Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today
My latest Chandler’s Ford Today post is Part 2 of my 101 Things to Put into Room 101. Amongst other things, I consign to eternal doom stilettos, bad grammar, confusing road signs and the 5 pence coin. What would you put in the vault?
As for the image below, are the dogs slow? Are the dogs and children slow? Or could it even be that the dogs’ children are slow?! Or are all the animals on this farm slow? (That is anything going faster than a slow walking pace is not kept on this farm?!).
If you ever doubted that the comma is important, then let this convince you it really is, it SO is!
Oh for some commas here! Image via Pixabay
Really?! Image via Pixabay
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again
One thing that is important with flash fiction is you should be reading it as well as writing it (and not stop at just reading your own!). Not only does this give you a greater appreciation of what can be done with the form, you increase your reading of contemporary fiction.
I have no problems at all finding time to read older fiction (Wodehouse, Austen, Dickens etc) but a good reading “diet” must include what is out there now (or has been published fairly recently). Another advantage of reading widely like this is that it will open your eyes to publishers willing to take collections.
Also, I can’t think of any author who wouldn’t appreciate this kind of support. And you would too, wouldn’t you?
Fairytales With Bite – Biting Comments
My new mini-series on Chandler’s Ford Today is a humorous look at what things I would put into Room 101, that famous creation of George Orwell. Part 2 of 101 Things to Put into Room 101 includes items as diverse as stilettos, bad grammar and confusing road signs.
I think stilettos are one of the most stupid things ever invented because they’re not good for your feet or your spine. When I did wear them, back in the day so to speak, I always dreaded getting them caught in some grating somewhere. Now that comment is not that biting, I feel, but some of my characters do come out with very pointed remarks at time – and rightly so. It is part of their personality to do so and the situations they face also justify pointed criticism.
So what kind of biting comments would your characters make? What would drive them to be like that, or are they like this all the time anyway? How do the other characters respond? What kind of conflicts can you get out of this to drive the story along?
Have fun finding out!!
This World and Others – Inventions
In my latest Chandler’s Ford Today post, which is Part 2 of 101 Things to Put into Room 101, I list, amongst other things, stilettos. I describe these as one of the most stupid inventions ever. They don’t do your feet or your spine any good and when I did wear them in my younger years, I always dreaded getting them caught in a drain cover etc. There are lots of stupid inventions out there but this is my pet peeve. They are stupid shoes.
In Terry Pratchett’s marvellous Discworld series, I loved his inventor, Bloody Stupid Johnson, whose ideas never seemed to quite work the way the inventor had envisaged!
So in your created world, who are your creative people, your inventors, your engineers etc? It helps to bring a world to life if we the readers can see at least part of how your world works for those who live in it. What are the technologies? Are your societies developed or are people held back by the lack of progress?
Does your world have anyone whose inventions go wrong or whose ideas get pinched by someone else? (There is a whole raft of stories there about how someone would cope with that/get their ideas back and so on).
Allison Symes: Collected Works 