Do you write short fiction but long to s-t-r-e-t-c-h those tight little 55ers, flash pieces, and short stories into longer, publishable work? Do you have binders full of short pieces with characters you’d love to flesh out? Are you dying to tell the rest of these stories? If so,The Short and Long of Itis for you! Award-winning short fiction writer Paul Alan Fahey shows you how to expand and adapt your brief creations into longer, more satisfying stories, plays, novellas, and novels pitch perfect for publication in the e-age. This book will help you practice expanding your short fiction. Through detailed examples and hands-on exercises, you’ll learn how to: Adapt 55 fiction into flash fiction;Adapt flash fiction into short stories and plays;Adapt flash memoir into personal essays;Write a tight logline;Develop a story theme;Build three-act structure; andDevelop characters and enhance backstory.So grab a copy today and start writing longer stories tomorrow!

The Short and Long of It

Here’s another example of riff-writing when Diane waits for her release in the solarium.


As a condition of my release, I’ve agreed to see Dr. Macias on an outpatient basis. How I hate this process. The poking and prodding. The “look at this, Diane, tell me what you see, think back to your childhood, do you remember anything” questions.


Nine-forty A.M. and the doctor’s late. Perhaps she’s forgotten our appointment. She has so many patients to see. I wonder if she’d miss me if I left and never returned?


I glance toward the glass cubicle at the far end of the corridor. A gray-haired man in a dark suit and glasses is talking to a nurse.


Chapter 19