On my Chandler's Ford Today post this week, I resume my series on 101 Things to Put into Room 101.  One of the things I mention is annoying adverts.  This led me to wonder how advertising, business, publicity etc could work in a fictional world. 

How do your characters survive?  Presumably by working so what do they do?  What products are made in your world?  How are others persuaded to buy them?  Are there things your world does not allow to be made or sold and if so what and why?  Is there a black market (there usually is!)?

Also how do your characters find out what is going on?  Can they tell what is truth and what is propaganda?  Are adverts truthful?  Are there governing bodies regulating these things?  Or is your society a simpler, barter based one?

Talking of adverts, I will just share a flash fiction story of mine, The Art Critic, which is now up on Cafelit.  Do check out the website for some fabulous stories by a whole range of authors.  I'm delighted to have work on here.  Hope you like the story.

In my Chandler's Ford Today post for this week, I discuss with Gail Aldwin writing tips, character creation and "real" books amongst other topics. 

One common question put to writers is where do you get your ideas.  Well, the answer can be all over the place, which is not what most people want to hear.  What they want, a quick pat answer, is simply not possible becauset he great thing about generating ideas for stories is that there are several methods to do this. One at least is bound to suit you.  I use:-

1.  Well known sayings (and sometimes I twist these too).

2.  Proverbs

3.  Think of a subject and a problem in one sentence and then see where it takes you.  For example, "He refused to cry again".  Who is he?  What made him cry in the first place?  What has led to his change of attitude here (and it is clear there has been a change)?  What has been his problem that has led him to this point?

4.  Think of an ending in one sentence and work backwards.  For example, "At last, the dragon was killed".  Okay, so why wasn't it killed earlier?  What was the problem here?

5.  Sometimes in conversations or even TV/radio programmes, you will pick up on something that can be useful - an odd phrase can give a good indication of character.  Then it is up to you what you do with that character on the page!

In my interview with fellow Chapeltown Books author, Gail Aldwin, for Chandler's Ford Today this week, she shares with me how her round the world bus trip influenced her flash fiction.  She also shares some of the research she carried out into where paisley comes from given the title of her flash fiction collection is Paisley Shirt.  One of the things I love about these kind of interviews is discovering what has influenced a writer to come up with what they have!  There are so many influences...

This is also why every writer, regardless of genre, should read widely and well in non-fiction and fiction, classic and contemporary works.  You are literally feeding your mind.  You can't know in advance what book it is you read that will spark off ideas of your own.  You will just know it when you come to it.  So have plenty of fun reading lots of lovely books!  It is good for your own writing. 

I used to worry about picking up other writers' styles doing this but have found it not to be the case.  I read something that sparks off an idea in me and I then write that idea down in my style only because, well, it is the only style I have.  After all, doesn't every author want their work to be uniquely something from them?  That's where the joy of writing is - in creating something that is unique to you.

A lot of the fairytales are retelling of stories passed down orally over many generations.  Sometimes there can be agendas behind stories.  Hans Christen Andersen must have had concern for the poor as his agenda behind The Little Match Girl (and probably the hypocrisy of people being horrified at what happened to his character yet doing nothing to allievate suffering themselves).

So what is behind your stories?  Why have you created your characters as you have?  I was surprised when I was looking back at my draft of From Light to Dark and Back Again how often the theme of poetic justice came up.  That wasn't planned (well not consciously anyway).  I also hadn't planned the variation in moods of the stories that formed the book (though it did help inspire the book's title!).  Look back at what you have written and see if you can spot what is really behind it.  It may well inspire other stories!

My Chandler's Ford Today post looks at the frustrations of publishing.  I expect you may have experienced most of them! However, there are two classic ways out of at least some of these.  One is to self publish and the other is to seek publication via the small, independent press.  I chose the latter route!  More in the post...

The main frustration I feel is the Catch 22 one of people wanting you to have a track record before they will take you on, yet the only way to get that track record is to be published!  It is also highly appropriate to use the phrase Catch 22 too given we're talking about getting books out there...

Back to our fictional worlds though - what role does literature play in it?  Who "controls" literature?  Could your characters be published writers?  What form of writing do they use?  Do they have stories as we understand them?  Who are the publishers  in your setting(s)?  Does the government exercise any control over what the public can read?

(I like the thought of there being an underground library for those not wanting to just read what is on a government's approved list!).

My new mini-series on Chandler's Ford Today is a humorous look at what things I would put into Room 101, that famous creation of George Orwell.  Part 2 of 101 Things to Put into Room 101 includes items as diverse as stilettos, bad grammar and confusing road signs. 

I think stilettos are one of the most stupid things ever invented because they're not good for your feet or your spine.  When I did wear them, back in the day so to speak, I always dreaded getting them caught in some grating somewhere.  Now that comment is not that biting, I feel, but some of my characters do come out with very pointed remarks at time - and rightly so.  It is part of their personality to do so and the situations they face also justify pointed criticism.

So what kind of biting comments would your characters make?  What would drive them to be like that, or are they like this all the time anyway?  How do the other characters respond?  What kind of conflicts can you get out of this to drive the story along? 

Have fun finding out!!