Image Credits:- All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.

Hope all is well with you. About to head off for a break in gorgeous Northumberland. Will be taking laptop with me. Have laptop, will travel, will write, and I suspect I’ll get some done via good old Evernote on the phone on the journey up there. I’ve taken to the idea of using pockets of time for writing, whether it is to brainstorm or draft a story or blog post. Those pockets mount up. Amazing what you can get done.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am delighted to be sharing The Writing Community on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. This is something so worth celebrating and something I deeply appreciate. It has added richness to my writing life and I have learned so much useful information too. It’s lovely being able to share some of that information back again. There are always new writers glad of this.

I share some useful website links (Society of Authors, Alliance of Independent Authors, Writer Beware, and Hampshire Writers’ Society). I also look at the usefulness of writing magazines which can help you feel part of a wider writing world and a few thoughts on online communities.

I do follow some on Facebook but deliberately don’t follow them all. (Not enough time basically but being selective about what you would like to give to a group as well as receive from it is a good idea anyway). Hope you enjoy the post and find it useful.

The Writing Community

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When did I realise I wanted to write? It has been in the background of my life for a long time. I always did love composition lessons at school but it didn’t occur to me for decades I might do something with this. It took a significant birthday and the birth of my son to make me realise if I wanted to see a book out there with my name on the front cover, it would be a great idea if I sat down and got on with it!

In all seriousness, my only regret, writing wise, is not starting sooner than I did because I had no idea how long it would take for me to find my feet, learn my craft, learn to come to terms with rejections, improve my craft more, get better at submitting the right story to the right place to increase my chances of acceptance etc.

And it does take time. I think though there is a good side to this. I appreciate my acceptances more than if they had come to me “easily” I think. I now have a great deal more appreciation of how hard writers work to bring out works for us to enjoy. I also appreciate the editor’s craft more too. Mind you, I ought to, being one myself! I also appreciate more why every writer needs a good editor!

Hope you have had a good day. Definitely feeling the autumn chill now. Am celebrating The Writing Community in my Chandler’s Ford Today post on Friday. That’s something which is always worth celebrating! See above.

Writing Tip: I find three to five word titles ideal for most of my stories. There are always exceptions to any rule (bear in mind my first book, From Light to Dark and Back Again, has seven, count them, seven words in it!) but most of the time the shorter the title, the easier it is to remember and to share on social media, especially where there is a limited character count.

I will use pockets of time to jot down ideas for future potential titles. I come back to these later and any that still grab me, well those are the ones I flesh out characters for and then go on to write my first draft. The time away from my initial ideas is a good test to see if something is likely to work. If I find myself thinking why did I come up with that, it is highly unlikely I’m taking things any further!

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction. My latest story here is called Being Engrossed. Find out what kind of trouble that leads my character, Stephen, into! Glad to say there are some smashing comments coming in on this one already. I do appreciate the feedback I get from FFF (and this ties in nicely with my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week which celebrates The Writing Community!).

There are many things I love about flash fiction. I like the way I can put characters anywhere I want in terms of genre, time period etc. I love coming up with lines which I know will make great twist endings or humorous punchlines. I love working out how I could get to those closing lines literally so, yes, it is like putting a puzzle together.

This may well be one of the joys of crime writing for the author as well. They know what’s happening so it is a question of working out how to put it together so it hooks the reader. And that’s the challenge for every writer, regardless of what form we write in – how do we hook the reader?

For me, it’s always about intriguing characters and interesting situations to dump them in. I so enjoy putting my characters through the mill and finding out how they manage.

Remorse and regrets can make for an interesting character study story. I do this with My Girl in Tripping the Flash Fantastic, where my take on Queen Anne Boleyn is sharing her thoughts on the eve of her execution. All I came up with for her in this story is based on plausibility.

It would not be unreasonable, for example, to be thinking of her young daughter and what would happen to her. We also know Queen Anne did pray a lot (and she would’ve done then).

But this kind of story gives you an opportunity to have your character reflect on their life (whether you use a historical character or make one up) and this can have huge resonance with a reader. Also works best when kept short so flash is ideal for this.

Fairytales with Bite – Away Trips

In your magical setting, do your characters get sent on “away trips”? If so, are these missions to spy on other worlds and why would this be done? For example, would a magical world send their spies to Earth to keep an eye on what we are doing with what we call science? Would they be looking to steal our best ideas and use them for their own purposes on their own world?

Equally do your magical characters get to have “jollies” where they can just go away and enjoy themselves? What would they have done to serve their world to justify getting something like that? Where would your average fairy godmother go when she wanted a holiday? Can all beings in your world have these trips or are they just for the select few?

What would the benefits be to your characters of having these trips? If they are allowed to visit other worlds, such as ours, does that trip away change their attitudes towards (a) their own lives at home and (b) their previous views on other worlds? What could the consequences be? If you are told that Species X is evil and you discover that they’re not, what would you then do on your return to the place where you have been lied to?

This World and Others – To Boldly Go or to Stay Right at Home?

Sorry couldn’t resist the nod to Star Trek here (and is that the most famous split infinitive in history – I think it may well be!). Does your setting encourage its characters to explore and, if so, are there limits as to where they can go and what they can do?

If your world encourages exploring other worlds, do they like what they find out? Do they adapt useful ideas for their own use? Or does finding out about other worlds fuel hostility if they (a) disapprove of what what other world is doing or (b) that other world is doing better than they are.

“Simple” motivations such as jealousy can be put to good use here to set characters on a course of action which will have consequences and increase drama in your story. If you knew your world was going to be resentful, would you give them a watered down account of what you found out when you went exploring? Do you get found out and, if so, what would the consequences be?

I mention consequences a lot. All stories are based on cause and consequence and change. Having characters explore outside of their normal boundaries has great potential for stories as those characters bring new ideas home. Not everyone welcomes new ideas!

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

Being Engrossed, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/K15gOlAkm0 My latest story on Friday Flash Fiction is Being Engrossed. Find out what kind of trouble that leads my character, Stephen, into! Glad to say there are smashing comments coming in on this already. pic.twitter.com/gqdq1FUFDS

— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) October 6, 2023

Delighted to share The Writing Community on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. This is something so worth celebrating and something I appreciate. It has added richness to my writing life and I've learned so much. It’s lovely sharing that information back. https://t.co/EyqFj7oyn8

— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) October 6, 2023