A Flash in the Pan

Blog 11 – A Flash in the Pan …

This is Ms Paige Turner’s eleventh blog. My last blog The Worst Blog on Earth was credited as my ninth blog when in fact it was my tenth. That wasn’t the intentional error. It was the fact that I said that my former landlord in Montreal had 1000 friends on Facebook. When I had last looked he had 743 but then when I posted the intentional fib I checked and he had 922. How does one get so many friends? (Thank you Ryan Chowill, Mr Justin Case’s second cousin for being my 100th friend. Handout sheets being sent to you.)
Just to finish that story. When Louis di Bianco was subletting his apartment to me in the seventies in Rue de Bouillon, Montreal, his TV went futt. Happy serendipity that there was a TV repair shop across the road. A couple of French Portugese repair men came into my apartment and took the TV away. I never saw the TV again. Louis was aghast that I could be so naïve (see the amount of spam I have approved on this blog) but when the shop disappeared also I thought it was a drastic method of acquiring a TV. In exchange for the stolen TV and my folly I left Louis with a pair of bathroom scales. This says something profound about me, I feel.
Please go to my website: www.janmoranneil.co.uk for all details on Creative Ink Publishing’s ‘Dear John, Dear Anyone …’ writing competition. It’s up to 600 words – only £5 to enter which all goes to the British Heart Foundation – is being judged by BAFTA award winning producer and scriptwriter, Tony McHale – the best to be filmed by Creative Ink for Actors. Entries to creativeinkpublishing@gmail.com

Here are some Flash Fiction pointers:

Creative Ink for Writers – 10 Pointers to Flash Fiction – Jan Moran Neil

1. The power of the title. It can say so much about your small canvas. It can foreshadow. Choose carefully.

2. Hook us from the opening sentence.

3. The three Ws. Who? Think about introducing the central character in that first sentence. Where are we? When is it?

4. MAKE EVERY WORD EARN ITS PLACE ON THE PAGE.

5. So make characters’ names work hard.

6. USE OF THE METAPHOR AND SIMILE. Carry the metaphor or simile through. In other words – WORDS – must work on a number of levels. Never before are words such vital tools to evoke an emotion, a mood, an atmosphere and a meaning.

7. Your purpose or premise cannot be too complex for this tiny canvas. So KISS – Keep it Simple.

8. A punch line or inversion or twist of some kind at the end can be useful – maybe relating back to your title and your opening.

9. Read the competition guidelines carefully. Some say the word count must be the exact number – some say up to a certain word count. Get it wrong and you won’t win.

10. So BEGIN, HAVE A MEATY MIDRIFF AND END with a lingering … a scent that trails after it …

MY 7 WEEK CREATIVE INK FOR WRITERS COURSES ON TUESDAY AND THURSDAY MORNINGS IN BEACONSFIELD ARE RUNNING AS IS THE MAY 21ST AND 22ND WEEKEND ‘GET THAT BOOK’ COURSE. SOME PLACES LEFT. EMAIL ME: INFO@JANMORANNEIL.CO.UK

SPOTTING THE INTENTIONAL FIB OR GUESSING WHERE I WAS IN MARCH WINS YOU SIX CREATIVE WRITING HANDOUT SHEETS OF YOUR CHOICE LIKE THE ABOVE.