Nice combination of topics tonight, I think!  Different certainly…

Facebook – General

What are your characters’ worst nightmares and what are the foundations for them? Is there any chance of them coming true and, if so, how do your characters handle this?

One of my nightmares is being trapped on a seemingly endless train journey, crammed in and not able to write. The temperature on board is rising, I think, as I am unable to tell if it IS that or if I’m having a really inconveniently timed hot flush (as you do! ). I do know I wonder if I’ll ever get home.

Sadly mine came true yesterday with a horrendous journey home from London Waterloo. (There was a circuit failure, meaning almost all trains in and out were delayed and of course that led to many cancellations. People weren’t happy – surprise, surprise!)

But it led me to wonder when nightmares do happen, what are the consequences for the characters and their stories? How does the course of the story change (as I suspect it must do)?

Working out changes to the storyline perhaps? Image via Pixabay.

All good to go for the next story! Image via Pixabay.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

One of the reasons I love writing flash fiction is it can be a great vehicle for humorous pieces that are too short for a standard length short story but which are self-contained in their own right.

One of my favourite lighter stories from From Light to Dark and Back Again is Helping Out, which is the story of a fairy and a witch teaming up so they can avoid the usual fate imposed on them by their magical world. (Think Gladiator here. Forced to fight to the death).

The story gives you enough information about their world and a good idea of what these two are like in about 400 words. (From my viewpoint, one of my longer flash fiction stories!).

It was fun to write but the length of this story is exactly right for what it needs to convey. I can over-write (as I suspect most writers do) but that is where good editing is a lifeline. And it is always better to cut so people might want to know more rather than have “padding” and people think she should have cut that!

Stories are the gateways to other worlds whether they are flash fiction, standard length fiction or novels.  Image via Pixabay.

Now here is a place to lose yourself in wonderful stories and books – the library at Prague. Image via Pixabay.