going to happen. Build it
up, and then allow some event to
explode.

The scene, explosion, can last two
paragraphs, or run for pages.

It, too, has a beginning, middle, and
an ending.

If, for some reason, you have a problem
writing, or have writer's block, write
anything that comes to mind. Or,
write about an object on your desk,
outside, pet, or why a color is your
favorite.

Keep writing until you're ready to start
on your writing project.

Usually, a new writing idea is discovered,
or material for your current writing project
dawns.

All problems must be solved at the end,
or given a satisfactory conclusion.

Novel Vs. Short Story Writing: A Closer Look

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with me? Leave me your opinion.

The Novel

Writing a novel is an
exciting undertaking.
It takes passion,
determination.

First, with a novel,
narrow down ideas.
What will the novel
be about. Select
the idea with mass
appeal. Specifically,
what kind of plot?

Plot

Plot is the problem in
the novel. A book
length work can handle
more than one problem.

Usually, there's a major
problem, and one minor
issue. As you become
more experienced, you
can include as many
problems as comfortable.

Who will have the
problem? Male?
Female?

Show-Case The Plot
Immediately

The problem, plot, starts on
page one.

"Why start the problem
on page one?" You
questioned.

It gets the attention of
the reader. The reader
will want to know what
happens next, possibly
care about the character,
or is interested in seeing
how it's resolved.

So, on page one conflict,
plot, begins.

You can always go back,
and explain how the main
character's circumstances
happened.

Actually, let the character
or other characters in the
novel explain it.

Character Profiles

Make character profiles.
Describe your character.
Long hair? Bug eyes?
Always smirking. Tastes?
Dislikes? Educational
level? Put anything in it
that you feel the character
is. Or, include details
about him/her that's
pertinent to the story.

Character profiles are
information to keep close
at hand. When writing
about various characters,
you'll forget something
about one or the other
character.

I, often, referred to character
profiles. My novel, Grave
Street House, had characters
from different backgrounds.

I'd forget how a certain
character reacted
to specific circumstances.
I'd pull-out the profiles
to refresh my memory.

Protagonist/Antagonist

The main character is the
protagonist. The character
opposing the main character
is the antagonist.

The protagonist isn't a
perfect person. He/she
has flaws. Perhaps,
he/she talks too much,
isn't brave, and/or stares
at walls.

Likewise, the antagonist
isn't all bad.

Secondary Characters

Stir-in other characters
as needed. They are the
secondary characters.
The secondary characters
play small roles in your
novel.

Theme

The theme is the
message of your novel.
It's a statement made by
you through your work.

The theme of my novel,
Grave Street House, was
you get back what you
send out, bad or good.

Critiquing

Set your completed work
aside for, at least, seven
days before editing.

You are emotionally
involved with your work.
You have to take time
away before you're
able to critique it.

The break allows you
to come-back refreshed,
and full of new ideas.

Short Story Writing

This discussion is
about short stories,
five to six hundred
words.

Plot

As with a novel,
you pick an idea
to write about.

A problem, plot,
must exist for the
main character,
protagonist.

Space is limited
in a short story,
and one problem
is addressed.

Character Profiles

Each character is
profiled.

"Why?" You asked.

You are better able
to tell the story. If you
forget a character's
flaw, look it up.

In a crisis, how should
a character handle the
circumstances? His/her
character profile reminds
you.

Theme

Every short story, too,
has a theme. It's your
comment about the world,
life.

Critiquing

Place the short story
in your desk. Take a
break from it.

Conclusion

It's time to start
writing your short
story, or novel.