600 word stories

[Guest]

 

[Alex De Kok]

First, nice one PS! I, too, loved the quirky twist at the end. As for the special '600-word Section' we stand the best chance by writing more!

WSO, I spent a little time thinking about your village and I offer the following for discussion.

Welcome to Snippettsville.

Snippettsville, population five hundred and ninety-nine. Not much more now than a wide place in the road to elsewhere, Snippettsville was founded in the 1860s by Zachariah Snippett who opened a sawmill to handle the lumber from the logging going on in the area. When the loggers moved on Snippettsville sank back into cosy obscurity and these days functions mainly as a dormitory for the nearby city, enabling city workers to enjoy a little rural peace. Provided, of course, they can face the traffic twice a day to get there and back!

It's a quiet place, Snippettsville, but it has the usual mix of people that most places have. Let me introduce you to a few of them.

Hannah McGuire. Hannah's the proprietor of the local diner. Her trade is mostly locals who know she makes a mean chilli, with some passing trade. She's started to pick up some breakfast trade from truckers who start off in the early morning, making Snippettsville their first stop about an hour out of the city. Hannah's divorced and has a daughter, Louise. Hannah lives in an apartment at the rear of the diner.

Louise McGuire is in her first year at university in the city but she tries to get home most weekends. She has a Snippettsville boyfriend, Chuck Reilly, but the more time Louise spends at university the more she becomes sure she and Chuck have no future.

Tom Holt is the local constable and the only law immediately available for Snippettsville and the surrounding area. Tom has it easy most of the time because Snippettsville is generally quiet.

Harry Carr works for a company in the city as a computer programmer. He's single, in his late twenties and was born in Snippettsville. He has a small apartment which used to be a part of Hannah McGuire's place, split off to make some extra income for Hannah. With modern technology, Harry manages to work at home a lot of the time, only needing to go into the office once or twice each week for meetings.

Jack and Ethel Carr, Harry's parents, run the local hardware-and-everything-else-you-want store, serving the local area as well as Snippettsville. Jack's dabbling in writing in his spare time and has sold some short stories.

Jacqueline (Jackie) Silveri is the local 'mystery woman'. Thirtyish, she bought the Hanson house for cash and no-one quite knows what to make of her. Polite but private, she has no employment that anyone knows about.

There are other residents. Hopefully you'll get to know them all as time goes by.

- - - - -

Any comments? Add your own characters (Hannah probably needs a waitress) and PM me if you want to interface with one of mine. I don't have anything specific planned for anyone yet. I must emphasis that these are only first thoughts. It was, after all, wildsweetone's idea and I may have tried to do too much to someone else's baby!

Alex

 

[Guest]

 

[Alex De Kok]

PierceStreet,

welcome, Molly.

One quibble (lovely word, quibble!)

Don't give us so much detail about Molly. She's your creation, let us find out about her by your 'showing, not telling' us!

I'm glad she's a green-eyed redhead...

Funny you should mention Pennsylvania, as I've just been reading some historical work on logging in Pennsylvania. Which is, of course, where the idea of Zachariah Snippett having been a lumberman came from.

Alex

 

[reohoko]

oh, dang I wanted to do the waitress...


"Hello!" Comes a bouncy voice from nearly halfway across the restaurant. A slightly shorter than average, young lady makes her way past the other patrons. Smiling she grabs plates to drop on the counter. Her eyes sparkle with laughter as she approaches the table. Little wisps of red hair frame her face, and her apron has plainly not had a good day.

"May I get you some coffee? Maybe some orange juice? I think someone said something about being out of bacon, so that is out." She is unconsciously rocking back and forth on her toes. Very obvious she can not stand still too long, so ordering fast might be good.


sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[DVS]

oh, dang I wanted to do the waitress...
--edited for effect--
sorry, couldn't resist.

If you leave a nice tip, the waitress might not be able to resist, either.

Sorry...I couldn't resist, either, but
this town's name could change to Payton's Ville with a little editing.

 

[reohoko]

*falls out of her chair laughing

WOW!!! I thought I only did that in Everquest.

*bows lavishly

I really do say the strangest things sometimes.

 

[Guest]

 

[TheEarl]

Loved the story PS.

So what are we going to do? Each add small vignettes that build up the character of the place or write one continuous story like in the SRP forums?

The Earl

 

[wildsweetone]

Hi all, sorry about going AWOL on you, long weekends are killers here. lol

PierceStreet, I loved your 600 word story. Very well done.

With regards to Snippetsville.

It all sounds good to me. Just one thing, I don't pre-invent my characters. So how do you all feel about me just adding in my bits and bobs as we go along, without any preamble about each character?

I don't like the idea of turning this into something akin to the SRP stories. The boundaries become too confining (my opinion) and I'd like it kept as open as possible. I do like TheEarl's suggestion of adding vignettes and building up the story as we go along.

Anybody agree or disagree?

 

[Alex De Kok]

I much prefer the vignettes idea. I will therefore keep any further characters to myself, although the main reason I introduced Hannah and the older Carrs was to give us all some neutral common ground. Diners and general stores seemed to be reasonable for that. Hands off the rest of the characters, at least until I've introduced them!

Alex

 

[reohoko]

I much prefer the vignettes idea. I will therefore keep any further characters to myself, although the main reason I introduced Hannah and the older Carrs was to give us all some neutral common ground. Diners and general stores seemed to be reasonable for that. Hands off the rest of the characters, at least until I've introduced them!

Alex

okie dokie

(Note to self... don't even try to reply to posts before first cup of coffee.)

 

[Guest]

 

[Alex De Kok]

Nice one, PS!

That should keep us going until wildsweetone has a chance to consider the PM I sent her. Nothing to change what we have, just a suggested outline.

One query - does your character have a name? Or do we find that out in another vignette?

Alex

 

[Guest]

 

[wildsweetone]

PierceStreet! Great piece to add to the story! Well done. PierceStreet, I want you to repost your 600 word story to the Snippettsville Thread. I could copy it, but would prefer it to show up under your name - thinking in advance of other ideas here.

Alex, I have received and read your PM regarding Snippettsvilles intro/background. It's great! Thanks for taking the time to set it up in such a way that anyone and everyone is able to join in.

Just one thought. I can see that it will have authors adding a lot. I think it would be worth keeping this thread going for questions anyone might have about the characters or settings. (I'll add a link to this thread at the bottom of your intro.

(I wrote a piece for the story thread last night. It took me about 20 mins to write and ended up 784 words so I have a touch of editing to do. lol 600 words is a good challenge for me.)

I'll be off to work shortly - back in about seven hours from now.

 

[Guest]

 

[wildsweetone]

Glad you liked it It was a kind of practise run for me. I really am out of touch with the 600 word limit. I am finding I'm waffling on and on about all sorts of unrelated topics.

I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing as yet, but it appears I have half a dozen characters smacking me over the back of the head already wanting me to write their stories for them. Darn it! Alex was this your idea?

I know I can hardly wait to read everyone elses work though. Come on you lot, get a move on!

 

[Guest]

 

[Alex De Kok]

After we get this going, we each should move our stories, two at a time, to a regular submission. Maybe "Tales of Snippettsville" and "More Tales..."

Two stories would be 1200 words, so qualifying for the 750 word minimum.

Interesting thought. Why not?

Wildsweetone - nice story on t'other thread! Twisted sister! Take note, my friend. It is absolutely not my fault if your characters are ganging up on you!

Didn't write anything yesterday. Despite my comments on the 'Regulars' thread about books being the only important medium our new DVD player arrived and just had to be played with...

I'll try to be good today, but hey! I'm a slow worker.

Alex

 

[Alex De Kok]

I said, and shouldn't -

I'll try to be good today, but hey! I'm a slow worker.

Alex

Famous last words! The bl***y beige box got itself bu****ed and I've only just got back on line. I still have to reinstall a load of software, so anything more from me will be a day or several!

Sorry, but that's (PC user's) life.

Alex

 

[wildsweetone]

Alex dearest, it is too your flipping fault.

And I don't want to hear any more lame excuses why you can't get a story up!


to all: i had an idea that after the whole thread is finished, we could submit the entire story, with all the author's names included, as one story on Litland. any thoughts on that?

(sorry about the mixed caps again, hand giving me hell today)

edited to add: PierceStreet, you know, i think you're having fun writing these snippets

 

[MathGirl]

Hannah and the coach

Hannah had been without a lover for almost a year, since the abrupt departure of one Orville J. 'Jammer' Gillette. Mr Gillette had been assistant football coach at Snippettsville High until he was discovered in flagrante delicto buggering a sophomore place kicker in the locker room after practice.

Gillette had been arrested, and several other present and former Snippettsville High students had come forward and told the cops of past experiences with their coach. During the police investigation, a search of Gillette's apartment turned up an extensive feminine wardrobe, complete with lacy undergarments and sheer nighties, in the Jammer's size. Of particular interest was a pair of chic black platform shoes with ankle straps and five-inch stiletto heels in size 12 EEE. Also found were assorted whips, ropes, and handcuffs used for indoor sporting events.

The most damning evidence uncovered was a collection of Polaroid photographs of Mr Gillette, clad only in crotchless panty hose, on either the giving or receiving end of a vigorous cornholing. One of the pictures showed a menage a trois in which he was both buggerer and buggeree. In another team event photo, the Jammer was the central figure in a daisy chain with all six members of the previous season's defensive backfield (linebackers included). The coach had indeed established a close, personal relationship with his student athletes. The opened case of hospital size jars of Vaseline and the enema bags the cops found were not introduced into evidence at the trial.

Gillette was subsequently charged with multiple counts of sex with a minor, sodomy, and various other morals raps. In a plea bargain, the Jammer's lawyer got the sodomy ....... um ...... beef reduced to following too close, but he was convicted of the other felonies and awarded a dime stretch at the state prison. Since he had been a rather indifferent lover, Hannah had been under the impression that Orville didn't care much for sex. She was understandably shocked when his escapades while swinging from the other side of the plate became public knowledge.

 

[Guest]

 

[MathGirl]

There is actually a separate thread for the stories opened after the first few stories were posted here. Can you copy your story there?

Dear PS.
No, I wouldn't know where to post it.
MG