The Stand was originally published in 1979. I’m reviewing an extended version with approximately four hundred additional pages. The original was cut by four hundred pages to save on printing costs.
The Stand starts with an infected Solider escaping a chemical lab in a military base. He’s infected with Project Blue, a pathogen which has a 99.4% kill rate and that spreads alarmingly quick through the US and rest of the world.
King starts to introduce characters as the world disaster plot begins. With just a few sentences, King gives each character a believable backstory and makes them feel completely real.
We watch each of these characters deal with the loss of their loved ones, seek out other survivors, attempt to make connections with them and adapt to this new world.
It’s then that the dreams start. A dream about a Dark Man that strikes fear into the heart. A dream about a kind old woman named Mother Abagail.
The different characters have now mostly come together and formed groups. They start their journeys towards the Dark Man or away from him – travelling in the direction of Mother Abagail.
Mother Abagail’s group set up Free Zone in Boulder, Colorado. It’s a democratic community, that grows day by day.
The Dark Man (known as Randall Flagg)’s group set up in Las Vegas. His community is a dictatorship, with severe punishments for minor rule violations. It grows day by day, but not as quickly the Free Zone. The Dark Man is intent on waging war on the Free Zone.
The first two thirds of The Stand are beyond brilliant. The plot is fast-paced and the characters are captivating. But the last third of The Stand felt like King didn’t know where the plot was going. The ending did satisfy somewhat, but had a tinge of disappointment as only two of the numerous main characters had a good conclusion.
The Stand is a large book, totalling 1,325 pages. I read it in about three weeks – which isn’t bad considering my other commitments. There were many times when I simply couldn’t stop reading The Stand.
There were two minor aesthetic annoyances with my copy of The Stand. Firstly, the cover has started peeling. Anyone who knows me, knows I look after my books. So I can only put this down to the cheap production. Secondly, the black and white illustrations randomly dotted throughout book were pointless and of a poor quality.
The Stand is an enjoyable read. It’s a great book that will entertain the reader. It will absorb the reader into an apocalyptic world where good and evil are engaged in their a final battle. The Stand is available to buy on Amazon and at all good bookshops.
In this three part blog post series, I’ll be sharing some of what I’ve learned about creative writing over the last few years.
I want to start this blog post with a short video, which is just over a minute long. In this video Stephen King describes a magic moment after reading a book where you think to yourself: This really sucks. I can do better than this. This magic moment is usually the trigger for someone starting to write creatively. But what drives a Writer is a need or deep desire to tell a story.
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1. The Idea
The idea should be imaginative and well thought out. No idea is orignal, everything has been done. But what makes new literature unique, is the Writer’s showing and telling of the story. The unique voice of the Writer.
2. Scope & Size
Consider the scope and size of the story before you begin. According to Wikipedia here are approximate recommended word counts for different types of creative writing projects:
Short story – under 7,500 words
Novelette – 7,500 to 17,500 words
Novella – 17,500 to 40,000 words
Novel – over 40,000 words
(From: Wikipedia, Last Accessed: 11/02/2016)
I would add in word counts for the following:
Blog Posts – Up to 1,500 words
Flash Fiction – 200-300 words
Poems – Unknown, but generally quite short.
Music Lyrics – Unknown.
If journalism is your thing, online magazine The Gay UK has submission guidelines for word counts. They are as follows and likely to be inline with industry standards:
Reviews: 300 – 500 words
Interviews: 1000 – 2500 words
Columns: 400 – 1000 words
News item: 500 – 900 words
Top List: 300 – 500 words
These word counts are not set in stone, you are allowed to be a little under or be a little over. But if you are hundreds, or even thousands of words over, then the scope of your idea is either too big or you are likely to have overwritten and will need to cut in the editing. Editing will be discussed in detail in the next blog post of the series.
If you are planning to submit a piece of creative writing somewhere, ensure you know the word count limits before you start and adhere to the word count. It is unlikely that the person or people reading submissions will read a piece of work over their stated word count. No matter how good it is.
Next let’s discuss essential elements of any story.
3. Characters
Characters should be:
Believable.
Interesting.
Flawed.
Have room for growth and grow throughout the story, or the part of the story that they are in.
Be three dimensional and as complex as any person that you know.
Characters don’t have to be likeable or liked by the reader. In books that I’ve read, some of my favourite characters are bastards. If people read your work and care for your characters, you’re doing well. If readers are disinterested, don’t care, are irritated or frustrated by your characters, then you have some more character development work to do.
4. Storyline / Plot
Every story should have a Beginning, Middle and End. There needs to be conflict and resolution. Plot should be captivating. It should not have long periods where nothing happens. Be aware of genre conventions. It’s okay to make the reader work for the story, but don’t make them have to work too hard. Bare in mind The Seven Basic Plots:
5. Research
If your story is set in the past, another country, or has a character with specialist knowledge you as the Writer need to do the research. You need to make yourself an expert in subject matters related to your story. Although you need to be an expert, you don’t need to show or tell the reader everything that you know.
6. Perspective
The choice of perspective is really important when writing any story. You can show and tell the story from character’s perspective, omniscient perspective or from several perspectives. A good article on perspectives is available here: The Writers Craft – Point of View in Literature.
7. Pacing
Pacing is bit of an art. Elongated sentences with detailed description helps to slow down a scene. Whereas, short. Sharp. Snappy sentences speed up scenes. Short sentences are ideal for action scenes.
8. Other Tips
You should write lots. Every day if possible. Writing, like anything, people get better at the more they practice it.
Get the show and tell balance right. Generally show more than you tell.
Your story should have hooks, things that grab the readers attention and encourage your reader to read on.
As a Writer you should read lots. Especially in the genre you wish to write in. If you’re unsure what genre you want to write in or type of story you want to write, read a variety. But don’t just passively read. Study the things you read. Look at the elements mentioned above, along with what you liked and disliked about the work. Try to understand:
What did the Writer do? Did they do it well or not?
Where in the piece of work did the Writer do what they did?
Why the Writer might have done what they did?
How did the Writer do what they did?
In the next blog post of the series, I’ll be writing about keeping going, the development of the Writer’s voice and the importance of backing-up your work.
Want to share your thoughts on writing? Leave a comment below.
I recently self-published The Good Teen, a modern-day telling of The Good Samaritan parable, with a hint of magic. I want to tell you a bit about my writing process for this short story.
The idea came from my childhood. Being brought up as a Christian we were told the The Good Samaritan parable. It’s a story that has stayed with me and one that I wanted to retell with my own twist. So I wrote/drew out the plot on flipchart (Left: My flipchart for The Good Teen, click on image for full size).
I like to develop my ideas, plots, sub-plots, settings, characters, pacing and description on flipchart as it’s faster than typing and allows me more creative freedom. The creative freedom to draw pictures, arrows and anything else I want to.
I had already written a To Do List for The Good Teen (below) and changed the timescales to meet the submission deadline.
The Good Teen To Do List
The editing process, as always, was maddening. I had to cut to the word count limit, which meant some scenes were either cut, not written or combined.
Unfortunately, The Good Teen was not long listed by the BBC. So I decided to self-publish it online. You can download The Good Teen on it’s page. It’s a free download, with a Twitter Tweet or Facebook Like in exchange for the download link.
Recently, my good friend Sye and I went to see a matinee performance of Barry Humphries’ Eat, Pray and Laugh show at the Opera House in Manchester.
The show kicked off with Les Patterson, Humphries’ outrageous politician character and the belly chuckles were immediate. In the Les Get Cooking sketch, Les reveals his four assistants, come dancers and backup vocals. Two gorgeous men (the other two were women) came onto the stage in tight yellow t-shirts and equally tight denim shorts and I have to admit they distracted me at times. It was a great sketch with Les and Gerard (his brother) creating continuous laughter among the audience.
Below are some photos before the show started:
Me outside the Opera House, Manchester.
The red curtain.
Pre-show drinks.
Opening set.
The next sketch introduced the character Sandy Stone. This was probably my favourite sketch. Sandy is an old man that reflects on his life in a touching and sentimental way; yet comedy and good humour were used to pitch the sketch perfectly to the auidence. This sketch was theatre at its best and brought us to the interval.
Dame Edna was on top form as she performed for the second half of the show. Laughter echoed through the audience as she arrived on the back of a jewelled elephant, before falling off onto the stage. Dame Edna was her usual warm, funny and engaging self which was a pleasure to watch. She left the audience feeling entertained and uplifted.
Throughout the show there was lots of audience participation and improvisation. Humphries’ demonstrated his extensive theatre expertise; no doubt gained through decades of experience.
The show came to an end far too quickly, with Humphries coming out as himself at the end to thunderous applause. Here are some photos from the end of the show:
Audience with Gladiolus.
Audience with Gladiolus 2.
Before the final bow.
A wave goodbye.
Closing video montage.
Normally, I’d recommend that you buy tickets to see this superb show. However the tour is coming to an end in the UK. But if you can manage to get hold of tickets, grab them and go. You won’t regret it.
The Z-Virus mutates people’s DNA. The majority of infected people become zombies, but a minority seem immune but the virus causes them to develop powers.
At first these powers like invisibility, telepathy and telekinesis aided survival. But as the Z-Virus continues to mutate the powers become more and more destructive.
Forced with no other choice, one group goes in search of a cure. But will they survive the roaming zombie hordes long enough to make an epic journey across the country to find the cure?
Join Alexis, Vis, Chan, Luke, Natalie, Grace, Chloe, Kyle, David and Goliath on this journey in Z-Virus Powers, the first instalment of this three part story.
Are you a Doctor, Nurse, Healthcare Assistant or Other Healthcare Professional? Or a Student?
Ways The Human Body Can Go Wrong covers every system of the body, what can go wrong when the body malfunctions or fails, symptoms (including why these happen) and cures/treatments available.
It includes knowledge around essential skills for Clinical Excellence such as Assessment, All Age Observational Norms, Models of Care, Communication/Handover Tips, the role of Specialities, Medication Tips, Dealing with Errors, Documentation Advice and a list of Useful Resources.
It is written in plain English, but highlights important medical terminology. It has been written at a level where someone from a non-medical background can pick it up and learn, but that it is still valuable to those with significant Clinical Experience.
My dear friend Roy decided to follow in his family’s footsteps and enlist in the Royal Navy.
I wanted to maintain our friendship, to continue to support Roy, to make him laugh and to entertain him. So I came up with the idea of sending him a weekly email on random topics.
These emails were on a variety of topics, always being entertaining, sometimes being interesting, sometimes funny and occasionally being serious.
Topics included: Jokes, Puzzles, Inspirational Quotes, Future Technology to Be Excited About, How to Fight A Shark, How to Woo A Turtle, Some of the Most Amazing Jobs in the World, Facts About Castles, Do Aliens Exist?, The Kindest Humans, A List of Cakes, 13 Weird Body Facts, 20 Super Space Facts, Ancient Egyptian Curses, 10 Weird Olympic Games, The Great Emu War of 1932, Quiz: Flags of the World, Legendary Characters from the UK and others.
My Royal Navy Friend is a copy of these emails. In total, there are 52 emails. Dispersed throughout the book are also Royal Navy facts and stories.
This workbook has been designed for anyone that is struggling with alcohol or has struggled with alcohol in the past.
It is written in a Motivational Interviewing style, one of the key therapies used to support people with alcohol issues. It has been designed using a trauma-informed approach and is strength–based.
What you will find in this book is more than just worksheets about alcohol. You’ll find all the tools someone needs to get into recovery from alcohol and stay there. It’s a therapy-based book, not an alcohol-based book.
SpellCast is a comprehensive compendium of spells, oils, charms and talismans. It is purely a book about magic, folk magic for the 21st century. The spells are ones that are tried and tested, with some that will stand the test of time.
In SpellCast you will read about the power of Instant Magic, of Banishment & Bindings, Blessings, Cleansing, Communication, Death, Employment, Finance & Money, Fertility, Friendship, Happiness & Joy, Health, Love & Relationships, Luck Magic, Protection, Transformative Magic and WishCraft.
This book will change your life. Your life will be abundant in all meanings of the word.
This book contains everything that you need to know about mental health and mental illness. Mental Health Wisdom is divided into three sections.
Understanding is section one and is all about the facts of mental health.
In section two, Empathy Through Lived Experience, the author shares his personal experience of mental illness.
Life Hacks is section three. It’s all about self-care and quick and easy ways to improve your mental health, prevent mental illness or relapse of mental illness.
Mental Health Wisdom contains everything that you need to know about mental health and mental illness.
Mental Health Wisdom is divided into three sections.
Understanding is section one and is all about the facts of mental health.
In section two, Empathy Through Lived Experience, the author shares his personal experience of mental illness.
Life Hacks is section three. It’s all about self-care and quick and easy ways to improve your mental health, prevent mental illness or relapse of mental illness.
If you find my blog educational or entertaining, please consider making a purchase or donation on Ko-Fi.
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