Author: Judy L Mohr

Is my story too short?

Normally, when I have a conversation with someone about story length, it's because the writer has written an opus that needs to be trimmed down. This is often the result of too much backstory or unnecessary word building and character description that only distracts from the story as a whole. Trimming a story down is where I'm the queen. (Okay, I'll admit it... I overwrite my own stories in early drafts. I've developed the skills and techniques needed to trim word counts quickly, bringing a story back in line with where it should be.)

However, occasionally, I find myself having a conversation about how a story is actually too short based on the elements presented. There might be too many named characters. Or the setting plays too big of a role for the word real estate available. Or perhaps, there were too many twists and turns and not all the threads were adequately explored.

This is more often seen in shorter story forms, like short stories and novellas, and trying to explain the minimum word count needed to do a story justice is not an easy concept to fathom.

In episode 12.27 of the podcast Writing Excuses, Mary Robinette Kowal introduced an equation that she uses to work out how long a story should be based on the number of characters, number of locations and the number of MICE elements (and NO, I'm not talking about those little things that go squeak, squeak, or those devices that we click repeatedly when the computer refuses to respond). So, let's get to it and break the mathematics down.

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The Strangers We Let See Facebook

For years, I've been writing about some of the hidden traps associated with working online, looking at writers can protect themselves. But I've also been having some fun playing the bad guy, highlighting how real bad guys might turn unsuspecting internet users into their prey.

Today, I want to look at some of the settings on Facebook, things that many of us never bothered to consider a risk.

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New Zealand

But in New Zealand???

2019 forced me to face a shift in my sense of reality. One day, my world was safe and calm, and my worst worry was how I was going to convince my husband to buy the new lounge suite that I wanted, or how was the next scene in my manuscript going to play out, or where does one find the money to pay for the writers conference that I wanted to go to.

But in March 2019, my worst worry joined that of many others around world.

Will today be the day that a terrorist takes my son, my daughter, or my husband away from me?

On Friday 15th March, 2019, an unknown number of madmen marched into two separate mosques on opposite sides of Christchurch, New Zealand (my home city) and opened fire. They then proceeded to locations north and south of the central city, attempting to evade arrest while causing more acts of terrorism.

For the first time in history, the entire city of Christchurch, New Zealand was on lockdown. All schools, all malls, and all businesses closed and locked their doors. Residents citywide were encouraged to stay inside. For nearly 4 hours, an entire city was held to ransom. And what makes it all bizarre... It happened in little, old New Zealand, one of the safest countries in the world.

Lives were lost in this senseless madness. Families ripped apart by an act driven by hatred. Nothing can make up for that. New Zealand as a whole suffered.

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We Let Strangers Into Our Lives

For the last few years, I’ve been writing crime thrillers. Thinking in the head of a bad guy can be liberating. Not sure when these stories of mine will be published (the publishing industry really is a hurry-up-and-wait industry), but I keep pressing forward, and continue to write stories where the bad guys come after us in ways that we are all subject to.

I always wanted the novel to be a cautionary tale about oversharing on social media and the internet. The more I delve into various aspects of internet security, the more I get excited—and scared.

I'm excited, because I know exactly how my serial killer is finding his victims—how he's stalking them. And I also know how he has managed to elude capture for over twenty years. As the writer of this creepy tale, this is fantastic. However, it also scares me, because I'm consciously aware that there will be some sicko out there doing exactly what the bad guy in my story is doing.

I've decided to start this blog series on social media and internet security on my personal blog in the hopes that at least one person out there will take notice and start to examine their own practices. If my ramblings can save just one person from becoming the victim, then I'll be over the moon.

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Is First Person Really More Intimate?

Some time ago, a writing buddy of mine received a “Revise and Resubmit” (R&R) on her crime novel, with an attached editorial note stating that the editor thought it would work better in first person.

For a moment, I want to reflect on the simple fact that she got an R&R. People, this is an awesome thing for a writer to get.

  1. It's not a rejection.
  2. The acquisition editor saw something in your story and writing that has great potential, but they felt the manuscript wasn't quite ready to take before the powers that be who issue and sign contracts. The editor is giving the writer another chance.

If you get an R&R, celebrate! Then take the time to look over the editorial notes and seriously consider their merits.

Okay, so after we finished celebrating the fact she got an R&R, she told a group of fellow writers about the editor wanting the manuscript in first person. There were roughly ten of us around the table that day, and several piped up quickly to say, "first-person narratives were more intimate." There I was, sitting on the other side of the table, biting my tongue. The others in the room were so adamant about their view, and nothing I could say would change their point of view. More importantly, my writing buddy agreed with them.

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