Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Reading a novel by Marquez is a joy and a journey. In classes where time is limited I read his short stories. They give a flavour of his work and sometimes prompt people to read more. His language is dense with meaning and he uses punctuation in his own inimitable way so reading his stories aloud has to be made as easy as possible to get the point across. Two stories I use time and time again because of their brevity are The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World  and The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship

I can't recommend them enough. If you've read Marquez they act as a small reminder. If you haven't then they are a treasure to come. They are easily available on line to read. Try one of them and immediately after write a story afterwards, bearing in mind the magical and vivid style of Marquez.

Write about 
a journey on a boat 
a remote village 
a stranger
treasure

use an idea of your own


See what you get. Don't edit as you go along just write in a stream of consciousness. You can always edit later if you want to. 

Read a bit about the man and his life and upbringing. It will inspire you. His gifts to this world are his novels and what they say. The greedy amongst us might hope there is a manuscript stashed in a drawer soon to be released to commemorate his passing. 

Impulsive buys and the value of risk

Have you ever bought something on the spur of the moment because you wanted it and then considered your actions at leisure?

The feelings a rash purchase can provoke are interesting.

Fear...of being found out or of overspending.
Pleasure....guilty or otherwise because of your new acquisition. 
Guilt...because you couldn't afford it or put yourself first.
Self-loathing....because you acted impulsively or weren't strong.
Accomplishment... because you made a snap decision.
Denial...whatever you bought gets hidden for all kinds of reasons.

Risk is interesting in writing.

Risky writing styles. 
What happens in a story because of a risk taking character . 

Write a story of any length about a compulsive purchase. Think of a character and what a compulsive purchase might be to them. For some it might be a red Ferrari for others it might be a bowl.

Remember the questions that enable you to create a fully rounded piece of work.

Who.
Where.
When.
What.
Why.
How.

See what you come up with.

Longhand on onto the keyboard?

It's a modern world. This week someone much much younger than me asked me what a phone book was....and someone else, equally young asked what longhand was....

How many of you write in longhand and then type it up?

I have been typing my work for years now. I ditched longhand thinking it was slower. This week I've had a go at writing in longhand (the computer was being repaired) and writing in the morning the minute I woke up.

I've written more and I've written about things that don't usually occur to me. While I don't look forward to writing it up on the computer I'm impressed with the exercise.

If you write into the computer as a rule, try writing a story about a busy market in longhand. 

If you write longhand see how you go on doing the above exercise onto the computer.

Any differences?

Any new preferences?

Get in touch and let me know. 

Art as a starting point.

Recently I've looked at how art can inspire writing. One exercise involved looking at a painting by Alan Davie, and imagining it (copy or original) has appeared in your workplace when you return after a holiday.

Have a look at Alan Davie  www.alandavie and look at his work and influences. 

Imagine one of those paintings in your workplace.

What would it signify?

How would you feel about it?

Write a piece of flash fiction - say a 500 word story - about the significance of one of these amazing paintings being at your place of work. If you don't have a workplace think of a community setting or civic building or make somewhere up.

It can be dark, funny or intriguing.

Lavender's Blue.

Bobby Shaftoe, the old woman who lived in a shoe, Humpty Dumpty. They are all nursery rhyme characters that are so much part of many childhoods that they cease to have meaning. In the spirit of recycling, modernise these or other nursery characters. Put them in your town or city, in modern times, give them the modern equivalent of the roles they had in fairy tales. Bring their concerns up to date and set them off in a story and see where they go.

Popular and Literary Fiction - what's the difference?

I'm running a workshop next month on writing popular stories for women's magazines. There are distinct expectations from magazine editors for their stories. There are distinct expectations from all kinds of editors - for the various publications that exist on line and on paper.

Identify some of those differences. Look at anthologies of short stories and consider what the people who compiled them were aiming for.

Write a short story for a publication that is outside your comfort zone. You might be surprised by how liberating it is.

If you were designing a poster for a workshop for a particular style of short story, how would it look?

Words of wisdom as the first line of a story.

Inspiring advice often comes in the form of a saying or catch phrase. A colleague of mine always said 'always read what it says on the label'. By this she meant always follow instructions and guidance where it exists.

Think of a line of wisdom from a school teacher or parent or someone close to you. 

Write it down as though it were the first line of a new story.

 Now write whatever comes to mind.