HELEN KAMPFNER

Don’t change anything! Mr Sea is in Doha this weekend with instructions to visit the Museum of Islamic Art to take photos of their amazing collection of astrolabes. I don’t have any ideas yet, but I know an astrolabe will be involved.

Hi guys,

To update: the title Sarah and I have decided on (for now) is….

After We Found Her

What’s in a name, eh?

Oh wow, @alanr, that is such exciting news about the request!!!! Amazing. Have you sent it off yet? Whatever happens, I am sure you’ll get some invaluable feedback. Congrats again!!

That’s great insight! I guess this is what we mean by the “lie” that our characters labour under. (Their misunderstanding about how the world works and what is needed of them) Our stories will have tragic ends if our characters never learn to see through the lies they are living by.

Fantastic!

Hi Elle,

I really enjoyed this, and it works for me! It’s the classic issue of the ex, right? The one you can never compete with properly. I like it.

Only spotted one typo: “She was the seed of doubt planted in me which feed on those silences” – should it be fed?

Great work!

Well done, Daeds, a star is born!

I’m just watching it now. It’s brilliant. Well done, Daed 😁

I’ve never started a piece of fiction knowing the ending. I like to start with a scene, put a character into it, and see where it goes. I enjoy the ride.

The project I want to do next came as a result of one of the monthly comps – the one Daeds set about doorways. I wrote about twelve pages of notes at the time and added to it at odd moments when things occurred to me – obstacles, dialogue, conflict.
One thing I have learned over the past year, is the part backstory can play in giving my…[Read more]

Oh, well done, @alanr! That’s fantastic. So which course are you going for?

AAARRRGGHHH! (as it used to say in my comics)

Up with the count. Resisted the temptation to count the 2500 “seed” words that I had before the start. I think I’ll have a couple of hundred more to do before I give up tonight. Remarkable difference in the way I feel about making myself write at this pace which, honestly, isn’t that high a word…[Read more]

@kazg, thanks so much for that link.

And you’ve expressed above so beautifully my exact thoughts on story structure – including the necessity of balancing all our technical knowledge with room for the subconscious to speak.

I’m not sure what fascinates me more – the list of items you came up with or the fact you came up with them when you were caught by surprise…🤔

Thank you all for taking the time to post an entry, especially Sandra, who kicked things off (phew!), but later withdrew by reason of unavailability to set the next comp should she win.

Anyway, as most of you know, I’m rubbish at any kind of feedback so I’ll keep this short.

Sandra – strong voice. And some perfect turns of phrase – ‘Like a…[Read more]

“Let’s go. Everyone’s gone!”

“Not yet, there’s still one coat left.” I only been working in the cloak room for less than a month, but I take it seriously. It’s my first job after my stint in jail. Nothin’ bad, just got me some sticky fingers is all. Then of all the jobs to land after that, I gets a job takin’ care of other people’s belongings…[Read more]

I’m pretty sure I’ll get the words down. But right now I have only the vaguest plan and I can’t think of even a working title.

Well, I’m feeling a tad more apprehensive than in previous years. There’s a certain investment in succeeding this time – for me. Well, succeeding in writing the requisite number of words anyway. My record is one complete children’s story, one block of 50K words that I eventually deleted, two failures.

I often think “getting” story structure is like one of those damn magic eye puzzles. All these people around you are like “oh yeah! It’s dolphins!!” while you’re staring at it like, “whaaa?”

And then, you glimpse it (maybe in a CM Taylor workshop), but then it’s gone again. You glimpse it, it disappears, you glimpse it, you go…[Read more]