Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today
My last CFT post before Christmas is all about Christmas stories. I look at the Nativity, Hogfather, and A Christmas Carol amongst others. I also discuss the role of books and stories. I hope you find many a book related present under your Christmas tree this year!
Also in the post are links to some of my Christmas related Cafelit stories. Hope you enjoy.
And however you celebrate the festivities, I do hope you have a lovely Christmas.
My last CFT post before Christmas looks at Christmas stories appropriately enough. I look at some of my favourites, share a few of my Cafelit pieces with a Christmas theme, and look at why we need stories. Link up tomorrow.
Hope there are plenty of books on your Christmas wish list and that you get them!
Very pleased to say my first non-fiction piece was published in Christian Writer today. It is a 500-word piece about the telling details which help bring stories to life (though there is no reason why this can’t apply to articles as well).
What is lovely about writing is the joy of being published never diminishes. Yes, the first time you hear someone else loves your work enough to print it or put it online is very special but so are the others that follow! It also encourages you to keep going.
Am working away on my novel plus what I plan to be my third flash fiction collection in due course. Would like to write more non-fiction too. Now if only there was a way to stretch time… Still there is no chance whatsoever of boredeom setting in and that has to be a good thing.
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again
Flash fiction is the ideal vehicle for capturing those story thoughts that are illuminating in themselves but would not stretch to a standard length short story. I find this makes the focus sharper and sometimes for a tale that’s what you need. Short, sharp focus and then that’s it.
Flash fiction is also a great vehicle for showing the thoughts and actions of a character in detail. You are focusing on this one character alone. What drives them? What are they hoping to achieve? What do their thoughts and actions reveal about them? (The great thing here is the character does NOT have to be aware that they are showing themselves up as, say, greedy, when they think they’re not).
What is the important thing about any story? Figuring out what makes it work as a story and that is usually down to outstanding characterisation.
So how can you make characters count especially when you’ve got a limited word count as you have with flash fiction?
1. Show the character’s attitude. This can be done in thoughts, actions, or direct speech. Attitude reveals a lot about a character. A character that is sarcastic will show that in what they say without you needing to spell it out. In the case of actions, if we see a character setting something out “just so”, you can imply this character is fussy (and I’d want to know the reasons behind that). A character that moves a doily half a centimetre to the left is going to be far more fussy than someone who slaps said doily down on the arm of a chair!
2. Show how others react to the character. This can be very revealing. Do they all react in the same way or is there an awkward one who treats the lead character differently to everyone else? What are the reasons behind that? Is the awkward one justified in their stance?
3. Focus on the MOST important aspect of your character as that will determine how your story will go. If your character is stubborn, show how that plays out and the consequences (there will be some!).
Names are important of course and the more often they are used in a story, the more important the character is (even if they never appear in the tale itself).
My They Don’t Understand has my narrator refer to his wife, Joan, throughout. That will give some indication in itself of how important she is to him as well as what he actually tells you as the tale goes on. He only names his carer the once!
So how can you make names work for you in a story? Well, the name itself can give a good indication of the age of the person. How many people are called Gertrude these days? If the name can be abbreviated, IS it or does your character insist on the name being used in full? Equally are they known by one name in one situation and by something else in another? (Good potential for double life stories there).
Fairytales With Bite – Stories, Lovely Stories!
My Chandler’s Ford Today post talks about Christmas Stories (and I share some links to some of mine on this too). One of the great things about this time of year, when the nights draw in so early, is that it is a fantastic time for reading more!
One of my highlights at Christmas is at the end of Christmas Day itself when I’ve put my feet up on the sofa and I’m curled up with a book given to me as a present. It is very easy to please the writer in your life by the way – just ask them what books they’d like and Christmas present shopping problems are resolved!
So what stories do you hope to enjoy over the Christmas period? I like a mix of fiction and non-fiction books plus, of course, there is the chance to enjoy stories as films. (Watched The Muppet Christmas Carol earlier tonight, which is one of my favourites).
As for writing stories, I tend to take a short break over Christmas and then resume but I come back eager to write again and find the respite incredibly useful for recharging the imaginative batteries.
However you spend Christmas, do have a lovely time, and I hope you get to enjoy stories old and new!
This World and Others – What Defines a Good Story
What defines a good story for you? What I look for in a good story includes:-
1. Strong, memorable characters.
2. An intriguing plot.
3. The story makes me laugh, or think, or react in some way. (That’s how you know a story has had impact).
4. An ending that delivers on the promise of the opening lines.
5. Where there is a twist ending, for this to genuinely take me by surprise. I like to look back at a story and then spot the clues I missed first time around! (The great thing about doing that is you can learn so much from doing this and, of course, apply it to your own writing).
6. It is a story you are keen to read again and again and again. A Christmas Carol is a classic example of this for me.
7. It is a story you remember well. This doesn’t stop you wanting to read it again because you will not recall all the details but you DO recall the pleasure this tale gave you and THAT is what you want to experience again.
8. You can easily envisage the story being a film. (This is a great test of how memorable the characters are and how strong the plot is).
9. It is a story that adds something to the language. Shakespeare takes top honours here.
10. It is a story that defines its genre or expands it. I’m thinking of Hans Christen Andersen here who added so many wonderful fairytales to that genre.
Christmas
I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year. My next post would usually be due on Tuesday but, surprise, surprise, not next week! I will resume here on Friday, 28th December. See you then!
Allison Symes: Collected Works 