Facebook – General
Am enjoying reading The Best of Cafelit 6 and looking forward to catching up with some of my fellow contributors at the Bridge House/Cafelit joint celebratory event in December. Nice mix of flash fiction and short stories. All that I’ve read so far conjure up powerful images within their first few words, a sure fire way to keep you reading. Not that I’m biased or anything… 
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What do I like most about the short story (flash or longer)? I suppose it is because they are their own self-contained world. What is nice about a collection of them is you can enjoy visiting many different worlds by different writers and this is particularly good if your reading time is limited. Also, short stories are a fantastic way to try out an author’s work before going on to read their novels etc.
Keeping the short story alive is one of the great things about the independent presses. They want diverse voices. We as writers can let them have that. More short stories get out there. Okay, we still have to do the publicity but we would have to do that with a novel anyway. My own gut feel is that short stories (flash perhaps especially) can be a great way of tempting reluctant readers in so the more short stories there are out there available for people, the better.
Below are images of the books I’ve been published in to date.
My stories are in The Best of Cafelit 4, 5 and now 6 and also by Bridge House Publishing (Alternative Renditions). My first collection From Light to Dark and Back Again is published by Chapeltown Books.
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again
How do I like to start my flash fiction tales? Often it is with a name character carrying out some action, no matter how minor, as that immediately tells you the story is about X. (Also that the action is going to matter too, no matter how minor. Everything means something in flash fiction. There is literally no room for anything that doesn’t contribute to the story in some way).
Sometimes I go straight into my characters’ heads and show their thoughts. That will give the reader an immediate idea as to what this character is like (and from there you can make intelligent guesses as to what they might do/be capable of – for me, a lot of the fun in reading fiction by other writers is seeing if my guesses turn out to be right or not. While I’m always pleased when I guessed correctly, kudos must go to those writers who successfully wrongfoot me!).
My latest published story which is in The Best of Cafelit 6 sets a time and an immediate scene so I take the reader to where I want them to be. It also helps set the mood of the story.
So there are plenty of different ways to start your story but the common link is they are all designed to draw your reader in and keep them with you until they’ve finished reading your tale.
My latest published story is in The Best of Cafelit 6.
My last Bridge House story is in here. Naturally I hope there will be many more to come! Image supplied by Bridge House Publishing.
Allison Symes: Collected Works 
Hi Allison! I really enjoyed reading your thoughts and feelings and short stories and flash fiction. Great post. I upload fiction short stories to my blog and reading your likes and dislikes on the medium helped me notice some areas I could improve in for my own writing. So thank you 🙂
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Many thanks for your kind comments, Cael. Much appreciated. Happy writing!
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