Daily Flash Fiction Challenge 7: The Thief’s Mission

This is the seventh in a series of 365 Flash Fiction stories I’m writing from 2nd December 2012 until the 1st December 2013. It’s intent is to keep me writing throughout the year, and not just in November. you can find out more about the challenge here. The Thief’s Mission, by Jonathan L. Lawrence, 8th December 2012 Word count: 520 Theme: secret agent, suspense, thriller The story:

“Stay low, stay alive,” Martin said to Jack.

“Stay low, stay alive. Stay low, stay alive,” Jack repeated to himself like a mantra, he was afraid.

“Don’t be a baby on me Jack,” Martin warned, last thing he needed was for Jack to break down.

“I’m not a baby,” Jack said annoyed, his anger pushing past his fear briefly.

“Good, let’s go,” Martin pointed the way. He pushed the door open as much as he dared and slithered through looking around him as he went. Jack didn’t follow, so he reached back and pulled him by the arm, which Jack resisted.

“Hey,” Jack started to say, but was silenced by Martin putting his index finger to his lips.

“Target’s there,” he whispered pointing upwards over a counter. “You’ve got to be quiet, there might be guards.”

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Daily Flash Fiction Challenge 6: Twice Blessed, Twice Cursed

This is the sixth in a series of 365 Flash Fiction stories I’m writing from 2nd December 2012 until the 1st December 2013. It’s intent is to keep me writing throughout the year, and not just in November. you can find out more about the challenge here.

Twice Blessed, Twice Cursed, by Jonathan L. Lawrence, 7th December 2012

Word count: 1,000

Theme: fantasy, myth, Gary Sue, hunting, goddess, celtic

The story:

“No good will come of the runt, mark my words,” a wisened old woman said, holding an infant up to the light, “Look, he casts a red shadow, the mark of evil.”

“Put down my child, and begone foul witch!” a gruff bearded man said barging into the room.

The woman dropped to the floor, and grovelled as she shuffled out.

“You’re not to listen to those damnable witches,” the man warned the woman who lay silent on the bed. “Our son will be great, mark my words.” The woman lay still and quiet. She had made no sound since the last push to birth the child. The physicians assured the man, the king of Grata Land she was alive, but they knew not what she didn’t respond to anyone.

The man wrapped the infant in a blanket and left her with a look of regret as she simply stared into space. As he walked into the great hall, the infant wrapped up in the blanket, and not making a sound, there was a flurry of activity as people rushed to see the royal heir. His most loyal friend, and soldier stepped ahead to clear the way.

“Stand by, stand by,” he called.

The king mounted the steps to the throne and stood before it.

“Here ye all,” he called his voice deep and gruff, “This boy will one day be king, and while I may be a good king, he will be the greatest, all should rejoice and come to love Monague, prince of Grata Land!”

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Daily Flash Fiction Challenge 5: The House That Could Not Sell

This is the fifth in a series of 365 Flash Fiction stories I’m writing from 2nd December 2012 until the 1st December 2013. It’s intent is to keep me writing throughout the year, and not just in November. you can find out more about the challenge here.

The House That Could Not Sell, by Jonathan L. Lawrence, 6th December 2012

Word count: 542

Theme: Supernatural, ghosts, haunted house

The story:

“Okay, whatever you do, don’t scream,” a voice said to no one in particular, the house was empty. “When are they going to move in?” the ghost sighed.

Five years later, the living room was host to a disembodied voice again, “If anyone’s there, whatever you do, don’t scream,” it said wearily. “No one? Nothing? Well I’m coming out, this is stupid.”

From the centre of the room a ghostly figured emerged. He was a youngish man, dressed in an 80’s suit, with appropriate shoulder pads, and ghostly snake skin belt.

“Well this place has seen better days,” he said screwing up his face in disgust. “It was perfectly clean when I lived here.”

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Daily Flash Fiction Challenge 4: Zombies versus Mummies

This is the fourth in a series of 365 Flash Fiction stories I’m writing from 2nd December 2012 until the 1st December 2013. It’s intent is to keep me writing throughout the year, and not just in November. you can find out more about the challenge here.

Zombies Versus Mummies by Jonathan L. Lawrence, 4th December 2012

Zombies Versus Mummies by Jonathan L. Lawrence, 5th December 2012

Word count: 999

Warning: mild danger, referenced gore

The story:

Seti strolled back and forwards before the museum doors, swearing in Ancient Egyptian.

“That won’t help,” Ramesses said joining his father by the doors.

“I no longer care,” Seti said. “My neck hurts, my heart hurts, and these bleached people don’t agree with me at all.”

“Well it was either them or we wander round blind, and dumb. Hark we would have been easy prey for these undead creatures that plague this city.”

“Better to die than let our royal selves be tainted,” Seti said suddenly standing tall.

“We cannot remain here forever, the dead walk the Earth this night, and you and I are reborn into this strange world. We must journey and find out what we can, and find a way to restore our lives to ourselves,” Ramesses said.

“Ah, my son the man,” Seti said wistfully.

“Old man,” Ramesses said, “I lived a good long time. I underwent the festival of Sed.”

“God king?” Seti asked, “Truly the youth surpasses his father. Okay then, God King, where do we go?”

“I know not, but we are Egyptians! And we are undead also, but not so weak and mindless as these pathetic minions. In rebirth we are granted great strength and powers, how else could we both have escaped those strange glass sarcophagi we were placed in?”

“I felt it,” Seti said solemnly, “I felt it.”

“Let us gather weapons, and let us be upon this world, and remind them what true Pharaohs could do,” Ramesses said grabbing a spear and a shield from a display stand.

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Daily Flash Fiction Challenge 3: Conference Nookie

This is the third in a series of 365 Flash Fiction stories I’m writing from 2nd December 2012 until the 1st December 2013. It’s intent is to keep me writing throughout the year, and not just in November. you can find out more about the challenge here.

Conference Nookie by Jonathan L. Lawrence, 4th December 2012

Word count: 1,000

Warning: Very mild sexual content

The story:

Claire surveyed the wreckage that was her life. It had been two weeks since Michael had left her, she had taken it hard. He was meant to be the mythical one, they had been engaged, but apparently the feeling turned out to be not mutual. He left her, though not it appeared for anyone else. At least she hadn’t bought the dress yet, she thought.

She didn’t know what she was meant to do now though, other than work. So she threw her self into her job. She was currently at a conference in Buffalo, New York, and tomorrow she would fly back to Europe ready for the follow up conference in Dortmund.

She packs up her things ready for the next day then headed downstairs to the wind down reception for the North American Trade Expo.

She stuck to the bar, ordering just soft drinks, the conference was coming to an end, but she still needed her wits about her. The reception was reasonably busy. As she sipped her lemonade she surveyed the crowd.

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Daily Flash Fiction Challenge 2: Damnation in the Living World

This is the second in a series of 365 Flash Fiction stories I’m writing from 2nd December 2012 until the 1st December 2013. It’s intent is to keep me writing throughout the year, and not just in November. you can find out more about the challenge here.

Damnation in the Living World, by Jonathan L. Lawrence, 3rd December 2012

Word count: 1,000

Theme: fantasy, sex, devil’s pact

Warning: Some relatively mild sexual content, and gore beyond the read more

The story:

In an inn, a huddled figure wrapped in a hood, drinking from a mug.

A well dressed noble entered the inn and looked around, and walked over to the huddled figure.

“You’ve caused me quite a bit of trouble,” the noble said, his voice was that of a snake’s hiss. “Might be, you can make up for your transgression, Raynard.”

The figure grunted, and suddenly found his mind flying backwards through his recent history, quite involuntarily.

Raynard Climes looked around blinking. He had been lying on the battle field amid a pile of soldiers, all dead or dying, his guts trying to escape from the gash across his belly, trying to hold them in, struggling to stay alive. Now he found himself stood up, on what he did not know, because it was just glowing red, all around. He was still holding his stomach though, he could see the blood still seeping.

“Ah, you poor dear,” a woman’s voice said.

Raynard turned behind him, looking for the voice, as he turned the red gave way to something more solid, a bedroom, the likes of which he had never seen before, a room fit for a noble. In the centre was an ornate four- poster bed, and equally ornate furniture.

Then his eyes focused on a lithe woman dressed in a gossamer gown that seemingly covered her modesty, yet offered tantalising views of the figure beneath.

“Won’t you sit?” she asked, nodding at a chair.

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Daily Flash Fiction Challenge 1: The Orchard

This is the first in a series of 365 Flash Fiction stories I’m writing from 2nd December 2012 until the 1st December 2013. It’s intent is to keep me writing throughout the year, and not just in November.

The Orchard, by Jonathan L. Lawrence, 2nd December 2012

Word count: 1,000

Theme: Supernatural, werewolves, survivalist

The story:

Tony sat in the orchard catching his breath, shivering in the cold night. He remembered back when he was here only a year ago, when he had fallen out of the tree and broke his leg.

For six months he had to use a crutch to get around. It had been a lovely sunny day then, with little else to care about in those halcyon days of summer holidays, and the camaraderie of casual acquaintance. When it happened, it proved painful and embarrassing, he climbed as he high as he dare, and then higher still on a dare. If he completed the dare, there was a promise of a kiss from Sarah Dalstein, a girl of particular beauty in this out of the way little village in Suffolk. However, falling and breaking his leg had dashed his hopes. Everyone was very concerned of course, and then the ambulance came and took him away. When he returned to the village, that his family spent every summer in, he found himself to be the butt of far too many jokes.

Now, here he was running for his life through the very same orchard, the wounds in his side weren’t nearly as painful as the broken leg, but it didn’t feel that much different. Only now it wasn’t only himself that had fallen, it was the whole village to a hoard of werewolves.

“Come on!” he shouted at himself hoarsely, trying to force himself up.

“Hawoooooo!” he heard in the distance.

They were on to him again, this time he didn’t need to shout at himself, their howls were enough to set him going. He staggered deeper into the orchards trying to keep himself hidden, yet instinctively knowing that these wolf creatures that were spreading across the whole of Britain would be like their name sakes, fast, deadly, and keen hunters.

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A Picture Says a Thousand Words

Melding the art of photography into the art of writing…

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Photography and the Art of Writing

So, I have some money coming to me this September. It’s from my Grandparents, the last of which very sadly passed away last November. Now I’m choosing to think of this money as my final birthday present, it is after all my thirtieth birthday in September. So, having put some thought into what I wanted, and they would have liked to give me, I decided on a camera. A reasonably powerful camera.

My Granddad loved taking photos, and they had lots of them. My Granddad even had a really expensive camera once, which was a shock to my dad and Nana when he brought that home. He may not understand the modern bells and whistles, but I think he would like modern cameras.

Anyway, so the camera is quite a personal thing. However, it’s also about writing. I’ve been using camera’s to help me write for some time. It all started off a few years back when I took a photo of Primrose Valley, (the one in Leeds, not on the East Coast), and wrote a story around it.

Since then, I’ve used photographs, and photography as a tool in a number of ways, some small, some large. It’s a handy tool to keep around.

Now, first of all, if anyone feels like following my usually terrible advice, you should know, it doesn’t matter how good or bad you are at taking pictures for this. I’m really bad – especially when I use my camera phone, (see the picture with this post).

There are all sorts of things to consider when taking a photograph, and you only have scant minutes, if that, to be ready to take it. I do my best with things like lighting, focus, composition and such – and if I get a new camera I’ll be really trying to get to grips with all that stuff. As a writer though, you don’t really need to worry about it.

As a writer what you need from photographs might be:

A catalogue (for description) of:
- Things
- People
- Places
Ideas (inspiration)
Basis for story boards (planning)

Description

If you’re anything like me, (and there are some people out there that might be), you might struggle to do descriptions. I’m too busy writing to think about how something looks, it’s a distraction when in the flow of writing really. I mean, getting descriptions right is a very delicate work, and if you forget if a pattern had a green stripe over a blue, and instead go green over red, that’s a basic mistake that’s easy to miss in editing.

My solution is, as I write, I have in mind pictures, either from my anarchic photos folder, or from pictures, and clips online, stick them in a OneNote (or whatever your visual notebook of choice is, online or off), with a note to who it relates to, and when. Then you can come back to it, in a quiet moment and give some definition to your very basic description.

This is great, because you can then sync up all your descriptions, (without repeating the same words), in such a way as you don’t contradict yourself.

This is probably the most useful reason for photography, and to be honest it really doesn’t matter if you take the photos yourself. I think it’s good to though, you choose the cars you want in your portfolio, the buildings, the rooms, the clothes, and the people. Google Images works just as well though.

Ideas

So, I’m not infallible, I have really fantastic ideas. I mean blow your mind fantastic ideas, but a lot of them never become something I can actually use. They’re too disconnected from reality, or their too real they’re mundane. Maybe I have a great concept, but nothing that really makes it concrete.

I need ideas to to tie it to, pictures are great for that. They give a bare bones idea some fleshy substance. Where I have a scene or a plot but no characters, I can have a visual representation of one. Maybe I’ve got a character, but no world for them, well I can pick some scenery shots, or a building, or maybe just a car, whichever, the character now has a universe, no matter how small. It’s something for the idea to interact with, which means it’s less likely to fade.

In my most recent NaNoWriMo Project, the Arsène Frassin space adventure, somehow I ended up with just two female characters in the whole thing. Not intentionally, I’d like to thinking I’m not a male chauvinistic pig, it’s just where the story went. However in editing, I’m going to insert a few female characters, and it’s helped to utilise images, (that I got from Google Images, wandering around taking random up close shots of women, won’t help you with your career as a writer, unless you want to write from behind bars), to try and find suitable characters to a heavily male dominated universe.

Story boarding

Now, this one is new to me, but I definately see the potential. I’m on my big planning kick for the past couple of years, one of the things I want to try for NaNoWriMo 2012 is to not just have an outline, but a story board. Here I’ll already have key images set up, and laid out in reasonable order that progress with the story. Instead of hastily searching round for a descriptive picture I need to use later, I’ll have it to hand so maybe I can be more descriptive in my first draft.

Now, for stroy boarding, I can’t draw for toffee. Just a few very simple sketches, and maybe a technical drawing or two, but I can use photographs. Handily, for this year’s NaNoWriMo project, two of my three choices are set in the present day, which means I can take photos of places, people, fashions, and things that will be relevant to my novel. For the space option, I’ll have to get more creative, a combination of a visits to the Royal Armouries in Leeds, airports, and suh can fill the gap in the futuristic sides of the novel.

I’ll need shots of as many people as possible to drill down to my core characters, and same with palces and things. Always take too much, you can filter out what’s there to the essentials you need. Which is true of many things in life, to be fair.

So, once I’ve got all my pictures ready, using the outline, I can use OneNote, or Word, or Publisher, or my whiteboard to layout a story board and put the pictures on it. Choosing a picture to represent the core aim, location, character, or event for each chapter, or scene. If you want to get complex, (and let’s face it, I’m a complicated guy, so I do), you can do varying levels of story boarding. Starting at the overall plot, then each layer goes into more and more detail.

Before you think I’ve gone nuts, I should point out I’m a Business Analyst, and this is often how I go about designing process maps. So it makes sense to me, if you want to do a story board, find the way that makes most sense to you. Which is true of any advice you find online, or in books, or the random drunkard who once wrote a story long before he became a alcholhic, and insists on telling you how the best way to do it is.

Lastly

I mentioned, you don’t have to be particularly good, and that’s true. You don’t need a fancy schmancy camera for this, the camera on the phone will do just as well, (and whether you’re on iPhone, Android, or Windows Mobile there’ll be great apps for cataloging your photographs). That’s how a lot of mine get taken, from my phone, though I do prefer a proper camera when I can, sometimes the perfect thing that needs capturing is at the time you’re least likely to be carrying a camera. Make do, having the photo is better than not having a photo because you couldn’t have taken it perfectly.

I should add a note of caution, make sure you don’t appear like a peeping tom, it’s no good sticking your lens into people’s homes without permission for instance, and it’s no excuse for stalking.

And one final bit of advice, get a couple of high resolution crowd shots, within those crowds should be a mix of gender, ages, race and other cuts of society. When you’re stuck for inspiration for a character, get out the picture and point at one at random, then see if you can work them up into a character, complete with physical appearance and description. It’s a bit like people watching, only more convenient when you’re at home on your computer writing.

Happy snapping, and happy typing to you all.

P.S. I included that particular photo for a reason, aside from getting the law of thirds very roughly right, getting lead-in lines, it was done on my camera, and came out blurry, which is unimportant, it’s a great item for the story board for one of my ideas. Plus it didn’t contain any people, so I couldn’t offend anyone.

Road to NaNoWriMo 2013 starts here

The Road to NaNoWriMo 2013 has officially commenced, and already the first road block is in the way, what to write? I’m down to three choices, all very different, and now I need to choose.

So I’ve been a bit quiet on here for a bit too long – the same is true of my writing.

After my success at NaNoWriMo 2011,and personal difficulties during and after, I wanted 2012 to be a significant year, unfortunately I stalled on editing my NaNoWriMo novel. It needs a serious re-write to turn my main character into a bad guy, with sympathetic qualities who reluctantly becomes the hero the universe needs, from where he was in the first draft which is a good guy in a bad guy’s job.

I know what I needed to do, but I choked for now. I will come back to it later on I’ve decided.

But choking doesn’t stop there, aside from a couple of false starts I’ve not written anything original. I have however had some great ideas, which is what I’m going to write about now.

You see, one of the things that helped me last year was the planning I did for my novel. I may not have ended up following the exact plan, but I had enough of an idea about where I was going that I was able to do 50,000 words in two weeks, and finish the story around 75,000 within three weeks. I learnt something, I’m not good at ‘pantsing’, (writing by the seat of your pants). So this time round I’m considering several possible stories, and doing my best to outline them.

Before I get into what my ideas are, I should mention targets. This year, for NaNoWriMo, I’m going to completely aim over the top. My personal target for the month of November will be 125,000 words. It’s doable, my daily word rate for the three weeks was 3751, to hit 125,000 in 30 days would be 4,166. Not a huge stretch, but it won’t leave much time for stopping and struggling for the next idea needed to keep the story moving. So planning is going to be key, and this year I’m trying to plan better.

I have three possible novels this year:

Firstly, one I’ve wanted to do for a while, a modern retelling of the Count of Monte Cristo, set in London, Paris, and New York. The world is primed for it, and can fit around the events of the novel to really come alive. Downsides, what I have in mind is quite complex, easily 125,000 words, but a lot of is nitty gritty detail of the revenge operations.
Secondly, a continuation of the universe created in last year’s NaNoWriMo novel, involving a new protaginist, a new antagonist, a wholly different adventure that might, or might not run consecutively, or concurrently to the original story. Challenges, 125,000 might be a bit long for a space adventure novel of the type I write.
Thirdly, a complete restart of my first NaNoWriMo novel from back in 2008, I’ve learned a lot since then, I never actually got it finishedm (though I hit the 50,000 mark just), and I think about it alot. Goal, to fully re-imagine the story to make it easier to read, give the characters more history and depth, and give them more urgency – 125,000 words might be long, but it gives me a chance to explore the nature of the world.

At this stage I’m not sure which I’m going to go with – I’ve already started outlining the Monte Cristo project, but I realised it’s possibly too much for NaNoWriMo – I know a lot can be done in editing, but I would really want to get in the revenge plots as well as I can and just need to clean them up for the second draft. It involves really looking at ways you can screw over bankers/investors/hedge fund managers and the like, and achieve a satisfactory level of revenge.

The others would be easier on many levels, the space pirates universe is easy to write for, it’s largely pulp fiction, with easy rolling story lines, multiple arcs that intertwine, but fun as well as there’s politics, dubious motives on characters and nations. The rework of my 2008 NaNoWriMo is easier because I know the story, certainly the first three quarters, and I’ve got great ideas for thinking about, (imcomplete projects are rarely far from my mind).

Once I’ve gone through the Pro’s and Con’s of each idea, I’m going to write a summary, (just a line or two for each about the principle character(s), the situation, and the goal), and if after that I still can’t decide, I’ll have to go all out and do a synopsis of some description for each one.

The great thing is, which ever two I don’t do for NaNoWriMo can be my projects for the 334 days after NaNoWriMo. I’ve got time booked off this Christmas, (usually I work except for the bank holidays), so I think that’s a good time to start my first post NaNoWriMo novel.

I turn 30 this year, so I’m determined that this year will be the turning point where I knuckle down and not get distracted from….

Ooh look shiney!

Sorry, I won’t get distracted from my writing.

With even more planning going into this year’s novel, I’ll hopefully have plenty to say. Plus, I’ve some other ideas for articles that would be worth exploring… so you might just be stuck with me for a bit.

NaNoWriMo 2011 – From Week Two to the End

NaNoWriMo 2011 week two, or as I shall hereby refer to the 45th week of 2011, ‘ The week that won it’.

I’m sure you can guess why, if you can’t, or even if you can because I want to show off, as of Sunday 13th November I hit 50,000 words (50,443 to be precise). Can’t validate until the 25th November, but still after falling short two years running, to hit a second week finish feels great.

I can tell you, it was quite a buzz to hit the 50,000 mark, and I didn’t stop there. Week three saw me push on with the aim of hitting 75,000 words, including “The end.” Want to know how that went? Well I did that too. Though, it was a bittersweet second victory, someone I loved dearly passed away on the Saturday, and I contemplated on just stopping with 8,846 words still to go. That wasn’t the memory I wanted to have of someone I love passing, and though it was a slog, I finished at 75,114 on day 21.

So, the last step of the immediate NaNoWriMo process is to validate your win. And I did.

So there you go – I officially win this year’s NaNoWriMo. I have a badge to prove it.

However, I have decided that there is more to NaNoWriMo than simply writing 50,000 words though – that’s goal number one, with a couple of sub-goals that are worth noting. Below I’ve listed important steps in the writing process as I see them right now, (I reserve the right to grow as a writer and evolve these later*).

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