Literary Slips – 33 word Flash Fiction

Eric Alagan

11 years ago

Instead of a prompt word, I thought we’ll do something different this week. As bloggers, many of us are writers – so, theme for this week is about “writing“. As you probably guess, this opens wide possibilities.

Quite often I come across blog posts lamenting the dreaded “writer’s block”

When writing fiction, it is crucial to develop characters. One has to give them a backstory, add depth and scope and generally build them into three-dimensional people.

Having published two novels and working on several more now – excluding the Mechanic Leigh and Fallen Grace series – I notice how characters take on a life of their own.

Many years ago, my kid sister accidentally stepped into a gutter. I thought she recovered the situation very admirably. She casually put her other foot into the gutter – it was deep but dry – stepped out and continued on her way, as if it was the most natural thing to do. When she related that episode, the family had a good chuckle – we still do.

That incident lent impetus to this next piece.

When I started writing about three years ago, in the first two years, I attended every single seminar and talk on “writing” that fitted my schedule. These literary luminaries, both local and foreign imports, sprouted impressive credentials and almost all lettered in creative writing, English Language, literature etc. ad nausea. Some charged an arm and a leg for their lectures. One guy from Adelaide even took my money and absconded – but that is another story.

Interestingly, not one had a bestseller to their name. The bestselling authors were all “non-literary” types.