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

The Waiter appears carrying a tray with their meals. He serves them with a flourish, pours a glass of wine for Lily to taste. She signals her approval. He fills their glasses then exits offstage.


Madge: They say I’ll be remembered for Stacey long after I’m gone.


(She brushes an imaginary tear from her cheek.)


Lily: By many, I’m sure. The cast and the crew. Everyone from the script girl to the studio executives who had the pleasure of witnessing first-hand what a rotten bitc—


Lily: We all heard about those little disturbances.


Madge: What do you mean? I was the perfect professional during that shoot. (She tears a dinner roll apart with the finesse and charm of Genghis Khan.)


Lily: Oh come on. Throwing daily tantrums when you didn’t get your way. Rushing off to your trailer. Garbo wanting to be alone again. And again.


(She shoots her friend a withering look.)


Chapter 42