TatTle – #4
The monthly newsletter from Tall and Tiny Tales
G’day TatTlers!
Ever wondered why writers write? Perhaps you’re a writer yourself – I know several of you are – and have your own answers.
For this writer, there are three elements:
Making up stories
This is as much fun for me as reading a gripping story by another author. I just love starting with the germ of an idea and seeing where it takes me. Often it’s somewhere unexpected. I rarely know how a story will end when I start to tell it to myself.
Revising stories
Okay, so I have my story. Now I need to refine it so that others can enjoy it. Often a lot of detail that I find interesting gets pruned away so the shape of the story can emerge. Sometimes I suddenly realise: ‘Aha! So that’s what this story is about!’ – and go back to emphasise that point more clearly.
I’ve been an editor all my professional life, and obsessive attention to detail, to polishing stories until they shine, is part of my DNA. Each piece will be read many times as it passes through several revision stages. It may be published in different contexts and subtly altered for each one.
Sharing stories
By far the most difficult aspect – for any writer, I think – is finding an audience. If you haven’t tried it, you would be amazed how hard it is to get readers to clap eyes on your writing. Despite over 30 years in educational publishing, I really had no idea what I would be facing as a fiction writer.
True, the internet offers wonderful distribution opportunities that previous generations of writers didn’t have. The trouble is, every internet user is bombarded daily with more text than they can read, more information than they can absorb, more enticing offers than they can take up.
Some writers seem happy to ‘write for the desk drawer’, but I’m not one of them. I really want to be read, and the challenge of achieving that spurs me on. I enjoy finding new ways to reach readers.
Our little adventure on Tall and Tiny Tales is part of that, of course. Many of you have been with me from day one. Others have hopped on board later as a result of personal recommendation, seeing my promotions on Facebook or following links from other corners of the interwebs. There’s a steady readership of 90+ for Tall and Tiny Tales, and a handful of paid subscribers for the Friday Novella.
Thanks for coming along for the ride! I appreciate every one of you.❤️
Confidence book launch
Last Friday Susan and I were in Melbourne for the launch of Confidence, the anthology by Minds Shine Bright in which my short story Gone South appears, along with stories, poems and scripts by 45 other authors from eight countries. Here’s a link to my reading on YouTube.
It was a wonderful chance to meet some of my fellow authors and listen to them read their contributions. Events like this not only celebrate the authors’ achievements: they put our work in a wider social and cultural context and make us feel more connected.
Every time I open Confidence I find something remarkable to read. It really is a great book and I’m honoured to have made a tiny contribution to it. You can order a copy here or from your local bookshop quoting the ISBN 987-0-06455231-0-2.
Free e-books coming soon!
How a story is presented makes a big difference to how it is received. Here and on Medium I serialise my stories as illustrated episodes and podcasts. It’s an attractive format that’s easy to read on a small screen (or listen to on the go) and the stories appear in five-to-ten-minute chunks.
The downside is that you’re left waiting a week for the next episode. That can make longer stories difficult to follow and, from the author’s perspective, make narrative tension and emotional engagement difficult to maintain.
With that in mind, I’m experimenting with providing whole stories as free downloads on my website coriobay.blog. This will be a much more book-like reading experience. For those of you who like to read e-books, whether on a Kindle or in one of the many apps for phone, tablet and desktop, it will be a familiar format.
I’ll send you all a special announcement with links as soon as the Downloads page is up and running. I’d love to hear your reactions.
I considered setting up a Patreon site, as I mentioned in an earlier TatTle. In the end, I decided that Patreon is not the right platform for me at the moment. My main aim for now is to build my readership, rather than making my fiction pay for itself, and putting yet another membership/subscription scheme between me and readers isn’t going to help with that.
For those of you who do want to support my writing financially – thank you! There’s the paid Friday Novella subscription here on Tall and Tiny Tales (for the price of one coffee a month), and there will be the opportunity to give donations on coriobay.blog if you enjoy the e-books there.
Next on Tall and Tiny Tales
Forked Creek has two Tuesday episodes to run. After that, I’ve decided it’s time for a change of mood, to a light-hearted story in 12 short stand-alone episodes.
The Chronicles of Smurf takes a look at one family’s well-meaning attempts to ‘save the planet one backyard at a time’ through the sceptical eyes of their cat.
Smurf and his pal Banjo the Austrayan Pie-Eatin’ Dawg find the goings-on in the human part of their family always odd, frequently absurd and all-too-often inconsiderate to the needs of the furred members.
I had a lot of fun with this one … under the mentorship of the real-life Smurf, our Time-Share Cat from Ballarat. 🐾🐾
Charity of the month: The Smith Family
Grateful for the opportunities that education has given us, Susan and I wanted to give something back and support children at the beginning of their educational journey. The Smith Family gives donors the chance to contribute on a regular monthly basis to one disadvantaged Australian child’s education. Our sponsored child’s schooling is just beginning; we intend to support this little boy in WA right the way through to its end.
As Australians we live in a wealthy country – but a highly unequal one. Access to education is a big step towards overcoming that inequality.
That’s all folks! Happy reading! 📖👀
(In case you’re wondering, I brought this episode of TatTle forward by 24 hours so as not to clash with Tuesday’s Tall and Tiny Tales.)