Penstricken
Andrew Ferguson – Author
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Flash Fiction! Aah!
Posted on February 1, 2021 Leave a Comment
One of the obvious perks to flash fiction is that you can have it written in a relatively short period of time. After all, flash fiction is usually defined as a story which is written in fewer than 1,000 words – the length of an average Penstricken post (in fact, the posts on this website often go a little over 1,000 words). Well, I manage to write these posts in a single morning most weeks so… how hard can it be to write a story of half that length, or even less?
Harder than you think. Remember, we’re not writing a poem or an essay here but a story. That involves the same basic elements common to all stories such as characters, plot and so forth.
One of the most important things to remember is…
Learning From Rejection
Posted on December 6, 2020 Leave a Comment
The reason I have decided to post just one more of my own stories this year is because it’s nearly Christmas and this story does have a bit of a Christmas theme going on in it. However, rather than just giving you the story to read and expecting you to like it, I’m going use this story as an example of how writers can (and should) use their rejected stories to help them develop as writers, by analysing their own work to see how they might improve upon it.
The Martian’s Revenge
Posted on December 4, 2020 Leave a Comment
Not wanting to waste all the effort and frustration I went to, I’ve decided to post it here instead. I wanted to make it stand out from other stories and given that it had to be set in Scotland I thought perhaps a Scottish sci-fi/murder mystery might be the way to go.
Throwback Thursday: The Martian’s Revenge
Posted on December 12, 2019 Leave a Comment
Not wanting to waste all the effort and frustration I went to, I’ve decided to post it here instead. I wanted to make it stand out from other stories and given that it had to be set in Scotland I thought perhaps a Scottish sci-fi/murder mystery might be the way to go.
Flash Fiction! Aah!
Posted on March 26, 2017 5 Comments
One of the obvious perks to flash fiction is that you can have it written in a relatively short period of time. After all, flash fiction is usually defined as a story which is written in fewer than 1,000 words – the length of an average Penstricken post (in fact, the posts on this website often go a little over 1,000 words). Well, I manage to write these posts in a single morning most weeks so… how hard can it be to write a story of half that length, or even less?
Harder than you think. Remember, we’re not writing a poem or an essay here but a story. That involves the same basic elements common to all stories such as characters, plot and so forth.
One of the most important things to remember is…
Learning From Rejection
Posted on December 20, 2015 2 Comments
The reason I have decided to post just one more of my own stories this year is because it’s nearly Christmas and this story does have a bit of a Christmas theme going on in it. However, rather than just giving you the story to read and expecting you to like it, I’m going use this story as an example of how writers can (and should) use their rejected stories to help them develop as writers, by analysing their own work to see how they might improve upon it.
The Martian’s Revenge
Posted on December 6, 2015 Leave a Comment
Not wanting to waste all the effort and frustration I went to, I’ve decided to post it here instead. I wanted to make it stand out from other stories and given that it had to be set in Scotland I thought perhaps a Scottish sci-fi/murder mystery might be the way to go.
Penstricken 