Hi there, my name is Len Gill I am a 68 year old retired male. No having a little spare time on my hands, I thought I would have a go at writing short stories. (not sure how many words is deemed as a short story). But possibly something in the region of 3,000 to 500 words. I'm thinking of something that would take something about half hour to read.
I have never written anything in my life, so it's just an experiment. I feel I must point out that I have no 'A' level or GCSE English literature grades at all, but I do feel I have a vivid imagination. My biggest fear is punctuation. I have written one short story that I would like critiqued by someone to see if this could be a hobby for me. I do not fear criticism as I have nothing to lose.
Regards Len Gill
"I only want to do short stories, so I will have to try and learn to keep them to a 3000 word maximum."
Now you're being silly! (wink) Unless writing for a competition (or want practice in being concise), why would you want to tailor every story to a certain length?
If your story can be told in 3,000 words, that's fine. But what if it would be an even better story if it had 3,008 words? Or 4,000?
Thanks to cutting-edge technology, you can now "share" more than 1 work on this site. So there's nothing to stop you dividing a not-so-short story into "Pt 1" and "Pt 2". (Just let us know that you're doing this, or we might wonder why your story stops [or starts] in the middle of a conversation. [Nothing against that idea as a literary ploy, but if it's not what you intended...])
Thank you people, this is without doubt the friendliest site I've been on, regarding critiques. I have finally managed to shorten my story a little without taking away it's readability (I hope). I have had some encouraging feedback as well. I only want to do short stories, so I will have to try and learn to keep them to a 3000 word maximum. But I do tend to get carried away when I'm typing. Move over Lee Child.
"I have shortened it to less than 3000, but it's still asking the same question."
Try chopping the last paragraphs away until it's WELL within the limit (2,900?). Then check the chopped off paragraphs especially thoroughly for typos and satisfaction that you've "hit the right note". (reason below).
Next - working briskly now - paste the 2,900 words into the main story box with the following message right at the bottom: "To be continued in the 1st reply box".
Follow Jimmy's instructions and "save". Then copy and paste the last few paragraphs into - you guessed it! - the 1st reply box. Save.
Disadvantage (reason mentioned above): You can edit the main box, but not [yet: Admin says that they're working on it] the reply boxes.
Givvus a "thumbs up", Guvner! I had most of that typed out, then me bleedin' laptop whapped it all into the ether. Had to type it all out twice...