Notes From an Exhibition - Patrick Gale
Harper Perennial
This was a wonderful book, beautifully written, thought provoking and touching about an artist with bi-polar disorder and the caring husband that loved and nurtured her throughout her life. It also showed her four children and how her illness impacted on their lives. It is written haphazzardly in chapters as if the reader is traveling through the exhibition looking at the paintings of the protagonist. Each picture has notes which reveals the story within that particular chapter. It's a very original read. It also depicts Cornwall beautifully. I'm always put off when these books appear in Richard and Judy's Book Club, however, I'd advise anyone to put those snobbish thoughts behind them and pick up this book. I loved it.
Monday, May 19, 2008
The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield
Orion Fiction
Although I didn't enjoy this book I do appreciate that it was well written. The tempo was miserable throughout and made the reader feel uncomfortable right the way through until the end. There were however, twists and turns that surprised the reader.
It was narrated by a third person who was writing the autobiography of the protagonist Miss Vida Winters. It was difficult to work out the fantasy from the reality at first, but it did all become apparent in the end. The ending was neatly tied up, but begged a few questions such as "what time period was the piece set in?" There were parallels between the narrator and the protagonist and an empathy for them was created through the narrative. Essentially I felt it was a tale of lonliness and generations of tragedy (as per Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte).
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Keys to Good Short Stories
Nothing is wasted - don't throw anything away
short stories from 800 - 7000 words
the "magic in your mind" is the ingredient that will add quality to your work
the idea must excite you - your theme
believable characters
first or third person? first person is easier
dialogue is essential
a good opening
conflict
suspense
stick to the main story line
let the story speak for itself - no long explanations
a satisfactory ending (not necessarily a happy one)
What to Watch Out For
Incorrect grammar and punctuation
Cliches
Sentimentality
Clumsy phrases
Use of adjectives - sometimes deaden rather than enhance
Nothing is wasted - don't throw anything away
short stories from 800 - 7000 words
the "magic in your mind" is the ingredient that will add quality to your work
the idea must excite you - your theme
believable characters
first or third person? first person is easier
dialogue is essential
a good opening
conflict
suspense
stick to the main story line
let the story speak for itself - no long explanations
a satisfactory ending (not necessarily a happy one)
What to Watch Out For
Incorrect grammar and punctuation
Cliches
Sentimentality
Clumsy phrases
Use of adjectives - sometimes deaden rather than enhance
Tips on Creative Writing
1. Find a hook to grasp the attention of your reader, listener, viewer
2. A short story is more compact than a novel so you will need to be more eco- nomical with description.
3. There is no need to reveal the ending - let the reader anticipate
focus on one event
4. A short story requires conflict whether it's just in the character's mind or not. There needs to be a build up of dranatic tension
5. The plot is like the skeleton - it's a series of events that happen
Ways to reveal character traits:-
* through dialogue
* by putting them into a situation - how do they respond to that situation
* Names/nicknames tell the reader about the character
* how they reveal their emotions tells the reader about the character
* their possessions, their job, etc.
1. Find a hook to grasp the attention of your reader, listener, viewer
2. A short story is more compact than a novel so you will need to be more eco- nomical with description.
3. There is no need to reveal the ending - let the reader anticipate
focus on one event
4. A short story requires conflict whether it's just in the character's mind or not. There needs to be a build up of dranatic tension
5. The plot is like the skeleton - it's a series of events that happen
Ways to reveal character traits:-
* through dialogue
* by putting them into a situation - how do they respond to that situation
* Names/nicknames tell the reader about the character
* how they reveal their emotions tells the reader about the character
* their possessions, their job, etc.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Mrs Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
Penguin Classics 1996
This classic piece of modernist literature parallels a single day in the lives of two people, Clarissa Dalloway from the socially elite, and Septimus Warren Smith, a shell shocked veteran from Word War 1. It was written in 1924 and originally called The Hours, about which a film was made showing the lives of Virginia Woolf and the character of Clarissa Dalloway.
Virginia Woolf used the "stream of consciousness" which was a term first used in literature by a review of a novel by Dorothy Richardson, by May Sinclair in 1918. It is a style that was used by Katherine Mansfield too where the character examines the experience and emotions of their inner lives. Woolf was able to move back and forth in time in her narrative in order to build the characters.
She criticises a society in which women were repressed and the handling of mental illness, of which she was a sufferer. She had many bouts of mental illness following the death of her parents, and in 1941 she filled her pockets with heavy stones, walked into the river and drowned.
The book moves unnanounced between the two main characters.
Virginia Woolf set up "The Bloomsbury Group", a community of modernist writers and artists, following her job as a book critic for the Times Literary Supplement.
Penguin Classics 1996
This classic piece of modernist literature parallels a single day in the lives of two people, Clarissa Dalloway from the socially elite, and Septimus Warren Smith, a shell shocked veteran from Word War 1. It was written in 1924 and originally called The Hours, about which a film was made showing the lives of Virginia Woolf and the character of Clarissa Dalloway.
Virginia Woolf used the "stream of consciousness" which was a term first used in literature by a review of a novel by Dorothy Richardson, by May Sinclair in 1918. It is a style that was used by Katherine Mansfield too where the character examines the experience and emotions of their inner lives. Woolf was able to move back and forth in time in her narrative in order to build the characters.
She criticises a society in which women were repressed and the handling of mental illness, of which she was a sufferer. She had many bouts of mental illness following the death of her parents, and in 1941 she filled her pockets with heavy stones, walked into the river and drowned.
The book moves unnanounced between the two main characters.
Virginia Woolf set up "The Bloomsbury Group", a community of modernist writers and artists, following her job as a book critic for the Times Literary Supplement.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Mr Pip - Lloyd Jones
(John Murray Publishers 2007)
I loved this book, the story of which was set on a tropical island in the South Pacific during a civil war.
It is written through the eyes of Matilda, a child, who hasn't been to school for some time due to the conflict on the island. The only white inhabitant is Mr Watts, whom is nicknamed Popeye. Mr Watts decides that the children need schooling but only has Great Expectations with which to teach them. From this they learn so much about life. He encourages the childrens' uneducated parents to come into the class to teach the children what they know about life and encourages the children to find their own voice (p107). He teaches the children that no matter what happens, nobody can remove their imagination.
Matilda witnesses the murder of her mother and there is a wonderful description of her fear being "preternaturally calm" which is "what deep, deep fear does for you", P173.
The children seem mesmerised by Great Expectations and when the book disappears they try to reassemble it using their memory and imagination. There are echoes of the story of Great Expectation that run through the lives of the inhabitants on the Island, for example, Matilda's father has gone to work in Australia, so she imagines that he was rescued by a Jaggers type character.
It is colourful and evocative and the story is shown rather than told through the use of descriptive language and the characters of Matilda's mother and Mr Watts, two very important characters in the life of Matilda.
(John Murray Publishers 2007)
I loved this book, the story of which was set on a tropical island in the South Pacific during a civil war.
It is written through the eyes of Matilda, a child, who hasn't been to school for some time due to the conflict on the island. The only white inhabitant is Mr Watts, whom is nicknamed Popeye. Mr Watts decides that the children need schooling but only has Great Expectations with which to teach them. From this they learn so much about life. He encourages the childrens' uneducated parents to come into the class to teach the children what they know about life and encourages the children to find their own voice (p107). He teaches the children that no matter what happens, nobody can remove their imagination.
Matilda witnesses the murder of her mother and there is a wonderful description of her fear being "preternaturally calm" which is "what deep, deep fear does for you", P173.
The children seem mesmerised by Great Expectations and when the book disappears they try to reassemble it using their memory and imagination. There are echoes of the story of Great Expectation that run through the lives of the inhabitants on the Island, for example, Matilda's father has gone to work in Australia, so she imagines that he was rescued by a Jaggers type character.
It is colourful and evocative and the story is shown rather than told through the use of descriptive language and the characters of Matilda's mother and Mr Watts, two very important characters in the life of Matilda.
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