March 19th & 20th - Best of Friday Flash stories and ‘Pearls of Wisdom’ by Jodi Cleghorn.
My reading of short fiction for the last two days has consisted of stories sent to me to edit, five pieces of flash fiction due to appear in the Best of Friday Flash anthology later this year, and a short story by one of the editorial masterminds behind the Chinese Whisperings anthologies, Jodie Cleghorn.
Having spent two days reading through work by emerging authors, I am amazed that so many of these people are unpublished outside small online journals and self-published collections. Reading these stories has proved, if there were any doubt, that there is a massive amount of talent out there, producing work of equal (and in most cases better) quality than a lot of what is seeing publication in paying markets. The breadth of genre in the Friday Flash anthology editing package was refreshing, while the opportunity to read a small body of work by my peers was gratifying.
Editing all of these pieces gave me something to think about in my own writing. All of the six writers provided me with examples of other ways to tell a story than the one I would perhaps have chosen. They say that good writers ready contemporaneous published work. I would extend this. If you want to improve your writing and get the chance, I recommend reading work in progress by your peers. The change of perspective can only help your approach to your own writing.
Check out the #fridayflash tag on twitter for great emergent writing. Or, if not on twitter, head over to the Mad Utopia #fridayflash report, a comprehensive weekly list of all the #fridayflash stories.
Rubik’s Cubed - #fridayflash
The original cubes you could dismantle into component parts, revealing the inner workings before slotting and clicking the colours back into place, bypassing the entire puzzle in favour of the purely mechanical effort of assembling the coloured sides. It was an exercise in reconstruction rather than revelation, destroying something to rebuild it as it should be, all parts perfectly in place without the hard work.The new ones, smaller than the ones of my youth, though my larger hands might create this illusion, probably work the same way, the partial cubes that make up individual face colours backed with an almost arrowhead of plastic to slot and grip in the central stems around which the rows and columns twist when wrenched this way and that in an effort to find the solution.
We sit on opposite sofas and I try to make sense of what you tell me. You explain what has gone wrong for you and I slot that into place with the reasons you gave for why we can’t go on like this. I slide the puzzle of our relationship around in my head but it is impossible to keep track as you throw more colours into the mix. Somehow the cube has more than six sides, colours have been added beyond the traditional red, white, blue, yellow, green and orange. The rows and columns increase in size to accommodate the added purple and pink, grey and brown and more.
‘I can’t work this out,’ I say, my mind twisting and turning what you have said further and further into disorder.
‘There’s nothing to work out,’ you say.
I look at the bags, packed and ready at your feet and realise the puzzle is already in pieces and no matter how hard I push they won’t fit back together.
Image from schools-wikepedia. Used under Creative Commons licence.
Short Story Challenge - Day 32 & 33
More from David Gaffney’s ‘Aromabingo.’
March 17th - You And You Alone
I don’t hesitate to put this in the ranks of stories I wished I had written. It has everything. Love. Murder. Jealousy. More murder and possible, the end of the universe. Angela and Rowan are a lovely, disturbing, heart warming and frightening couple. What really makes me happy is how all this fits into just a smidge over two pages of David Gaffney’s seemingly effortless prose. If you need proof that short shorts can tell a full and remarkable story then look no further.
March 18th - Only The Stones Remain
This story, while full of neat ideas and making a decent stab at writing in the first person view of an automaton, kind of left me cold. Not sure whether it was the fact that the characters are robots or what, but I just didn’t connect with what was happening. Some clever descriptions that show how artificial life based on computer code might experience the world though. Those bits I liked.
March 17th - You And You Alone
I don’t hesitate to put this in the ranks of stories I wished I had written. It has everything. Love. Murder. Jealousy. More murder and possible, the end of the universe. Angela and Rowan are a lovely, disturbing, heart warming and frightening couple. What really makes me happy is how all this fits into just a smidge over two pages of David Gaffney’s seemingly effortless prose. If you need proof that short shorts can tell a full and remarkable story then look no further.
March 18th - Only The Stones Remain
This story, while full of neat ideas and making a decent stab at writing in the first person view of an automaton, kind of left me cold. Not sure whether it was the fact that the characters are robots or what, but I just didn’t connect with what was happening. Some clever descriptions that show how artificial life based on computer code might experience the world though. Those bits I liked.
Are women only lit prizes really necessary in 2010?
Today’s announcement of the Orange Prize long list got me thinking about the relevance of gender specific prizes and publications in the 21st Century. I realise these prizes and publications are supposed to counteract years of male domination in publishing, but looking back at a list of the Booker shortlists for the last thirty years there have been many shortlists where women writers dominated and plenty of female winners. Will there be a point when publications and prizes based on segregating writing by gender will not be necessary?
While googling about the female only prize, it was refreshing to read Sadie Jones’ thoughts on the matter, when shortlisted for the Orange Prize in 2008. "I think there should be a literary prize for men. I have a son, and you hear a lot about boys not reading. Anything that adds interest or glamour for boys can only be good sense." Yet here we are, two years later and such a prize, which certainly might help encourage more male reading, is conspicuous by its absence. I also wasn’t aware until today that AS Byatt has forbidden her publisher to submit her novels, calling the prize sexist and unnecessary.
As an ex-English teacher, seeing so many female only writers’ organisations and publications (both print and electronic formats) as well as prizes like the Orange award, does highlight the fact that there is little in place to encourage male readers or writers, something schools struggle with daily. I also wonder how long it would take for a male only prize to come under fire for doing exactly the same thing as the well respected Orange Prize. A male only writing journal would almost certainly face the same criticism.
My feeling on the issue is that good writing is good writing and segregating work by gender (or sexuality or race - but that’s a whole other post) is insulting to readers. Women writers such as Toni Morrison, Ali Smith, Maggie Gee, Tania Hershman and, my absolute favourite author at the moment, Amy Hempel all sit on my bookshelf, alongside a host of other writers, both male and female. I don’t ever really consider the sex of the author when choosing a book. I’m more concerned whether the story/collection sounds like it has something interesting to say or, when browsing, if the opening grabs my attention. If the writing is working, the author should be invisible, in which case what does gender matter?
I know a good number of women writers and readers check in on this blog from time to time and I’d be interested to hear your views on the subject. Is the Orange Prize’s mandate out of date? Does the gender of an author really matter? Is this effort to redress past imbalances in the publishing world unnecessary in 2010?
While googling about the female only prize, it was refreshing to read Sadie Jones’ thoughts on the matter, when shortlisted for the Orange Prize in 2008. "I think there should be a literary prize for men. I have a son, and you hear a lot about boys not reading. Anything that adds interest or glamour for boys can only be good sense." Yet here we are, two years later and such a prize, which certainly might help encourage more male reading, is conspicuous by its absence. I also wasn’t aware until today that AS Byatt has forbidden her publisher to submit her novels, calling the prize sexist and unnecessary.
As an ex-English teacher, seeing so many female only writers’ organisations and publications (both print and electronic formats) as well as prizes like the Orange award, does highlight the fact that there is little in place to encourage male readers or writers, something schools struggle with daily. I also wonder how long it would take for a male only prize to come under fire for doing exactly the same thing as the well respected Orange Prize. A male only writing journal would almost certainly face the same criticism.
My feeling on the issue is that good writing is good writing and segregating work by gender (or sexuality or race - but that’s a whole other post) is insulting to readers. Women writers such as Toni Morrison, Ali Smith, Maggie Gee, Tania Hershman and, my absolute favourite author at the moment, Amy Hempel all sit on my bookshelf, alongside a host of other writers, both male and female. I don’t ever really consider the sex of the author when choosing a book. I’m more concerned whether the story/collection sounds like it has something interesting to say or, when browsing, if the opening grabs my attention. If the writing is working, the author should be invisible, in which case what does gender matter?
I know a good number of women writers and readers check in on this blog from time to time and I’d be interested to hear your views on the subject. Is the Orange Prize’s mandate out of date? Does the gender of an author really matter? Is this effort to redress past imbalances in the publishing world unnecessary in 2010?
Short Story Challenge - Day 30 & 31
Decided to focus on completing the collections dipped into thus far, starting with David Gaffney’s ‘Aromabingo.’
March 15th - The Happiness Well
An exercise in inventiveness. The well of the title is a fascinating creation and the focus of the story is on the contamination of the well and the imminent effects on the community served by it. Gaffney creates the world without ever spoon-feeding the reader more than they need to inhabit it. The glimpse we get is, for me, a tiny utopia under threat. The frantic reading and playing of the main character at the end could be seen as fiddling while Rome burns or simply using these innocent pastimes to ward off the dark stain approaching.
March 16th - Last Chance To Turn Around.
This begins as a realistic relationship story before morphing into farce. Then, in the final paragraph, the story shifts again, with the resignation of the narrator, into sombre reflection on middle age. Reminiscence is seen as a kind of prison here, trapping both characters in their past, first metaphorically then literally. And in addition to all the deep stuff, this story is genuinely funny.
March 15th - The Happiness Well
An exercise in inventiveness. The well of the title is a fascinating creation and the focus of the story is on the contamination of the well and the imminent effects on the community served by it. Gaffney creates the world without ever spoon-feeding the reader more than they need to inhabit it. The glimpse we get is, for me, a tiny utopia under threat. The frantic reading and playing of the main character at the end could be seen as fiddling while Rome burns or simply using these innocent pastimes to ward off the dark stain approaching.
March 16th - Last Chance To Turn Around.
This begins as a realistic relationship story before morphing into farce. Then, in the final paragraph, the story shifts again, with the resignation of the narrator, into sombre reflection on middle age. Reminiscence is seen as a kind of prison here, trapping both characters in their past, first metaphorically then literally. And in addition to all the deep stuff, this story is genuinely funny.
Short Story Challenge - Day 29
March 14th - The Lie - Raymond Carver
Strange one this. A domestic argument that morphs part way through into a discussion of Tolstoy. Made me think I should read some Tolstoy as if I had I might have got more from the second part of the story. Even with my probably missing some of the references in the text, the story has the descriptive clarity Carver is famous for.
You can read ’The Lie’ in Fires: Essays, Poems, Stories, which incidentally has the excellent Carver essay ‘On Writing;’ recommended reading for all writers struggling with the demands of a young family.
Thoughts on the challenge:
Coming to the end of the first month of the challenge has got me thinking about what to read for month two and how to blog it. Not sure who if anyone is reading the majority of these little posts. My having both Carver’s ‘What we talk about when we talk about love’ and ‘Beginners’ - the original, un-Lish-ed versions of the stories has me thinking about tackling the dual versions which would mean no more daily posts like this, moving to a more fluid schedule perhaps. I’ll have to see. Should probably finish the ‘A-Z of Possible Worlds’ stories before I do that though.
Strange one this. A domestic argument that morphs part way through into a discussion of Tolstoy. Made me think I should read some Tolstoy as if I had I might have got more from the second part of the story. Even with my probably missing some of the references in the text, the story has the descriptive clarity Carver is famous for.
You can read ’The Lie’ in Fires: Essays, Poems, Stories, which incidentally has the excellent Carver essay ‘On Writing;’ recommended reading for all writers struggling with the demands of a young family.
Thoughts on the challenge:
Coming to the end of the first month of the challenge has got me thinking about what to read for month two and how to blog it. Not sure who if anyone is reading the majority of these little posts. My having both Carver’s ‘What we talk about when we talk about love’ and ‘Beginners’ - the original, un-Lish-ed versions of the stories has me thinking about tackling the dual versions which would mean no more daily posts like this, moving to a more fluid schedule perhaps. I’ll have to see. Should probably finish the ‘A-Z of Possible Worlds’ stories before I do that though.
Short Story Challenge - Day 27 & 28
March 12th - The Time Machine - T. J. Cooper
This story can be found in the first issue of Electric Literature. It is a first person narrated study in jealousy that features a great use of texts within the story. Lists, letters and text messages ground the reader firmly in the narrator’s mindset. An engaging, emotional story that is another good example of varying structure to control the pace of the reader’s progress.
March 13th - Mean Picking - David Gaffney
Another short short from Aromabingo. Great premise, a family that doesn’t age. The family’s condition even affects those around them, friends and family within the community. It’s an interesting look at what might happen to a man who gets stuck, like a skipping record, at age thirty-five. I did feel that the story was a little too short though. I wanted to see more of this family and their struggle to rejoin the human race than the three pages offered.
This story can be found in the first issue of Electric Literature. It is a first person narrated study in jealousy that features a great use of texts within the story. Lists, letters and text messages ground the reader firmly in the narrator’s mindset. An engaging, emotional story that is another good example of varying structure to control the pace of the reader’s progress.
March 13th - Mean Picking - David Gaffney
Another short short from Aromabingo. Great premise, a family that doesn’t age. The family’s condition even affects those around them, friends and family within the community. It’s an interesting look at what might happen to a man who gets stuck, like a skipping record, at age thirty-five. I did feel that the story was a little too short though. I wanted to see more of this family and their struggle to rejoin the human race than the three pages offered.
Short Story Challenge - Day 26
March 11th - Human Error - Jay Lake (Interzone #226)
Another science fiction story, this one revolving around a female deep space miner and the discovery of a possibly alien artifact on a large asteroid rock. The world creation in this story is consistent and detailed. A really good example of how to give the reader just enough information to build the setting as the story unfolds. The tensions between the three person mining crew create a solid emotional core to the deep space drama. Excellent ending as well. The whole thing put me in mind of the superb ‘Moon’ directed by Duncan Jones, which is about the best compliment I could give this great piece of sci-fi.
Another science fiction story, this one revolving around a female deep space miner and the discovery of a possibly alien artifact on a large asteroid rock. The world creation in this story is consistent and detailed. A really good example of how to give the reader just enough information to build the setting as the story unfolds. The tensions between the three person mining crew create a solid emotional core to the deep space drama. Excellent ending as well. The whole thing put me in mind of the superb ‘Moon’ directed by Duncan Jones, which is about the best compliment I could give this great piece of sci-fi.
Character Themes
A couple of years ago, the tutor on my writing course suggested selecting theme tunes for characters as a way of getting into the character. Since then, I have compiled playlists for major writing projects, adding songs that share the tone I am aiming to create or whose lyrics say something that I feel my characters would respond to. I’ve found it a great way of inhabiting the world of my story, getting to know my characters. Some have even come alive enough to demand songs I wouldn’t normally bother listening to.
I have even gone so far as to link songs to key scenes, in an effort to have my writing match the tone or emotion generated by the track. I suppose it’s a bit like selecting music for a soundtrack, as the film of my prose plays out in my head, which is basically how I write. I picture a scene, somewhere along the line it gets linked to music and then I write it. For example, a car crash plays a small but important part in the novel. Those of you who have read my recent #fridayflash Barrel Roll will know from the comments that I saw the dramatic after effects of some mysterious collision. That experience has provided the substance for a key scene I was struggling with in planning. Then, while listening to Elbow, I realised that ‘One Day Like This’ fits the scene both tonally and lyrically, providing the tone and the feel for that scene and what happens later. It works in counterpoint to the action and as a literal explanation of something else that kind of happens later that links back to the crash. If I’m being coy then it’s because I can’t say anymore without giving up my ending - which I am refusing to speak out loud (or blog about) until I write it. So, I slap the track in my playlist and put a note in the comments for the track info that this is for the collision scene. It is what I will be listening to when I write it.
In preparation for my ECA (end of course assessment) I have a playlist of songs that relate in one way or another to my main characters. The novel opening I am planning for this assessment (a story I have been itching to tell for about two years now but was waiting to be able to tell it) is an emotional story, dealing with the relationship of my main character with his father. Ben is a man haunted by the secrets his father kept who struggles to come to terms with them as he raises his own children.
The songs selected so far are largely emotional, slow burning pieces, like the first track that hit me as saying something about where Ben finds himself by the end of the story - No Occasion by the excellent J. Tillman (you might know him as the drummer in Fleet Foxes) from the album Vacilando Territory Blues.
The refrain of this song is key to the state of mind my character finds himself in regarding the importance of his family at the end of the story. Another Josh Tillman song ‘There Is No Good In Me’ also reflects some of Ben’s confusion about his father and their relationship. A song I heard on Radio 6 music the other day - Beggar’s Prayer by Emiliana Torrini - has fast become the theme tune for Ben’s wife, Clare, as she struggles to deal with Ben’s confusion and waywardness.
What is unusual, in the midst of the more reserved tracks that have presented themselves as ways of getting into the characters is that bands like The Strokes, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin and even Metallica are slipping into my writing process. The Monks' ‘I Hate You’ is on the list. Music that would previously have been too loud or busy for me to listen to as I work. It’s also started showing me sides of characters that haven’t emerged before. For example, who knew that Ben’s wife, Clare would have a thing for Horehound’s ‘Hang You From The Heavens.’
And like all writing, it’s easy to fall into cliche. I’ve removed tracks, like David Bowie’s ‘Always Crashing In the Same Car’ and Bessie Bank’s ‘Go Now’ from the list for being too obvious for certain scenes. Not that those tracks aren’t classics or favourites of mine, but linking them to the scenes I was thinking of would certainly be overstating a point. I reckon if I avoid creating cliche connections then I am one step closer to avoiding cliched writing. Or something like that.
Music has always been an important part of my everyday life so it’s no surprise that it has infiltrated my writing life. And just as it lifts me up in my day to day comings and goings, it helps lift my writing whether its giving me a starting point for a piece, providing the emotional hook of a scene or just some suitable backing music as I write.
How about you? Do you give your characters a theme tune? Does music play a part in your writing? Does it play a part in your reading?
I have even gone so far as to link songs to key scenes, in an effort to have my writing match the tone or emotion generated by the track. I suppose it’s a bit like selecting music for a soundtrack, as the film of my prose plays out in my head, which is basically how I write. I picture a scene, somewhere along the line it gets linked to music and then I write it. For example, a car crash plays a small but important part in the novel. Those of you who have read my recent #fridayflash Barrel Roll will know from the comments that I saw the dramatic after effects of some mysterious collision. That experience has provided the substance for a key scene I was struggling with in planning. Then, while listening to Elbow, I realised that ‘One Day Like This’ fits the scene both tonally and lyrically, providing the tone and the feel for that scene and what happens later. It works in counterpoint to the action and as a literal explanation of something else that kind of happens later that links back to the crash. If I’m being coy then it’s because I can’t say anymore without giving up my ending - which I am refusing to speak out loud (or blog about) until I write it. So, I slap the track in my playlist and put a note in the comments for the track info that this is for the collision scene. It is what I will be listening to when I write it.
In preparation for my ECA (end of course assessment) I have a playlist of songs that relate in one way or another to my main characters. The novel opening I am planning for this assessment (a story I have been itching to tell for about two years now but was waiting to be able to tell it) is an emotional story, dealing with the relationship of my main character with his father. Ben is a man haunted by the secrets his father kept who struggles to come to terms with them as he raises his own children.
The songs selected so far are largely emotional, slow burning pieces, like the first track that hit me as saying something about where Ben finds himself by the end of the story - No Occasion by the excellent J. Tillman (you might know him as the drummer in Fleet Foxes) from the album Vacilando Territory Blues.
The refrain of this song is key to the state of mind my character finds himself in regarding the importance of his family at the end of the story. Another Josh Tillman song ‘There Is No Good In Me’ also reflects some of Ben’s confusion about his father and their relationship. A song I heard on Radio 6 music the other day - Beggar’s Prayer by Emiliana Torrini - has fast become the theme tune for Ben’s wife, Clare, as she struggles to deal with Ben’s confusion and waywardness.
What is unusual, in the midst of the more reserved tracks that have presented themselves as ways of getting into the characters is that bands like The Strokes, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin and even Metallica are slipping into my writing process. The Monks' ‘I Hate You’ is on the list. Music that would previously have been too loud or busy for me to listen to as I work. It’s also started showing me sides of characters that haven’t emerged before. For example, who knew that Ben’s wife, Clare would have a thing for Horehound’s ‘Hang You From The Heavens.’
And like all writing, it’s easy to fall into cliche. I’ve removed tracks, like David Bowie’s ‘Always Crashing In the Same Car’ and Bessie Bank’s ‘Go Now’ from the list for being too obvious for certain scenes. Not that those tracks aren’t classics or favourites of mine, but linking them to the scenes I was thinking of would certainly be overstating a point. I reckon if I avoid creating cliche connections then I am one step closer to avoiding cliched writing. Or something like that.
Music has always been an important part of my everyday life so it’s no surprise that it has infiltrated my writing life. And just as it lifts me up in my day to day comings and goings, it helps lift my writing whether its giving me a starting point for a piece, providing the emotional hook of a scene or just some suitable backing music as I write.
How about you? Do you give your characters a theme tune? Does music play a part in your writing? Does it play a part in your reading?
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