Writer Posts

Limitation means leanness.  A lean dialogue is brevity's main achievment.  When a writer gives a character their dialogue they must feel that every time it reads and sounds authentic, and when the writer reads it back to check, it comes across like the character is re-enacting it.  

A date from hell; a camping trip with freshly-caught meat on the menu; a Spanish lesson concerning the futility of life; an alcohol-fuelled dream or was it reality?; a secret assignation at a graveyard; the nosy neighbour who found more than he expected; the hair of the dog that wasn't a cure; the effects of the moon on a near-empty beach; exploring an alien landscape - a new collection of nine stories with a theme of horror running through them.

I’m going to write a bit more about this on my blog. However, here’s the short version: •    Don’t worry about rejection – most people have many before they’re accepted, Think of them as re-writes. One day you’ll be glad your early material was rejected •    If you write, you’re a writer. You’ve either done your 10,000 hours, you’re working towards them or you’ve completed them and you’re carrying on improving. •    1* review? They can still push sales.•    Hold on to the dream.       

Want to get in the mood for Halloween - find out what happens at this unusual street party.

One of the issues that all the ink spilled over my last blog post has drawn attention to is that of the relationship between readers and writers.            The two we are told, are inextricably linked. That may be true, but it does not mean that they are activities akin to looking down the opposite ends of a telescope. I could confidently say that not all, and possibly not most, readers will be writers too, But I would be far less confident in the assertion that even a few writers were not also readers!            Yet, when a reader reads I doubt very much that they do so with a raised awareness of how the writer has written.  When a writer reads, and does so ‘as a writer’ however, he does so with a much more heightened awareness of the writing. I have read, and heard several comments by writers who find that reading has changed, as a result of them being writers. It’s very like the situation of the film buff, after he has read McKee’s screenwriter’s scripture, Story.            Which leads me to wonder if being a writer is far more likely to improve your performance as a reader, than being a reader is likely to improve your performance as a writer. I wonder too, if there are other such parallels: drivers and mechanics? Chefs and food lovers? Music lovers and instrumentalists?            In fact there must be many situations where the awareness of the ‘user’ as regards the maker, is less deeply affected, than that of the maker in regard to the user! (blogged on Sunday 21st September at http://www.Bhdandme.wordpress.com )

Very pleased that Mrs Moretti's Memoirs is now oublished on the CUT website! It won a prize in the Nottingham Writers Club national short story competition last year. It's a comedy but with dark undertones. I hope the grisly cover sets the tone!

Had a really interesting day taking photographs in a local graveyard for the front cover of my story Sexton Way. Old Victorian graves - angels, obilalixs and lots of memorials to people who were buried elsewhere in the Empire. One family had two sons buried in Canada and one in New Zealand. Also a small grave, among much granduer of a person from Lahore who was buried in Glasgow in 1924. There must be a story there.

I recently attended a Society of Authors North event and had to stay overnight. “We have a parcel for you,” the receptionist said as I checked out. They did indeed. I was intrigued by the large padded envelop. I just had to open it before I got into my taxi. It contained two note-books, some rather nice pens and a useful pencil-case. The smaller of the two note-books fits neatly inside the pencil case. The other one is just the size and shape I like for my writer’s journal. Why did I get this gift? I’m not entirely sure, though I suspect it may be because I wrote a rather good review of a room I’d booked through Late Rooms. Their Magic Maker’s department had supplied the gift. What an apt gift for a writer! The small notebook is great for jotting down ideas for short stories. There are all those what ifs? And whys? Why are those two women sneaking into that house with so many plastic carriers? Why is that young man so cold towards his girlfriend? What if something bizarre happens to me because I forgot to check out my travel-pass at the Metrolink stop?Ah, we writers. As we collect stories, we steal moments. And thanks to that little note book I now remember my ideas. Thank you Late Rooms                 

‘Sealed With a Kiss’ is a collection of ten crime-based short stories covering topics including a social media reunion that doesn’t end as expected; a chance meeting in a bar with tragic consequences; wife-swapping with a difference; a teapot that delivers a cocktail of death; the heightened senses of a young sergeant sniff out the criminal; somebody at the library has something other than reading on their mind; a volcanic eruption scuppers best-laid plans; a gamble to replace misappropriated funds that doesn’t pay off; an old lady who mistakes people and doesn’t appear to know what she’s doing; and a flash of light for an over-bearing partner.

If I don’t get a chunk of writing completed first thing in the morning it gets more and more difficult. I try to work for two hours and produce 1500 words. I try to do this every day except Christmas Day and maybe my birthday. Naturally it’s not always possible: the day job, family commitments and day to day life get in the way. Some days I have to write later and it’s never as good: what’s happened just before tends to chunter away in my mind. On the other hand, I hardly noticed the two hour delay at an airport recently because I just got on with my writing. I can actually write more or less anywhere.  I also find if I go beyond the two hours I slow right down and the work becomes less good. Again, sometimes one has to – if for example a deadline is looming. I’m intending to retire from the day job soon and will up my commitment to four hours a day and 3000 words. I’ve practised this a little when I’ve had a few days leave. It’s okay, but I’m still slowing down the second two hours. I hope this will change as I become more used to it. I said I can write anywhere. More or less yes.  I particularly like writing on trains and in cafes, though at home I have my own writing room. If the door’s shut, my other half knows he mustn’t come in.    

I'm very pleased that yet again CUT has published one of my near future stories. I really enjoy writing these. In this one I speculate about whether smart phones might enable time travel  - and what might be the consequnces if they do.     

Any short story is a survivor of a much larger and hidden narrative known only to the writer, who has to decide how much to tell and how best to tell it from all possible ones.  The objectivity of the writer's defining narrative is such that he or she tells of an ordered experience for the reader to participate in.  Nothing exists until it gets told.  As for time and space, the furthest reach of a back-story is always the nodal point, regardless of its position in the text. 

I'm very pleased to have had this new story accepted. It's another of  my "near future mild dystopias".  I enjoy creating thei type of material and I see stories all around.  As with all storeis the question is "what if" - in this case "what if we carry on this way". I realy like the CUT site and stories I've downloaded myself have been great.   

A second collection of stories has been uploaded this week, entitled Inglorious Sunset and Other Stories. The collection consists of a dozen tales with a romantic theme, although the romance is often far from straightforward. The subject matter covers wedding anniversary surprises, prom night, an anticipated proposal, double-crossing and backstabbing, love overcoming time and mortality, mistaken identity, someone who is not as sweet as appears at first glance and a harsh payback for an innocent misdemeanour of youth.

There has to be a certain economy. Characters must be established quickly. The plot must move forward without difficulty. There are rarely any subplots and only a few characters. Every word counts.Actually, though,  the latter is also true of novels. In fact it is true of any form of prose. It is equally important for any from of writing. It's just that in writing short stories one is practising all of this in shorter bursts. I'm taking great delight at the moment in writing my "near future" shorts. They're actually a way of examining our current society. For me too they're a way of writing for adults and getting away from the young adult adult for a while.I enter each one for a competition. Just in case one day I win. I haven't yet but one day I might  yet. I've managed to get most of them published,  several of them on this site. I hope one day I can put together a collection.   It also comes, as I described in an earlier post as "punctuation" from editing my novel.   

My first collection of short stories, "What If and Other Stories" is now available on the site. There are ten stories, each with a loose sci-fi background, dealing with concepts such as time travel, alternate realities, prescience, alien landscapes and the man in the moon. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.

As a writer, the one question I am always asked is: where do you get your ideas from? It’s my view that ideas are everywhere – but it takes practice to be aware of them and to recognise the ones that are meaningful to you. I believe a great deal of the process of writing is about looking and listening; training your eyes and ears for that single phrase, the elusive snapshot that becomes the spark to ignite a whole narrative. Ideas don’t come by sitting around waiting for them to happen; we have to discover how to open up space in our hearts and minds to recognise them and welcome them in. 

For a spooky read to while away those days on the beach read The Girl On The Train- yo won't want to miss a word of it....

I'm currently going through stages of editing of a novel. This in effect means I’m doing a lot more writing that editing.  So, each day I’ll kick start my writing by composing a piece of flash fiction. Then, as I complete a full edit I’ll write a short story. I find this a really good way of keeping my writing muscles active. Often the short story will explore a minor theme in the novel. In so many ways this routine keeps the creative juices flowing.  

http://https://bhdandme.wordpress.com/2015/06/14 I've been reading Elizabeth Bowen's Collected Short Stories recently, in a battered Penguin paperback edition. The link above will take you to the first of a series of short articles I've been writing about my experience of reading the stories. The tack I always take with these articles is, how does this writer's work help me to go about mine!  

He wonders where her mind goes when she lies in his arms.

It's a busy time of year for those of us who work in HE. I'm just coming to the end of a big stint of marking. That means I've read at least 49 short stories. I'm marking first years' attempts at 1000 word short fiction. Some students on another module are submitting short fiction. Some of it has been touchingly good. I amaze my colleagues by saying that I actually enjoy marking.  The penny dropped for one colleague recently. " I guess you get to read stories all day." Yep. That's it. Sure some of them a re a little raw. Some of them aren't there technically yet. But the ideas ... and the bits about them that are good. Wow. They sure stop with me and get me thinking. I'm in between edits on my latest novel at the moment, so that means I'm writing a short story at the moment. Really enjoying it and getting to love the characters.  And so it goes.            

I wonder how writers on this site approach the planning process? Do you plot your storyline in meticulous detail, or do you let your characters direct the events, perhaps in ways you hadn't anticipated? I'd suggest that most of us are somewhere in between: I always need to know what the final outcome of my story will be, but don't always know the journey I will take to get there. And for me, this is the most exciting part!

Delighted to see that my story 'The Tower Tour' is in third place in the list of Top selling e-books! This site is such a great way to attract new readers.

Just received the large print copies of my novel Sergeant Crusoe. Look forward to seeing copies in my local library.

I've been collaborating with Leicester writers. See what fun was had as an extract of 'The Real Me' was read here: http://www.weareklic.com/#!writing/cb3n  

In my day job, as a Senior lecturer in creative writing at the University of Salford, I get to read a lot of short stories written by students.   I’m employed in that role as not only do I have academic qualifications but also I’m a published writer. In other words, a practising creative practitioner.  So sitting in my office, tapping away at my novel or my own short story is legitimate use of my employer’s time.   What day job, eh? It all gives me a lot connection with the short story. I’ve become very aware that short stories have a different effect on us form the novel. When we’ve finished the latter, we have the whole story. A short story contains a nugget of truth that we have to unwrap carefully. It stays with us for quite a while after we’ve finished reading. In flash fiction the total story may be even bigger but presented even smaller. The back story and forward story extend beyond both ends. We may even almost learn the text off by heart and deconstruct it later.  These shorts actually become bigger toys to play with than the complete novel.              Such fun!

Tuesday 19th May, Bank St. Arts. 7.30. £4 on the door. Come and see/hear me and Denise perform our show 'Before I Met You'. 30 mins of pure poetry pleasure. Bethany Pope headlines. see you there.

I’m primarily a novelist and write mainly for young people though I’m slipping over into adult. I’ve been writing long enough to know that writing is mainly rewriting and I do about 18 edits on my work. The current work in progress is going to be at least 19. It’s a tricky one.   So, on a day that’s going to be all editing – and that’s really most of them if you do the maths, I’ll kick off with a bit of flash fiction.     I’ll also write a short story between each edit. One or two of them have ended up here. Of course, they too have their editing process. So, one novel = 18 or more short stories and goodness knows how many pieces of flash fiction. It all helps to build the craft.      

My writerly nerve, swathed in a sheath of the senses, or a phantom of it. This is the place I pluck my text, locate my meaning. The start of my inward journey.

Hooray! The KLiCbait Volume 2 is arriving before the end of April. See here for more details http://www.weareklic.com/#!writing/cb3n

My story, the Real Me, will be heard at the Writing For Liberty Conference this week! Thanks to Lancaster University for the opportunity.

"Nightmare" is my latest e-book on the CUT site. Read it , but not at bedtime, don't want you having nightmares! Danny Mac Cullough  

Visiting this site is like going into an old-fashioned sweetshop. There are jars of enticing sweets, all looking fabulopus yet tasting completely different from one another and collectively making the shelves groan. Of course, not all of the stories here are sweet or brightly coloured. Some of them, including the ones I've posted, are darker. Some of them aren't on the shelves at all. You have to look through the stock cupboard. What is so similar is the difficulty the shopper might have in deciding. Do you go with the tried and tested? The genre you like or the writer you know? Or do you try soemthing new? I've developed a strategy; if I don't see a writer I know on the front page, I'll go by the most intriguing title. If several titles intrigue, I'll go by the most pleasing picture amongst them. If some still come out equal, I'll select the newest form those.    Then comes the reading and possibly reviewing. All interesting work for a writer.         

Hello Suzanne and Roger Many thanks for your input. We are reviewing the genres structure currently, and will take your comments into account. Some changes and additions have been made already. More to follow soon. Thanks again for your feedback. Neil

I agree with Suzanne Conboy-Hill.  I submitted a ghost story which isn't a horror story but on this site ghost stories are a sub division of horror.  Many of these could stand as genres in themselves.  Not all ghost stories are horror stories.  Perhaps it depends if readers find ghosts horrifying.  Sometimes the ghost appears to point out an injustice as in Hamlet.  Food for thought?

I'm wondering, at the risk of starting the ball rolling down an interminable list of possibilities, if spec fic, noir, and farce could be added. Predictably, some of my work falls into those categories and humour/ horror don't quite hit the mark.

Is it just me? Just me just now? I love short stories this spring, but the drive of a novel, even by a writer I admire, putters out after about fifty or sixty pages. I hope that changes. I have a pile of birthday novels waiting. But for now, short stories are The Ones.

I write short stories between edits of my novels. I write piece of flash every day I'm mainly editing. That way, even when in a period of heavy editing I'll always write something new. Like many writers I probably spend more time editing than writing. I also find I learn a lot by writing these shorter pieces. They're teaching me to write much more tightly.     

Sad world the one where there is not a week without hearing that more public libraries are about to close or have just closed. Yet, of course, this type of news doesn’t appear on TV and doesn’t make the headlines of the papers. The media are far too busy with the buzz around the colour of a certain dress or discussing whether Kanye West could have been a greater artist than Picasso (sic). It just happens. Nobody cares. It has somewhat become the norm. The hearts of these much-loved libraries are still beating though. Slowly. Very slowly. A slow pace that only does mean one thing: it is the end. It is the end, yet we still want to believe. We still want to believe that the councils will change their mind, at the last minute, and that everything will be back to what it was. It is not just a building that closes, not just books that won’t be read, not just children and adults who won’t be able to access Culture free of charge, but also people who lose a job that they love, from librarians to customer service staff, from educators to cleaners and other volunteers. Somerset has for instance already approved plans to slash its mobile library service by more than half. Staffordshire county Council is also considering cutting its six mobile libraries and closing 24 of its 43 static libraries. Councils in Southampton and Buckinghamshire are also carrying out consultations on library cuts, with Southampton considering closing five libraries and its mobile service (meaning a loss of 18 jobs) and Buckinghamshire County Council intending to cut library hours at 11 libraries, equivalent to a full day per week. Yesterday night, Birmingham City Council confirmed the cut of the library hours of the city’s landmark library, the Library of Birmingham that opened in 2013, by almost half (meaning a loss of 100 of its 188 staff), not without a fight. The only “good news” (sic) came last week from Rotherham, where it was announced that only one of the city’s 16 libraries will go, after a number of changes in the council’s original plans. Bigger cities and capitals like London aren’t spared with, for example, the Lambeth Borough Council planning massive cuts to its library service, including closing two libraries, ceasing the funding of three libraries, reducing one library to a few bookshelves, reducing hours at three other libraries and reducing the council’s Home Visit Service. Where does the nightmare stop? When all public libraries will be closed, or when selfless responsible politics will finally recognise the importance of the public service carried out by libraries in our communities and take sensible decisions about them?

An evening with writer and publisher Cherry Potts at Richmond Lending Library Join writer and publisher Cherry Potts for an evening of readings and informal discussion of Lesbian and Gay writing with a whirl through anything from myth to science fiction. Cherry will read from her own work and others published by her award-winning publishing house, Arachne Press. Tickets £2.00 including refreshments. Richmond Lending Library, Little Green, Richmond, TW9 1QL You can book online for the Richmond Library event at http://www2.richmond.gov.uk/Richmondbookings/BookingStep2.aspx?id=56139

You Must Remember This An expression I used at the end of last week's blog post was 're-imagining the story'.it came up at a recent Facets of Fiction workshop during which we were discussing a first draft of a novel chapter. It was an exciting chapter in which two of the good guys found their way to the hideout of two of the bad ones! Once there, a confrontation took place in which the good guys had to impose their will upon the bad by force. The sequence of events was plausible, the action convincing, and the chapter broke down into several internal sequences, each a stepping stone in the story's path: getting to the hideout; confronting the bad guys; push turning to shove; the lesser bad guy repenting; the greater taking a stand. In fact, to my way of thinking, it was a three-chapter chapter! But then, I'm a putter-in, rather than a taker out. And here was a chapter, it seemed, crying out for more to be put in. what was already there worked well, on a sentence to sentence basis. The writing had clarity, and sharp imagery, and good dialogue. It was well written, but what was missing from the story offered a whole lot more grist for the reader's imagination. Each discernible section could have been filled out. The journey could have been made an epic journey, an adventure in itself, and not only in the physical sense. What about the doubts and certainties that would help, or hinder, the protagonists over each obstacle they encountered, and which would reveal the differences, in commitment, in understanding, in motive, between them? What about the hopes and fears that drove them on? What about the hopes and fears of the bad guys? Did they expect to be discovered? If they were going to divide under pressure, would the cracks already be showing? And what about the hideout itself? Was it a fortress or a rat trap? How did the actuality compare, for all those involved, with their expectations?   When there are so many questions to be answered, and answered as part of the told story rather than as part of that untold story – which Hemingway has warned us that writers must know, even if they don't reveal it, if the story is not to appear full of holes – it might not be enough to be merely a putter in, however telling the additions. This is the situation that calls for that 're-imaging of the story': to play it again (temptation resisted), as if remembering past events, and to tell it more fully in the light of that remembering.  

As a reader I'm getting a real taste for short stories. You read them and they stay with you for so long. A long time ago, when I was an undergrad, I remember one of my French lecturers saying he only ever read poetry. Novels took too long. Short stories then were longer than they are today. If there was flash fiction it was labelled "poetry". So I'm now tending to agree with him though I do read novels as well. I also enjoy writing short fiction and am delighted to have a few stories published here. I now feel encouraged to write more.       

I'm recommending CUT a long story to all the students on my creative writing courses. It's a fantastic way to discover so many different ways of writing. I'm hoping it will even inspire some of them to join the list of authors in the near future.

The Bit of Everything Dog, It's what I want and Once in a Blue Moon were first published in WOW! 366 Anthology in aid of Childline. Guess what? They had to be 366 words long. The Dolphin Bracelet, for older children, first appeared in Like Mother, Like Daughter, edited by Bel Mooney. Enjoy!

Writing about the lives of ordinary people is a regular subject of interest in the creative writing classes I run. I'm reading a fantastic life story, or memoir, called I Could Read the Sky. It's by Steve Pyke and Tim O'Grady and it is written in the voice of an Irishman in London who is looking back over what has mattered to him. The book is in my thoughts in the day when I'm at work and I've used parts of it to prompt writing. It is deceptively simple and quite profound. It has inspired me to write about myself which is something I seldom do in an obvious way. I intend to use its example to encourage others to write about themselves. I hope you get time to seek it out and enjoy the beautiful words and thoughtful photographs. I might add that like another cutalong writer I am indoors with my hat scarf and gloves on. Dumpling weather.

My God, how hard is it to write in a cold house? Fingertips and knuckles constantly need rubbing and blowing, concentration just doesn't hang around for long. Saying that, the deslolate bare countryside and winter skies are somehow much more inspiring to pin your imagination on. Here's to the summer, raise a glass like Aunt Mabel of 'Sloe Gin' and dream of those warm breezes...

If you aren't a writer, WIP means 'work in progress'. I'm currently working on a novella that involves crime and love, quite a bit of hate and a dollop of thriller. It is odd but the story has evolved from a short short I did about an abused woman who comes home to find her husband lying dead on the kitchen floor. She thinks the son has done it and cleans up after him. From that start there has bloomed a story set in one day, in one house, about a woman who finds that not only is she strong, but that she is filled with love..., and hate.  Anyway, I think I'm on the last leg of the first draft and it is flowing well. Should be ready in a month or so... Don't worry I'll upload a short story before then. :-)

Here in Wales the cold snap has really taken hold. I work in a large-ish workshop at the bottom of the garden and I currently have three jumpers on and a pair of trousers made out of a blancket. The heater is on and everything is slowly thawing, including me.  Working on my WIP - a novel with crime and horror at its heart.  Now if I can just defrost my fingers enough to type faster...

I've taken to reading short stories everyday with my afternoon cup of tea. Gosh. This is "work". I'm a writer and a lecurer in creative writing, so yes, it's work. Fabulous job, or what? Story is important ot all of us. It comes next after our basice human needs are met. So, as there are some great ones here ....    

It has been a fascinating exercise to devise a 'cover' illustration for my hope-to-be-published stories and I now find myself roaming about locally with the camera. Getting an escalator shot for 'Up The Downstairs' was interesting as I thought it unwise to include recognisable faces.

I am also delighted to be part of this site. What a great idea!

I am so pleased to be able to show some of my stories here. It is a lovely site.

Hello Suzanne We will be looking at these areas as potential developments during the next few months. They have not been priorities so far, because one of CUT's unique features was always intended to be that each story would be published as its own e-book, so allowing many stories to see the light of day, which otherwise might not. At the moment, we are not geared up to handle them, but don't let this prevent you from loading them as individual pieces for now, especially if you could indicate in the titles, the order in which they are intended to be read. You could then replace them at a later date when we are able to handle compilations. I hope this helps. Neil

Hello everybody, I've checked my e mails every day and waited and waited for Cutalongstory to begin and I am so excited to be part of the Cut team - good luck to everyone! Leyla

I'm in! This all looks rather spiffing! Really easy to upload stories. Looking forward to using this site...a lot!

I'm really enjoying submitting to Cut a Long Story Short.  I do submit o oterh places too, and have decided to send mainly on type of story here. My "mildly dystopian near-future". Would there at any point be plans to put together collections as authors upload multiple stories?  

Having great fun with the system, and very much enjoying the experience of coming to terms with e-readers. As a 'trial-run' I even managed to load a story onto my wife's Kindle and was grateful for CUT's easy-to-follow guide

To hve my first story accepted, thank you Cut and here's to a bright future for all!

I'm really pleased with how this is working out. I'm particularly keen to add more of my "near future" mildly dystopian stories  soon. This is exactly the right place for them. 

At last, a decent short story website where you don't have to jump through hoops or spend money! Easy to use and exciting, thank you for having me x

It's fantastic to be amongst people who love to read and write short stories and I hope many more people join us.

Thank you for accepting my story, 'Phyll and Fog', for the site.  I hope readers will enjoy it and I look forward to reading colleagues' work.  Best wishes, Michael

A great opportunity to promote the writing and reading of short stories.  I am very pleased to have my work on here and to be able to read the work of other writers.

Truly excited to have my work included in Cut a Long Story. Can't wait to read other stories as well. At last a platform to reach writers/readers directly.

Registration and story upload both quick and easy! Wishing the new site every success.

I am so pleased that this has come about. I'm delighted with how easy it was to register and how easy it was to upload the two stories I've submitted and had accepted.

Sorry to be missing the NAWE launch. I'm sure it will be marvellous. Best wishes and good luck to all involved! Denise 

Good luck to Paul M and all at NAWE for a stimulating and successful conference at the weekend. See you in Bristol!

So pleased to be allowed the opportunity to post my stories on the site. CUT is looking great! It's so exciting to see such a range of genres and to see so many great authors already taking part.  The story outlines are already tempting me into making some purchases!

I'm a real IT duffo but, although I was painfully slow, I have managed the process of registratio and story-upload without problems. The directions and guidance are superb, and everything worked like ribbon through a polished eyelet. Lovely, not to have to ask the rolling-eyed young members of the household to help! So delighted to be part of the launch, and very grateful for the opportunity. Let CUT have a long and illustrious future. 

Thank you so much to all the writers who have responded to my invitation to register and load stories.