Well, it is an appropriate theme given we’re rapidly heading out of 2017 and into 2018. Happy New Year to you all! I hope your writing and/or reading brings you much joy in the New Year. Literacy is a truly wonderful thing…
Facebook – General – Story Endings
When is a story finished? When the ending is appropriate for the tale and to add any more would be to “over-egg the pudding”.
I often get to a point when I’ve finished the story and realise I’ve gone on a bit beyond where I really need to be so out those extra bits come. They don’t push the tale forward or add anything useful.
For me, that’s the guiding principle when I’m editing. Do I REALLY need this in the story? The same goes for the ending though I’m also looking for maximum impact on a reader so I ask myself does this line achieve that? My finishing line must always be that one which does achieve that impact and then it is time to go!
Facebook – General – Story Beginnings
When it comes to the start of a tale, I find I begin and then, later, cut until I get to the “real” beginning of the story.
I often don’t know the “real” start of the tale until I have written the whole thing and look back and see this point here would make a better start than what I originally came up with, but that’s fine. I see my original start point as the basis for getting on with the story. Everything, including that, can be tidied up or cut as appropriate later.
The deciding factor is which starting point has the most impact. It’s the same factor that helps me work out what the ending should be.
Happy New Year to you all. Happy writing and editing too!
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again
Contrary to its name, flash fiction isn’t written in a hurry! The real work comes in when you have a story and you need to edit it down without losing its meaning and yet it still counts as flash.
There are other names for flash fiction. I think my favourite of these is postcard fiction as this sums the genre up very well. What you can write on a back of a postcard basically would be a flash fiction story. (This gives me some scope as my handwriting is tiny and my postcards to friends and family are legendary for the amount of information I can get on these things!).
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again
Firstly, happy New Year to you all! Secondly, hope 2018 is a great writing year for everybody.
The highlight of 2017 for me was obviously the publication of From Light to Dark and Back Again. Am currently putting the finishing touches to the follow-up book. Would like to write more stories in 2018 than I did last year and have some thoughts as to how I will achieve that. Will hopefully say in a later post if what I think works!
I hope flash fiction continues to go from strength to strength and that more reluctant readers find it a useful way of getting “into” stories at all. Now that would be a result…
Goodreads Author Programme – Blog
I must admit the book cover has got to lure me into wanting to read the blurb. Once the blurb has then interested me, I will read the opening paragraph or two and then if still interested, I buy the book.
There are exceptions. I’m a huge fan of history (fiction and non-fiction) and almost anything on Richard III is going to trigger my immediate interest. Much as I love the Bard of Avon, I don’t rely on HIM for historical accuracy!
One of my favourite novels is The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. The title comes from the phrase “Truth is the daughter of time”, which I think is lovely. It is also one of the few books to make me change my mind about something, in this case, the guilty of Richard III regarding the Princes in the Tower.
The book’s “star” is Inspector Alan Grant who is confined to a hospital bed by a nasty accident and who decides to investigate Richard III from that bed as a means of passing the time (Grant is VERY bored in the hospital). The conclusions Grant reach are startling. Highly recommend this great book.
Allison Symes’s books on Goodreads
Allison Symes: Collected Works 