The Minor Details

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

I think I’ve talked about imagery before, but yesterday I was reading about detail.

It’s the small things that you add to your writing that brings it to life. Such as:

The reflection of the clouds in a puddle

The waiter, with a mole on his cheek where a black hair protrudes.

The colours of autumn leaves (they’re not all brown).

A cream vase filled with red and blue anemones.

The bubbles on the inside of a bottle.

Cable knit jumpers.

The crumbly texture of carrot cake.

A white damask tablecloth with a gravy stain.

The blood red velvet petals of a rose.

I bet you didn’t even need the pictures did you? 😉

Yesterday’s prompt about the family meal turned into the start of a story about a man having a heart attack in a restaurant, at a family meal. I couldn’t help it, I was in one of those moods 😉 Today’s prompt is a single bed. Hmmmmmm 🙂

Flash

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Well, I didn’t win the Flash Fiction World Competition (my entry is here), nor did I even get placed. I’m not bitter (much! Lol), no seriously, I’m fine about it….but, I did find it interesting, what the owner of the site, Vic Errington, had to say about Flash Fiction competition judging.

“I said last time what all writing competition judges say: choosing the winners is a very difficult thing to do. There are always more stories good enough to win than winning places available. I actually considered adding fourth and fifth place winners, but bankruptcy is something I try to avoid.
Many stories are incredibly enjoyable to read but they don’t, in varying degrees, adhere to flash fiction ‘parameters’ and conventions. One scenario that I found in some great pieces of writing is that the story was not a ‘complete’ story – the main expectation of flash fiction.
When readers, after reading an FF story, say that they want to know what happens next, or that they would love to learn more about how the characters developed after the event of the actual story, then, despite the obvious talent of the writer, it isn’t flash fiction. The story needs to stand completely on its own, leaving the reader satisfied and fulfilled.
A flash fiction story should not contain social comment (unless it is part of plot-related dialogue,) or narrator’s thoughts and opinions. The plot is everything in FF. Didactic narrative diverts the reader from the plot and goes against the ‘minimalism’ of true flash fiction – the stripping of everything extraneous to the plot itself. Some great pieces were let down by this.
Many of the stories I read developed brilliantly until the ending. A twist is great, but not strictly necessary. What does have to happen though is that the ending/resolution must say/do something that has a marked effect on the mind of readers – something that teaches them, gives them an aha! moment, makes them ponder long after finishing the story, or even makes them laugh out loud.
In choosing the three winning stories I looked for those that come the nearest to perfection in relation to the points I make above.”

Ok, interesting, back to the drawing board then lol. Entering competitions is as much about luck as it is about talent. Even if the story is perfect, if the judge doesn’t gel with it, you’ve got no chance 😉

Today is World Storytelling Day which doesn’t appear to mean much here in the UK, I’ve never heard of it 😦 There are events going on in some countries, so check out their website for more info. The theme this year is tree’s….so in honour of that, here’s a picture of my favourite tree lol.

I use to climb it as a kid, but now, they’ve put railings round it….happy memories 🙂

So let’s celebrate World Storytelling Day…..Tell me a story….. I know it’s not orally as such, but, it’s as close as I can get to joining in 🙂

I’ll go first……
Once upon a time there was a woman. Career minded, successful, living the dream, but single. Her little brother lived overseas (think, I dunno, running a farm in the outback of Australia) and he was in trouble, financially. She agreed to take 3 months off work to go out there and sort him out (shes a bit of a control freak and works in finance). She meets the man who is bankrupting her brother (the villain). He’s GORGEOUS, rugged and single. She ends up torn between her brother and what could be the love of her life (who turns out to be a rather nice chap and was only carrying out the instructions of his evil step father).
An idea from my note book that will probably never get written….not too sure if I’m really any good at romance 😉

Yesterday’s prompt about the eve of the wedding turned into a story about a young guy, marrying his girlfriend because she’s pregnant….but he doesn’t love her. His mum realises something isn’t quite right and talks him into cancelling. That’s as far as I got, but I’m thinking she’s probably going to try to stop him seeing the baby….very Jeremy Kyle lol 😉 Today’s prompt is write about a family meal. Ooooo, that’ll be fun 🙂

I just realised, it’s Storytelling Day every day on my blog 😉

Stealing?

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

I was reading on Saturday about the idea of stealing from other writers…..noooo, I don’t mean plagiarism I mean, stealing an idea, stealing a character.

Take Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, which is most probably the most famous example.

The novel is a prequel to Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. The story of Mrs Rochester, before she became the mad woman in the attic.

My favourite example though is Mary Reilly by Valerie Martin. It’s tells the Jekyll & Hyde story from the viewpoint of Dr Jekyll’s maid, Mary. A wonderful book (and film btw) that I found fascinating, after having read the original Stevensen book.

I would love to use a character that another writer created, and tell their story successfully. But who? Where do I start?

How about Miss Haversham, the story of her ending up in that big old house in her wedding dress. Or Mrs Dalloway’s wild teenage years? And what actually happened to Holly Golightly, now that would be fun! 🙂

What famous character would you like to steal?

How many times do you come across a minor character in a book who intrigues you? Who you’d like to know more about?

Today’s prompt about a diner turned into a story about a waitress who bumps into her male childhood playmate 😉 Tomorrow’s prompt is on the eve of the wedding which I kinda already did a few weeks ago….. Hmmm, will need to think about that one

Reading

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Philip Roth said that reading was a way to keep the circuits open and to think about the piece he’s working on while getting a little rest from the actual work in hand.

Sooooo, the question is….should I join a book club? I’ve been thinking about this for over a year now, but never actually done anything about it. “Mount Toobie” (sorry, slipping into BookCrosser mode there), my to be read pile is huge, verging on thousands, which is what has always put me off….but.

My writing style is very similar to my reading preferences. I tend to read what I call “real life stuff”. No fantasy or sci-fi. I’m not even keen on crime either. I like emotional character driven stories, about people, their lives, and how they overcome obstacles. Which, is kinda what I write about.

But does that allow me to grow as a writer? Am I missing out on the opportunity to “broaden my horizons” so to speak? Also, would joining a book club/reading group give me an insight to what readers want from their books?

Jack Heffron says “Don’t try to write a short story until you’ve read fifty of them, preferably a hundred. Don’t try to write a novel until you’ve read fifty of them, preferably a hundred. The same is true for scripts, essays, poems and so on.”

I do copy writing I like into my note book. I collect pieces that I think are powerful. I did at one stage start doing book reviews, but now I just use Goodreads.

Are you a member of a reading group/book club? Do you feel your writing benefits from it?

Whilst compiling this post an update email hit my inbox from Kitty Hietala’s blog which I found very interesting.

Here’s a pic of just one of my book shelves lol.

I wasn’t really inspired by today’s prompt, the emergency exit. I ended up writing a story about 2 young girls running out of the ice rink because the boy one of them fancies comes in. Today’s prompt is eating at a diner so I’m hoping I’ll be a bit more inspired today 😉

Generating Titles

Posted on March 17, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

As I said a couple of days ago, I love finding names for my characters, but, what I love even more is finding Title Ideas 🙂 A good title idea can prompt a story in itself, and often does for me. An interesting title will intrigue a reader, I know it does me. One of my 2 favourite examples from successful books are:

If Nobody Speaks Of Remarkable Things
and
The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nightime

Both, fantastic examples of how a title can sell a book. Imagine if Mark Haddon had just called it “The Dog” *yawns*

I’m sitting here at the moment, in front of my sons birthday cards. It was his birthday on Wednesday. I found one of his cards very inspiring.

Bam! “Dressing Like Dad” what a great title for a story. I’m conjuring up the scenes in my head as I type lol

I find title ideas absolutely every where and I allocate a page in my note book where I write them all down, the minute I spot one. So here are a few tips on finding those titles…..And the stories to go with them 😉

1. Lines from poetry.

2. Quotes.

3. The Titles given to pieces of art, especially modern art.

4. Writing prompts. I often use words from the actual prompt I’m using as a title.

5. Flick through a non fiction book, the titles of the chapters (even self help type books can be good for that!) or go to the library and look at all the titles of non fiction books.

6. A Theasaurus is brilliant. Think of your title, then look up the words to see if you can make it better, a different word can add so much more meaning to the title.

7. Newspaper headlines and magazine article titles.

8. Subjects of e mails….I know, you’re looking at me strangely lol…. Try it! I had an e mail yesterday from a web site I subscribe to and the title was “Hire a Hooker for Your Husband” *snigger* Now you’re looking at me like I’m a real weirdo lol.

9. Song lyrics and titles….the song itself could inspire a story.

10. Eavesdrop on people’s conversations, in cafe’s, shops, sometimes, someone will come out with a gem. If you don’t get out much TV and films are good too, even the news programmes. I wonder if Lionel Shriver overheard someone say We Need To Talk About Kevin ?

So that’s where I get my ideas from….I could sit here and type out my current list, which stands at about 30, but hey, you might steal one 😉

Today’s prompt about sinking turned into a tory about a guy, in sales, who’s wife has left him and he’s been called to the bosses office as his figures are going down. Lots of options on how to end that depending on how nasty I’m feeling 😉 Tomorrow’s prompt is an emergency exit which sounds good 🙂

Fishing…For Ideas

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

You can’t force an idea can you. William Stafford once said that the creative process is like fishing. You cast a line and then sit patiently, waiting for a nibble. You have to be still and quiet because if you make too much noise the fish won’t bite. With time and experience, you learn the right moment to land that baby.

That kinda goes against what we want as writers. We want results and now. We want proof we are making progress and being productive. We want finished pieces and strive for each one to be better than the last.

So what if, we took one day…..Just one day a month as an Ideas Day? To go fishing, metaphorically rather than actual in my case 😉 No actual writing, but you’re allowed to write ideas in a note book.

If you could have one day a month as an ideas day, what would you do?

Me? I’d spend the day at an art gallery or sit on the sofa watching old black and white films all day 🙂

Ahhhhh….. Peter Jones would be so proud of me!

I don’t often suffer from writers block, I have too much whizzing round in my head, what with the daily prompts 😉

But…..if you ever find yourself staring at a blank page, try the 7 Minute Story technique by the Limebird Writers Blog. Brilliant 🙂

I spent most of yesterday editing 2 stories. I want to send one off to a competition and the other to a magazine. I also spent an hour or so on Title Ideas (post on that tomorrow).

Yesterday’s prompt was about being lonely, so I came up with a story about a woman who has everything apart from one thing…..love…..sounds like that Beatles song lol. Today’s prompt is write about sinking. Gawd, this is all very depressing isn’t it lol.

The Naming Game

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

I’ve had this post in my draft folder for a couple of days, and yesterday morning, I sat, with my cup of tea (every morning I read other peoples blog posts while I drink my first tea of the day lol) and discovered that a fellow blogger was talking about exactly the same thing…. spooky!

Check out journeyofjordannaeast where she talks about the struggles of naming characters 🙂

Anyway, as most of my regular readers will know, I do a prompt a day, a short story or the start of one. So everyday I’m trying to come up with names for characters. Every couple of weeks I sit and dedicate a whole page in my notebook to ‘Name Ideas’ so I’m always on the look out for methods, tips and resources 🙂

So here are some ways/places I get my character names from:

1. The credits on a film I’ve just watched. (I’ve been known to play the end credits frame by frame before now lol).

2. Books on quotations. I’m currently using a battered old copy of The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations that I picked up in a charity shop for a quid 🙂

3. Wikipedia which is a great source. Say I needed the name for a male character of a certain age who comes from Brazil. Search for the Brazilian football team and bobs your uncle! (English version of hey presto lol) You have a list of all the players 🙂

4. One of my absolute favourites…..any excuse obviously lol…..FaceBook! If you’re the member of any groups, check out the members list, you can usually see how old people are from their photo’s. Or if you have a friend (or family member) who has millions of friends (like my daughter who I think has about 800), check out their friends list.

5. Here in the UK a lot of our local papers have a Births, Deaths & Marriages section. Can be quite useful as you will know exact ages (as too can be the reporters names in the same paper).

6. Stuck for a surname? Google Maps 🙂 Pick a town, city, place…..road/street names are excellent for surnames. Or even a paper map (they do still exist you know lol)

My favourites from this one: Green – Ridley – Addington – Hartley – Cliffe – Halling and of course Rochester (hasn’t that one already been used? Lol)

7. And finally, name generators online. I don’t often need to use these sites, but if I do, my favourite is Seventh Sanctum which has loads of links to creativity generators.

Obviously you can use baby name books, but I find the modern ones hard because a name that is listed may have only been in existence for a few years. No good if trying to name a 45 year old.

One final thing about using real peoples names>;;>;;>;;>;;>;;>;; When I use FaceBook for name ideas I’m very careful to mix up surnames with first names. I don’t ever use their first name and surname combined. That could get you in a lot of hot water. But, if you think about it, whatever name you choose there is bound to be someone out there who has that exact combination of first and second name.

One last tip…..make sure all your characters names all start with different letters and don’t sound the same. Your reader will be way confused. I recently read a story where a dog was called Taylor and the baby was Tyler. I had to re-read a whole section as I thought it was still talking about the dog, and wondered what it was doing in a cot 😉

So how do you come up with your characters names? I would love to hear yor ideas/tips and resources.

Yesterday’s prompt was write about fruit flesh. Yuk, that just sounds wrong! lol. I know it is flesh, but….. Lol. Anyway, I came up with a sweet little story about a girl on a bench eating a pear. An old man sits down and chats and it turns out he’s a retired market stall holder (his son has taken over the business) who use to sell fruit and vege. That’s as far as I got, but I’m thinking there’s a romance there, especially as the son is a hunky barrow boy *sniggers*
Today’s prompt is this is how lonesome feels which is already depressing me and I haven’t even started writing yet lol

The “Place” Experiment Part 2

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

The second place in my experiment 🙂

Location: One of the piers at Chatham.
Time: 11am
Date: Monday 12th March

I listened to the seagulls sqwarking (sp? Lol) overhead and watched the small group of swans on the edge of the mud banks stretching their wings. They eyed the passing tug boat with suspicion. In the distance, the silent cranes rise up through the mist, waiting for the next cargo ship to arrive. There’s an eeriness to this place. I could imagine sitting here, developing the plot for an intricate thriller. A body, washed up on the mud, it’s bare white limbs a stark contrast against all the shades of grey. The whole area seems frozen in time. It could be 2012 or 1912, I don’t think the scene would have changed. Embedded in the mud, an old shopping trolley, the only trace of modern life. I was intrigued by the wreck of a small fishing boat, it’s mast and a small part of its hull poking out through the mud. I wonder what happened to it. Did it set adrift on a stormy night? Or a more sinister explanation. Regardless of the reasons it’s fated to stay embedded, a reminder to all of the dangers of the river and mud banks.

WOW….. This was a great place to write 🙂 I’m not sure it would have the same eery feeling on a warm summers day, so I’m really glad i went when it was misty. It was freezing though, so I didn’t stay long. Definitely inspiring, not for a romance, but if I was writing something that needed lots of atmosphere, this is the place to come…. I will be returning 🙂

I managed to get both of the prompts done yesterday. The one about the voices in the night prompted the start of a sorry tale about an overweight woman who’s husband leaves her. My hubby gave me that idea as he said about food calling you from the fridge in the night he he he 😉 The one about a ceremony was fun (as I expected), I now have the start of a story where a woman is attending the wedding of her ex, the one that got away if you know what I mean 😉

I spent yesterday afternoon editing and rewriting a couple of stories, and then submitted them for comps. So my “out there’s” now stand at 17 *squeals* Today, I’ll be trying to make that 20 😉

Versatile Blogger Award

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

My sincere apologies for making 2 posts today, I only ever do it on special occasions 😉

I’ve been nominated twice in the last 24 hours lol…..by Aly Hughes and Roger Colby so thanks guys, I’m very flattered 🙂

The rules for accepting this award are as follows:

1. Thank the award-givers and link back to them in your post.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass this award along.
4. Contact your chosen bloggers to let them know about the award.

I’ve noticed a lot of blogs that I read have already been nominated so I won’t be passing this on to too many others that’s for sure (I can hear you all sighing with relief lol).

7 Things About Me!

1. I’m a member of 2 writing groups, The Mermaids (a female only group) and Maidstone Writers (a group of Nano enthusiasts).

2. My most used Internet username is AngelChild and I have it tattooed on my shoulder. It’s one of my favourite Oasis songs.

3. My 3 furry babies are Georgie, a Yorkshire Terrier, Tigzz, a huge tabby and white Tom cat with a touch of feral in him (he’s a big baby most of the time, but, when he’s angry, stand back!) and Treacle, a black and ginger British Shorthair cat who thinks she’s a princess lol

4. I drive a convertible. This is my car and my hubby lol….it’s only a Peugeot 206 but I love it!

5. As a teenager, I was a “Duranie” *snigger* (me at 14 in my Trilby lol)

6. I have 3 kids….this was back in the days when I could control them lol (1993)

7. My favourite perfume is CoCo by Chanel

There, some very useless facts 😉

I now nominate……..

bridgetstraub
C. B. Wentworth
TheOthers1
curlymum
Sandra Madeira
Diane Parkin
Danny Kemp

All of these guys have wonderful blogs that keep me entertained no end. Thanks guys 🙂

If you get the chance, please go check them out 🙂

The “Place” Experiment Part 1

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Do you remember my idea about The Place Experiment? No? Ok, read this post first if you don’t 😉

It was a horrible yucky, cold, wet, absolutely miserable week in Kent. To the point where Sunday was my first opportunity to start the experiment (Saturday was nice but hubby was at home all day lol).

So the first place under scrutiny is…..

Location: My back garden
Time: 7.30 am
Date: Sunday 11th March

It always amazes me, how quiet Sunday mornings are. Even the birds seem to know that everyone is still asleep at this ungodly hour. There’s a chill in the air, a freshness that you only get with spring. My garden is a mess. Perhaps this wasn’t the best location to start with. I’m finding it hard to find any words other than sad ones when I look around. The weeds, the overgrown bushes, there are no flowers. My Rowan tree has tiny little buds on it’s branches, indicating, hopefully, that it’s survived the winter. I often feel a bit like my garden, worn out and neglected (lol), just waiting for that something to come along and brighten everything up. I’m waffling aren’t I? Because I have nothing to say, nothing to dream about, and nothing to write. Most of the time I’m full of ideas, they bubble away under the surface, just waiting for an opportunity, a chance to escape. But sitting here now I feel strangely numb…..or is that just content? Is this finally a place I find relaxing? I usually find that hard, my head constantly swims but not at this moment. How odd? To be feeling so blank. Is that actually a good thing? Is this where I should come in future to calm my mind? Should I take up gardening as a serious hobby? Ok, Georgie (my dog) is looking at me strangely, wondering why I’m sitting in the garden (she’s not use to it). In future, I’m going to make more of an effort to use the outdoor space around me…..roll on the summer!

Hmmmmm, so was that a success? Did i actually discover something? It definitely didn’t inspire me to write differently or better….I just found it surprisingly relaxing lol, perhaps too relaxing.

Here’s my view 🙂

What a mess!!!! 😦 But something was achieved….I have a man coming at some stage this week to tidy it all up *grins* I’ve decided, I need to use it more 🙂

This begs the question where is your favourite place to relax and chill?

I found yesterday’s prompt completely uninspiring, or was that more to do with the looming dental appointment lol 😦 I sat staring at it for ages (there’s always one I struggle with every couple of weeks). I finally gave up and read a book instead lol. I will catch up today when I do attending a ceremony which should be fun 😉

I did however manage to finish a short story that I’m doing as homework for my writing class, the one prompted by a horoscope…..so it wasn’t all bad 😉