Day 30 - The day my dad drowned the school!

Day 30 now. Woo hoo!

So there is some truth to this story. When I was about six my mother came to my primary school and made sugar mice with us. It's one of my most enduring memories from my childhood. Mostly I think because I was so proud that my mum was doing something at school. It felt like she was really important, not just to me but to others as well. It felt like she was a rock star. Though unlike my story the sugar mice we made never came alive. Mores the pity. So that is where the idea of the story came from I just injected a bit of fantasy to make it more exciting. Plus I liked the idea of it being Florence's hapless, but well meaning father being responsible for trying to make sugar mice.

Anyway this is a short post as its 11.15, my hair is wet and I need to get up at 6am tomorrow. The next four days are going to be a real test of my endurance, speed, creativity, stamina and sanity. Can I get through it? Come back on Monday and find out.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 29 - The Tuesday effect

I had to dig deep to get into this one. I've never had an imaginary friend so can't speak from experience but I do know what it's like to move from place to place as a child and have to connect with new kids, who have already formed friendships and cliques, and get to know a new place, new country and new accents. It was that and my own sense of hard-nosed independence that allowed me to get into the heads of both Bobby and her mother. I guess there's a part of me in both of them.

Originally my idea was to have the mother and daughter reminisce over memorabilia from the daughter's life and that moving home wouldn't change who she was or that she wouldn't loose a part of her life, her identity but as I started to write it a much darker element crept in that I hadn't anticipated and the story took a completely different route. Sometimes I like that but when it's unexpected and when another story has already been fleshed out a story it makes the writing process that much more challenging. But then if writing wasn't challenging why would we bother to do it.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 28 - The 49ers

So this one was a little evolutionary. The premise didn't come immediately but it did come strongly and I've come to realise that when they do that is when I have a solid story to tell.

I thought about a story where a girl catches a thief and when I started to research juvenile crime I found an interesting statistic that 'shoplifters get caught about once every 49 times they steal'. The story and the two characters Catherine and Lloyd evolved from there.

I knew I wanted to base the story on denial of identity as it's a subject I can in some way relate to so decided to have a character who struggles with the idea of being different whilst the other is desperate to be different. Really its all about acceptance of who you are but when you're a kid you don't accept yourself. You always want to be the other girl in the class, the prettier one, the more popular one, the more intelligent one, the sportier one. We're never truly happy with ourselves until we accept who we are.

Anyway its up and ready to read. Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 27 - The Clockmaker's apprentice

This story popped into my head as I was staring into space wondering what to write. It wasn't fully fleshed out, but I had the idea of a boy that turns back time by making a watch tick backwards.

I kept seeing the story set in Victorian times but I didn't want it to become a cliche Dickensian style fantasy so I opted to let the reader decide where and what time period they want to set it in. I thinks it enhances the readers own experience if they can inject a little imagination of their own into the story.

I did find the structure of this story a little challenging particularly as I had to try and map the reversal of Mr Chivers's life whilst the rest of the world continued to turn with time. And also I had to reverse Mr Chivers's speech as well. At first I hoped there would be a program on the web that would do that for me, as there always seems to be, but in the end had to type the speech out the right way round and then retype it backwards.

Another tip I have, which I have used for stories before, is soap crayons. Every writer should have a packet of soap crayons. I couldn't function without them as I'm aways coming up with ideas or ways to resolve issues when I'm in the shower, and being able to write on my tiles is ideal, especially as my memory is short.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 26 - Dodgers

The idea for this story came to me on my way to Starbucks this morning. I had no idea what I was going to write and as I drove from my parents house to St Andrews I passed a familiar sight (which will come as no surprise to any country-dweller): a dead rabbit on the road side. All I could see what its fluffy, white behind stick up off the road. That's when I got to thinking about a daredevil bunny, an adrenalin junkie (or bunkie perhaps). I thought though that the idea of a brash character getting its comeuppance was a little trite so the idea of a sibling coming to its rescue and realising it had something within him that could bring him out of the stalemate of his life was really appealing. It's funny though as whilst I'm writing this post I've realised that that is exactly what this whole project is doing for me. It's bringing me out of the stalemate of my life. A case of art imitating life, me thinks!

Anyway the writing of this one was a little harder as I had to keep reminding myself that I was writing it from the perspective of an animal that doesn't know what he's observing, like the 'beasts with eyes'. So as a consequence I did more editing to this one than with the others. But I'm happy with it now. I hope you are too!

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 25 - A slice of Sky

Interestingly the plot for this story came from the title. It doesn't usually work that way round as normally you come up with your title after you've written, or at least that is how it is with me. However, on this ocassion, whilst I was walking the dog yesterday through a fine mist of rain, I noticed a faint rainbow in the sky. As I walked through the trees the line 'a slice of sky' jumped into my head. I liked it but instantly saw the word 'sky' not as a noun but as a name, a person. That got me then thinking about a slice of a person and what that would be. Skin perhaps? Yes, and from there I thought about skin grafts and the whole idea of a gothic horror about a skin graft gone wrong crystalised. I think that premise took me approx sixty seconds to come up with. Maybe my fastest yet, or maybe not actually. I think Rebel with a cause took all of ten seconds. Anyway I liked getting into the nitty gritty of this story and was particularly keen to tell it from the point of view of his friend rather than him. I thought it was a more uncommon angle for story telling and I'm all for doing things outside of the box.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 24 - The peril of pop

I had this idea a while ago. I honestly don't know where the premise came from, it just appeared in my head 'a girl who drinks so much pop she explodes'. Of course as its a kids book I couldn't have her completely explode as she'd died, but pop like a balloon I figured would be doable. I don't always intend these to come out in a moralistic way but sometimes short stories lend themselves to morals/fables.

Anyway this was just a quicky as two stories were produced today. I'm at a graduation ceremony for a family member today so to keep me on schedule I've up the production for today to two stories. My bum has never been so sore from sitting in one place for so long. It's just as well I have an attention seeking dog to get me off my butt every now and again.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 23 - The life and times of Bob the duck

So this story has been germinating in my mind for about a week. I read on BBC's website about a record breaking duck race on the Thames recently and liked the idea of a story about a rubber duck but I couldn't think of a suitable premise that I wanted to explore. Then I came across an article in the Daily Mail from a couple of years ago about a shipment of ducks that fell of a ship near China that have been floating on the open sea for 15 years and how some were finally expected to wash up on the english riviera. That was when the idea crystalised in my head, the journey of a rubber duck, the life of a rubber duck, what had he seen, where had he been. So I combined that seafaring story with a few elements of where we commonly see rubber ducks (baths, fairgrounds, etc) and the story was complete. Of course the name of my protagonist was perhaps a little cliche but I loved the simplicity of it and it suited my character-carefree and easy.

So I really love this story. Not just the message at the end, which was entirely accidental, but how synchronised the elements of Bob's life are to the ducks he meets in the race. I would say it's a perfect story, but feel free to disagree with me.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 22 - Caspian the Merboy

So the idea for this little story came about whilst I was in Los Angeles. There was a news report of mermaid sightings off the coast of Greece (believe that if you will). That of course started to germinate in my mind and I thought about a story surrounding a competition to get the first photograph of a mermaid.

Naturally I didn't want the story to be typically cliche so I chose a male character rather than a female one and of course made him a boy. The idea of him being lost seemed to be a natural plot line for the story and allowed me to weave the setting nicely into the story. Those that know me or the area will recognise the place names and the shameful plug of the Anstruther Fish Bar, for which I should be getting commission, or at least a reciprocal link!

Anyway enjoy this self styled cross between 'Splash' and 'ET' (any 80s children out there will understand this!)

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 21 - The Biggleswich Wars

I started writing this one late today as I couldn't get up this morning early enough to begin the premise before my paid work starts. Yes I have a normal job as well as my dream job. Anyhoo I had the idea some time ago as I briefly mention a war between brownies and scouts in my canine fantasy novel. I liked the concept of these normally placid, friendly, helpful, law abiding packs sinking to the depths of anarchy because of their hatred of each other. I like that dynamic and thought it would work well from a comic perspective. I particularly like the revision of the brownie guide song. It illustrates how vitriolic the relationship is between the two.

Anyway I hope you enjoy this one as I enjoyed writing it.

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 20 - Rubber boy

Here's the next one. Back on track now.

Day 19 - From beyond

Frustrated. Frustrated. Angry and frustrated. I missed my deadline on this one. I almost had it finished but at 12.30am I started to flag. My mind was fogging and I couldn't follow the story in the way I wanted. I figured that rather than compromise it I would have to admit defeat and finish it on sunday. But why did it take me that long when I had all day?

This is where real life kicks in. I'm a little preoccupied at the moment with some options that I'm trying to evaluate. Rather than bore you with the details I will say that as with most choices there are pros and cons, benefit and pitfalls, costs and savings. So I've been pondering and chatting over these pretty much all day. That distracted me from my project. But I guess these things are going to happen. Life gets in the way and sometimes you just have to deal with it. But I was pretty mad with myself at setting my project back. However its up now for all to read and hopefully enjoy. This one was inspired by my fascination with ouija boards. I remember playing with one my friends and I made once with cardboard and a felt tip pen. It didn't work, naturally, although some of us did do our best to make it look like the glass moved. So the idea of someone communicating not just a message but a warning had the certain gothic element that I wanted.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 18 - Games and Gargoyles

This story was a lesson in speed research. I read on the BBC website this morning about the new gargoyles that had been carved for the Bodleian Library, because the existing ones had weathered away, and instantly my mind set to work. The fact that the gargoyles had been designed by kids and that many depicted characters from popular children's literature I couldn't help but think that a story was within it.

Almost immediately I imagined them coming to life after dark. But rather than have them battle against each other, which wouldn't have worked as the personality of each of the gargoyles created is somewhat placid) I decided to make them play. And this worked quite nicely. However I have never visited Oxford University so there in lay my research. And also I wasn't familiar with a few of the characters, namely Sir Thomas and the General so I had to find out who they were so I could sculpt their character for the story. I wanted there to be an element of truth and recognisability to within the story and to have there characteristics inform the plot (like the two brothers quarrelling and being pursued by a crow, or the hypochondria of the writer of 'Three men in a boat').

Anyway as a result I knew I had to do that research quickly and speed read through some information, including a wonderful document on the Bodleian's website which details the history of the library (which helped me develop Sir Thomas's character). I hope I've done them justice in the short period of time I've had to get this story down. And I hope you enjoy my story.

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 17 - Hope in the dark

I guess my lesson for today is 'connection'. In did struggle to connect with this story. I don't know whether it's because I don't know enough about the war or what it was like to live through The Blitz, or whether my roots are inherently scottish (in spite of the fact that's its been my home for the last 30 years). But I had to dig really deep to try and feel what it would be like. Both physically and mentally. That sense of lack of control over what is happening to you, especially when your movement is restricted. I had thought about tying myself up and perhaps lying on the floor but then my dog already thinks I'm weird and this may just have tipped him over the edge. He'd have been on the phone to my folks begging them to take him away from the crazy woman. But I really loved the idea. It actually came to me yesterday when I was reading online about parachute bombs. There was a few lines about a supposedly true story about a boy called 'Stanley Ewing' who survived for 3 days, after his house was bombed, on sugar and water from fire hoses. I thought it was an inspiring and miraculous story and wanted to explore just what it took for that boy to get through his ordeal.

Anyway, as a result of my problems it took longer for me to get this story finished than most of the others I've written. Maybe that is because I do funny and fantasy better than hardnosed drama. I guess only time will answer that question more fully as I progress with my mad idea.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 16 - Houdini (Part 4 - final part)

Here's the final part of Houdini.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 15 - Heroes for hire

I had such a laugh writing this story. I really got into it and although in the planning stages I was struggling to come up with humourous resolutions to the various events when I got to writing it I found the ideas came with ease.

Now, if anyone from the University Library reads this I appologise in advance. You never know when, where or how ideas are going to come to you and the idea for this one came during the staff training session. I promise I was paying attention to the speeches but sadly Superman popped into my mind for a brief visit, or so he said, and the bugger wouldn't leave. So at the end of the training session, at lunchtime, I set to work planning out how I would create this story with superheros and naturally a competition between the most well known was the first thing that came to mind. But I didn't want just any typical, cliche contes. I thought the idea of superheroes competing in challenges that we have at some point in our lives done was a good way of bringing some reality to the story. Of course school sports day was the best canvas on which to work and instantly I had some ideas on how some of those events would pan out. The high jump and long jump ideas though didn't come until I wrote the story, but I'm glad they did because I was getting a little worried my story would end with a bit fat flat climax. I hope it didn't go that way. I certainly liked the ending.

Anyway enjoy!

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 14 - The day of reckoning

This one was a hard one to write and I did end up editing it quite a bit. I think the main reason was because this is actually a true story, only the names have changed to protect the...guilty!

This actually happened to me when my family moved from London. We were living in what I can only describe as being a socially deprived town/village that had a number of undesirable kids living in it. They had nothing better to do than exert their authority over any one they could. I'm convinced I was not their first victim.

Of course this all happened about thirty years ago and i'm sure the make up of how schools handle bullying has now changed but for me my school could give a rats ass about what was happening to me. I was being verbally and physically tortured to the point where I was going home with torn clothes and open wounds.

In the end my sister was the one who saved me from a becoming their plaything. I found it ironic that it took a five year old to fix something the adults couldn't (or wouldn't).

It did happen a long time ago and its all pretty much water under the bridge, or at least that was what I thought until I came to write this. I struggled and the only I can think of why was because on some level I think I had blocked the entire incident from my mind so I struggled to feel it again. In the end it took me an entire evening to back track my past and remember that feeling of helpless terror that comes when you don't know literally what is lurking around the corner. But I can still see that final fight as clear as day in my mind. I can even tell you it was an overcast day.

They say writing about your experiences is therapy. I can see why. This is the first time I have written about it fully since it happened. I'm glad I did.

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 13 - The Great Fairy Robbery

This idea came about after a chat I had with my mother. She's playing the fairy godmother in her home village's production of Cinderella (if anyone is in the vicinity of a quaint village called Blebocraigs in Fife I strongly urge you to come and see it. The villagers' productions are usually riotous. It's called 'Cinderella of Blebo'.)Anyway, shameless plug aside, that's when I started thinking of fairies and what they meant to me as a child. I confess wasn't really into fairy stories when I wa younger. I found them all a little too...wimpy. I was more into Grimm's fairy tales which were altogether much more sinister. The only fairies, though, that really intrigued me as a child were tooth fairies, and that was mostly because they gave me hard cash. So the idea of girl wanting to rob the tooth fairies because she is unhappy with the coins she's receiving was a really interesting idea. Of course I had to come up with a plausible reason why the fairies are being a little stingy which was naturally answered by the present recession (a topic that most kids are aware of to some degree). I liked the idea of the tooth fairy world suffering from the effects of the global recession and then suffering from the lack of interest in fairy stories.

I also liked the idea of taking kids' perception of fairies and flipping it on its head. What if they weren't the ethereal, glowing, sparkly beings we traditionally believe them to be? What if they were a bit rough and tattered and didn't speak with soft, floaty voices? I thought it would be an interesting change and I'm all for the surreal!

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 12 - Houdini (Part 3)

Here's part 3 of Houdini,

Enjoy!

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 11 - Lucy's Monsterpiece

This story was born out of a news article on CBBC about James May's (of Top Gear fame) entry in this year's Chelsea Flower Show. He created a garden made entirely out of plasticine and his reason for doing so was because it would never have to be weeded. This got me thinking. I loved the idea of having a plasticine garden as I fondly remember making lots of indescribable and unidentifable things with the stuff as a child, and pondered the idea of a plasticine garden that grew voraciously.

I knew it had to be the idea of a child so I made Lucy my artist and sculptor and set about creating the consequences of what she had created. Of course anything slightly anarchic or fantastic always has to have a bit of a comic spin on it, which I think I achieved subtly. I particularly liked the way she resolved the problem she had created, and those that know me will notice the subtle reference to 'Balamory' at the end.

Enjoy!

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 10 - Ghost Writer

So I've made it into double figures. Ten down three hundred and fifty five to go! Phew.

Actually this one I really enjoyed writing. I do love a good ghost story. I came up with the idea this morning as I was thinking about my premise and whilst I was reading an article on the web there was an advert for a 'ghostwriter'. I wanted to write a ghost story with a bit of a twist and when I read that word literally as a ghost who writes I decided that a story about a ghost that wanted to write but couldn't because he couldn't grip a pen was an intriging idea. That coupled with the fact that I've been doing research recently into the second world war for another novel idea I have, I naturally felt my ghost should have died in the war.

Again as per my previous post, because I had a simple premise I was able to write this one quite fluidly, although because of its length I didn't actually finish it until 9pm. Just as well I only have a dog to look after. Although having said that I'm sure he thinks I've as good as abandoned him.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 9 - Wag the puss

My tip for today, based on my experience over the last two days is that the secret to a good story is a simple premise. I had problems yesterday with a story I was writing which I have shelved for now for the plain reason that there was no clear premise. I really wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the story and that is why I was sat staring at my pc at 10pm with dripping wet hair wondering why I was bothering to try this crazy project. But as I lay in bed pondering my problem I realised that previous stories I wrote had a clear premise and that premise was made up of three elements: protagonist, action and reaction. With those in place the stories always flowed. Take 'Rebel with a cause' as an example. The premise of that was 'a tree that resisted attempts to be cut down, dies from something unseen', or this story the premise of which was 'a dog that thinks it's a cat wants to climb trees but can't'.

So I have learned my lesson and hopefully this will help all you budding writers out there too. WORK OUT THAT PREMISE!

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 8 - Houdini (Part 2)

This is part two of my nautical fantasy story.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 7 - Rebel with a cause

This story was inspired by a real tree that is growing, or I should say dying, outside my local university library. I walk past this tree everyday. It's a really beautiful tree which has been much discussed as part of the university's plans to redevelop our library. However it was only when I returned from my gaunt to Starbucks (readers will begin to see a pattern here when it comes to me and Starbucks. This coffee establishment features heavily in my process) that the idea of a tree that wouldn't die could be a cool story.

When I developed the idea I thought the writing would actually come off in a comical manner, especially because of the ways the developer tries to fell the tree, but as the words came out, a more poetic voice seemed to appear on the page, entirely involuntarily. I'm starting to realise that if voice and idea come naturally I can really feel the story. The only problem is that given this project has its own deadlines I'm hoping that both of those things come naturally to me more often.

Happy reading.

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 6 - Houdini (part 1)

This is the first of a four part story, given that it's fairly long. This was written a few years ago but its one of my favourite stories. I've always had a passion for writing fantasy, although it's difficult to cultivate in a short story framework owing to the need to provide the reader with a foundation to the fantasy element. However given the fantasy element to this story is a pirate ship, which most children are able to visualise, I was able to get round adding too much exposition.

I actually visualised this story as the first of a series of fantasies that my protagonist dreams up for herself. I may well write more, I don't know, I'll just have to wait and see.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 5 - Dan's worst weekend!

Just made it in time today. I didn't start writing this until 8pm tonight. I had a loose idea that I wanted to explore about a boy accidentally selling his own toys instead of his sister's but hadn't actually thrashed it out.But here it is now.

This story is kind of loosely based on the relationship that I had with my sister when we were siblings. We used to bicker like hell over the stupidest of things. Come to think of it, we still do! But I knew to make the story readable and more enjoyable I had to take that acerbity to the nth degree. And having been past or seen advertisements for numerous yard sales whilst I was in Los Angeles I knew I found a vehicle where I could make my protagonist swallow a bitter pill.

Anyway it's up so happy reading.

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 4 - The Yellow House

Okay, so I didn't actually write this story today owing to the fact that jetlag has kicked in and i didn't actually get up until 3pm. A total of 16 hours sleep.

This story was written last year as part of a writer's group I have with a few friends that I graduated with. It was the result of one of the group members coming up with a theme for our next short story. The theme had to be surrounding an old, delapidated house that sits behind an old primary school. The house used to belong to a public school in my local town but has been unoccupied for years. The house is amazing to look and is the perfect subject matter for a story.

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 3 - Sammie's Slayers

Bit of a delay in posting this one, but that's because I wrote whilst flying over the US, Canada and the Atlantic.

I'm now on terra firma and able to post the next story. I have to admit it was a little challenging to keep on track whilst flying home from the US. There was one point were the entire plane (or maybe not everyone and I hope not the pilot) was asleep and there was me with my little light on typing away.

I finally finished it with my dog at my feet (who I'm surprised recognises me given I've been away for a month) and it's now online.

This one was inspired by a film made here in the UK (I think in the 70s, I may be wrong) called 'One of our dinosaurs is missing'. It's a great kids movie, very british. I have no idea but it was in my head one day and I instantly changed the name of the movie in my head to 'One of my ghosts is missing'. That was the working title for this story until I got to the second last paragraph and decided to call Sammie's army 'Sammie's slayers' so decided on that instead.

I love writing ghost stories. I always wrote them as a kid but didn't want to write a trite scary ghost story so opted for one with a bit of a quirk to it. I have to admit I had fun on the plane thinking of all the weird and stupid things that Horace did. I particularly loved the idea of him rearranging and moving buildings.

Anyway, enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 2 - Seven days

This story was inspired by a real event that happened to me when I was a kid. An unscrupulous boy from my school found a bag of cash and proceeded to spend it. It's something I've never forgotten largely I think because I never found out where the money came from.

When I decided to write this the idea of my character pondering its origin over seven days seemed natural, breaking each day down to investigate different options. From there structuring it in a diary format was obvious, as was the decision to write it in the first person.

I actually found this story really easy to write. I'm wondering if that is in part due to the fact that its in a diary format and so I felt a bit freer with the tone, basically allowing myself to write directly from the thoughts onto the page: a world away from the way I usually write, with my internal movie playing in my head. Either that or it could be related to a chat I had with a friend over dinner last night. We were discussing how if a story comes freely to you, without effort, those are the ones with truth and resonance.

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 1 - Lucky Lady

Even writing the summary for this story had me in floods. I'm such a sap when it comes to animal stories particularly when the ending isn't quite what you wanted. The idea came to me just as I was going to bed. I have absolutely no idea what the catalyst was, it just popped into my head. A story about a boy and a greyhound. I knew it had to be sad but wanted it to have a relatively happy, non-cliche, ending.

It was tough to write, possibly because I have a dog of my own and imagining his passing was a little difficult emotionally. It also ended up a bit longer than I had anticipated but I felt I needed to establish some depth to Tommy and Lucky Lady so readers could empathise with both.

And a word to the wise. Never write a sad story in the middle of Starbucks. I'm sure some people thought I was either sad or mad when I started weeping as I typed.

Boo hoo! Enjoy

The Imaginery Scrapbook