Tuesday, April 21, 2009

A Sad First Sentence

Emotions can make or break a short story. Too many emotions can drown out your plot and collapse your work into a sloppy, muddy melodrama. Too few emotions can turn your characters into mindless cardboard cutouts who act without thinking or feeling. You need to balance everything in your story, as in real life. The same goes for a novel: can you imagine dragging your readers through a protracted soap opera, or characters so dry you can crumble them into powder?

It's your chance to try your luck at using emotions. You have 5000 words at your disposal, your choice of characters and plot, and this as your first sentence:

“I didn't think he would disappoint me, but he did.”

Post your work in the Comments section, or provide a link to your short story. Good luck, and happy writing!

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