My Chandler's Ford Today post this week is a review of a show called Five Go Mad for Shakespeare and it was good fun.  I never expected to review something that combined Enid Blyton's Famous Five with the Bard of Avon but there you go...

This led me on to thinking about the importance of children's fiction, even for those who do not write it.  My first loves in terms of children's books were the classic fairytales and the Famous Five series.  I also liked Heidi, Black Beauty, and other classic children's books. 

I think it can be forgotten sometimes that anyone who, like me, writes for adults, "owes" our audience to children's writers.  Why?  Because most people who read regularly have always read since they were children and all that changes as they become older is their tastes in books! 

While I'm sure it does happen, the majority of readers don't suddenly go into a bookshop and pick out a book to read.  They are going into stores or ordering books online because they already have a love of reading they are developing further.  That love of books nearly always starts in childhood with the classic children's stories.

My current series on Chandler's Ford Today is all about life's little irritations (and is called 101 Things to Put into Room 101).  From a fictional viewpoint, it doesn't matter whether you write short or long fiction or, indeed, what genre you write in, but you can guarantee your characters will have more than their fair share of life's "little irritations".

So what are these and why do they rile your characters so much?  Do some of your characters handle the trials of life better than others and, if so, why and how?  What would count as an irritation in your fictional world that here on our own planet might be seen as a catastrophe or something your characters shouldn't be wound up about at all?

Are the irritations you portray shared by other characters in your stories?  Is there anything that the society/world you've created considers an irritation and how did it come to be seen this way?  (There is always a reason for these things!).  Answering all of these will help you flesh out your world and your characters better and that is always worth doing.

I'm sure you must have come across at some point someone saying something like "it's just a fairytale".  That phrase has always annoyed me.  There is nothing "just" about a fairytale.

When examined closely, the vast majority of fairytales contain at least one element of truth in them (and often much more).  Yes, fairytales do tend to follow character type but there is a lot of truth in those.  What does the wicked witch represent?  Those who are prepared to use the power they've got to control others or who are prepared to do anything to gain power.  Who does the good fairy represent?  Those who use their powers for the good of others.  And that's just to name two examples. We can all think of real life people who can fit into those categories so fairytales do reflect humanity as we know it.

Hans Christen Andersen showed that fairytales do not always have happy ever after endings.  (While it surprised me the first time I read his The Little Mermaid here, I have a greater appreciation now of the truthfulness of his characterisation and the way the story does end).  Fairytales can sometimes get across a certain amount of social commentary (again see Hans Christen Andersen's The Little Match Girl here). 

So I do wish some people would stop being dismissive of fairytales.  There is a lot more to them than may at first be apparent.

In my latest Chandler's Ford Today post, I consign various items to Room 101. Amongst the items in Part 4 of my series are rats, people who dislike fake flowers, and overpriced clothing for those of us with height issues (in either direction.  Am not unbiased here!).

I love fake flowers because (a) they are of a much higher quality than they once were and (b) I'm a hayfever sufferer!  Thinking about this made me wonder about what quirky likes and dislikes your characters have.  I'm thinking of those things that would really make them stand out to a reader.  It is vital readers can tell characters apart and distinctive personality traits, likes and dislikes are great ways to achieve those necessary differences.  We're not all clones after all, so our characters mustn't be either.

Think about also why your characters have their likes and dislikes.  (Yes, people can and do have irrational likes and dislikes but, in fiction, you have got to convince the reader your characters are believable.  I find having a good reason for them to be the way they are, which would include their tastes, is a surefire way of achieving believability).