Fiction

Pic from designbeep.com

I'm just passing through this evening to talk briefly about that thing I love (see title of blog). Yeeeeeup! The fantastic, the amazing, the wonderful; that lets us go places mentally whilst we sit, often behind a desk, whiling away by lamplight.

There's nothing like it as far as I can tell. Granted, I blog about anythingz and everythingz but do I love me a BIG slice of fiction? YES!

In order to produce the good stuff (and if you've ever been on a writing course, or read: On Writing by Stephen King, then you'll know), you have to READ constantly, non-stop. Like - if you didn't read right now, the world would implode:

Ok, a little dramatic but, reading really does help your creativity blossom.
In the past I wasn't a big fan of reading, but I love writing. The moment I embraced both equally, it became glaringly obvious that my writing improved.
A few years ago I wouldn't have let anyone see anything I was working on. Now ... I post my thoughts and fiction like gangsters have threatened to break my hands.

A few good books worth looking at to really send your brain on a healthy tangent are:

On Writing
Funny Business
Halo: First Strike
Sourcery
Small Gods
Looking for Andrew McCarthy
Run for Your Life
Double Cross
Nothing But Blue Skies
The Road


These books (some I've read recently) have inspired and influenced elements of my writing and without them I wouldn't be writing the way I do today, which I hope is at a decent standard.
In order to really excel it's vital that I, as well as you; read a wide range of fictional genres, and don't hesitate to throw some non-fiction into the mix like:

Say It Like Obama
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
What Every Body Is Saying
Howdunit Forensics: A Guide for Writers


Like S. King said in the link attached to his name above:


"I think you ought to read a lot, I think you ought to write a lot. Those are really the two major things, you can't put it off, you have to really do the work, you have to be well read ..."

Twitter post

..'Synopsising for a 'short' is much easier than for a novel, but I write and get carried away and want to go IN, fangs out.'... Click here for a little inspiration.

Kisses

There's no way of knowing that the kiss will be the last one we ever have so it's routine, pedestrian; like we do it all the time and it's as easy as breathing so, very little emphasis is put on our lips touching for the briefest of moments.
I have on a pair of jeans and my favourite t-shirt, an old Lakers throwback that's past its sell-by-date. She's wearing one of my shirts and nothing else. Her eyes are still tired because we just woke up and her hair is a bit mussed up though she pulls off looking cute in the face of a hard night’s sleep.
I'm focused on getting breakfast on and bringing it back upstairs but she stops me as I'm about to get off the bed, holds my hand, pulls me closer. For the briefest moment I feel her lips, their soft caress a contrast to the rough day I'm about to have but I don't know that.
I make a beautiful breakfast, finish, and leave her drinking juice whilst watching morning TV.
I didn't know it at the time but I never really said goodbye.

Freewriting

"So, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke is what you're saying?"
"No, he threw something on the floor, it made a popping sound and he was engulfed in smoke. When the smoke cleared he was gone."
"I thought that's what's I said?" James rubbed his temple out of frustration. Two days out of the academy and his first case was shaping up to involve magicians or ninjas, or both.
"Look if you don't believe me there are other people on the platform you can ask."
With no other choice, James took several more witness statements, all saying roughly the same thing: A man dressed in black from head to toe was seen running silently along a platform at the Canary Warf DLR station. His face was shrouded apart from a gap revealing only his eyes which looked as if they had a faint glow to them.
None of the statements were given with any real certainty. Everyone seemed to be talking as if they'd imagined the whole incident but was sure it happened.

Tendering Notice

Dear Line Manager,

I wanted to begin this letter by saying thank you. If it wasn’t for your endorsement during the period when I had my interview I may not have got this job and I wouldn’t be writing this note to you now saying thank you. I’ve enjoyed the time I’ve been here, it’s a great place to work and I’m fortunate because not many people can say that and mean it.

Working here has given me the confidence to go out and consult independently. It’s awesome that your company pushes individuals to be the best they can be, ultimately becoming self-employed due to all the rigorous training, insufficient resources and lack of support that forces us to improvise and make sunshine out of rain.

I won’t miss the constant verbal abuse or mispronunciation of my name. I hope you can find it in your heart to crawl underneath a rock and never, ever, come out.