fiction Archives - Linda Westphal

Small town stories

linda Books, Reading, research, Writing May 28, 2016May 31, 2020fiction, how I write, research, small towns, writing fiction

POSTAL CLERK Sabrina Parsonson, left, and Postmaster Kathy Jacques, right, stand near a hitching post in front of the Coloma Post Office Friday Feb. 6. Democrat photo by Pat Dollins — Mt. Democrat photo by Pat Dollins

Since I am not a native of Northern California, my favorite thing to do on weekends is explore the area’s many small towns (I had no idea there were so many). It’s a happy surprise when you discover a new one, because when most people think of Northern California they think of San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, perhaps Silicon Valley or the Pacific Ocean, not well-preserved historic communities.

Not only do I enjoy exploring small towns, I also like to read stories that take place in small towns; and, the contemporary fiction stories that I write take place in small towns (where the town is one of the book’s characters).

So when I needed a place to set my story, THE HERMIT BOOKSTORE, I instantly thought of Lotus (population 295), a community that dates back to California’s gold rush days (165 years ago). Lotus has one main road, Lotus Road, a few old farmhouses, a friendly vibe, and lots of residual spirit energy left over from the California Gold Rush.

THE HERMIT BOOKSTORE is a modern day story that evolves over the span of a week in April 2014. The story is about a mysterious bookstore that suddenly appears on Lotus Road where an old farmhouse used to be. There’s a quirky bookstore owner, Jolene, who meets three people who live in Lotus. These three characters need to fix a piece of their life but can’t seem to do it without a little push. Jolene happens to know what they need and how to push them in the right direction.

If you also enjoy small towns and would like to read about California’s oldest continuously functioning post office that you can still visit today in Coloma (around the corner from Lotus), go to “Coloma post office still delivering mail after 165 years.”

How to write better fiction

linda research, Tips, Writing April 5, 2016May 31, 2020fiction, writing, writing tips

Anyone can write. Here are 8 ways to write better fiction.

#1 – To write a great story, forget all the rules and just write. Write every day. Visit the story every day, even if it’s only to write one sentence. Keep at it until you reach the end. Then edit like crazy.

#2 – Look for story and character ideas in everything you do — books you read, movies and TV programs you watch, people you talk to, and while eavesdropping in public. Being observant is a very important characteristic of a writer.

#3 – The job of each chapter is to encourage readers to want to read the next chapter. That means revealing details slowly, just enough to build suspense so the reader wants to know what will happen next.

#4 – If you allow yourself to think about all the things that go into a novel — characters, themes, place, plot(s), ending — you’ll get overwhelmed. Instead, break it down into smaller tasks. First develop the story’s theme. Then develop the characters and where the story will take place. The rest will likely come during the writing and editing process.

#5 – Write what you want to write, not what someone else recommends because it’s a popular genre.

#6 – Your research material will add depth and richness to your story. Learn to love the research process.

#7 – Don’t worry if your story isn’t long enough. The story will find its own natural length. If parts of the story need more, you’ll know it. If it has too much filler, you’ll know that too. Most readers like tight, efficient stories and don’t like rambling.

#8 – Get out into the world. Interact with it. Travel. Meet new people. It will all become part of your stories.

Eudora Welty explains why all short stories are not potential novels

linda Authors, Writing February 11, 2016May 31, 2020Alice Walker, authors, Books, Eudora Welty, fiction, novels, short stories, Southern fiction, writing

If you like Southern fiction, you may have read the book Conversations with Eudora Welty (I highly recommend it).

In an interview with Alice Walker (Summer of 1973), this was Welty’s reply when Walker asked if she thought all short stories were potential novels:

“No, they are two different things. I think that one of my faults as a novelist is that I don’t think as a novelist does. I think the short story is a sustained thing, all in one piece, and compact. You don’t have any of the expansion and scope that the novel can have. So any time I’ve made the mistake of writing a short story that became a novel I’ve had to go back and start at the beginning again. It’s like starting for the long jump or the short hop. You don’t have the same impulse.”

Based on my own experience, Welty is right as rain. When I wrote THE MEDIUM, a short story, and THE HERMIT BOOKSTORE, a novella, my mind’s eye naturally saw a tidy story, not a lingering show. Then this year, when I started to write my first novel, my mind’s eye saw something different — an expanded drama where the characters and story elements slowly unfold.

I enjoy reading all types of story lengths, but I especially admire writers who can pack a big story into a small space. Here are a few examples of wonderful stories packed into about 100 pages. Do you have any favorites?

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde