Worthing Flash

Write-Bytes - Aug 25, 2023 A BLOG for Developing Writers Read this week’s blog below or go to www.lindasgunther.com Topic: JUGGLING MULTIPLE WRITING PROJECTS Working on a few writing projects simultaneously has become second nature to me. When it comes to juggling projects, I love it. I seek it out. I crave it. What I have to be careful of is not to take on too many projects at one time .  The good news for me is that I’m also a finisher. I don’t tend to start projects and leave them dangling. I seek completion and to productize results. I also edit like mad but after maybe a dozen rounds of serious editing for each chapter, I’ll call it a day, hire a reasonably priced professional proofreader at least before I make the very final edits. For short stories, I rely on myself for editing and get feedback on my work from a weekly writers’ critique group and from a small group of trusted beta readers. Should a writer focus on one project at a time or have 2-3 of them sim...

I find the discipline of the 50-word story concentrates the prose very well. Here is another example: There were no DVDs in the school library today. A librarian explained,’Our computers cannot handle modern DVDs, they’ve been sold to Germany. Parents who want them can go to Germany.’ ‘And if they cannot afford it?’ ‘Mr McMillan, we do not want parents who cannot afford to go to Germany.’ Derek McMillan is a writer in Durrington. He is also an ex-teacher but you might have guessed that. His wife, Angela, is his editor. He has written for online and print publications in the UK, USA and Canada.  He runs this blog.  His latest book is ‘The Evil Quizmaster’ - a collection of fun quizzes available on eBay. 

WRITE-BYTES Go to www.lindasgunther.com to read this blog for developing writers or read this week’s BYTE below. August 18, 2023 - #49 – Topic: BOOK TITLES and TAGLINES In this digital age, getting your book title right is probably much tougher and more important than it was fifteen or twenty years ago. It’s a lot more complicated now and not just a matter of a book cover or title grabbing a reader on the bookstore shelf. Most readers go on-line to see what book titles might be inviting and yea they might judge the book by its cover, especially by its title. If a friend recommends a book, the reader must either write it down immediately or remember the title long enough to follow up and order it. And what they will likely “brain-retain” will be an easy to recall or unique-sounding title. So, crafting a book title that draws a crowd is tricky. I usually go with my gut and invent my book title when I have a rough skeleton outline for my novel or short story. And then that working t...

In the middle of the valedictorian’s speech, the hallucinations began. A giant mushroom cloud reared up behind the lovely, optimistic young woman at the podium. It was strangely beautiful, bright, golden, like the last perfect sunset she would ever see. Nicole Silvers set her face and pretended not to see it.   It had been years, but as a child she had hallucinated often, and for most of her ninth year nearly every night, so while it was unwelcome, and the timing was terrible, she knew what to do.   She breathed slowly and deeply, calming her nerves. She ignored the apocalypse which dominated her field of vision and tried to focus instead on the young woman’s speech.  It was so dull, anodyne, predictable, nearly the Platonic ideal of a commencement speech, full of dreams and ambitions, signifying nothing, that it was difficult to find anything there real enough to cling to.  But in the end its serene mediocrity caused the advancing devastation to flicker an...

#Worthingflash is a project to promote flash fiction. In addition to Worthing, it has attracted writers from every continent. There have been 100 writers so far, over 63,000 people have visited the blog http://worthingflash.blogspot.com and there is a wide range of topics and genres. You can write about anything you like but for those who like prompts, here is a suggestion. At a certain age, we have all had some time in hospital. You may have a true story. For example, I was in a bed opposite a patient who got up every morning, got dressed and said his family was coming to collect him. In due course his long-suffering family arrived. They pointed out he had a resting pulse of 150 and he was suffering inter alia from gangrene. They then had the daily task of dissuading him from going home. Alternatively, it could be a fantasy about a nurse called Eustace who falls madly in love with you. He turns out somewhat disappointingly to be a drug dealer with unfortunate personal habit...

—————————————— Please enjoy this week’s WRITE-BYTES blog below for your convenience!📚📚📚 By Linda S. Gunther August 11, 2023 - #48 TOPIC: WRITING BOOK REVIEWS Probably one of the most joyful activities I’ve done in terms of writing is crafting a book review. I’ve only done this three times so far.l for publication. Before that, I’ve written book reviews on Facebook and Instagram, just for friends to see, usually only when I completely loved the book. I think writing a book review might be the way to ease a writer into getting published. Why? Because you’re writing about someone and something else, a book you read from cover to cover and appreciated. You have unique thoughts and insights into what made that reading experience work well for you. Also, you will have the opportunity to develop your skills as a reviewer. You can shape your own distinctive style of discussing the merits of a book and how it affected you as reader. Another benefit is that you might be able to build...

The Assassin Introducing the all-new ASSASSIN. Rebirth yourself with tomorrow’s car today, an X-rated SUV with attitude – the superluxe, supersized ASSASSIN. Don’t do ordinary, don’t do utilitarian. opt for flaunt. The astounding ASSASSIN – performance, style and slaughter. A mighty 4.0L8C superturbo engine. Custom-designed haute couture interior. The world’s roughest, toughest car – fully armed, bulletproof glass, military tyres, a high grille with overhang that sweeps cyclists and pedestrians under the wheels, ensuring a 100% kill-rate. And it’s guaranteed the UK’s number 1 polluting vehicle, defiantly diesel, with a massive, millionaire’s carbon footprint. Visit your local dealer today and test-drive the awesome ASSASSIN, if you’re not too faint-hearted. Join the elite, live large and DAMN the little people!    

August 4, 2023 - #47 –  Reflective Narrator  In Writing  Memoir By Linda S. Gunther  Please see my website for this week’s blog for developing writers at  www.lindasgunther.com or read Byte in its entirety below. REFLECTIVE NARRATOR in WRITING MEMOIR Writing is an art form. When my words sing out on the page, and my readers are specific with what they especially liked about the piece I’ve written, I am thrilled. Recently I’ve been writing memoir stories about growing up in the Bronx in the 1960’s. The challenges to the memoir genre seem even more complex than fiction. In memoir, I must work  both emotionally and technically . My hope is that my emotional journey engages readers, and that my technical skill as a seasoned writer keeps readers turning the page, hungry for the next scene. My memory of events in my childhood is not perfect but I seek to describe details and relationships as close to reality as I can get. I believe authenticity is the...

They had made love quite gently since they were so newly married and she had been a virgin. It could be that, even now, this first attempt might create life. And it was needed to replace the one he’d violently, deliberately destroyed, however much a necessary evil. He had not wanted death to solve the problem but accepted in the end that nothing lesser would suffice. He watched his young bride’s peaceful slumber afterwards and smoothed the dampened hair back from her face. King Henry so much hoped he wouldn’t need to murder any further wives to get a son.   by Susan Cornford   Susan Cornford is a retired public servant, living in Perth, Western Australia. She/her has pieces published or forthcoming in Across the Margin, Adelaide Literary Magazine, Antipodean Science Fiction, borrowed solace, Cafe Lit, Crow’s Feet Journal, Ethel Zine, Flash Frontier, Flora Fiction Website, Frost Zone Zine, Granfalloon Magazine, Meet Cute Press, Mono, Mystery Tribune, The Mythic Circl...