BBC writing opportunities.

Check the BBC writing website for regular news about writing initiatives.    bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunities

Co-incidences.

Do you believe in co-incidences? 

The day I saw this motorbike and side car I saw three other models. I really like the idea of travelling in a side car, or on the bike. Is that a co-incidence?

Some people believe they don't exist and that simultaneously occurring incidents have a logical explanation. Other people believe that co-incidences serve as a reminder or warning.

On the whole I usually find a logical reason for co-incidences and hear my inner voice saying 'there's no such thing as a co-incidence'. I have had those experiences however that can't be explained easily. Dreaming of a person or event before it happens. Making friends and relationships with people I have strange things in common with. My husband and I have the same birthday; I'm friends with someone who took the same extraordinary number of driving tests; family birthdays, names and significant dates are very connected.

Using co-incidences in fiction requires skill. They can't easily be brought in to explain part of a plot. That can come across as a weak device. On the other hand starting a piece of work with a co-incidence and then exploring it throughout a story could be intriguing.


Jot down a few co-incidental things from your own experience of life.

Is there a story in any of them?
As a group could they be combined in a plot?
Are any of them hard to explain and therefore perfect for a mysterious story? 

artistic inspiration

When I was in France I did a workshop with an artist called Patrizia Ingenuo. Her work is featured in the photo above. It is made of found objects and reminds me of the art of Native American Indians. 

She was lovely and generous and inspirational and her workshop was fantastic. Full of projects that she has begun and materials she uses. 

There is a connection between art and writing. I often visit galleries and museums with students and the work produced afterwards is astonishing. Sometimes people are so energised by what they've seen they sit and write there and then in the art gallery coffee shop.

Do you pass a gallery or live near to one?

Peep in the window or pay to go inside and find a piece of work that inspires you.

Write about yourself looking at this work. Compare your world with the world of the picture. See what results you get.

Holidays are over.

At this time of year when I return from my summer holiday I do writing warm up exercises with any souvenirs I bought or found. This year it's been old letters and postcards with messages. I found an envelope with three beautifully written letters from a daughter to her mother on Mother's day. They were about 300 miles from where they were written and sent. The tone was sweet with a few moans about studying. The writing and paper are exquisite.

Also there is a story in there. 

Next time you're at a junk sale have a look for letters. See if you can find a story in them.

Found in translation.

Misery by Stephen King (stephenking.com) was written in English and has been translated into many other languages. I have a copy of it in English with explanations for French people who are learning English. You can see in the photo above.


It's fantastic to read translated work as it gives an insight into other people, their lives and sensibilities. It's not just translation that takes place but interpretation. I have had my work, a play called Walking De Niro, translated into German. An interesting process.

Consider a few translated writers. Isaac Singer wrote in Yiddish, a language he considered more vibrant than others, and believed was more expressive than English.

 J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels have been translated into dozens of languages.

If you understand more than one language try translating a few lines from work in one language into another.

Try writing some dialogue in your usual style. Re write it in the voices of different characters, for example someone very psh. Someone very un-posh. Does it make a difference?

Read some translated work and a bit about the people who did the translating. Very insightful.

Comedy

What makes you laugh? I like slapstick. I wish I didn't but I do.

Do people laugh at different things in different countries. I was in Australia one and watched as the Aussies roared with laughter at a comedian who left me feeling as though I hadn't left school. Do people get British humour?

Have you ever sent an email that was supposed to be funny and when you read it back realised it could be taken the wrong way.

Some things are funny, some people are funny. Why is this.

Write down what makes you laugh.

Try to write a sketch of about one minute in duration (one typed page) and look at it after a couple of days to see if it works.

Who are the funny people in the world?

 woodyallen

mirandahart

What is it about them that makes you laugh?





 Try to analyse this and bear it in mind in your writing

Editing your work

I've mentioned Edgar Allan Poe a few times lately. I'm reading his stuff and it's taking ages because I keep going over the long and elaborate sentences and imagining them as they might be if they were more modern and more brief.

It isn't just EAP who gets this treatment. I recently wrote a story that was rejected by a magazine editor. When I came to look at it again I decided it could be made shorter. I got it from 2000 words to 1000! Not something to be proud of. What twaddle had I written that wasn't missed after a hefty edit?

Do it now. Get one of your stories and see if you can remove 20% of the content without changing the story. It makes you resourceful. Maybe you could remove more. Always a good thing to put stuff away for a while and come back to it with a view to reducing it to make it powerful and tight.

If all your stories are edited, try looking at Poe and see what you come up with when you reduce his sentences.



Random picture of me at a storytelling event.