My husband tells me that this is what week it is, so here's a post on one of his short stories, "The Age I Was at Christmas and the Girl That I Was With."
The story is a great example for you of how you can use a central motif (in this case, Christmas + the girl) to tell a story that covers a lot of time and/or characters. Rusty is also able to structure the story easily . . . and it's an interesting way to build character (something you could steal for your own work). You'll also notice how he has to use a lot of summary rather than scene because the story covers so much time, but how each section has such a high level of particular and sometimes quirky detail that the story still maintains energy. Also notice how he balances humor and sadness and gives his character flaws but still makes him likeable.
The story is a great example for you of how you can use a central motif (in this case, Christmas + the girl) to tell a story that covers a lot of time and/or characters. Rusty is also able to structure the story easily . . . and it's an interesting way to build character (something you could steal for your own work). You'll also notice how he has to use a lot of summary rather than scene because the story covers so much time, but how each section has such a high level of particular and sometimes quirky detail that the story still maintains energy. Also notice how he balances humor and sadness and gives his character flaws but still makes him likeable.
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