Handling Criticism

It has been a very busy week but it was a great joy to welcome Val Penny to my blog on Tuesday last. Looking forward to her Hunter’s Revenge coming out in September. I’m also looking forward to the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School later this month.

Facebook – General – and Association of Christian Writers – On Criticism

My More than Writers blog post for the Association of Christian Writers went up on site yesterday.

On Criticism talks about handling criticism, and how showing how your characters handle that themselves can be used to reveal a lot about them. It can be a good way to get depth into a story given no character should be one-dimensional. They should act and react and then usually act on that reaction! How they handle being criticised is a good way to show how they related to the ones doing the criticising for one thing!

I also share some thoughts on allowing time to elapse before evaluating your own work. Link above.

Always a good idea! Pixabay image.

What criticism should be. Pixabay image.

A familiar sight to many of us. Image via Pixabay.

Always good advice! Pixabay image.

Being judged. Pixabay image

Content is indeed king. Image via Pixabay.

Clarity and constructive criticism are always useful. Pixabay image.

My CFT post this week will be a review of the Chameleon Theatre Group’s latest production, What a Bunch of Amateurs. A really funny play (writers: Ian Hislop and Nick Newman). Looking forward to sharing the link on Friday.

A great story, regardless of format, is one in which you are very happy to suspend disbelief for the duration of reading it/watching it performed/listening to it etc. Amateurs was easily that and good fun.

Images below kindly provided by Lionel Elliott and the Chameleons (and used with permission). More to come on Friday.

A Bunch of Amateurs montage. Image used with permission.

The programme. Image used with permission.

Beginning to heat up in Hampshire again…. Lady not keen. Neither are Lady’s owners! Still our park did perk up a bit after the rain last weekend. It doesn’t ALL look like straw now!

Weather can be used as a descriptive shorthand. If you say someone has a sunny disposition you know exactly what is meant. It can be a useful technique for flash fiction of course – all those words saved on your word count!

However, it is too easy to fall into cliche with it (and that’s what I’ve just done with that phrase I think!) so best to use this sparingly. (Think of it as the writing equivalent of chilli powder – too much and you will know it! Too little and well what was the point?).

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Am hoping to submit some more flash fiction before I head off to Swanwick. Happy with progress of WiP (which is nice – haven’t always been able to say that). Have all sorts of ideas bubbling away for future flash fiction collections, which I’m looking forward to having a go at.

Would like to investigate more flash fiction competitions too, so plenty to be getting on with over the summer, but then that is never a bad thing!

Clarity and constructive criticism are always useful. Pixabay image.

Assemble your characters, assemble your world. Image via Pixabay

Love that clock. Pexels image.

What worlds could there be out here? Image via Pixabay

Outline the characters and away you go! Image via Pixabay

Thoughts are free but check images used are either free to use or your own! Image via Pixabay.

Wonderful calligraphy here. Pexels image.

If your story grips you, all sense of time will go! Image via Pixabay.

The lovely thing about flash fiction is the freedom it gives you to write in different genres, albeit in a very short format! FLTDBA has everything in it from humour to horror to fantasy to poignant pieces and a little bit of crime too. I adore that flexibility. The only thing I have to worry about is the word count!

Preparing a talk or a flash fiction story perhaps. Image via Pixabay.

Stories are magical and inspire other stories. Image via Pixabay.

Let your stories have impact. Image via Pixabay

Copyright (never enter a competition asking you to give away ALL rights) - image via Pixabay

My stories are in The Best of Cafelit 4, 5 and now 6 and also by Bridge House Publishing (Alternative Renditions). My first collection From Light to Dark and Back Again is published by Chapeltown Books.

Where my stories are in print. Image by Allison Symes

Says it all really and applies to non-fiction equally as fiction. Image via Pixabay.

I love walking by water – so calming. Can also inspire how you create your own world. Image by Allison Symes

Well, why not? Image via Pixabay.

I love to use thoughts in my stories (though admittedly in flash fiction, I have to keep these brief. That’s no bad thing though). Thoughts reveal the character’s attitude, what state of mind they are in at the time and so on. Thoughts can also help you cut the word count (something every flash fiction writer is looking to do!) because you can go “straight to the chase”. The character is showing you what they are thinking.

Characters no matter what their world should resonate with readers. Image via Pixabay

Always good advice. Image via Pixabay.

What wonderful worlds we can creat! Image via Pixabay.

The art of the flash (fiction). Image via Pixabay

Let the creative process flow! Image via Pixabay

Well, let’s do so by writing lots of stories! Image via Pixabay.

This statue reminds me of myself when I was a lot younger. Okay I wasn’t made of stone (I’m still not!) but I did always have my head in a book. (And do so as often as I can now!). Image via Pixabay.

I write fairytales with bite as flash fiction and short stories in particular. Image via Pixabay.

Books make wonderful gifts. Image via Pixabay.

Books are wonderful – whether in print or electronic, whether as audio stories or told by a storyteller. Image via Pixabay.

Stories reflect all sorts of moods. There is a story to suit everyone out there! Image via Pixabay.

Had a nice time earlier going through the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School brochure, trying to decide what courses I will do when there. The lovely thing about writing flash fiction is all sorts of things can feed into it and spark off ideas so a course on crime writing may well inspire all sorts of very short stories on that topic.

Expecting, Why Stop Now, and Punish the Innocent are just three of my flash stories in FLTDBA where the theme is crime. Other themes in the book are fantasy, Pride and Prejudice, Frankenstein, and abusive relationships. Quite a mix! I can’t stress enough how vital it is to read widely. You need to spread your net wide to “catch” as many sparks to fire off ideas as you can and then the work is in deciding which are the strongest ones to actually write up into stories.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Heatwaves and Reading

Is the hot weather (in the UK at least) encouraging you to read more or less than you would usually?

I find I’m “dipping” into things more, especially magazines, given by the end of the day, when I’d usually like to read for a while before lights out, I’m feeling far too washed out to read much. Oh and I am reading more magazines on Kindle now, which was something I never thought I’d do, but I’ve got on better with it than I thought I would.

Magazine reading is ideal for that feeling washed out to concentrate much scenario, as are short story and flash fiction anthologies. Quick reads when you feel as if your brain has melted are ideal. The literary fiction can definitely wait for when it is cooler!

Looking at my reading patterns over the year, I tend to read more novels over the autumn and winter months. It’s not a conscious thing. I suppose you hone in to the fact that with the nights drawing in, now’s the time to get on with a good, LONG book!

Meanwhile it’s back to the cool drinks and quick reads for me!