Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today
I’ve finally got around to talking online about the weather in my CFT post this week, though I go on to discuss its uses in fiction. I also share why I don’t tend to use weather in my stories and look at how it can be done realistically.
Books I chose for the 7 covers in 7 days challenge on Twitter were:-
Men At Arms (Terry Pratchett)
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkein)
Code of the Woosters (P.G. Wodehouse)
The Daughter of Time (Josephine Tey)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (J.K.Rowling)
Murder on the Orient Express (Agatha Christie)
Good fun to do but a challenge, given there are so many other books I could’ve included. I chose these on the basis that if I could only smuggle 7 books away with me somewhere, these would be the first ones I’d go for.
I’m going to be talking about the weather (and its uses in fiction) for my CFT post this week. I avoid using it in my stories, the post will explain why. Link up on Friday.
Lovely to see crocuses and snowdrops out. One great thing about walking the dog is you do get to see things like that which you might not otherwise notice. I’ve seen some spectacular wildlife sights too – sparrowhawks have been known to be in Chandler’s Ford – and buzzards often circle the park. You can always tell when they’re about – the sky goes quiet. Can’t see a little bird anywhere…
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again
Had a fantastic time visiting the family tonight but a nightmare journey getting over there. What should have taken a maximum of 30 minutes took 90!! Naturally on the way home, it did take under 30.
So this led me on to think about what would be a nightmare journey for your characters. Is it just down to transport problems or what they are facing on that journey? Why are they making that trip? Can they avoid it or change it so it is better? If not, why not? There has to be a good reason for the journey to be made otherwise the reader will think why on earth didn’t Character X just stay at home and avoid all the bother!
The ultimate journey in fiction for me is Frodo Baggins’s “trip” to Mordor in The Lord of the Rings but a journey much shorter than that can still be a nightmare. For example, does your character need to walk a mile to fetch something but they have to go through a neighbourhood known to be hostile to his family?
What does your character fear that would turn any journey into a nightmare? What do they do to overcome that?
Hope these thoughts can seed some story ideas! Good luck!
Many thanks, everyone, for the likes and comments on yesterday’s post about how I produce a flash fiction story.
I also have brainstorming sessions every now and again where I’ll outline a possible story idea or an idea for a character in a line or two. I put those notes aside for a while before revisiting them and deciding then if the ideas were as strong as I first thought they were!
Usually they are, sometimes not (and I discard those), but in the majority of cases, the idea is okay but needs strengthening. That is where I need to dig even deeper into what my character is capable of as that is where I’ll find the trigger for turning an idea into a story. A character that I discover is capable of doing anything for a laugh because they think it is the best way to make and have lots of friends is someone with at least one story to tell (and probably a poignant one).
What if is the classic question to ask both of your character and your idea to get the best out of both.
My process for producing a flash fiction story goes like this.
1. Have idea for interesting character. (Flash fiction works best with one or two characters at most, though others can be referred to or implied).
2. Work out what to do with interesting character! As you can imagine, this is the REALLY fun bit!
3. Draft the story and check it makes sense.
4. Put it aside for a while and get on with my CFT posts, my novel, more flash fiction stories etc
.5. Come back to the story and read it with a fresh eye. Ask myself what impact it makes on me. Is it the impact I want it to have on a reader?
6. Edit the story based on 5 above but also check for the usual typos, grammatical errors etc. (I wish I could say there were never any but life’s not like that!).
7. Re-read it and if happy submit it to an appropriate market or competition.
I really enjoy reading and writing flash fiction stories which end with a punch. Sometimes that can be literal (!) and is most satisfying when the character has deserved it (and that will be the view your readers will take too). One huge advantage of fiction is wrongs can be righted in a way they’re so often not in real life. I believe that is one reason why fairytales are always popular!
I also love the witty one-liners that can close a story. It’s good to finish a story on an “uplift” where that is appropriate. Of course the set up for that finish happens much earlier in the story and it can be as simple as showing your character has the type of attitude which will make a witty one-line retort likely. (It usually is a retort!).
Above all, it is fun, which is what writing should be after all.
Goodreads Author Blog – Hooks Into Books
I seem to have a “thing” for rhyming titles at the moment. Sure it will be a passing fad…!
What attracts you to a book? Is it the title, the blurb, the cover, or a combination of the lot?
For me, the cover draws me in but the blurb is what clinches a sale for me, whether I’m reading on Kindle or a paperback. If I like the premise of the blurb, I will “look inside” a Kindle book or look at the opening page of a paperback. If it seems to deliver, I’ll go ahead and buy.
There is no such thing as a foolproof system but this works for me!
Of course, another great hook is reading a book by an author whose works you know you like. I love series novels and my favourite of these has to be Discworld. Each book original and entertaining but there’s enough familiarity with the world to make you feel right at home as you continue to enjoy the series.
Whatever you read, enjoy!
Fairytales with Bite – Signs Your Character Isn’t Strong Enough
This is by no means an exhaustive list but signs your character isn’t strong enough include the following.
1. Forgetting their name! It can happen. It’s bad enough when a reader does it but if the writer does so, then the character is in real trouble. If they’re not memorable enough to you, they certainly won’t be to anyone else.
2. Running out of things for them to do. Yet the plot is strong, the other characters are ticking along very nicely with plenty of dialogue, action etc. You need to ask yourself whether you really need this character in the story after all. If you feel you do, look at why. Could this character be combined with another in the tale to make one really strong creation that keeps the reader’s (and writer’s) interest? You need to keep in anything and anyone that moves your story onwards. You also need to ruthlessly cut what you really don’t need.
3. Their dialogue isn’t distinctive enough. Your reader should be able to tell who is speaking in a story by the style of the language used by the characters. Character A talks in clipped tones, Character B tends to laugh a lot after talking, Character C has a lisp, Character D has a strong northern accent (as someone once said, everywhere has a north!). If you can’t tell your characters apart by how they speak, they’re not distinctive enough and again I would look at whether you really need them in the story.
This World and Others – The Weather and Its Uses in Fiction
This is my CFT post for this week and I discuss my views on weather being used in fiction, as well as showing some ways it can be done realistically.
Whether you use weather or not, the general point is that your fictional world must seem realistic to the reader, no matter how fantastical the setting. That may well mean you do need to share some details as to what the climate is etc to help readers get a better understanding of your creation but only put in the details the reader has absolutely got to know and leave it at that. Your reader will want to fill in some gaps for themselves. Also, you don’t want them switching off because all that lovely research detail you put in and you found fascinating has done nothing whatsoever for them!
Ask yourself if the reader really needs to know this. I’ve found the simple approach of “just the facts, Ma’am, just the facts” is a great way of working out what to put into a story. I’ve also found it best to share those facts in as palatable a form as possible. No great splurge of information but drip feeding it as and where necessary makes it easier to take in and therefore more entertaining and acceptable to your reader. And that is where the reader will keep on reading and hopefully loving your story!
Allison Symes: Collected Works 