Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today
I look at how what I’ve read has changed over the years in my CFT post about Reading Journeys this week. I also look at how the Kindle has impacted on my reading life too (and boy has it! My suitcase is a lot lighter thanks to it!).
I can’t remember what the first book I read all by myself was but wouldn’t be surprised if it was a picture book. I am still very fond of The Reader’s Digest Collection of Fairytales which is beautifully illustrated. I’m also a sucker for a good map (see The Lord of the Rings!).
I’ve said it before, and will no doubt say it again, but adult fiction writers owe a huge debt to those who write for youngsters. So many readers of fiction for adults come from a background of having always read books/had books read to them. It is just a case of tastes changing over time. It is difficult to understate how important it is to create that wish to read spark off in the first place.
My favourite moment when writing a story or a CFT post is when the piece “takes off”.
For a story, this is when the character hits their stride and there’s no holding them back. You, as the writer, are keen to find out what happens next (which is always a good sign!). And yes I outline but I deliberately don’t put down every detail. I need signposts but what happens between them is the really fun bit!
For a post, it is when one idea leads to another and that leads to more and before you know it, an article is written.
The scary moment? When you’ve outlined an idea and you begin writing and at that point you don’t know whether it is going to “go the distance”. There’s always a certain amount of relief when things “take off” and you realise the post or story will be fine (after editing later, naturally).
Image Credit: The picture of From Light to Dark and Back Again was taken by my cousin, Raewyn Berry. My book is on display at her guest house in New Zealand. It is easily the furthest my book has travelled!
My CFT post this week will take a look at reading journeys and how they change and develop over time (as they should). Good excuse to put lots of pictures of lovely books up too! Win-win! I also look at how methods of reading have developed. Who would have predicted the Kindle when I was growing up in the 1970s?
Do you have a reading list of books you simply must read (in whatever format suits best) before the Grim Library Keeper tells you that you are way overdue and it is time to go?
One of my favourite cartoons is the one of a woman in bed ringing to tell someone her other half has been crushed by his To Be Read pile. I have a nasty feeling life could imitate art for many of us here on that front! So don’t pile them too high, eh?
And I really must go and reduce the height of mine!
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again
The spark for a new flash fiction story comes from a variety of sources for me. These include:-
1. Hearing a turn of phrase which catches my fancy.
2. A well known saying or proverb. (I can often twist these too so double whammy as far as I’m concerned).
3. I sometimes use a question as the story title. The story of course is then found in answering that question!
4. Writing prompts – picture based, theme set or what have you, I find all of these useful. (My writing diary is a boon for these. I should have 52 new stories by the end of the year at least given there is a prompt set every week!).
5. What is lovely is when a character I’ve created sparks off an idea for a follow-on story but the character and the follow-on idea both have to be strong enough for this to work.
6. I will sometimes put a character name into my title (for example George Changes His Mind). The idea here is to provoke curiosity as to find out who the character is and, in this example, what he changed his mind about! The implication also is that it has to be something reasonably important otherwise there would be no story.
F is for Fun which writing should be
L is for Lines for your characters to say
A is for Action without which a story is dead
S is for Story, the “must know how it ends” reaction
H is for Heroes, of all kinds, caped or not.
F is for Flashbacks which should be kept brief
I is for Imagination – feed yours by reading well
C is for Characters we all want to root for
T is for Truthful Narrators or ARE they? Make us guess!
I is for Illumination, that lightbulb creative moment
O is for Original – you have a unique writing voice
N is for Names – what do they reveal about your “people”?
Allison Symes – 14th February 2019
Flash fiction can be great for giving little insights into a character and/or their setting which would not be enough for a standard length short story. You can imply their world without going into lots of description.
My Every Little Detail doesn’t spell out who the reader mentioned in the story is until literally the last word but so much is implied in the run-up to that, my closing word acts as a confirming punchline in many ways.
I relish writing stories like that. The fun comes from working out what clues to put in and how best to do so. The reader needs to work things out without you spelling everything out but the clues must enable them to do that.
Fairytales With Bite – Character Traits
I like to look for a major trait in a character and use that to help “round them out”. For example, if I decide a character is a coward, I dig deeper and look for what has led to the character being like that. I can also look at whether they’re ashamed of this or not. Not everything I outline here will make it into my story but I know that if I know what the answers are here, I will write my character with more confidence (and therefore conviction as well) and I believe THAT comes through to the reader.
So useful character traits to consider then could include:-
- Cowardice/Heroism;
- Being a Liar/Being Honest (the latter could cause as much trouble as the former and the potential for comedy is here too);
- Stubbornness/Being Flexible;
- Being Unfriendly/Being Sociable;
- Being Prejudiced/Being Open.
There are of course many more traits than these and practically every trait has its opposite flaw/virtue which could also be used.
Questions to ask yourself when using these:-
- How did the character develop this flaw/virtue?
- Do they see it as a flaw or virtue? Are they right about this?
- How do others around the character react to them and their flaw/virtue?
- What are their society’s expectations?
- Does the character change – for better or worse?
Have fun!
This World and Others – The Role of Stories
We all know how important stories are to us personally and to our society but when creating your own world, what thought have you given to the role of tales there? Does your world have its own legends? What are these? How are these legends shared?
Was/is there an oral storytelling tradition? Are only certain stories allowed (and who chose these and why)? Are books easily available to all (or the technological equivalent)? Is reading encouraged? Are there libraries?
How does your world decide whether something it is civilised or not? You’ll guess from the questions I list above I consider the ready availability of books, libraries, stories being generally available etc to be major considerations as to whether I think something is civilised!
How do the characters in your stories treat books and stories? Do their views agree with those held by their society or not?
The role of stories is important (they’re a great way of getting a message across without preaching and are a wonderful form of entertainment. Does your fictional world treat them in the same way? If not, why not?).
Publication News: Cafelit
I will have two new stories up on Cafelit on 16th February and 16th March. Will share links as and when. I am also pleased to say two stories of mine are being voted on for consideration for the Best of Cafelit 8 print anthology due out later this year. Will keep you posted on how I do but do check out the Best of books as there are wonderful stories in here from a lovely variety of writers. (How do I know they’re lovely? I’ve met them!).
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- It is a great joy to be published by Cafelit online and in print. Picture taken by Allison Symes
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- Another of my stories made it into this collection. Image taken by Allison Symes
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- Another flash fiction piece of mine is in here. Pixabay image.
Allison Symes: Collected Works 