Writing a Novella-in-Flash

First steps

Hi there.

If you read my previous post about my journey in writing a novella-in-flash, thanks for coming back for more. If you are new, thanks for tuning in.

After dipping my toes into Substack and making myself accountable to actually do the work needed to achieve my goal, this week I had aimed to play around with ideas for characters and their backstories, and get a feel for the stories they might tell.

Well, I felt something alright. I fell over a crate of books in the school library, smashed into a bookshelf and ended up in A&E for three hours waiting for an X-ray. Luckily, I didn’t break any bones but I have a bruised arm, bruised wrist and two blackened knees, all of which are incredibly sore. On top of that, it was the final week of the school term with our Year 6s leaving for good which involved ‘graduation’ ceremonies, and various celebrations going on for far too late in the evening in my opinion, all combined with a mini-heatwave.

So, despite that, this is what I have managed to accomplish this week (I’m calling it an accomplishment because, quite frankly, I’m surprised I did anything at all).

After looking at some of my previous flashes, there were one or two characters who made repeat appearances - not the exact same character but reinventions of them - and so I decided that they might be my leading ladies as I tend to write mostly from a female POV. I know I want their lives to connect in some way but wasn’t sure how until I remembered a film called ‘This Year’s Love’ which follows a group of strangers as they negotiate the tricky path of relationships and - flash of lightning - my characters are usually doing the same. Obviously, I’m not going to copy the film but it has given me the idea for the theme and possibly the structure. I’m not sure at this stage whether to include stories from all the characters: I may just write from the women’s POV and weave the men into their stories, but then again I should really give the men a voice but that’s for later.

Anyway, my next job is to interview my characters (both male and female) to find out about them and I will be following the brilliant advice of

Matt Kendrick

for this who has a plethora of advice on his website.

So, that’s the plan although I’m moving house on Friday - let’s hope I manage to stay on feet that day.

Thanks for reading.

Sally