Autumn in Pennsylvania

October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came -
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.
~George Cooper, "October's Party"

The PA Central Mountain woodlands are adorned in exquisite finery for autumn's extravaganza this year. Like eager debutantes, the maples have donned gowns of crimson, gold and orange while the birch trees have stepped out in shades of yellows and light browns. As they stand beside their partners, the pine, hemlock, and spruce—proud protective escorts in shades of green—accentuate the flaming colors of the gowns.

Shhh! There is music in the woodlands. Listen to a band of bugling elk, the chatter of squirrels, the trilling of song sparrows in the bushes, and the rowdy cries of the crows. Watch as a warm autumn breeze ruffles the couples’ clothing and they bow and sway, dancing to these forest tunes. If you pause and wait patiently, the dancers will throw handfuls of leaves skyward like rainbow confetti, and they’ll swirl upward into the air and flutter softly earthward.

The magical extravaganza will continue for the next few weeks. Then like tired attendees of any event, the couples will end the occasion with a toast to the passing season. Everyone will head home to rest. The kaleidoscope of colors will dull and fade as the weary debutantes shed their apparel and toss them onto the forest floor in brittle heaps, which rustle under the feet of curious passersby.

But rest, even beneath white blankets of winter, is not endless. April has a duty to dress the woodlands again in delicate shades of lime green, just in time for the annual spring festival to begin.

Why I Like Short Stories

Why do I like the short story? Even though it’s one of the most demanding writing forms because of its concentrated plot and characterization, it’s also one of the most personal and fun forms of writing.

Short stories allow the reader to meet a new character or characters, experience a situation, setting and conflict in a limited amount of words and reading time. Short stories allow the reader to get a glimpse into someone else’s world and often finish the entire encounter in one sitting. And if the story is an emotional, humorous or suspenseful one, the reader gets to cry, chuckle or cringe as an added bonus. What can be more fun than that?

                             

Our lives are filled with short stories. Everyday we tell or hear a short story.  It can be a long harrowing story steeped with conflict or a short slice of life that depicts the everyday life of ordinary people. There’s the caring next -door neighbor who goes to the aid of a sick friend across town and gets a speeding ticket on the way home. Or the irksome elderly man in the check-out aisle (ahead of you, of course) who argues with the weary cashier over his expired coupons--and who finally decides to abandon half his items while the line grows longer and longer. . .and longer.

The difference between being a short story teller and a short story writer is just simply having the ability to put your story into a permanent written format that has a beginning, middle and end.

Many ideas for writing a short story start with an incident. It can be something you read, something you heard, something you’ve seen or something you’ve experienced. It can be a “What if” moment when you’re daydreaming. Obviously, every incident must be expanded into a story idea and encompass a few basic fundamentals of short story writing like plot and problem, setting, characters, time and theme. And like any fiction, characters and conflict drive the story in the short story.  

Unlike novels, short stories can be created in reasonable time frames that range from short shorts of 500 words to novelettes of 10,000. If I had to make a list of my favorite short story writers, the Grimm Brothers, Alice Munro, Edgar Allan Poe and Jack London would be on it. Who are your favorites?