Short story sells for 7 figures
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Re: Short story sells for 7 figures
Originally posted by Satriales View PostId argue that the opening is very short story-ish almost to the point of trope.Know this: I'm a lazy amateur, so trust not a word what I write.
"The ugly can be beautiful. The pretty, never." ~ Oscar Wilde
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Re: Short story sells for 7 figures
Originally posted by Crayon View PostArgue in what sense? For or against a short-story trope that negates the stakes?
The casualness of the first line is, again, a similar device. Read every Stephen King story ever, basically.
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Re: Short story sells for 7 figures
I read the entire story and I can see the potential for a horror film if more twists and turns are added. I think that's what's needed to compensate for the audience knowing the rituals required for each season up front.
Since the short is a first-person narrative, there needs to be a way to dramatize some of the internal dialogue. A lot of which does the heavy lifting in its current prose fiction form. The only other solution is voice-over and flashbacks.
I'm working on a first-person novella that I may later adapt for the screen and in the back of my mind I'm always working on how to transition the internal dialogue for a visual medium.
I have to say, though -- I think this tale has a lot more potential for jump scares than the recent Invisible Man offered. Congrats to the writer.Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-
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Re: Short story sells for 7 figures
Originally posted by Crayon View PostArgue in what sense? For or against a short-story trope that negates the stakes?Originally posted by Satriales View PostId argue it is not, in fact, curious or original at all. The matter-of-fact get-it-out-of-the-way from the jump approach is a shopworn (albeit still effective, IMO) approach in short storytelling.
The casualness of the first line is, again, a similar device. Read every Stephen King story ever, basically.
In regard to the opening's negation of stakes, I did say that it's strange. Are you saying that it's not strange?
I don't know what you mean by "the casualness of the first line is, again, a similar device". Similar to what exactly? The forewarning? The negation of stakes?
Anyhow, does every Stephen King novel begin by making it clear that the protagonist(s) will be fine at the end?Know this: I'm a lazy amateur, so trust not a word what I write.
"The ugly can be beautiful. The pretty, never." ~ Oscar Wilde
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Re: Short story sells for 7 figures
Originally posted by Satriales View PostId argue it is not, in fact, curious or original at all. The matter-of-fact get-it-out-of-the-way from the jump approach is a shopworn (albeit still effective, IMO) approach in short storytelling.
The casualness of the first line is, again, a similar device. Read every Stephen King story ever, basically.
So, exactly what "device" are you saying is in every Stephen King story?Know this: I'm a lazy amateur, so trust not a word what I write.
"The ugly can be beautiful. The pretty, never." ~ Oscar Wilde
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Re: Short story sells for 7 figures
Originally posted by Crayon View PostSatriales - Sorry, perhaps I've misunderstood you. (Maybe because you weren't actually replying to what you quoted me saying?)
So, exactly what "device" are you saying is in every Stephen King story?
"My friend LT never talks about how his wife disappeared, or how she's dead, just another victim of the Axe Man, but he loves to tell the story of how she walked out on him.-
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Re: Short story sells for 7 figures
Originally posted by Satriales View PostThe common short story device of matter of factly telling you exactly what has already happened, what horrors were experienced. And the reader infers from the fact they are being narrated to in the first person, that the storyteller is alive.
My friend LT never talks about how his wife disappeared, or how shes dead, just another victim of the Axe Man, but he loves to tell the story of how she walked out on him.
The example you've given is somewhat unhelpful. A narrator/storyteller isn't necessarily the protagonist, and so their being alive to tell the story doesn't mean that the protagonist in the story's movie adaptation will survive to the end.Know this: I'm a lazy amateur, so trust not a word what I write.
"The ugly can be beautiful. The pretty, never." ~ Oscar Wilde
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Re: Short story sells for 7 figures
Originally posted by Crayon View PostSatriales - Thanks for explaining that device, which you say is in every Stephen King story. Now, if that's true, then I'm left wondering if the negation of stakes at the outset has ever made it from King's stories into any of their movie adaptations.
The example you've given is somewhat unhelpful. A narrator/storyteller isn't necessarily the protagonist, and so their being alive to tell the story doesn't mean that the protagonist in the story's movie adaptation will survive to the end.
And as you say, it is largely irrelevant to what a feature execution would look like. But it is an extremely common tool in short stories.
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Re: Short story sells for 7 figures
Originally posted by Satriales View PostOk, hold on, let me go through every Stephen King short and provide you with an example.
And as you say, it is largely irrelevant to what a feature execution would look like. But it is an extremely common tool in short stories.
Anyhow, at no point have I asked you for examples from King's short stories. You've merely imagined that. You chose to give an example and I've just pointed out that it's not a particularly fitting one because, unlike the story that this thread is about, in your example the narrator and protagonist are not the same person. That approach can be a way to avoid the negation of stakes that comes from having the protagonist narrate the story.Know this: I'm a lazy amateur, so trust not a word what I write.
"The ugly can be beautiful. The pretty, never." ~ Oscar Wilde
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Re: Short story sells for 7 figures
Originally posted by Crayon View PostSatriales - I don't see why you're being sarcastic, and especially not in that manner after you've previously "argued" a definitive point about "every Stephen King story ever".
Anyhow, at no point have I asked you for examples from King's short stories. You've merely imagined that. You chose to give an example and I've just pointed out that it's not a particularly fitting one because, unlike the story that this thread is about, in your example the narrator and protagonist are not the same person. That approach can be a way to avoid the negation of stakes that comes from having the protagonist narrate the story.
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Re: Short story sells for 7 figures
Originally posted by Satriales View PostIs it exhausting, being this exhaustingly pedantic?
Oh my, I am slain!
So, exactly which unimportant details do you imagine I've been overly concerned with in this thread about a (not so) short story on a screenwriting forum? No, don't tell me - it's those trivial substantive differences between short story narratives and screen narratives, isn't it?Know this: I'm a lazy amateur, so trust not a word what I write.
"The ugly can be beautiful. The pretty, never." ~ Oscar Wilde
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Re: Short story sells for 7 figures
Originally posted by Bono View PostCrayon device is to annoy everyone with his UK humour.
It works well. Maybe he can sell himself for $7 dollars.Know this: I'm a lazy amateur, so trust not a word what I write.
"The ugly can be beautiful. The pretty, never." ~ Oscar Wilde
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