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Sixteen Scintillating Short Story Starters

27 Comments »16th August, 2006; Category: General, Short Stories, Writer's block, Writing Hints

Darren Rowse over at ProBlogger has a group writing project on again this week. He has asked for submissions of lists.

Here is a short list of sixteen super, scintillating, stunning and simply sensational short story starters for writers. Try them. Let me know how they go – and if you get anything published – good luck.

And if you should be blessed enough to get a royalty cheque or two, you can send me a commision for the idea!

Sixteen Scintillating Short Story Starters:

  1. “It was a dark and stormy…” oops – that’s been used before.

Let’s start again…

  1. Harry was puzzled when the door didn’t open.
  2. The headlights were coming straight towards Peter and he couldn’t move.
  3. Only the flimsy wall of my tent separated me from the low rumbling growl.
  4. I was not expecting what was waiting for me just as I rounded the corner.
  5. Rosalie stifled her scream and cowered under the blanket.
  6. Those last few steps seemed the most difficult I had ever made in my life.
  7. As I read the contents of the letter, I was aware of the smile on my face.
  8. It happened so quickly I had no time to think, only react.
  9. Jenny finally became agitated by the monotonous ticking of the ornate clock on the mantlepiece.
  10. John stared open-mouthed as the ball soared majestically over the fence.
  11. Wendy didn’t see the danger ahead.
  12. Paul couldn’t resist shouting out his joy.
  13. The eagle swooped low over the trees.
  14. I didn’t know until that moment that Nell was so afraid of spiders.
  15. Greg closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and jumped.
  16. It was not the birthday gift I was expecting.

Just to show how generous I can be, here is a bonus idea:

  • Suddenly, nothing happened – but it happened suddenly.

Happy writing.

Check out my own short fiction here.

More writing hints can be found here.

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Update: for a complete list of my short story starters click here.

Writing Hint #2 Avoid repetition

4 Comments »15th August, 2006; Category: General, Writing Hints

There is one error I find myself falling into on occasions. Too many occasions now that I think about it. Repetition of words in close proximity to each other can be off-putting to the reader. It also shows a lack of proof reading and a certain amount of laziness on the part of the writer.

I came across this great quote recently:

“If you re-read your work, you will find on re-reading that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by re-reading and editing.”

So I’d better follow my own advice. Proof read carefully, and edit, edit, edit… oops now I’m repeating myself.

UPDATE: A reader has kindly suggested that I should consider revising the first two sentences. I’ve  done the very thing I was advising against, repeating the word ‘occasions’  (now underlined) . Ooops.

Poem #5 Rubbish Bin

No Comments »11th August, 2006; Category: General, Poetry

Rubbish Bin

An exasperated

Rubbish bin

Spews forth

A gluttony

Of unwanted oddments –

Fouling

The pristine

Manicured

Lawn.

All rights reserved.

Copyright 2006 Trevor W. Hampel

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Short Fiction #6 Early Morning Delivery

2 Comments »30th July, 2006; Category: General, Short Fiction

Early Morning Delivery

A sudden knock woke James.

He stumbled to the door.

“Yes? Whaddaya want?”

It took him several seconds to focus on the woman on the doorstep.

“YOU!” he hissed. “What… how… who gave you my address?”

Finally she spoke.

“This, I believe, is yours,” she said as she thrust a baby into his arms.

All rights reserved.

Copyright 2006 Trevor W. Hampel

Read more of my short fiction and poetry here.

Idiom #1

1 Comment »24th July, 2006; Category: General, Idioms

As I wrote last week I am fascinated by idioms. I’m not sure about other English speaking countries, but here in Australia the idiom is ‘alive and kicking.’ I guess that you are waiting with bated breath for me to spill the beans. The truth is, I am one who can boast that I’ve actually had a story bristling with idioms published in a magazine; naturally I was on cloud nine when that happened.

This week’s idiom

‘alive and kicking’

This one seems obvious as to its meaning; if something or someone is ‘alive and kicking’ it means that they are lively, well, healthy and very active. One writer has suggested that its origin is as a fishmonger’s term. If his fish are ‘alive and kicking’ they are so fresh that they are still flapping about.

Another possible explanation has a medical origin. It refers to the last months of pregnancy when a mother is often aware of her baby’s movements in the womb. If the baby is ‘alive and kicking’ all is well.

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