Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

story-forge.bsky.social @story-forge.bsky.social · 1d

Preptober is officially here, and you know what that means: chaotic planning season has begun!

If you’re getting ready for 30K in 30 Days, check out our favorite prep tools from our friends at @scribeforge.bsky.social . Worldbuilding, planning, cheat sheets, and more!

#booksky

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Carla Hennes ❌ 👑 aka Radiation Rosie @tempestteapot.bsky.social · 4d

#WIPSnips #WritingCommunity #amquerying #writesky 💙📚 🪐📚 With ghost story vibes and a feminist journey, “Haint Blue” in VOICES LIKE THESE from @story-forge.bsky.social When you work in a haunted house, the fake monsters are your family and real props open dimensional windows. More at bit.ly/46BBttP

Lizzie held Cassie’s shoulders, forcing her to meet her eyes. “If he shows up at the gate, he’s not getting in. Security knows what he looks like.”
“In a mask?” Cassie tugged a stray hair out of the drying latex, ignoring the pain. “Last week, he sweet-talked his way on site with a new prop, talking like he knew the Nightmare Farm owner.” Collecting odds and ends from the university labs, Todd would wire them up, showing off his engineering skills to his adoring girlfriend. Most of the junk in the mad scientist room came from him. “After dumping the prop, he showed up at the flaming coffin scene.”
“Oh, Cassie–”
“He didn’t know about the trick door, so I snuck away before he could start any of his arguments.” She hunched her shoulders as though she could repeat the vanishing act.
Tapping Cassie’s chin, Lizzie said, “You’re smarter than you think…And you missed a spot while slitting your throat.”
Cassie grinned and snapped the scissors at her. “Begone, foul demon!”

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𝔖𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔡𝔲𝔰𝔱✨️ @peregrinus-stellis.bsky.social · 3d

Next to yapping about games, I'd like to put focus on my first draft of my book :D
It's a slow progress rn, but I like to hear feedback and the opportunity to support my favorite website, @story-forge.bsky.social!

#writersky #firstdraft #StoryForge

𝐁𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐅 @bullet-proof.bsky.social · May 7

‪𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 ████████!

༄⋆❅

"Instead of staring, make yourself useful and stand guard. I have to check whether one of them carries important evidence. Or a gun."

𝐂𝐖: 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝.

#BulletProofPSG #promosky #StoryForge #firstdraft #urbanfantasy #writersky #newadult #espionage

Book Cover of Peregrinus Stellis's and Genbu's debut book. The title in the center says "BULLET PROOF" in big letters, with two smaller sized quotes on the top and bottom respectively:

"Even dare to get close to her and you'll be a dead man."

"You're not the first to tell me that."

The cover is a near black with pitch black roses on the top right and bottom left. White shattered glass radiate from the top left and bottom right corners and the layered above the title is golden shattered glass radiating from the center, implying a gun shot. The mid bottom has the two authors name's in a small font size.

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Carla Hennes ❌ 👑 aka Radiation Rosie @tempestteapot.bsky.social · 3d

#WIPSnips #WritingCommunity #amquerying #writesky 💙📚 🪐📚 With ghost story vibes and a feminist journey, “Haint Blue” in VOICES LIKE THESE from @story-forge.bsky.social When you work in a haunted house, the fake monsters are your family and real props open dimensional windows. More at bit.ly/46BBttP

“You can trust Lizzie. She can hide you from angry Daddy.” Sharing beers after the haunt closed, Lizzie had slurred through a song she sang to calm her patients in the pediatric ER. “She knows Momma’s lullaby - the Water’s Wide.” Cassie only sang the first verse, skipping the later verses about love betrayed.
The boy turned, starting to hum. Cassie licked her dry lips and sang.
The water’s wide, I can’t cross o’er
The child’s pale legs crawled.
And neither have I wings to fly.
Smoke swirled as he opened the actor’s door.
Give me a boat that can carry two.
The door closed behind him.
And we shall cross, my love and I.
Cassie wiped another smoky tear from her eyes. Safe, he was safe with Lizzie. She stared at the blank wall as the light died away and the device faltered into silence. A persistent buzzing sounded from her shoulder.
Cassie picked up the fallen earpiece and mashed it into her ear.
“Cassie, do you copy?” Lizzie’s voice bounced through the line. “Cassie, where are you?”
Cassie keyed the mic. “Cassie here.”
Her thumb fell away from the button. Where was she? Right where she was needed. By November, long gone from Todd and building a new life.

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story-forge.bsky.social @story-forge.bsky.social · 4d

Follow your instincts and then worry about what your word count should be.

Here's the full blog post if you want to read more

storyforge.com/blog/terms-f...

Defining The Terms for Story Lengths and Why They’re Important — StoryForge

A definition of the different terms for story lengths and why knowing these terms is important.

storyforge.com

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story-forge.bsky.social @story-forge.bsky.social · 4d

Remember:

When submitting any stories to contests, magazines or publishers, make sure to check their submission guidelines to see the specific word count they are looking for!

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story-forge.bsky.social @story-forge.bsky.social · 4d

When writing flash fiction or short stories, trimming away unnecessary detail can be extremely helpful. Make every word count. Each word should feel important to tell the story.

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story-forge.bsky.social @story-forge.bsky.social · 4d

Stories Come Before Word Counts

When stories are crammed into a word count, the plot, characters, and message can suffer. The best way to avoid this is write your story first, then look for publications that are accepting your word length.

Editing and re-writing can also help shorten a story!

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story-forge.bsky.social @story-forge.bsky.social · 4d

Novel:

The length of a novel will depend on how long the story needs to be, and often genre can influence the word count.

However, the most common word count is:
40,000-120,000 words

If you’re not sure how many words to use in your novel, you can always reference other novels in your genre.

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story-forge.bsky.social @story-forge.bsky.social · 4d

Novelettes are basically shorter Novellas.
There are two common definitions of a novelette:
7,000-17,500 words
10,000-20,000 words

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story-forge.bsky.social @story-forge.bsky.social · 4d

Novella:

These are often considered a shorter novel.

The common word counts for a novella are:
7,000-10,000 words
10,000-40,000 words
20,000-50,000 words
The word “novella” often leaves the impression of a cozy, enjoyable read that takes less time to finish than a novel.

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story-forge.bsky.social @story-forge.bsky.social · 4d

Short Story:

The short story is the second shortest of the four main terms.

Common definitions of a short story are:
1,000-7,000 words
1,000-10,000 words
1,500-7,000 words
1,500-10,000 words

If you’re writing for yourself, the length of your short story can be whatever you want!

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story-forge.bsky.social @story-forge.bsky.social · 4d

Flash Fiction:

The length of flash fiction is often the most debated of the terms.

Here are the most common word counts:
100-500 words
100-750 words
100-1,000 words
100-1,500 words

Microfiction is a subset of flash fiction. Any story with 100 words or less is considered microfiction!

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story-forge.bsky.social @story-forge.bsky.social · 4d

We’ll focus on the four most commonly used terms:
Flash Fiction (100-1,500 words)
Short Story (1,000-10,000 words)
Novella (7,000-50,000 words)
Novel (40,000-120,000 words)

And touch on two less commonly used terms:
Microfiction (100 or less)
Novelette (7,500-20,000)

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story-forge.bsky.social @story-forge.bsky.social · 4d

Remember tho that there are no strict rules on these, so consider this more a guide rather than a dictionary.

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story-forge.bsky.social @story-forge.bsky.social · 4d

Remember that your story is unique and shouldn’t be confined to a word count!!

With that being said, knowing about story lengths is useful if you want to submit them for publications. So let's talk about them!

#booksky

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story-forge.bsky.social @story-forge.bsky.social · 4d

Of course! 💖💖

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Carla Hennes ❌ 👑 aka Radiation Rosie @tempestteapot.bsky.social · 10d

And this time with a working shout-out to @story-forge.bsky.social

Carla Hennes ❌ 👑 aka Radiation Rosie @tempestteapot.bsky.social · 10d

#WIPSnips #WritingCommunity #writesky 💙📚 🪐📚

It awakens! The Anthology VOICES LIKE THESE with my short story “Haint Blue” launches soon! Thanks @story-forge.bsky.com for believing in me!

When you work in a haunted house, the fake monsters are your family and real props open dimensional windows.

Book cover with title VOICES LIKE THESE. Many windows appear against a dark background, each with a different scene.

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Carla Hennes ❌ 👑 aka Radiation Rosie @tempestteapot.bsky.social · 10d

With ghost story vibes for October, the Anthology VOICES LIKE THESE with my short story “Haint Blue” launches soon! Thanks @story-forge.bsky.social for believing in me!

When you work in a haunted house, the fake monsters are your family and real props open dimensional windows.

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story-forge.bsky.social @story-forge.bsky.social · 4d

Guided By The Lost, by @liampboyle.bsky.social
Haint Blue by @tempestteapot.bsky.social
Lehol by @odepoptop.bsky.social
Christ's Blood by @anyajulchen.bsky.social
I am A Button by @pandorahasabox.bsky.social
Shadows of the Mountain by @glenweatherhead.bsky.social

💖💖💖

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story-forge.bsky.social @story-forge.bsky.social · 4d

Thank you so much!

The vibes are kind of mixed, that's part of the beauty of it. We have dark fantasy, horror, comedy and some deep themes going on in the anthology.

I think the entire team has different favorites 🤭 So instead I'll mention the ones from authors that are here!

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Carla Hennes ❌ 👑 aka Radiation Rosie @tempestteapot.bsky.social · 8d

#WIPSnips #WritingCommunity #amquerying #writesky 💙📚 🪐📚

IT"S ALIVE! “Haint Blue” in the anthology VOICES LIKE THESE from
@story-forge.bsky.social When you work in a haunted house, the fake monsters are your family and real props open dimensional windows.
Details at storyforge.com/anthology

Story title Haint Blue against a dark background and a window with flames

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Carla Hennes ❌ 👑 aka Radiation Rosie @tempestteapot.bsky.social · 8d

#WIPSnips #WritingCommunity #amquerying #writesky 💙📚 🪐📚 With ghost story vibes and a feminist journey, “Haint Blue” in VOICES LIKE THESE from @story-forge.bsky.social When you work in a haunted house, the fake monsters are your family and real props open dimensional windows.
Salmon = flame red

Urging him forward would send him into the flames, but sideways a few steps would take him to the actor’s shortcut, a route to Lizzie’s scene.
“I need you to be brave, honey.” A bitter smile twitched her face. Could she be brave? Brave enough to shut Todd out of her life, out of her mind, for good? Brave enough to take the risk of rejection from the Vegas haunt? Soot covered her hands, dirty from running towards the fire. Why did she think she wasn’t brave?
“Crawl away from the flames, honey. Press against the wall until you find a place where it swings open. Keep crawling.”
The little boy shuddered. “Can’t move. Daddy angry.”
“Momma wants you to be safe. Go find Momma’s friend. Tell Lizzie…” Did the other-Lizzie even know Cassie? Know what had happened to the other-Cassie? “Tell Lizzie you need a new Momma.”

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Carla Hennes ❌ 👑 aka Radiation Rosie @tempestteapot.bsky.social · 7d

#WIPSnips #WritingCommunity #amquerying #writesky 💙📚 🪐📚 With ghost story vibes and a feminist journey, “Haint Blue” in VOICES LIKE THESE from @story-forge.bsky.social When you work in a haunted house, the fake monsters are your family and real props open dimensional windows. Buy at bit.ly/46BBttP

The boy curled tighter and shook his head. “Daddy said stay put. Don’t wander, don’t run away like Momma.”
Another impossible choice. Would she have made the right one, escaping but leaving the child with a neglectful father? Or would Todd find another way to explain why Momma didn’t come home from the hospital? Cassie shivered despite the heat, feeling an echo of footsteps across her grave.
“Do you remember Momma?” she asked.
“Blue,” the child blurted.
“What?” Baffled, Cassie wrinkled her face.
“Haint blue,” continued the child. “I was scared to sleep in my room. She painted the ceiling a special color of blue. So the ghosts would think it was sky and fly away.”
Cassie sank to her knees. The same story her Southern grandmother had told her when she slept on hot nights on their porch. She had set the inflection point and this child was hers. The little boy was her child with Todd in that otherworld, in the timeline where she didn’t get an IUD.

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Carla Hennes ❌ 👑 aka Radiation Rosie @tempestteapot.bsky.social · 6d

#WritingCommunity #amquerying #writesky 💙📚 🪐📚

Out now! bit.ly/4mLwQSw

Ghost story vibes & feminist journey: “Haint Blue” in VOICES LIKE THESE from @story-forge.bsky.social When you work in a haunted house, the fake monsters are your family and real props open dimensional windows.

Voices Like These: A Short Story Anthology — StoryForge

StoryForge has published our first book! 20 short stories compiled into one anthology. Every story is a window to a different world. Which window will you open first?

bit.ly

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