What do I love about author interviews? Well, firstly, you can learn a lot from them. I’ve found out about competitions this way and also was alerted to the joys of Scrivener. (It’s amazing how many writers use it). Often you can adapt the questions so you can ask them of your own characters and build their profiles up further. Thirdly the questions should make you think about what you write and why you write at all. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to take stock of that every now and again. I find it encouraging.

When I interview writers for Chandler’s Ford Today, I always ask for their three top tips. There’s a lot of overlap, of course, but what is fascinating is the priority each writer gives to each tip! No two writers are the same here!

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What inspires your writing? For me, it is not just one thing or person. There are the many authors whose books I’ve loved for years (and still do), writers new to me whose works I’m enjoying, and my general love of stories. Behind all of that is the debt I owe my mother for teaching me to read and instilling that love of books in the first place.

Why the need for stories at all? To try to make sense of the world is a valid reason but I’m all for stories being “just” for entertainment. Given the news is grim, always has been, unlikely to change anytime soon, stories that can take you to different places or times are a great form of entertainment (and possibly therapy too).

My Chandler’s Ford Today post this week will be another in my Hidden Hampshire series. One lovely thing about owning a dog is discovering walks to take them on and that gives me material to blog about, so it’s a win-win situation for me! Lady likes it too, as did Mabel before her. More details tomorrow.

Lady currently curled up on the carpet happily dozing after a busy afternoon making new dog friends and generally having a ball (sometimes it was her own!) at the Rec earlier. Am blessing my late mum for leaving me a huge bundle of old towels as the Rec is currently a quagmire in places and the towels are proving extremely useful.

Inquisitive Lady. Image by Allison Symes

Tugging the box. Image by Allison Symes

What’s that camera thingy then, Mum? Image by Allison Symes

How often do you quiz your characters? I tend to ask mine what their motivation is (“darling”!) and it can surprise me just what is behind my initial thoughts as to why they’re acting the way they are. There IS a lot of psychology in writing! The chief thing I want from my characters is honesty. They have to be true to themselves whether they’re a heroine or an out and out villain.

What do you look for in your characters? What drives them and is that drive strong enough to overcome any obstacle in their way?

Does flash fiction, due to its brevity, mean less concentration is needed because there is less to read? Not a bit of it! If anything, I think more concentration is needed on the part of both writer and reader, as so much has to be implied.

I must admit I realised on re-reading one of my crime tales in From Light to Dark and Back Again that I had unwittingly written in more than one way for my heroine to achieve justice against the brute who had bullied her for so long. I just didn’t realise it until after I’d written the story! Not that I am sorry about this, but, had I thought about it more when I was writing the tale, I could’ve been more selective with my words. And that is where concentration is needed. Word selection counts for so much more the shorter the form of fiction you’re writing in!

Escape with a good book. Image via Pixabay.

Aiming for more “magic” from my stories this year! Image via Pixabay.

Sound advice. Image via Pixabay

Such a beautiful place to read. Image via Pixabay.

Flash fiction can help you grow your writing skills for other forms of writing. Image via Pixabay.