chrisnelson61

~ Poetry, stories and some random words…

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Tag Archives: story

The Trouble with Writing

18 Saturday Feb 2023

Posted by chrisnelson61 in Uncategorized

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creative, Endings, imagination, Publishing, stories, story, The Trouble with Writing, writing

The trouble with writing is endings. Not the actual thinking of them and the ramifications they might have or even planning them; not the finding of them, whether they are dwelling deep in the recesses of the mind or stuffed casually down the back of the sofa or considering how they might be succinctly crafted. Not wondering about how they will complete a story to the satisfaction of the reader and whether they will tie up the loose ends and threads that have been woven, or leave them wanting more; and not worrying about whether the signposts that you have left had the story finished by the middle of the book or had left too many doors wide open and gaping with questions. 

No, the trouble with writing – the trouble with endings – is that, as an author, one already knows what the ending will be, whether that knowledge is packed with the most minute of detail, or merely be a faint outline, a sketch to be (or, indeed, not to be) filled in and fleshed out at a later date. This mere knowledge, this hint of understanding, not matter how the writer may fight to keep it hidden or at least disguised from recognition, means that, for them at least, the story is no longer a story; no longer a tale to unpick or a fantasy in which to lose oneself. The story has lost the appeal that it may once have held, the appeal forged within the inventive mind as in ran through a succession of thoughts and ideas until it began to forge them into one long, continual construct. Now the story has changed. It has changed from a collection of ramblings, of both connected and disparate ideas, into a series of events which hold a meaning, at least for the author. If these ideas, these phrases and have formed sentences, had managed to escape their confines, the cage in which they had found themselves trapped, and spilled out onto the streets, they would have become lost and forgotten. Racing freely through the cities, towns and countryside, weaving their way in and out of houses, shops and pubs, they would have, perhaps, rested for a moment in the minds or on the lips of others before disappearing once more to be forgotten before the next sentence in a conversation could begin. Without their companions, their comrades in storytelling, their meaning would be lost, gone for ever, lost even to the writer to whom they had first made themselves known. 

But this is nothing more than a theory, a fear lurking in the back of the author’s mind, like the monster of childhood which hid beneath the bed, always invisible, yet always there; always waiting for the one perfect moment that it needed in which to pounce and to devour its victim. Nothing more than an irrational fear then, kept at bay by the author as they guard each word as if their life depended on them as theirs did upon the author, nurturing them like children they are afraid to expose to the cruelties and vagaries of the world. The author watches, their eyes always turned inward, as each thought begins to grow and find its place first within the author’s brain and then with their mind. The writer observes them as they begin to dance around one another searching for a foothold, constantly seeking to establish themselves. Some the author sees, as they studies them, trying to force themselves upon the writer’s thoughts, hoping to make themselves indispensable to their thinking, an integral part of the story which is starting to grow within them. Others wait – the patient ones of the cohort – some for the moment in which to make themselves known, whilst others seem content to bide their time certain, perhaps, that will, in time, be seen. Yet more drift from view either shelved by the writer or discarded to lay slowly decomposing with so many thoughts that had come before. 

Gradually friendships become formed, words developing into phrases and then sentences. Some are clearly happy bedfellows, others adopt a more professional and even detached relationship, working effectively with one another but each one understanding that theirs is a connection which exists only within the confines of the story – gestalt; there only for the greater good. 

After a while, this network of sentences, paragraphs and chapters begins to gain an awareness of itself and its purpose. It begins to understand that it has a goal which it must, at all costs, reach; a goal upon which the lives of the very characters it has given birth to depend. And so it ploughs on, moving constantly forwards, blind to its destination, but blind too in its determination to reach it. And yet, as each sentence builds upon its predecessor and breathes life into the story, it retains an awareness, a nagging feeling that, somewhere someone can see the full picture as if there were a figure standing on some distance mountain surveying, judging all that could be seen. The story grows, begins to get legs, and stretches them out like a would-be toddler trying to find its feet for the first time. It looks down, gingerly, knowing that the peculiar shapes which protrude from the end of its limbs must have another purpose, then reaches out to haul itself skyward. Now the fledgling story feels, for the first time, its independence – the towering figure of its adult hovering in the distance is already becoming something from which it will free itself, given time – and yet the nagging feeling remains. The feeling that the adult is still watching over it, encouraging, supporting certainly, but still, ultimately, in control. And so the story slumps once more to the floor. It knows that it will rise repeatedly as it seeks to move away from its creator, but is aware too that, without any clear goal, and with no obvious finishing line at which to aim, it will remain, ever reliant upon its author. 

The trouble with writing, then, is endings. The author knows, understands implicitly, that, when the ending arrives, their story will finally break free of its shackles. It will find its freedom and its place within the world, be that as a much-loved treasure, a work of literary genius or lost at the back of a dusty shelf. Its eventual resting place is, in many ways, of little consequence to either the author or, indeed, the story itself. In the mind of the story it has achieved its goal – its independence, its chance to stand on its own two feet. For the author they too have achieved what they set out to achieve – to bring life to their story and to set it out into the world, but each story that leaves them is akin to a small death, stripping the author of ideas that they know they can never form again, that will never mean as much to them as they did when they first began to grow inside their head. 

Of course, whilst the story itself is blissfully (or painfully) aware of its own limitations in understanding its direction or destination, the author is only to aware of what is to come. From the moment the first words hit the page the final ones are already forming in the mind of the author, along with a growing sense of dread and disappointment. All children will, at some point, leave their parents, but their point of departure can never be foreseen and, assuming all parties are amenable, a return is always possible. For the author and their story such separation begins with the commitment of the first word. As the story’s conclusion shows itself in the mind of the author, so the initial joy and pleasure that they had garnered vanishes, replaced by disillusionment and sorrow, and yet, once life has been breathed into the words, it is a course that they are unable to alter. And so, a second word follows the first, and second sentence complements is predecessor, paragraph builds upon paragraph until the inevitable conclusion is reached. 

No More

10 Saturday Dec 2022

Posted by chrisnelson61 in Uncategorized

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Tags

Awareness, Belief, Communication, creative, faith, hope, loss, Love, Mental health, No More, Prose, Realisation, Self-awareness, Short, Social, story, Understanding, Words, writing

I think that I have come, at last, to a crossroads; a point of uncomfortable realisation. A crossroads which leads, in every direction, to a dead end and a realisation that I have finally reached the last page of my own, personal dictionary. I have come to the point where I have used – and abused – every word that was ever known to me. I have twisted and contorted them into myriad sentences and phrases until all meaning that they might have once held has been lost, all connection to anything other than themselves distorted. As I sent each one on its way, safely wrapped as it was, like a child in a winter coat, cosseted by others to which it bore no relation, I watched it drift away. I watched as they gathered and then dispersed high, high above my head, dipping behind the clouds, never to reappear.

And, eventually, as I reached my hand deep into myself to take hold of another random collection of letters, I found nothing between my fingers, nothing within my grasp. My fist was filled with the emptiness of silence, the silence of a stilling heart.

And then the empty words within my head, the final ones that would leave me, spelled out their message: there was no more to say.

The Smell of Cedar by River

04 Friday Nov 2022

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Horror, mystery, Review, Review week, River Dixon, story, Terror, The Smell of Cedar

Just for a change (and in support of a few authors whose work I have been enjoying) I thought that I’d post a review a day for a week. Hopefully something might take your fancy!

The Smell of Cedar by River Dixon


The Smell of Cedar is an unsettling and unnerving psychological horror story made all the more believable by its backstory of abuse and control. For me the length is just right, with moments of reflection which help to not only explain the lead character’s past but also move the story along at a good pace.
River’s use of a nonlinear structure is both effective and skillfully employed and his careful use of description allows the reader to create a vivid scene whilst reading the story. At times I was not certain as to whether tense changes worked quite as effectively as they might have, but this is a minor issue and I am being, perhaps,  a little pedantic.
I do think, however, that the actions of the character Melanie, to whom we are introduced early on in the story, and which become clearer as the tale develops, add to the chilling (and all too real) possibility of history repeating itself. 
If you enjoy short, chilling and disturbing stories, then I would certainly recommend reading this.

You’ll Never Walk Alone by Chris Hall

03 Thursday Nov 2022

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1980's, Adventure, Chris Hall, Liverpool, mystery, Reading, Review, Review week, story, You'll Never Walk Alone

Just for a change (and in support of a few authors whose work I have been enjoying) I thought that I’d post a review a day for a week. Hopefully something might take your fancy!

You’ll Never Walk Alone by Chris Hall

Chris Hall writes with a style which can only be described as irresistible. From the very opening of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ until the closing sentence I was hooked and, like all of the other stories of hers that I have read, I simply didn’t want to put the book down.Written with great wit and humour, the story twists and turns, drawing new characters in as it unwinds, each of whom has their role to play. Without wanting to give too much away this is a story that is easy to imagine actually happening; the characters are all very real and three dimensional and some of the coincidences that occur along the way are very believable and, indeed, relatable.
Chris’s descriptions are vivid and clear, and certainly not over-worked, allowing the reader to easily form a visual narrative as they read. Would it help to have a little background knowledge of Britain in the 1980’s? Well, I’m not sure. Being British (and of an age) I found it easy to identify with the setting (even though my knowledge of Liverpool, where the story is set, is very limited), and I found myself chuckling at times at some of the references to which her characters allude: (‘You dancing?’ for example). So, in answer to the question, I would say not, such is the strength of the story.
There are moments within the story where I genuinely took a breath and thought ‘well, I didn’t see that coming’, which, if I’m honest, doesn’t happen that often.
And, of course, there’s a monkey! Who could say no?
This is a story that I know I will re-read over and over and, if you enjoy a good, realistic adventure (with just a hint of mysterious legend) then ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ is the book you’ve been searching for. 
Highly recommended. 

Don’t Fear the Reaper by Andrew S

30 Sunday Oct 2022

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Andrew S French, Astrid Snow, Don't Fear the Reaper, Intrigue, mystery, Review, Review week, story, Thriller, writing

Just for a change (and in support of a few authors whose work I have been enjoying) I thought that I’d post a review a day for a week. Hopefully something might take your fancy!

Don’t Fear the Reaper by Andrew S French


‘Don’t Fear the Reaper’ is a well-paced, exciting and engaging mystery-thriller which takes the reader into a world of murky, dangerous and hidden government agencies. Original and skillfully written it is full of the grit that one might expect without the glamour that is so often portrayed elsewhere. Yes, there are several references made to cities more ‘associated’ with espionage and subversive activities such as Berlin, Prague and Vienna, but most of the action takes place in and around London and the (unassuming) South and South-East of England. And this results in the story being both more realistic and more relatable.
An intriguing opening introduces the reader to the lead character who is, refreshingly, female. Astrid is a strong, but ultimately flawed, woman whose backstory is unveiled in a series of flashback memories. It is, indeed, these flaws that engage the reader and give her character depth and realism in what is (action aside) a very character-led story.
The story itself is complex but not complicated and, as it progressed, I found myself being more and more drawn in by it. It is full of twists and turns (some of them unexpected) right up until its gripping conclusion, where the reader is left wanting more – fitting, really, as this is the first of a series of books featuring the protagonist. 
One feature of this book which I think French employs with particular success is the use of double narrative: the bulk of the writing carries the story in the third person, but a second narrator (the antagonist) tell events from their perspective which adds an extra level of interest.
Oh, and did I mention the great musical references that run through the story?
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys not only thrillers and mystery stories but also readers with a penchant for stories featuring a strong female lead

A week of reviews

29 Saturday Oct 2022

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Adventure, Amazon, Chris Hall, Lunaisonline, Reading, Review week, Reviews, Song of the Sea Goddess, story, writing

Just for a change (and in support of a few authors whose work I have been enjoying) I thought that I’d post a review a day for a week. Hopefully something might take your fancy!

Song of the Sea Goddess by Chris Hall

Part fantasy, part adventure and part allegory, Song of the Sea Goddess is an imaginative and eloquently told story about the unfolding of the lives of a group of seemingly unconnected characters following one bizarre event.Chris Hall develops each character through individual chapters that slowly become interwoven and lead towards an unexpected climax. Particularly enjoyable is how seemingly random events show up which give a wonderful insight into the past lives of several of the characters. Indeed each character comes to life as the story unfolds and, as most of the book is written in the present tense, the reader’s connection with them develops in a sort of ‘real time’.
The chapters themselves are relatively short which works very effectively to help the reader to internalise their understanding of the characters and their relationships. 
I don’t want to go into plot detail as each event is important to the overall story and needs to be discovered by the reader, but expect plenty of twists and turns with each page. 
So often, I find, story endings can ‘tail off’ a little, but this is far from the case here; Chris’s ending is as strong as her opening and leaves a satisfying feeling on the reader.
I would heartily recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a fantasy adventure with its feet firmly planted in reality.

The Time Traveller’s Murder

06 Thursday Oct 2022

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Adventure, Andrew French, Andrewsfrench, Apocalypse, Book review, creative, Detective, future, mystery, Novel, Review, Sci-Fi, story, The Time Traveller's Murder, Thriller, Time travel, writing

A short review of ‘ The Time Traveller’s Murder’ by Andrew French.

‘The Time Traveller’s Murder’ is a novel which is tricky to categorise – part mystery, part thriller and part Sci-Fi, it excells in crossing between genres to create an engrossing and entertaining story.

Set in the near future it tells the tale of an ex-detective (now turned private investigator) who gets drawn into an elaborate investigation involving time travel. However, as the story unfolds, French brings in several sub-plots which are interwoven cleverly and keep the reader engaged (and indeed guessing) as the main plot progresses.

From the opening line: ‘Detective Inspector Harry Hook flexed his fingers in anticipation of strangling a man’ we are introduced to characters who are rounded, three-dimensional and believable and French’s strong, realistic use of dialogue serves well to enable them to be visualised clearly. The back-stories of the main characters are drip-fed into the novel cleverly, helping to provide the reader for a deeper understanding of both them and their motivation.

The Sci-Fi element of the story is well researched and explained effectively, but also poses some interesting philosophical questions about the nature of time travel.

From the first chapter – which sets both the scene and tone of the book and gives the reader an outline of the lead character – we are lead through a series of twists and turns, many of which are quite unpredictable, and I found myself being sucked deeper and deeper into the book the more I read. Music plays a strong role throughout the book (look closely at the chapter titles!) and acts as a reminder that, despite time moving forward, links to our pasts are everywhere. 

If I were to level any criticism at this book (and it is a very minor point) it would be that I found one or two phrases to be a little stereotypical.

Overall this is a fantastic read which I would recommend for anyone who enjoys a good mystery, detective story, thriller or, indeed, a slice of Sci-Fi.

Idol

20 Saturday Aug 2022

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Adoration, Adulation, creative, Fame, fiction, flash, Idol, Influence, inspiration, loss, Love, nostalgia, Prose, short story, story, writing

There was a time when I was your hero; your idol, your deity. It was a time when nothing could take my place – there had been nothing before me and even the thought of anything beyond me was unimaginable. I was the first thing that your eyes saw when they opened and the last picture that they held as they closed with the days end. It was a time when I filled your every waking thought and gave meaning to every moment of your life, no matter how small or fleeting. I was the star around which the planet of you revloved; I brought you light in the daytime and dreams which filled your nights with wonder, joy and promise. There was no sacrifice too small, no challenge that you would refuse with me by your side. Your blood ran with my words, my thoughts and my desires, and you took them all as your own. I was your hero, your idol, your everything.

But now, as the turning wheel has worn the threads thin, and the veil has begun to slip from your eyes, you see me with clearer sight. My face has lost its magic, its magnetic pull weaken by over-use. My words, the music that once plucked so easily at your heartstrings, has lost its tone, its melody merely a feeble imitation of what it had once appeared to be. The etched pane has cleared, as if a sea mist had lifted, and you see me now as I truly am. And you realise that I am nothing more than a man, and all that I had to say was nothing more than words; no more or no less than any other.

And the thought remains that I was once your hero, your idol, your everything. 

A sort of update

25 Monday Jul 2022

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Tags

Amazon, Consequences, creative, fiction, inspiration, Love, short stories, stories, story, writing

Well, it looks like Amazon have (sort of) addressed the pricing issue regarding my book of short stories ‘Consequences’.

Unfortunately they have added a link to an edition for Kindle WHICH IS NOT MY BOOK! So, if you were considering a purchase please don’t go for the e-book as (a) it’s not the same and (b) you might be disappointed (or not!).

I have updated links below.

Thank you!

Consequences. 

Three tales exploring consequences; the consequences of random events, of choices and decisions made and of fate or chance.

Lulu

Book Depository

AbeBooks

Barnes and Noble

Amazon

The Silver Locket by Chris Hall (Holly Atkins) – a short review

04 Monday Jul 2022

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Chris Hall, Holly Atkins, Review, story, The Silver Locket, writing

The Silver Locket is a beautifully told story of mystery, romance and the past which sucks the reader into the lives of each character as they are revealed to us. Chris Hall (aka Holly Atkins) writes with a style which is as fluent as it is mesmerising and it is easy to become a part of the story as it unfolds as if the reader were a first hand witness. In fact Chris writes as if she herself has lived the lives of her characters, which makes them all the more accessible and believable.

What makes this story all the more wonderful, though, is knowing that this is Chris’s debut novel – her skill and literary dexterity are clear to see, and it is no surprise that she has gone on to write more superb novels.

There are twists and turns aplenty throughout this story which kept me guessing right up until the closing pages, none of which I have any intention of revealing!

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys tucking into a good mystery with a small slice of romance and history on the side.

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