Darkness Comes

Ok, so Rachael Harrie's First Campaigner Challenge is running all this week, until Friday February 24th.

 The Challenge is:

Write a short story/flash fiction story in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, including a poem. Begin the story with the words, “Shadows crept across the wall”. These five words will be included in the word count. 

If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional), do one or more of these:

• end the story with the words: "everything faded." (also included in the word count)

• include the word "orange" in the story

• write in the same genre you normally write

• make your story 200 words exactly!

I'm posting my story below. If you read it and you like it, please click here and vote for #89. Thanks!

 Darkness Comes

Shadows crept across the wall behind her. They shifted and churned, vying with each other, edging irresistably forwards like the tide.

She felt them, even though she could not see them. She could almost hear them, whispering on the edges of her consciousness. They were always there, always creeping behind her. Some days they grew closer than others.

The two women were seated across from her, talking. Sometimes they glanced in her direction. They did not meet her gaze. Were they talking to her, or about her? She didn’t care. It was so hard to hear them when the shadows were whispering.

She watched them contemptuously, their nervous chatter grating against her hearing. They were pretending not to hear their own shadows, trying to drown them out with meaningless noise. The desperate undertones in their conversation both amused and annoyed her at the same time.

The shadows surged closer, clouding the edges of her vision. She could hear them clearly now, their seductive voices stroking her thoughts.

The women stopped talking as she began to smile.

She stood up. They had taken her weapons, but that did not matter. She would make them face the darkness.

The shadows danced. 

Don't forget to comment! Want to vote for this story? Please click here. I'm #89, thanks!

Tagged again!

Vikki from http://the-view-outside.com/ also tagged me as part of the Fourth Writers' Platform Building Campaign. Stop by her blog and say hello if you get the chance!

1. What thing have you written that you’re most proud of?
Oddly enough, a composition for a choir. Being in the audience when it was being performed was a very proud moment for me.

2. What are you working on at the moment?
Three short stories and the first novel of a trilogy. 

3. Where would you like to see yourself in 5 years time?
My trilogy would be finished, along with a lot of short stories and a considerable amount of music. 

4. You buy an old lamp, whilst cleaning it a genie appears…you know the rest lol. Your 3 wishes are?
Enough money to be free to do what I want. 
Free me from the curse of procrastination.
Better organisational skills.

5. List 2 of your bad habits? Come on, we all have some.
Procrastination.
Negativity. 


6. If you were a superhero, what special power would you have?
Shapeshifting.

7. Tell us the name of one of your characters, one you really like?
Fiachna. He's extremely flawed, but he suffers for his crimes and at least tries to atone for them.

8. What scares you?
Financial insecurity. 

9. Sum up your personality in 3 words?
Impatient, Ambitious, Stubborn.

10. Name 2 of your vices?
Overly self-critical, badly organised.

11. Do you have a pet peeve/hate? What is it?
When people neglect to use adverbs. Drives me insane!

Tagged!

As part of Rachael Harrie's Fourth Writer's Platform Building Campaign, I've been tagged by C.M. Brown to answer the following questions: 


1.  How do the stories you write about come into fruition?
Generally I get inspired by an emotion of some kind. I seem to get a sense of a character, in some sort of vague situation, who is experiencing a strong emotion. From there I begin to build up a story, trying to maintain the atmosphere and tone that I experience when the idea first hits me.

2.  Do you think you are the type of person who plans for every eventuality, or do you prefer to
live life how it comes, without any organisation?
I would like to plan for every eventuality, but I think I am so disorganised I end up just taking life as it comes.

3.  What is your favourite song?
I have lots of favourites, but I love Foo Fighters' 'Best of You'.

4.  Do you sing it loudly to yourself?
Sometimes. Whenever the house is empty I sing constantly, as loudly as I can.

5.  Are you still friends with anyone you went to secondary school with?
Only on Facebook.

6.  What would be your dream job?
A writer/composer.

7.  How often do you speak with your sibblings?
Almost constantly.

8.  If you were an animal what creature would you like to be? Use your imagination.
A hawk.

9.   I love eating boiled eggs for breakfast, what is your favourite food?
Sushi.

10.  What piece of technology could you not live without?
My laptop.

11. Do you have a favourite piece of furniture?
Not really. Bed I suppose :D


I've also been tagged by at least two other people, so more answers to follow shortly! 

Fourth Writers' Platform-Building Campaign

Hey,

if you're an active writer/blogger like myself you might be interested in getting in touch with other like-minded people. Have a look at Rachel Harrie's Writers' Platform Building Campaign and sign up if you're interested!

I'm joining...

Creating a Unique Character

Hi, just a brief post about something that has been on my mind recently, namely how to create a unique character. If you are a writer of fiction you will usually set about writing a short story or novel when you are inspired by a particular idea. Generally this will be a story that you are passionate about, featuring characters and events that you feel will grab the reader's attention and stay with them long after they have finished reading. While the majority of writers may feel this way about their work, how many books of this kind are actually penned? And more to the point, how many unique and memorable characters has literature actually given us?

By my definition, a unique, memorable and original character is one who leaves a lasting impression on the mind. He or she is a character possessing a set of distinct and prominent character traits, who is instantly recognizable from the briefest description. In literature there is an extensive list of these characters, who have become so integrated into our culture that they are even recognisable to those who have not read the original works. Examples include James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, Lisbeth Salander and Long John Silver, to name but a few.

Ian Fleming's James Bond

If I removed the text, most of us would still recongise the character.

Women in 19th Century Literature - Cosette, Lucie and Mina

Recently I received an Android phone, complete with Amazon's Kindle app. This excellent ereader allows me to access the Free Popular Classics section of the Amazon store, which holds an excellent selection of classic novels, treatises and essays. Some of the books I have downloaded and read so far include A Tale of Two Cities, Dracula and of course Les Misérables.

A Tale of Two Cities (ATTC) dates from 1859, while Les Mis was published in 1862. Dracula comes in a little bit later, in the year 1897. While each of these novels are very different, a notable aspect of each them is their treatment of their leading female characters, particularly those of the upper classes.

Ira Glass on Writing and Creativity

(Reposted from the Mythic Scribes Facebook page, and originally shared by artist and imaginative realist Marc Fishman.)


"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it's just not that good. It's trying to be good, it has potential, but it's not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people who I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn't have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it's normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I've ever met. It's gonna take a while. It's normal to take a while. You've just gotta fight your way through." - Ira Glass