I wrote the short story ‘the Nightingale’s Story, A prayer without witness,’ triggered by a Writer’s Digest challenge. Write a short story of max. 1500 words. So how hard can that be? It turns out it’s more difficult than I thought it would be — at least for me — to confine myself to that word count. I tightened it a tiny bit today, but it’s still 1849 words.
However, it is not only an exercise in compressed storytelling, but it is also an exercise in writing in third-person limited POV. Until now, all my stories were in first person POV, like the majority of stories here on this platform. I wrote the story on impulse, following a disturbing incident in my personal life.
A third thing that’s different is that my short story is a virgin. A “No Sex Story.” My first. Please be gentle with me.
Until now it only got three votes, so this probably isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but winter is coming, and I’m already adding winter spices to my tea. That’s OK, though. I wrote this for myself, but if you like it, that’s a bonus. And hey, it’s the season for bargains and bonuses.