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- Some of my children’s short stories for 8-12 year olds read out by myself on YouTube
- The structural and dramatic flexibility of a full-length play made up solely of monologues
- Why writing drama is harder than writing a novel
- The storytelling elements of the short story and the shorter play have much in common. So how might this be an advantage for the writer?
- Intellectual versus emotional inspiration in the creative writing process
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Category Archives: Writing short stories for the middle child reader
A few thoughts on the inspiration behind character development
Copyright © 2015 Jerry Dunne Character does not arise in some pure form out of the writer’s imagination. The creative mind is influenced by a myriad of sources that gather in quantity and quality over a whole lifetime and arrives … Continue reading →
Pace the story
Copyright © 2014 Jerry Dunne Narrative pace concerns how fast or slow the plot movement feels to the reader as they make their way through the story. Good pace enables the narrative to offer a feeling of smooth and constant … Continue reading →
Well-structured dialogue
Copyright © 2014 Jerry Dunne Dialogue is a powerful tool in the development of character, conflict, humour, drama, tension, suspense and pace. But dialogue must be handled skilfully in order to accomplish any of its objectives. Without a proper understanding … Continue reading →
The plan: a bird’s eye view
Copyright © 2014 Jerry Dunne Before reading this post it is a good idea to read, The 3 act plot structure for the short story, if you do not understand the 3 act plot structure. This plot structure works as … Continue reading →
Inspiration from inside an empty matchbox
Copyright © 2014 Jerry Dunne This post demonstrates how conflict fuels and develops a story. An understanding of our simple example will help the writer with both good story structure and the search for new ideas. It’s the ideas angle … Continue reading →
The short story’s storytelling elements
Copyright © 2014 Jerry Dunne Here we examine the short story’s storytelling elements and the restrictions placed on them in comparison to those of longer pieces of fiction. The main storytelling elements consist of character, point of view (POV), plot, … Continue reading →
The 3 act plot structure for the short story
Copyright © 2014 Jerry Dunne The plot isn’t a series of events that move forward in a random way. The events are connected by cause and effect and have a very definite structure to them. The plot for the short … Continue reading →
Exercises for sparking up character in the short story
Copyright © 2011 Jerry Dunne This post is a follow-on from the post Sparking Up Character In The Short Story. http://is.gd/HTd7je So now we know we need to find the attitude of the character as related to the idea and … Continue reading →
Sparking up character in the short story
Copyright © 2011 Jerry Dunne It’s difficult enough to bring character to life in a novel, but a short story offers an even trickier challenge. Many writers need time to build their character and give it energy. They can’t just … Continue reading →
Give child readers what they want to read, not what you want them to read
Copyright © 2011 Jerry Dunne The beginner writer of children’s fiction can run quickly into difficulties if they insist on applying their own tastes and desires to the genre. You cannot write for children some of the types of stories … Continue reading →
Jerry Dunne, writing fiction, non-fiction and drama 