Flash Fiction Friday

This weeks Flash Fiction Friday is about endings.   I'm not going to talk too much here about the story - you can read about that in my writing LiveJournal, Athena71 - but I will talk about the process.

The theme of endings didn't really say much to me at first but then I got thinking.   The first idea was a person leaving their home for the last time - like they're old and moving into a home.   The second idea is the end of a war.

I'm drawn to the end of a war, somehow.   I have an image of two queens meeting on the field of battle to make peace after their husbands have pretty much killed each other.   That's all I have, so far, but it's definitely pulling at me.

The next step is to get some notes down.   Even though it's only 1,500 words, it still needs some planning.   I tend to do all my notes via mind-mapping, at least to begin with.   I use mind42.com, which is really easy to get to grips with.   Making notes helps me to see if there's enough to the story to make it worth writing.

And then it's on with the writing!   I do a draft - literally, 'type, damn it!' - without worrying too much about editing.   I'm the type that edits as I go but years of Nano have helped me not to do it too much.   I'll usually read through once it's finished and do a bit of tidying up - catching the 'an's' that should be 'and's', smoothing out some of the more awkward syntax.   If I have time, I'll leave it for a while and then come back and read it through again at least once.

So, a finished piece will have seen at least three versions.   That's probably enough for something like FFF or fanfiction.   My Master's dissertation probably had more like 20 versions!   And my novel...?   That waits to be seen.