The Story That Was Short

The year was 2008. This was the year that I discovered free pod casts on itunes. It was a good thing.

A couple of my favorite pod casts are the New Yorker Fiction pod cast and Public Radio International's Selected Shorts. I've always been a fan of the short story (and even the occasional author of one or two), but my love of them was rekindled after listening to the amazing stories read aloud over my car stereo.

It's funny, when you hear these stories read aloud, you think to yourself, "I could have written that!" I had all of these ideas floating around in my head and started to fancy myself a great writer....before I had even committed a word to paper (or my laptop, but whatever). I would be driving down the road and construct these fabulous sentences, the words flowing like champagne at a wedding.

I was wrong (and I apologize to all of the amazing authors out there that I offended by assuming that their craft was easy), but I didn't know how wrong I was just yet.

So, when I heard about a short story writing contest held by Public Radio International, I was jazzed. Before even glancing at the story requirements, I constructed this amazing story in my head. Then, after weaving this great tale, I decided to read the rules of the competition.

Here's the deal (with my thoughts in quotes behind them): 1) it has to be a story with an element of surprise...."hhhmmm, that shouldn't be too hard," 2) it has to be in 12-pt font and double spaced....."done," 3) it can only be THREE PAGES...."Three pages! Who can tell a great story....the story of epic emotion that draws a reader in and add a surprise twist in three freakin' pages?!?"

After I read the rules, I had to pitch my story idea because it was way too long and, admittedly, kind of boring. So, then I tackled the element of surprise. I wracked my brains for days trying to come up with a plot line that was not trite or super-predictable. That was HARD! After figuring out what my twist would be, I then had the challenge of condensing the idea so it would fit coherently on 3 double-spaced pages.

I realised, after spending a ton of time on this project, that this would be a challenge for any writer, not to mention a rusty, non-published amateur. I played with the idea of not writing a story....it just seemed too hard.

Thank goodness the fighter in me decided that giving up was not an option. After discussing a couple of ideas with Mr. L (thanks!), I found my story and wrote it over the weekend. I have to say, I'm proud of my accomplishment. It may not be a masterpiece or a contest winner, but I took the challenge and delivered.

I look forward to posting the story on my blog after March 6th (which is the entry date). I hope you will enjoy reading it half as much as I enjoyed writing it.....and citizens of Birmingham, Alabama BEWARE! It's based on a true story about one of your own.

For all of you out there that read this post and think, "writing a compelling three page story with a non-predictable twist is easy, I don't know what the heck she's talking about," I have three words for you......JUST TRY IT, then we'll talk.