Sarah Massey
Bio
Sarah is an animator and short film director at the birthplace of Route 66 Springfield, Missouri. A graduate of Drury University in the class of 2020, Sarah is published two fiction short stories in Drury’s Literary Magazine, Currents.
Stories (27)
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Flash of... Brilliance?
Flash fiction has never really been my “thing”. The type of fiction I tend to gravitate to is more extended, chapter-like fiction—gritty, lengthy stories, full of sub-context and side plots. So, flash fiction presents a challenge for me, one that I have started to tackle more frequently. I’ll be critiquing one of my most recent pieces Survival Rate. The goal was to end in a twist and subvert the reader’s expectations in some groundbreaking way. The side quest goal was to make it only five hundred words.
By Sarah Massey10 months ago in Critique
Characters that Matter
Think of your story as a body: head, shoulders, knees, and toes. Plot is the skeleton. Characters are the muscles, nerves, and organs. The things that move the bones. You need both. Skeletons can’t move without muscles, and I don’t want to know how a body without bones would move. Thinking about it gives me the heebie-geebies. Anyway, muscles, nerves, and organs are what keep the body functional and healthy. Your story will suck if your characters suck. So how do you make characters that don’t suck?
By Sarah Massey2 years ago in Writers
Stakes of Success
You don't want your characters to be successful. I know it sounds mean, but hear me out. Success is cool, but struggles make for better stories. You’ve heard the saying, bad decisions make for good stories. It’s true. This next set of Pixar rules for storytelling is about causing trouble.
By Sarah Massey2 years ago in Writers
I Should be Attending my Wedding Right Now
… But instead, I’m enjoying my sweet, sweet liberty from a tyrant. My doctor appointment was at 2:30 pm in Jacksonville. A new doctor, and I was unsure about going. Not because of the doctor herself, but because of the weather. My first tornado warning since moving to Arkansas. It was just for a few counties, and would be for only an hour or so.
By Sarah Massey2 years ago in Chapters
What They Don't Tell You About Being The Creative One. Top Story - August 2023.
What they don’t tell you about being “The Creative One” is that everything you do is a copy of someone else. Your notebook is filled with snowflakes in bright pink, purple, and blue. Ever since you saw Frozen, it’s all you think about. Your pen draws each stroke like an ice skater glides across the rink. The geometric shapes and straight lines are soothing to draw, and it is more entertaining than listening to dry lectures. When you’re not drawing snowflakes, you’re writing Sherlock Holmes fiction. As you sit and listen to Dr. Davis drone on and on about something completely unrelated to Child Psychology, young John and Sherlock are adventuring through the streets of London with the newest addition to their team, a bloodhound pup named Toby.
By Sarah Massey2 years ago in Chapters
A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah Maas
There is no better way to spend a day than with a Sarah Maas book. I could just live in the world she has created. No fantasy info-dumping, or paragraph long descriptions. Only magic, and color, and wonder, with a good dash of humor throughout. I recommend it to everyone.
By Sarah Massey2 years ago in Critique
How to Tell Any Story Ever. Top Story - August 2023.
What if I told you I had the key to telling a great story no matter what? That no matter what characters, plot, and genre, your story would always turn out compelling, entertaining, and relatable? Would you want to know what it is?
By Sarah Massey2 years ago in Writers
