May 4, 2015

Short Stories Create Intriguing Characters

Kathy Ide Blog author, Christian fiction, short stories, writer 0 Comments

In honor of the upcoming release of the first book in the new series of devotionals for fiction lovers, I thought my readers might like to know more about the authors who contributed short stories to the book. This week’s guest is Amarilys Gacio Rassler.

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What do you enjoy about writing short stories?

Short stories connect the heart of the writer with the heart of the reader, and I love to connect with people. In my stories I aim to bring about a moment of profound realization in one or two of the characters with whom the reader can relate. My goal is to emotionally touch my audience, inspiring them through universal themes. I love traveling and writing about the places I have visited. During trips, I often see the settings of my stories as another character would.

What are the challenges in writing short stories?

The challenges of writing a short story are that of telling a satisfying tale with fewer words and creating characters that are distinct and intriguing from the start. What the characters want must be stated soon, and the pace of the story needs to move much faster than it would in a novel.

Have you ever published a short story other than through this fiction-lover’s devotional series? Is so, where? And what was that experience like?

My stories have been published in Fiction 365, The Florida Writer magazine, and the Tampa Writers Alliance Wordsmith. I have self-published a story in my speculative fiction book, The Chairs, and in my cultural book, Cuban-American, Dancing on the Hyphen. The feedback has been very encouraging.

What advice would you share with someone who wants to write short stories?

Read many short stories of the writers you admire. I would also share the words of Julia Cameron, author of The Right to Write: “Write because something ‘touches’ you, write because you want to ‘touch’ someone else, but most of all write to ‘get in touch’ with the divine or because the divine somehow has ‘gotten in touch’ with you.”

Amarilys Gacio Rassler is the author of Cuban-American, Dancing on the Hyphen, a cultural prose and poetry book used in curriculum for studies about Cuba by Oregon State University. She is the author of The Chairs, a book about love, faith, and spiritual warfare. She speaks and leads discussions about her books, shares about writing, and loves to dramatize her poetry. She blogs at http://marggie-withheart2write.blogspot.com.