Saturday, July 14, 2018

Back in the Game

by Mary Ann Joyce from the July 9, 2018 issue

Photo: Hakan Dahlstrom (Flickr CC license)
Tagline: Ava had a crush on the cute guy at the gym...but would he ever notice her?

Observations: Ha! This was a story that used the title at the end successfully. When you do this, it has to make sense and not feel contrived. I thought the idea of physical therapy as a vehicle for a first meet was novel and his attempt to impersonate a jail bird was funny.

Pro tip: The humor in Woman's World stories is often slightly goofy like that. It's almost never sarcastic. It usually shows one or both of the main characters to be affably adorable.

6 comments:

Sandy Smith said...

This was a really cute story with lots of humor, which I enjoyed. The therapy session was an interesting way to meet. I also noticed the tie-in of the title. It was done very well.

Shyra said...

When this story started out in the gym I thought the characters were teens. I was glad when it turned out otherwise. I like that the characters were trying new things like basketball and mountain biking. And I liked his corny line. Thanks Kate for the tip about humor in these stories.

Shyra said...

Kate, or anyone else, I'd like to learn more about writing short stories. Can you recommend any classes or books? Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

Tamara said...

Shyra, I noticed a website that has a lot of good tips on writing short stories and also comments by readers at the end. Here's the link:
https://jerryjenkins.com/how-to-write-short-stories/
I'm thinking maybe starting with an event, relationship, or experience from your own life, just for practice--using third person, of course. I managed to get a few stories published in literary journals, all taken from my own life. I expanded on what really happened or changed it when needed to make it more relevant or readable.

Shyra said...

Tamara, thank you so much for this. The website looks great. This is just what I need to get going. I've been writing short stories on and off for years, even had one published in Woman's World a few years ago, but what I've been doing feels aimless. I'm ready to get more serious about it. Thanks again.

Pat said...

Loved this story. Great title that fit the theme of the story.