by Diana Hickerson from the April 11, 2022 issue
Tagline: Hosting a yard sale is not newly single Tracey's idea of a fun way to meet people...until a handsome man arrives wit the offer of a lifetime.
Observations: The first third of the story has zero dialogue in it. It's just the main character's thoughts about her friend's obsession with yard sales, her mediocre interest in them, but the reason why she's hosting one anyway.
There's a common "rule" that says you shouldn't front load your story/book with backstory, but I have always disagreed. You can do anything in fiction as long as you do it well. It's all in the execution. I mean, take those epistolary books--books that are entirely composed of letters. Crazy idea, right? So not what we would expect or imagine that we would enjoy, and yet, I love these types of books.
And I didn't find the beginning of this story to be boring at all even though nothing was really going on at first. Obviously, the editors didn't have a problem with it either.
So, I encourage you to take risks with Woman's World stories. The stories are so short that you can afford to spend a few days going out on a fictional limb. Take a so-called writing rule and break it on purpose. See what happens.
My favorite part:
He had moved away when he turned 12, and I never knew what became of him. But clearly, wherever he'd been had done him good. Or else there's no limit to what four decades and a weathered barn jacket could do for a guy.
Photo by Mike Mozart via Flickr Creative Commons License
1 comment:
I agree, Kate, Diana did overload the beginning with backstory and I noticed it. But, like you said, it fit the story and worked so well.
That line you loved is wonderful. This writer did a great job with this story.
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