Janet Pywell's Blog, page 5
December 15, 2016
8. Writing RED SHOES and Other Short Stories
Welcome to my blog on writing RED SHOES and Other Short Stories.
When I was studying for my MA in Creative Writing I wrote a lot of short stories.
It’s a different skill writing a short story than it is for a novel. It’s a snapshot of an event which doesn’t allow you to develop a plot over time. Even now I like to write a short story and sometimes they lead to bigger things.
Stephen King says that his novel (and film) MISERY was originally a short story – so I’m not the only one to feel like this.
You write and see where it’s going – where the plot leads or where the characters take you, and that’s one of the exciting things as a writer – you never know how it’s going to end up.
After I wrote the first short story RED SHOES many readers asked me to write more, so I wrote part two. I decided to explore and write about SEX. Something I felt uncomfortable writing knowing my family and friends would read my work.
There’s an art to writing sex scenes and it’s easy to get it wrong: between tantalising and erotic, to laughable and bland.
So, to take me out of my comfort zone I’d read about online sex sites where (mostly) men go to chat to women. Surprisingly, they don’t always look for porn. Incredibly, sometimes all they want is advice about clothes or makeup, or they just want to chat to an understanding female – someone who pays them attention and will listen to them. I hope these example are reflected in the first story.
I tried to write about this theme without being overly graphic.
The second point is, do you ever really know your neighbour? You might never know what they do or what interests them or how they have to make a living. And even if you do know them well, behind closed doors we are all enigmas; people come and go, they appear respectable and they have kids or a mortgage but who are they really?
Do you even know your own family?
When I asked myself these questions, it enabled me to write the second part of RED SHOES. Like Stephen King’s MISERY, my characters developed and I wanted to know what happened to them and many readers have asked me to write even more about Jo, Harry and Mr Rogers. They’ve asked me to turn the short stories into a novel which I may do, one day.
Thirdly, writing RED SHOES was an exercise for me to research information and to write my narrative around the facts I found. I used small details even down to the cracked computer that Jo uses when she starts up her new business from home.
My intention to raise the moral issue of having a young child in the house while Jo is talking to strangers about sex is highlighted with the threat of her being discovered. It’s a moral issue and an emotional conflict that Jo must justify to herself and also the reader.
Conflict and tension are two main ingredients for any story – short or long – add a dash of morality, risk and what the protagonist stands to lose to keep the reader turning the pages.
REMEMBER: You don’t have to be a prostitute to write about prostitution any more than you need to commit a murder to write crime. Use your experience and research widely to practice a short story that may one day grow into a novel.
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Next Blog Post: Writing about Conflict and Character.
LINKS:
Susan Mallory on Writing Sex Scenes
The Worst Sex Writing of the Year
Stephen King’s: The Craft of Short Story Writing
Stephen King’s trailer for Misery
Filed under: research
9. Writing Conflict and Character
Welcome to my blog on Writing Conflict and Character.
Any writer will tell you: ‘The Cat Sat on The Mat’ – this isn’t a story but if you add:
‘The Cat Sat on the Dog’s Mat’ – then that’s a story.
A good story needs conflict, it’s what drives the narrative. The scenarios and list of possibilities are endless when creating conflict within a novel – or short story.
[image error]If James Bond wanted to catch Blofeld, it would be easy. But putting obstacles or hurdles in his way creates conflict, emotion, action, excitement and therefore entertainment.
The snowflake method of writing suggests formulating a summary of each main character BEFORE you start writing your novel.
It’s a good idea to research your protagonist(s) and the type of character details that are important:
Character’s name, a one sentence summary of their storyline, their motivation, goal and conflict (the thing that prevents them from reaching their goal), an epiphany and finally a summary of the story line.
This is quite a detailed and a difficult ask for an author if they haven’t quite worked out the plot or the importance and role of each character but this discipline will help you shape your character and give credibility to their actions. Research for writing means your characters can, and probably will, change as your novel progresses and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Characters and situations evolve and that’s why you have to write many, many drafts.
Other details like hair colour, character traits and tics or likes and dislikes can be noted at a later stage. They can become part of the narrative or dialogue to bring scenes to life and to make characters realistic. Some characters will obtain their goals and others may never come close to achieving them or they may believe in one goal and be distracted by a second more important goal. This is life – this is what happens to many people.
Make your characters realistic but not flimsy or fickle. The reader must be able to identify with the goals and also follow their logic and emotions, if it changes through your book.
For example: WELL TRAINED is a shaggy dog’s story in my book of short stories RED SHOES. In this story I have pushed the characters and the situation to the limit so it becomes black humour. My main character, widow Sally Poole, wants a quite life but when a doppelgänger for her son Billie comes to fix the broken electricity she fights for her life with deadly results. Putting different obstacles in the way of the character’s goals creates conflict, tension and excitement until the final denouement and the startling outcome.
In my novel GOLDEN ICON, faded opera diva Josephine Lavelle has one last chance to sing Tosca but her plans are derailed when she’s involved in a cynical blackmail plot by her ex husband. Again, this conflict adds tension, detracting our protagonist from her goal and forcing her into doing something she doesn’t want to do.
Adding deadlines increases the pressure and ups the tension. Josephine has to get back to Italy for an audition but further complications arise with the death of her blackmailer and the reader asks: What will she do next?
Conflict and character go hand in hand. Not all people are good and not all are bad.
Your heroine needs a flaw but not one that is outright nasty or vile and can’t be redeemed. Readers invariably want a happy ending and a satisfactory resolution and if your heroine has acted outrageously then you can’t expect your reader to forgive them as easily as a mother would her child.
REMEMBER: Research characters. Give your character a goal and add an obstacle or hurdle to create tension and conflict and create a deadline to add to the excitement.
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Next Blog Post: Writing about History and the Truth.
LINKS:
Ten tips to create a loveable hero
Filed under: research
