I've had a few e-mail
conversations just lately with People's Friend editor Shirley Blair
(name dropper). The editorial team seem to like my stories at the
moment and Shirley has been very helpful in guiding me along the
right lines to meet their requirements. Sometimes I submit a story
that appeals to her but I might have a problem with POV or the ages
of the characters. Sometimes she asks for a little more background
information on the characters. It has made me put more thought into
my work and hopefully I won't have to do so much editing in future.
In addition it has made
me think about the type of stories I write. I hadn't really put much
thought into it up until now. An idea would just present itself and I
would try and concoct a story from it. But now I realise that there
is a pattern to what I have been submitting so I've tried to list
down the main points of what I've been trying to accomplish:
To write stories that are
captivating, stimulating and entertaining.
To create characters that
are interesting, appealing and resourceful.
To produce situations
that are unusual and challenging.
To evoke emotions across
the whole spectrum of human feeling.
To introduce locations
that are unique, uncommon or exotic.
To arouse memories by use
of nostalgia, past events and social history.
To devise plots that
conclude with a twist, a lesson or a feel-good spirit.
No doubt you could all
modify or add to this list to suit your own personal objectives.
Perhaps some of you already have a similar list in your heads but
haven't actually written it down.
PS Most of you may
be aware that People's Friend are running a series of writers'
workshops over the coming months. Shirley informs me that they are
open to published writers as well as beginners so, work permitting,
I'm intending to go to the York event in October. It's worth
considering if you want to keep up to date with their requirements
and improve your technique.
PPS My next story
will be in The People's Friend Special No.111 on sale August 26th.
PPPS Couldn't
resist posting these photos of my grandchildren:
This is Finlay
auditioning for
The Harlem
Globetrotters.
This is Orla
with her
nana.
