November 26, 2013
   This is a new blog.  Today is the first time I've made an entry.

    My plan is to provide interesting comments for new authors.  That's where the first part of the blog title comes from.  I  recently retired  after 28 years in the car repair business. My first book of short stories was published in February of this year.  The new author work explains the first part of the title. Retirement two years ago explains the old man reference.  I'll update this area every seven to ten days, hopefully with writing topics that are interesting.

     The basic definition of a fiction story is simple.  It's a good story told well.  It is centered on one major event.  A good story puts one central character into a well described setting.  The character has conflict followed by some kind of resolution.  The character struggles to make a change. The change or changes are not necessary pleasant or what the character wanted.

     Short stories are defined by their number of words.  Here are some guidelines:
     It is longer than 1,000 words and shorter than 20,000 words. 
     Stories shorter than 1,000 words are considered flash fiction.
     If longer than 20,000 words, the story is a novella.
     Most publishers consider stories of 40,000 words or more to be novels.
     The ideal length for stories used by literary magazines is from 3,000 to 5,000 words in length.

     Short stories use one main character.  Unlike longer works of fiction, short stories do not have characters in sub-plots.  The story has one character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it. The character has problems and fails repeatedly at solving it.  In the end the main character either succeeds or fails in solving it.  The experiences change the character forever.

     Thanks for taking time to read this.  I'll be back next week with more information about writing fiction.