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Fri Jul 17, 2015 11:19 am
PRANC1NGJ35T3R says...



Hey guys, for those who know me I've been trying to develop a fantasy series, but today I just have a couple of questions one which regards this series I'm developing a milieu for first and the other is to help me out with a concept for a short story.
1) What of the following titles do you think would be perfect for my series? Crimson Vitriol, Behind Price or Bane of Touch.
2) Are there any silent protagonists in literature? Name any examples you know of or tell me the best way to portray such a character (If there are any silent protagonists in literature I may go through with this short story and share the synopsis here).
Milton Berle - 'If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.'
  





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Fri Jul 17, 2015 12:44 pm
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Vervain says...



Question: Why are you only going to go through with the short story if other people have done silent protagonists before? Yeah, it can be hard to pull off sometimes, but it's not like you're writing a protagonist who's an eight dimensional wormhole being or anything.

If you're feeling shaky about your ability to portray such a character, all the more reason for you to just write the short story. You'll only get more comfortable with the idea of writing something new if you actually write it. Reading about it isn't writing it, so your skill and comfort level won't be challenged by reading other silent protagonists. Also, you do happen to be on a feedback-based site, so you always have the option of publishing it here to get others' opinions, instead of just giving us the synopsis. That would be much easier to critique and would give us a solid idea of what we're dealing with.

As far as titles go, that's an extremely subjective thing. I, personally, don't much like any of the ones you listed, but that doesn't mean they're horrible titles and should never be used. I see dozens of titles I'm not fond of whenever I go to the bookstore.

In addition, titles tend to change over time as you get a better idea of what the finished work will be like. So I wouldn't worry about it right now, and would probably just pick the one you like most and use it as a working title.
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Fri Jul 17, 2015 2:53 pm
PRANC1NGJ35T3R says...



Quick Question then, how long is a short story typically? What would be the minimum/maximum amount of chapters?
Milton Berle - 'If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.'
  





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Fri Jul 17, 2015 3:08 pm
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Vervain says...



Short stories don't typically have chapters, because they're simply too short to split like that. If they're split, it's usually into sections or scenes, and as a whole they usually run from about 1,000 words to about 10,000.

Novellas, on the other hand, may have chapters or may have sections, depending on the author's choice. They're a little bit longer, and run from about 10,000 words to about 50,000. And anything longer than a novella, of course, is a novel.
stay off the faerie paths
  








You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.
— Anne Lamott