Due to (lovely) family commitments, this post is going up a day early.  Christmas Stories ties in with a recent CFT post though naturally this week's one, as we rapidly approach 2019, is my usual end of year/highlights of year post.

What are your favourite Christmas stories?  Mine are:-

1.  The Nativity
2.  A Christmas Carol
3.  Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
4.  Twas the Night before Christmas - it IS a story, albeit one told in poetic form!

I hope you had lots of lovely books as presents and whether you enjoy stories in book form, audio, or as film, I hope you managed to find time to relish your favourites again here.

Of course the dark and cold (at least in the UK!) encourages you to stay in and curl up with a good book, though I could be living in sunnier climes and still want to curl up with said good book!

The great thing about reading is it encourages your own writing (ideas spark from other ideas) and you learn so much about story by indulging in your love of reading them.  So read on!

What defines a good story for you?  What I look for in a good story includes:-

1.  Strong, memorable characters.
2.  An intriguing plot.
3.  The story makes me laugh, or think, or react in some way.  (That's how you know a story has had impact).
4.  An ending that delivers on the promise of the opening lines.
5.  Where there is a twist ending, for this to genuinely take me by surprise.  I like to look back at a story and then spot the clues I missed first time around! (The great thing about doing that is you can learn so much from doing this and, of course, apply it to your own writing).
6.  It is a story you are keen to read again and again and again. A Christmas Carol is a classic example of this for me.
7.  It is a story you remember well.  This doesn't stop you wanting to read it again because you will not recall all the details but you DO recall the pleasure this tale gave you and THAT is what you want to experience again.
8.  You can easily envisage the story being a film.  (This is a great test of how memorable the characters are and how strong the plot is).
9.  It is a story that adds something to the language.  Shakespeare takes top honours here.
10.  It is a story that defines its genre or expands it.  I'm thinking of Hans Christen Andersen here who added so many wonderful fairytales to that genre.

This theme ties in with some thoughts I share on this as part of my Chandler's Ford Today post this week called Celebrations, Crackers, Chapeltown, and Cafelit.  The latter is a look back at my publisher's annual celebration event but one part of this is where some of the writers, including me, read some of our stories out to our audience.  Good fun whether you're taking part or not, but for a writer it's incredibly useful and here are some reasons why.

1.  You quickly realise if you stumble over words, so will your readers, so out comes the editing pen again.  Always better though that this happens before you submit the story anywhere.  By reading the work out to yourself before submission, this acts as another editing layer and can save your blushes!

2.  You literally hear the rhythm of the story.  There should be a natural ebb and flow to it.

3.  Especially if you write in a genre where you're inventing names/place names etc, you can literally hear if what you've come up with is pronounceable!!  So no more Xxxrbtrzog (try saying that sober yet alone if you have had alcohol!) but something like Xerstone is "do-able" and still conveys to a reader they are in a setting NOT of this world.

4.  As you listen to someone else's work, take note of what makes a real impact on you.  Is it the power of the dialogue?  Is the sentence structure hitting home well?  I usually find short, simple, and to the point works best.

5.  As you listen, watch out for where you are anticipating what comes next.  What MAKES you wonder what comes next?  Can you apply those thoughts to your own writing?

6.  We all love a story, it's why we're writers, and the oral tradition of storytelling is fantastic.  Without it we would have no stories at all so it is a joy to take part in and kind of "support it" ourselves.

Love your reading!

Characterisation is always crucial, of course, but pointers I have found really useful include:-

1.  Ensure there is something about your characters that your readers can identify with.  They don't necessarily have to agree with your characters but should be able to see why your characters are acting as they are.  Part of the challenge of a story is to get your readers to wonder whether they would have done the same as your characters and, if not, why not and what would they have done!

2.  The goal should be an understandable one.  From the character's viewpoint, naturally, it has to be a life or death matter.  It should be something they are prepared to risk all for.  It should be something they can't refuse to do. 

3.  Characters should be memorable.  Doesn't matter if they're heroes or villains, the crucial point is your characters should stay in the minds of your readers long after they've finished your story.