Obama vs Clinton, You Write The Ending

So... State Of The Union just happened. Then I read a Washington Post article saying Hillary Clinton has the lead among Democratic candidates for 2016. Hmmm. So, I wonder...

If someone wrote a flash fiction story pitting Obama (now, not eight years ago) in any kind of situation against Hillary Clinton, what would that look like?

Could be interesting... Just thinking aloud, or, online.

Can You Write A Science Fiction Story in 120 Words?

My students hated this assignment. But, the other day I showed up to class and presented this task:

Write a science fiction work with a beginning, middle and end in 120 words.

OK, on the fly the first draft of the story may be crap, but it's a great exercise. While I was in front of the class spurring my class on, I had a clipboard, paper and pen in hand to create my own 120-word science fiction piece.

Eventually, most of the students wrote, then read aloud their stories. I did, too. I figured I would share the pain. Although, the students didn't think it was fair since as they put it "I'm a writer who's used to such exercises." 

LOL.

For what it's worth, here's what I put together "on the fly."

"I win!" Johanna shouted.
"Again!" John demanded.
They restarted the game.
Two spaceships flew towards Earth. The fugitive's ship was heavily damaged. The Galactic Officer targeted the fugitive's engines. The fugitive's ship went dead. He reached for the transportal device on his wrist. Like a shooting star, he fell.
"I win again!" Johanna pressed the controller button.
Flash!
They were trapped.
"What happened!?" John, Johanna and the alien were in the video game.
"We need that device thingee!"
"Never!" The fugitive ran.
The intergalactic officer stared into the computer screen.
"He's too fast!" Johanna said.
"Who's that?"
They saw the face.
"It happened when I pressed the key! Like Omega13!"
The officer understood.
"Reset."
Click!
Flash!
"I win!" Johanna shouted.

Writing Prompt: Alternate History for July 4th

What if July 4th wasn't what we here in the United States know as Independence Day? What if history had turned out differently?

That's what writing Alternate History fiction is all about. I've been watching old episodes of "Sliders" lately. With the 4th of July holiday fast approaching, it got me to thinking about writing an Alternate History short where July 4th is quite different from what it is now.

I don't know yet what that means, but I'll be exploring that concept over the next week. Have you ever tried writing Alternate History? If not, why not give it a shot - even if it's a flash fiction piece. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Then speed write. Simply ask one basic question to get you flowing: "What if...?"

What if the American colonies had never revolted?
What if Rome had never fallen?
What if a famous person's grandfather and grandmother had never met?
What if a young Bill Gates had decided to move to L.A. and start a hair band instead of go into computers?

Whatever. Just start with "What if...?" You never know what intriguing story you might stumble upon.

Flash Fiction Again! Do It In 100 Words

My creative writing club at school is venturing into flash fiction territory again. This time we're going to work on 100-word stories.

If you've never tried it, flash fiction (especially the 100-word variety) is a nice, as well as challenging, change. Think about it this way: you must wrap up an entire story in 100 words. I always tell my students that it's harder to write short than long.

Writing short is a great way to work on the elements of fiction. More on this tomorrow. Do you write flash fiction? If so, what have you learned from the experience? Has it helped with your longer works?

Flash Fiction: Into The Fire

I'm feeling a little different today. It's the last day of work before the long Christmas vacation... So, I'm pretty stoked. Just waiting for students to turn in their final papers... Not stoked about that!

But the holidays are often times we reflect on family, and sometimes, loved ones we have lost. That's why I'm posting the short fictional work below called "Into The Fire." It's a piece I wrote in the summer as an exercise. The challenge was to use the concept of "30" in the story and limit the work to 300 words. So, this is what I wrote. 

Now, it's a departure from the fantasy fiction I have been writing for the Mall Demons books. If you're used to that, this will be a surprise. This is more about the relationship between fathers and sons. Let me know what you think:

By Pedro Ramirez III
This was it. Love Street, where I almost died 30 years ago.
The tears welled. I placed the truck in park.
"Dad, why we stopping?" My son craned over the dashboard. "I don't see the hospital."
I was about his age when it happened. Can't help thinking my son wouldn't be sitting here if they'd left me on the kitchen floor. They wouldn't let him inside the house. He pushed, pulled, powered through them to get to me. I thought he could do anything.
"We're almost there, mijo." Fewer words to control the tears.
"Where are we?" my son asked.
"Daddy used to live here," I told him.
"Where?" He scanned the street.
The neighborhood had changed. The corner store was boarded up. An auto repair shop was occupying another corner lot. A third corner lost was vacant with sun-scorched, yellow grass. It had been vacant back then, too.
"I don't see a house."
"It used to be there." I pointed across him out the passenger window to two squatty, city lots lined by curb cuts and three tired trees.
"There's nothing there," my son said.
"Grandpa's and grandma's house used to be there," I explained, "before it burned down."
"It caught fire?! Were you inside?"
"Yes, mijo. I was." The tears were welling again. "Grandpa carried me out."
"Were you scared?" he asked.
"Yes…Yes, I am."
A tear fell. I wiped before my son saw.
"C'mon, let's go get grandpa," I said.
I took the truck out of park, inching it three long blocks to the hospital. It felt like 30 blocks, 30 years away.
"Grandpa is gonna live with us?"
"Yes, mijo."
The rest of them want to leave him. Too heavy a burden. But, I'll be damned if they'll keep me from taking him out.

Finishing My NaNoWriMo Novel

If all goes well, I will finish my NaNoWriMo novel by Friday - five days ahead of schedule. The month has flown by. 50,000 words in 30 days. Time goes quickly.

It will be nice to take a little break from this book. Once I am done, I will return to Book One of the Mall Demons Series. Eight more chapters to write and it'll be ready for formatting.

I also want to get back to some flash fiction. But, I don't want to make too many plans. I still have 14,000 words to write for NaNoWriMo. Back to work.

Tighten Your Writing By Going Short

As a teacher, I always get groans from students when the time comes to write research papers or essays. The groans get even louder if the writing assignment is longer than five pages. Not that they buy it, but I usually tell them that in many ways it is harder to write short than it is to write long.

I don't care what they believe. It's true.

Writers can hone their craft by writing short. You learn about the economy of words. It's easier to detect fluff. Shortness - if done right - will intensify your writing.  It's a lesson I learned as a news journalist.

I would get an assignment, and usually, a preferred length. My editor might bark something like, "Give me 20 inches on tonight's city council meeting." And so, I would gather material, interview whoever was at the meeting, then write 20 inches of copy.

Then... FLASH!!! Something would happen. Major news would break. Suddenly that 20 inches of space in the newspaper which had been reserved for my story was now going towards the major breaking news. That's when my editor would say something like, "Boil it down to 5 inches. I need it in 10 minutes!"

It happened. So, there I was on deadline ripping to shreds my story - three fourths of my story! I'm grateful now because I can boil things down (if I must, LOL).

If your writing tends to meander, drag or otherwise go w-a-a-a-a-a-y t-o-o-o-o-o long, try an exercise in shortening. Have a 5,000-word short story that needs focus, tightening? Boil it down. Turn it into a flash fiction story.

Flash fiction, if you're wondering, is basically short short fiction. Lengths really vary quite a bit. I've written flash fiction stories anywhere from 1,000 words to 100 words in length. Yes, that's right. Try boiling down that 5k story to 100 words without losing essential elements of the plot, dialogue, characterization, etc. Now there's a challenge.

Sound impossible? Nothing's impossible. Try it. You might realize that some of your paragraphs, sentences, words are not necessary. You may see areas to edit that make your writing not only shorter, but clearer. You see, it takes clarity of thought to write short. Muddled thinking leads to lengthy writing.

I use writing short as a starting point for longer pieces, too. For example, I'll write a 100-word story - beginning, middle and end. The whole she-bang. Once I have everything how I want it, I use it as the skeleton for a longer piece. I can add scenes, dialogue, etc., etc., knowing the whole time where I'm ending.

Give it a shot. Let me know how it goes. Want examples? The first part of my Mall Demons Urban Fantasy Series is about 1,000 words. Read "Death Speaks Loudest To Those Who Flee" on Wattpad.com. I also have examples in the 300-word range, too. Check out "The Fire is Out," and "Into the Fire."

Confident in your ability to write short? Why not put your skills to the test. Enter the Esquire and Aspen Writers' Foundation Short Short Story contest. The challenge: write a complete story in 78 words. The deadline is Oct. 7. You can find all the rules by following this Esquire link.

Now, write! But keep it short. 

New Flash Fiction Online

Check out my latest piece of flash fiction just published online today called "The Fire is Out."


It is a quick scene where a couple's picnic plans go wrong. Leave a comment to let me know what you think. I wanted to write about fire as an essential element - not necessarily as a natural element in the physical world like air and water and earth, but as a human element.


So, give it a read. Great thing about flash fiction is that you can read it in one sitting.