awesome stimulating story. My favorite line is "Just call the winch" Makes no sense as how does once actually call an object, BUT is that what it is, Loved it
opollitico Thanks for being here ☺️ it looks ok doesn’t it! Some bits of it aren’t quite perfect but nothing ever is! Still need to get the critique page up too... one day 😂
I wrote a piece for a beginner fiction class in college and forgot about it until recently. Love it. It was so fun to write. I’m editing it right now to submit
Wow. I really enjoyed bofe stories. Congrats on being shortlisted Kieren. That in and of itself; totally sweet. Kieren Westwood. Even your name rolls of the minds tongue ever so smoothly. LOL seriously you're so meant to write! Thank you for sharing. Sub'd and I rung the bell. Cheers Kieren! Star Sackaney
I love Her Cousin's Eye. It is awesome. Actually I enjoyed both stories. I finished writing a flash fiction rough draft today... 444 word count and pure dialogue between two characters, which is unusual for me since as I find it difficult writing dialogue.
Thank you so much for saying so 🙂 Awesome! I consider about 4-500 words the best kind of length for flash fiction. Interesting that it's all dialogue though! I love the flexibility with short fiction to make it take whatever form it needs to.
OK, this makes me want to give flash fiction a try. It might be a good way for me to take a quick break from revising without starting a giant new story/project. How do you stop yourself from expanding these into full stories or short stories?? Usually when I get an idea, however small, it ends up spiraling into a full blown novel-length story. There's a lot about the structure of short stories or particularly flash fiction that is so much like poetry. Every little word, phrase, punctuation, etc. needs to be chosen carefully since there is so little of it to begin with.
I've done exactly that SO many times 😂 It's often hard not to, but I do get ideas that are too small for anything else and FF is great for that. I also write flash fiction with my existing novel characters if I have good ideas that just don't quite fit into my story. It doesn't have to be a fully-formed intentional flash fiction idea, if that makes sense. Sometimes I cheat and expand or rewrite chapters from a novel into flash fiction by finding ways to fill in context gaps too. It's great for taking a break, like a palate cleanser for your writing brain!
Just started writing again after years. Wondering if I could show you something or bounce a few ideas off of you. New to this genre. But I enjoy it. Great videos.
Hi, thanks so much for watching! I'd be glad to help, I've got a couple of things I could do. Firstly, if you're looking for a really comprehensive critique of a story, I have a critique service on my website for that. www.kierenwestwood.com Otherwise, if you're just after a general chat and my quick impressions of something etc, feel free to use the form on the 'contact' page on the website and I'd be happy to come back to you 🙂
Thank you for the video, it's grate. I'm very new to writing. I was wondering why you didn't use speech marks in the dialogue in the first story but you did in the second story? Sorry if it's a dumb question. I'm still trying to understand the basics.
Hi, thanks for watching. I didn't use any speech marks in the first one, because I wrote it to sound as though someone was recounting this story to you verbally. It's first-person perspective, and I tried to make it feel as though someone is telling you an anecdote, rather than you're reading a story in which people have lines of dialogue, if that makes sense. The second story is a bit more traditionally written, it's third person perspective, so outside of the characters' minds for the most part. Because this creates a bit of distance from what's going on, using quotation marks here makes things clearer. There aren't absolute rules for this, Cormac McCarthy quite famously didn't use quotation marks in his writing, but generally I'd say if you're not sure, put them in, it'll make things clearer for readers generally :)
The main difference is just length really, a short story can go up to a few thousand words quite easily, but a flash has to stop around 1000. They’re not all that different otherwise, except flash fiction is often more experimental and less focussed on the actual story of what’s happening (events, occurrences) and more focused on characters and little snapshots into the lives of those characters. Short stories have more time for a narrative to unfold, so they don’t have to be quite as concise ☺️
I like the name, The West Field, for the second flash fiction story.. The story is about a boy in a place, so it would have to be the boys name or the place is what I'm thinking. -Adam A.
Thanks so much Joey ☺️ you should try it! They work well for little scenes for novel characters and stuff. Those ideas you get that are good but don’t fit into the big picture 😉
opollitico Ah thanks! I’m fond of that story. There’s 19 more in that collection that I’ll hopefully be able to release sooner rather than later in some format 😁
I'm working my way through your backlog of videos. Very interesting to see the slight changes between the story here and what you eventually published in Gold Fury. Just out of curiosity, did you get any feedback from the Bath Novella in Flash competition? Or are these changes just from your own rereading and Beta readers?
It really did change quite a bit. I did get feedback from Bath Novella in Flash yes, the judge for 2020 Michael Loveday, sent me some feedback and notes for the entire thing which guided my revisions. Then after that I jus worked on tightening it up as much as I could. I had it sensitivity-read by someone from the US to avoid annoying Britishisms (though I'm told I still didn't get all of them) then I just had a few more people read it before a final edit.
MY EDITING SERVICE:
www.kierenwestwood.com/editing
awesome stimulating story. My favorite line is "Just call the winch" Makes no sense as how does once actually call an object, BUT is that what it is, Loved it
Thank you!
It's such a good goal driving your channel forward. Doing a great job. Website looks gd too!
opollitico Thanks for being here ☺️ it looks ok doesn’t it! Some bits of it aren’t quite perfect but nothing ever is! Still need to get the critique page up too... one day 😂
@@KierenWestwoodWriting no, you're doing great. One step at a time 🙂
opollitico Appreciate the support as always ☺️
I wrote a piece for a beginner fiction class in college and forgot about it until recently. Love it. It was so fun to write. I’m editing it right now to submit
Go for it! I love discovering writing I'd forgotten about. Thanks for watching!
Bravo Zulu. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for watching! 🙂
I'm here for module!❤️
Wow. I really enjoyed bofe stories. Congrats on being shortlisted Kieren. That in and of itself; totally sweet. Kieren Westwood. Even your name rolls of the minds tongue ever so smoothly. LOL seriously you're so meant to write! Thank you for sharing. Sub'd and I rung the bell. Cheers Kieren!
Star Sackaney
Thank you so much Star 🙂 Feedback like that makes my day!
I love Her Cousin's Eye. It is awesome. Actually I enjoyed both stories. I finished writing a flash fiction rough draft today... 444 word count and pure dialogue between two characters, which is unusual for me since as I find it difficult writing dialogue.
Thank you so much for saying so 🙂 Awesome! I consider about 4-500 words the best kind of length for flash fiction. Interesting that it's all dialogue though! I love the flexibility with short fiction to make it take whatever form it needs to.
Thanks for sharing. Didn't know about this genre until today. Tried my hand at my first story, at 21 words. Lots to learn!
Fantastic! It's a really fun genre to try out. Quick to jump into, but plenty of work to get right. Good luck with it and have fun!
Your stories gave me chills!!
Thank you! What a great compliment ☺️ I appreciate you watching.
Thank you. I am working on your three minute writing practices in between work and other work. Just what I needed.
OK, this makes me want to give flash fiction a try. It might be a good way for me to take a quick break from revising without starting a giant new story/project.
How do you stop yourself from expanding these into full stories or short stories?? Usually when I get an idea, however small, it ends up spiraling into a full blown novel-length story.
There's a lot about the structure of short stories or particularly flash fiction that is so much like poetry. Every little word, phrase, punctuation, etc. needs to be chosen carefully since there is so little of it to begin with.
I've done exactly that SO many times 😂 It's often hard not to, but I do get ideas that are too small for anything else and FF is great for that.
I also write flash fiction with my existing novel characters if I have good ideas that just don't quite fit into my story. It doesn't have to be a fully-formed intentional flash fiction idea, if that makes sense.
Sometimes I cheat and expand or rewrite chapters from a novel into flash fiction by finding ways to fill in context gaps too.
It's great for taking a break, like a palate cleanser for your writing brain!
Just started writing again after years. Wondering if I could show you something or bounce a few ideas off of you. New to this genre. But I enjoy it. Great videos.
Hi, thanks so much for watching!
I'd be glad to help, I've got a couple of things I could do. Firstly, if you're looking for a really comprehensive critique of a story, I have a critique service on my website for that.
www.kierenwestwood.com
Otherwise, if you're just after a general chat and my quick impressions of something etc, feel free to use the form on the 'contact' page on the website and I'd be happy to come back to you 🙂
@@KierenWestwoodWriting sounds good man. I'll do that tn. Thanks
Thank you for the video, it's grate. I'm very new to writing. I was wondering why you didn't use speech marks in the dialogue in the first story but you did in the second story? Sorry if it's a dumb question. I'm still trying to understand the basics.
Hi, thanks for watching. I didn't use any speech marks in the first one, because I wrote it to sound as though someone was recounting this story to you verbally. It's first-person perspective, and I tried to make it feel as though someone is telling you an anecdote, rather than you're reading a story in which people have lines of dialogue, if that makes sense.
The second story is a bit more traditionally written, it's third person perspective, so outside of the characters' minds for the most part. Because this creates a bit of distance from what's going on, using quotation marks here makes things clearer.
There aren't absolute rules for this, Cormac McCarthy quite famously didn't use quotation marks in his writing, but generally I'd say if you're not sure, put them in, it'll make things clearer for readers generally :)
Thank you, that's makes sense.
Thankyou! Whats the difference between flash fiction and a short story?
The main difference is just length really, a short story can go up to a few thousand words quite easily, but a flash has to stop around 1000. They’re not all that different otherwise, except flash fiction is often more experimental and less focussed on the actual story of what’s happening (events, occurrences) and more focused on characters and little snapshots into the lives of those characters. Short stories have more time for a narrative to unfold, so they don’t have to be quite as concise ☺️
Thank you for this my good friend
This was so useful, brother :) Just subscribed! Thank you and God bless :)
Thank you ☺️ glad it was useful.
this is brilliant tips, I haven't got a clue about writing but feel like having a go at it. why - the - eff- not? cheers.
Why the eff not indeed ☺️ everyone starts without a clue, but you can do it I’m sure!
I like the name, The West Field, for the second flash fiction story.. The story is about a boy in a place, so it would have to be the boys name or the place is what I'm thinking. -Adam A.
I loved the flash fiction, left we wanting more and while I've never written Flash fiction it does intrigue me!
Thanks so much Joey ☺️ you should try it! They work well for little scenes for novel characters and stuff. Those ideas you get that are good but don’t fit into the big picture 😉
I cannot wait to write Flash Fiction in short stories and full length features with IBM and with Joe Hill
Similarities po ng graphic fiction at flash fiction?
So what would you call micro fiction?
Borges wrote some flash fiction
"Nobody's Business"
You won me over! I subscribed
Thank you! That's awesome, I really appreciate it!
Great video!
Robin Sprung - Writing Advice Thanks! Appreciate you checking out the channel ☺️
@@KierenWestwoodWriting You're welcome!
That's a brilliant ending for the second example!!
opollitico Ah thanks! I’m fond of that story. There’s 19 more in that collection that I’ll hopefully be able to release sooner rather than later in some format 😁
@@KierenWestwoodWriting fab!
I'm working my way through your backlog of videos. Very interesting to see the slight changes between the story here and what you eventually published in Gold Fury.
Just out of curiosity, did you get any feedback from the Bath Novella in Flash competition? Or are these changes just from your own rereading and Beta readers?
It really did change quite a bit. I did get feedback from Bath Novella in Flash yes, the judge for 2020 Michael Loveday, sent me some feedback and notes for the entire thing which guided my revisions. Then after that I jus worked on tightening it up as much as I could.
I had it sensitivity-read by someone from the US to avoid annoying Britishisms (though I'm told I still didn't get all of them) then I just had a few more people read it before a final edit.