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Am busily preparing CFT posts for the next couple of weeks. I’d like to get both of the following Fridays done because I know when I come back from Swanwick, I will be happy but shattered so doubt if I’ll be writing too much later that evening! So easier to write and schedule such posts now.
I need to get back to blocking out time for specific things I’d like to do (which is where Swanwick will be particularly helpful to me this year).
Once the CFT posts are done (which I hope to have up and scheduled by Wednesday). I can focus on some fiction. The great thing with flash is I can happily spend an evening writing that and have several stories by the end of it to work on further. Okay, they WILL need working on further but the joy of the first draft is worrying about editing much later on!
Even in the heart of a city, books can provide escapism. Image via Pixabay.
Always good advice. Image via Pixabay.
Lovely books. Pexels image.
Books are fabulous, whatever the format. Image via Pixabay.
Chapeltown Books have a distinctive central image in a frame such as with mine. Image by Allison Symes
Books invite you into their world. Image via Pixabay.
The perfect way to relax. All writers love to read. Image via Pixabay.
The Hayes Conference Centre, home of the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School. Image by Allison Symes
The building blocks of putting a story together. Pixabay image.
Part of the lawns at Swanwick. Image by Allison Symes.
I love taking my Kindle away with me as it (a) saves a lot of packing and (b) saves a lot of heartache working out which books to take and which to leave behind. Also for some reason my case is always a lot lighter than it used to be! Biggest issue for me though is to remember to pack the charger!
Talking of recharging the old batteries, my CFT post this week takes a look at that and I will be sharing a few things I find really helpful for unwinding (and I don’t even mention wine, chocolate etc., so you have still those as options too!). Link up on Friday.
Books – love them, don’t mind the format. Image via Pixabay
Connections to what you read and what you write. What are yours? Image via Pixabay.
Online writing -v- on a line writing! Image via Pixabay
Preparing a talk or a flash fiction story perhaps. Image via Pixabay.
Books are fabulous, whatever the format. Image via Pixabay.
Great characters = great books. Image via Pixabay.
Always good advice this. Image via Pexels
I’ve been enjoying taking part in a book cover challenge this week. Has made me really think about the novels I couldn’t be without. What are the ones that have influenced you in some way?
So far I’ve included The Lord of the Rings, Pride and Prejudice, The Daughter of Time, Raising Steam, and Murder on the Orient Express. A nice mixed bag there! And all great in very different ways.
Am doing my packing for Swanwick tomorrow. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if other writing friends have done theirs already but the Thursday before is soon enough for me and my books and notebooks go in first! (Did put my rail tickets in my railcard holder today – I suppose that counts!).
What writing triggers will help you create your new worlds? Image via Pixabay
Reach for those ideas. Pixabay image.
Is it Time for a Change for the dragon in my story on Cafelit? Image via Pixabay
What stories will emerge from here? Pexels image.
Editing – the crucial part to getting a story right. Image via Pixabay.
Fiction is strengthened when backed by fact. Image via Pixabay
The dark can seem to overcome the light but light will prevail. Image via Pixabay
What wonderful worlds we can creat! Image via Pixabay.
Pressing on towards the light. Image via Pixabay
I try NOT to chain down my creativity! Pexels image.
The case is packed ready for Swanwick. Just the usual odds and sods to add at the last minute. (Disaster for me will be forgetting my phone charger!). And yes I did pack my books, notepads, pens etc first. Got to have your priorities right!
Okay, I’m not sure where I’ll put books I buy from the Book Room but I’ll worry about that later in the week (and I refuse to believe I’m the only Swanwicker taking that view!). Happy, and safe, travelling to all who are going. May you get through the engineering works at Derby without your blood pressure soaring too high!
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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again
I do love writing some one line complete stories from time to time and it makes for a good exercise to get you into your writing session. For example:-
1. The day the clocks stopped the watchmakers were fired.
2. The dragon surveyed the empty street, which had been teeming with life a moment ago.
3. Try as he might, Arthur could not get that wretched sword out of the stone. (N.B. This also counts as a complete story wrecker!).
4. Turn left and he’d face obliteration, turn right he’d have to face the New Year sales – he went left.
5. The gull enjoyed the look of astonishment on the day tripper’s face, almost as much as the bird loved the stolen battered cod.
6. Dessert was sorted – the gull went back and pinched the same tourist’s mint choc chip icecream.
Allison Symes – 6th August 2018
Give this exercise a go! It’s fun and there’s nothing to stop you developing your ideas further. As for me, that’s some ideas drafted for my third flash fiction book!
Two formats for reading – why limit yourself?
Where will your writing take you? Forward into the future or backwards in time? Image via Pixabay.
Says it all really and ties in with my post tonight for This World and Others. Image via Pixabay.
Poetry conjures up images so beautifully. Image via Pixabay. See Sandra Lyn Gordon’s wonderful poem on Chandler’s Ford Today for another example of great imagery.
On the surface a lovely woodland. What magical creatures could lurk here? Image via Pixabay.
The virtual library. These days ebooks and emagazines are available at libraries. Chandler’s Ford library are running surgeries about them. Image via Pixabay.
Wonderful calligraphy here. Pexels image.
Imagine the wealth of fairytales and other stories in here. Image via Pixabay.
Editing – the crucial part to getting a story right. Image via Pixabay.
Simply stunning… image via Pixabay
My favourite forms of flash fiction are the ones I write in the first person. There is an immediacy about those I think and I love being able to get straight into the character’s head.
It is also great letting them “tell you” the story. There is no pretence at being unbiased or anything like that. The character will give you their thoughts with both barrels, so to speak.
Of course, when everything goes horribly wrong with said character, the reader should be able to see the seeds of that happening early on in the story. And often it is the character’s attitude that plays a major part in this. Great fun to bring about!
What most writers connect to! Image via Pexels
Lovely nib! Image via Pexels.
Is everything black and white in your stories? Image via Pexels
All good aids to writing, though the chocolate is not a great diet aid. Image via Pexels
Remembering… image via Pixabay
The tools of the scrivener’s trade. We’ve come on a bit since then! Image via Pixabay
Writing the first drafts! Image via Pixabay.
Now here’s a statue that I like! Image via Pixabay
Part of the King’s Great Ships Trail, the monarch being Henry V of the Battle of Agincourt fame.
The beautiful River Hamble
Where good ideas start… but good ideas need refining and editing, Image via Pixabay
Looking forward to my train journey on Saturday to Swanwick despite the engineering works at Derby. Why? Aside from loving train travel (usually!), I hope to write quite a bit via Evernote and my phone for my flash fiction and non-fiction posts. Three hours? Can get a fair bit done in that time, thank you.
I’ve been on the train a fair bit this year so that almost certainly helps for my being further on with my third flash fiction collection than I thought I’d be! And I am getting better at using “dead” time more efficiently. The stories soon mount up (and if you’re a crime writer, the bodies do too!
😁).
What writing inspiration can you find in a garden? Pixabay image.
Would love to get lost in here for a while. Pixabay image.
Love the great outdoors and use it to fire ideas for your stories and posts. Pixabay image.
Getting away from it all by train. Pixabay image.
Trinity College, Dublin. Pixabay image. Seriously impressive!
Or get away from it all in one book. Pixabay image.
The ABC etc of Flash Fiction… (will continue this over the next few posts though there may be some gaps in posting due to my being at Swanwick and probably having far too good a time to be posting!).
A = Atmosphere. The story may be short but its atmosphere must come through clearly. You literally have a few words to set the mood and then follow through. On the plus side, if you like writing “from inside the head of the character”, as I do, this really isn’t a problem.
B = Brutality. There is editing and there is editing. You really do have to murder your darlings with flash fiction. Only what is crucial to the story remains. And it can be hard sometimes to cut a really good line but if it really isn’t vital to the tale, it should go out. Save it though. Might be able to use it elsewhere.
C = Characters. Couldn’t really pick anything else for C. Flash fiction has to be all about the characters. They show you their world and their attitudes in a few words and, ta da, from that the story comes. Character attitudes lead to conflicts which in turn lead to stories.
More next time…
The ultimate book circle perhaps? Image via Pixabay.
I write fairytales with bite. Image via Pixabay
The good old notebook. Image via Pixabay.
Is a fairytale world really magical to live in for those who find it hard to keep their chin up and fit in with the rest? Image via Pixabay
Where many a first draft starts life. Old technology still has its uses! Image via Pixabay.
The old way of writing a story! Image via Pixabay
What world will you enter when you next read a good story? Image via Pixabay.
I could spend many a happy hour here – the library at Prague. Image via Pixabay.
Glorious Golspie on the Far North coast of Scotland, image by me.
The light on the sea at Dunbeath – image taken by me
I shall be getting away from it all shortly at the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School once again but will be immersed in a world of stories and books (reading and writing them!). Bliss!
So what books go with you when you get away from it all?
I pack my Kindle and what I read depends on my mood, naturally, though I am currently enjoying Lucy Worsley’s A Very British Murder and hope to finish that by the end of the week. The book is great. It is usually a question of how long can I keep my eyes open at the end of the day! That is the trouble with bedtime reading…
There’s a couple of other crime novels I want to read as well while I’m away. And after that I may well turn back to humour again. I do find I like to read a few stories or books in a genre, then switch to another one and read a few in that for a bit. Still, it all mixes up the reading and then there is always the delight of the wondrous world of non-fiction too!
So whatever your holiday/summer reading is, enjoy!
Writing to screen. Image via Pixabay
Lovely and treasured book collection here. Image via Pexels
Hopefully the Book Fair will encourage even more reading! Image via Pexels
Outline the characters and away you go! Image via Pixabay
Just what is your story then? Image via Pixabay
Quite a few to choose from here. Image via Pexels
Trusted notebook! Image via Pixabay