I’ve often found starting a piece of fiction can be more problematic than finishing a first draft. How come? Knowing where to start is a crucial component to any story and every writer knows the opening lines, especially the first one itself, have to be strong enough to hook the readers in to want to read the rest of the tale. So no pressure then!
History is full of stories, which is one reason I love it. Of course, history is said to be written by the winners. There is truth in that but every so often someone will come along and come up with alternatives to the “orthodox” version. Josephine Tey did this in fiction regarding Richard III with her marvellous The Daughter of Time, which The Richard III Society credits as being a major reason for many people joining them.
One of the great things about getting out and about during the spring and summer months is this can give you plenty of inspiration for your writing. You don’t have to go far from home necessarily either. How come?
Partly the reason is you are doing something different. That in itself can inspire you to think differently and be more open to creative ideas. Even just walking the dog gets me out and about, gives me screen breaks, and it gives me opportunities to spot things I might get to use in stories later.
In all walks of life, we build on what has gone before. Well, there is no point in reinventing the wheel, so to speak. One person’s discovery often does lead to someone else taking that discovery and doing something special with it.
Isaac Newton confirms this thought with his quote, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
I catch up with a lot of stories during the Advent and Christmas periods but not always via books (of any format).
As some of you will know, I discovered flash fiction by accident. It is easily the happiest writing accident I have ever had/am likely to have and I’m grateful for it. Two published books later with a third accepted – well, it’s the kind of accident any writer would welcome.
CafeLit, with whom I’d been published for a while, issued a 100 word challenge and I gave it a go, discovered the form is addictive and I’ve not looked back.
[Read more…] about Top Flash Fiction Writing Tips and the Benefits
It is a joy to welcome Debz Hobbs-Wyatt to Chandler’s Ford Today. I’ve known Debz for some time thanks to our mutual connections with Bridge House Publishing.
I’ve been on one side of the fence here, having had several stories in various BHP anthologies over the years. Debz has been on the other side of the fence with BHP founder, Gill James, and the two continue to work closely together. Indeed, I’m looking forward to meeting up again with Debz and Gill at the Bridge House Publishing Celebration Event in December.
[Read more…] about Author Interview: Debz Hobbs-Wyatt – If Crows Could Talk – Part 1
I’m pleased to welcome back Ruth Leigh to Chandler’s Ford Today. Ruth and I are members of the Association of Christian Writers. Last time we talked, Ruth had three books out in her funny and touching Isabella M Smugge series.
Today, 20th September 2024, will see the release of her fourth novel featuring her heroine – The Further Adventures of Isabella M Smugge. Congratulations, Ruth. Little beats the buzz of being published.
[Read more…] about Catching Up with Ruth Leigh – The Further Adventures of Isabella M Smugge
Later this month, I’ll have the great joy of judging a flash fiction competition for a Scottish writing group (all done via the wonders of email). I enjoy judging and have learned much from the process of doing so in that it has helped me to improve my own work for judging by someone else.
One disadvantage to the writing life is it is a sedentary one. I compensate by walking the dog and swimming, though not at the same time! As well as being aware of the need to compensate for a stationary job, there are other ways in which writers need to think about their fitness. This post outlines some of those.
It is a great pleasure to welcome Maressa Mortimer back to Chandler’s Ford Today. Maressa and I are members of the Association of Christian Writers.
If you’ve been tempted to think you don’t have time to write, Maressa may encourage you to think again. She writes around her home life of four children, who are home schooled, a dog, and the demands of her husband’s job as a church minister.
[Read more…] about Author Interview: Maressa Mortimer – Going Downstream
It is a great pleasure to welcome back Jennifer C Wilson to Chandler’s Ford Today. Jennifer’s new book, published today, is 31 Days of Writing, which will be so useful to a wide range of writers.
Amazon Buy Link – Pre-order link
Blurb for 31 Days of Writing
31 Days of Writing draws on the prompts and exercises from seven years of North Tyneside Writers’ Circle. Whether you’re wanting to build scenes for a work-in-progress, or generate ideas for short stories/poems, there’s something for everyone in this collection, to keep the inspiration flowing for a month of writing…
[Read more…] about Author Interview: Jennifer C Wilson – 31 Days of Writing
I love writing exercises as I’ve shared before in previous posts (see Related Posts below). Writing exercises encourage lateral thinking. I’ve had far more story ideas thanks to using these.
You can get used to thinking in certain ways for your next idea (especially for short form writing where you need to constantly invent things) so it can be easy to become “bored” or to run out of inspiration. You don’t want it to be a case of same old, same old here.
So mixing up how you approach writing stories is a good idea. It keeps you on your creative toes as well which is never a bad thing.
As I write a lot of stories, I have to find ways to continually invent characters. One useful way of doing this is to outline my characters (rather than the plot) as by knowing more about them, I can figure out what trouble I can land them in – such fun! Plots come from that. Outlines don’t have to be long. It is a question of working out what you need to know. That will vary from writer to writer.
Linking back to last week’s post on Online Workshops I thought I’d take a look at PowerPoint in more detail. I used PowerPoint a lot in the late 1980s/early 1990s and then forgot all about it until Zoom came into my working life.
I don’t know about you but these days I split time into two categories – pre-pandemic and post-same. I recently ran a workshop for the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction Group on leap years. One thing coming from that was in recalling the last Leap Year Day was 29th February 2020! Much has changed since then, hasn’t it?!
One positive thing to come from the pandemic was the increasing use of video conferencing via Zoom and the like. It made certain events possible. Ironically it has led to paying gigs for me as workshops. I hope that continues!
Every part of a story or article, of whatever length, has its role to play but the most important is the opening line. Unless readers get past that, the rest won’t be read. So what does any opening line need to do to encourage people to keep reading?
Writers of short form fiction, including flash, need to find reliable, sustainable ways of inventing characters. Stories are character led. We’re writing a lot of stories. So we need to create a lot of characters, especially over the course of say a year.
Does the title of this post sound like a strange combination? It’s not as odd as you might think. I thought this would be a good topic given we have just had St. Valentine’s Day. That saint’s day alone triggers obvious writing themes – love and sacrifice, the latter especially so if you write a non-fiction account of St. Valentine’s life.
I’m a great believer in planning out my writing for various reasons.
