As I was scribbling notes about this newsletter, I started worrying that there’s not much to show for the ‘writing month’ since I last wrote to you.
I’m not even sure why I would be worrying. This is my project and it can move along at whatever pace suits it best. But somehow we writers are compelled to guide eyes onto our words … and if there are few words, where should we navigate you? But as I poked around, I uncovered some flash fiction, squeezed in around the edges of an otherwise busy month doing ‘other stuff’. That is often the ‘way of the writer’, clutching at a series of ‘5 minutes’ until they add up to something more substantial.
So, where were we? Yes, stitching together the short bursts of writing and gathering them into something of substance.
How has the writing been going since you last wrote to us, Mr Fables?
General Findings
Even 5 minutes (or 10, sometimes half an hour) is enough.
Using someone else’s prompt can fast-track you into a creative sweet spot (check out
and for prompts).Sometimes, using your ‘5 minutes’ to re-read your work can trigger ideas for a fresh take on it or a longer version.
Don’t be afraid to reshare your work. Not everyone saw it the first time.
In the absence of writing, there is always reading. This year I am quietly working my way through ‘24 Books for 2024’. What have you been reading?
Other times, use your ‘5 minutes’ to read someone else’s fiction … celebrate their work by sharing it; tell the writer what you love about it.
Get a notebook and pen out. It is way too easy to stare at a screen willing the words to appear. Often ideas and sentences are hidden inside the free-flowing graphite of a Blackwing 602 (other pencils are available but … well, “half the pressure, twice the speed”. Blackwings Rock!).
“He is careful of what he reads, for that is what he will write. He is careful of what he learns, for that is what he will know.”
― Annie Dillard The Writing Life
But did you write anything, Barrie?
An excellent picture prompt of a snowy apartment block inspired a 100-word tale of a creepy landlady:
Talking of 100-word flash fiction, I was comparing short-form fiction to a style of coffee when an idea struck me … ‘coffee break fiction’, short stories to be knocked back with your morning brew - what about two short stories, a double shot if you like. So, ‘Double Espresso’ was born. One prompt, two different stories, one of 50-words plus a 100-worder. Click the link to find them all - be careful not to over-caffeinate!
Here’s one to start you off - 100 words, then the picture prompt, and a 50-word tale:
Together?
She hadn’t thought about it until their footsteps rolled over the cobbles. The memory hadn’t sparked until she had looked out from their perch. As his arms loosely enveloped her, she felt his distraction and wondered if he felt hers. Was he as attuned to her changing mood as she was to his? Long silences had replaced excited conversations about imagined futures. Bodies once wrapped around one another stood in different rooms of the small apartment, eyes gazing out of windows conjuring different futures. Now, back where it started, she searched for the words to tell him it was over.
(100 words)
Codeword Together
They explained repeatedly during training that we should hide in plain sight. Now, on the steps of L’Eglise Val-de-Grâce, I feel exposed. The stranger speaks in the rasping voice of a habitual smoker.
Were you followed?
Instantly defensive, I mutter the codeword. Nothing.
Damn, training over, things just got real.
(50 words)
Over to you:
I would love to read your words.
Have they flowed easily this month or, like Spring, did they rush in brightly before turning dull again?
Maybe tell us about a fiction writer who is on fire in March.
“Get to work. Your work is to keep cranking the flywheel that turns the gears that spin the belt in the engine of belief that keeps you and your desk in midair.”
― Annie Dillard The Writing Life
Until the next time, happy writing (and reading)
Barrie
Codeword and Together: Very successful, these two! Complete stories in few words. It looks easy to write these 100-word and 50-word pieces, but it is not. Writing 50-word stories really improves one's ability to pare back to the story's essence. My longer stories are becoming lean as I learn to cull the unnecessary. You provide good models. Another addition to your fine findings list: If you are a fiction writer, spend a couple hours a week riding the city bus with a notebook. SO MANY stories to be found in those faces and attitudes.
Really wonderful as ever. And that quote is just spot on: “Get to work. Your work is to keep cranking the flywheel that turns the gears that spin the belt in the engine of belief that keeps you and your desk in midair.”