Finding My Niche, Possibly in Flash Fiction

Last November a number of my writing friends took part in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo):

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

A synopsis of NaNoWriMo from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Novel_Writing_Month

I on the otherhand, decided to pass, since I was much too busy with my other projects. At this point in time, my writing is more of a hobby rather than a profession. In fact, the stories I write, are about my wargaming hobby--a hobby within a hobby, so to speak.

While I've written several gaming articles these past few years and created YouTube movies within this past year, the question lingering in the back of my mind is: What nich does my work fall in to?

Wargame "battle reports" or "after action reviews (AARs)" can combine the elements of military history, historical fiction and narrative non-fiction, to name a few. Some wargames are even set within the realms of science-fiction and fantasy, like Star Trek, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, each with a literary "history" of it's own.


None of my work fits neatly into any of the genres mentioned above. So I was still looking for a niche.

Then a couple months ago, I came across a book review of Rose Metal Press' Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction in The Writer Magazine (Dec 09, pg 44, by Amy Wallen).

http://www.rosemetalpress.com/Catalog/Field%20Guide_more.html

After reading this, I ordered a copy of the book, which was the subject of my last post, and examined my YouTube movies. Of the 18 shows I've produced so far, the longest runs just over 8 minutes with a narrative word count of less than 800 words.

The definition of flash fiction, or short-short story, varies, but is usually a piece of work containing anywhere from 250-1,000 words:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_fiction

So can my YouTube movies be considered flash fiction?

Maybe.

One of the best ways to create a lasting impression in a short story or flash fiction is to hit the reader with surprise twist at the end, even if it's only in the last sentence.

The only surprise in my stories occur when a game's outcome differs than what occurred in history, or established lore, in the case of science fiction or fantasy. In some of my previous articles I included a fictional encounter as an introduction. The pattern is the same for each of these vignettes: A leader confronts an enemy host and must decide what to do next. Does he attack? Stand and defend? Or retreat? It is this critical decision point--before the battle is joined--that I find most fascinating, because once a choice has been made and the forces committed to action, there's no turning back.

Even after reading through the flash fiction field guide, I'm still not sure if my work can be pigeon-holed into this genre. But as long as my YouTube movies come in at less than 1K's worth of words, then it makes sense to use it as a template--until I start writing longer stories.

Book Review: Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction

The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction is a collection of 25 essays on the subject:

http://www.rosemetalpress.com/Catalog/Field%20Guide_more.html

Okay, so what's "flash fiction?"

The definition varies, but it's often called a short-short story, with a word-count ranging from 250-1,000 words:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_fiction

In fact, the introduction of this field guide, by Editor Tara L. Misah, is the longest chapter in the entire book, weighing-in at 26 pages. Despite its length, Ms. Misah provides the reader with an interesting history of flash fiction. Short stories gained popularity around the turn of the 20th Century with the publication of weekly magazines. These periodicals, however, began dying-off as television became a more popular form of entertainment. Despite the proliferation of the internet, flash fiction now provides a reader with a story in short amount of time, or "as long as it takes to smoke a cigarette."

In fact, SmokeLong Quarterly, is an on-line literary magazine devoted specifically to flash fiction:

http://www.smokelong.com/home.asp

As to the field guide itself, I found the essays useful and informative. Each essay ranged from 3-9 pages, which included a writing prompt and an example of flash fiction. As you could expect, the authors had some differences of opinion on what makes an effective short-short story. What they did agree on, was that each story should be thought-provoking and leave the reader with an indelible image.

I found most of the story examples, "thought provoking" alright. My usual responses were, "huh?" or even, "WTF was that all about?"

I guess I'm not the literary type. I'm not into deciphering an author's meaning and images in his or her story.

My favorite was Inside Job by Pamela Painter. In this flash, a university couple are attending a party. After noticing her husband hit on another one of his graduate students, Marla goes into the kitchen to grab a drink, but accidently douses her blouse with seltzer water. One of Marla's graduate students tries to help dab off the water and she guides his hand--underneath her blouse.

Whew!

Talk about an "indelible image!"

I rate this book a solid four stars. This is more out of personal bias. With the exception of Inside Job, it's hard for me to get excited over a textbook. However, for anyone interested in writing flash fiction, or improving their craft in this niche-genre, this is an invaluable guide.

Happy New Year!

Acquiring Prime (Miniature) Real Estate

Stern Rake Studio acquired it's first piece of (miniature) real estate!

Four days ago I bought a terrain board from my friend Adrian, which he got it at a wargame auction. This particular board was a fixture at American Eagles, a gamestore in Tacoma, which sadly, closed a couple of years ago.

This board consists of 6, 2'x4' sections and looks like this when fully assembled:

According to Adrian, no one knows who made this winter wonderland masterpiece. From what we can gather it was made for a micro-armor (6mm, 1/285th, 1/300 scale), Battle of the Bulge scenario.

Here's a view of Panels 1-4:


View of Panels 3-6:


Looking up at the "Splatterhorn":


Another view of the "Splatterhorn":


"The road less travelled":

I plan on adding brown flocking to the roads in order to give them a more "dusty" look. I also want to add more color and acetate to the river:

I'm certainly happy with my new acquisition! I've always admired boar ever since I first saw it back at American Eagles.

However, like some greedy land developer, there are "improvements" I'd like to make.

My long-term plan is to repaint and reflock the the entire board so I'm not limited to a winter campaign.

So far, I've discussed with Adrian, two possibilities:

1. Repainting and reflocking only the snowy areas.

2. Repainting and reflocking the entire board.

This will also mean uprooting all the miniature trees, since they're all "frosted" to look snow-covered. I don't intend to re-attach the trees as they are now. I'd like to make the board a bit more versatile by not "nailing down" these kind of terrain features. (The roads and the river will maintain their respective courses).

Michelangelo Exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum

Today, my wife and I went to the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) to check out the Alexander Calder and Michelangelo Exhibits.

SAM website:

http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/

I must admit I've never heard of Alexander Calder until now. According to Wikipedia, he invented the mobile. You know, those things parents hang over a baby's crib to keep it mesmerized:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Calder

While Calder made small, toy-like pieces, including jewelry, most of his work is "industrial strength" sheet-metal and steel wire, which are unsuitable for any nursery room.

After watching some of Calder's pieces maintain their precarious balance, we proceeded to the Michelangelo Exhibit. One of the first things I learned was that Michelangelo, unlike some of today's pop stars, actually had a surname. The great artist's full name was: Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo

The exhibit here consisted of some of Michelangelo's surviving sketches. Near the end of his life, Michelangelo burned most of his sketches and rough drafts, because he didn't want people to see how "crappy" they were.

I guess the phrase: "One man's junk is another man's treasure," was coined after the Renaissance.

Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes

My wife & I went to see Sherlock Holmes today. This latest rendition of the Great Detective opened on Christmas Day, but the theater was only half-full for the matinee show, either because folks were working, or more likely, watching Avatar.

Despite Holmes' legendary powers of observation, it would be hard for today's audiences to sit for two hours of deductive exposition. So Director Guy Ritchie's version of Holmes, played by Robert Downey Jr., is fast-paced and edgy, with a little bit of steampunk thrown in.

While racing to stop the bad guy's nefarious scheme, Holmes and Watson bicker throughout the movie like two domestic partners. This internal conflict is sparked by Watson's plan to move out of their bachelor pad, on 221 B Baker Street, in order to marry his fiancee.

Basically it's a Victorian Era, cop-buddy movie.

What I liked most about this movie is how Dr. Watson was portrayed. Unlike the classic Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce movies, this Dr. Watson, played by Jude Law, kicks butt! Afterall, Watson was an ex-army officer and a veteran of the British Empire's Afghan Wars. So the good doctor must have learned a thing or two about hand-to-hand combat.

I give this movie a solid 3.5 stars. The characters are so well known that even with today's movie making magic, it would be hard to surprise audiences without wildly deviating from the original characters. This movie's worth seeing on the big screen.

The Sherlock Holmes wiki-page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes

Sherlock Holmes, the movie (caution--plot spoilers!):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes_(2009_film)

Merry Christmas!

Clash at Kursk--the Final Episode

The last episode of Clash at Kursk has now been posted on YouTube and the Consimworld Social Network site. I've also posted the YouTube link to several other gaming sites.

This project was nearly as big as the project I did for HMGS-East, Mayhem in Makassar Strait. The only difference is "Mayhem" was broken up into 6 x 2-3 minute episodes.

The final production tally for all three episodes of this movie is:

Total number of gaming pictures--237

Historical pictures used--12

Total number of full-narrative pages--19

Total run time: 25 minutes

Link to Clash at Kursk, Episode 3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGEGTGr1e_I

Here's a synopsis of the historical campaign, called "Operation Citadel" by the Germans & "Operation Bagration" by the Russians:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kursk

Book Review: War of Honor by David Weber

I love Honor Harrington!

There. Now that I've professed my admiration for my favorite literary heroine, I wish I could say the same about the book War of Honor by David Weber (2002).

It's not that I didn't like the book, but weighing-in at 929 pages, it's hard to love a story this long.

First of all the title is something of a misnomer. A more appropriate heading would be something like:

An Analysis of the Rising Tensions between the Star Kingdom of Manticore, the Republic of Haven and the Andermani Star Empire, with Anecdotes on the Genetic Slave Trade and the Exploration of the Manticoran Wormhole Junction


However, such a verbose title sounds like a doctoral dissertation on intersellar relations--and promises the reader it will be just as boring.

The first shots in Honor's war aren't fired until somewhere between pages 707 and 708. The action, squeezed between two consecutive pages, is discussed at length in a back story. But the outbreak of all-out hostilities doesn't start until page 827.

So what's the other 826 pages about?

As my doctoral title suggests, it is one long exposition on the chain of events that leads to open warfare between Honor's Kingdom of Manticore and the Republic of Haven. Both nations have been abiding by an armistice for the past five years. However, the fragile peace comes unglued due the ambitious and shortsighted actions of leaders on both sides.

David Weber combines "show" and "tell" in his 826-page exposition by way of cabinet meetings, staff briefings, economic round table discussions and press conferences. These gatherings are hard to sit through in real life, not to mention reading about them in a book!

So what did I like about this book?

Throughout the series, the author has done a fantastic job Honor's character development. In each novel, including this one, Honor is shown to be an inspirational, cunning and even gracious leader. David Weber is an imaginative writer of futuristic combat who can hold his reader's attention, so for an Honor Harrington fan like me it was worth reading the first 826 pages of this story.

I give War of Honor 3.5 stars. While the pre-war build-up is interesting, this book is not for a first-time Honor Harrington reader.

Now that war has resumed between Manticore and Haven, the following book, At All Costs (2005), promises to be more exciting.

Wikipedia's synopsis of War of Honor:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Honor

Happy Hanukkah! Best wishes to everyone celebrating the Festival of Lights!

A short history of the 8-day Jewish holiday:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah

If I were Jewish, this would be my favorite Menorah:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000K7FH56?tag=debbischlu0b-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B000K7FH56&adid=0X5MS3PET8VW1XD9KQW7&

Clash at Kursk Episode 2

In this episode, the battle for Prokhorovka continues and the Russian heroine, Mariya Octyabrskaya makes her debut appearance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NKLGxwAt_M

A short bio of Mariya:

http://www.taskforcekiwi.co.nz/6th_red_army.htm