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

Madge Jennings, slightly younger than LILY, more casual, no hat or gloves, wearing a mannish-looking shirt and trim slacks.


Actress 1, mid-twenties, dressed formally, very much a younger version of Lily.


Actress 2, Madge’s younger counterpart, dressed casually in slacks or jeans and shirt with rolled up sleeves.


Late 1950s. Interior of an upscale Manhattan restaurant. Black and white celebrity photographs on the walls. Two small tables are down stage.


Lily and Madge are enjoying a first round of drinks and a tray of veggies and dip. The Waiter hovers in the background.


Lily: You know me, Madge, I can’t abide those horrid people who make fun at someone else’s expense.


Madge: Right. All those put on airs. Who do they think they are?


Lily: Exactly. I knew you’d understand. It’s most unkind.


Chapter 41