Reading and Writing...

Writers are told they need to read widely to help improve their own writing, so I decided this year I needed to read a little more variety than I have been doing so far...

When I'm writing historical I will either not read at all or if I do it will be a contemporary romance or a research based topic. If contemporary then I'll indulge my love of historical romance without tainting my own writing with similar sentence construction and character traits.

As a teenager I read a lot of different authors, Wilbur Smith, Graham Greene, Winston Graham and Agatha Christie among them. I devoured their words and styles of writing without any thought of the effect, but as I've got older my choices have become more tailored and I can see the various techniques the writer has used.

Now if a book just doesn't appeal and I can't get into it, then out it goes.

I've decided that's not good, sometimes I need to persevere- it isn't the book's fault (or necessarily the writer's) it's just me.

So, knowing I'm more likely to finish the book if I put it on my e-reader- so I can read it in bite-size sections-I spent a couple of hours perusing the fiction sections of online bookshops.
The thing that became very clear-as far as fiction was concerned- was that crime, romance and erotica have realised the potential of e-books and have ensured their books are out there to be bought and downloaded.

Finally I decided on Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, so I paid for and downloaded it instantly.

I've decided I will keep an open mind about it, even though the opening seems a little strange - I read half a dozen pages while waiting for an appointment this afternoon.

Of course I'll still read my favourite Romance authors as well as paperbacks, but I'm going to aim for at least four books this year that I would not have normally chosen.

Any suggestions for future reads?

Trying to Write Flash Fiction...

Flash fiction is a complete story in a shorter form 250-1,000 words, though the latter figure would be a short story in some markets.

As one of my writing resolutions for this year is to enter more competitions, I thought I'd start with the Brighton Cow 250 word competition that I mentioned recently.

Only once have I ever managed to do well with this very short story formula and that was because the character, Lola de Cortez (Positive Exposure) almost jumped out of my head and whacked me around the ear with her steel re-enforced corset. Since then I've struggled.

So with a deadline of the end of January I need to get on...

Knowing a number of writers who are very good at creating stories in 200 words, I asked them for any tips they could give to help me improve- or at least work out where I'm going wrong (I think it's characterisation again).

I'm very grateful to AJ Humpage who has kindly allowed me to reproduce the summary of her blog post on the subject. While she writes a darker form of fiction, the advice still applies whatever your subject or genre.
If you'd like to read the whole post with further explanations and I'd recommend it, you will find it here.

Otherwise here is the summary of the main points to aim for when writing flash fiction.

• Use a great opening line or hook.

• Use a powerful image for your story.

• Keep the reader guessing - Include a twist at the end, if possible.

• Be tight, be concise – limit adjectives and adverbs.

• Brevity – can you use fewer words?

• Beginning, middle and satisfactory ending – complete the story arc.

• Edit and revise.

So armed with this valuable advice I'm going to look at what ideas I have jotted down in my notebooks and see if I can produce 250 words...Then the hard work really starts with the revision.

Next month I'll tell you whether I managed it and whether it was sent off in time.