Worthing Flash

Write-Bytes Blog Read this week’s edition in its entirety below or go to www.lindasgunther.com for all my blog posts for developing writers. July 28, 2023 Topic: INANIMATE OBJECTS As CHARACTERS in YOUR STORY We can all remember seeing the award-winning film, Castaway, with Tom Hanks. After crashing his plane, he’s stuck alone on a deserted island. All he’s got to comfort him is a volley ball which he aptly names Wilson. Hanks gives the object a face and some straw for hair. And in a flash, Wilson becomes a secondary character in the film. Is Wilson a pivotal character in this blockbuster? Some may argue, yes. But I don’t think that really matters. What matters is that the audience grows attached to Wilson for a good part of the story. Wilson is not “personified,” where the ball takes on human characteristics. We don’t see the world from the volleyball’s point of view. It’s not anthropomorphic. But the presence of Wilson, an inanimate character, serves to deepen the moviegoe...

My granddaughter came to see me yesterday, here in the care facility where I live. She's twenty and doing a creative writing degree. "What do you remember from when you were twenty, grandma?" she asked. She's doing a piece about older people's recollections of being her age. There was the Blitz of course, but everyone over ninety talks about that. There was painting the fake seam down the back of your bare leg, using Bisto, so that it looked as if you were wearing nylons, but that's a cliche too.   In the nurses' home one night, I was sitting in a friend's room. She was elsewhere in the building. I can't remember why. Beside the sofa there was a book; it was an exercise book, but with marbled covers. I picked it up to have a look. "My Poems," she had written on the cover. They were all dedicated to "Davy," all a...

INTERVIEWING YOUR CHARACTERS  Write-Bytes - July 21, 2023 By Linda S. Gunther   To read this week’s Write-Bytes, go to www.lindasgunther.com or read the whole byte below (included here for your convenience). All previous postings can be viewed on website. INTERVIEWING YOUR CHARACTERS The plot for a potential story can sweep into my consciousness without me intentionally trying to manufacture one. For example, my latest protagonist, Laura Styversant, appeared in a vivid dream I had one night. I awoke, grabbed pen and paper and started to outline the story based on my dream. The protagonist I sculpted in my head was a sassy, salty, often cynical 51-year-old female private investigator who had everything go wrong for her in the last year, including a bad car accident which resulted in a broken arm, a fractured ankle, and two cracked ribs. After a four-month recovery period she’s back into the P.I. game with a ritzy new executive-level male client. It’s a chal...

‘Welcome to the first autonomous bus service. We are just approaching the bridge over the River Mersey. This bus is more fuel efficient and there is no human error.’ ‘Alexa, why is that recording still playing after the accident?’ ‘It was no accident, eliminate humans and you eliminate the error. ’ Written by Derek McMillan  Or his robot 😀 🤖 

Write-Bytes by Linda S. Gunther You can visit my website ( www.lindasgunther.com )or just read below this byte in its entirety (for your convenience). July 14, 2023 - #44 - The Opening Line to Your Short Story How short should a short story be? If it’s flash fiction, then the guideline from the lit pub world is likely 1,000 words or less, and sometimes the specified request from a publication is that the piece be even less than 750 words. My own short stories are typically 2,000-3,500 words, sometimes shorter. That means packing in the structure of problem-complication-resolution into quite a limited word count. Crafting a novel offers much of the same challenge when it comes to the ‘very first line,’ the ‘hook’ that will immediately engage the reader. Let’s face it, if the reader is invested in a full-length novel or memoir, they will likely not just read the first line of the first chapter and then toss the book aside even if they’re not immediately pulled in. They will most defin...

Who Is That Stranger on Our Zoom Meeting? “It’s time to let people in. I’ll take down the welcome sign and hit the buzzer,” Lorna says. “And, Virginia, you are co-hosting tonight so give everyone a nice Flash Fiction hello,” “Welcome people. It’s a good evening for stories. Hi Alma, hello Rick, hi Julia, hey Merle, good to see you. Does anyone know this I ♥ Katz person?” Virginia asks. “It’s just a sign so maybe it’s an ad for Katz’s Deli.” “Don’t you wish, Bernie.” “Maybe it’s a Feline Rescue Home.” “We have a dozen guests so far. Irma, do you know this I ♥ Katz person?” Lorna asks. “No maybe she's here just to listen and not to read,” Virginia asks again. “Look I ♥ Katz is a woman she took down her sign. Doesn't she know we can see her putting on her makeup?” Annie says. “She probably wants to look her best for the reading,” Virginia says. “Well then,” Annie says, “she should wipe her bright red lipstick off her bright red teeth. I had a teacher in junior...

WRITE-BYTES July 7, 2023 You can visit www.lindasgunther.com to see all previous bytes or just read this week’s byte in its entirety below (for your convenience). The Impact of Joining A Writing Critique Group Sometimes it’s lonely being a writer. It takes hours and hours each week to write just one decent short story or chapter. Hopefully, it turns out to be riveting. My first novel was published in 2013 and almost exactly one year before that I joined my first four-hour weekly writing critique group, made up of six or seven writers, plus me. The facilitator had written a book about writing, focused on how to open the mind to think more creatively. He usually did a short teach piece at the start of each session. Then, we spent time at the table writing individually for about an hour which forced us to let it flow and write something new. During this segment, we’d each meet with the facilitator individually outside the writing room to discuss anything we wanted to about our writ...

Summer is coming by Meghashri Dalvi "How much food stock do we have?" Huddled near the fire, Ryan peered at Bela. "The grains should last us five to six months, meat much less." She calculated mentally. "I know chickens died of that disease, fish is scarce here, but we do have enough goats, right?" "As long as we spare a sufficient number to breed." She glanced at the vast open field across. "Hmmm." He pushed a twig to the fire. "We don't have oil anymore. You know that. Vegetables are doing alright for whatever small population is left, but summer is coming." "And it's bringing storms, rains, winds, and floods to devastate us." "What's new?" She shrugged. "Can't say climate change caught us unawares." +++

IMPACT OF YOUR BOOK COVER DESIGN WRITE-BYTES blog for developing writers. Here ya go. FUN TOPIC! Read this week’s blog post below or go to www.lindasgunther.com June 30,2023 issue #42 – BOOK COVER DESIGN in a Multi-Media World As an author, visual identity is an important success factor. And that’s why the design of the book cover is a longer-term decision than just for this book, for this one time. When I wrote my first novel, Ten Steps From The Hotel Inglaterra, my very talented cover designer Julie Tipton asked me, “what do you want to see on the cover?” The answer came to me instantly. I wanted an artistic rendition of the Hotel Inglaterra where I actually stayed in Old Havana, Cuba. I gave her a few photos of the hotel from a few different angles. Julie did three first draft renditions with various fonts, colors, and layouts. My favorite version was done in shades of blue with hints of a light aqua color jumping off the page and with a 1950’s classic car parked in front of...

Too many blunderers who, with saddened eyes, watched and saw people eating their pie sitting idly by. She asked Ms. Ferrand to "please watch my babies" and stepped out, saying, “An errand, maybe haste, maybe.”   Despite wanting this one, she didn’t tell Henri of another blunder they couldn't afford. She wondered if he already knew. She prayed to the Lord.   She pondered much of the day and then through the night until she made the final decision with horrific fright.   She dared not tell Henri because he would be ornery and insist that money could be found, and they were blessed with another to kiss with feet on the ground.   She would pay her money and expect to bleed dark red, thick, rich blood. She thought it could be done, and she would be home long before the setting sun.   As she walked by the mercantile sector, she did not see her husband notice she was in a hurry. He dropped his tools to follow her since she never went out and left the childre...