OPENINGS: FOURTEEN or MORE SINS

A Corner of my Office




Below is a list of the sort of things I see wrong in openings.

This list may not be comprehensive as this is off the top of my head, but I prefer to work this way, allowing an interaction with Boot Campers (or Blog-Readers) to develop my thoughts.



Characteristics of Bad Openings

Bland, uninteresting, vague or generic titles.

Forced, deliberately dramatic starts (Big Bang)

"Hanging" (unattributed) dialogue openings, often with innocuous dialogue.

Warm-up paragraphs. Weather, place, waking up, "reflections".

Generic language.

Generic voice, lack of personality or spark.

Voices which suggest lack of story-power or weight. Eg "Blokey writing"

Generic story signs, stock situations, stock characters, stock dialogue.

Deliberate vagueness of incident, place, gender, time.

Over-writing, trying to look like a writer. "Cuteness" to cover weakness.

Lack of a sense of direction. Failure to steer the reader's sensibilities.

Unspecificity of mood, theme, intent.

Errors in grammar. Typos.

Poor speed control.


That's a long list of things to do wrong, ways to go wrong. I see such errors almost every day. Not only do these errors alone drag a story down, but they also drag down the reader's expectations. A bad start means the reader (or judge, or editor) is far less likely to forgive small transgressions. The reader is also less likely to focus on the coming paragraphs.

You get one chance to make a first impression. In writing it's rare to overcome a bad one.

So what would be GOOD?



Characteristics of Good Openings

Exciting, interesting, unusual titles which tilt the reader into the story

Stories which do not feel forced. Instead they exude confidence.

Stories which give the reader a sense of where-who-what before dialogue occurs.


Immediacy, conciseness, a sense of "no-waste" everything matters.

Immediate pleasure in the language, and/or a sense of quality.

An interesting voice that feels individual, likeable

A voice suggesting things will matter, will resonant, make us care deeply.

The story immediately seems fresh and not 'me-too'. Novel characters, speech.

A sense that the author is not hiding things. A good feeling of how things will be in the story.

A sense of writerly confidence, even if that means plain words.

A strong sense of control. The writing shapes the reader's mode of acceptance.

A clear tendency to feel a mood. Often a statement or a hint of the theme.

Perfect grammar, diction, No typos.

Pacing is absolutely right

ABSOLUTE PROOF THERE IS A GOD

and he HATES me!


My little team were in a cup final with £100,000 going to the winner

K:O was 19:00 (it was on BBC Wales on Sky)


at PRECISELY 19:00 we had a power cut.


The power came on, Sky booted up, and the first image on screen was:




The referee blowing the final whistle. we lost 0-1

Wednesday Morning Prompts

These aren't mine. Someone beat me to it this morning!

But have at it!

Why not let me know when you manage a flash. Ddi you send it out? Did it get published or do well in a competition?

BTW, yesterday my daughter gave me the lyrics of Bohemian Rhapsody and said "Make a story out of THAT, then!"

I did. 1410 words. And I used all the words (plus her analysis of the words) in the order they came.

OK, so it isn't "A Silver Dish" but it's OK...






WEDNESDAY's PROMPTS

Growing up, going down

Blizzard!

My friend Fudge

Coming Home

Pete the Cheat

Under the Bridge

Impregnating the Cabbie

Abdominal Knee Crunches, Unzipped

Nursery Rhymes

The Difference between Posing and Posturing

Rock on, Tommy

Race for Life

Two-Faced and Dangerous

Staying in the Closet

Why Little Miss Perfect is Such a Bitch

Listening to the Archers with Dad after a hard day in the garden

After Dinner Mints, Inventive Sex, Indigestion

Poor, Sad, Woman

How to Tie a Hospital Gown

Climbing the Greasy Pole

We're treating his death as suspicious

On Openings

In Boot Camp there's a forum called "John Dream's Asks" There BCers can post awkward craft questions as a fictitious character (John Dreams)... I answer but thinking ahead to another volume of a how-to I'm writing.

Well, it occurs to me that I could open up a subject or ten and invite questions (but anon will get zapped)... so here we go. I'll talk about openings, why they SHOULDN'T be dialogue, why they SHOULDN'T be "big-bang".

I'll be happy to discuss any aspects of openings and will go wherever questions take me, but to kick off, here's an old article of mine that appeared in The New Writer and The Internet Writer's Journal


How to Open WITHOUT a Bang

Grab your reader with an opening! Right? Have a man walk in with a gun, set the bomb ticking, the lovers begin to undress? Oh, how many stories I've seen with a slam-bang start like that, and oh, how many have immediately gone to a flash-back, admitted the dream or simply fizzled, spluttered and dribbled slowly away.

The nuclear bomb opening, I see as the medallion man of literature, more flash than substance, more likely to lead to disappointment than satisfaction. It's the confident whisper, the self-assured promise I look for, the paragraph which quietly says, "I don't need bells and whistles. Listen, listen." And the story may be so quiet that I have to lean forward. I am tilted into the body of the work, disconcerted, or intrigued by setting, attracted by character or seduced, simply seduced, by the sounds and shapes and meaning of the words.

Saturday afternoon and Dai Griffiths sits with his finger-polished roll-up tin. He is patient, fixated, listening. His tongue protrudes slightly as he makes his careful, half dog-end tobacco, half Old Holburn, delicate, thin cigarettes. It is raining outside the pub and along the valley side snake-terraced roofs glisten. The afternoon light closes.

I want to know. And that's all it takes. Make the reader want to know more.

Rather than use the verb "grab" I like to suggest "tilt". I want to push my reader just a little, not slam them so hard they resist me, but persuade them that this road is interesting, one of ultimate promise. My job (first) is to ensure they reach (and want to read) the second paragraph, that the second begets the third and that the whole of the first page is strong enough to quieten the TV, block out the conversation on the train, or more importantly, wake up that tired editor, that jaded judge.

It was now lunch-time and they were all sitting under the double green fly of the dining-tent pretending that nothing had happened.
"Will you have lime juice or lemon squash?" Macomber asked.

A famous opening from a famous story, Hemingway's The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. What's fascinating about this opening is that, yes, the tilt is there - if someone says "pretending that nothing had happened" you betcha I want to find out what did happen - but look what Hemingway chose not to start with. The story has to flash back (eventually) to an incident of high drama when Macomber panicked faced by real danger. Surely, surely, with such a gift we should start with the dramatic action?

But Hemingway had the drama still to come - so we await it. He didn't start with something climactic - after a climax is anti-climax - but promised us at least one. The work shows self-confidence, the ability to present seemingly innocuous events well, but in such a disarming, confident way we simply feel the power to come. But there's more to this opening. It was chosen to guide the reader into what the story was really about, not big-game hunting and cowardice or bravery, but what these things meant to the sexual relationships of the three main characters. By starting with the "ordinary" drinks scene, Hemingway was able to steer us, the readers towards the core of the story. We get to see and feel the coldness and unhappiness of Macomber and his wife - exacerbated by Macomber's lack of physical courage - and it's through courage that Macomber eventually gains self-respect and a fleeting but glorious happiness.

So yes, an opening must promise us a diverting story, but also it should be right for the story, not just a good opener but the best, the aptest opener. When we take time to "find" our opener, to find the exact character, setting, tone of voice and point of view, when we wait and let the opener float until it begins to resonate as solid and true, then, often the story falls in front of us like dominoes, sentence after sentence begetting sentence, driven by the feel, the force, the organic predictability contained within the start.

He wondered what the sex would be like. She thought it would be good. When she asked him, "Do you think it will be good, Harry?" he knew it would be great. But that was later.

Sometimes we just know from the opener…

When I began writing I leaped on ideas, rushed to grab a pen or typewriter, and started. More often than not I crash-landed, and even when I did finish things they sucked and didn't sell. Now I've learned a little patience, an ounce of forethought, a few minutes of consideration and now, rather than dive into a story, I'm more likely to climb into a bath, a half-bottle of wine close by, and wallow, body and mind. My story idea may well be weeks, months, even a year old. It has been fermenting in my unconscious, a particularly unsavoury and mixed up place. I went there once, right next to The Old Man and the Sea was Three Blind Mice, a picture of an old girlfriend, The guitar riff from Pulp Fiction and… the rest is censored. But somewhere in the mess there is a story - at least I hope there is - and I want to coax it out. If I shout, it will run away, if I do nothing it will sit there, but if I just make little coaxing noises, show I'm friendly out pops an opening, a tone, my protagonist, complete with accent and attitude.


I lie. The opening almost comes. Here is where I have another glass of wine and top up the hot water. I've learned that if the opening really comes to me, if the character pushes through the fog and steps into my world, if he is ready to live, really ready, not a good one but the one, then I just know, little bells ring, presses run, music plays, the opening resonates, buzzes, sings. The almost openings flutter in an out but the opening doesn't. It comes with a life, a history, a destiny. Truly, getting the exact feel is more than half the story.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, said, "One of the most difficult things is the first paragraph. I have spent many months on a first paragraph and once I get it, the rest just comes out very easily."

Absolutely, Gabriel!

"In the first paragraph you solve most of the problems with your book."

Yes! Yes!

"The theme is defined, the style, the tone. At least in my case, the first paragraph is a kind of sample of what the rest of the book is going to be."

Smack on!

"That's why writing a book of short stories is much more difficult than writing a novel. Every time you write a short story, you have to begin all over again."

(Excellent, he should go far).


Yes, an opening should interest, tilt us forward but an opening does far more, it sets the agenda, it makes not just promises to us, but suggests to us how we should react, what mood we are likely to find here, how best we might take on the upcoming dream.

Tom is watching a movie with his mistress when something in the story-line touches him, and breaks through his well-constructed façade. His defences breached, he thinks of his son and his small daughter. He begins to cry soundlessly. When his mistress realises her lover is upset, she tries to be kind, but her kindness makes the guilt worse and Tom snaps at her. She doesn't understand.

Once there were many prairie dogs and they decided their kingdom was fine and suited the prairie dog way of life. Some prairie dogs were large, some very small, but most of the prairie-dogs were middle-sized and their bark, more a yap, was conservative.

Two openings but the contract with the reader is different.

I hope my openings are directive. I want them to intrigue and seduce but I want them to channel the story as a whole, to create in the reader a sense of a joint adventure, one of a type. If I'm trying to be funny, I need the reader to be thinking light music not Beethoven's Fifth. If I want "serious" I don't want him whistling The Birdie Song. Like Gabriel Marquez, my openings take time but they contain the organic nature of the story as a whole, the theme, the tone, where I'm coming from, where I want the reader to go.

Look at the opening to Catch-22

It was love at first sight. The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in love with him.
Yossarian was in the hospital with a pain in his liver that fell just short of being jaundice. The doctors were puzzled by the fact that it wasn’t quite jaundice. If it became jaundice they could treat it. If it didn’t become jaundice and went away they could discharge him. But this being just short of jaundice all the time confused them.

We get the main character, the tone, the craziness, the feel, immediately.

Or Cuckoo, mine.

Cold Monday morning, six o'clock. November. Brighton sea front had to be grey, windswept and damp. It was, but as far as Caz Flood was concerned, it was the only place, the perfect place to be. Yesterday she had been a beat copper, a woodentop, today she was a DC, a detective constable, and nothing, but absolutely nothing, could stop her now.

Or Brighton again, Graham Greene.

Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to murder him. With his inky fingers and his bitten nails, his manner cynical and nervous, anybody could tell he didn’t belong - belong to the early summer sun, the cool Whitsun wind off the sea, the holiday crowd.

Or Raymond Chandler.

It was about eleven o’clock in the morning, mid October, with the sun not shining and a look of hard wet rain in the clearness of the foothills. I was wearing my powder-blue suit, with dark blue shirt, tie and display handkerchief, black brogues, black wool socks with dark blue clocks on them. I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn’t care who knew it. I was everything the well-dressed private detective ought to be. I was calling on four million dollars.

Oh, I wish!!

Tuesday's Prompts, and a Thought

Here are the prompts for Tuesday.

A good challenge is to use them all IN ORDER. You think that can't produce good stories, can't make art? Of course it can! The art comes from inside you, like a found poem isn't found until it connects with someone's vision, isn't a poem until a unique vessel finds it.

if you try this, you discover something.

Last week I wrote a story which combined a very traumatic experience of my own, a night where I watched a deer being put down, AND all the prompts for a Boot Camp session (but not in order)... The prompts force the breaking of plans, create and recreate turnings. They help you connect to the right side.

If that story doesn't win a decent competition it will be because it has already been published or placed somewhere. For BCers and ex BCers, it scored 118-129 averaging 124.

Here are the prompts...

Achieved by Studying and Understanding
At night it sits in an armchair
Beating the national target
Black bees worry the purple flowers
By Developing New Systems
Changing Practice
Deep in the reek
Desecrates the violet patch
Discharging Patients Home
Far removed from fragranced linen
Gratification that is almost erotic
Held back by calendar months
How a Patient Moves
I have an urge to take off my clothes
I kneel amongst mushroom mulch
It wears shoes
Of rot and decay.
On the rosemary.
Orange blossom paves the ground
Picks my best roses when I’m not looking.
Pull the last weed
Roll in the humus sniff of summer
Seeing, Treating, and Admitting
Sheer Hard Work
The smell of baking pies.
The top league in the country
The Trust is in
The Whole-Health Community
There is a ghost right here in this garden
Third Best in the Country
Waits for me to fetch its supper.
Where winter ghosts are stored.
With scattered snow.
Within Four Hours of Arrival
Yet there is pleasure in the organic smell

J'accuse

A favourite jibe at me on various sites is that I'm elitist (for one thing I loathe womag stories) whereas THEY are all-embracing and every-one-is-equal etc etc.

The reality is, and has always been that in Boot Camp we are only happy if EVERYONE is getting published.

Obviously at any snapshot moment there will be a range of experience and ability in Boot Camp but these stats below show yet again how, unlike other writers sites, BC believes in EVERY member not just an inner circle.

Individual Totals in 2007

007 Tom
005 Cally
005 Caroline
004 Dan
004 Colin
004 Alex
001 CLT
001 Fleur (BIG Prize)
001 Lee
001 Lexie
001 Dave (Prize)

034 TOTAL

00 Cedric (6 weeks out in 2007)
00 Calvin (not currently submitting work)
00 Joel
00 Random
00 Advancingmist (just joined)

So, already this year 11/15 have had success (73%) and I know all those marked 00 above will get on the list very shortly.

Add to this fact that EVERY Boot Camp story is posted anonymously and gets a minimum of eight DETAILED critiques (and a discussion thread).

In many places the inner clique writers get crits and long threads while newcomers and outsiders have to struggle to get feedback.

It always amuses me that there is such a huge disparity between factual, provable, reality and the BS and slander often tossed the way of BC.


Compare that 73% (will be 100%) with another site (much, much bigger than BC) that reports 24 hits in 2007 (compared to BC's 34)...

But those hits are down to just 12 of a membership in the many hundreds, possibly thousands.



73% or .73%? That's the difference



Alex

Cally is a Fairy

Congratulations to Boot Camper Cally who was one of ten runner's up at WriteSpace in their modern fairytale competitiion. She gets $30 in vouchers (better than a slap over the head with a stick of rhubarb).

Writing Course Venues - The Chapel

Over the last two years I've run a few intensive weekend and long-weekend courses. Some have been in Newbury, Berkshire, at Kingfisher Barn.

Here




and some were held in North Wales where we used three log cabins


LIKE THESE








the evenings were cosy, the teaching was cramped!


But some may know that we sold the three chalets and invested in a delightful chapel in the small village of Llwyngwril, in Snowdonia, but on a train line to Macyntleth, Shrewsbury, Birmingham!

My dream was to convert the chapel and save it from ruin, to rent it out and run courses there for a few years and then settle there with no mortgage etc and write a few novels in my dotage.

FINALLY, we have Planning Permission AND the go-ahead from the Environmental Agency AND Snowdonia National Parks.

Who said dreams were easy?

The chapel came with all the fitments, even a pulpit (very handy Alex) and two Welsh Bibles. We've stripped out 90% of the fittings but hope to use them all, to re-invest using local craftsmen and to use the original wood as far as possible.

It is going to be FANTASTIC!



The internal measurements are 22' x 37' but the middle floor (of three floors) will "only" be 22 x 29 with a minstrel's gallery (incorporating the pulpit which will stick out like a ship's bow - perfect for doing "Titanic" scenes) looking down onto a beautiful kitchen-diner.




We've had the roof fixed, new gutterings, and had the front done up (great local man did this) but now we have planning to put in a new roof and an extra floor.

It will have 5 or 6 double bedrooms, a table for 12 diners, a great kitchen (we live in the kitchen) a small office area in each bedroom and that 22' x 29' lounge/study/teaching area.





Alex

A Promise Fulfilled

Over Xmas I managed to spend two weeks in California, a great experience: we never went near Disney or any other "Park"

And no we had no money. We travelled courtesy of Air Miles, stopped in hotels on hotel points accumulated over the eons...

But my daughter Bridie made me promise to post these pictures of "Daddy & Fudge" on my blog.


Finally, I've caught up enough to manage it.

Better late than never.


Fudge is Bridie's favouritist-ever friend.


Sadly, he has a drink problem...




But after he's had a glass or two he's very friendly.

Today's BC Prompts

Having only sought some amusement to fill my evening

Shall I Compare Thee to a wet Night in Wigan?

The Beginner's Guide to Water

It was Sunday and the theatres were closed

It will flame out

She put down her pencil

Get Rid of the Rhino

SCUD

You look at them flashing

SCUM

I took a picture of the house

Saints, Poets, Thieves

Or Tho it Themes

The Other Problem With God

Because a Fire Wass in My Head

In Praise of the Womag Story

Incoming

Dark With Excess of Light

Sid by Side, their faces blurred

When Fishes Flew and Forests Walked

Maxim

WORK

15 Members Active


11 Weeks into the year


76 Full Stories this year, 45 Flashes

an average of 5 stories and 3 flashes each



All stories received a minimum of 8 full critiques, many stories 9 crits, some 10, a couple 11.

Most stories have 20+ discussion posts, the most-discussed stories as many as 100!



Subs in March = 75 to date,
an average of 2 per person per week.




alx

26 Pubs, 33 Hits: Stats Update

BC is a little quieter these days with at least three members aiming a lot higher and thus getting a much higher rejection rate, but we keep trundling along

Publications this year have been 14 Web, 12 Print, 26 Total

PRINT

Cadenza
Earlyworks Anthology
Quality Women's Fiction
Raw
American Drivel
Poetry Monthly
Slingink Anthology
Seventh Quarry (Poetry Magazine)

Eclectica

Southern Ocean Review
Johnny America
Espresso Fiction
Sussuruss
Peccary
HeavyGlow
LaughterLoaf
Flashquake


and 33 Hits

001 Tom C - "What You See in the Dark" accepted by Underground Voices
002 Tom C - "If I Were" accepted by Hiss Quarterly
003 AlexK - "The Ghost in the Latrine" accepted by Southern Ocean Review
004 TomC - "A Beach in Kaui" accepted by "Bound Off" Podcast Magazine
005 Caroline - "Through the Looking Glass" accepted by Poetry Monthly
006 Dan - "The Beauty Within Me" accepted by US Print Mag Gold Dust
007 Dan - "The Book According to David" accepted by "The Harrow"
008 Dan - "The Reaper's Grim Smile" taken by Flash Flood Magazine
009 RVJ - "Soul Surfing" at LitBits
010 Dan - Burglar Story at Opium
011 Lee - "Nothing Left taken by Sussurus
012 Tom C - "Empty" at Parameter
013 Cally -Highly Recommended at JBWB
014 Caroline - Chose as Poetry Judge for Writelink
015 Cally - Story accepted by Meridian Hotels
016 Fleur - wins Guardian/Virgin Trains Prize ($2,000)
017 TomC places "Garden of Earthly Delights" at Kinship ($6)
018 Colin shortlisted at happenstance
019 Lexie Highly Commended at Cafe Writers
020 Caroline HR runner-up at Flashquake
021 Alex "Twice as Big as the Sky" at Wild Strawberries
022 Colin story in "Heavyglow"
023 BCer in Phillip Good Final (Result TBA)
024 Cally in Chick Flicks
025 TomC wins "Mary Gornall" ($150)
026 TomC commended at Skive
=====================
MARCH

027 Dave runner-up at Biscuit wins digi-recorder ($84)
028 Cally shortlisted at Biscuit
029 Jason Jackson on Biscuit shortlist
030 CLT hit at Smokebox
031 BC Peom acceptance
032 Caroline accepted at Fib Review
033 Caroline acceptance at Blue Tattoo

Flashes, Prizes, Early Starts

No sleep last night. Wife away and the kids had to get up at 04:00 to catch a coach to France at 05:00.

I was scared I wouldn't hear the alarm so dozed on the sofa (I wrote until 01:30 anyway) and watched SCRUBS.

05:30 in the morning and I've been to Tescos and I'm coming home. It's now I should go to bed but wow, look at all this extra writing time I have AND AN EMPTY HOUSE!


Below are Boot Camp's Friday Morning prompts.

When we get a long list of prompts I seek out one that has a voice that connects to me, open, with that and then just let my unconscious run riot (but always looking to "grab" another prompt.

Does this work? Can it produce good stories? Last year I had my lowest-ever subbing year but won three short-story competitions.

ALL THREE STORIES WERE FROM A SET OF FLASH PROMPTS AND USED EVERY SINGLE PROMPT.

They were all written in less than 75 minutes.

I remain convinced that writers write BETTER when they have no time to think.


Mind you, today's list would challenge a master!

HERE.

I visited the place where we last met

A Bus to Dover

Nothing was changed, the gardens were well-tended

Crisps, Lucozade, Ibuprofen

The fountains sprayed their usual steady jet

Blog-Wars

There was no sign that anything had ended

Three ball-bearings, a circlip

And nothing to instruct me to forget

Talking With Francine

The thoughtless birds that shook out the trees

Sky News

Singing an ecstacy I could not share

Picnic in Kashmir

Played cunning with my thoughts. Surely in these

Buzz

Pleasure there could not be a pain to bear

Hot Cross Buns

Or any discord shake the level breeze

Year of the Womag

It was because this place was just the same

That made your absence seem a savage force

Jelly Redux

For under all the gentleness there came

She likes to know the ending, especially twists

An earthquake tremor: fountain birds and grass

Chicken Soup and Murder

Were shaken by my thinking of your name

Girls in Gangs

Positives in Negatives

Loads of family problems this year with two family members hospitalised and me lined up for an op in the not too distant future. It never rains but it fucking pisses down.

But a recent hospital visit gave me so much material I could have wept for joy (if I hadn't been so sad).


(Well I know what I mean)


And the sense of mortality has suddenly invigorated me. In a week, despite all these "travails" I've managed to blow the cobwebs off this place, critique a dozen stories (and I mean CRITIQUE, not post a platitude) write three stories (about 8,000 words) a flash and a poem, a few pages on the novel, get 22 submissions out, pick up a hit, and have a load of fun comparing writing sites.

I've hugged my son, my daughter, my wife and not had a single cyber hug.



I dunno, but somehow, flesh is more real than <<<<<>>>>>>



Isn't that quaint of me?



Alex

Rewriting History

I love how some people rewrite history to make themselves look cool.

Not long ago I read of someone who had "stumbled on a picture in a book, which made her cry, then that night she had to write a story". Then we hear how well it did etc.

Trouble is the actuality was this was on a Kingfisher Barn writing course, where the tutor put picture books in front of everybody, got them to pick out 1-2 pictures that caused an emotional connection... we then discussed what that connection might "mean" internally, whad did the picture "connect to"... and we talked about how Dorthea Brande had highlighted why some things struck us and not others.


OK, so the students were then asked to use the picture, to write ABOUT THE PICTURE (what it drove, what it suggested) but to USE THEIR OWN INTERNAL ACHES, PAINS, PRESSURES for the story's energy.

Duly the story in question (plus many others) was written. It had a little of the ache, but as often happens, it missed the gold spot. Discussion, suggested edits followed. Any closer? Yes. More work, more edits.


Was it then a world-beater? No, but the writer had skill and was getting there. It was publishable, but still didn't quite hit home the way a comp winner does. The writer moved on. The story got the level of success a decent, imperfect story from a very good (but still learning) writer it deserved.

I write this because the author in question has produced a version of the events which cuts out

(a) a long hard apprenticeship

(b) an intense £60 a day experience which helped her to reach these insights

(c) the fact that the accessing was deliberate and engineered

(d) the fact that the picture and a gut response was one small (though crucial) ingredient

(e) there was input from the course tutor and others in group discussion

(f) the story was written "to order' via a writing course, ot through some mystical process

(g) the story had a lot of critical input and rewriting advice, rewriting




It's important to access the unconscious, to find the stories within us. But those stories come from a massive amount of work practice etc, often with one or more teachers. Beginners should not be misled into imagining that better stories come in some magical way. 95% DON'T.

We can find these "keys" using simple, understood, straightforward processes. Deliberate "dreaming", using photographs and objects, using flash prompts and story prompts.

While SOME, a few, stories may seem to come from the ether, many if not most come from craft, work, getting into the mood, with or without a crit-group, with or without an editor, with or without a tutor guiding us.

And when that first draft is complete, we should do our utmost to ensure that others know that critical input, editorial input, and one-two three or more rewrites produced the finished article, not magic



AK

Why Boot Camp is So Successful

Browse the web, join any writing group. Note where the bulk of the action is.

Is it in "The Coffee Shop", or "The Lounge" or "Chat"?

Is it in "Chill Corner" or "The Asylum"?

How much of the discussion is pub-arguments, flaming, or flirting?

Are many of the forums there, those dedicated to novels or short-stories or flashes, or poetry struggling to survive?

In one so-called writing community I visited, "The XXXXX" and a second "more frivolous" chat-room took up a massive NINETY PER CENT of the site's bandwith.

Everything else, Writing, Craft Discussions, critiquing, process, subbing, motivation, hits etc was the magnificent total of 9% of the whole.

I look in on many communities and this pattern is repeated everywhere.

The Lounge or the Coffee Shop is where "the business" is and this area grows a small clique of 5-25 people and perhaps a hundred or so hangers-on. Very rarely are more than half a dozen of these genuinely successful writers. Take a look at the publications list and see how many are self-published, pod-published or published in low-end ezines.

Assess the number of reported publications, (and their quality) but relate that to the size of the community.

I looked today at one community which boasted 100 successes in 2006.

BC, not a twentieth of its size, had 171 hits. It had 24 First Prizes.

That community has hundreds, possibly thousands of members. When we look at how many individuals from the community are getting publication success the percentage is tiny. Over 90% are not being published.

When BC started the first thing we said was that we failed if any member was unpublished at the end of any year.

What is the point of a community of writers where the few succeed but the many fail completely?


I looked yesterday at the published stats for another writers community. In 2007 they have had ten tiny hits. Boot Camp is relatively quiet but this year it has had 33 hits and two "notes" (small hits).

So is that a big difference? 350%? Not in real numbers, no.

But the community, which advertises itself as "the best on the web", has hundreds upon hundreds of members. It's between 30 and 200 times bigger than Boot Camp.

If they were doing as well as BC for hits they would be posting their thousandth hit for 2007 by now, not ten.

SO WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?

After seeing how much time most, if not all, so-called "writing" communities spend on the coffee-shop game-playing, the hierarchy-building, the high-fiving buddies when they put someone down, the psychological games, the flirting, the obsequious praise of often trivial hits, the "group-hugs" etc I thought I would look at Boot Camp Statistics and see where we spent our time.

Did we work or piss away our lives in idele nonsense?

I looked at BC and counted posts. Where was our activity?


62% 31,342 Stories, Flashes, Writing & Critiquing
16% 08,263 Craft & Reading
07% 03,457 Motivation: Subs, Hits, Process
08% 04,003 Comps, Market Info, Serious Discussion (some chat)
04% 02,094 Admin
03% 01,550 CHAT

93% of Boot Camp Bandwith is about writing and craft. Just 3-5% is idle chatter.


Ask yourself, do I access my writing community to AVOID writing or do I access it because the community encourages me to write?

Does the community and its leaders stress I should write EVERY DAY?

Does it tell me to write at least 500 words every day BEFORE LOGGING ON.

Does it "bully me" insisting I should sub an absolute minimum of one sub a week but I should really do more?

Does it publish lists and update them every day to show who is subbing and who is not?

Does it have flash prompts every day, often 2-3 flash sessions?

Does it insist all flashers must read and comment on all other flashes that session?

Does it have weekly and fortnightly deadlines for stories?

Are those deadlines rigid?

Does it insist that every story is read author-unknown and every story gets at least eight critiques?

Does it have a set pattern, a core critique so all crits can be easily compared and contrasted?


Does EVERY story get at least twenty discussion posts?

Do the most contentious stories have threads as long as 100 posts?

Does a highly-published, prize-winning author/editor offer editorial input and use a story in a session to illustrate basic faults?

Does it come down hard if critques are slight and ducking the issues?

Does it insist that difference of opinion on the worth of a story be discussed not left as "mere" subjectivity?

Have the community members won 114 first prizes?

Does it average a first prize every two weeks?


Boot Camp does.



But then it's HUGE, isn't it? Er, hardly. It has just 23 members on record, (including me) only 15 currently active, others away or writing novels etc.

15 people able to out-write 1500, able to out-publish 1500.

WHY? Because we do the work.

Are we supportive? Ask any Boot Camper. I see my job as teaching people to write, teaching them the discipline of writing. To become a writer you must work very, very hard over extended time.

That's support.

A "writing community" that doesn't make you work is a place that makes you feel good. The only trouble is, you'll be feeling about the same in 5-10 years and you'll be wondering why all you have to show for your "effort" is a few ezine publications.

Group hug anyone?





Alex Keegan

Another prize, Four More Hits. Activity!

The Biscuit results are announced and Boot Camper DaveP was a runner-up winning a digi-recorder.

There were 626 Entries (I missed this one!) and 3 of the 30 Finalists were Boot Campers.

WD to Dave, Cally and Jason.


It must be our week for Comp hits as after rcording our 117th First Prize Tom C tells us he was HR in Skive's latest


That takes us to

029 Hits for 2007

002 First Prizes
001 Runner-Up
007 HR or Named Final Placings
002 "Notes"

$2,250 Earned.

Yet Another First Prize

Our 117th First Prize, our second first prize in 2007 goes to TomC who wins $150 for first place in The Mary Gornall

We need to add these hits also


17 TomC gets a story in a small print journal, "Kinships" and gets $6
18 Colin Shortlisted at Happenstance
19 Lexie is Highly Reccomended at Cafe Writers
20 Caroline is HR/Runner-Up at Flashquake
21 Alex has a story accepted for print-mag "Wild Strawberries" in the US
22 Colin gets a story into "Heavyglow"
23 A BCer is in the final shortlist for "Phillip Good" (Results TBA)
24 Cally gets a hit with a Children in Need story at "Chick Flicks"
25 Tom's First Prize


So 25 Hits in 58 days, we must be slipping...


Alex

116 FIRST PLACES!

My personal web-site has got hopelessly out of date but I've just updated the page showing Boot Camp First Places


There may well be more than the 116 I'm showing, but that'll have to do for now.

I'll shortly fill in the gaps (titles of winning stories etc)

I don't know the total figures for prizes won (including 2nds/3rds etc)
but Boot Campers have now won well in excess of $60,000


SIXTY THOUSAND DOLLARS


Visit

http://www.alexkeegan.com/

All about Boot Camp - Boot Camp Firsts


I will try (but don't hold your breath) to update figures for BC Second Places



Alex

Boot Camper Wins $2,000 Prize

Congratulations to Boot Camper Fleur Chapman who wins
The Guardian/Virgin Trains Prize £1,000 ($2,000)



You can read the story here:

http://books.guardian.co.uk/virginshortstories/story/0,,2006886,00.html

Fleur's Prize takes the BC Hit Total to 16 for the year

001 Tom C - "What You See in the Dark" accepted by Underground Voices
002 Tom C - "If I Were" accepted by Hiss Quarterly
003 AlexK - "The Ghost in the Latrine" accepted by Southern Ocean Review
004 TomC - "A Beach in Kaui" accepted by "Bound Off" Podcast Magazine
005 Caroline - "Through the Looking Glass" accepted by Poetry Monthly
006 Dan - "The Beauty Within Me" accepted by US Print Mag Gold Dust
007 Dan - "The Book According to David" accepted by "The Harrow"
008 Dan - "The Reaper's Grim Smile" taken by Flash Flood Magazine
009 RVJ - "Soul Surfing" at LitBits
010 Dan - Burglar Story at Opium
011 Lee - "Nothing Left taken by Sussurus
012 Tom C - "Empty" at Parameter
013 Cally -Highly Recommended at JBWB
014 Caroline - Chose as Poetry Judge for Writelink
015 Cally - Story accepted by Meridian Hotels
016 Fleur - wins Guardian/Virgin Trains Prize ($2,000)

Individual Totals

004 Dan
004 Tom
002 Alex
002 Caroline
002 Cally
001 Fleur
001 Lee





and actual publications...

January

001 Alex - The Internet Writing Journal - "The Long & the Short Of It"
002 Cedric - Eclectica - "Killing Bulls"
003 MJH - Eclectica - "Geoff Says Farewell"
004 Kenneth Shand - Eclectica - "Ramirez"
005 Cedric - Eclectica - "The Year of the Card Player"
006 MJH - Eclectica - "The Undressing of Ursula"
007 Caroline - Poetry Monthly "Snowdrops" paper
008 Alex - Poetry Monthly "On Greenham III" Paper
009 Alex - Southern Ocean Review "The Ghost in the Latrine" Paper/Web
010 Tom - article at Johnny America
011 Lexie - lead story in Earlyworks paper anthology
012 Chrissie - "Mummy Says" in QWF (Print Journal)
013 Jason Jackson in Scottish Print Mag "Raw"
014 TomC in American Drivel (Paper Mag)
015 Caroline in February Poetry Monthly (Print)
016 Cally published by Espresso Fiction ($30)

Individual Totals

(Web-Paper-Total)

001-002-003 Alex
000-002-002 Caroline
001-001-002 Tom
002-000-002 MJH
002-000-002 Cedric
001-000-001 Kenneth
000-001-001 Lexie
000-001-001 Chrissie
000-001-001 Colin
001-000-001 Cally
007-008-016 TOTAL


016 TOTAL

Stats Update 2007-01

023 New Stories
199 Critiques
009 Critiques Average
413 Critical Posts
018 Crit Posts per Story
009 Flashes
024 Flash Crits

Plus we've held a face to face course in Newbury
where individuals studied for 1-5 days. I reckon
I will have recovered fully by September (2008)

So does it work?

Here are our hits and separate pubs in 2007 so far

FRESH HITS

001 Tom C - "What You See in the Dark" accepted by Underground Voices
002 Tom C - "If I Were" accepted by Hiss Quarterly
003 AlexK - "The Ghost in the Latrine" accepted by Southern Ocean Review
004 TomC - "A Beach in Kaui" accepted by "Bound Off" Podcast Magazine
005 Caroline - "Through the Looking Glass" accepted by Poetry Monthly
006 Dan - "The Beauty Within Me" accepted by US Print Mag Gold Dust
007 Dan - "The Book According to David" accepted by "The Harrow"
008 Dan - "The Reaper's Grim Smile" taken by Flash Flood Magazine

$50 earned


Individual Totals

003 Tom
003 Dan
001 Alex
001 Caroline


New Publications

January

001 Alex - The Internet Writing Journal - "The Long & the Short Of It"
002 Cedric - Eclectica - "Killing Bulls"
003 MJH - Eclectica - "Geoff Says Farewell"
004 Kenneth Shand - Eclectica - "Ramirez"
005 Cedric - Eclectica - "The Year of the Card Player"
006 MJH - Eclectica - "The Undressing of Ursula"
007 Caroline - Poetry Monthly "Snowdrops" paper
008 Alex - Poetry Monthly "On Greenham III" Paper
009 Alex - Southern Ocean Review "The Ghost in the Latrine" Paper/Web
010 Tom - article at Johnny America
011 Lexie - lead story in Earlyworks paper anthology

Individual Totals (Web-Paper-Total)


001-002-003 Alex
002-000-002 MJH
002-000-002 Cedric
001-000-001 Kenneth
000-001-001 Caroline
001-000-001 Tom
000-001-001 Lexie
007-004-011 TOTAL

Phoenix Prize Result

Final Judging (blind) by John Ravenscroft






WINNER

Irrigation T Williams, Brighton



Second

Dave Eggers Stole My Suitcase David Prescott, Hereford


Third

A Good Day For Trumpet Fish David Prescott Hereford


Fourth

The Power of One Hazera Forth, Befordshire


Fifth

The Big Enigma Mel Fawcett, Cumbria

Boot Camp 254 Hits in 2006

We have just announced our latest prize winners.

Here is the latest round up of "hits" for 2006

We currently lie on 254 hits for 2006.

Virtually 5 Hits per week for the whole of the year.

Next year our target is 52 First Prizes, 150 Prizes-Places, 365 Hits

24th Boot Camp First Prize, 90 Prizes-Places in 2006

2005 saw Boot Campers win 26 Firsts
2006 saw Boot Campers win 24 Firsts

A nice round total of FIFTY first prizes in two years





2006

Total Winnings $9,100

FIRST PLACE

01 Colin $200 First Place in Slingink's Eurofiction
02 Mike Joint-Winner in 7Q FF9
03 Dave Joint-Winner in 7Q FF9
04 Lexie Wins Adult SS of the Year ($600) in "Killie"
05 Cally Wins Dark Tales ($60)
06 Fleur wins 7Q FF10
07 Hazera wins Doorknobs & Bodypaint First Place
08 Alex Wins Pencil Bantry $300
09 Lexie Wins Cotswold Prize $1,000
10 Cally wins Bank Street SS Prize $140
11 Alex wins Lichfield Prize $250
12 ColinU wins Cadenza $400
13 Caroline wins Kings Lynn Poetry Prize ($200)
14 Gabiotas wins FirstWriter $400
15 TomC wins at "All About Writing"
16 TomC wins $200 First at 7Qs Frantic Flash 11
17 TomC wins $300 First at JBWB
18 Lexie wins Women Writers Network $490
19 Lexie wins $200 First at Earlyworks
20 Lexie wins $400 First Place at H E Bates
21 Cally wins Helen Mullin Award $200
22 Cedric wins CIN Marathon First Prize $200
23 rvjones wins Southport Writer $300
24 Cedric Popa wins Eclectica-CIN Prize (TBC)




SECOND

01 Lexie $150 Second Place in "Dame Throgmorton"
02 TomC gets $100 second in JBWB
03 Dave PR 2nd in 7Q FF10
04 Cally Joint second in Writers Dock Comp
05 Lexie $300 second place Philip Good Memorial Prize
06 Cally in Woman's Own (Prize Value estimate $250)
07 Colin Second in FlashFiction Comp $50
08 Lexie 2nd in City of Derby Comp $400
09 Tom gets $200 2nd in Twyford with CIN Story
10 Calvin Lord 2nd 7Q FF11
11 ColinU 2nd at New Horizonz ($20)
12 Nighttwriter 2ns Aber Valley $60
13 Rob Howe gets $300 Second Place at H E Bates
14 Fleur Second in CIN marathon $100
15 DavePR Second in Phoenix Prize
16 Cedric Popa 2nd in CIN-Eclectica (TBC)

THIRD

01 Lexie in 7Q FF9 Third Place
02 Lexie 3rd in 7Q FF10
03 Tom's $25 3rd in Oz
04 Lexie $200 3rd in The New Writer
05 Alex $150 third place Philip Good Memorial Prize
06 DavePR 3rd in 7Q FF11
07 Lexie 3rd at Mere ($150)
08 Lexie 3rd in Jo Cowell $100
09 Dave PR Third in Phoenix Prize
10 Michael J Hulme Third in CIN-Eclectica (TBC)

4ths, HRs, NAMED FINALISTs

01 Alex Night Train Yates Comp, Last 12 "Floating"
02 Alex Poem in "Out of Love" Anthology
03 Laurie (Nartje) in "Out of Love" Anthology
04 Lexie, State of Being" HR at HISSAC (only winner is announced)
05 Lexie, second story finalist at HISAAC
06 Colin finalist in HISAAC
07 Colin HR in JBWB
08 Cally in Final of Belvedere
09 Lexie in Fish Anthology ($100)
10 Lexie last 140 of 1800, Fish
11 Haz named in Best of the web shortlist
12 Lexie Final of Writers Forum
13 Alex last 3 in Carve "Overseas Writer"
14 TomC HR'd in Bank Street SS Comp
15 TomC 4th in Twisted Tongue
16 Alex at Philip Good Memorial (second story placed 3rd)
17 Lexie at Philip Good Memorial (second story placed 2nd)
18 Cally HR in Lymm Festival $20
19 Colin Finalist, $40, dinner at Frome
20 Cally Finalist Flash FictionComp
21 TomC finalist, ditto
22 Britbird shortlisted in Pier Pressure
23 Colin HM in Momaya III, in Anthology
24 Fleur "too late" in FF11 but into 7Q
25 Cally runner up at Mere ($30)
26 Cally Shortlisted at Slingink TBA
27 Cally shortlisted Helen Mullen Award TBA
28 Caroline short-listed Bournemouth Literary Festival
29 TomC named on Wells Shortlist
30 Lexie named on Wells shortlist
31 Lexie named on Wells Shortlist
32 TomC 2nd story shortlisted (Top 6) at JBWB as well as winning!
33 Lexie Short-Listed at Fish (Results TBA)
34 Fleur Short-listed at Fish (Results TBA)
35 Jason Jackson Highly Commended in Jo Cowell
36 Lexie HR'd at Southport
37 TomC shortlisted in Cadenza Comp
38 Dave PR longlisted Cadenza
39 Hazera 4th in Poenix Prize
40 Michael J Hulme 4th in CIN-Ecectica (TBC)





00 Laurie recently left but was also HR'd at Bank Street (not counted)

Lexie also recieved $25 & $10 payments


Winnings in Dollars, £ = $2, Euro = $1
for simplicity of calculation

Eclectica- CIN Prize-Winners Announced

Eclectica Magazine have chosen the following five stories, four by Boot Campers and one by a Guest as their top five Children in Need Stories for 2006, to appear in a forthcoming "Eclectica"


Killing Bulls
The Year of the Card Player
Geoff Says Farewell
The Undressing of Ursula
Ramirez

These are by

Cedric Popa
Cedric Popa
Michael J Hulme
Michael J Hulme
Kenneth Shand


I believe this to also be the winning order, but await confirmation of that for the award of prizes.



The CIN Night, to date has produced 46 Hits, one paying $100.



alx

Doing Well But the Boss Can't Count!

My recent Prize-Totals post had Boot Camp with 87 Prizes-Places.

That should have been 86.

A second, a third, and a fourth place announced today takes us to here:

2006 86 Prizes 23 Firsts, 15 Seconds, 9 Thirds, 39 Finals $9,000

Total Winnings $9,000

FIRST PLACE

01 Colin $200 First Place in Slingink's Eurofiction
02 Mike Joint-Winner in 7Q FF9
03 Dave Joint-Winner in 7Q FF9
04 Lexie Wins Adult SS of the Year ($600) in "Killie"
05 Cally Wins Dark Tales ($60)
06 Fleur wins 7Q FF10
07 Hazera wins Doorknobs & Bodypaint First Place
08 Alex Wins Pencil Bantry $300
09 Lexie Wins Cotswold Prize $1,000
10 Cally wins Bank Street SS Prize $140
11 Alex wins Lichfield Prize $250
12 ColinU wins Cadenza $400
13 Caroline wins Kings Lynn Poetry Prize ($200)
14 Gabiotas wins FirstWriter $400
15 TomC wins at "All About Writing"
16 TomC wins $200 First at 7Qs Frantic Flash 11
17 TomC wins $300 First at JBWB
18 Lexie wins Women Writers Network $490
19 Lexie wins $200 First at Earlyworks
20 Lexie wins $400 First Place at H E Bates
21 Cally wins Helen Mullin Award $200
22 Cedric wins CIN Marathon First Prize $200
23 rvjones wins Southport Writer $300




SECOND

01 Lexie $150 Second Place in "Dame Throgmorton"
02 TomC gets $100 second in JBWB
03 Dave PR 2nd in 7Q FF10
04 Cally Joint second in Writers Dock Comp
05 Lexie $300 second place Philip Good Memorial Prize
06 Cally in Woman's Own (Prize Value estimate $250)
07 Colin Second in FlashFiction Comp $50
08 Lexie 2nd in City of Derby Comp $400
09 Tom gets $200 2nd in Twyford with CIN Story
10 Calvin Lord 2nd 7Q FF11
11 ColinU 2nd at New Horizonz ($20)
12 Nighttwriter 2ns Aber Valley $60
13 Rob Howe gets $300 Second Place at H E Bates
14 Fleur Second in CIN marathon $100
15 DavePR Second in Phoenix Prize

THIRD

01 Lexie in 7Q FF9 Third Place
02 Lexie 3rd in 7Q FF10
03 Tom's $25 3rd in Oz
04 Lexie $200 3rd in The New Writer
05 Alex $150 third place Philip Good Memorial Prize
06 DavePR 3rd in 7Q FF11
07 Lexie 3rd at Mere ($150)
08 Lexie 3rd in Jo Cowell $100
09 Dave PR Third in Phoenix Prize

4ths, HRs, NAMED FINALISTs

01 Alex Night Train Yates Comp, Last 12 "Floating"
02 Alex Poem in "Out of Love" Anthology
03 Laurie (Nartje) in "Out of Love" Anthology
04 Lexie, State of Being" HR at HISSAC (only winner is announced)
05 Lexie, second story finalist at HISAAC
06 Colin finalist in HISAAC
07 Colin HR in JBWB
08 Cally in Final of Belvedere
09 Lexie in Fish Anthology ($100)
10 Lexie last 140 of 1800, Fish
11 Haz named in Best of the web shortlist
12 Lexie Final of Writers Forum
13 Alex last 3 in Carve "Overseas Writer"
14 TomC HR'd in Bank Street SS Comp
15 TomC 4th in Twisted Tongue
16 Alex at Philip Good Memorial (second story placed 3rd)
17 Lexie at Philip Good Memorial (second story placed 2nd)
18 Cally HR in Lymm Festival $20
19 Colin Finalist, $40, dinner at Frome
20 Cally Finalist Flash FictionComp
21 TomC finalist, ditto
22 Britbird shortlisted in Pier Pressure
23 Colin HM in Momaya III, in Anthology
24 Fleur "too late" in FF11 but into 7Q
25 Cally runner up at Mere ($30)
26 Cally Shortlisted at Slingink TBA
27 Cally shortlisted Helen Mullen Award TBA
28 Caroline short-listed Bournemouth Literary Festival
29 TomC named on Wells Shortlist
30 Lexie named on Wells shortlist
31 Lexie named on Wells Shortlist
32 TomC 2nd story shortlisted (Top 6) at JBWB as well as winning!
33 Lexie Short-Listed at Fish (Results TBA)
34 Fleur Short-listed at Fish (Results TBA)
35 Jason Jackson Highly Commended in Jo Cowell
36 Lexie HR'd at Southport
37 TomC shortlisted in Cadenza Comp
38 Dave PR longlisted Cadenza
39 Hazera 4th in Phoenix Prize





00 Laurie recently left but was also HR'd at Bank Street (not counted)

Lexie also recieved $25 & $10 payments


Winnings in Dollars, £ = $2, Euro = $1
for simplicity of calculation

We Demand a Recount!

We've been underestimating our prizes/places.

two stories make the finals of Cadenza and takes us to THIS!


2006

87 Prizes

23 Firsts

14 Second

08 Thirds

42 Finals

Total Winnings $9,000

FIRST PLACE

01 Colin $200 First Place in Slingink's Eurofiction
02 Mike Joint-Winner in 7Q FF9
03 Dave Joint-Winner in 7Q FF9
04 Lexie Wins Adult SS of the Year ($600) in "Killie"
05 Cally Wins Dark Tales ($60)
06 Fleur wins 7Q FF10
07 Hazera wins Doorknobs & Bodypaint First Place
08 Alex Wins Pencil Bantry $300
09 Lexie Wins Cotswold Prize $1,000
10 Cally wins Bank Street SS Prize $140
11 Alex wins Lichfield Prize $250
12 ColinU wins Cadenza $400
13 Caroline wins Kings Lynn Poetry Prize ($200)
14 Gabiotas wins FirstWriter $400
15 TomC wins at "All About Writing"
16 TomC wins $200 First at 7Qs Frantic Flash 11
17 TomC wins $300 First at JBWB
18 Lexie wins Women Writers Network $490
19 Lexie wins $200 First at Earlyworks
20 Lexie wins $400 First Place at H E Bates
21 Cally wins Helen Mullin Award $200
22 Cedric wins CIN Marathon First Prize $200
23 rvjones wins Southport Writer $300




SECOND

01 Lexie $150 Second Place in "Dame Throgmorton"
02 TomC gets $100 second in JBWB
03 Dave PR 2nd in 7Q FF10
04 Cally Joint second in Writers Dock Comp
05 Lexie $300 second place Philip Good Memorial Prize
06 Cally in Woman's Own (Prize Value estimate $250)
07 Colin Second in FlashFiction Comp $50
08 Lexie 2nd in City of Derby Comp $400
09 Tom gets $200 2nd in Twyford with CIN Story
10 Calvin Lord 2nd 7Q FF11
11 ColinU 2nd at New Horizonz ($20)
12 Nighttwriter 2ns Aber Valley $60
13 Rob Howe gets $300 Second Place at H E Bates
14 Fleur Second in CIN marathon $100

THIRD

01 Lexie in 7Q FF9 Third Place
02 Lexie 3rd in 7Q FF10
03 Tom's $25 3rd in Oz
04 Lexie $200 3rd in The New Writer
05 Alex $150 third place Philip Good Memorial Prize
06 DavePR 3rd in 7Q FF11
07 Lexie 3rd at Mere ($150)
08 Lexie 3rd in Jo Cowell $100

4ths, HRs, NAMED FINALISTs

01 Alex Night Train Yates Comp, Last 12 "Floating"
02 Alex Poem in "Out of Love" Anthology
03 Laurie (Nartje) in "Out of Love" Anthology
04 Lexie, State of Being" HR at HISSAC (only winner is announced)
05 Lexie, second story finalist at HISAAC
06 Colin finalist in HISAAC
07 Colin HR in JBWB
08 Cally in Final of Belvedere
09 Lexie in Fish Anthology ($100)
10 Lexie last 140 of 1800, Fish
11 Haz named in Best of the web shortlist
12 Lexie Final of Writers Forum
13 Alex last 3 in Carve "Overseas Writer"
14 TomC HR'd in Bank Street SS Comp
15 TomC 4th in Twisted Tongue
16 Alex at Philip Good Memorial (second story placed 3rd)
17 Lexie at Philip Good Memorial (second story placed 2nd)
18 Cally HR in Lymm Festival $20
19 Colin Finalist, $40, dinner at Frome
20 Cally Finalist Flash FictionComp
21 TomC finalist, ditto
22 Britbird shortlisted in Pier Pressure
23 Colin HM in Momaya III, in Anthology
24 Fleur "too late" in FF11 but into 7Q
25 Cally runner up at Mere ($30)
26 Cally Shortlisted at Slingink TBA
27 Cally shortlisted Helen Mullen Award TBA
28 Caroline short-listed Bournemouth Literary Festival
29 TomC named on Wells Shortlist
30 Lexie named on Wells shortlist
31 Lexie named on Wells Shortlist
32 TomC 2nd story shortlisted (Top 6) at JBWB as well as winning!
33 Lexie Short-Listed at Fish (Results TBA)
34 Fleur Short-listed at Fish (Results TBA)
35 Jason Jackson Highly Commended in Jo Cowell
36 Lexie HR'd at Southport
37 TomC shortlisted in Cadenza Comp
38 Dave PR longlisted Cadenza

39
40
41 3 BC stories in last 5 of Phoenix




00 Laurie recently left but was also HR'd at Bank Street (not counted)

Lexie also recieved $25 & $10 payments


Winnings in Dollars, £ = $2, Euro = $1
for simplicity of calculation

More Hits! Closing in on 250 in 2006

Lexie was HRd at Southport to go with our win there; we have three stories on a shortlist, results TBA, Colin was HRd in another comp (Ormskirk), TomC gets one in Peccary Magazine... all taking us to 246 hits for the year, 80 Prizes/Places earnming $9,000

Phoenix Prize Latest

Sorry to say that entries didn't cover the main prize
but 7Q has decided to carry the loss (£35)


The shortlisted stories (below) have gone out to the judge

Results expected in a few days




Dave Eggers Stole My Suitcase
Irrigation
A Good Day For Trumpet Fish
The Power of One
The Big Enigma

Boot Campers Win $9,000 in Prizes!

2006 = 76 Prizes 23 Firsts 13 Second 8 Third, 36 HRs/Named Finals $9,000


We have just had our 23rd First Place of 2006

rvjones wins Southport $300

Jason Jackson HR'd in Jo Cowell

If we can squeeze in two more before the year-end we'' have averaged 1.5 prizes a week




Total Winnings $9,000

FIRST PLACE

01 Colin $200 First Place in Slingink's Eurofiction
02 Mike Joint-Winner in 7Q FF9
03 Dave Joint-Winner in 7Q FF9
04 Lexie Wins Adult SS of the Year ($600) in "Killie"
05 Cally Wins Dark Tales ($60)
06 Fleur wins 7Q FF10
07 Hazera wins Doorknobs & Bodypaint First Place
08 Alex Wins Pencil Bantry $300
09 Lexie Wins Cotswold Prize $1,000
10 Cally wins Bank Street SS Prize $140
11 Alex wins Lichfield Prize $250
12 ColinU wins Cadenza $400
13 Caroline wins Kings Lynn Poetry Prize ($200)
14 Gabiotas wins FirstWriter $400
15 TomC wins at "All About Writing"
16 TomC wins $200 First at 7Qs Frantic Flash 11
17 TomC wins $300 First at JBWB
18 Lexie wins Women Writers Network $490
19 Lexie wins $200 First at Earlyworks
20 Lexie wins $400 First Place at H E Bates
21 Cally wins Helen Mullin Award $200
22 Cedric wins CIN Marathon First Prize $200
23 rvjones wins Southport Writer $300




SECOND

01 Lexie $150 Second Place in "Dame Throgmorton"
02 TomC gets $100 second in JBWB
03 Dave PR 2nd in 7Q FF10
04 Cally Joint second in Writers Dock Comp
05 Lexie $300 second place Philip Good Memorial Prize
06 Cally in Woman's Own (Prize Value estimate $250)
07 Colin Second in FlashFiction Comp $50
08 Lexie 2nd in City of Derby Comp $400
09 Tom gets $200 2nd in Twyford with CIN Story
10 Calvin Lord 2nd 7Q FF11
11 ColinU 2nd at New Horizonz ($20)
12 Nighttwriter 2ns Aber Valley $60
13 Rob Howe gets $300 Second Place at H E Bates
14 Fleur Second in CIN marathon $100

THIRD

01 Lexie in 7Q FF9 Third Place
02 Lexie 3rd in 7Q FF10
03 Tom's $25 3rd in Oz
04 Lexie $200 3rd in The New Writer
05 Alex $150 third place Philip Good Memorial Prize
06 DavePR 3rd in 7Q FF11
07 Lexie 3rd at Mere ($150)
08 Lexie 3rd in Jo Cowell $100

4ths, HRs, NAMED FINALISTs

01 Alex Night Train Yates Comp, Last 12 "Floating"
02 Alex Poem in "Out of Love" Anthology
03 Laurie (Nartje) in "Out of Love" Anthology
04 Lexie, State of Being" HR at HISSAC (only winner is announced)
05 Lexie, second story finalist at HISAAC
06 Colin finalist in HISAAC
07 Colin HR in JBWB
08 Cally in Final of Belvedere
09 Lexie in Fish Anthology ($100)
10 Lexie last 140 of 1800, Fish
11 Haz named in Best of the web shortlist
12 Lexie Final of Writers Forum
13 Alex last 3 in Carve "Overseas Writer"
14 TomC HR'd in Bank Street SS Comp
15 TomC 4th in Twisted Tongue
16 Alex at Philip Good Memorial (second story placed 3rd)
17 Lexie at Philip Good Memorial (second story placed 2nd)
18 Cally HR in Lymm Festival $20
19 Colin Finalist, $40, dinner at Frome
20 Cally Finalist Flash FictionComp
21 TomC finalist, ditto
22 Britbird shortlisted in Pier Pressure
23 Colin HM in Momaya III, in Anthology
24 Fleur "too late" in FF11 but into 7Q
25 Cally runner up at Mere ($30)
26 Cally Shortlisted at Slingink TBA
27 Cally shortlisted Helen Mullen Award TBA
28 Caroline short-listed Bournemouth Literary Festival
29 TomC named on Wells Shortlist
30 Lexie named on Wells shortlist
31 Lexie named on Wells Shortlist
32 TomC 2nd story shortlisted (Top 6) at JBWB as well as winning!
33 Lexie Short-Listed at Fish (Results TBA)
34 Fleur Short-listed at Fish (Results TBA)
35 Jason Jackson Highly Commended in Jo Cowell




00 Laurie recently left but was also HR'd at Bank Street (not counted)

Lexie also recieved $25 & $10 payments


Winnings in Dollars, £ = $2, Euro = $1
for simplicity of calculation

More Internet Problems

I have had horrendous problems with BT Broadband.

They "fixed it" Friday and oit dropped out again the following morning.


Just back on, so behind (again) with emails and web updates



alex

2007 Face-to-Face Courses in Newbury

In January 2007 I'm holding two courses at Kingfisher Barn, Newbury, Berkshire.

They are scheduled Thursday-Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon 11th-15th and 18th-22nd but either/both courses can be run one day later (Friday-Tuesday) if the majority prefer that.

Each day is self-contained and individuals can attend for 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 days.

There WILL be courses later in the year but we try to hit the New Year running.

Kingfisher Barn is a converted oak-beamed barn in a lovely secluded spot yet one mile from the nearest station.

For further details email me

alex.keegan

(at)

btinternet.com

Day 1: Thursday
The Over-Riding Importance of Voice & Character

Voice & Character, Setting Tone.
Voice & Dialogue

09:00 Talk: How Voice Shapes Reader & Writer 01
09:30 Exercise Voice 1
10:00 Talk: How Voice Shapes Reader & Writer 02
10:30 Exercise Voice 2
11:00 Talk: Why Character ALWAYS Comes First 01
11:30 Exercise Character 1
12:00 Talk: Why Character ALWAYS Comes First 02
12:30 Exercise Character 2
13:00 Discussion & Lunch
14:00 Thirty Minutes Free Time
14:30 Talk: Dialogue Errors
15:15 Exercise Dialogue Critiquing
15:30 Talk: Improving Dialogue. Do's & Don'ts
15:30 Exercise Dialogue 1
16:00 Summary
16:30 WRITING: Assisted Writing Time (Story)
19:00 Dinner
20:00 Feature Film: Looking at Deleted Scenes & Theme

Day 2: Friday
Bigger Little Stories
Avoiding Me-Too
Ambition
Honesty.

09:00 Talk: The Dangers of Certain Voices Limiting Scope.
09:30 Exercise: Laddish & Girlie versus Godlike. Dangers of First Person
10:00 Talk: How to Make Little Stories Bigger
10:30 Discussion: Writer-Generated Story Weighting
11:00 Talk: Truth, Pain (Napalm), Avoiding the Closed, The Lingering Ache
11:30 Short IDEA Workshop. Expand or Contract?
12:00 Talk: Why Setting Up the Reader is Important
13:00 Discussion & Lunch
14:00 Thirty Minutes Free Time
14:30 Talk: PLOT is a Four-Letter Word -1
15:00 Exercise: Plotting 1
15:30 Talk: More on Character v Plotting
16:00 Summary
16:30 WRITING: Assisted Writing Time (Story)
19:00 Dinner
20:00 Feature Film: Looking at Deleted Scenes & Theme

Day 3: Saturday
Let's Talk About YOU.
Getting Your WHY into Stories
Removing YOU

09:00 Talk: Why I Write. What Matters. What is My Ache?
09:30 Exercise: Where Am I Going? What Am I Saying? Commercialism.
10:00 Talk: Being Interesting. Seducing Readers. Under the Ribs
10:30 Discussion: Danger Zone. Who is Hiding? Who is a Cheat?
11:00 Talk: USING Truth, Pain. TMAWIA. Learning to Bleed. Lit v Genre
12:00 Discussion: Mixing Genres. Can I be serious, and Tell Stories?
13:00 REVIEW
13:30 Lunch Followed by Free Time
14:30 Talk: How Voice, Tone, Language Finds ME
15:00 Exercise: Using Voice, Tone, Language to Find My Ache
15:30 Discussion of Work
16:00 Summary
16:30 WRITING: Assisted Writing Time (Story)
19:00 Dinner
20:00 Feature Film: Looking at Deleted Scenes & Theme



Day 4: Sunday
THEME MUSIC
Poetry, Metaphor, Reference, Allusion
Fuzzy & Spiky. Using the Reader's Memory

09:00 Talk: TONE IS NOT AN ACCIDENT.
09:30 Exercise: I Feel Uncomfortable. This Isn't Me.
10:00 Talk: How Rich is Too Rich?
10:30 Exercise. One Story, Two Soundtracks. Voice-POV
11:00 Talk: USING Truth, Pain. TMAWIA. Learning to Bleed. Lit v Genre
12:00 Discussion: I Don't Like Literary Bollox. In Genre?
13:00 REVIEW & Discuss
13:30 Lunch Followed by Free Time
14:30 Talk: How Allusion, Reference, & Subtle Borrowing Enriches Feeling
15:00 Exercise: Rich Even When Writing Carver. Cliché v Resonant Reference.
15:30 Discussion of Work
16:00 Summary
16:30 WRITING: Assisted Writing Time (Story)
19:00 Dinner
20:00 Feature Film: Looking at Deleted Scenes & Theme



Day 5: Monday
Self-Gridding & Self-Editing.
Re-writing and Re-Living. Fine Toothcomb



09:00 Talk: How the Grid is Used Badly.
09:30 Exercise: Gridding Two Stories.
10:00 Talk: One Story, Two Critiques, One of Which is Honest
10:30 Exercise. A NON-Grid Review of a Story for Editing
11:00 Talk: How Elemental Polishes Dramatically Improve a Story
12:00 Exercise & Discussion: Gridding to Rewrite
13:00 REVIEW & Discuss
13:30 Lunch Followed by Free Time
14:30 Talk: Gridding Towards the Truth
15:30 Individual Gridding of Course Stories. Blue Pen
15:30 Group Discussion of Work
16:30 Summary
17:00 Afternoon Tea


The following elements will probably be covered within the above but for those not wanting to write in the two-hour slots, these talks/discussions will be available at those times

Making Stories Layered
Obtuse versus Oblique
Why Tone Can Be an Ally
How Allusions Can Bolster the Theme
How Word-Choices Can Subtly "Weight" Meaning
Having Real Plots Not Incident Chains
Voice + POV + Character + Situation = PLOT with Resonance


Aesthetics v Utility v Propaganda.

Why Some Stories Get Under the Skin When Others Just Have "Look at Me" Written All Over Them. Avoiding (Obvious) Showboating.

Phoenix Prize Problems

The response to The Phoenix Prize (and to the previous Frantc Flash) was very poor.

Seventh Quark (meaning ME) lost money on the Frantic Flash.

As entries stand we will lose money on the Phoenix, also.

This is a fantastic opportuntiy for any half-decent writers to win a first prize. Get your entries in NOW!

We need 13 more entries just to break even (a £200 first prize and no place prizes) but I am not prepared to lose on two consecutive competitions.

I'm thus keeping the comp open a little while longer in the hope that the various promised stories arrive.

The following is a FIRST PASS (meaning it's rough and positions could change) which gives an APPROXIMATE standing (in bands) of the stories. The list is to show you ROUGHLY where your story stands but please note that within a band, just because you are first doesn't nmean you are top of that band.

IRRIGATION
A Good Day For Trumpet Fish
The Big Enigma
Mechanical Animals
Saviour of Mons

The I in the Sky
The Truth Game
Soul Kill
Final Knockings
Not Los Angeles

Cold Bones
Elixir of Youth
Taking Care
Sea Songs & Bladderwrack
The Leg or Oliver's Lamp

Strangers
Glass Jars
Rough Justice
Poor Daisy
Growing Pains
Crossing the Bridge
The Visitor
The Good Deed
Clouds
Perpetual Paradise
The Assessment

Unmarked

The Power of One
The End of the World is Done

Lost Web Access

(Monday)

I've had no web access Thursday-Sunday so am now behind.


Hope to catch up tomorrow



Alex

A First, a Second, Nine Hits

A whole glut of winners to report

Cedric Popa wins Children in Need $200
Cedric Popa fourth in CIN

Fleur Chapman second in Children in Need $100

Seven BCers make last 12 of CIN Comp

Tom C (two in the above 7) acceptance at "Heavy Glow"
Tom C acceptance at Litbits
Tom C acceptance at American Drivel

Missy acceptance at Cadenza

BCer acceptance at "Clever"

A large number of BCers made the named long-list for CIN
and they all had at least one story in the anthology but
these are NOT being counted as HITS, merely as "Notes"

A First, a Second, Nine Hits

A whole glut of winners to report

Cedric Popa wins Children in Need $200
Cedric Popa fourth in CIN

Fleur Chapman second in Children in Need $100

Seven BCers make last 12 of CIN Comp

Tom C (two in the above 7) acceptance at "Heavy Glow"
Tom C acceptance at Litbits
Tom C acceptance at American Drivel

Missy acceptance at Cadenza

BCer acceptance at "Clever"

A large number of BCers made the named long-list for CIN
and they all had at least one story in the anthology but
these are NOT being counted as HITS, merely as "Notes"

CIN Finalist

The 12 stories in the CIN Anthology Final

A Muse Lost
Claude Romarin
Falling In
Geoff Says Farewell
Imaginary Things
Not Killing Lembit
Pavel's Grey Painting
Six Uses For a Hedgehog
The Nest
The Undressing of Ursula Nelmes
The Year of the Card Player
When the Colours Exploded

Congratulation to

Vanessa Gebbie (2)
Tom Conoboy (2)
Cedric Popa (2)
Cally Taylor (2)
Colin Upton
Laurie Porter
Fleur Chapman
Michael J Hulme

These were the best 12 stories from 345 and the winners
(chosen by competitor votes)

were

Cedric Popa
Fleur Chapman
Vanessa Gebbie

who win £100-£0-£25 respectively

Third First Prize in a Week!

Boot Camper Cally Taylor wins $200 Hellen Mullin Award


Our 21st First Prize of the year

CIN Anthology

For some reason Blogger is changing the colour of the latest CIN Anthology


No idea why Blogger doesn't want to show the GREAT cover
to our BC-CIN Anthology but you can see the real thing at


http://www.7thquarkmagazine.com

Fast Work if You Can Get It!

Feeling good after last night's H E Bates 1-2 for Boot Camp but even better knowing that last Thursday-Friday's Childen-in-Need marathon produced 346 stories, that every one has had 5 critiques, some as many as 10, that I critted the whole damn lot of them, and, and, and, at 01:15 Thursday Night into Friday I printed off the first copy of the Anthology!

I deliver the PDF this morning and the anthologies will be in my sticky paws by close of business.


How's that? A week earlier than the pros did it last year.

The Marathoneers


Adam Warren
Alex Keegan
Alex Wire
Antony Davies
Barbara Godwin
Bonzo Browne
Cally Taylor
Caroline Davies
Cedric Popa
Christine Tothill
Colin Upton
Dan Malach
Fleur Chapman
Joel Willans
Kenneth Shand
Laurie Porter
Louise Graves
Michael J Hulme
Nancy Saunders
Nigel Allison
Ralph Hockley
Tom Conoby
Toni Peers
Vanessa Gebbie

Burco Con
Dave Prescott
Kirsty Davies
Jacob Andelin

Alexander Fox
(Secretary)

Special thanks to Lexie Fox for staying up the whole thirty hours to send out the prompts by email.
Thanks to Kirsty & Jacob who were unable to take part but nevertheless raised sponsorship monies.
Thanks also to “Burco” who was taken ill early in the night, and to Dave who was “distracted”.

Boot Camp Wins 1-2 in H E Bates

Lexie Fox wins this year's H E Bates ($400) and recently-returned Rob Howe is $300 Second.


Our 20th First Prize in 2006

N-N-N-Nineteen

2006 74 Prizes 19 Firsts 11 Second 8 Third, 36 Finals $7,500


An update, Lexie shortlist turns into a $200 First at Earthworks

Our 19th First Prize in 2006

Children in Need

We have 350 stories to plough through (250 done) to get a longlist, then shortlist

(I now HATE flashes)

Money raised is over £5,700 closing on £6K

Another First Prize and a String of Hits

Lexie wins a First Prize worth $490 from Women Writers Network

Cally places in an anthology

TomC gets a story on Rutland Radio

lex has a story in an EarlyWorks Press Anthology

Lee has an acceptance for Southern Ocean Review (or did I already mention that one?)

Nightwriter gets two poems into Southern Ocean Review (one hit)

Tom and MJH get into Cautionary Tales "Best of 2006" Anthology


That takes us to 18 First Prizes in 2006

Total Winnings $7,300

FIRST PLACE

01 Colin $200 First Place in Slingink's Eurofiction
02 Mike Joint-Winner in 7Q FF9
03 Dave Joint-Winner in 7Q FF9
04 Lexie Wins Adult SS of the Year ($600) in "Killie"
05 Cally Wins Dark Tales ($60)
06 Fleur wins 7Q FF10
07 Hazera wins Doorknobs & Bodypaint First Place
08 Alex Wins Pencil Bantry $300
09 Lexie Wins Cotswold Prize $1,000
10 Cally wins Bank Street SS Prize $140
11 Alex wins Lichfield Prize $250
12 ColinU wins Cadenza $400
13 Caroline wins Kings Lynn Poetry Prize ($200)
14 Gabiotas wins FirstWriter $400
15 TomC wins at "All About Writing"
16 TomC wins $200 First at 7Qs Frantic Flash 11
17 TomC wins $300 First at JBWB
18 Lexie wins Women Writers Network $490




SECOND

01 Lexie $150 Second Place in "Dame Throgmorton"
02 TomC gets $100 second in JBWB
03 Dave PR 2nd in 7Q FF10
04 Cally Joint second in Writers Dock Comp
05 Lexie $300 second place Philip Good Memorial Prize
06 Cally in Woman's Own (Prize Value estimate $250)
07 Colin Second in FlashFiction Comp $50
08 Lexie 2nd in City of Derby Comp $400
09 Tom gets $200 2nd in Twyford with CIN Story
10 Calvin Lord 2nd 7Q FF11
11 ColinU 2nd at New Horizonz ($20)
12 Nighttwriter 2ns Aber Valley $60

THIRD

01 Lexie in 7Q FF9 Third Place
02 Lexie 3rd in 7Q FF10
03 Tom's $25 3rd in Oz
04 Lexie $200 3rd in The New Writer
05 Alex $150 third place Philip Good Memorial Prize
06 DavePR 3rd in 7Q FF11
07 Lexie 3rd at Mere ($150)
08 Lexie 3rd in Jo Cowell $100

4ths, HRs, NAMED FINALISTs

01 Alex Night Train Yates Comp, Last 12 "Floating"
02 Alex Poem in "Out of Love" Anthology
03 Laurie (Nartje) in "Out of Love" Anthology
04 Lexie, State of Being" HR at HISSAC (only winner is announced)
05 Lexie, second story finalist at HISAAC
06 Colin finalist in HISAAC
07 Colin HR in JBWB
08 Cally in Final of Belvedere
09 Lexie in Fish Anthology ($100)
10 Lexie last 140 of 1800, Fish
11 Haz named in Best of the web shortlist
12 Lexie Final of Writers Forum
13 Alex last 3 in Carve "Overseas Writer"
14 TomC HR'd in Bank Street SS Comp
15 TomC 4th in Twisted Tongue
16 Alex at Philip Good Memorial (second story placed 3rd)
17 Lexie at Philip Good Memorial (second story placed 2nd)
18 Cally HR in Lymm Festival $20
19 Colin Finalist, $40, dinner at Frome
20 Cally Finalist Flash FictionComp
21 TomC finalist, ditto
22 Britbird shortlisted in Pier Pressure
23 Colin HM in Momaya III, in Anthology
24 Fleur "too late" in FF11 but into 7Q
25 Cally runner up at Mere ($30)
26 Cally Shortlisted at Slingink TBA
27 Cally shortlisted Helen Mullen Award TBA
28 Caroline short-listed Bournemouth Literary Festival
29 TomC named on Wells Shortlist
30 Lexie named on Wells shortlist
31 Lexie named on Wells Shortlist
32 TomC 2nd story shortlisted (Top 6) at JBWB as well as winning!
33 Lexie Short-Listed at Fish (Results TBA)
34 Fleur Short-listed at Fish (Results TBA)
35 BCer in last 4 of H E Bates (TBA)
36 BCer in last 4 of H E Bates (TBA)




00 Laurie recently left but was also HR'd at Bank Street (not counted)

Lexie also recieved $25 & $10 payments


Winnings in Dollars, £ = $2, Euro = $1
for simplicity of calculation

Here We Go!

So far the official pledges (2/3 of participants) for the Children in Need Marathon are up to 3,600 UK Pounds so we are still in the running to collect £5,000

There are 28 people paid up and raring to go.

You could help the cause by ordering an anthology £5 plus UK postage or by sonosring either the group of Alex K (I need the sponsors!

With the practice stories we expect to go well past 500 stories/poems and over 250,000 words


Think of us in the wee small hours. When you get up for work tomorrow we will have been writing for 12-13 hours and have 17-18 to go


Alex

Another Fine Placing

We were disappointed this year not to get a BC story or two in the final for Bridport, or at least in the last 50.

Good news, our own "MJ" has just received a letter, forwarded from his old address

He made the last fifty from 4,793 entries

That is a seriously good hit. Our 72nd Prize/Place.




alx

More Prizes, More Hits

Chrissie has an acceptance at Bright Lights Cafe

Caroline has a poem accepted for December's Poetry Monthly

Lee has an acceptance for Southern Ocean Review

Lexie wins $100 Third Place in Jo Cowell

and a BCer is in the final four of H E Bates (results TBA)

That takes us to 210 Hits for the year and 71 Prizes/Places, at least $6,810


Meanwhile the Children in Need Practice Sessions have produced 130 Flashes/Poems!

More Hits, More Prompts

A double hit for Nightriter (counted as one) and a hit for CLT takes us to 204 for the year


PROMPTS

Who Will You Believe?

Playing Bridge in a Morgue

I Can Count to Ten

Nature v Nurture

Trailer Park Boys

The Borderlands of Sience

CRASH

Deep Simplicity

Blood

Almost Like a Whale

Get a Load of This

Storm Warning

Five Days That Shook the World

England Made Me

The Letter From Miss Powell

Dead Rock Stars

Surviving the Sword

Lord Gnome's Literary Companion

Al Quiet on the Western Front

Phoenix Prize Deadline Extended

Please note the deadline for the Phoenix Prize (short stories under 4K) hs been extended to the end of November

£6/£200

See http://www.7thquarkmagazine.com for details


BC Prompts, Tuesday

Breakfast With Androids

Mesopotamia, Bicycles

Brodie's Owl

Fever

Three Days' Growth of Beard

Don't Look Now

After the First Rise of Green Light

Touring Brian

Goodbye to All That, Hello to This

The Truth (With Jokes)

Sex Slave Apprenticeship

On Being a Cow

Howling at the Moon

The Town and the City

Another of His Thrilling Tales

Boiled Beef, Carrots & Gravy

Florence Nightingale HEART Stanley Livingstone

More Success & Bonfire Day Prompts

Lexie and Fleur are shortlisted at Fish for the Story in a Page Comp (results TBA), ClaireLT has a hit at "Mama" taking us to 69 Prizes/Places for the year, 202 Hits



Here Are Today's Prompts


I Have Never Travelled, I Have Never Been Here

iPod, Mobile, Headband, Belt

It was late, late in the evening

Learning German

Letters for the rich, letters for the poor, the shop on the corner, the girl next door

National Euthanasia Day

On the darkening wind a pale face floated

Sometimes a man aims high and things go well

The Importance of Not being Caught

The Smell of Roasting Hedgehog

Timothy Winters Comes to School, Eyes as Wide as a Football Pool

Who Wants to Be a Milionaire?

Yes, yours, my love, is the right human face

You Walking Away from me towards the school

A Guy Called Guy

An Inconvenient Truth

An Old Man Playing Football v 13 Indian Waiters

And the whispers of wind in the evening sky

Catherine's Wheals

Ears Like Bombs and Teeth Like Splinters

Everyone's pain has a different smell

Fire!

Got a Rocket in Your Pocket

Great Production. New Story Machine?

Good month for me so far, three stories, two flashes, six poems, 8,179 words.

I'd like to rest, but I'm grabbig this while it's here!

I can worry about redrafting, edits, and reewriting when I'm old.



PROMPT BLOCK


Take 1-2-3-all of these


The more of these you use the more you will find an amazing story in you


but read the whle thing a few times first and let the phrases sing to you, get into your consciousness.

Yesterday from the same set of prompts I read two 120+ stories that used ALL the prompts. One turned out to be a dark murder story, the othr was about a Falklands veteran walking on a beach1

But on my walk I find three : I employ more people than Henry Ford : The poor little children vomited and wept : Rabbits. Deer. Because of a principle. : She is behind : I would have heard them : Red than Dead. Because the Ruskies : Women marched. Held Hands : Via Aldermaston : Twelve thousand men : Trucks, concrete. Frighted away : Travel steerage by air : To slip back into France. Because of an Austrian : To rest. Because they walk : To my right : To less effect, obviously : Though I loved Cairo : They marched so close to my house : I've been to paralysed to write : It was really terrifying : Then returning I found that my house was not ready : The trip back was something : Who got away : The trickling sun, the sprinkle : The sun was like a spirit : The sun slits through leaves : When I turn away, my shadow : Were footsteps, horseshoes : The root was not quite right. : The path was old. Through the trees : The path is well-trod : The missiles went, the concrete : The chaps are drilling again : Talking on her mobile. : Strategic Air Command, the skies : Soldiers drilled. Left-Right : Snorting. : Reclaimed, relaid and fox and stoat : Polythene bags of shit : The little tea-house, and scones; : The key to all our futures, better : Plover rush. Because of Sarajevo. : Past the cruise-missile silos : November. Glorious : Morning run : Missiles came. Because they could. : Left, a crow sits quietly : Is in front of me. : In little bags : I know they pick up shit : I knew that : I imagined my own death : I hear dogs. : I came to take a photograph : He's pullovered, green : He doesn't look : Hanging from saplings : Had buried many. Thrown down wells : grilling on the chain-link fence : Got ten cartons of cigarettes in Karachi : Glorious again : Four hundred years deep : Faintly pleasant, it was : Eyes front. Missed the Golden : Essex ran for London. His men : Early morning light through trees. : Dear Brother : Cut Ties, Cut Fences. But still : Chopped in bits. Because times changed : Catch the sun, pause, it's pleasant : But she is halting : But I was disappointed : But graffiti too. Because he is bored. : Beneath my feet : As though he is alone : As I pass, my shadow : Approaching : And turn inside out : And talked to themselves and never, never stopped : And rabbit, cow, deer alive, mosses : And on my return : And making planes that glide : And laughed and ran up and down and sang : Americans, steam-rollers, giant : All horrible. Because of a King. : A treaty signed, not here, away

More Good Competition News

The Fish One-Page Historical Short Competition announced its final 16 today

On that list two Boot Campers and a former Boot Camper!

Keep Going!

Still riding the whirlwind. 5,500 this month (early on the third)


Here are today's prompts:



Tree Struck By Lightning

The Wreck of the Josie B

Flowrers For Algernon's Teacher

Power of Four

The Autobiography of His Best Mate

Fishes

Goldfish are ORANGE

Pins

Stunted

The Email

Majesty, Majesty

Trampled to Death By Kisses

The Saga of Woolworths. Episode 19, Broken Biscuits

Helen, Not So Beautiful

The Thirteenth Tale

Prompt Block

Use IN SEQUENCE,

read, read, read, and read again

allow the connections which the unconscious makes



A mountain range on a day that was twinkling bright and clear - A wedge of broken glass behind him - all I can do is tell what I know - all my life I've tried to put it from me - All my past life is mine no more - and I resumed the struggle - As if the question had been addressed to the causeless uneasiness within him - below, bacon in a skillet - blaming on his boots the faults of his feet - crossing the continental us by night - don't do anything but wait - during the night Sim was born - Eddie Willers could not distinguish the bum's face. - everything resolved and satisfactorily explained - For a long time I would go to bed early. - From the sunset far at the end of the street. - Gas smells awful - he found the corpse covered in a blanket - he grew, steadily. - he lay wailing upon the cold cave stones - he opened a door on darkness - he showed me some of his gold teeth - he was drunk outside Sardi's in a second-hand Rolls-Royce - his blood beat through him a thousand pulses each minute - His head encased in a steel sphere he could never take off - His terrier, Jack - how it ended - How much, how little, is - I can't believe my luck - I can't really say exactly what happened - I did not have time to tell myself - I have eaten the plums - I live in a well - I remember. I remember - I saw a burning tree - I think of you with nothing on - I warn you - I was much too far out all my life - I'm beginning to come round to that opinion - I'm falling asleep - I'm sorry - Imagine you are looking across a desert - In this short life - 'Indeed!" said Mr Jones, "and please - it was a day as fresh as grass growing up and clouds going over - it will not be neatly tied up at the end - it's a murder story too. - I've been right in the thick of it - live like smoke in a well - Mocking and still - Nobody heard him, the dead man - not by me it won't anyway - nothing to be done - now if you don't like that sort of story - on the campaign cot where he had always slept - or if it has ended - or why or just how it began - Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun the moon and dismantle the sun - rain beat very hard against the windows - Reflected the metal yellow of the sky - Remember me when I am gone away - reminded him of unrequited love - Right in the middle of her forehead - "Send me the half that's got my keys - Sometimes, the candle barely out, my eyes closed so quickly - Still two years old and trembling at his feet - "There's been an accident!" they said. - That only lasts an hour - That were in the icebox - the cellar was cold cement and the dead man cold stone - The chain of the hours - The eyes looked straight at Eddie Willers - the first time I ever saw Larry Bartzel - The flying hours are gone - The house where I was born - The light was ebbing - The order of the heavenly bodies - the scent of bitter almonds - The sequence of the years - Then a mile of sea-scented beach - There was a lot Larry said that was gibberish to them - there was a tall blonde with him - there's man all over for you - They may not mean to, but they do - They took my life and threw it on the skip - They were waiting for me somewhere beneath Eden Rock - this is a true story, I can't believe it's really happening - unanswered questions - vapour in a stone throat - Vladimir be reasonable, you haven't tried everything - what are days for? - what you got on me? - what you're starting to read is full of loose ends - When a man is asleep he has, in a circle around him - who had eyes you wouldn't forget - Who is John Galt? - Within our power - Yellow glints caught his eyes. - you better not read it - You might as well live - Your servant's cut in half," he's dead. -

TRY THIS

across the surface of things
After eating they took us to their apartment
although we never did get drunk
And as soon as one approaches your stop
and I was to come back this morning
and nobody hearing it could doubt what it sings
and she expected her husband
And the minutes, the hours, the days.
and the song sings the loudest when you pick out each note
at 12:15 am
Babies are still gurgling, bibbed, in high-chairs, cots, lobster pots,
Bloody men are like bloody buses
boy was he burned up
Brodie and I were in the lounge
but it's a song all the same
but we drank more there and pawed around a while
Chronologically, nobody is old.
clean white sheets
Flashing their indicators
how all the pain falls away.
How the country is so much more right you know,
how we’ve landed on our feet.
I am writing on my bed
I don’t know.
if you listen you can hear it
If you make a mistake
if you stand quietly, at the foot of a garden
I'm almost popping
I'm so full of food
in the middle of a street, on the roof of a house
It is Sunday,
it's a wordless song for the most
it's clearest at night
I've spent in months
Jump off and you'll stand there and gaze
Naturally we slept through Brodie's date
Offering you a ride
Only Mattie Schiff and Brad Sheen are old enough
or crawling around floors that taste (if you get close enough) like blankie and breast-milk.
Perhaps I should start at yesterday noon
so Brodie made a date with her friend for 8:00
so crisp and clear,
so we came back to the hotel, ate, abd lay down
Something about how it’s so good to be here,
sprinklers sprinkling,
that the world is like a sharp intake of breath.
The babe I had was married
the city it sings
the low soothing hum of air-conditioners
the sun up slow and easy,
There's no turning back
This has been the damndest day
This is a young street.
to a place inside you
to burst through screen doors and run out, heading for the hoop.
Two or three appear
we had already drunk until our eye-teeeth floated
we invited them to lunch
what a place this joint is
What is she saying?
when the song reaches out
when the sound cuts more sharply
when we spotted two wenches giving us the eye.
While the cars and the taxis and lorries go by
You haven't much time to decide
You look at them
You wait for about a year
You're tring to read their destinations