Wine Bottle Labels

The process of writing short love stories varies from author to author. Yet there is a certain central thread that cannot be avoided. I set myself the task of isolating this element. It is the common strand woven through because it is securely anchored at the root.

The first thing the reader looks for is the hint of attraction. This is a love story, so that spark is sure to occur early in the telling. Hilariously, the next thing anticipated will be: is this going to work out? The reader who is ripe for short love stories knows it can go either way. Yes, there can be a desultory fade out, but no one thinks those are fascinating. We are looking for the big happy ending or the disastorous flame out. At any rate, the thread is that core of emotional encounter that exists in all such tales: it is the element of risking. The giving, the taking, the trusting, the reward for trusting. Or the betrayal.

There is a reason these things can be short. You only need one transition through the risk-trust-outcome cycle to provoke the feeling of having encountered the entire love affair. You know a lot about the couple. The tale is told in a few thousand words. The evocation of the heart creates an emotional tracer for the reader, even if long after the details fade and the names of the characters vanish. The reader has added to life experience through fiction. That is a marvelous thing, and enrichment of the soul. It could be thought of as addictive. That word has judgment in it, however. My tendency is to project the opposite: to value the seeker, the reader of short love stories.