Publication and Spielberg class

After waiting, I finally received word on my flash fiction piece. Pill Hill Press has decided to publish my flash fiction  "The Game" in their flash fiction anthology for 2012. As soon as I hear more on it I will let all of you know. I'm supper excited!


 I still have two more submissions out, one is a fiction short story and one is a nonfiction short story.


I only have  four more rejections to hit my goal of 20 rejections for my 2011 collage. WooHoo!

I had my Director Spielberg class this last weekend and it was a great class- despite minor technical problems. I watched Jaws, ET, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Naturally I have some terrific notes to share with you all on this class. Don't worry I will only give you details that I can relate to writing:


I learned a great deal over Friday and Saturday. However, the most interesting thing I have taken from this class so far is a narrative structure. Spielberg evidently is very structured in his films and I'm going to try to apply his structure in some way to my writing.


The following structure is based on Horror- but I thought these might be helpful to any writer-


There are four movements in this narrative structure-
1) Advent
 This is where somebody dies or is attacked at the start of the film. I find this to be very similar to the idea of a hook at the start of a story.


 2) Discovery
 This section speaks almost for itself. This is where someone finds out what happens like in Jaws- the MC discovers the body of a girl who was attacked by something.


3) Confirmation
This is the believer VS the skeptic and depends on rational understanding- take Jaws for example the MC knows deep down it was a shark attack and the Mayor denies it and plays it off so he can keep the beaches open. But when the beaches stay open there is a little boy attacked and eaten in front of everyone, and then again the shark shows itself to everyone on the 4th of July. People are confirming the shark is really there and hurting people.
According to my Professors this is the most important element of this narrative structure.
To me this is what creates suspense and moves the story forward.


 4) Confrontation
Naturally this is an important element and in a horror narrative structure this is where they confront the creature, like the shark and either send it back from whence it came or destroy it.


 Happy writing everyone and have a fairy great day!