Why people see short stories as “easy” simply because they’re shorter works.  They’re not!  Short stories are their own challenge. 

How so many short story outlets close down when the popularity of shorter works is rising…  Seems odd to me.

Where all my ideas go the moment I start to get tired…

When publishers will realise they do have to take a risk sometimes or they’ll never publish anything new and once their current crop of authors are no longer writing or around, then what?

Why humorous writing in any format is underappreciated.  Where are the major literary awards for it?  The P.G. Wodehouse Prize is great but I want to see a funny novel win The Booker.  I want to see humour writing taken more seriously as an art form.  It is very difficult to write funny and I sometimes think this is looked down on.  Serious reviews tend to be about serious books.

Why it is the characters you love to read and write about are the ones you suffer the most.  Oh I know you need the drama, to see what your characters are made of and so on but there is something a bit sick about needing to see your characters suffer!

When is the best time to write.  I just write as and when I can, in common with most I suspect.  I don’t have time, literally, for the morning versus night owl debate. 

How you can criticize another’s work unless you regularly read in the fomat they write in and, ideally, write yourself so you know what the struggles are.

Why time flies when I write and it drags when I’m doing the housework.

How bad spelling, punctuation, grammar and so on enrage the true writer when in our hearts we know there are more important issues out there.  It’s as if we can’t help ourselves…

When is the best time to decide you’ve done as much as you can on a piece of work and it’s time to send it in.

Why good writing can make your spirits soar.  I love reading wonderful sentences, paragraphs, scenes and so on. They also inspire your own writing.

Why someone thinks it a good idea to close libraries…  Don't they want people to develop a love of reading and get to try out authors before committing to buying their books?

Why people talk about the death of the book.  There’s no reason why folk can’t love both e-books and “real” books.  Both have their place.

How I can get on and write short stories and novels but when it comes to preparing a synopsis I struggle.  The only comfort I have here is almost every writer feels the same way about this. I know it isn’t just me!

Why my spell and grammar checker doeesn’t seem to accept the word “their” or “theirs”.  I can’t think of any good reason behind this.

Why people debate character versus plot.  For any story to work properly, you need both.  A good plot with a dull character fails.  A good character in a dull plot also fails.

How it always takes longer than you think to back up disks.

Why genre fiction, especially fantasy and science fiction, is looked down on.  I can understand people not liking it - we all have our own tastes - but to despise work just because it’s genre seems pointless to me.  If you’re going to despise anything, do it for a good reason.  Oh and the literary luvvies would do well to remember it is commercial fiction, a lot of this being genre, that keeps the publishing industry going and funds their work.

Where all my bookmarks go…

Why I never have as much time for reading as I’d like.

Why I tend to go through “gluts” - gluts of reading history, fantasy, short stories and so on.

How I get through biros and pencils in no time at all…

Why I love fairytales as much as I do, it’s enough that I do.  It’s kind of okay to have this attitude as a child.  At my age, it gets you labelled a geek.  Not that I care.  Geeks at least take an interest in something in life!

Pinpointing the exact moment my novels come to life.  I sense a “build up” and then the story and characters “take over” and it’s then I know I have something.  Something that is live.  Something that can be worked on.  Something that has promise.  I love those moments.

Why when loved ones catch you staring into space, it somehow doesn’t seem like you’re working!  Never despise thinking time.  Doing boring jobs such as housework can be useful for giving your mind time to think so that when it comes to writing, you can get right down to the practical stuff far more quickly.

Why it is when I haven’t got a lot of time, my writing flows and flows and flows so I wish I had longer to get it all down on paper or on screen yet when I have plenty of time, I always feel as if I should've written more than I did.

Why it is villains in stories hold such appeal given I know full well if I met such characters in life I’d keep well clear.

Why it is I never run of paper in my printer at the beginning or end of a story but always in the middle.  It never matters how long the story is either.

Why it is someone thought it a good idea to introduce zombies to the world of Jane Austen.  I’m all for the flexing of the old imaginative muscle but there is a limit and this book, to me, crossed it.  Zombies, yes.  Jane Austen, yes.  The two together?  No!

Where I put all my pens.  There are times the lot goes missing.  I don’t know about Terry Pratchett’s Eater of
Socks.  In this house, someone’s doing something mysterious to our biros!

Why my toner cartridge always runs out in the middle of a story and as I’m trying to get something out in the post quickly.  When I’m not in a hurry, my toner cartridge goes on for ages.

Why I never have enough time to read as much as I’d like! Mind I think if I had all the time in the world, I still wouldn't manage to read all the books I'd like.

How I can lose pens quickly when I’m really careful with my phone, keys, purse and so on.

Why power cuts always happen in the middle of some important document… Though I have got better at saving my work and backing it up regularly so if the worst happens, I don't lose too much.  Still frustrating though.

What is the climate like on your fantasy/sci-fi world?  Have the residents wrecked it? 
I’ve shown parts of the Fairy Kingdom made barren by having too much magic thrown at them during the magical wars.  I've also shown Eileen's attitude towards the realm's history here - this is one example where she does not go along with the official line.  She is prepared to blame her own royal house and not just the Witch's family for what happened here.  The fairy government tends to ignore the barren areas, they're considered an embarrassing blot, literally.  I love characters who think for themselves, who query the official line and who land themselves right in it because of that uncompromising attitude.  It makes for good stories.

How do your characters cope with adverse conditions, adversity in general? 
If you needed to know the inner workings of your character's soul (or equivalent in your world), drop them right in it and see if they sink or swim.  There can be fascinating stories in brave souls who crumple and quieter ones who show more backbone than expected.  The contrast between bitter characters and those who make the most of what they have/are again can make for wonderfully tense scenes in fiction given the two types of character here are bound to clash.  (If only because the bitter ones will think the others naive...).

Has the climate shaped your world in terms of geography, history, politics etc (in Britain’s case being an island has helped it in battle if only by getting us to be really good at seamanship)? 
I haven't put all I know about my Fairy Kingdom in my work.  I don't intend to either!  But it is and continues to be helpful to me to be able to answer this question and others like it so I can get a feel for my world.  I think I then write more convincingly about it.  Knowing the answer helps clarify your thoughts and will help you work out what could be relevant to your story or what is likely to lead you off into a (non-helpful) tangent.  In the Kingdom's case, the magical fighting of the past has damaged the environment.  For Eileen it acts as a solemn warning.

What happens to those who damage, deliberately or otherwise, your world’s environment or does nobody care? 
Fresdian (later Rose) is considered eccentric for caring so much about the realm's flora and fauna but her knowledge and dedication in finding out all she can about these things is respected.  Fresdian herself would happily blast away anyone deliberately damaging the environment.  It is the issue that winds her up.

Have you got a mental image of what your world is like? 
I’ve based mine partly on Scotland (!), red rocky areas (Mars!) and part of it has rings around it (Saturn!!!).  Magical attitudes to wildlife in my Fairy Kingdom are ambivalent - nobody’s that keen on dragons - but equally Eileen’s been keen to ensure harmless species aren’t wiped out because the sprites get hysterical. 

Have you given your tale enough “oomph”? 
There should be no “boring bits” with information drip-fed in.  You need to alter the pace a bit as too much excitement is exactly that - too much - but too little and there is no story.  The “troughs” in between should give your reader information they’ll need to take your tale forward and a chance to get their breath back as it were, but not for too long.  Do play cat and mouse.  There should be a sense of something “coming”.

Do your characters speak in an appropriate way for how you’ve portrayed them? 
L’Evallier I’ve deliberated portrayed as never using contractions, not even when stressed whereas the Queen sometimes will, partly to try to keep her “common touch” up and running.  Eileen doesn't much care how she speaks.  She will lose some of her formality when talking to the common people but can be haughty with the best of them when she needs to be (though she usually uses that to take down someone else's pomposity).

Can people visualize your world and your characters? 
We don’t need an atlas or an in-depth history but enough details to see what you see when you write, enough to make it seem as if it could be real. Your characters may be the weirdest aliens imaginable or have intellect we humans can only dream of but they should still have traits we can identify with.  After all I think it’s a fairly safe bet to suggest the Daleks are a tad on the aggressive side but it’s how our hero overcomes that aggression that drives the Doctor Who stories.  No aggression = no Dalek.  No character trait = no character worth writing about.  I've always loved the Columbo stories.  A premise where the viewer already knows who did the killing, why and how sounds odd but what is so fascinating is seeing Columbo work it out. 

What are your characters striving for?  What can they use to help them achieve their wishes? 
If everyone can do magic, then that’s no story but if everyone can do magic but there are those who can do a lot more than others then you get a tale, if only based on the inevitable resentment of those who don’t have so much power.  Equally if folk have the ability to improve themselves, to earn extra powers, what do they have to do to get these and are they prepared to do it?  What would they sacrifice to achieve their ambitions?  There's several story ideas in that!

How do your characters’ lives change?  Long term characters especially should have plenty of ups and downs.  The ups shouldn’t be saccharine sweet.  For the downs, there should be some hope they can get out of them.  (If you want constant despair, watch your average party political broadcast!).

Do your characters develop relationships?  Think about all kinds of relationships as well as the obvious romantic/sexual ones.  Is there part of their personality that makes forming relationships difficult? Do they find a particular type of character difficult and if so have you shown why? 

How do your characters’ relationships change? Relationships don’t stay static.  Relationships should be a major part of your plot, should complicate things and give your characters both hope and despair.  Think about how your character demonstates anger, frustration etc.

Make sure when you use things from your own experience that everything you use you are happy to see in print (hopefully achieved!) and that nothing can come back to haunt you.  Generally speaking it is best to, for example, use feelings and then get your characters to expand them and take them in a direction appropriate for them and the story rather than get your character to reflect everything that actually happened to you.  Real life experiences should be treated like chilli powder - use very sparingly. It is your characters that matter.  Characters should reflect, not copy exactly.  The irony is that so often real life things tend to sound not real in fiction.  There’s a reason for the saying truth is stranger than fiction…  what you seek in your fiction is the sense of truth.  You want folk to think yes, that could be.  And don’t lay it on thick with a trowel.  People will see through that.

Are your characters true to themselves?  Fairies can be seen as twee - Eileen is anything but. Original fairy tales are often gory.  You want your readers to hate your characters, love them, worry for them, wonder what happens to them after the story finishes but they must never be boring.

Do your characters adapt?  They ought to.  Any tale, regardless of length, is about changes - after all nobody in life stays static so your characters shouldn’t.  Your characters should develop as we do in life.  It’s in that sense any fiction should mirror life.

If ever there was one tip every writer should follow, regardless of their genre, style or whether it's fiction or non-fiction they write, the title of this blog sums it up.  You have to know what you like to know what you would like to write.  You want to be inspired by the great writers. You've also got to know what's already out there.

Read, read, read.  Not just the professional mags and blogs but novels, short stories, anything you yourself would like to write.  You learn from what you read.  Sometimes when you come across a dire piece, you can still learn from it - what not to do!  The trick is to make sure that dire piece is not one of yours! 

Read contemporary fiction and classic. Read non-fiction as well as fiction.  It may give you ideas to help you populate your fictional world - my Queen’s Chief Leader, L’Evallier, is roughly based on Queen Elizabeth I’s minister, William, Lord Burghley.  There I was looking for qualities as well as the similiarities in job.  Burghley was not afraid to criticize his boss and always spoke his mind.  She knew she needed that.  Makes for an interesting relationship - one where there are clashes but there’s always the unspoken question.  Will either of them take things too far?  Elizabeth almost did after the execution of Mary Stuart when she banished Burghley from Court for a while (and he was devastated by that). 

L’Evallier becomes more outspoken as the novels go on… will he reach the point of no return?  And at the point of writing this I don’t know either!  It’ll be fun finding out, I hope.

You run out of paper in the middle of a story, regardless of story length.

You run out of toner or ink in the middle of a story, regardless of story length (and because with toner the print quality gradually fades you always have to run out the whole tale again).

Pens always vanish.  It doesn't matter how many you have in the house or on your person.  They all go.

Power cuts always happen in the middle of an important print run.

Ideas for new stories always come at the most awkward times (on the loo, in the shower, in church, basically anywhere where you can't whip out a notebook and commit the idea to paper).

You run out of stamps (or have problems with your email provider) the very moment you want to get a piece of work out and there's a deadline looming.

The joy of being short-listed
Is showing that you’ve resisted
The temptation to jack it all in
When rejections are all that come in
You’ve kept going, you’ve persisted!


The above says it all.  Being short-listed boosts your confidence.  I wish I could bottle that feeling of achievement and how good it makes you feel as a writer, it’d sell by the million!  It’s also good to put on the writing CV! Want to write better?  Write more!  Try different forms. I’ve found writing short stories with a tight word count has led to my writing my Brenebourne series in a tighter fashion, which will reduce the word count there (never a bad thing as I overwrite) and I’ve found my narrative pace has picked up too.


The writing game is frustrating and long.
Everything you send out seems to be wrong.
Rejections - oh so many!  And
Acceptances - oh so few!  And
Keep your chin up, persistence pays, be strong.


Oh so true!  And when successes come, such as being shortlisted, it will mean more.  Writing is one of the few professions I can think of where failure is expected, where you can learn so much from it and then go on, hopefully, to get your work out there.  After all surgeons aren’t “allowed” to fail. 

Vary your writing and experiment with what you want to do.  I started off just writing novels but now love writing short stories and scripts too.  It can be useful to have smaller pieces of work to send out whilst you’re working on a longer item - if these shorter pieces can get published and earn you something, then great and it’s something for the CV.  If not, writing short story hones your other writing skills (writing to a deadline, sticking to a theme for themed competitions) and to a word count.  Short stories are the best way I know of to “write tight”.

I find physical descriptions, particularly of places, hard to do so use my holiday snaps of various beautiful places in Scotland as an inspiration.  And the great thing is I can leave out the midges! Think about how your fictional world is run.  If someone asked you a question about it, could you answer them?  Do you know enough about the climate, the history, the reason your world is run the way it is?

What is the climate like on your fantasy/sci-fi world?  Have the residents wrecked it?  I’ve shown parts of the Fairy Kingdom made barren by having too much magic thrown at them during the magical wars.  How do your characters cope with adverse conditions, adversity in general?  Has the climate shaped your world in terms of geography, history, politics etc (in Britain’s case being an island has helped it in battle if only by getting us to be really good at seamanship)? 

What happens to those who damage, deliberately or otherwise, your world’s environment or does nobody care?  Have you got a mental image of what your world is like?  I’ve based mine partly on Scotland (!), red rocky areas (Mars!) and part of it has rings around it (Saturn!!!).  Magical attitudes to wildlife in my Fairy Kingdom are ambivalent - nobody’s that keen on dragons - but equally Eileen’s been keen to ensure harmless species aren’t wiped out because the sprites get hysterical.  So what is the prevalent attitude in your world?  What is your environment like?

Does your world have different classes in it and, if so, how do they interact with each other?

The Queen's family tree is well known and is displayed like the Bayeux Tapestry behind glass screens in the Palace itself and the historic artefacts museums every major town is duty bound to run for the education of its citizens.  The more important families of all the magical species produce their own family trees.  Even the sprites have these though nobody, except other sprites, takes any notice of them.

Eileen is disparaging of her family tree because of the disreputable deeds carried out by so many of her ancestors.  The Queen prefers to think of this as "just what they did then" though Eileen sees this as a fiimsy excuse.  While Eileen was in the Kingdom she took a great interest in other family trees. As she went out and about serving the realm she often met loads of people/beings only too keen to get her opinion on their trees.  These are all produced as works of art with gold thread and miniature paintings being de rigeur even for the simplest tree.  The Queen naturally consiiders only the royal family tree to be of any interest.  Eileen loathes that attitude though the Queen rightly points out every single one of their mutual ancestors took the same view as the monarch.

FNN sometimes run programmes showing how to produce family trees properly and to stress the importance of keeping such things up to date.

I don't tend to write these.  I can see the point of them but I can also see how easy it would be to get carried away with producing something like this when I ought to be getting on with writing the novel, short story or script. 

I do know roughly what my characters look like but the thing I pin down first is their main character traits.  Eileen, for example, is as awkward as they come but honourable and brave with it.  Those traits can lead into interesting plot developments.  Eileen would rush in where angels fear to tread. 

That kind of thought then makes me think well has she done this and if I decide yes she has to back up my initial thought, I can get some sort of back story for Eileen.  I may or may not use some of this back story to flesh out her character in whatever piece I'm working on but I find in knowing the information myself I write with more confidence.  I think it wil show in the writing.  Certainly when I am reading other works, if the characterization doesn't ring quite true for whatever reason, it stands out and spoils the story for me.

A determined character like Eileen is huge fun to write for and about but there has to be a balance.  There has to be someone who can rival her or hold her back.  Why?  A character like Eileen cries out for something/someone to fight against (whether those fights are literal or not is another thing).  Also a character like her would rub plenty of people up the wrong way.  My work then takes on a more realistic feel if something of that ends up in my stories.  There is no way someone like Eileen could ever have a quiet life.

I also look at what would make my characters vulnerable as this helps me show their good/bad/able to be corrupted or not side.  That in turn could throw up ideas for what I could use to threaten those characters and how that could tie in to my overall plot.

Keep a diary of what you do writing wise.  Not only will it help you organize yourself, and keep track of what you sent where, I’ve found I’ve been inspired to want to fill all those blank pages.  My output has increased tremendously since keeping a diary.  And it's a great way to "sound off" about your writing successes and frustrations if only to yourself!

Writers’  News and Writing Magazine bring out an annual competitions guide and a writing diary is a good way of helping you organize your deadlines for the ones you want to have a go at. 

Read novels, non-fiction, short stories, articles, poetry and reputable writing magazines.  You need this to inspire your own creativity as well as showing you markets to try and so on.  I try to combine reading with a stint on my exercise bike so I give my body and mind a work out at the same time!  Also keep in touch with the news, developments in science etc as ideas can be triggered from these too. You want ideas coming in from all kinds of sources and then make something wonderful out of them all as you use them to fire your own fiction. I think it crucial not to just read what you love but to read outside this too - non-fiction of all kinds as well as fiction you do not write.

To write well you've got to read well.  You need to feed your mind.

I like these.  The Ernest Hemingway one where you tell a story in six words is great for clarifying your thoughts (and for starting off potential story ideas!).  For example:-

The vampire looked scared...
He refused to cry again...
She pushed him off the cliff...
The footprints couldn't be human...
Only Mad Fred spotted the alien invasion...

Coming up with potential finishing lines is also a good exercise as it makes you think of what could have led to that point.  All of the above examples could be used to finish a story too.

I see writing games as a great way to brain storm.  I like to have brain storming sessions every now and again.  When I've finished a novel or a load of short stories, I turn to ideas generated here and see if there is anything I could use for a competition or to trigger off another novel plot.

And the best thing about writing games is they are fun.  They can be a morale booster too.  In coming up with ideas for these, it confirms to you that you can write (and sometimes when your inner editor is being overtly critical of you, you could do with that confirmation - or at least I find that to be the case!).

I enjoy reading and writing flash fiction (I tend to go for the 500 words to 750 variety).  One of my favourite pieces is below.

JUST DESSERTS
At last I stop running.  At last I rest under this ancient tree for a while and remember the idiocy that made me run for my life.  I had the luxurious life I’d always wanted.  One stupid mistake and I threw it all away.

The red apple was my big mistake.  Sounds stupid, doesn’t it?  How could one measly piece of fruit bring me down?  But it did.  Thinking back as I rest, I know now the apple smacked of not thinking things through, which is unlike me, and of meanness, which is my besetting sin.  I’ve been poor.  I never wanted to be that way again so I’ve always thought twice about unnecessary expenditure.  I should’ve realised extra expense would’ve been worth it to stop me being saddled with a Goody Two Shoes of a stepdaughter.  If I had been more thoughtful to the King’s wretched brat, just the once, I wouldn't be here now. I was Queen. 

I should've remembered success happens when one undertakes a task properly. Knowing Snow White's fondness for desserts, (not publicized, she jealously guards her image, that girl is vain, you should’ve seen how snooty she was when I moved in), I should've baked a proper apple pudding, the luscious one with the caramel sauce, and poisoned her with that.  The way that girl scoffed puddings there was no way any apple would've been left in her throat for that chinless wonder Charming to get out.  Still my one amusing thought is given she likes her image to remain spotless he’ll probably be disappointed on their wedding night!

Something hard has just hit my head.  I’m not moving.  I know what the object was.  I can see it where it stopped by my feet.  If I need a sign of the way my luck is going, I’ve just received it.  I was hit by another bloody red apple!


THE END

It didn't win but I loved writing it.  It was one of my early attempts at flash fiction and I was just so pleased I'd managed to do it.

Most of my longer short stories are around the 1500 to 2000 words mark, as this is what most writing competitions call for.  I like this kind of work as you've got a bit more room to develop character but notice "a bit".  The whole point of a short story is you can't go on for too long, every word has to count.  If a short story is meant to capture a moment in time, then a flash piece is what you capture in the blink of an eye. 

I find deadlines useful.  They stop me from procrastinating, give me a definite goal to work towards and when I'm not set one (by say a writing competition) I arrange my own!  I like to set myself targets - for example by the end of the month I want at least one short story to be out there or to have got to a certain point on my short story collection or novel.  I like to try different writing competitions (though I enter those that are recommended by another author on their website or if it is advertised in say Writers' News/Writing Magazine or are competitions that have been around for a long time.  If in doubt I always check out a competition website and if the entry fee seems excessive for the prize on offer I don't enter it.  That can be the sign of a scam).

The different deadlines these competitions set I find useful as a discipline for me.  The competitions also tend to vary the word counts they require and that can be a good discipline too as I write to the different standards wanted.

I don't set a deadline as such for a novel given it is more complex than a short story but I do want to have a first draft written and typed up and a basic copy edit done in a year.  I know there's still a lot more to do after that but I find it a good guidance.  It stops me dragging the novel out.  By the end of a year I've got something I can work with.  I think my next stage is to set myself goals for one complete year - i.e.  have so many stories out, have a draft novel written and so on - but to set targets and then meet them is a good habit and hope it stands me in good stead, hopefully for the day when my novels might be published.

Links can be interesting things.  I think my favourite was setting up a childhood link between Eileen and the Chief Witch and showing where the former was compassionate to the latter.  This has led on to the Witch, while having no compunction at all at taking over the magical realm and killing anyone and everyone in her way, being reluctant to harm Eileen.  Indeed the Witch welcomes Eileen's defection.  Eileen is on another planet, out of her way, and the one person ever kind to the Witch gets to live.  So when Eileen comes back (albeit reluctantly) the Witch has to face up to the fact if her rebelllion is going to be successful, Eileen is going to have to die.  And the Witch also has to face up to the fact that is going to cost her grief. 

The link came about partly due to both women being close in age, also because they were related and due to Eileen being very much her own character and not a fairy royal puppet, the way the Queen would like her to be.  (Eileen would stop asking awkward questions about royal magical conduct if she were such a puppet for one thing).  Eileen had also, in the course of writing her own books, researched the Witch's past properly.  Empathy can be a powerful thing.  And it led directly to the Witch sparing Eileen's life at least once, something nobody else was privileged to receive.

The other link I like a lot is the one between Melanbury, aristocrat in her own right and L'Evallier's wife, and Hanastrew, who is far more "common", proud of her mentor, Eileen, and would only speak with a plum in her mouth if she was actually eating the fruit in question at the time!  Both Melanbury and Hanastrew (a) want to have careers (more of an issue for Melanbury as with her noble background this is very much frowned on) and (b) want to prove to be more than decorative and (c) serve the Kingdom well.  Hanastrew is the only person Melanbury would confide in and even that posh lady seems to need her own girlish confidant.  Hanastrew does not envy Melanbury's posh background, can see its disadvantages clearly and other than hating Melanbury's passion for salads (Hanastrew loves her chocolate and puddings but is active enough to burn off everything she consumes) likes the girl elf a lot.  There is more to both girls than meets the eye and both sense that in the other.

I've always loved writing and reading dialogue and hearing characters speak.  (Also in reading between the lines of what they're saying so you get a sense of the real character behind the words they're speaking).  I listen to a lot of talk radio (Radio 4 Extra is wonderful) - comedies, dramas and so on.  Not only are these things wonderful entertainment, I think you can absorb styles of speech and some of that I can use for my work.

When I'm reviewing stories, I try to make sure I listen to my characters, that the words I've given them I can actually "hear" them saying, that nothing is inappropriate or out of kilter for them.  I do speak work out loud, especially dialogue.  Sometimes I record myself and play it back.  Ignoring the fact I tend to sound posh on any kind of recording device, I find playing dialogue back is the sure way to pick up any thing that does  not ring quite true or if what looks right written down is actually tricky to say out loud.  I try to stick to the Keep It Simple, Stupid principle for writing dialogue.  It works.

I listen to the story as a whole too as part of my editing process.  The story has to ring true on all levels and "hearing it" helps this.

One thing I love about inventing characters is seeing how they develop.  I  knew Roherum, FNN's goblin presenter, was going to be a bit of a loveable idiot but wanted there to be more to him that that.  I wanted a character who was avuncular and who hid his intelligence well.

This led to the development of the weatherman's character as Roherum is meant to be part of a "double act".  He is Mister Nice Guy to the weatherman's Complete and Utter Git.  They both wind the other up.  They unwittingly amuse the realm, even the Witch, which is a major achievement and a factor in the survival of both Roherum and the weatherman. Yet Roherum can come up with decent interview questions, has shown some courage and is not at all fooled by the weatheman's attitude.  Roherum simply doesn't care the weatherman hates his guts.  What Roherum enjoys is knowing the weatherman is flummoxed by that.

But all of this did not come at once. Both characters developed piecemeal.  I hope they are better written for it because I've had time to work out, yes this is what they would do, this will strengthen the story if I write them like this and it is appropriate for the kind of characters they are etc.

I am always encouraged when I can look at the end of a novel or short story and see exactly how my characters have changed and why and that it all makes sense.  It doesn't have to be a positive change either.  Brankaresh does not become a fine, upstanding character.  His type just wouldn't because they are too full of themselves to recognize the need to change.  In some ways that is quite sad.  From a writer's viewpoint though, characters like that are fun to write for because they need a comeuppance of some sort.

I couldn't honestly tell you whether I prefer novels or short stories. Both have their merits when writing/reading them.  Both have major disadvantages when trying to write the things!  In the case of short stories, I always find word limitation an issue.  I always have to cut back.  With novels I have to watch I don't go off at a tangent (generally unrelated to the plot) though since I've started outlining this is less of a problem.  The great advantage of an outline is when ideas come as I'm writing the novel I can jot them down and compare them with my outline and see if these ideas can (a) fit in at all, (b) are better than what I originally thought of and (c) where ideas that are suitable can physically fit into the story.

I've always loved fairytales.  My dad bought me The Reader's Digest Collection of Fairy Stories in two volumes.  Both are pretty well read (and taped up to stop them falling apart, always a sign of a good book I think!).  Little did I know when Dad got me these, that they could act as research material for me!  The great thing is the collection contains the original versions of the stories.  No sanatized Disney versions here.  The original tale of The Little Mermaid is pretty bleak in its outcome.  And as for The Little Match Girl it never fails to move me to tears.  Social commentary was around before Dickens and this story is one proof of that.

I prefer overall stories with humour in them (even if their main genre is something else) though the humour must never be forced (and boy can you tell when it is!).

I enjoy all stages of writing.  There is always a certain sense of relief when I've written the first draft but I think I enjoy the first edit more.  This is because I have something to work with but also as I cut out any repetitions, take out what is not needed, I can "feel" my manuscript "tightening" and losing the initial write-it-all-down-and-edit-later "flab". 

On the novels, I carry out at least three edits.  The first one is to cut out mistakes, repetitions and so on.  The second edit is to ensure the story does make sense and to strengthen things as I need to and ensure there is consistency in the plot and my characters (unless the lack of consistency is part of the plot of course).  The third edit is to try to read the manuscript as if I'd never come across it before and to see it from a would-be agent's/publisher's viewpoint.  I think one big danger to any would-be author is to get too close to the story and as a result not to be able to see its faults so trying to read it from an outsider's perspective helps overcome that.

I don't even think about trying to submit work before I've gone through all of this.  And I have used outside agencies in the past, notably the Hilary Johnson Advisory Service, which I found really useful and reasonably priced.  I try to remind myself the whole point of editing is to make the story as good as I possibly can make it before trying to send it out to the market and therefore it is worth getting it right.

Necessities are a good way to work out whether a character really is needed, whether the plot really needs this event to happen to make it work (or does it make it seem contrived?) and whether dialogue is appropriate for the relevant character.  Is it necessary for them to speak in such a way?  For example, I made L'Evallier such a snob he will not use any kind of contraction in speech or in writing.  The fact he speaks so formally emphasises his snobbery.  It was a necessary device in this case as it backed up the character.  And he needed to be a snob as the Queen would not take, at times, blatant criticism from any mere peasant.  It had to come from someone with a, in her eyes, "decent" ancestry behind them.

Necessities are good for editing purposes as well.  I try to ask myself if this scene is necessary (and to remind myself why it is) or could it be bettered?  Is the book/story itself a necessity?  Before getting too depressed on that point, ask yourself who would read this work?  Can you figure out who would like it?  If so then there is a necessity somewhere (oh and if you're writing for pleasure only, that is a necessity for you, whether you write for therapeutic purposes, to just enjoy the challenge or whatever).

Necessities can drive a plot too.  The Queen, to begin with, is driven by the necessity to not upset Eileen too much, so allows her defection, planning all the time to get Eileen back.  Later, the Queen's necessity to get Eileen back becomes an obsession that takes the monarch over and makes her act in a way she would not have done only weeks previously.

Do your characters take you over?  Do you avoid putting your characters into situations because you really don't want to kill them off?  If so, watch out.  Your characters are there to serve your story and if it means they have to go, then go they must.  I am very fond of my hypocritical Eileen but wouldn't rule out the possibility of having to kill her off at a later date. 

I ask myself every so often what is this character doing?  Why have I written them (a) the way I have and (b) at all?  If I can't answer those questions satisfactorily to myself, then I think it's time for that character to go.  I need my characters to have a purpose.  And it is fine for purposes to come to an end.  For example, I knew Brankaresh would not get away with his treachery and he would be held to account for it.  I must admit I enjoyed removing that sexist, treacherous wizard (possibly a tad too much!) but his story had come to a natural end.

So be wary of characters wanting to take you over. Is is their story to tell?  Are they adding something positive when they develop this way or are they slowing the plot down, getting in the way somewhat?

One great way to ensure your fictional world has at least one link with reality is to ensure it has limitations and that is characters have limitations too.  An all powerful character who can do anything any time any where in many ways is an uninteresting character.  They'll just use their powers to get out of whatever scrape they've got themselves into (and bear in mind other characters will know they're all powerful so are likely to avoid confrontation).  The characters who use what skills they have got, who struggle to overcome and get there in the end are far more interesting.  Readers are more likely to identify and so sympathize with them. 

Looking at how your world overcomes its limitations (likewise individual characters) will drive your story forward whether they succeed or not.  (And indeed the frustration from failure can really show up the true nature of your "people").  Also worth looking at are things like can the inhabitants of your world benefit from those limitations (my Fairy Queen does, she knows nobody else can be more powerful than her) or are they seriously inhibited by them (can someone else benefit from that?).

One of Eileen's limitations is being over confident that she is always right (Jenny is keen to put that idea right but is stymied by the fact her mother often is right!) and stubborn.  That stubbornness leads Eileen directly into scrapes a more modest person, not wanting hassle, would easily avoid.

One way I tell my characters apart is using the way they speak to emphasise differences.  For example, L'Evallier, Chief Elf and (later) Council Leader, will never use contractions.  To him they are an abomination.  On the other hand his boss, the Fairy Queen, will use them sometimes but only when she is feeling under pressure.  It is as if her command of language just "goes".  Eileen of course will speak any old way she likes but nobody in either of her two worlds would expect anything less from such a forthright person.

I tend to give brief physical descriptions of characters.  I prefer to show their attitudes, often via their own speech but in also in the way others refer to them.  L'Evallier has a reputation for being the snob's snob and I get other characters to refer to him in this kind of way.   Brankaresh, Chief Wizard, uses flattering language and it is clear early on he is a creep.  I sometimes think of actors who might play my characters' roles should the Brenebourne novels ever be filmed (I wish!) but it does help me picture them better.  Good pictures lead to better writing (because it comes through that I've thought the character out). 

I've always loved characters that develop over time which is why Commander Vimes is my favourite out of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.