A Long Wait but Worth It...

Last November I wrote a 500 word flash fiction for the Autumn prose competition at Nottingham Writers' Club.

We'd been fortunate to have the wonderful Sally Quilford setting and judging this flash fiction competition. Sally had done a mini workshop in the summer on the subject, so the competition was an opportunity to show what we'd learnt with our entries.

When the competition opened I had three months before the final submission date, and I had a few ideas rolling around my brain to fit the theme of 'A Christmas Visit'.

My first idea was a parent visiting their baby in a neonatal unit on Christmas morning. That thought was inspired by my own memories of going to see my premature triplets in hospital on Christmas Day- they were only a few weeks old at that point.

But I couldn't write it, the words wouldn't form, the emotions too deep to catch and share with my characters.

The weeks went on and the deadline approached.

Then a vague idea that had been lingering began to demand attention. What if you had to go and deliver the sad news of a death at Christmas? And bad weather hampered the task too (heavy snow).
And because I inevitably write romances, how would the messenger feel if they are giving that bad news to someone they have been in love with for years?

Generally we think of good things happening at Christmas, but we know that isn't reality, and that must have happened in the 19th century too. But the story could still have a positive ending.

I settled down and wrote about 550 words, cutting and changing to get it to the 500 word limit.

Then I realised that it was just an advance snippet of a longer story- this usually happens with my short stories, I just can't keep them small, they all want to be full scale productions... :-)

Then disaster struck, in the New Year we discovered the entries had never reached the judge, so we had to re-run the competition- and a big thank you to Sally for having fitted the new judging dates into her busy writing schedule.

So last night at the May speaker meeting, the results were finally announced, and my entry 'A Second Chance' won.

It will be turned into a longer story.

The judge's comments:

(I chose the pseudonym, Fiona Faddy for my entry)

"I chose the first prize winner, A Second Chance by Fiona Faddy because I’m a sucker for unrequited love! Fiona packed so much emotion in to so few words. The opening lines immediately set the scene and let us know we were in the past. The ending was just sweet!"

If I hadn't been intending to use the piece in future, I would have posted it here. But I hope you'll get the opportunity to read it when the longer story is completed- and hopefully published somewhere...





image courtesy of Stuart Miles www.freedigitalphotos.net.

 

Detailed Instruction Are Hard to Write...

Essential: they have to be written better than flat-pack instructions...

Now I've been having a busy few days in a writing related way- must add to my word count.

Nottingham Writers' Club have a one-day workshop taking place on the 11th May, (plug, plug :-) ) but with all the road closures and tram track construction going on, it's been necessary to update our direction information.

Issue one: You can no longer use the walkway from inside the station to get to the tram platform. You need to leave the station and get to the tram from outside- down the road in this case...

Issue two: The station building is undergoing a massive update, so entrance and exits are different.

So I needed to write out detailed instructions for anyone arriving by train and needing to know how to get to the workshop via the tram.

It was tough.

You have to start with putting yourself in the role of the person needing to access the tram- not something I need to do as I use the bus.
Getting left or right correct.
Instructions to get to the access point for the tram via stairs/ lift depends on whether you come out the front of the building- through a hardboard walk-through tunnel, or via the side exit- nearer to where you have to go...

Once you get off the tram it's a brief walk. But it only takes being vague about where you cross over the road and the hapless writer could end up in the cinema or the shopping centre, so it does become a little bit like dot to dot with a few landmark buildings thrown in to help.

Almost there.
Crossing the road without getting run down by the traffic coming round the corner, it takes you a little out of the way you need to go, so remember to say, go right then immediately left.

I had to mentally imagine what would be seen, and produce the right description to ensure the walker looked in the correct direction; one minute you're following the road and then you suddenly have to ignore it - as it turns away from where you're going.

The last fifty yards was rewritten three times!

And then I began editing- well it was a bit long, and people might give up reading it.

Changing one word for a much better descriptive word, then realising that no, the first one was the best, and yes I could make that sentence shorter...

Finally I was finished. I tell you, writing fiction is much easier and less headache inducing.

Now I just hope the powers-that-be don't make any more changes between now and the 11th May...