Tag: Challenge

Short story writing. Don’t try this at home! (2)

This is not meant to be a treatise on short story writing.  Far be it for me to advise anyone on the subject.  I prefer to say how it is that I do it so you can learn all of the pitfalls in one go.

I like to think I fly by the seat of my pants, you know, like the reader who takes up the story and starts reading, not having a clue where it’s going to go.

I prefer that blissful ignorance, of course, until I have to start editing it into something that resembles a logical story,

It was a revelation when I discovered there are two types (possibly more) or writer, pantsers and planners.

I’ve tried both.  Both work.  But in the case of the latter, you need to know where it’s going to start what’s going to happen in the middle and have the end firmly planted in your mind.  Not much good if a rotten character is pissing you off and you want to kill him, excruciatingly.

Flying blind gives you a little more creativeness, and be able to go around a corner and see what’s there.  it also allows for those complete changes of direction you come up with in the shower, that place that is a fertile ground for new ideas just when you’re running out of them.

But, it can sometimes play havoc with word counts and if you’re trying to fit into 2,000 words, 5,000 words, or a lot less, taking the story where it wants to go is not a good idea, and sadly, I tend to let stories run their course.

And sometimes I like the idea of writing three different endings, and then can’t choose which one I like the best.

So, role model I am not.  I like writing, and when I’m in the ‘zone’ it’s like I’m in another world.

But, then, isn’t that the case for all of us?

More unclarity tomorrow!

Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 29

The April version of the November write-a-thon is upon us, well, me actually.  I’m not sure hope many others are trying to resurrect an old piece of writing.

The truth is, I’ve been at this story off and on over the past three years, and every time I get a head of steam, something else comes along.

Now I’ve decided to use the April version of NANOWRIMO to get this thing finished, or at least in a first draft state.

Part 3 is now finished and it is onto the laborious work of getting part 4 right.  There will be about ten chapters in this section, and then a short Part 5 which is yet to be written.

Today’s assignment was to go back and make some revisions, where words were struck off and words added, the net result not amounting to much and certainly does not justify the amount of work put in.

Today’s word count adds another 632 words for a total of 75,817 so far.

We are going to exceed my original estimate of 75,000 words by at least another 5,000.

 

 

 

Conversations with my cat – 97

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This is Chester

Still hiding away.

Like any wise, old, skeptical cat, he’s not believing the good news.

We do not have a COVID 19 case in our house. Of course, we had to wait an agonizing 24 hours before we got the good news by phone.

It shows that our testing labs are getting through the tests, of which I heard in the news there were about 4,000, with only 10 or so new cases countrywide.

Queensland had none overnight, so if our case had been positive, we would have been in the news for al; the wrong reasons.

So, after broadcasting the news, that is, walking up and down the passage saying it was safe to come out, there’s still no sign of him.

But…

I have a cunning plan.

I bought a can of his absolute favorite food.

Come dinner time I’m putting it out.

 

Of course, food trumps fear every time.

He walks past me on his way to the tasty treats, the tail movements indicating he is not a happy cat.

The things I have to suffer at the hands of you humans, he mutters.

So, I say casually, we have guests for dinner.

He stops, turns his head in that dismissive manner of his.
What else can you do to me?

COVID 19, Grandchildren, I suppose you’re going to let me outside.

Do you want to go outside?

With COVID 19 lurking on every corner?

It’s under control.

Right. I’ve been watching TV. You do realize there’s good news and fake news, and there’s more of the latter than the former.

So, he’s going with the confuse the poor human with blather.

It’s working. I say, Go back into hiding. I was quite enjoying the silence.

After dinner, he says, ending the conversation with the angry tail swish. Yes, we are not amused.

Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 28

The April version of the November write-a-thon is upon us, well, me actually.  I’m not sure hope many others are trying to resurrect an old piece of writing.

The truth is, I’ve been at this story off and on over the past three years, and every time I get a head of steam, something else comes along.

Now I’ve decided to use the April version of NANOWRIMO to get this thing finished, or at least in a first draft state.

Part 3 is now finished and it is onto the laborious work of getting part 4 right.  There will be about ten chapters in this section, and then a short Part 5 which is yet to be written.

Today’s assignment is the fallout from the reading of the will.  There will be more until the various inheritors finally accept their shares, which inevitably they have to.

Never have so many waited so long and got so little.

Today is going to be one with a smiley face, for all the wrong reasons, I’m enjoying writing this bit too much, and then there will be a sad face, because there is so much more to do, and so little time.  This chapter was also fun to write.

Today’s word count adds another 3,167 words for a total of 75,185 so far.

We are going to exceed my original estimate of 75,000 words by at least another 5,000.

 

 

 

Short Story writing: don’t try this at home!

This is not a treatise on how to write short stories.  Everyone has one in them, possibly more, and me, well, it’s how I keep the wolves from the door.

Yes, I read my stories to them and they fall asleep.

Or maybe not, I’m never quite sure what effect anything I write has on anyone.  And, reading a lot of the posts on how to handle bad reviews and rejection, such a recurrent theme, I don’t think I want to.

Ignorance is bliss, is it not?

Well, one day I’m sure something will happen.  It’s probably in the seven stages of writing:

 

Euphoria

Planning

Research

Writing

Failure

Search for the guilty

Distinction for the uninvolved

 

I guess you don’t fail if you don’t put it out there.  Searching for the guilty, well, there’s only one person to blame, the editor, and distinction for the uninvolved, didn’t your friend, relation, confidente, significant other, say it wasn’t going to work?

But, despite everything, I like writing short stories and try to produce one in a single sitting.  I try to keep the word count down, but the stories, somehow they just evolve in my head and don’t want to end the main character’s story.

In reality, there is no end to the story unless they die, and then, of course, the story branches off, just like a family tree,

Some stories are so intricate, they need another story to fill in the gaps, and then another because the plot is running through your head at a thousand miles an hour and your fingers won’t stop typing, because if you do, it will all dissipate into thin air like smoke.

Stories can, you know, dissipate like smoke, one minute your mining a rich vein the next, you’ve hit a ton of worthless quartz.

Then all the constraints come into play, nagging at the back of your mind, and you find yourself waking up in a bath of sweat crying out, I didn’t do it, the crime that is, not lose the best 2,000 words you’ve ever written.

But that’s all of those words you write, isn’t it?

But I digress, and I’ll write some more on the subject, what was it again?

 

 

Conversations with my cat – 97

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This is Chester

He has disappeared, and no one can find him.

He was there, out in the library earlier this morning keeping an eye on the Coronavirus statistics which I have constantly updated on one of my computer screens.

In fact, he mentioned the fact there were more than 3,000,000 cases worldwide.

Then Rosemary came into the room to tell me she was calling the doctor.

A glance from Chester to her then to me was a quizzical one.

What’s wrong, he asked.

Cold-like symptoms, I said, but didn’t elaborate.

Then, as we were leaving for the COVIS Clinic, yes, the doctor had advised her to go and have a test, I was equally evasive about where we were going.

Bear in mind we have the two grandchildren over because their parents work, and they are doing their schoolwork from our home.  We made an oblique reference to them about what was happening and then left.

I suspect Chester, rather than avoid them, decided to confront them, wanting to know what’s going on.

He as well as I are fully aware of the ramifications of COVID 19 in this house.

And when we arrived home, he was nowhere to be seen.  The girls said he loitered around them for a few minutes then went up the passage, to what they thought was one of his hiding places.

He was in none of them.

If she has COVIS 19 then I’m willing to be we don’t see him again until the crisis is over.

Oddly enough, I don’t miss him yet.

Maybe in a month or so…

Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 27

The April version of the November write-a-thon is upon us, well, me actually.  I’m not sure hope many others are trying to resurrect an old piece of writing.

The truth is, I’ve been at this story off and on over the past three years, and every time I get a head of steam, something else comes along.

Now I’ve decided to use the April version of NANOWRIMO to get this thing finished, or at least in a first draft state.

Part 3 is now finished and it is onto the laborious work of getting part 4 right.  There will be about ten chapters in this section, and then a short Part 5 which is yet to be written.

Today’s assignment is probably the part I’ve been waiting for, the reading of the will in front of a greedy self-serving avaricious group of family members who have been hovering at the mansion waiting for the ‘old biddy’ to die.

Never have so many waited so long for so little.

Today is going to be one with a smiley face, for all the wrong reasons, I’m enjoying writing this bit too much, and then there will be a sad face, because there is so much more to do, and so little time.  This chapter is far from finished.

Today’s word count adds another 2,115 words for a total of 72,018 so far.

We are going to exceed my original estimate of 75,000 words by at least another 5,000.

 

 

 

What happens when the unthinkable happens?

Today, the unthinkable happened.

It might be possible the coronavirus may have penetrated the fortress walls.

My wife has suddenly got the dry cough, the sore throat, and a damp forehead which may indicate fever.

Three out of five or six symptoms.

It can’t be possible.  She had gone to work, kept strict social distancing, only gone out for essential reasons such as shopping and medical.  Continuously washed hands, everything expected to keep it at bay.

It should be just a bout of the common cold.

But…

We call the doctor, he rang back for a teleconsultation.  Just in case, he gives us the number of the COVID 19 testing center.  We call, and they say to come down.

Yes, testing anyone with any of the symptoms.  It’s a scary thought.

We drive to the center, and I stay in the car.  It’s probably moot whether or not going in myself is going to be a risk, because if she has got the virus, then I’ll definitely have it because there’s no social distancing in families.

And especially those who don’t expect to get it because we’re doing everything right.

Except, I suppose, disappearing completely from the face of the earth.

Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

Now we have a 24 to 72-hour wait for the result.

Bear in mind there have been numerous cases that have the symptoms, got the test, and died before the result of the test was known.  A worst-case scenario, but anything is possible.  Then, if you’ve got a cold, or a flu virus, and then get the coronavirus?

The horrors that have always been so far away just sneaked in the back door, and for the moment we can now understand the plight of those caught up in the pandemic first hand.  And just how frightening it can be to unsuspecting and ill-prepared people.

But let’s not go there just yet.  Crossed fingers everything will be fine.

 

Conversations with my cat – 96

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This is Chester

Once again, it’s Sunday night, and he’s looking for a philosophical discussion.
COVID 19 is off the topic list.

He’s suitably disappointed that the Trump Show is over, as far as we are aware, though he’s not surprised.

But he is worried that two cats have tested positive.

I try to tell him that it is in New York, about 18,000 miles away, where there are over 200,000 cases. We have just over 1,000 and they are all isolated so we cannot be harmed.

I guess it’s hard to convince a cat when his mind is made up.

We’ve also taken the grandchildren off the list of topics too,

They arrive a few hours ago, and studiously ignored him when they arrived. I tried to point out that he was in hiding when they arrived, but again, the stubbornness of opinion is amazing, or normal.

I should be used to this sort of contrariness.

So, what is on the discussion list?

Outlander, Season 5 Episode 10. Well, I say, we haven’t seen it yet, so don’t tell me what the plots is.

He looks at me as if I’m mad. I only get to see it when you do, he says. How should I know what the plot is?  In fact, what is the plot?

Time travel, I say.

Pity we can’t do some of that, he says.

Why I asked, and really, I should know better.

Because I could go back to the day you came to the pet shop and hide. I have given you 18 years to improve, and you’re still the same as you were then.

Discussion over.

Not his favorite food for dinner tonight.

Business as usual?

It would seem that with all the time we have on our hands because of the recommendation to self-isolate, or at the very least, stay at home, I should have no trouble finding time to write.

To a certain extent, this has been the case.

April is another NaNoWriMo month, and I have been using this exercise revising a novel that I wrote a few years back and haven’t had a chance to get back to.  This April thing has been the perfect chance to bring it all together, find out what’s missing, and fill in the gaps.

At this stage of the month, I’ve covered most of the written and partially written chapters and worked out what’s needed to finish the story.  It may not get finished in the time that I have left.  The last word count was about 68,000 of approximately 80,000.

I’m not sure how I originally intended to get this done in 50,000 or so words.

However, in a day or so I will get to the interesting bit, but I can’t tell you what that is.  You need some mystery remaining so you’ll eventually buy the book.

The other exercise that has been far more time consuming, and perhaps a little more satisfying is the A to Z Challenge where a piece is written based on a letter of the alphabet, and I decided to come up with a specific phrase and write a story around it.  Yes, 26 stories in 30 days.  That’s quite a job.

It began well with stories that were one and a half to two pages long, but over the days, they got longer, three, four, and the most recent was six and a half.  I didn’t mean to, but it sort of flowed out.

April the 26th, a Sunday, it is quite literally a day of rest.  And the time to try and get a story ahead.

Or not.  Today I get to work on some blog posts.

This month I have also been following world affairs in relation to the coronavirus, and it is very interesting how different countries approach the problem  Fortunately we live on an island and have been able to keep the damage to a minimum.  Also fortunate for us, we have a federal government that is bending over backward to help the state governments, and there’s no political point-scoring.

The situation is far too dire for that sort of nonsense, and the opposition parties at all levels know that to make waves will immediately and all but permanently alienate the electorate.  Instead, they are providing constructive advice, and assistance wherever possible.

Of course, like everyone else, we have social distancing, unessential services closed down, and a large number of unemployed.

Proportionately, I would have to say we are as badly off as everyone else, and it’s going to be hard to get back to where we were.  Certainly, none of us will be traveling anywhere any time soon, nor will we have any overseas visitors for a very long time, so any tourism will come from within.

I guess it’s time we all got to see our own country.  In the past, the pity of it was that it was cheaper to go overseas than to travel anywhere at home.  Perhaps that might be one of the lessons we learn from this crisis to reasonably price plane tickets and hotel rooms.

If they do, I’ll be the first on the plane.