How I Write a Short Story, Part IV

To review:  

I have these elements...a time frame (St. Patrick's Day), interesting factoids (people actually DO make their own luck to some extent), a conflict (Clancy hates St. Patrick's Day), and a mystery (why? because it's the day her husband left her). 

I need some activities (Kiki's crafts--I'll have to come up with these), and a resolution (I'll think of something).

I also have a cute sidebar problem. Anya loves animals and when she hears that Laurel owns a rabbit's foot, she goes nuts! (Or course, it's a fake rabbit's foot, but Anya doesn't know that.) 

What else do I need? Well, I need a snappy opening line. Something that sets the stage for my story. It should foreshadow problems, entice my readers, and get the ball rolling.

Now, back to the resolution. I'll need a BIG ending. Remember, I've been thinking a lot about Clancy, and I have a surprise in store for her. To me, a BIG ending would mean a change of luck for Clancy. 

Okay, I've got all my ducks in a row! Again, here's my list for preplanning a short story:

* time frame -- often concurrent with a holiday
* interesting factoids -- research
* a conflict or problem to be solved
* a mystery or a secret
* a sidebar perhaps, or a link back to an earlier Kiki story or book
* activities 
* a resolution

And of course, I already have my cast of characters because it's a Kiki Lowenstein short story. Tune in tomorrow, and I'll get the story started.

How I Write Short Stories, Part 2

In Part 1, I chose a theme (getting lucky) and did some research. Now I need a conflict, some sort of friction, because conflict drives action.

Since this is a short story, and not a book, I need to keep it simple. A disagreement. A problem. A minor hassle.

Hmmm.

Okay, what about someone who complains that she is chronically unlucky bumping up against the luckiest woman on earth? These words resonate with me because right now there's a really stupid commercial on local TV where the announcer says, "I'm the luckiest woman on earth because I got to take a three day cruise to the Bahamas!" Her voice is totally annoying.

How would this work?

My readers love to "watch" Kiki teach a class, because so many of them are crafters, too. So what if I have Miss Lucky and Miss Unlucky in the same class? Certainly that could get troublesome. What if they get into a fight? A quarrel?

What if someone bets Miss Unlucky that she'll become lucky with the right lucky charm?

Okay, I like that. But it seems a bit too easy. I want to bump it up a bit. How about a lot of lucky charms? What if an entire class contributed lucky charms and loaned them to our Miss Unlucky?

Now that sounds kind of interesting to me. How about you?