Nice combination of titles for tonight’s posts I think!
Image Credit: Images are either from Pixabay or, where NOT stated, taken by me.
Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today
Tonight’s Chandler’s Ford Today post looks at local communities and writers and how they can help each other. I also look at the benefits to both of this and discuss sponsorship, how local events (often sponsored) can raise awareness of the writing community’s existence and encourage spending in the local area (and not just on books!).
I use Chandler’s Ford as the “model” and take the opportunity to thank a wide range of people who have been very supportive of our writing community. By community, I do mean everyone from local businesses to our fantastic Grade 2 listed library to the Age Concern Centre to the Post Office! So there’s a good old mix in there!
(I also manage to have a quick moan about Nat West closing our local branch as our shopping centre has had closures, this being the latest, yet has other shops moving in. It has been a bit of a strange time – businesses you think would stay for good now gone, others you think may not last going on for years.).
I also share news of another event on 25th November at Winchester Discovery Centre where several local authors, including yours truly, will be taking part in the Centre’s 10th-anniversary celebrations with talks, readings, etc. Should be fun and I hope to post more details later.
Facebook – General – Part 2 – When Your Main Character Is a Wimp
What can you do when your main character turns out to be a wimp and a secondary character is “nagging you” for more of the action? I would see this as a sign your main character simply isn’t up to the task of being the lead, unless you significantly re-write them, Equally this can give you the chance to look at whether you have written the story from the right character’s viewpoint after all. You can always rewrite, promoting the secondary character in importance, and see which version of your story works best. (My money would be on the version where the secondary character “takes over”).
Is your main character really up to the job of leading the story or a bit of a wimp? Whose story is it?. Image via Pixabay
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again
Flash fiction is the perfect format for those lovely incidents which are not enough to make a standard length short story (usually 1500 words or so) but are worthy of being told all the same.
I’ve found it lends itself really well to laugh out loud moments and, strangely, those tales that give you a sense of something walking all over your grave. Why there is such a contrast in the mood generated I don’t really know, (of course it could just be me!), but flash fiction, for me, is all about impact. The twist in the tale ending comes into its own with flash fiction too as it is such a great way to ensure you do make that impact.
There are a lot of steps on any writer’s journey but I am pleased to say I’ve made another one. I’ve become a character in Beatrice Fishback’s novella, Winter Writerland. I met Beatrice at Swanwick this year and along with Jennifer C Wilson, Fiona Park and Val Penny, we came up with ideas for a cosy mystery, which Beatrice has now written up! The story is set in the fictional writing conference of Branwick and all four of us have given our blessing to being named characters.
Oh and before you ask even I don’t know if I’m the murderer yet. There’s a sentence I never thought I’d write!
😀 The novella is currently in e-book form only but there are plans for a paperback. Amazon link below. I never thought I’d promote a book where I’m a character but that’s one great thing about the writing life. It can take you down some very interesting avenues! Good luck with the novella, Beatrice. I wonder what we’ll come up with at next year’s Swanwick!
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again Part 2
Sometimes even I find 100 words are not enough for the tales I want to tell. One of my favourite longer stories in From Light to Dark and Back Again is They Don’t Understand, which is a poignant character study.
The reason for the longer word count here (though it is still under 750 words) is I needed some time to establish the relationship between the two characters in the story. Without that the punchline would not have the impact I wanted it to have. So my guideline here was the impact and had I put in enough detail to support it? Yes, I had but this time it took more than 100 words to do so.
I like the flexibility of flash fiction regarding genre but I also like the fact it has sub-divisions within it so I can vary the word count I use. Whatever word count I go for, it has to be right for that story. There mustn’t be a word out of place, whether it is a 100-word tale or a 1000 word story!
Fairytales With Bite – Having Fun With Your Characters
Do you have fun with your characters? There should be the initial fun of creating them, of course, but for me I think the most fun comes when they develop and mature and truly take on a life of their own. You can look back at the earlier stages of their development and literally see how far they have come.
I also enjoy dropping my characters right in it when appropriate to do so but that probably says more about me than them. I will claim dramatic licence though! So yes you should have fun with your characters, especially for novel writing, you will be living with them for a long time. Even in flash fiction writing, while you will generally go from one character to another for each story, you should still know what makes that character tick and enjoy working out how best to get that across to your readers. If you become tired of your characters, it does show through in your writing so love them, love to hate them, enjoy writing for them, enjoy putting them through the emotional wringer etc! It will help your writing flow and sparkle. Characters written like this always draw me to a story. I think it is the characters, more than anything, that makes a story unforgettable.
Talking of characters and having fun, I’ve become a character in a book, Winter Writerland, written by Beatrice Fishback. I met her at Swanwick Writers’ Summer School this year and, along with Jennifer C Wilson, Fiona Park, Val Penny and, of course, me, the five of us came up with story ideas for a cosy mystery. All highly enjoyable and many laughs were had at what we came up with! Beatrice has written the story up as a novella and I’m very glad to share the link. (Naturally all four of us have given our blessing to being characters in a book but I must admit it was a development in my writing journey I hadn’t anticipated!). Oh and don’t ask me if I’m the murderer (a sentence I never thought I would write!). At the moment I don’t know. I wouldn’t say anyway. No plot spoilers here!
Love your writing. Your readers will love you for it.
This World and Others – The Joys of Editing
As well as editing my own work, I sometimes edit pieces for Chandler’s Ford Today. I’m currently editing a local history mini-series, which I hope will be up on the website fairly soon. Fascinating material which just needed putting together in the right order to improve clarity. Funnily enough, it’s thrown up a few odd coincidences with my life, which I wasn’t expecting.
I love editing. I love sensing how my story or post is improving because I have taken the wasted words out. Without a decent edit (and ideally at least two to three), I know no work of mine will be accepted anywhere because I always overwrite and so have to cut out the padding. But I don’t mind doing that. I like to write down all of my ideas and then select the strongest, based on my outline. It is always a relief getting that first draft down because I then know I definitely have something to work with and experience to date tells me the edit only improves a piece.
I do think it vital though to keep the creative side away from the editing side. You need that joy of creating something new to help you get that story nailed to the screen but the sensible editing side comes later. They really are two separate tasks. How can you edit something properly that isn’t finished? So write first, edit later is my mantra and I’ve never regretted following that.
Goodreads Author Programme – Quotes
I thought I’d share the link to my quotes page here. I make no apology that, to date, the majority of quotes come from the much missed Terry Pratchett.
Allison Symes’s books on Goodreads
Allison Symes: Collected Works 