 | There's nothing about TikTok in my 2022 reading and writing plans. Why would there be? I'm far too serious for that kind of stuff. Yet a couple of weeks after I posted those plans I'd signed up for an account. Now I'm addicted. Why? Because I've sold a few books, although not as many as I'd like to. But mostly because it's a fun place to be. |
I’ve begun a series of spoof therapy sessions with fictional characters where I play both parts. I invite people to guess the character and/or the book. But it's a lot to squeeze into less than sixty seconds. In fact, I'm trying to fit them into half that time.
If you’ve read my reviews of novels with fictional therapists, you will know I’m intolerant of unrealistic portrayals. How do I avoid this mistake myself? Therapy is slow and ponderous with plenty of pauses. TikTok is the opposite.
Then there’s the issue of condensing complex characters into a few traits readers might recognise. I don’t want to oversimplify.
But little by little I’m discovering how to make it work. It’s rather like telling a story in only ninety-nine words. We dispense with superfluous detail and extract the core of what we want to convey.
If you’ve read my reviews of novels with fictional therapists, you will know I’m intolerant of unrealistic portrayals. How do I avoid this mistake myself? Therapy is slow and ponderous with plenty of pauses. TikTok is the opposite.
Then there’s the issue of condensing complex characters into a few traits readers might recognise. I don’t want to oversimplify.
But little by little I’m discovering how to make it work. It’s rather like telling a story in only ninety-nine words. We dispense with superfluous detail and extract the core of what we want to convey.
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You can see for yourself by clicking on any of the images above.
| Did you notice I used the word extract? I’m trying to ease myself into inspiration for this week’s flash fiction challenge. I don’t want to write about extracting teeth from a mouth or minerals from the ground. So my extraction is built on another fictional therapy. |  |
Mrs Dalloway comes to therapy
She would have to buy blinds. On sunny afternoons the room got so hot she risked nodding off. It was bad enough letting her thoughts wander, contemplating furnishings instead of focusing on her client. Mrs Dalloway might have a tendency to ramble but Anne’s job was to extract the deeper meaning from the noise. But it was a struggle. The woman’s preoccupation with her party seemed trivial. Unless Anne’s musings on window-dressing were the key to her unconscious? Perhaps Mrs Dalloway regretted turning a blind eye towards those less fortunate. Perhaps she wanted help to face to the truth.
She would have to buy blinds. On sunny afternoons the room got so hot she risked nodding off. It was bad enough letting her thoughts wander, contemplating furnishings instead of focusing on her client. Mrs Dalloway might have a tendency to ramble but Anne’s job was to extract the deeper meaning from the noise. But it was a struggle. The woman’s preoccupation with her party seemed trivial. Unless Anne’s musings on window-dressing were the key to her unconscious? Perhaps Mrs Dalloway regretted turning a blind eye towards those less fortunate. Perhaps she wanted help to face to the truth.
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