Just awesome… a plot line and characters that are interesting and hold one’s attention , and the ending irony is… well it’s just incredible. I’m just astonished at how you can package a story into such a ‘tiny house’ package so succinctly… you have a gift! Matt Labash on Substack just talked about the ‘death of reading… the decline of the full novel. No one in our 1 minute You Tube /Tic Toc society can pay attention to anything longer than a couple of minutes anyway… your stories are an entire story compressed by elemental forces in shining diamonds. I wish you 1M paid subscribers!
I'm laughing. Thank you. Your comment decompressed me from the tension of pounding out that story tonight. Thanks Mark. I appreciate it. Tell your friends to get over here and start the quest for a million
Seriously dude… I see a Netflicks limited series here… pulling over on the side of the road and pounding out this stuff… and you have the character embellishment La to carry it off… 1300 stories… how crazy is that!
Why don't you develop your own anthology series? Have a narrator introduce a story-- 1/2 hour, even 15 minutes? Little shorts you can sell to Netflix, or Apple, or whoever. I think it might work. You could put out a story a week and work on the scripts the rest of the time. You know probably know people in the biz. Worth a shot.
Cost and time prohibitive. To pay a crew to film something Netflix worthy on spec takes thousands I do not have. I wrote a twelve minute film, called in favors, cut corners I didn't wanna cut and it was 7000
Selling rights and getting backers is two entirely different things.
It is nearly impossible to get people to invest in film. People much more well connected than I struggle with it.
It's a lengthy and minefield filled process. Google " obtaining film financing."
Selling rights through an agent isn't easy, but it's easier in the sense that you're paid for your intellectual property and someone else has to do the hard work to bring that idea to the screen.
I don't think I ever stated that I wish to produce these stories as film myself. I've said they might make good films or series. That's a long way from wanting to tackle the
I have a book of 365 stories that are all exactly 100 words ( Humans, Being - A Story a Day for a Year ) . My second book ( That Fountain Ain't Gonna Grant Your Wish) I think the shortest is 270 and there are at least five under 400
I've told classes that there are two not-very-secret secrets to writing.
One is that to be a better writer, be a better reader. Read lots of different things, and pay attention to what works for you, what bores you, what you would have improved, how you would have improved it.
The other, as Mr. Doom says, is sit down and write. Put words on the page, or on the screen. Decide you're going to write a few paragraphs every day about something you saw, or describing a person you met, or whatever. Just get in the habit.
It sounds as though you already have the kindling to start this fire. Don't force yourself to finish a story every night, but grab one of your ideas and play with it. Write the first sentence and see where that takes you, or flesh out the background of a character. Or, heck, write a story.
Feel free to evaluate it later, but don't judge it. This isn't a contest. You're just (mixed metaphor alert) priming the pump and training the muscles.
Thank you! I am working on my first novel but Doom’s short stories gets me excited to try writing short stories. I bet writing short stories would help me understand the process better if anything.
Wow. Just wow. This thoroughly smart, satisfying piece of fiction transported me back to my small hometown’s bicentennial parade, its own “weird” family and FBI involvement (a CAT lab, so I guess a science-y lab). I want to see this town and characters you created on screen. Like the movie that is playing in my head as I savor each sentence.
Just awesome… a plot line and characters that are interesting and hold one’s attention , and the ending irony is… well it’s just incredible. I’m just astonished at how you can package a story into such a ‘tiny house’ package so succinctly… you have a gift! Matt Labash on Substack just talked about the ‘death of reading… the decline of the full novel. No one in our 1 minute You Tube /Tic Toc society can pay attention to anything longer than a couple of minutes anyway… your stories are an entire story compressed by elemental forces in shining diamonds. I wish you 1M paid subscribers!
I'm laughing. Thank you. Your comment decompressed me from the tension of pounding out that story tonight. Thanks Mark. I appreciate it. Tell your friends to get over here and start the quest for a million
Seriously dude… I see a Netflicks limited series here… pulling over on the side of the road and pounding out this stuff… and you have the character embellishment La to carry it off… 1300 stories… how crazy is that!
That's my goal. Sell the rights to these things. But agents don't wanna rep short fiction. They laugh in your face.
Why don't you develop your own anthology series? Have a narrator introduce a story-- 1/2 hour, even 15 minutes? Little shorts you can sell to Netflix, or Apple, or whoever. I think it might work. You could put out a story a week and work on the scripts the rest of the time. You know probably know people in the biz. Worth a shot.
Cost and time prohibitive. To pay a crew to film something Netflix worthy on spec takes thousands I do not have. I wrote a twelve minute film, called in favors, cut corners I didn't wanna cut and it was 7000
I thought the whole idea was to get backers?
Selling rights and getting backers is two entirely different things.
It is nearly impossible to get people to invest in film. People much more well connected than I struggle with it.
It's a lengthy and minefield filled process. Google " obtaining film financing."
Selling rights through an agent isn't easy, but it's easier in the sense that you're paid for your intellectual property and someone else has to do the hard work to bring that idea to the screen.
I don't think I ever stated that I wish to produce these stories as film myself. I've said they might make good films or series. That's a long way from wanting to tackle the
production of them.
https://www.filmproposals.com/film-financing-lessons.html#:~:text='Nobody%20would%20give%20us%20the,your%20filmmaking%20career%2C%20nothing%20will.
This isn’t an episode, or short story, it’s a film, or a novel.
These people walk (and fly, disappear, and die. A lifetime). I remember the bicentennial, strange, dreamlike days that I feel in the story.
So very very good, J. Better than good.
They always ‘laugh’ at the disrupters! Seriously… your life story and professional talent has ‘Netflicks’ written all over it!
When I restack your stories can someone noticing my doing so read it through?
The free ones they can.
Do you mention that when you’re posting? Where can I tell from the page?
(I’m remain very blind to protocol)
Tell your followers there is no paywall
I know this one is btw
You are the short story legend, Jimmy! I really want to write one now.
Do it. Bang it out. Create one character you care about and run from there
I have swipe file of ideas. Maybe I can try to write on the upcoming long holiday :)
That message was 17 words. You can write 20 x that quicker than you think
Thank you for making it sound easy! How many words do you normally for these? With full character development and stuff?
I have a book of 365 stories that are all exactly 100 words ( Humans, Being - A Story a Day for a Year ) . My second book ( That Fountain Ain't Gonna Grant Your Wish) I think the shortest is 270 and there are at least five under 400
That is wild! A round of applause to you.
No ‘maybes’!!
Got you!
I've told classes that there are two not-very-secret secrets to writing.
One is that to be a better writer, be a better reader. Read lots of different things, and pay attention to what works for you, what bores you, what you would have improved, how you would have improved it.
The other, as Mr. Doom says, is sit down and write. Put words on the page, or on the screen. Decide you're going to write a few paragraphs every day about something you saw, or describing a person you met, or whatever. Just get in the habit.
It sounds as though you already have the kindling to start this fire. Don't force yourself to finish a story every night, but grab one of your ideas and play with it. Write the first sentence and see where that takes you, or flesh out the background of a character. Or, heck, write a story.
Feel free to evaluate it later, but don't judge it. This isn't a contest. You're just (mixed metaphor alert) priming the pump and training the muscles.
Have fun.
Thank you! I am working on my first novel but Doom’s short stories gets me excited to try writing short stories. I bet writing short stories would help me understand the process better if anything.
They will. I promise. Run a few 5ks before you try a marathon.
Wow. Just wow. This thoroughly smart, satisfying piece of fiction transported me back to my small hometown’s bicentennial parade, its own “weird” family and FBI involvement (a CAT lab, so I guess a science-y lab). I want to see this town and characters you created on screen. Like the movie that is playing in my head as I savor each sentence.
I love wow. I'm smiling. It would make a pretty good film.
Wow, so good! And - I had red, white and blue bell bottoms, in first grade. I wore them with a navy turtleneck and loved them.
Love that!
That's why we support you, Jimmy.
You do you.
Great story!
Every day a totally different story with a surprising twist.
Carry on, sir, and don't apologize for trying to grow and improve!
Stunning work
Thanks Will.
Dig in, I'm sure you'll find more you like. 1300+ in the archive .
I'm sure I will, I'm diving in to the deep end
Spring for the annual. You won't regret it. I promise.
Ludden Royal is as good a name as Demon Copperhead or better. What a wild and riveting story, complete with plenty of twists and turns along the way.
Wow!❤️❤️❤️,novel please
I'd love to have the time to write a novel Carol, but I don't. I gotta hustle to make a living.
This is just so good. I loved the story, and remembering early 80s SNL and mid-seventies crab apple fights.
Is the Kink’s Destroyer and Royal’s mom’s paranoia intentional, or am I just grasping at straws?
Intentional all day long. There are a few songs about paranoia but I thought that one fit best