Stop, collaborate and listen.
Not necessarily in that order.
What’s new with you?
Hi!
It’s Mat here. I hope all’s well with you and yours.
Back in January, in a group chat with a few of my writing buddies, one of us made a daft comment about having “borrowed someone else’s eyes”.
This silly line sparked something. Other ideas followed in rapid succession. Two of us (myself and JP Relph) ran with it, and two hours later there was a shared Google doc with a concept, a character, the beginnings of a story.
Initially, we imagined the piece might become a fun flash we could submit to somewhere like Icebreakers Lit — an online mag specialising in collaborative work. We soon smashed through the “few hundred words” barrier and so wondered if the story might work as an anthology entry — there were a couple of suitable calls open at the time.
The process was fun — kicking ideas back and forth, bouncing off one another’s prose, seeing the unexpected directions the other person would take the plot, the new connections they made in terms of themes and imagery. Absorbing, adapting and building upon each others words was exciting and challenging in a way that was quite different to solo writing.
It’s almost impossible, when writing alone, to take yourself by surprise. It happens, but not very often — occasionally, some unconscious process kicks in and the characters or events will take a turn that makes you feel like a reader, even as you’re writing. Writing collaboratively, though, I found myself constantly in that state of surprise, straddling the line between reader and writer. There’s a thrill in seeing it all unfold — the unexpected events, the unfamiliar turns of phrase. And, working with JP, there was a joy to be found in reading her twisty plotting, evocative descriptions, and pitch-perfect vocabulary.
Anyway, what I’m saying is, collaboration is inspiring and exciting. JP and I were having so much fun that, almost before we knew it, our idea had mutated into a 25,000-word monster. Several rounds of edits later — and three months after the initial throwaway gag about “borrowing eyes” — we’ve written an honest-to-goodness novella. It’s out on sub already. And whether it succeeds or not, I’m really proud of the thing we made together. I had a blast doing it too.
So, why not try it for yourself? Grab a buddy, give collaborative writing a go. You might like it.
Oh, and while we were writing a novella, I should mention that JP also found time to start a lit mag. I know, right?! Seriously though, Trash Cat Lit will be amazing. You should bookmark the page and follow the magazine on Twitter. I’m honoured to be on the team as a reader/cheerleader/helper. Doors will open for submissions in June. I hope some of you reading this newsletter might send us something wonderful — perhaps a collaborative story of your own?
Top tip: Write small
Forget the 300-word limits of flash fiction. Start smaller. Start micro. Start sub-atomic.
On Twitter, there’s a proliferation of daily writing prompts acting like Hadron colliders for stories, challenging us to get an idea down in 280-characters or less. Lots of them are based around the abbreviation VSS (very short story). You could try #VSS365, #VSSDaily, #VSSHorror. There are other prompts too — such as #FromOneLine, or #MicroflashMonday from Writers’ HQ.
What’s great about these regular prompts is that they are easily absorbed into even the busiest daily routine. They create space for a writing practice that can be done on the train, or while sipping coffee, or in the downtime between meetings. Just capture the essence of something. A fragment. A scene. A character sketch. The prompts teach us to explode ideas in unexpected ways, to subvert our own expectations, to create pearls from the tiniest fragments of grit.
The other lovely thing about #VSS is the supportive communities that spring up around these hashtags. Follow the prompts for a while and you’ll start to spot the recurring avatars of dedicated writers who produce tiny stories every single day. People will see your tweets. You might get a few encouraging likes. And when you see a VSS story you enjoy, don’t forget to spread the love. Like and share the pieces that resonate or inspire you. Reading other people’s responses to the prompt will improve your own writing too!
I wrote a VSS almost every day for a year and it helped me loads. Several tweet-length pieces grew into full stories that were later published in magazines and anthologies. One of them evolved into a prize-winning story in a contest run by Bag of Bones Press, another found a home on Paragraph Planet, which publishes 75-word stories daily. Another became part of a collection of microfiction from Alien Buddha.
So, write small. You never know where it might lead.
What am I writing?
What, you mean, what am I writing, aside from half of a 26,000-word novella? Well, unlikely though it seems, I did find time to scribble other stuff as well.
Some intriguing prompts from Punk Noir Magazine caught my eye this month. Their High-Rise call inspired a strange tale of amateur taxidermy. I had a great time entertaining myself with descriptions of upsettingly-bad animal stuffing and I was thrilled to find the piece was accepted! It has already gone live, so you can read it here.
I also wrote a 200-word micro, themed on betrayal, for a second Punk Noir call — producing a story that took me unexpectedly into Ursula Le Guin-ish fantasy territory. This one was also accepted for publication. I’m really happy you guys will get to read these pieces soon. I’ll be sure to shout about them on Twitter when they go live.
What am I reading?
I was lucky enough to receive a review copy of Katherine Silva’s novella Undead Folk. It’s a post-apocalyptic tale of love, loss, and talking foxes. Highly recommended if you like beautiful prose, a steady drip of questions and revelations, strong female leads, quirky animal companions, and horror with heart. Oh and the ebook costs less than a pound right now. It’s a steal!
This next one is a gut punch, so brace yourself. I love how sparse the storytelling is, and how much complexity and ambiguity is thrown up by the final line. Mairead is a genuinely wonderful writer. Seek out all her work.
Open calls
Divinations is only a few issues old, but they exploded into the scene with stylish, beautifully-designed issues and a refreshing sense of fun. Their next call, opening May 1st, is themed on Disco: “a 2008 Skins party gone wrong, a ‘Prom Night’ drama, a Carrie-inspired slasher. Think you’ve got the perfect tale? Come, join the party.”
There’s still time to submit a dark, surreal, supernatural story themed around “Skin” for this anthology call. It stays open until May 31st, unless they fill up before then, and the editors are especially keen to see more stories from women.
A new anthology project from Bad Hand Books is looking for “stories of social decay, societal collapse, and bad manners”. Pieces can be up to 5,000 words and the editors are paying 10c per word. This one also opens on 1st May.
Writing Prompt
I love scanning sites like Unsplash for unexpected and inspiring images, like this one by Ashley Bean.
Stare at it for a while and see where your mind goes. What could be happening here? Start writing and see where it leads.
Signing off
That’s probably enough from me for now. Next month, I’ll be back with more thoughts, tips, prompts and other groovy things.
Until then, take care and enjoy your writing.
Best wishes,
Mat
I have now pre-ordered Undead Folk, so thank you for that rec. And congratulations to you and JP on the novella, I hope someone picks it up and publishes it very soon.