#IAMDBB, short story, Uncategorized

Old Mrs Coe – A Short Story by Craig Wrightson

Old Mrs Coe

Everyone towered above her, blanking out the light, hurrying to reach their destination.No time for manors, deeply focused on their own journey and ignorant of others.

Of course they could not see her, hidden so far down below tucked away in the shadows.

They had been late leaving today. The rain did not help either. The path was slippery underfoot, leaving her with no time to navigate a safe passage through the many puddles.

She wanted to pause to catch her breath but every time she reduced her pace she felt the sharp tug from her mother’s arm, pulling her along. To stop was to loose time.

‘No time for dawdling today darling,’ she said ‘so much to do and no time to do it all.’

They turned into the quiet road that led to her primary school. School insight her mother instinctively reduced her speed, the stress of the first battle of the day gone.

Hand in hand they walked down the quiet street lined with weeping willows and bungalows adjourned with immaculate gardens, lovingly maintained and in full bloom.

Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks. Her mother’s firm grip unable to propel her on any further.

No. Something is not right, something is wrong today, she thought to herself.
‘What on earths up with you?’ demanded her mother, clearly not impressed.

‘Old Mrs Coe was not there today mammy.’

‘What?’

‘Old Mrs Coe was not there today. She is there every day.’

‘Who is old Mrs Coe?’

‘A kind old lady, she smiles and waves at me every morning form her kitchen window. She was not there today.’

‘Oh come on that’s ridiculous. You have school young lady.’

Her mother gripped her hand and started walking. No something was wrong. She dug her heels in and refused to budge.

‘Something is wrong mammy,’ she pleaded with her mother ‘we need to check’.

‘For god’s sake,’ her mother muttered but she led her by the hand to the house and knocked gently on the door. There was no answer.

‘Look. That’s the window she stands at,’ she said pointing to the long bay window at the end of the house.

Peering inside her mother let out a low ‘oh no,’ before turning to face her daughter.

‘You be a good girl and go sit on the wall. Mummy just needs to call for an ambulance.’

The End

Another one of my short stories. Hope your all enjoying them.

Please visit my website

http://www.laughcryandwrite.com

to follow me and receive book updates and blogs.

Have a great week and thanks

Craig

#IAMDBB, #massiveattack, #mavericksabre, #petshopboysftexample, #texasftmethodman, music and writing, Uncategorized

Writing Inspiration Part 3 – Writing and Music – My Current Top 5 Tracks when Working

 

music-3240719_1920

There is a long standing debate in the writing community as whether you should listen to music whilst your writing. Some are all for it and some totally disagree. Sure there is no hard and fast rule that must be obeyed and I’m in the middle with this theory.

Those who are in agreement with the music and writing collaboration working well together claim that the music promotes inspiration and enhances the mood of the writer. I can see the logic of this, I know that sometimes when I’m watching an epic movie, the soundtrack behind it if chosen correctly will conjure up all sorts of thoughts and memories. No one can argue that the music from Jaws does not provoke a sense of fear within them and will continue to do so no matter how many times they watch the movie. Listening to my favourite music in the car often causes the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up as it is so empowering to me as an individual.

My own personal thoughts on the matter is if a writer is fully immersed within his / her story, plotlines and characters then he / she will have already evoked all of the required senses and feelings required to do the story justice and if like me, he / she will already be living with the plot and characters fully embedded in their mind 24/7 during the whole writing process.

For me on my journey I have tried both options, writing with music and without music and I have to admit that I feel I write better without listening to music.

I like to write on a large table or desk with all my notes laid out in front of me and my chapter planner at hand. Before even starting to write I quickly jot down a list of what I want to achieve that day (What is the status at the start, what needs to change in the middle and  what needs to happen at the end I also note what do I intend to portray to the reader). Once all this is done it’s a quick refresh of the notes and Im off! I don’t like interruption or distraction though I can tolerate a small amount, I wont stop writing until I have achieved everything  identified on my list.

Music is a big NO NO for me when it comes to editing. I have to do this alone in total silence, first checking the text on my screen quickly rectifying any glaring errors and typos. After printing out the section I plan to edit, I read it out aloud, very slowly. This can be highly painstaking as it may take 2 or 3 attempts to satisfy me that everything is good and how I want it to sound. By this time, the print out is littered with numerous scribbles , notes and cross outs which I immediately transfer onto my laptop to make the last edits before saving.

Now one part of the book writing process where music does work for me is at the Planning Stage. I use an assortment  of playlists stored on my Spotify App and the type of music I select depends on what stage of the story I am planning. For example when planning a sad scene I will listen to something completely different than if I was planning a fight scene. Like I said at the beginning of the blog at this stage of the writing progress the correct music will inspire me and enhance my mood making me feel more in touch with my story. I can often be found strutting around or mincing around my apartment writing down snippets of ideas (not a nice thought).

Now at the end of my blog it seems that my statement of improved writing without music is correct but I do embrace music in my writing process. Hence that is why I sit on the fence on the whole debate of writing and music. Each to their own and if it works for them then that’s great.

equalizer-153212_1280

I have went through my Spotify playlists and have identified what music I have been working to for the past 2 month. It’s a bit of an odball list but I want to share my current top 5 musics tracks with you – My readers and my friends

No 1 Massive Attack – Unfinished Sympathy


No 2 – Texas ft Method Man – Say What you Want


No 3 Pet Shop Boys ft Example – Thursday


No 4 – IAMDDB – Running


No 5 – Maverick Sabre – Come Fly Away

 

Hope you have found this fun.

Till the next time

 

Craig x