Noises from the room next door woke Sophie, she lay there no longer trying to wipe the sweat away. Since she stepped off the plane in Bangkok the muggy heat had soaked its way in, until it now felt normal. She listened to the mosquitoes buzzing around. The whiny drone pulsed around the room and each time she heard […]
short stories
Excerpt of a Characters Workshop
Creating Heartbeats, Character Workshop Show don’t Tell There are plenty of quotes by plenty of writers advocating that the reader be brought into the story rather than sit passively on the side lines. What the characters do, say, act and think automatically achieve this. Let’s return to the situations we introduced our characters to. Their […]
Writing Club Theme – and the Winner Is . . .
If you’d like to join us, but do not live near, submit your writing – or an excerpt – approx. 500 words – to be read out at our monthly meetings.
Fiction – To Be Taken Somewhere Else.
“A woman is sitting in her old, shuttered house. She knows that she is alone in the whole world; every other thing is dead. The doorbell rings.” This short story is attributed to Thomas Bailey Aldrich In fiction the “facts” may or may not be true. Hilary Mantel is perhaps exceptional in being an eminent […]
What Just Happened? Allusions and Settings are Oh So Character Building . . .
EYE OF THE BEHOLDER: DAVID FRANKEL ON THE POWER OF SUGGESTION IN THE SHORT STORY “In the short story there is no slack. Everything is a clue – a glimpse that hints at something larger. Often, a great deal of the plot is implied and this intensity requires more of the reader. It is a […]