Tag Archives: reading

When is a short story not a short story?

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I began writing short stories in mid 2012. At least I thought that my compositions where short stories (I knew of no other means of describing them), however I now realise that many of my compositions are, in fact flash fiction (a term wholly unfamiliar to me until comparatively recently). Wikipedia describes flash fiction as follows

“Flash fiction is a style of fictional literature or

fiction

of extreme brevity.

[1]

There is no widely accepted definition of the length of the category. Some self-described markets for flash fiction impose caps as low as three hundred

words, while others consider stories as long as a thousand words to be flash fiction”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_fiction

I have never consciously aimed at producing flash fiction (indeed, as mentioned above I was unaware of the label until quite recently) but many of my stories none the less fall into this category. See, for example my story entitled Chicken, http://newauthoronline.com/2013/09/15/chicken/. To be frank I haven’t counted the words but I guess that they total 1000 give or take a few either way!

Other stories most definitely can not be classified as flash fiction. Rather they fall into the category of short story, (see, for instance my long short story, Samantha which runs to approximately 29 pages, http://www.amazon.com/Samantha-ebook/dp/B00BL3CNHI).

To the best of my recollection all of my flash fiction has been composed in one sitting while my short stories have been written over a longer time-frame (Samantha was written over a period of several months).

To me it is irrelevant whether a composition is, technically a piece of flash fiction or a short story. What matters is that the story gives pleasure and (hopefully) causes people to think about the world in which they live. If I can achieve that in a thousand words or less then all well and good, however if it takes longer to convey my “message” (if that doesn’t sound too pompous)! Then that, also is absolutely fine. Ultimately it is the production of a meaningful tale which matters rather than how many words I as a writer have churned out.

 

Thank You

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Thanks to you, my readers newauthoronline.com has, as of today (4 September) achieved a total following of 307. I very much appreciate all your likes, comments and other feedback.

While writing just a quick note to let you know that my collection of short stories, Sting in the tail and other stories remains free to download until 6 September. To download Sting in the tail please visit http://www.amazon.com/Sting-tail-other-stories-ebook/dp/B00DFK6R54.

Reading Aloud

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On Monday one of my colleagues mentioned how he reads to his 2-year-old daughter using a Kindle. His little girl likes to look at the pictures on screen, however my colleague said that he prefers print books as the photographs are bigger.

I was heartened to learn that parents still read to their children as it brought back happy memories of visits to W H Smiths with my grandfather. Most Saturdays we would pop into Smiths and buy (well my grandfather would do the purchasing) a book. On reaching home I would sit on my grandfather’s knee or lie in bed as he regailed me with the adventures of The Famous Five or other classics of children’s literature.

Today most of my reading is done using the text to speech facility on my Kindle. After a while I forget that I’m being read to by a dalek and enjoy the experience of listening to the classics of world literature, however there is no substitute for the human voice, of being read to by a much loved parent or grandparent. Sadly my grandfather died many years ago but I often think of him reading aloud to me or of our walks together in the woods near to where he lived.

Books to Prop Up the Wonky Leg on your Coffee Table

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Yesterday’s (12 July) Daily Mail contains an article regarding the books which people most frequently fail to finish. The survey was carried out by the Goodreads website and shows E L Jame’s Fifty Shades of Grey and J K Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy as being the books which readers most often fail to finish. I must confess to having read neither book so I am not in a position to impart words of wisdom on either work. I have, however read War and Peace in the original Russian and I must admit to having derived great pleasure from the experience. It was hard going in places but I felt a real sense of achievement once I read those final words, “the end”. OK I’d better come clean. I have indeed read War and Peace from cover to cover but it was in translation rather than the original Russian! I did, however plough through 20 odd braille volumes which took up some considerable space on my book shelves!

For the article please visit http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2361598/JK-Rowling-EL-James-bestsellers-list-books-readers-finish.html

The Dismal Science

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On Monday I attended the first part of a course on economics. The course was offered free to people in the organisation I work for and, knowing little about the subject I decided to attend.

One of the arguments advanced by the lecturer was that the value of things lessens the more of them we possess. So, for example many of us find it useful to own several pairs of shoes as it is helpful to be able to alternate them. However the more shoes we own the less value they possess as we can not possibly wear 20 pairs (or more) on a regular basis (no jokes please about ladies who have wardrobes full of shoes)!

It struck me that the argument holds good for shoes and many other consumables, however I do not feel that it holds water as regards books. For the lover of literature the more books one owns the greater the joy as one has more works in which to lose oneself. Merely possessing a small number of books would drive the average book lover to distraction.

When I raised this point with the lecturer his response was that one can only read so many books. Indeed one can but I still can’t help thinking that economics, while it undoubtedly has it’s uses falls down when applied to matters pertaining to culture. Not everything is susceptible of economic analysis thank the lord!

In Praise of the Traditional Book

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Does it matter what form a book appears in? Both my books – The First Time and Samantha – are available in ebook format only (it was the easiest way of publishing and the cheapest).

As a reader I value the accessibility of ebooks. Being blind I can read electronic books using the text to speech facility on my Kindle or Voiceover on my Ipad. I am, however unable to read hard copy print books as my poor eyesight renders doing so impossible.

Having said all that I would like, in the longer term to collect my stories together (in real rather than virtual covers) and have them appear on actual bookshelves. There is something magical about handling a paperback or hardback book. Literature somehow appears more real preserved between covers than is the case when it flashes up on screen or is read aloud using voiceover or text to speech.

Print books can (and do) last for centuries and I guess that many owners of e-readers would feel long lasting pangs if their print books disappeared in a puff of smoke while the loss of e-readers would cause less profound turmoil.

Perhaps I am showing signs of my age (I’m 44 years young)! But, in my view print (and braille) books possess a value which their younger relative (the e-book) lacks. One can not sit in a room surrounded by e-books nor can one obtain pleasure from the texture of electronic publications. Long live the book in all it’s forms but god preserve us from a world in which only e-books exist.

Bookshelves

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There is something reassuringly familiar about the presence of much loved books ranged around the room on book shelves. The scent of bees wax perfumes the atmosphere as you sit comfortably ensconced in an armchair. No noise can be heard other than the ticking of a grandfather clock and the periodic sound of pages turning.

 

On looking at the books displayed on my bookshelves within my KDP Select dashboard I was struck by the somewhat quaint and to me rather lovely reference to bookshelves which conjured up the above vision of a traditional library or perhaps a single bookcase displaying much cherished books. It is good to know that in this age of technology familiar references remain. Everything changes but, somehow remains the same. Oh gosh I am turning into an old fuddy duddy!

ME

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Below is a short biography of yours truly. I won’t claim that it is comprehensive, it certainly isn’t, nor will I state that it reveals any secrets (not that I have any secrets to reveal you understand)!

 

KEVIN MORRIS BIOGRAPHY

 

I was born in Liverpool on 6 January 1969, a year best known of course for my birth. Well no actually it is better known for the moon landings which certain peculiar conspiracy theorists still maintain never took place (the moon landings that is, not my birth).

One of my earliest recollections is of eating roast dinners, on Saturday in British Home Stores with my grandfather. Although cooked in the kitchen of a department store they tasted wonderful to a small boy but then again it is easy to look back at one’s childhood with rose tinted spectacles.

On Saturdays my grandfather and I would invariably pop into W H Smiths and buy a book. Often he bought Enid Blighton books and I’ve happy memories of him reading to me about the adventures of Julian, Dick and Ann not forgetting Timmy the Dog (who could)! Being blind it was a real treat to sit on my grandfather’s knee hearing him regail me with children’s adventures. It was from my grandfather a man who had never so much dreamed of going to university that I derived my love of literature.

As I grew older I learned to read braille which opened up a world of independent reading to me. Only a tiny proportion of books are available in braille, however it was still amazing to me, as a young boy to be able to sit with a book on my knee reading for myself. Besides braille I was also a huge consumer of spoken word cassettes, everything from Treasure Island to Wuthering Heights. I still possess almost all of the many cassettes which I have purchased and had bought for me over the years but many of them have now warped with age so are, sadly unusable. Today it is the text to speech facility on my Kindle and Ibooks (using voiceover) on my Ipad which is my favourite means of accessing the wonderful world of literature.

I attended school in Liverpool and later went onto read history and politics at university. I must be a glutton for punishment as having obtained my degree I went onto study for and obtain a MA in political theory (I can see your eyes glazing over already)!

Since 1994 I have lived and worked in London. I live in Crystal Palace a part of London high above sea level and famed for it’s steep hills. It is very green and the air is much fresher than many parts of London. I like were I live and I’m lucky that my home overlooks a large garden and an historic park.

Enough about me for now at least.

Going to hell in a hand cart

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On occasions I feel that I’m caught up in a technological maelstrom from which it is impossible to escape. On the positive side of the coin Twitter and Facebook offer the opportunity to promote my writing, however social media and technology more generally can suck us into a world in which deep thought is replaced by constant (and often unthinking) clicking on links which happen to take our fancy at a particular moment in time. Who among us has not gone online meaning to quickly check their emails only to find themselves an hour or so later browsing the internet?

One of my happiest recollections as a child revolves around sitting in the school library reading. Sometimes I’d randomly take down a book from the shelves and find myself captivated by Andrew Lang’s rendering of the Greek myths. On other occasions I would pick up the Oxford Book of English Verse and read old favourites such as Wordsworth’s Solitary Reaper. I could sit there for hours or at least until one of the staff chased me out into the great outdoors to play! In my school days I lacked the distraction of the internet and of mobile technology. Not so today. In 2013 I, like so many others face the temptation of constantly checking my mobile to see who that text who’s beeping disturbed my concentration came from and, of course to reply to the sender. If it isn’t texts or browsing the internet then I’m tempted to check to see if my friend has responded to my email asking whether he is free for a drink on Friday.

A year or so ago I took the decision to go without using the internet for 5 days. To clarify I still had to use the internet in connection with my full time job, however I didn’t go online for personal browsing during those 5 days either on my computer or my mobile. During that time I read a lot and also enjoyed walking in the local park. It was a good experiment and I’d recommend it to my readers. See how much more you read and do other things when access to the internet is prohibited (by yourself) for a week or so.

People have been saying for centuries that the world is going to hell in a hand cart so isn’t my concern about modern society’s obsession with technology merely a manifestation of this old and frequently overblown fear? Of course technology offers many positive benefits. As a blind person I embrace the freedom which the text to speech facility on my Kindle gives me to enjoy ebooks. Again blogging is a wonderful way of connecting with like minded people and of sharing ideas. Technology is neither good nor bad it is how we employ it which is the issue. Is the internet going to remain our servant or will it become our master? I don’t know the answer to that question but what I do know is that we need quiet time for reflection and reading. If we lose that then we will all become poorer.

 

(Note: while writing this I heard a text being delivered. I am in the spare room and my mobile is sitting on the bedside cabinet. I made a decision not to check my mobile and as of now the text remains unread).