22 Hague Avenue

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

This is what I wrote in response to Saturdays photo prompt (first draft)…..

Helen watched the happy scene through the window as she stood outside number 22 Hague Avenue. Christmas Eve and bitterly cold, the desire to ring the doorbell was overwhelming. But, she remained rooted to the icy pavement beneath her feet.

Had she made the right choice 2 years ago? It was one of those forced situations in life where the decision had been unbearable.

She watched, transfixed, as the man lifted the small boy into the air. “Bobby” she mouthed as her eyes filled with tears. The boy laughed and giggled. He had changed so much, but that was inevitable, she hadn’t seen him since he was 6 months old. It took all her willpower to keep her arms by her side. A mothers natural urge to reach out and hold her baby. Helen slumped to the ground and silently wept.

She knew John would be a good father. Had been confident that Bobby would have a great life. But she couldn’t help wondering if Johns heart was still broken. Did he still love her and yearn for her as much as she did for him? The thought of him getting on with his life, finding someone else, was tortuous. What would he tell Bobby about her death? Would he tell him about the tragic accident where her body had been so badly mutilated she was unidentifiable by anything other than her dental records.

Pulling herself up she stood silently at the gate. Blowing a kiss towards the window, she turned, and tiptoed down the street to the waiting car.

“Are you ok?” The Agent asked, as Helen got into the passenger seat beside him.

Not really sure where this is going, I guess I could go back in time to explain how she got to that point? Or just carry it on with her new life? Fast forward to the future? Any thoughts? 🙂

In Service & Where I’m Guesting

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

I’m guesting over on Chris Stockings Blog today 🙂 So please pop over and read what I have to say about Inspiration A huge thank you to Chris for posting my ramblings!

Remember Sundays photo? Probably not, because it seems that WordPress had a paddy and those of you who usually receive my posts by e mail probably didn’t get it 😦 Bound to Serve – Elizabeth Mourant’s Bedroom. Well, i don’t know if you picked up on the title, and the furniture in the room itself, but, this was the bedroom that belonged to the house maid, sooooo, I decided to go with that 🙂

“I Should Like To Make My Own Living by William Thomas Smedley (1858-1920)” Illustration via Wikipedia

Elizabeth opened her eyes as the early morning light filtered through the small attic window. Pulling the covers up to her chin, she thought about the endless tasks they would be expecting her to perform that day. Her hands were raw from scrubbing and every muscle in her body ached. At 19, she had already lost the rosey cheeked flush of youth, her face now sallow and vacant.

She placed her hand on her stomach and felt the flutterings of the life growing inside her. What could she give this child? What choices were available to her? There was a tap at the door and a whispered voice.

“Elizabeth, come on, it’s time to get up. Cook says if you’re not downstairs in 5 minutes she’ll tell the Mistress.”

Reaching out to the bedside table she clasped the small bottle she had taken from the gardeners shed. The dark liquid tasted of bitter almonds and made her gag as she swallowed every last drop.

Resting her head back on the feather pillow she closed her eyes and imagined being whisked away by a cloud of butterflies, to a fairy tale land, where she was the mistress.

Awwww, poor Elizabeth. It was a hard life being a servant/housemaid in those days 😦

Now….who was the father d’ya think? 🙂

The Work In Progress

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Affectionately referred to as WIP 😉

I haven’t exactly told you anything about it have I? Oh dear, me bad lol. Well, to be honest, it wasn’t a WIP until recently, it was more like an WNP (work not progressing) lol

Back in 2010 I decided to take part in Nano, which, at the time, was a ridiculous task to undertake, as I’d only been to a couple of creative writing lessons at my local Adult Ed and hadn’t written a thing (fictional) since leaving school (and no, I’m not telling you how many years ago that was lol). But, always up for a challenge, I threw myself into Nano, and wrote 65,000 words in just under 2 weeks. Once I’d started, I couldn’t stop 🙂

But, once I did stop, I couldn’t start again, and the poor little MS ended up languishing on my Netbook, unfinished, until last month.

My success at Nano (I’ve completed both 2010 & 2011) I put down to the fact that I don’t edit, at all, not in the slightest. So there are spelling mistakes, full stops missing, capital letters that have wandered off, you name it. I find it very easy to write like that, but, the mammoth editing task has meant that summoning up the strength and courage to attempt to edit has been my downfall 😦

So with the encouragement of my tutor at writing classes, last month, I tentatively opened the file for the first time in, ooooo, 16months lol. It did have an outing in August 2011, where the first 2 chapters were printed off and given to Emma Darwin for a critique. Her comments and thoughts about it were pretty positive (thank heavens) so why wasn’t that enough to get me fired up to finish it?

To be honest, it’s my age old problem…..I don’t know how to finish it, I don’t know how I want it to end lol. I even did a poll on FaceBook, asking my friends, do you prefer a happy ending? The general consensus was yes, but, that as long as it was “satisfying” it didn’t necessarily need to be happy. Oh, come on guys, you’re no help, I wanted a definitive yes or no answer!!!! Lol

Sooooo, anyway, I have now edited the prologue, changed it from 3rd person to 1st person at Emma Darwin’s suggestion, and I’m just about to start editing the first chapter *gulp*

So now you know the title 😉 as for genre, that’s a hard one. I haven’t written a synopsis yet (something else that needs doing lol) so the only way I can describe it is by saying its a family saga about 2 brothers and it’s written in the omniscient POV (each chapter is in 3rd person centring around a different character). It starts with a suicide, theres murder, corruption, love, sadness and a young woman who discovers the father she thought was her father was actually her uncle lol. When my husband read it he said it was like reading a film, ie different scenes. Sounds confusing I know, but I guess, once I finish it and get a couple of Beta readers, we’ll see if it really is readable 😉

So how about that ending? do you agree with my Facebook friends? Do you prefer a happy ending?

People Watching

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

I’m starting to think about characters…..people, for my A-Z Challenge which starts tomorrow *gulp*

Everyday most of us come into contact with other people. We live with them, work with them and think about them when they’re not there. Some we like, others we cant bare the sight of!. Meeting new people can be fun, but for a writer, it can be a facinating 🙂

In real life, when you meet a new person you learn a lot about them in the first few seconds. That’s the crucial moment when you form opinions and judgements. You base those on the way they walk, how they sit, if they’re smiling or what they’re wearing. You try to figure out what they’re thinking by their facial expressions. Even small details like the smell of tobacco or a stain on their tie will influence your opinion.

Then there are their gestures. The way they look over their glasses, the way they throw back their hair or constantly play with a ring on their finger.

Characters need to be real, as real as you and I 😉 They’ll have faults, bad habits, talents and tastes. They will have complex personalities, and all of it needs to come across in our stories, if we want our characters to delight our readers.

F Scott Fitzgerald said “Plot is character and character is plot.” I rest my case 😉

So people watching is a great idea when you need inspiration for characters. A cafe, park, restaurant, even a waiting room can have me scribbling away in my note book 😉

Do you people watch? Do you use what youve seen in your stories?

Try describing a friend or family member (they never need to see it). Its great fun and you can use certain aspects to create a fictious character 😉

The photo above is The Bookcrossers meeting the Hen Night Bunnies….. dont ask lol 😉

Yesterdays prompt about the backseat turned into a story about a young woman who arrives home to find that the birthday cake she had just bought is gone and in its place is a bag of money and a gun…..not sure where thats going yet lol. Todays prompt is the antidote to pain. That sounds very interesting 😉

Sunshine

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

I’ve been awarded the Sunshine Award by C. B. Wentworth so thank you so much honey 🙂

It’s lovely to be nominated for these awards, such an honour 🙂

My only problem is that for some reason my pictures come out scrambled *stamps foot and pouts* and I don’t know why 😦

Anyway, I’m not going to go down the traditional route with this, what I will do is write about sunshine 🙂

Wednesdays prompt was “write the horizon at dusk” and as i sat here, trying to come up with some sort of story it sparked a memory…..soooo, as it also involves sunshine, i’ll copy here what i wrote 🙂

As a child i spent all my summers at my grandparents caravan on the Kent coast. My cousins and I would spend our days running through grass, searching for crabs on the beach when the tide went out and enjoying the sunshine.

We’d make secret hide outs in the bushes, play hide and seek among the sand dunes and have glorious adventures accompanied by the British weather. (Ha ha ha…for those of you in the UK you’ll know exactly what i mean about British summers…..rain! lol)

But the part of the day that i loved the most was dusk. The sun dying on the horizon, the seagulls making their way home (where do seagulls go at night?) and the children being called in by their parents.

We would go in to steaming hot mugs of tea and biscuits, for dunking 🙂 Sometimes, we’d sit on the steps outside, clutching our mugs, watching the sun dissappear. The dampness the evening always seemed to bring would start clinging to our clothes. Then my grandmother would tell us to come in and the door would be shut. If you left the door open it was as though dusk would creep into the caravan and slip into your bed. No one wanted a damp sleeping bag.

Sometimes i’d sit at the front, at the large window and watch the final glimpses of daylight in the distance. I remember wondering what would happen if the sun didnt rise the next morning. But it always did, and then, we would be running through the grass again. The early morning dew seeping through our flipflops, the grass tickling out toes, as we made our way back to the beach.

Nothing ever changed in the night, but we wished so hard that it would. The night always seemed so magical, as if anything could happen while we were tucked up asleep.

Happy days 🙂 I’m afraid i havent got a photo of the caravan, but i have got a photo of the beach.

Yesterdays prompt about eating it raw turned into a strange story. It started with a wife moaning at her husband for eating raw cake mix and turned into an argument about her brother who had just been released from prison LMAO 😉 Todays prompt is in the back seat so im sure i can come up with something for that 🙂

A-Z Blog Challenge

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Ok….I’ve signed up lol….yes, yes, I know, some of you will be thinking I’m mad, but, I have an idea, a plan 🙂

One of my favourite parts of writing is characterisation. I love coming up with characters, I guess it goes back to my childhood and playing with dolls.

Sooooo, I intend to come up with a character a day, their first names beginning with that letter. I’m not gunna plan any posts, but I will plan the names in advance. That will be my only preparation 🙂

I find a lot of the time stories emerge just from creating a character, so who knows, I might even end up with 26 stories by the end of April 🙂

I didn’t get to do the prompt today, but only because I had to go over to Hertfordshire to do a delivery lol. Still, it was a beautiful day 🙂

So I guess I’ll be doing yesterday’s prompt with today’s which is you ate it raw which sounds like fun 😉

In The Beginning…and Another Blog Award

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

I’ve been thinking about beginnings, as i sit at my dining room table typing up a few more stories from my notebook. Openings of stories have to grab the reader don’t they (or the judge/editor if its a short story). So what’s the best way to do that?

Start with something happening right at the start? In the first sentence? Or with dialogue? What’s the best hook?

“I need sex every day luv,’ said Denise, the vicar’s wife.” – Fat Girls & Fairy Cakes by Sue Watson, which definitely piqued my interest lol.

And then there’s “They said I was a drug addict. I found that hard to come to terms with – I was a middle-class, convent-educated girl whose drug use was strictly recreational. And surely drug addicts were thinner?” – Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes.

“I stitch memories. That’s what I do. Not mine, other peoples.” Is the opening to Linda Gillard’s Untying The Knot…..very intriguing.

Or what about “Dear princessdianasnumber1fan. Your item will be dispatched shortly, please allow 3-7 business days for delivery!!!” From Carolines Smailes 99 Reasons Why. I bet that one has you wondering and slightly amused 😉

Personally, I think i must favour dialogue. I like to be plunged straight into the action and i’d say about 80% of my beginnings are dialogue (or within the first sentence).

Do you tend to start all your stories a similar way?

So now I feel I’m on track with beginnings, sort of comfortable in knowing what I’m doing (ha ha ha) what about endings? *gulp* Yeah, I’ll worry about those later 😉

The lovely Rebecca has nominated me for The Candle Lighter Award & One Lovely Blog Award. Thank you so much honey 🙂

Yesterdays prompt about getting undressed turned into a peeping Tom type story lol. Todays prompt is write the horizon at dusk which sounds a bit odd but hey, I’m game 😉

Proverbs

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Proverbs make great stories and they’re especially good for setting the theme of a piece. once you have a theme, the setting, characters and even the plot can follow easily. There are hundreds to choose from and each has a story to tell.

Pick a proverb…..
Write down the message, this will be the theme of your story.
Think about the sort of person the proverb relates to. This will be your main character.
Allow the setting and plot to evolve.
Think about structure. Something needs to change by the end of the story. Your character will need a climax and a resolution. What lesson will they learn?

A few famous proverbs I can see turning into great stories……

Between the devil and the deep blue sea
Theme – choosing between 2 equally bad alternatives in a serious dilemma.

First come first served
Theme – the first inline will be attended to first.

Faint heart never won fair lady
Theme – to succeed you must have the courage to pursue what you want, or, for a romance, all girlies like a brave hero 😉

A rolling stone gathers no moss
Theme – a person who never settles in one place or who often changes his job will never succeed or someone who keeps changing their mind will never get anything done.

There’s no smoke without fire
Theme – rumours don’t spread unless there is an element of truth in them.

You can’t have your cake and eat it
Theme – you must choose between 2 things because it’s impossible to have both.

You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink
Theme – You can help, support, or encourage someone to do something, but you can’t make them do what they’re unwilling to do.

…..and my absolute favourite (don’t ask me why, but probably coz of the imagery it conjures up).

A drowning man will clutch at a straw
Theme – a desperate person will do anything to save himself.

I bought these books a couple of days ago at Baggins my local fantastic second hand book shop. Sometimes, I just love where I live 🙂

One final note…..proverbs make great story titles 😉

Have you ever wrote a story based on a proverb?

Yesterday’s prompt about the piano wasn’t as easy as I first thought lol. I ended up with the start of a story about a woman at a hotel who stumbles across a man playing the piano in the bar early in the morning. I can see a romance developing lol. Tomorrows prompt is you’re taking off your clothes so I’m thinking I might try to come up with something a bit darker for that one!

As you can see, ive been having a fiddle…..I’m liking the new look, might stay with this for a while 🙂

Brainstorming

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Just recently I’ve had a couple of brainstorming sessions with my friend J who is also an aspiring writer. The most recent, being a 2 hour car journey (to a workshop) which was great fun.

My brain never stops. I’m constantly looking for ideas and inspiration, all around me. I think J was a bit overwhelmed by the journey as every road sign became an idea for a persons surname, along with any vans company logo’s that we passed *snigger*

J had an idea for a story centred around a fashion magazine. We ended up coming up with the name of the owner of the mag, the 2 villains, the protagonist and the name of the magazine. It was a great way to pass the time, and very productive 🙂 I think to be honest, she was a little bit scared at my enthusiasm and passion, but, those who know me in the real world will know that if I really enjoy something I get very enthusiastic *giggles*

The only problem I have is that when I’m on my own driving I can’t write anything down….hmmmm, so I’m thinking I really should try to figure out how my phones voice memo works. Not ideal whilst driving I know, but I’m not sure what else I can do 😦

so what do you do if you suddenly get an idea and there are no scraps of paper or a pen within a 50 metre radius?

I went to Elizabeth Haynes book signing session yesterday, which seemed to be going well when we got there 🙂

I spent the rest of the day reading proverbs…..don’t ask lol 🙂

Yesterday’s prompt about an ending inspired a short scene about a husband and wife, the husband’s head being buried in a book lol. Today’s prompt is “first time I saw her…” which is screaming 1st person POV at me, obviously 🙂

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