Shaun the Sheep and happy endings

I'm a huge fan of Shaun the Sheep and watch it on TV most days.  I love the charm, simplicity and positive messages - and adorable characters, of course.  If I'm feeling low, it always makes me smile.  The kind of emotional response most authors for children hope to evoke. However old I get, I will always enjoy stories for children.

Related post: http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/happy-endings.html

Different chapter, same book: the power of memory

We are constructed from memories.  We are making new ones every second.  How, what and why do we remember some things and not others?  Memories are a treasure trove of data, sensory experiences, adventures and emotions that we can process, translate and re-invent to create new stories.  

When the present becomes the past, our perception of the experience changes, undergoing a mysterious transformation.  Often it is only in hindsight that we appreciate the value of what has gone before. Regeneration is about change and transformation, and we are all – like Dr Who! - regenerating constantly.

These issues are explored in the amazing Life after Life by Kate Atkinson, which I would recommend to everyone - especially if you are a writer.  In this story, the heroine is born, dies and is reborn many times, each life different, although sharing common threads.  (It reminded me of some of the ideas in the film Sliding Doors - the consequences of one action compared to another.  How the same story can have different endings, or different stories, the same conclusion). Is there such a thing as fate or is life simply a sequence of random events? 

You can check out my review of Life after Life and many others here.  It always fascinates how stories can be so differently perceived by different readers. It's one of the challenges - and magic - of being an author. 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16181718-life-after-life

Sci-fi visionary Philip. K Dick is another writer who shares my obsession with the nature and construct of memory, a topic he explores in so many of his stories. It was a theme that haunted and obsessed him.

Does memory re-visit the past or simply re-construct it?  Is memory life itself? Is life, memory?

These are questions I keep asking.  Can we ever know the answer? 

Related posts:

http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/picking-flowers.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/life-stories.html

Spinning a Yarn and Weaving Words

Detail from quilt made by my aunt, Brenda White (photo Jane Ayres)

The origin of words fascinates me.  And I discovered a new one recently - etymology - which is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.   We often use words without really thinking about the way we are doing so.  They can be rich in symbolism.  

A casual conversation got me thinking about the relationship between words that describe sewing, embroidery and the process of writing, so I did some exploring. Apparently, "text" derives from textile.

Latin textus "style or texture of a work," literally "thing woven," from past participle stem of texere "to weave, to join, fit together, braid, interweave, construct, fabricate, build *

*from http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=text

We talk of weaving words and spinning a tale (where the term "spin doctor" originates?); we refer to the fabric of a story, the strands and threads.  A story can be a yarn, a tapestry of words. 

Spinning a tale, a tapestry of words.  And of course, a tapestry tells a story that can be communicated without the need for a knowledge of reading and writing. 

Humans have a profound need to tell their stories, by whatever means. 

Related post: http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/life-stories.html

Whose story?

Last week I’d written in my diary “Start sequel to Beware of the Horse”.  Instead, I wrote another story.  Something I’d intended to do for ages, but kept putting off.  The Sunday before last,  I created a Just Giving page in memory of my parents to raise funds for Pancreatic Cancer UK. It took all day and well into the evening and was emotionally draining. Which I’d anticipated, and the reason I had put it off. Because to make it work, you must, as the charity help sheet advises, tell your story.

That’s hard and painful.  And it’s not my story.  I need to tell it properly and it's a huge responsibility. I want to honour my parents, but how would they feel about me doing this? And when I think of the last few years of their story, it breaks my heart.  So I try, for now, to block out the bits that haunt me (and will forever).  Real life is brutal and messy, tragic and unpredictable.  Recalling the detail can be too harrowing to contemplate.  Memories remain to be both feared and cherished.

Deciding which photo to use on the Just Giving page was also difficult.  I have lots of family pics , so I chose one of my favourites of a time before, when Mum and Dad were on holiday together, and happy.  One day, perhaps, I can add the photo taken on their 50^th Wedding Anniversary.  It is especially poignant, as it was so important to Mum that they made it that far together, and she determined to stand up, with Dad’s support, to cut their celebration cake, the wheelchair put out of sight (she was still recovering from her stroke then). At this time, Dad was being treated for a heart condition and prostate cancer, but the pancreatic cancer was not yet diagnosed.

Less than a year later, just 2 weeks before what would have been their 51^st anniversary, Dad had passed away, and less than 6 months later, also suffering from pancreatic cancer, so had Mum.

Enough.

Here’s the link for the Just Giving page.  https://www.justgiving.com/Jane-Seaman1

To everyone who has ever set up a Just Giving page in memory of loved ones, I salute your courage.

Related post: http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/life-stories.html

Life Stories

photo Chris Ayres

I’ve been reflecting on this recently.  The stories of our lives.  A friend advised that if you don’t like the story you’re in, write another one.  That got me thinking…..

There’s a great piece called How to stay sane: the art of revising your inner storytelling by Maria Popova. Click the link to read.

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/02/05/how-to-stay-sane-philippa-perry/



Related posts:

http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/cybermen-and-clay-objects-and-emotions.html

http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/writng-from-heart-and-for-heart.html

http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-power-of-books.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/models-playing-god-and-storytelling.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/we-are-stories-narrative-and-grieving.html

http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/beginnings-and-endings.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/picking-flowers.html

Female Gothic: words, sounds and storytelling

Do you have any favourite words?  Or are there words or phrases that really grate?

If I hear someone in the media say “robust” one more time I will scream.  Another phrase I strongly dislike is “punching above their weight.”  It makes my skin crawl.

I’ve been reading a lot recently, both fiction and non-fiction, and I’ve nearly finished a bestselling novel which is structured in an unusual but disjointed manner.  I haven’t warmed to the protagonist and I’m not exactly enjoying it, but the concept interests me so I want to see what happens.  And I’ve realised that my problem with the book is not the story, but the writing.  I just don’t like the words the author uses.   Or the way she wields them.

The sounds of words matter.  Magenta.  Melisma.  Luminosity.  Vortex. I enjoy elegant sentences, repetition when skilfully used.   I recently saw an eerie one woman show* at our local theatre – a retelling of Victorian ghost stories by lesser known female writers – which reminded me of the power of the spoken word.  There were few props needed;  a chair, candles and spooky lighting created the atmosphere and intimacy between actress and audience. Towards the end, the storyteller spoke of birth and death as simply a reordering, reorganisation of matter.  I liked that.  And after the stories had stirred our senses, unsettling and disturbing with fear of the unknown – the root of all fear -  those words were strangely comforting.

* The show was called Victorian Gothic and is highly recommended!  The weblink is here

http://www.dyadproductions.com/FemaleGothic.html

Related posts:

http://www.janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/storytelling

Cybermen and Clay: objects and emotions

Today you will find me over at Creatabot, talking about cybermen, a golem and a clay horse called Ernie.......click link below to read the article

http://creatabot.co.uk/2013/10/11/cybermen-and-clay-objects-and-emotions-by-jane-ayres/


Related posts:
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/run-wild-run-free-memories-imagination.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/my-bookshelf-and-precious-memories.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/grief-and-writing-routine.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/write-what-haunts-you.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/picking-flowers.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/wise-words.html

Writing from the heart and for the heart

I recently organised a talk for local writers and students by Script Developer Katie Boyles and Film Producer Christine Cheung in which they explored what they look for in a good script.  It was a fascinating talk and many of the observations were so relevant to novel and short story writing that I had to share a few key points.  All of these are questions we should be asking ourselves when we write a story. 

• What is the story?
• Whose story is it?
• Do we care about the protagonist's journey?
• Is the story event led or character driven?
• At the end of the story, does it stay with us?
• Do we care? 

In summary we need to be writing from the heart and for the heart. 

The power of books

I wanted to share with you a really beautiful post by writer Joanne Phillips that I came across for World Book Day.  It's a personal journey of what books mean to her and so elegantly expressed and poignant.

It made me think about what books meant to me, and how your choice of reading matter can reflect what is going on in your life at the time; the way books can provide an escape from the world, especially for those of us who are naturally shy (even though we might try to hide it!); the way we can learn from books, both non-fiction and fiction.  Other people's stories help us to understand ourselves.

Today is Mother's Day, a fact I usually try to forget, having lost my dear Mum to cancer just over a year ago. I am thankful that she initiated and nurtured my love for books, and have fond memories of her sitting on the bed and reading bedtime stories to me when I was a small child.  It also brings tears to  my eyes.

Anyway, these words of Joanne's especially resonated with me:

In difficult times I often retreat back into a book I’ve read before. I’m one of those people who get too tense to enjoy a film – or book – until I know the ending. Once I know how things turn out I can watch or read again and derive far more enjoyment this way. (I once commented to my husband that I wished I could skip to the end of my life and make sure it all turned out well, then come back and live it in a more relaxed way!)

If only that were possible.  If only we knew from the beginning how our own stories would end. We would no longer have to face the fear of the unknown. I'd urge you to read Joanne's post here:

http://joannegphillips.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/world-book-day-a-personal-journey/

Last pre-Christmas post.....

Today I am over at the wonderful Creatabot, talking about playing, dreaming and how this relates to the act of creating, storytelling and writing.  To read the post go to:

http://creatabot.co.uk/2012/12/21/play-dream-write-by-jane-ayres/

I will probably take a break from blogging until after Christmas, so have a good one....

Related posts:

http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/the-art-of-wish-fulfilment.html

http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/models-playing-god-and-storytelling.html

http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/once-upon-time.html

http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/art-of-storytelling.html

http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/happy-endings.html

Guest post: Vikki Thompson: Write a novel in a month!

Today I'm really pleased to be doing a blog swap with Vikki Thompson, whose excellent blog is The View Outside, which I only recently discovered and would enthusiastically recommend. Next month is National Novel Writing Month (nanowrimo) and as Vikki has twice been a winner, I was delighted when she agreed to my request to write a post on the subject.  Over to Vikki.....

In 3 days time, over 300,000 people across the world will be taking part in Nanowrimo  http://www.nanowrimo.org (National Novel Writing month). Their aim? To write 50,000 words during the month of November.

Madness? Probably, but a great amount of fun and, who knows, you may just be the next Elizabeth Haynes! (Elizabeth Haynes is just about to publish her 3rd novel. All three worked on as projects for Nanowrimo - http://www.elizabeth-haynes.com/books_itdc.html )

So you've decided to join the madness and write a novel during November,  but you haven't got a clue where to start. Well, firstly, you need a story. Not an easy task for any writer, we all need inspiration, something to draw on for ideas. You may already have an idea, but if not, here are my top 10 places to look for inspiration:

1. Newspapers & Magazines: Flick through the pages and pick out stories you like. Make up your own endings. Read headlines, they may just inspire something.

2. Films: Borrow the storyline from a film you've seen recently. Every single story or plot has been done before. Do your own version of a well known favourite.

3. Problem Pages: The agony aunt section of a magazine. Do your own solution to the readers problem in story form.

4. Re-write a Fairytale: Do a modern day version of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, or how about Beauty and the Beast?

5. Photographs & Pictures: Search Flickr for something that catches your eye.

6. Songs & Song Titles: Most songs tell a story. I still can't figure out why no ones turned The Script's The Man Who Can't Be Moved into a rom com movie!

7. Book Titles: Scan the books on your shelves and use one of the titles to inspire your own story.

8. TV Programmes: Write some "fan fiction". If you don't like what the writers are doing to your favourite characters on TV, write your own version of your favourite soap. Remember, E L James started with "fan fiction" ;)

9. The Nanowrimo Forums: On the Nano site there is a forum called "Adoption Society" which is definitely worth a look. You'll find hundreds of story ideas.

10. Real Life: If nothing appeals, write a fictional version of your life story. It doesn't have to be your real life, try your fantasy one.

I think I might go for number 10 myself this year. I quite fancy the idea of being wined and dined on a yacht by Robert Downey Jnr ;)

About Vikki
Vikki lives in Medway with her husband, 3 adult children (who refuse to leave home) and 2 cats. She blogs, (or should that be rambles?) daily at The View Outside (http://www.the-view-outside.com) and spends her time fantasising about being the next EL James, but isn’t too keen on having to write Erotica to achieve that (unless Robert Downey Jnr is available for research). 2012 see’s her first year at being a Co-ML (Municipal Liaison) for Nanowrimo Kent.
http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/regions/europe-england-kent

Vikki Thompson    www.the-view-outside.com    @vikkithomp

Please pop over to Vikki's blog to read my guest post on Targets and Goal Setting
http://the-view-outside.com/2012/10/28/targets-and-goal-setting/

That other place

I’ve just been reading a perceptive and illuminating travel blog.  

It's called http://travelswithmyipad2.com/2012/09/21/another-place-re-visited/ and one of the posts really resonated with me.  We often think that “the grass is always greener on the other side.”  In fact, sometimes we spend our lives pursuing a dream of moving away, somewhere different, somewhere exotic, somewhere better.  We tell ourselves stories of this other place.

But this can be a fallacious trap.  

There is a reference to the British sculptor Antony Gormley, creator of the Angel of the North.  The blogger comments:

“That’s what Anthony Gormley meant. We’d all be happier if we accepted that ‘the other place’ that we sometimes escape to, is in our imagination rather than an actual country.”

Reality and fantasy.  Two worlds colliding.       

Related posts:
http://www.janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/art-of-storytelling.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/once-upon-time.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/models-playing-god-and-storytelling.html

Models, playing god and storytelling

Recently,  I went to the Hornby Visitor Centre near Margate.  Apart from the sheer nostalgia of seeing all the historic toys, what really struck me when I gazed at the vast model railway was not so much the trains, but the miniature village with its houses, people, farm animals and buildings. A microcosm of what it means to be part of a community.

When I was a child I loved my model farm, which comprised of a host of plastic farm animals, which were arranged as I wanted them, which did as I wanted.  It provided me with hours of fun. The horses were my favourites, of course, and I made my own stable block out of balsa wood and glue. I created my own world and controlled it in a way that isn't possible in reality.  Playing god in a small way.  Deciding, making choices about where things went and what happened to them. Becoming a storyteller.  And I thought of what it had in common with writing and reasons for writing.  I was controlling my own imaginary world.  Creating stories.

Related posts:

http://www.janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/art-of-storytelling.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/once-upon-time.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/that-other-place.html

Page Fright

Really pleased that another of my short features has been published on Creatabot, the website for creatives.
It's all about the fear of the blank page - very much an issue for writers, and it starts like this....

Empty space. Empty place.

A blank page on a blank screen.

Fear of the unknown.  Is that what is so daunting about writing those first few words?  Why is that blank space so intimidating?

Page fright.  A writer’s nightmare.  The evil twin of procrastination.

Read the full article here http://creatabot.co.uk/author/futureme50/

Once upon a time

What is a story?

This is a question asked by one of the characters in the ABC TV show Once Upon a Time, which retells traditional fairy tales and jumps between the contemporary world and the ancient parallel reality of fairy tales.  He is questioning what is real and what isn't; and how truth and fact affects our perceptions of reality.

I have just written a guest blog for Creatabot, which explores ideas of story and narrative.  An extract is below.......

Writers think instinctively in terms of narrative, of story.  It’s how we make sense of the world.  The brain, our computer, processes what we see, feel, hear and looks for meaning in this input, based on our internal database of past experiences, of what has already been recorded and stored.

“Our brain casts us as ‘the protagonist’ and then edits our experience with cinema-like precision, creating logical interrelations, mapping connections between memories, ideas, and events for future reference.  Story is the language of experience.”

(Quote from Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence by Lisa Cron, Ten Speed Press.)

To continue to read the full article, go to 
http://creatabot.co.uk/2012/07/19/stories-we-tell-ourselves-by-jane-ayres/ 

Related posts:
http://www.janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/art-of-storytelling.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/that-other-place.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/models-playing-god-and-storytelling.html

The art of storytelling

I just came across a great list called The 22 Rules of Storytelling according to Pixar, written by their animation storyboard artist Emma Coats.

I picked out 3 that were especially helpful for writers.

No 3:  “Trying for theme is important but you won’t see what the story is actually about til you’re at the end of it .  Now rewrite.”

I like this.  The more I write, the more I realise the truth in this.  Sometimes, you realise when you are near the end of a story that a theme runs through it that you didn't even consciously intend.  This mysterious process can be quite spooky - but wonderful.

No 7: “Come up with your ending before you figure out the middle.”

I generally sort out my ending well before I even touch the laptop and start to write.  If I'm going on a journey, I need to know where I will end up.  Or at least plan to end up.

No 10: "Pull apart the stories you like.  What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognise it before you can use it.”

This is a thought provoking and profound observation.  It also links with other advice I adhere to, which is to read like a writer.  More on this in future posts.

To see the list in full go to 

www.io9.com/5916970/the-22-rules-of-storytelling-according-to-pixar

Related posts:

http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/that-other-place.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/models-playing-god-and-storytelling.html
http://www.janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/once-upon-time.html

Absence, books and storytelling

I've been away and I've been ill.  Time to think.  Time to think about writing.  And when the thinking is done, it will be time to write.

In the meantime, I have been using my kindle and now regard it with fondness.  I think the immediacy of finding a book on Amazon and having it at your fingertips is especially attractive.

I've also just finished reading (in hard copy) Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, which was utterly compelling and readable.

An engaging story is all about the way the characters are drawn, a statement echoed by the creator of the enthralling Game of Thrones,  writer George R R Martin.  No, I haven't read the Fire and Ice books yet, but am loving the HBO series.  Fabulous, engrossing, complex characters and landscapes.

I'm also enjoying the revisiting of fairy tales in the TV series' Once Upon A Time and Grimm.

I always had a fascination with fairy tales, especially their darkness.

Life.  Stories.  Characters.  Life

Related posts:
http://www.janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/art-of-storytelling.html

On books and reading. And pony books.

Over the past year I have rediscovered the joy of reading.  When I was child and teenager, I avidly devoured novels, getting 6 books at a time from the local library and the following week taking out another 6 until I had quickly exhausted their stocks.  On a Saturday I would walk the 3 miles into town and use my 50p pocket money to buy 2 paperbacks from Boots (who in those days sold books).  My subject of choice was horses and ponies.  I was a pony mad girl.  The 1970s – a golden age of pony books for a child.  The Pullein-Thompson sisters, Monicas Edwards and Dickens, the Jill books, the Jackie books.  Anything that had a picture of a horse on the cover, I bought. By the way, if you are a pony book fan, young or old, go to the fabulous website http://www.ponymadbooklovers.co.uk/

I would read under the bedclothes with a torch when I should have been sleeping.  I took a book everywhere with me, so I could snatch any free moments to read.  I remember my parents taking me to a football match with my brother and while they enjoyed the match I read a book.  As well as a source of pleasure and education, books were a wonderful escape.  I was a loner to some extent and they became a  cocoon.  I would have been lost without them.

Fast forward 15 years.  When I commuted regularly on the train to London, I would read a book.  Or write 1000 words.  Each way. 

Fast forward another 15 years, during which reading had been sporadic, mostly work related or for research purposes.  Very few novels had been encountered.  But I read some children’s books, which made me feel good.  I love the way that books for children are usually so positive.

Another 5 years.  Where does the time go?  Then I was handed a copy of Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce, not a book I would have bought.  It was the chosen title for Folkestone Reads, the idea being that everyone in the town read the same book, which is made freely available in the library and local cafes and schools.  Then people can discuss the book with each other and the whole experience encourages intergenerational reading.   What a wonderful idea.  I loved that book.  Positive, warm, funny, clever, engaging, for adults and children alike.  And when the author came to Folkestone to do a Q and A session I was there.  How did I lose the habit of reading?  Something that had once meant so much to me?  I’m so glad I found my long lost friend again.  I don’t read anywhere near as much as I did when I was a child.  But losing yourself in a book is the most wonderful feeling.  Everyone needs to escape.  And every book you read teaches you something.  Learning new things gives you such a buzz. 

Related post: http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/on-ways-to-read-book.html