Month: January 2025

The Positives and Negatives of Adaptations

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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 you have had a good few days. Less rainy but still incredibly muddy over the park, not that Lady cares! Writing wise, I’m looking forward to writing up and sharing a review of the fabulous pantomime, Cinderella, staged by The Chameleon Theatre Group. It was fun to go and see. It will be fun to write about! Oh yes it is!

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Pleased to be back on Chandler’s Ford Today with my post The Positives and Negatives of Adaptations. As well as answering the question implied in the title, I share what I look for in a good adaptation and invite you to share which worked for you and which didn’t in the comments box. Hope you enjoy the post.

The Positives and Negatives of Adaptations

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Hope you have had a good day.

I’ll be talking about The Positives and Negatives of Adaptations for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. See above.

Title change here as I did talk about adaptations some time ago but thought it time for an update. It’s also timely as I’m off to see a classic adaptation (Cinderella) for the pantomime as performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group later this evening. Will report back on that in due course. Looking forward to doing that.

And I’ll have a wonderful author interview coming a little later on in February too. More details nearer the time.

29th January 2025
Glad to be back on More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. This time my topic is Getting There and I hope you find it encouraging. I share thoughts on what I think writers should see as “getting there” and feel that progress can often be in small steps, which mount up over time.

My next blog here won’t be until March because I had the foresight to pick the 29th as my day to blog and therefore only write in February once every four years!

I do hope you find this one useful at what can be a dark and dismal time of year.

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It’s Friday, the end of the working week for many, and time for a story to see us into the weekend. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction called Turn Up For the Book. I’ve mentioned before about how you can use proverbs and well known sayings to inspire stories. This is the latest from me using that basic idea.

Hope the day has gone well for you. Am looking forward to having many a good laugh this evening at Cinderella, the pantomime being staged by The Chameleon Theatre Group as their choice of pantomime this time.

Writing Thought/Exercise: What one thing would guarantee a good laugh from your characters and why? There could be some interesting stories to come from answering that one. Have fun!

The challenge with flash fiction is ensuring you have written a complete story (and not just an extract). This is why I find it useful to outline my character because I use that to figure out why I am writing about them and what they are doing, the emphasis being on doing, because something has to happen in a story for it to work at all.

Sometimes I will know the opening line or the closing line and can work out the rest of the story from there but knowing the character generally gives me my way in. I also know from my outline when the point of change has to happen and that’s the key moment in any story regardless of word count.

Fairytales with Bite – Battling The Elements

Now I know it’s January and this weather isn’t unexpected but over the last few weeks I’ve spent a lot of time battling the elements. I’ve not won! The UK has seen storms with stronger wind speeds than normal and I’m grateful I haven’t experienced flooding, power cuts etc others have. But you prepare for these things as best as you can and I am also grateful for my heavy duty dog walking coat. It has seen sterling service recently!

Given our stories are set in magical settings, there are other elements other than natural ones our characters may have to battle. As well as magic in and of itself, what other elements could your characters face? Could the weather take on a personification? Could elements include the weather being abused by those powerful enough to do and your characters have to find a way of stopping this?

Could water, the sky, the ground, any basic feature you care to name cause problems for your characters other than what you might expect to come from in a non-magical setting? For instance, rather than “just” flooding, could your characters be facing flooding which is programmed to seek them out and destroy them? Who or what is behind that and how can your characters overcome it?

Good story ideas there I think.


This World and Others – Weather and Other Forecasting

I’ve long thought the weather forecasts are a kind of intelligent bet. Mostly they are accurate (and better than they once were) but sometimes they are anything but. And I still rely on the old look out of the window method of forecasting to decide if I need my big heavy duty dog walking coat or not. I like the fact the old saying of Red sky at night, Shepherd’s delight, Red sky in the morning, Shepherd’s warning is still amazingly accurate.

So what kind of forecasting goes on in your setting given all of that? Is it a purely scientific approach? Or it is based only on old country sayings? Or is it a combination? Which do your characters rely on and are they ever caught out and get it wrong? What effect would that have on their story?

There can be stories too told from a forecasting angle. Who invented the forecast methods your setting uses? How did they persuade the authorities to take these on? Who regulates what can be forecast and how?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Am hoping to share the next issue in my next post as it is a joint January/February one. Do look out for it. In the meantime, do have a good read of the current edition.

 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Creating Characters, Famous First Lines, and Writing Tips/Exercises

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Hope the weekend was okay. Stormy weather here – thunder, hail, the works. Perfect weather for staying inside and getting on with the writing though. Even Lady hasn’t been sorry to get back home from her walks the last couple of days or so. Am seeing more signs of spring emerging though which always cheers me.

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today. I had a great swim but now it’s more than time to be back at the desk again.

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out on Saturday. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Looking forward to sharing my blog post, Getting There, on More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers tomorrow.

Writing Tip: Flash fiction comes in a great range of word counts and formats up to the 1000 limit. Why not have a go at a one line story? It can be done! Here is one of mine.

Glenda, not having wish granters encroaching on her patch, thank you, and having sealed the genie back in his lamp, grinned as she kicked the wretched object into the sea.
Allison Symes – 28th January 2025

Have fun drafting one-liners like this. Sometimes you could extend them for a longer story. Equally leave them as one-liners and share on posts or via your website as extra reading for your audience (but just bear in mind they will count as being published. I only share here or via my website what I am happy not to share elsewhere).

Hope Monday hasn’t been too bad. Weather frightful. Caught in hail though thankfully it didn’t last long. Lady did manage to play with her pal Coco, the lovely Labradoodle, so that made the world all right for both of those two.

Very pleased with writing done over the weekend. Have sent a story off for consideration. Picked a story I wrote a while ago which I know could suit a competition. And I did manage to get plenty of blogging done too (to appear at future dates). Also enjoyed Flash Fiction Sunday. Will share my new piece for YouTube shortly over on my book page.  See further down.

Today I’ve completed a survey for the Society of Authors regarding my thoughts over AI. I don’t fill in every writing survey I am sent but this one definitely warranted my attention. They’re emailing all members about this so if your belong to the Society it might pay to look out for this. I saw it as a chance to have my say.

Stormy again here. Took Lady around the park in record time today and even she wasn’t sorry to get back home again. This is about as common as gold dust in these parts – I.e. not at all. Keep safe, everyone.

Looking forward to starting flash fiction Sunday soon. Plus one of my two story competition drafts I have now edited and I hope to submit this later on before turning my attention to the other one. And, yes the gap away did help me spot something which could be strengthened. The break away from a piece of work does pay off.

Busy week coming up but I am looking forward to seeing my local theatre group, The Chameleon Theatre Group, perform Cinderella later this week. That will be fun.

Hope the weekend is going okay.

Writing wise, I’ll be talking about Adaptations for Chandler’s Ford Today next week, ahead of my going to see an adaptation of Cinderella performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group. A review for that will follow. Am looking forward to doing that as the show, I know, will be such fun and I’ll enjoy writing the review because I try to convey something of that fun in the write up.

Don’t forget my next author newsletter will be out again soon. I discuss all things related to flash fiction and short stories, share tips, story links and more. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

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I need to create characters continually for my flash and short stories, though I do sometimes re-use some in linked tales. This is why I find a simple template useful for this. I can then add or take away from that template as I see fit which in itself helps me create characters who are not formulaic.

For example, for one template, I might “ask” my character what would they never want to do (and then almost certainly I would make them face having to do that thing in a story. Great drama).

For another one, I might “ask” what they find funny and what they don’t and again set them in a situation where this comes out and moves the story on. There will be consequences from what they find funny or not. I will make sure of that.

But in writing down the question to “ask” I find I have to answer it and I also get to start hearing my character’s voice in “their” response.

It’s Monday. It’s stormy. There has been hail. There has been a soggy dog walker (me!). Definitely time for a story then Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube -Being Careful Enough.

When you go to so much trouble to make a new life for yourself on your new world, you know you can’t be careful enough. You know there are portals out there designed to drag you straight back to what you consider to be hell. Find out here how Shiraz, who decided to name herself after a grape, fights back against all attempts to drag her “home”.

Writing Thought/Exercise: Why not have something unexpected arrive in the post, yes good old snail mail, to your character? What is it? Why is it unexpected? Is the delivery a welcome one or not?

Earlier this week I had a pleasant surprise arrive on my mat – a certificate from the National Blood people enclosing my “I’m a 75 donor” certificate and badge. Will happily plug them too – if you can give blood, why not do so? Lives are changed by it (and there are story ideas here too. You could tell a tale about the donor or recipient or both.).

Sometimes with a flash piece, I start with a title (often having picked one to work up from my notes. I use pockets of time to brainstorm ideas for titles, opening lines etc. It pays. It also means I know I can always find something I am likely to want to write up). The title often gives me clues as to the kind of character needed to fit it.

Sometimes I start with a drafted opening line which then usually inspires ideas for the title and the character to fit it.

It’s not a bad thing I mix things up like this. It is good practice for competitions given some of those give you a set opening line to work with, for one thing. For another, it keeps me on my toes and it means I have more than one way into crafting a new story.

Goodreads Author Blog – Famous First Lines

Famous first lines (such as It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife – Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice) are often used to show writers how to hook your readers from the start. I like to think of it as hitting the ground running. And it I something I try to do with my flash fiction and short stories.

I know when I’m reading I want that first line to draw me in either by setting up an intriguing setting or a character whom I simply have to know more about. Only one way to do that of course – read on.

Naturally that sets a challenge to me to make sure I’m doing something similar when I’m writing. But then this is why writers do have to be good readers too. You do learn from what you read. Gives us the perfect excuse to get our heads in a book as often as possible – I like this!

Of course the best first line in the world cannot support the whole of the following story on its own – the rest has to be pretty good too – but as a way of drawing readers in, you can’t beat it. People look at book covers, the blurb, and the first line. If they like all of that, they are more likely to buy the book.

And from a reader’s viewpoint, great first lines stay with you.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Next issue due out any moment. Hope to share in next post.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Author Interview: Introducing Gemma Owen-Kendall

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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. A huge thank you to Gemma Owen-Kendall and Lynsey Adams (Reading Between the Lines Vlog) for author and book cover pictures for the Chandler’s Ford Today interview this week.
Hope you have had a good few days. Storm Eowyn is on its way. Take care and keep safe. Have had an odd week in that I’ve had a lovely time with the good people at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group (Wednesday night) and then had technical issues with Chandler’s Ford Today which now appear to have been sorted. A mixed bag of a week! But do check out the CFT interview with Gemma Owen-Kendall – it is a great read.

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Am delighted to welcome Gemma Owen-Kendall to Chandler’s Ford Today for an in-depth talk about her debut novel, Red Daisy. This was launched at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick last August.

Gemma shares thoughts on marketing, editing,her writing journey, and her love of fairytales, a huge influence on her novel, and much else too. She has also written flash fiction and short stories so there is much to share here.

Hope you enjoy the post (and naturally I am especially pleased to welcome a fellow flash fiction writer to CFT!).

Author Interview: Introducing Gemma Owen-Kendall

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Glad to report the technical issues with Chandler’s Ford Today now appear to have been sorted out so I will be sharing a fabulous interview with Gemma Owen-Kendall about her debut novel, Red Daisy, from there tomorrow. Tech issues never happen at a good time! See link above – such a relief this has been sorted out.

Gemma discusses her journey to publication with SpellBound Books and shares thoughts on marketing and editing amongst other gems so do check the interview out. It’s a great read! Link up tomorrow.

 

Hope you’ve had a good Wednesday. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal and to play with Coco, the lovely Labradoodle. These two are younger than the Vizler (though Lady incredibly is eight now. You wouldn’t believe it to see her run). Anyway the two younger dogs had a fabulous time running around the park. Lovely to see them.

Writing wise, I am interviewing Gemma Owen-Kendall about her debut novel, Red Daisy. This will be part of the Reading Between the Lines Vlog book tour.

The bad news is Chandler’s Ford Today is down at the moment due to technical issues which I hope will be sorted out soon. There is never a good time for technical issues! Thankfully sorted.

Meantime I will be sharing Gemma’s fabulous interview from my own website (Allison Symes Collected Works) on Friday. Do look out for it. Gemma shares about her writing journey and there are plenty of useful thoughts for all writers here. (I will share the interview again from CFT the moment it is available but these things are sent to try writers, I think). This is what is known in the business as having a Plan B! I highly recommend it!

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Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest story, Getting On With It. Even fairy godmothers don’t like the return to work after a Christmas and New Year break. Find out why here.

Lovely evening spent with the good people at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction group last night (22nd January). The theme was All Things New. Newness in itself is a fabulous topic, especially apt for the first month of a new year, and I set a few exercises based on it which I hope they enjoy.

One of those exercises was to use the word new itself in an opening line and then, separately, in a closing line.

Why not give it a go and see what you come up with? Have fun!

Sometimes a flash piece of mine has scope for being expanded into a longer short story and so I do that. The story and the characters have to suit and sometimes I do need 2000 words to tell the whole tale rather than the top limit for flash of 1000. That’s fine, especially since I know I will be drafting other flash pieces before long.

Top Tip: I’ve long since learned the most important thing to do is to write the story. Then after a break from it I edit it. I leave it again for a while and review it again. Then and only then will I start to think about the word count. I’ve learned over time when to leave a story alone. When I honestly feel I cannot add a word or take anything out without spoiling the story, I leave it. And, as I say, that sometimes does come in at above the flash limit.

Fairytales with Bite – Continuing Professional Development

As a writer, I’m learning all the time ways to improve my stories (and with that I hope my changes of publication). I read about my craft. I go to writing events – in person and online ones – and am part of writing groups (online). It’s all fun too (and hard work but when it is work you enjoy it helps a lot!), I see all of this as my Continuing Professional Development.

So what would your characters see as their Continuing Professional Development? How do they learn their craft? How do they improve their skills as they do the work? Who manages all of the training? I could see there being potential for humorous stories here.

And how about characters who use their training well – what stories could they share? What about those who misuse their skills (deliberately or accidentally). What would happen here?

And can someone unexpectedly rise through the ranks and surprise everyone with how well they do with their development? Fairytales are often based on those who are not expected to do well but, with some help (often from a handy fairy godmother), they do go on to do well.

So why not set stories like this in a learning environment? The “fairy godmother” here could be an exceptional teacher. What would they make of their student doing well like that?

As ever what are the consequences? Not everyone would take someone unexpectedly doing well that well themselves. Plenty of possibilities for conflict here thanks to a character getting on with their Continuing Professional Development. Not everyone is professional about these things themselves.

This World and Others – Monitoring Standards

When it comes to education or other forms of learning (vocational etc), who would monitor standards in your setting to ensure all is as it should be? Could they be open to persuasion that those who are not expected to do well are allowed through or are stopped from making the best of their learning? Good potential conflict stories there.

Does your setting and it authorities keep standards as they have always been or are they open to developments in their equivalent of technology and/or science, which would lead to needing new sets of standards every so often?

When I began writing seriously as a writer, I was using a typewriter. There wasn’t such a thing as the Data Protection Act. So of course when computers became more readily available, writers like me had to adjust to using them, have our own websites, ensure we obey data rules and so on. We have had new standards to stick to so does your setting have this kind of ongoing process here?

Who is open to change? Who is open to ensuring standards continue to be monitored well? Who might get in the way of all of that? Not everyone welcomes change. Again good conflict stories could be found here.

 

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Good news:  Next issue (January/February 2025 is due out soon).

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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The New Writing Year

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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, with the image of me holding The Best of CafeLit 13 taken by Adrian Symes.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Pleased with writing done over that time which included writing new flash and reviewing draft short stories. Hope to submit the latter in the next couple of weeks or so. Have got my eye on other competitions to enter too. Lady has been in fine form too.

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Hope Tuesday has been okay for you. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler today (and our neighbour’s retriever) so she has had a good day. Still pretty cold here.

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again before too long. It’s amazing how quickly the first of the month comes around. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com and many thanks to all who have subscribed.

I subscribe to a number of author newsletters myself. I find them useful – writers always learn from each other – as well as helping me to stay informed of what else is going on out there, writing wise. I find the world of writing infinitely fascinating and love hearing more about it and not just in my sphere.

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Hope Monday hasn’t been too bad. Lady got to catch up with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today and has had a good day.

Monday is one of the days in which, due to other commitments, I don’t get to do so much writing so I use it to do “little bits and pieces” which then frees up my time later in the week, when I can have longer writing sessions.

What do I count as “little bits and pieces”? Well, adding items to my newsletter is one, finishing off a blog post is another etc. Longer writing sessions will see me write one or more flash pieces, edit a story, make submissions and so on.

It is a question of working out how to make the best use of your writing time, I think. I aim to finish most days by being pleased with what I managed to get done in the time available to me rather than beat myself up about not getting much done. It helps me cope with Mondays for a start!

Hope the weekend has gone well. Freezing again here and murky.

Glad to say I’ll be talking to fellow Swanwicker Gemma Owen-Kendall about her novel Red Daisy for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. It is a great interview. Looking forward to sharing it.

I hope there will be further author interviews throughout the year. It’s always fascinating to find out about the writing journeys of other writers. I’ve always found you can learn so much from each other this way.

I often “interview” my characters when I’m preparing a story. I find it useful to know what makes them tick and certain questions such as what is the one thing you would ask for if you could be allowed a wish to be a great way to find out more about my potential “star”. For a start, I will find out if they would ask for a selfish wish or not and that alone can reveal more about them.

Pleased to be back on Authors Electric with my first post here for 2025. This time I talk about The New Writing Year.

I share how I use January, often a gloomy month, to ensure I have something to look forward to, writing wise, later in the year and discuss competitions and writing plans. This time of the year is a great time to focus on what you’d like to achieve by the end of it, I find.

Hope you find the post useful as you consider your own writing plans for the year ahead.

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I love flash fiction for many reasons but a big one is being able to set my characters in different settings, meaning I can play with genre here.

I’ve written fantasy flash, fairytale flash, historical flash, crime flash, ghost flash and much more. I like the variety.

What all of these things have to have in common though is characters who will grip a reader (not literally!). This is why I always start by working out who my characters are and I have found this pays off.

It’s Monday. It’s still cold, dark and January and, of course, Monday. Time for another story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube. This one is called To Do. Wilma takes matters into her own hands when she gets fed up with her neighbour’s boasting and she gets to complete her yearly bucket list too. Find out how and why here.

 

Will shortly be embarking on flash fiction Sunday. Also want to review a couple of stories I drafted last week. For flash and short stories, I usually find a few days is enough time to give me the necessary distance to see what needs to be fixed. The one thing I know for sure is something will have to be fixed!

I also write longer short stories though I tend to stick to between the 1001 and 2000 words mark for those. I must admit anything over 1000 words does seem lengthy to me!

Am delighted to say I will be sharing my first author interview for 2025 on Chandler’s Ford Today next week. I’ll be interviewing fellow Swanwicker (and short story and flash fiction writer) Gemma Owen-Kendall about her novel, Red Daisy, which was launched at Swanwick last year. Looking forward to sharing that.

Talking of flash fiction, Writing Magazine have a 500 words competition. See link for more information and good luck if you enter this. Deadline is 15th March 2025. If you can get hold of the current copy of the magazine, they’ve issued their competitions guide. Well worth having to hand.

Goodreads Author Blog – Why Reviews Matter

There are two things every reader can do to help authors. The first one is obviously to buy their books in whatever format you prefer (and where that’s not possible, do borrow from the library. Authors usually receive Public Lending Right – at least in the UK). The second one is to review their books here on Goodreads and/or Amazon.

Reviews matter to writers for several reasons.

Firstly, it is good (and encouraging) to know we are being read.

Secondly, it is helpful for us to know what you like about our books and yes occasionally what you dislike. All we want is for any review to be fair, as most of us accept not everyone is going to like what we do.

Thirdly, we can use the fact we have had reviews as part of our marketing.

I always check out reviews for any product I’m interested in – books or otherwise. Often, I will come across something linked to the product I’m looking into I hadn’t heard of before simply because a review for it turns up. I then check it out.

The good news is reviews do not have to be long. Some of the best ones I’ve had have been one or two lines only. What helps is in saying you liked the book (hopefully!) and what in particular stood out for you. Job done.

Do I review books myself? Oh yes. I tend to do this in batches of two or three books at a time but I keep my reviews short. (Also makes it easier for the author to use part of the review in quotes they want to share).

A good New Year’s Resolution for any reader would be to review more. As we’re a community who love books and stories, it’s a nice one to try to keep, don’t you think?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Making the Most of Your Writing Time

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Hope you have had a good few days. Lady has been catching up with her pals and I’ve been catching up with my writing. Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom next week too. Smashing author interview coming up on Chandler’s Ford Today next week as well – looking forward to sharing that.

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Delighted to share Making the Most of Your Writing Time for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. It’s always a useful topic!

I look at the positives of planning out your writing time and discuss the negative side to it. I share what one piece of advice P.G. Wodehouse gave to a writer (which has a considerable impact on my way of thinking here) and look at mixing things up to make the best use of the writing time available.

Hope you find the post useful.

Making the Most of Your Writing Time

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Hope today has been okay for you. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler friend today. Lady has had a good week in catching up with her pals.

Looking forward to sharing Making the Most of Your Writing Time on Chandler’s Ford Today – link up tomorrow. Hope it will prove useful. See above.

Planning, over the weekend, to have a look at the two short story competition entries I drafted a few days ago and see what needs to be done to make them better. There will be something, there always is, but I love this stage of writing. To see what needs to be fixed and then to do it and know your work has taken a good step forward – well, all of that pleases me a lot. Also increases my chances a lot too!

I’ve always taken some consolation from the knowledge I can’t think of any writer who has ever written a first draft. It’s okay I don’t do so either then but what matters is seeing it for what it is – a first draft only I’m ever going to see.

 

Hope Wednesday has been a good day for you. Lady got to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals today – a lovely time was had by all in the park.

Now I hope you received lots of lovely book presents for Christmas. Am working my way through mine but I thought this would be a good point to say a lovely present for any author would be to receive reviews on Amazon etc. Other than buying the books themselves, leaving thoughtful reviews is the next best thing you an do to support authors.

Reviews don’t have to be long. One of mine for From Light to Dark and Back Again is a sentence long – An eclectic mix of flash fiction, from an author with a great imagination.

Many thanks to the author of that review. Much appreciated by me, obviously. Reviews like this can be useful for marketing purposes but also the feedback is so useful for writers.

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It’s lovely to be back on Friday Flash Fiction once again after a fabulous and enjoyable Christmas break. Hope you enjoy my A Different New Year though I know for sure one of my characters in this one certainly won’t.

Flash fiction is, of course, short, but you still need to give yourself plenty of time to edit and to polish your stories. It doesn’t matter what word count you write to, the editing does take time, but it is so worth it when you have a polished as good as you can make it piece of work to send out.

Crafting your work to make it as good as you can does make all the difference to whether a piece is published or not, or gets a placing (or a win) in a competition or not.

Some of you will know I discovered flash fiction by accident. It remains the happiest writing accident I’ve had. CafeLit issued a 100 word challenge and I went for it. Haven’t looked back since.

But I mention this as I think it shows the importance of being open to writing possibilities and not to be afraid to try something new.

I’d been writing the longer short stories prior to that (and still do but flash has given me another string to my bow and a way into having books with my name on the front covers. Really love that).

It has pleased me a lot to see increasing opportunities for flash with online story markets and flash being added to competition categories. All good, that!

Fairytales with Bite – Pantomimes

In the UK pantomimes are along standing tradition and usually run from December through to about February. They are often the first introduction to theatre for many and most of the stories for them do come from the traditional fairytales. I will be off to see a production of Cinderella later this month which will be staged by my excellent local amateur theatre company.

Pantomimes are funny, colourful, and jokes are aimed at all levels. It is deliberate adults will get some jokes when the children will not. You have the pantomime Dame, always played by a man, wearing the most garish costume and makeup. The Principal Boy is always played by a girl. Certain phrases are always used (he/she is behind you etc) and the audience is always encouraged to join in. There is often music too.

Another tradition here is some of the jokes will poke fun at those in authority while other gags will refer to local issues/events/places. All great fun. Chaos is expected.

Fairytales work brilliantly for this as they have a good three act structure which translates well to the stage. There are obvious baddies and goodies too and magic is involved somewhere. It helps the audience know the story because they know when they can join in.

But it led me to wonder for this post what kind of theatre or pantomime would your setting have? Would they have anything like the pantomime? What fairytales do they have they might base their own version on? Could you invent something here for your stories?

This World and Others – Behind The Scenes

Linking with Fairytales with Bite, I know my excellent local amateur theatre company create their own sets and what they come up with here is amazing. They have, I’m sure, great fun with the pantomime sets they create – lots of bright colours etc. But without this, there is no show. Without their lighting and sound crews, the shows wouldn’t be so good. It’s amazing how the well placed light or sound effect makes a difference to the impact on the audience of the story being acted out.

Naturally it won’t just be in the entertainment industry, there will be those elsewhere whose work behind the scenes (a) makes things happen at all and (b) without whom what does get done isn’t as good.

So for your stories whose work behind the scenes is crucial to the success of what your lead characters are doing/plan to do? Equally who could unintentionally or otherwise scupper your characters’ plans by their work behind the scenes which has an impact later on?

You could also have characters who are behind the scenes but don’t want to be and what impact any resentful attitude on their part plays in your story.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Tips, Flash Fiction, and Marketing

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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 the weekend went well. Hope the coming week does too! Writing wise, I’m looking forward to sharing a post on Chandler’s Ford Today later this week looking at Making the Most of Your Writing Time, which is always a relevant topic.

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Facebook – General

It was nice it wasn’t so cold today. Instead of looking like a walking inflatable thanks to wearing so many layers when taking Lady out, I managed to look like half a walking inflatable today. It is progress!

Will be looking at Making the Most of Your Writing Time later in the week for Chandler’s Ford Today.

Busy preparing a presentation for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction group next week. I love putting these together and I join in with the exercises I set on the night of the meeting. It means I get some drafts done too.

Was pleased at the weekend I managed to draft two possible short story competition entries. Will be looking at these tales again this coming weekend. Know they will need work but then that is what the editing stage is for.

 

Hope Monday hasn’t been too bad for you. I have a lovely Zoom meeting to look forward to this evening, which will be especially welcome after a hectic day.  It was!

Marketing Tip: It might sound obvious but ensure you enjoy the marketing you do. I like sharing flash fiction videos on my YouTube channel so have no problems doing that kind of marketing! I also love blogging, so I blog.

I’ve found it pays to split my time into writing and marketing so I don’t neglect either of them. So I work out what I can do based on my other commitments on any given day. I’ve found that helps with focus and I do get writing and marketing done by the end of each week. This post of course is a bit of both of those things!

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Hope you have had a good weekend.

About to start my flash fiction Sunday afternoon writing session – always look forward to this. Have a couple of short story competitions I want to have a go at so plan to start fleshing out ideas for those too. Will be good to get the old brain fired up!

Writing Tip: Good ways to get into flash stories include asking a question so your character has to answer it in some way or with a line of dialogue so a reader will want to read on to find out how that conversation finishes.

Best of all, you can combine these! See my example below.

‘What is that at the end of the street, Dora?’

All sorts of possibilities arise from that. Has Dora’s friend spotted something alien? Is the friend seeing something Dora really cannot see (or are they trying to wind Dora up for some nefarious reason)?

You could also ask a question you too would like to know the answer to and get your character to answer it! (And if you’re stuck for ideas do heck out the random question generators – these can be useful for giving you a starting point).

Have fun!

Tips will help you make the most of your writing day
Hope your Saturday has gone well. Still pretty cold around here.

Plan to get back to submitting stories to Friday Flash Fiction this weekend. Also will be writing about Making the Most of Your Writing Time for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Always a timely topic that one!

At the end of the month I’m off to see Cinderella as performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group and unlike the lead character, I do plan to be home before midnight! But The Chameleons always stage wonderful pantomimes and I am so looking forward to having many laughs at this later this month.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I sometimes write flash tales as acrostics but find these work best when I only use one or two words to form the acrostic itself. For example:-

New Year by Allison Symes

N = New Year’s Day is when my hopes are high.
E = Ending days later when normal life resumes.
W = Wendy sighed. It is the same every year so why am I surprised?

Y = Yet deep down I still feel this year should be different.
E = Even though long experience tells me otherwise.
A = And then she picked up the letter from her mat.
R = Recognizing the New Zealand address of an old friend, she opened it and a return air plane ticket fell out.

Ends
Allison Symes – 14th January 2025

Hope you enjoyed that. Acrostic tales are fun to do and make for an interesting change to the usual prose format.

Advantage to flash is setting characters anywhere

It’s Monday. It’s cold. It’s dark. It’s still January. It’s still Monday. Time for a story then. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Getting On With It.

 

Still cold here but not as bad as yesterday. Am cheering myself up a bit by looking out for the early signs of spring on the way. I have a tiny primrose out in my garden. Have no idea whether it will survive the frosts but it is out.

And that reminds me of a useful character trait which I’m sure you could find a use for in stories – a character with persistence, who will get through or overcome some difficulty, no matter what the odds are against them. There are definitely story ideas from that thought and all inspired by a tiny primrose. I like this.

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Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group later this month. It’s always great fun and Zoom makes meetings like this possible where in person get-togethers are simply not an option, as is the case here.

Zoom is also useful for recording your stories and playing them back (you simply set up a meeting with yourself, press record, end the meeting and Zoom converts the recording into an mp3 file for you). I always use this facility when I’m submitting a flash tale for potential broadcast. It is the only sure way to know I have got my timing right.

Usually with these things you’re given a maximum recording time rather than a maximum word count. When I play my recordings back, I’m listening for errors in dialogue but also making sure I’m not speaking too fast.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Books For the Darker Times of Year

January can be the gloomiest month of the year. Christmas is over and it is still ages before spring turns up. It is a great time for getting more reading done though! One of the simple delights in life is curling up with a good book in a cosy chair with a hot drink or several to hand.

For me, January is definitely not the time to be reading anything gloomy in itself. I want something to make me smile or laugh (Wodehouse, Pratchett and Austen are my go-tos for this).

I also like to read plenty of short fiction (it’s so often easier to find funny short stories tor flash fiction than novels – well that’s been my experience).

But if there is anything positive to be said for January, it is a good reading month. Escaping into a world contained in the pages of a book always seems like a good idea to me but never more so than when it is dark and cold outside.

Screenshot 2025-01-11 at 17-23-00 Allison Symes's Blog - Books For The Darker Times of Year - January 11 2025 09 22 Goodreads

 

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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The Joys of Fairytales

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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.
Brrrr…. Has been a cold one this week. Not that Lady has minded. Very little slows her down. Writing wise, am looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom later this month and had a most enjoyable one as part of another ACW group on Wednesday this week. All good fun and useful.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Hope you have had a good first full week back into normal routines. Still pretty cold here but Lady had a lovely time in the park playing with her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Coco, the Labradoodle, pals so they’ve all had a great time.

Pleased to share The Joys of Fairytales as my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. A gem of a topic as far as I’m concerned and I hope you enjoy the post. I look at fairytales and the reading diet, fairytales and the writing craft, as well as share my own life long love of the form and why I think we shouldn’t stop reading them because we’re no longer children. Hope I can persuade you to keep reading them!

The Joys of Fairytales

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Lovely time in the pool today. When the weather is cold outside, the water feels like a tepid bath by comparison. Trust me, it isn’t. It only feels that way by comparison but it does help me to get going with the swimming.

Will be discussing The Joys of Fairytales for Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above.

Pleased to be getting back to preparing my monthly blogs in different places and scheduled the first one of those yesterday. Makes me feel like I’m getting back into the swing of things again. Like this. Can take me a while to get going again after the Christmas break. Just like with my swimming really! Having said that, I am also busy editing at the moment and am glad that is going well.

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Hope the day has been okay. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler today and both dogs were so affectionate with each other. So nice to see. Some sleet, a little snow, but not a chance of it laying as the ground is so wet. (Hope I don’t wake up tomorrow to regret saying that but it is the case as I write this!).

Will be looking at The Joys of Fairytales for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I’ve loved fairytales for as long as I can remember so this piece was a particular joy to write. Very much a labour of love. Fairytales were my introduction to the fantasy genre as a whole too and I’m so appreciate of that. Can’t imagine not having read The Lord of the Rings or the Discworld series now but fairytales gave me my way in to finding those books.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope to have stories of mine on Friday Flash Fiction to share here from next week but just to flag up the submissions window is now open again. Link  takes you to where you can find out all you need to know for submitting 100 word stories, which is where they prefer you to start.
Screenshot 2025-01-10 at 09-57-33 100-Word Submissions - Friday Flash FictionCold again but better than yesterday – no sleet!

How can you use the weather in a flash tale without resorting to cliche? I don’t do this often but when needed, I tend to use what a character is wearing as a way of doing this. If my character takes half an hour to dig out their scarf and gloves, I don’t need to say otherwise the weather is cold, do I?

It also shows you what kind of character they are – not an organised one! Writing the weather like this makes it more fun to write and, I hope, to read as well.

473008266_10162940845417053_8634434704547746209_nA grey day today, weather wise. One lovely benefit to creative writing is it can help you escape all of that. For a start, you’re usually indoors in the warm. Secondly, by getting caught up in what your characters are up to and what happens next, that means you can forget at least some of what is going on outside!

The latter thought is another reason why I am so fond of writing light hearted flash fiction pieces. They seem to me to be a brief moment of cheer and we could all do with those!

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Quick Fact:  The above picture was going to be part of the cover for Tripping the Light Fantastic but as a rectangular picture cannot fit into the square frame of Chapeltown Books’ covers, I had to choose another image. Pleased with how things worked out though, see below!

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Fairytales with Bite – Twist Endings

Now given almost anything can happen in a fairytale, as magic is prevalent, what could possibly count as a twist ending here?

One answer to that is to get your characters doing the unexpected. For example, they don’t use magic when it was expected they would do, but ensure their reasons are strong enough to justify this. You can then have fun working out what consequences would occur because they haven’t done something. Would they also get into trouble with the powers that be because they should have used magic and didn’t?

Also, what would happen if a character, who is not supposed to use magic, does so? There is, of course, the glorious example of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice here (and I can still see visions of Mickey Mouse and those brooms from Fantasia here) but what if the character develops a real gift for it and proves to be useful. Could they break down prejudices in their setting and set something positive in motion here, a positive twist if you like?

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This World and Others – Stories as Told In Other Worlds

Now I know so many of us appreciate the fairytales – those who wrote them, collected them, and in some cases those who did both. We think of Charles Perrault, Hans Christen Andersen, and the Brothers Grimm.

But in your setting, who would write the stories? Who would collect them? Are they aware of stories from other cultures in their world? Are they aware of stories from other worlds such as ours? Would they “import” stories from worlds like ours?

In what formats would their stories be shared – orally, in print, both? Do they have ebooks or something better? And who can access the stories? Are they for everyone?

How would their stories differ from ours and why would this be?

Story ideas there!

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Why I Write – Guest Blog Appearance – and Characters

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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. Many thanks to Janet Williams for the photo of me signing books – always good to share those photos! Image from the Autumn Gathering in October 2024 (an Association of Christian Writers event) was taken by me, Allison Symes, as were all screenshots taken by me.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Ghastly weather all over the UK. Very wet with some flooding here. I hope all clears up soon. Writing wise, it was good to get back to my usual flash fiction Sunday afternoon, the first of the New Year. Am also looking forward to sharing author interviews on Chandler’s Ford Today in due course. And I’m delighted to say I was on Val Penny’s blog as a guest writer looking at Why I Write. Link below.

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Facebook – General

Sorry running very late today (7th January 2025). Have had one of those days – good but busy. Lady was delighted to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal again today and I was delighted later, to have my first swim of 2025. The water seemed warm compared to the cold outside!

What one thing about creative writing do you enjoy the most?

My answer is creating characters who come to life as I flesh them out more. I love that process. It means I know I’ve got a character who has a story to share.

Okay, what other thing about creative writing do you enjoy the most?

My answer is getting the story finished, submitted, and accepted!

Best get on with things then!

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Hope the first Monday of the New Year hasn’t gone too badly. Lady got off to a good start by seeing her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals again. Avoided part of the park (think muddy ski slope and you have a good idea as to why my doing this was a good idea!).

Glad to see Writing Magazine have issued their competitions guide again. Will have a good look through at at some point soon and mark up some possibles. I find doing that is a good inventive to then get something in for said possibles!

Character Tip: Give some thought as to what you most love about your character and also what you loathe about them. Think about why you come up with the answers you do here. It will give you further insight as to what your character is made of and you are bound to find that useful as you tell your story (sorry, their story!).

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Hope you are having a good weekend. No snow here, thankfully, but it is very wet and there is flooding in the usual places around here.

Will be looking at a topic close to my heart for Chandler’s Ford Today this coming week. I’ll be discussing The Joys of Fairytales. It’s apt too as later in the month I will be going to see Cinderella, as staged by my excellent local theatre company, The Chameleon Theatre Group. Looking forward to seeing that and sharing something about my love of a classic story form on Friday.

Also glad to report there will be more author interview coming on CFT too. More details nearer the time.

4th January 2025
Many thanks to Val Penny for inviting me on to her blog today. It was a joy to talk about Why I Write. It is a great topic!

It makes you think about why you put yourself through producing work you don’t know will see the light of the day. (It’s why acceptances mean so much when you get them). You do need a thick skin and the love of story I think to be able to keep going despite setbacks (which every writer faces).

I also share something of my writing journey as that has a huge impact on why I write at all. See link.

Screenshot 2025-01-07 at 20-40-45 Why I Write by Allison Symes

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I usually submit stories for Friday Flash Fiction over the weekend so will look forward to doing so again this coming one. It will keep me on track (though they are open for submissions again from today, 7th January).

I like to mix up my story moods for all flash I write and go from a mixture of light and dark (which directly inspired the title of my first collection, From Light to Dark and Back Again. Sums the book up well, I think).

Given fiction reflects the human condition – with all our failures and vices – I think a mixture of light and dark is appropriate for that reason too!

Escape with a Good Book - FLTDBA.jpg
6th January 2025

It’s the first Monday of the New Year. It’s dark, the weather’s ghastly, and it is still a Monday. Definitely time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Making the Best of Things. Perhaps an apt title!

 

I get my inspiration for my flash fiction and short stories from many different sources. I like this a lot. I’ve found it pays to keep the ways you’re inspired varied as it keeps things more interesting for me too and encourages me to “raise my game”.

Naturally I’m inspired by books and stories I love written by other authors. The various prompts are a huge source of inspiration, especially if I tweak them a bit to suit my purposes better.

The proverbs and well known sayings are often great for use as themes for your stories. And ideas do occur as I’m out walking the dog. (I note them down as soon as I can on getting home again). Reading comes into all of this a lot. I’ve been inspired for stories by interesting non-fiction articles or books as I wonder what my character might make of what is in that article or book.

Ideas are all around but it is a question, I think, of expecting there to be ideas and thus to be open to spotting them. Reading does expand the mind. It can expand your own imagination too. I like that a lot too.

The one thing I consistently find is if I’m especially tired, that is when ideas can be harder to spot. So I aim to be kind to myself, get some rest, and read. I know that will fire up my own imagination again in no time, spurred on by that rest.

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Hope you have had a good day. No snow here but did have a very heavy frost. Am so thankful writing is something I get to do in the warm!

Looking forward to resuming my flash fiction Sunday afternoons tomorrow. I’ve also got a couple of short story competitions I want to enter so will try to start fleshing out ideas for those as well. Plan to send in a story for Friday Flash Fiction when they re-open next week.

Good to have my copy of Writing Magazine come through the letter box. Pleased to see Debz Hobbs-Wyatt’s piece in there. I recently interviewed her for Chandler’s Ford Today re her novel, If Crows Could Talk. I always see it as a good month when I know (or have heard of) at least four or five authors in the magazine. It is a good month this time!

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Goodreads Author Blog – Influences

Isaac Newton claimed “If I have seen further it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants”, rightly meaning he was building on what had gone before. But every single writer does this, regardless of what we write. Every reader will experience it, regardless of what you read. Why?

Simply because every author has their influences – the writers who have gone before. I have too many to mention but I especially love Pratchett, Austen, and Wodehouse (what a trio!). Every writer is inspired by what they read and readers get the benefit of that though they won’t know it directly.

Austen showed me the wonderful use of irony in fiction. Pratchett showed me fantasy and humour were a superb mix. As for Wodehouse, his mastery of the English language is sublime and his creations live on long after him. Nobody will forget Jeeves and Wooster.

Any time I enjoy a book, I am indirectly taking in what and whom the writers of those books were influenced by. I think this is a lovely thing.

Screenshot 2025-01-04 at 18-00-53 Allison Symes's Blog - Influences - January 04 2025 10 00 Goodreads

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Story Tips

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Happy New Year! Am slowly resuming my usual writing routine and it is good to get back to it. Having said that, I did enjoy the Christmas break and I hope you did too. This week, the first full week “back” for many (bar New Year’s Day of course), is going to be the tough one, I think, but I hope reading and writing help a lot – I know they do for me. Both take you away from it all for a bit!

BookBrushImage-2025-1-3-19-624Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today so she was happy.

Am pleased to share my first Chandler’s Ford Today post of the New Year. I look at Story Tips and this, I hope, will be useful whether you write flash fiction, short stories, or anything longer, fiction wise. As well as sharing tips I’ve found useful, I look at taking in stories via song and film as well as books, and share what I think the story writing challenge is to all writers. Hope you enjoy the post.

Story Tips

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It was a much pleasanter but colder day for walking Lady today and she got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals this morning so she has a good but tiring day, the kind she loves. Enjoyed listening to Classic FM at the Movies for a lot of New Year’s Day. Glad it finished with the Wallace and Gromit tune – the best thing on TV over Christmas we felt. Loved all the film references.

Also appreciated Classic FM playing one of my favourite movie film tunes – the only one I can think of which inspired a cartoon series. What can it be? Nothing else but The Pink Panther of course. Those of you of a certain age will now have had your first earworm of the year but it is a great theme!

Does music ever influence what I write? I find not at all with classical on in the background. What the music does for me is help me relax. When I’m relaxed I’m happy to write and keep writing.

Character Tip: What would your characters like musically and why? What does this say about their personalities? How could you use that to flesh them out more for your readers? Could their choice of music have a direct effect on the plot?

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1st January 2025

Happy New Year! Started 2025 by going for a long, wet, and muddy walk with other half and Lady though the weather here wasn’t as stormy as had been predicted. We got home again less wet than expected and Lady had a fabulous time.

Will be sharing Story Tips on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above. Glad to say there will be an author interview coming up later this month and I’ll be reviewing a pantomime by my local amateur theatre company as well. It’s good to be back in business!

Writing Tip: It’s natural for us to think of new beginnings at this time of year so think about what new start your characters would like to have and why. There will be great story ideas to come exploring that thought. Have fun!

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

No Friday Flash Fiction story from me today but they are open for submissions again from next week – see screenshot. Am hoping to be getting back to sending tales in to them regularly from then onwards. Did like the break though and I am sure they would’ve done too! If you’d like to check out some of my stories on here do follow the link.
Screenshot 2025-01-03 at 10-02-13 Holiday - Friday Flash FictionWill be sharing Story Tips on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. Useful for flash fiction and writers of any length of story. Link up tomorrow. See above.

Plan to be submitting work to Friday Flash Fiction again from next week. Haven’t yet chosen my first flash competition of the year yet to have a crack at but I’m keeping my eyes open. I do already have a couple of standard length short story competitions on my To Do list though and hope to start work on those in the next week or so.

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1st January 2025

Happy New Year!

Hope you enjoy reading and writing more flash fiction over the next twelve months. I plan to!
Later in the month there will be another session of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group, which I’m looking forward to very much. I expect by then January will have felt as if it has gone on for ever. Do check out Brian Bilston’s wonderful poem Mnemonic for the definitive thoughts on that!

Less is More is the theme for flash fiction writers

Fairytales with Bite – Beginnings

At the start of our New Year, it is natural to think about beginnings. In your setting, how is time marked out and what day/month would your characters know to be the beginning of a new passage of time for them? (Doesn’t necessarily have to be in the form of a year of course).

Do your characters welcome new beginnings as set by the passage of time or is it something they dread? Are there communal celebrations as we know?

What beginnings would your characters like to have? What is getting in their way to achieving these? Which would they fear and why? What would happen if they have to face up to those fears?

Beginnings are a chance to start again, to do better, and the marking of time is one way to set a new beginning. How would you characters make the most of this? Or what would they do to get out of having to face up to a new beginning?

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This World and Others – Changes

A New Year is a change to make changes to normal life. I don’t bother with New Year Resolutions. They tend to be broken by the end of January (at best!). But I often take the chance at New Year to look at where my writing is at and consider where I would like it be by the end of this coming twelve months. I make changes as I need to so I have my best chance of achieving what I would like to see done. Same as most people, right?

But what about your characters? Do they welcome changes or fear them? Do they have to be dragged/forced in to making any changes at all? Which changes should they make and why? Who is pushing them to do this and what are their motives for pushing your characters to change? Those motives don’t have to be great, naturally! How do your characters react to the ones trying to make them change? As ever, what are the consequences?

If there was to ever be an ingredients list for a great story, I would list characters, conflict, action, consequences. Wharever your word count, having those things in a tale (and ensuring all are delivered on) will help your story be well on its way to being a great one.

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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