Yearly Archives: 2015

WHY NOT? IT’S COLD OUTSIDE…

 A friend of mine was recently judging a short story competition. ‘The trouble was,’ she said, ‘there were too many depressing stories. Awful things were happening, and so many endings were tragic. In the end I craved something more positive.’

This doesn’t mean you have to make everything hunky-dory all the way through your story.

Problems are good in stories. Your hero can tackle his difficulty, maybe not solve it entirely, but definitely leave the reader with a feeling that things have changed, or are changing, for the better.

Do you agree that readers like positive outcomes?

CHRISTMAS – A TIME TO CELEBRATE HOPE. A TIME TO PRAY FOR PEACE.

Could you write a story or poem that leaves the reader feeling hopeful?

Try this:

Choose a character and give her a name.

Now imagine answers to these questions:

Why did she lose her temper?

Was it justified?

Who took the brunt of this?

What happened next?

How was the issue resolved?

Frog:(Cheerfully): My friend says, if it snows, will you please make a frogman in the garden? That would be a really good outcome.

SHOW NOT TELL

Anton Chekhov gave the following good advice to writers.

‘Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.’

In other words, don’t tell me, show me.

Telling’ supplies information, and, yes, sometimes this is important.

‘Showing’ draws the reader into your story, making it real for them.

‘Showing’ often uses the senses so the reader relates to your story through their own experiences.

Here’s an example:

TELLING: Nora watches from her balcony as they prune the palm trees. She goes outside, and one of the men gives her a coconut. He prepares it for her, and tells her to go to the bar for a straw.

SHOWING: Nora watches one of the workmen from her balcony. He climbs the tall ladder, propped halfway up the tree.Then he shins up the rough bark. There is the loud smack as branches thwack the ground, and the sudden heavy plop of coconuts. One bursts and the sweet juice splatters the grass. 

Nora goes outside for a closer look. The ground is covered with enormous leaves, and dozens of coconuts like marbles waiting for a giant’s children to come out to play. The man she’d watched points to one of the smooth golden fruit. She nods, and he slices the end off with his machete, tells her to go to the bar for a straw.

She wants to share this moment with Simon, but of course he’s not here. What a fool she’s been.

I think you can do much better than this, but here’s my point. Make your characters react to what happens to them. Make them feel, make them react, and, dare I say it, make them suffer before you release them.

Your writing will improve, and your readers will love you stories.

For more advice on SHOW NOT TELL, have a look at the following blog by Emma Darwin, author, tutor, mentor and editor.

Google The Itch of Writing: the blog: Showing and Telling.

Frog: (Carefully)

You mean, I gather my pond friends around me, and I say, ‘I’m going to show you a story.’

I think the world’s gone mad!

STORIES

Some stories entertain, some make us laugh, some  give us a good scare, some intrigue, some  investigate what it’s like to be human.

Whatever kind of story you write, you need to give your characters a goal, a mission, something to strive for.

CHARACTERS NEED OPPOSING FORCES, TOO

Perhaps some-one who works against the hero or heroine.

Perhaps the hero has a personality trait which gets in his way, or maybe a run of bad luck which threatens to stop him getting what he wants.

In an essay called The Philosophy of Plot, novelist and Edgar Award nominee James N Frey writes as follows.

‘All good plots come from

well-orchestrated characters pitted against one another

                                                  in a conflict of wills.’

He sites as an example the well-known story The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway. It’s been eighty-four days since the hero, Santiago, caught a fish. His fellow-fishermen think he’s past it.

‘On the eighty-fifth day Santiago rows out to the deepest part of the Gulf Stream. He’s not only after a fish, he’s after reclaiming his manhood. He succeeds, and that’s his development.’

Outer conflict, inner conflict, or both. Bring them on, and get that reader hooked.

Quotes from James N Frey are taken from The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing edited by Meg Leder, Jack Heffron, and the editors of Writer’s Digest. I recommend this book – it’s a mine of information for novel writers. It was first published in 2002 by Writer’s Digest Books.

ISBN-13: 978-1-58297-159-9

ISBN-10: 1-58297-159-5

Frog: (Having encountered outer conflict)

It was the cat, actually.

A FRESH START

Let’s talk about creative writing competitions. How can you give yourself the best chance of being up there with the top entries?

CLUE NUMBER ONE: Deliver an opening line that compels the judge to think, ‘Ah, this is more like it.’

I picked up the following tip from a lesson on the Mslexia website. It said there are three elements we can try to work into our openings — voice, character and conflict. The example given was this:

My mother never….

It’s good, isn’t it, because

• there’s a voice that might be about to tell us something very interesting;

• we can relate to a mother-figure (whether good or bad, we don’t know yet);

• the word ‘never’ implies some conflict to come.

Earlier this year I won my place at the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School with a 1000 word story. This is how it began:

Dear Marcus.

That’s how people start letters, isn’t it? My trouble was – I couldn’t bear to put the words ‘Dear’ and ‘Marcus’ side by side.

Voice, character, and conflict. What do you think? Did my opening have all three?

THINGS WE CAN DO TO IMPROVE OUR OPENINGS

• Read some winning short stories, and judge for yourself. Which have openings that grab you? Why do they grab you?

• Google first lines on the internet. Do they all make you want to read on?

• Write your story without worrying too much about the start. Then go back to the beginning, and work to create a much better opening line.

• Remember it’s sometimes a case of the simpler, the more striking.

• Try out a story with the opening line suggested by Mslexia. My mother never….

I’d love to hear how you get on.

Frog: (Excitedly)

A fresh start, yippee.

Now I think I’m stuck!

…………………….. OR MAYBE ON THE LOCAL FERRY

1) READ

Short stories can teach you how to bring a story alive in a few words. Poetry – how to use creative language. Novels – how to set a scene, how to build a plot. Articles – how to maintain interest. Learn to read as a writer. Notice whether a beginning grabs your attention. What makes you want to read on? What seems not quite right or even clumsy? What makes a piece of writing so absorbing, you nearly miss your stop?

2) PEOPLE-WATCH

Without staring of course! Try to do it in a non-judgmental way. ‘This is what that woman is like,’ not, ‘The way she speaks to that child! She needs a slap!’

3) LISTEN

Snatches of conversation, the whine of the engine, the coughs, the sneezes. (Are these small, muffled, and rather delicate, or of a more explosive and generous nature?

4) THINK

Work on a new plot, the opening line of a story or poem, or the next paragraph of your novel. Have silent conversations with your heroine or your antagonist.

5) TAKE OUT YOUR WRITER’S NOTEBOOK

…and make a few quick remarks. Why? Ideas are like helium balloons. Let go of the thread for a moment, and away they go. If something is written down, it’s there in your notebook, ready for the moment you’re in front of your screen again.

Frog: (thoughtfully)

I’m working on ‘Five things to do by a pond.’

AIM: HOOK THE READER’S INTEREST. MAKE THEM START WORKING ON YOUR STORY.

Kate was making toast and listening to the news. Sally was helping herself to cereal, insisting to Tom that it was her turn to have the plastic alien, even though he was insisting he really, really needed that particular one for his collection. Maybe after breakfast they’d play in the garden while Kate did some weeding. She could open up the sand pit, and…

There were four loud raps on the back door. The children fell silent, their eyes on their mother. Kate tried to smile, but her face wouldn’t oblige. She walked slowly across the room. She stretched out her hand towards the key, the colour draining from her face.

DON’T TELL THEM EVERYTHING THEY NEED TO KNOW AT ONCE.

I’ve just finished reading Gone Girl, and Gillian Flynn certainly doesn’t tell us everything we need to know. She keeps us guessing throughout the whole book, trying to work out exactly what is happening.

She makes us wait for answers to our questions. There are people in the book I couldn’t like at all, but I couldn’t stop reading.

SO…. HOW DO WE UP THE TENSION EVEN IF WE’RE NOT WRITING A THRILLER-TYPE STORY?

In BUILDING YOUR STORY, A GUIDE TO STRUCTURE AND PLOT by Kelly Michelle Lawrence (Published by Compass Books, an imprint of John Hunt Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-78279-608-4) Kelly suggests the following as possible sources for adding drama to our writing:

• Moments of emotional breakthroughs between characters – forgiveness, break-ups and breakdowns, revealing of secrets, etc.

• Unexpected news (usually bad).

• One character makes some sort of sacrifice for another or a higher cause.

• A reversal of fortune or someone changes their mind about a core issue.

• A main character faces a difficult moral choice.

• Someone close to the main character leaves town, turns out to have an ulterior motive, or dies.

• A pivotal erotic encounter.

• Something is achieved which is important to the character and helps with the final showdown.

• A breakthough in knowledge.

• An unexpected reunion.

• A face from the past reappears.

These are all helpful starting points for adding tension to our own stories.

What are we waiting for?

Frog: (Gulping):

He said he’d give me a lesson on tension, and y’know what? I agreed to it!

Why do some stories linger in your mind…

…sometimes long after you’ve reached the last line. Possibly because you have identified with the main character so well, you feel for them as if the action is happening to you. You’ve experienced what it’s like to be that person.

There’s a word which describes the ‘quality that evokes pity or sadness’ (online Oxford Dictionary).

It’s pathos.

The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary describes pathos as ‘(in writing, speech and plays) the power of a performance, description, etc. to produce feelings of sadness and sympathy’.

It’s pathos that can make your reader cry. Think about what kind of story leaves you with a lump in your throat, or even makes you sob. How did the writer draw you into the tale? Why did you like the character or characters so much?

One thing to remember…

is that no-one is wholly good or wholly bad. It may be a ‘good’ character’s flaw that brings disaster. Or it may be a ‘bad’ character’s soft side or honest streak that cannot save him/her in the end, and we’re sorry about that. The writer gets you on his/her hero’s side, and you weep because the outcome of the story was inevitable.

OVER TO YOU

Choose a theme from the following, and plan a story of your own.

Lies        Guilt        Hate

Kindness       Loyalty       Justice

Then find a competition to enter which suits your theme. If you don’t win, read it through again, rewrite bits and pieces, make it better, and send it off again.

 Frog: (huffily)

Being adventurous is not a character flaw.

In fact, I probably haven’t got any character flaws!

It’s not a joke. No, really. It’s more an art.

Making ’em laugh, that is.

I’ve just finished reading a hilarious novella  – the sort where you find yourself laughing out loud on the bus! It’s called Being Miss, by Fran Hill.

Although I am talking about short stories in my blog, I think Fran’s book has a lot to teach us about the art of writing comedy.

Fran’s plot can be summed up as ‘a day in the life of a secondary school teacher’. All sorts of horrifying and hilarious situations occur, and I was riveted.

What is it that makes a humorous story like Fran’s work so well?

• A main character we like immensely; one we can identify with; a human being who is far from perfect, but one we would like if we met her.

• Secondary characters with whom we can identify. We’ve met some very similar ones in our own lives.

• A plot which takes us through the protagonist’s problems as if they are our own, and we know we’ll come out the other side smiling.

MORE ABOUT FRAN HILL

Being Miss, Fran’s ebook book, is available from Amazon, from FeedARead, or directly from the author.

You can find Fran’s blog Being Me at ilurveenglish.blogspot.com/

WHY NOT TRY IT YOURSELF. WRITE YOUR OWN HUMOROUS STORY

Your workplace. What could go wrong? Give your main character a problem. What could this character do to put things right? What if things go from bad to worse? How will you solve the dilemma?

WARNING: Don’t use identifiable people in your story – they’ll very likely recognise themselves, and probably never speak to you again.

 When you’ve written your story, leave it for a day or two, then read it aloud.

How can you make it better? Does anything read badly?

Take it along  to your writing group, or ask a buddy to read it. Ask for their honest opinion, and appear to listen, even if you disagree violently with what they say! True buddies are trying to help you.

Then find a competition to enter. Who knows what might happen next?

Frog: (No longer smiling)

Look here. This has gone beyond a joke. HEEEEEEEELP!

WANT TO CREATE A RIVETING PLOT?

Write with conviction and passion about the things that matter to you.

A free Future Learn Course called Start Writing Fiction recommends that you list all the things that matter to you.

Maybe one of the things is…

I want my children to tell me the truth, always, no matter what.

From this one concept you can develop a number of plots, such as…

One lie leads to another

I wish you had never told me that…

The day telling the truth was the wrong thing to do…

            ‘You like him, don’t you Mum?’

            ‘Of course I do.’

DEVELOPING YOUR IDEA

Let’s say that a peaceful workplace matters to you. You can’t bear bickering or bitchiness.

IDEA: You might start with two people who can’t stand each other.

PLOT: Something happens where they are forced to work together, and this changes them both in some way. Or maybe just one of them is changed.

Let’s say your children’s safety matters to you.

IDEA: You might start by imagining a setting.

PLOT: A beach can bring back all sorts of happy holiday memories, but can also inspire stories of a child wandering off, or a midnight swim that went wrong, or….. over to you!

Your plot is a development of your idea.

Ideas can be found in the things that matter most to you.

 Frog: (Blinking)

No, we are not lolling about and having what you so rudely called a natter.

We’re discussing important ideas, and developing a plot.

 A QUERY FROM A FRIEND CALLED CHRISTINE

I’ve been trying my hand at both poetry and short stories, and I’m interested in entering competitions. Could you please advise me on how to go about finding suitable competitions, and, what is the best way to start?

Hi Christine. This month’s blog is especially for you and for anyone

else who wants to take the competition bull by the horns, because entering them will improve the way you write. Yes, really.

 WHERE CAN I FIND COMPETITIONS?

• Buy a magazine. Writers’ Forum and Writing Magazine are both monthly mags. Mslexia, for women writers, is published four times a year. All three are full of articles for writers of all abilities, good advice, and up-to-date details of many currently running competitions.

• Try visiting www.booktrust.org.uk/books/adults/short-stories/prizes

• Or simply google Creative writing competitions and explore the possibilities.

THERE’S SO MUCH TO CHOOSE FROM.

I FEEL CONFUSED…

Anything with a huge prize is going to attract the very best writers, so to start with avoid prestigious comps like the Bristol, the Bath and the Bridport. Remember too that entry fees fund the prizes, so huge prizes mean high fees.

• Poetry and prose writers, you could start with one of the comps run by Writers’ Forum or Writing Magazine. These often have a theme or subject. Entry fees are reasonable too.

• Here’s a short story comp for beginners. It’s run by the Felixstowe Book Festival, and has the theme ‘in the margins’. Stories up to 1000 words. Prizes: 1^st £50; two runner up prizes of £10. Closing date 16^th May 2015

• Details at www.felixtowebookfestival.co.uk/competitions

• Here’s one for poets and writers of short fiction, especially if you’d like to see your work in print. It’s the Rhyme and Reason writing comp 2015. Cash prizes awarded for the best three short stories and best three poems: 1st Prize: £110, 2nd Prize: £60, 3rd Prize: £30 Many others will be included in the 2016 Rhyme and Reason 2016 Diary, sold in aid of Rennie Grove Hospice Care. Closing date: 1 June 2015

www.renniegrove.org/Resources/Rennie%20Grove/PDF-folder/rhyme-and-reason-entry-form-for-2016a-2-.pdf

IS THERE ANYTHING I MUST ALWAYS DO?

• Read the rules and obey them. If they say Times New Roman 12, then do it.

• Do not put your name on the entry itself.

• Do not exceed the word count.

• Get your entry in by the closing date.

IN WITH A CHANCE

Once your entry is written, it’s a good idea to read it aloud. This way you can hear whether it sounds right, or whether it needs tweaking a bit. It might help to ask a friend or family member to read it too. Ask them for constructive criticism. Is anything confusing?

Don’t wait for the right moment.

Is there anything that needs changing? You don’t have to do what they say, but their opinion is worth considering.

KEEP RECORDS

It is well worth building a chart which shows which competitions you have entered with which piece of work. Something as simple as this:

SPECIAL MESSAGE FOR CHRISTINE AND ANYONE ELSE WHO WOULD LIKE TO ENTER A COMPETITION:

Don’t hesitate any longer. Take the plunge. May talent, perseverance and good luck be your friends.

FROG: (courageously):

OK. You’re on. I’m ready to give the whole thing my best shot.