Month: April 2025

Once Upon A Time

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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. One image kindly provided by the Hampshire Writers Society where I have been a guest speaker. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a lovely weekend. Busy but fun one here and so delighted to hear I’ll be in print again later this year, details below. Lady having a lovely time catching up with her pals and enjoying the lovely weather.

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Am pleased to be back on More than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. This time my post is called Once Upon A Time.

I discuss how these famous opening words to classic fairytales can inspire us with our own opening lines. For one thing, they show you don’t need too many words to set a scene, genre, and time scale!

Hope you enjoy the post.

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Hope you have a good start to the week. Lovely weather here. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today so all is well in her world.

Looking forward to sharing my review of Sudden Death at Thornbury Manor which I went to see performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group last week. The review will be on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. It’s the first time I’ve been to an interactive murder mystery play.

Writing Tip: How easy or otherwise do you find getting into your character’s head so you know where they are coming from here? I find I must be able to do so to understand their motivations properly and be able to write their story up. A few pertinent questions can help here. A good one to always ask is what do you want and why? That alone can give you a good “backbone” for a story.

Publication News
Am thrilled to say my story, The Family Legend, will be in the Magi themed Bridge House Publishing anthology due out later this year. Huge congratulations to all of the other writers who will also be in this book. I share the full list below and it is good to see some familiar names here!

Jane Spirit – A Royal Dilemma
Diana Powell – Adoration
Adam Mizler – Caspar’s Story
Joyce Frohn – Epiphany
Sally Angell – Follow Your Own Star
Michael Rogers – In the Departure Lounge
Margaret Bulleyment – Island Views
Sara Winslow – Lavender
Sara Page – Nativity
Paula Readman – Quizmas Rivalry
Richard Balou – Return of the Magi
Steve Wade – Seosamh, Meryem, the Busker and the Boy
Sharon Keely – Star Over Dartmoor
John Walker – The Census
Allison Symes – The Family Legend
Ian Inglis – The Four Wise Men
Anne Meale – The Gift of Common Ground
Rob Whaley – The Lost Magus of Michigan
Caliman Florentina – The Mysterious Journey of a Soul
Henry Lewi – The Road Trip
Yrev Very – The Second Coming
Liz Cox – They Came from the East Riding on Camels
Sarah Swatridge – Three Wise…Monkeys?
Penny Dale – Travelodge Epiphany

Will share further news such as publication date when I have it. It will be good to be in print again!

Am posting early as busy but enjoyable weekend this time. Hope the weekend is going well for you. Weather forecast for next week looks almost summery which will be nice. Touching to see such a wonderful turnout in Rome for Pope Francis’s funeral. TV figures etc will be even higher of course. He will be much missed.

Looking forward to reviewing Sudden Death at Thornbury Manor, recently staged by the fabulous The Chameleon Theatre Group, for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. First time I’ve been to an interactive murder mystery play. It was fun but more on that in my post next week.

Character Tip: What kind of language (and not just swearing!) is your character going to come up with and why? Are there words they always use or words which would never pass their lips?

Give some thought as to why this is and you will find out more about your character, which I’m sure you will find a good use for in fleshing them out more. It is a case the writer always needs to know more about the character than the reader does.

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Am enjoying the sunshine, as is Lady, who got to play with Coco the lovely Labradoodle this morning before it warmed up this afternoon.

Many thanks for the congratulations over my publication news shared the other day. Much appreciated.

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group tomorrow evening. Always good fun.

Flash Fiction Tip: I’ve found it useful to focus on my character and their situation, get that draft down, tidy it up and then and only then worry about the word count. You do need to get your story “right” and I have ended up with a story over the word count of the competition I had in mind but where I really didn’t want to change anything on it. I feel it would spoil something so I simply save that story for another competition instead.

It’s Monday. Okay, it’s a lovely sunny Monday but it is still Monday and time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Pictures.

It is only after her mother’s death Sally discovers why there were never many family photos up at home. Maybe some things were best left hidden after all…

 


Delighted to say one of my longer short stories will be in the Magi themed Bridge House Publishing anthology due out later this year. Meantime will crack on with flash fiction Sunday afternoon!

After the 100 worders, I think my favourite flash category is the 300 words one because that seems to be the word count I write to most often after the good old drabble. It is also a common competition category for flash tales so well practising writing for.

In my collections I have a few stories which are between the 750 and 100 words limit but the majority are either 100 or between 100 and 500. I literally do average out at about 250 or so!

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting next week on Zoom. Will be looking at genres. This is just one aspect to flash I love and take advantage of a lot – the fact I can put my characters anywhere and everywhere in stories so I do.

When I have a competition with a set theme I take time to work out what kind of character would be best suited for it. When it’s an open theme, I work out what theme I ‘d like to write about and then figure out the best fit character from there. You do want a good match up here.

Goodreads Author Blog – Family Stories

What do you think about stories based around families? I loved the Little Women series based on the March family from Louisa May Alcott and still have a very soft spot indeed for Jo. I still have the books (bought from a local newsagent back in the days when they would often stock popular titles. Indeed the Little Women series was part of a “Deans Classic” collection).

I also adored Enid Blyton’s Famous Five series (and again still have a very soft spot for George).

But the novel which always “got” to me was Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. I loved the whole idea of a story told by the horse and the Gordon family I thought were lovely. (That idea was explored further in the old Southern TV series which was based on the novel and ran with the basic idea while remaining faithful to the spirit of it, not an easy balance to get right, when it was a popular weekend teatime serial and more stories were wanted once they’d finished with the novel itself!).

I don’t specifically seek out family stories though it is funny how many of my childhood favourites are based on them (another one was Heidi).

Mind you, some of the classic fairytales show families which are far from ideal – check out Snow White and Cinderella to name but two!

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Honest and Dishonest Characters

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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 week. Lady has had a fabulous time with her closest friends. I’ve had a lovely trip to the local theatre and good writing news which I hope to share before too long.

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Delighted to share Honest and Dishonest Characters for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Fun piece to write especially given literature is full of excellent examples of both types of creation. I look at some of the aspects you need to consider when creating these and share thoughts and tips. Hope you find it useful.

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24th April
Am off to see The Chameleon Theatre Group perform Sudden Death at Thornbury Manor later this evening. Will review it for Chandler’s Ford Today in due course. The audience get to interrogate the cast as part of the performance which should be good fun. Have not been to an “interactive” murder mystery play before. Looking forward to reporting back later.

I see going to plays like this as another way of taking in stories. It’s not a bad idea to try to visualise your own stories as if someone was acting them out.

It can be a good aid to ensuring your dialogue sounds right, helps you cut down description (for a play you would see this as a visual set – can your readers picture your scenes easily enough?), and will show you whether all of your characters are playing a vital role in the story or not. If one or more doesn’t seem to have “much to do”, do you really need them in the tale?

Hope you have had a good Wednesday. Lady had a fabulous time in the park with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals. Came home tired but happy.

Don’t forget my next Chandler’s Ford Today post is upon Friday when I’ll be looking at Honest and Dishonest Characters. Fun piece to write which I hope you will find useful and thoughtful. See above.

Marketing Tip: Consistency matters. I find it useful to focus on those social media outlets and marketing tasks I know I can keep going. So select what you would enjoy most and stick with that.

I like preparing an author newsletter and my YouTube videos, for example, so I have no problems being consistent with producing these. As much as possible, your marketing as well as your writing should be fun for you too. (Or as much fun as possible most of the time anyway!).

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Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale, Same Old Thing.

Hope you enjoy it. Good to finish the working week with an enjoyable tale I think. Do check out the rest of what is on FFF – you will have plenty of good reading here.

24th April
Hope today has gone well. Am off to see my excellent local theatre company perform an interactive murder mystery. Should be fun. Led me to think though all of our stories should be interactive in that they should engage your readers so they are gripped by the situation and world you are showing them. No pressure then!

I do believe we are our own first readers though and if I’m not gripped by my characters, I can’t honestly expect anyone else to be.

Have come across another flash competition I may have a go at which specifies a character count rather than a word one (and yes it is linked to X or Twitter as I still prefer to think of it as).

Today, 23rd April, is both the birthday and anniversary of death day for William Shakespeare. Not sure what he would have thought of flash fiction given the length of his plays! But in the wonderful writing world, there is room for all word counts and styles (which is yet another reason to love being part of the overall writing community).

Writing Thought: Why not take one of Shakespeare’s famous quotes and use it as a theme for one of your own stories, flash or otherwise? What could you make of “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” as a theme, for example? Shakespeare was right on that one but could you come up with a tale which proved otherwise?


Fairytales with Bite – Crime in the Magical World

I love the Vimes novels within the late Sir Terry Pratchett’s magnificent Discworld series. The entire canon is superb but the Vimes books stand out for me and books like Men at Arms are excellent detective stories in their own right (and the fantasy setting makes them stand out more).

So thinking about your own magical/fantasy setting, which crimes could happen with in it? Are the crimes solved by magic or with good old fashioned police work (the Pratchett approach, which for me makes the books more real).

If you use magic to solve the crimes, bear in mind the criminals would almost certainly have used crime to commit their nefarious deeds so how can more magic overcome that?

You will need to give thought as to what magic can do and not do in your setting. There should be advantages and disadvantages to using it/not using it (as this will give more issues for your characters to think about as they work out what to do and will help increase tensions in your story).

Also think about the crimes which could only be committed in a magical world, what would these be? What is done to try to prevent them? Is there any kind of magical crime prevention agency and/or a detective one? Who could police the use of magic and what powers would they have to enforce this? How did the rules for the use of magic come into being in the first place?

This World and Others – Social Issues in the Magical or Sci-Fi World

Where magic or where science beyond what we know here exists in your setting, which social issues arise from them? Do these things create a have and have not society? If so, how is that handled? Are there any attempts to make things better for the have nots? Are there classes of citizens who are gifted with this kind of magic and/or science and do they share it or hoard it?

Has your magical/scientific setting over time benefited from the developments discovered or created? If so, how? Do these benefits help all? Those with the skills – are they revered or hated? Would others in your setting have good cause to fear them?

If your setting can survey other worlds, such as Earth, are there ideas we have they do not? Would they be prepared to steal them? If so, how would they go about this without drawing attention to the fact there was was an alien invasion going on (might cause panic!) or do they not worry about that? Have they raided other worlds before?

Scientific developments especially can cause two reasons – welcome and rejection. People can fear what they don’t understand so how would your setting’s people overcome this so new developments weren’t misunderstood or misrepresented?

The trouble with misunderstanding or misrepresenting something is the panic and resulting actions from that panic which in turn could cause social issues( rioting, maybe?).

Food for story thought there I hope.

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Character and Story Traits I Love

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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 you had a lovely Easter weekend. Sorry to hear about the death of Pope Francis.
Writing going well. Weather a bit of a mixed bag at the moment but that’s April in Britain for you! Lady hopes to catch up with more of her friends as the week goes on.

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Hope you have had a good day. Quiet one in the park with Lady but the weather was good and Lady had a great time running around.

Writing wise, don’t forget my next author newsletter will be out on 1st May, the first one from the new service provider. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

The next edition of Writers’ Narrative will be out before too long as well so do keep an eye out for that too.

Also have exciting writing news I cannot share yet but hope to do so soon. Good start to the week basically!

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Mixed bag weather wise today. Nasty but thankfully shortlived storm this afternoon. Lady managed to stay dry this morning and did get to see her Hungarian Vizler pal so all well there.

Looking forward to seeing Sudden Death at Thornbury Manor, the latest show from The Chameleon Theatre Company, with my lovely editor, Janet Williams, later this week. It will be another Chandler’s Ford Today “works outing”. The play is one adapted from the radio and is an interactive murder mystery where the audience can interrogate the cast. Sounds fun and I will review later for CFT.

Talking of CFT, I will have another smashing author interview to share in May but more details on that nearer the time.

Happy Easter to all who celebrate. Lovely church service this morning.

Just to flag up Friday Flash Fiction are wanting submissions sent in from Mondays to Thursdays only. See link for more information.

Planning to submit my competition story next weekend a good way ahead of the deadline. Today has been busier than expected so will be spending today writing flash, editing, writing blogs etc. Lots of “bits and pieces” but I enjoy writing sessions like this. The work mounts up over the course of time too.

Hope the Easter weekend is going well for you so far. Am tuned into the Classic FM Hall of Fame chart (and have been since yesterday) as the new one is unveiled over the long weekend. Am hoping I don’t hear the three I voted for until Bank Holiday Monday! Two of mine made it to the last day of the new chart being unveiled. To quote Meatloaf, “two out of three ain’t bad”!

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Honest and Dishonest Characters for Chandler’s Ford Today. Link up next Friday. After that I will be reviewing The Chameleon Theatre Group’s latest production, Sudden Death at Thornbury Manor, which I’m off to see next week. Ties in nicely with next week’s CFT post given the show is bound to have plenty of both type of characters here!

Writing Tip: Much as I love the outline, do give yourself manoeuvre room. What I mean by that is I don’t plan out every little thing about my characters or my storyline. I just need enough to get started and to have a rough ending in mind. It gives me space to work out how ideas which occur to me as I write my draft (and it happens a lot) will fit in or are better than my original thoughts and I can adjust accordingly.

I usually find if I know enough about my characters an apt story for them will occur from their outline anyway and it is why most of the time I focus on knowing my characters first. The one exception to that is if I am entering a competition with a set theme where the situation has been given to you. I then work out the kind of character which would best suit that situation.

But whether I work with the situation first or with the characters, I always give myself that manoeuvre room as better ideas occur to me. It is one of the laws of writing other better ideas will occur to you as you write your drafts but you need to have written something to generate those or so I have found. But if you have got that manoeuvre room available it is easier to put those better ideas to good use.

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Hope today has gone well for you. Submitted a flash piece yesterday. Am building up a bank of 100 word stories as I have different outlets for them and it is good to have something I know I can call on when I spot a competition I like. There are a number of 100 word competitions out there so it is worth keeping an eye on.

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group next week too. Will be looking at writing in different genres using flash, which is something I do a lot as flash can give you more freedom than you might think. It is just the word count limit you need to watch.

It’s Monday, albeit a Bank Holiday one in the UK. Time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – The Waiting Game. I sometimes write historical flash fiction and this is an example of that.

What someone who could be considered to be the power behind the throne really makes of their role. It isn’t all banquets and flashy clothes. Would you do what my character is preparing to do?

 

Plenty of lovely singing at church this morning including the classic tune of Maccabeus from Handel for Thine be The Glory. This wonderful music often turns up in the Classic FM Hall of Fame, which I am enjoying this weekend. Not heard this one so far this year.

Prompt: Story thought for you. What would your characters like to sing if they could pick one tune? Why would they choose this? There will be a story behind their choice. What could you do with that?

Looking forward to flash fiction Sunday afternoon tomorrow. Am hoping to submit a competition entry as part of that.

When it comes to flash competitions and titles, most of the competitions don’t include the title as part of their word count allowance but there are always exceptions to the rules! I always note whether a competition allows for the title in the word count or not, along with what the overall word count is.

Where a competition does include the title as part of the word count permitted, I allow up to five words for the title. I then write to the story up to whatever word count is remaining. If I end up taking a couple of words out of the title, I can add them to the story or not, depending on whether I need a couple of extra words or not. It is always all right to come in at under the word count stated, unless a competition expressly states they want a specific word count.

Basically, it pays to check and double check the rules. Competitions do vary in their requirements and you don’t want your stories discarded due to not following these things.

It happens. But it doesn’t have to happen to you!

Goodreads Author Blog – Character and Story Traits I Love

One of the things I love about series novels is watching how the characters develop over several books. The best for me for this is the development of Sam Vimes in the much missed Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. 

The transformation in that character is astounding and so well done. Start with Guards! Guards!, work through Men at Arms (which is also a fabulous detective tale) and wind up with Raising Steam and you will see what I mean.

But thinking about this led me to consider those character traits I love to see in fiction. I love courage, honesty, working hard etc and Sam Vimes easily embodies all of those. He’s also not afraid to upset his “superiors” when he needs to do that. I have a soft spot for characters doing that. It usually is deserved!

What I’ve always loved about the classic fairytales is characters deserving of help get it. Those who are arrogant etc are usually brought down a peg or two. But with rare exceptions they do learn their lesson. Oh if only that would happen in life, yes?

One huge advantage to reading widely (across genres as well as types of fiction such as short stories, flash as well as novellas and novels) is you get to see so many more character developments and I have always loved this as a reader. It means even more to me now I’m a writer as well.

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What You Need to Know About Character Creation and Shorter Fiction Forms

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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 you have had a good week. Have had some writing admin to tackle again but now sorted. Lady has had a lovely time with her pals. Looking forward to the Easter celebrations and a long weekend. Have a good Easter break yourself, whether you celebrate or not.

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Double Blog Time!

18th April 2025 – Good Friday – Chandler’s Ford Today

Second blog post from me today. First one below! This time it is my latest for Chandler’s Ford Today. This time I look at What You Need to Know About Character Creation. (Combines well with my Authors Electric post too! It does too. See below).

I look at the positives and negatives of using certain traits (which is something you can expand further depending on which trait you use for your characters). I also look at attitudes, situations, and dialogue, so I hope you will find plenty of useful information here.

Do have fun creating your characters. I think it is the best aspect to storytelling.

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18th April 2025 – Good Friday – Authors Electric
Double blog post today. First up is my latest on Authors Electric. This month I discuss Shorter Fiction Forms.  Second blog above.

One huge advantage to the shorter forms of fiction is they do make you focus on what does matter for your characters, you don’t have the word count room to do otherwise. But that in turn is a good discipline to get used to for writing any fiction. Hope you find it useful.

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Hope the day has gone well. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler friend again so all is well there.

My Chandler’s Ford Today post on What You Need to Know for Character Creation will be up tomorrow. See top post.

It is double blog day for me tomorrow given my Authors Electric post will also be up. That will be on the topic of Short Fiction Forms. See second post!

Looking forward to sharing both of those tomorrow so expect two posts. Has been lovely and busy on the non-fiction front!

 

Hope you have had a good day. Squally weather this morning, better this afternoon. Lady did get to see and have a fabulous time with her Hungarian Vizler friend and Coco, the lovely Labradoodle.

Writing wise, I will be sharing What You Need to Know For Character Creation on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See top post.

Following my scam warning post yesterday, I have since heard a few other writers I know have had similar experiences so clearly there is a spate of these things going on at the moment.

Newsletter coming along nicely. To sign up for this do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

You should see what appears on the screenshot below.

Theme this time will be on playing with genre in flash fiction, which I‘ll be discussing in further depth later this month for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group.

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Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest 100 words tale, Appearances. Trying to keep up appearances doesn’t always work out. Find out why here.

Hope today has been a good one.

I sometimes decide on what my next flash fiction story will be by picking a topic to write about. This is good practice for competitions with a set theme too. I then look at the kind of characters which could serve that topic well and then start to flesh them out.

The topic has got to grip me (and that goes for the set theme for competitions too) for me to want to write to it, of course. Not every topic does.

But there are plenty of topics (and set theme competitions) to go around to this never worries me. I think you do have to have a keen interest in the topic of theme to be able to do it any justice at all.

Hope the day has been a good one. Just to flag up the submissions window for Friday Flash Fiction is now open again. Have sent in something this afternoon.

Flash fiction is a lovely thing to share on your website, social media etc to flag up the kind of writing you do. It’s a good way to share something of interest to your subscribers for your author newsletter. It’s fun to do too especially if you love creating characters, which has always been my favourite aspect to storytelling.

Create my “people” (not that I always choose humans!), put them in a situation and find out what happens! And although I outline so I know roughly what is going to happen, I deliberately don’t plan out everything. I like to give my characters room to surprise me and they often do. I love that too.

Fairytales with Bite – Endings which Could Be Beginnings

I write this in the run up to Easter 2025 and it led me to think that, as a Christian, I see Good Friday as an ending (the crucifixion of Jesus) which became a new beginning (the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday).

But it also led me to think we can have endings which could be beginnings for our stories too in any genre but I’m focusing on one of my favourite kinds – the fairytale. How?

Simply by remembering there are two sides to every story. What is one character’s happy ever after ending will bring about a change of circumstances for other characters in the story (which they may or may not welcome of course) and those can be interesting avenues to explore further.

The musical Wicked is based on an alternative look at The Wizard of Oz story and people seem to like this!

My first story in print, A Helping Hand (in Alternative Renditions, Bridge House Publishing, 2009) looks at the Cinderella story from the viewpoint of the youngest stepsister. That character had a distinct view on Cinders as you can imagine. The story was great fun to write and I was thrilled for it to be my breakthrough in print.

There is nothing to stop you from (a) taking a character of yours and exploring their story further (it is where prequels can come in for one thing) and/or (b) taking another character from your story and doing something creative with them.

Why not give it a go? Having endings which could be beginnings for new stories is great fun to do. I think it works especially well with fairytales.

This World and Others – Upheavals

Our world is always full of upheavals and is especially this way as I write this in April 2025. But it led me to wonder about the kinds of upheavals your settings might see. Do they make ours look pathetic by comparison or are their upheavals “ a piece of cake” compared with what we have going on here?

What triggers your setting’s overall upheaval? Usually these things start with something small which then build and build. What would be your characters’ involvement in this? Are they the trigger point themselves or do they get caught up in the momentum of events as things build up and then find they can’t escape?

What are the consequences of the upheavals? Does it lead to political or other change or does the upheaval fail and governments crack down harder than ever on any kind of dissent? (This does sound depressingly familiar doesn’t it? The one positive is taking this idea and using it for a story where at least you can decide what the ending will be!).

Also, something positive can come out of things like this. For example, communities torn apart by previous events can come together to fight against a common foe (not necessarily literally though that too is a possibility). Things which needed to be changed are changed and for the better for most. The great thing here is you get to decide what these will be.

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Changes In Your Reading

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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. Images of me with books I’ve written or have been in were taken by Adrian Symes. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes, though one especially useful screenshot was kindly supplied by fellow Swanwicker, Christine Miller.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Nice one here. Writing wise, am making good progress on my competition story and am pleased to say there will be a fabulous author interview coming up in May on Chandler’s Ford Today about historical short stories. Meantime, Lady continues to have a fabulous time in the park with her pals so all is well in her world.

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Hope you have had a good day. Lady and I had a lovely time in the park, hope to catch up with friends (doggy and human) tomorrow.

Pain In The Neck Time: Just want to say a huge thank you to Christine Miller and Joy Wood for warning me some one seems to be trying to impersonate me on Facebook because “Allison Symes” has apparently sent out friendship requests.

Problem with that is these requests have gone out to people I am already friends with in person and online!

The good news is I have taken the necessary actions with Facebook and have now added a two step verification process, which I would recommend to all.

Word to the wise: My account has my picture on it. The fake one does not. See screenshot (and thanks to Christine for sending this to me). I never accept friendship requests from anyone who does not show their picture. I want to see who people are. It’s a good thing to watch out for. I also check my friends list every so often. It’s how I know when I get a duplicate request from someone else.

Also annoyingly I get friendship requests from the usual suspects of tragically widowed US Generals and the same name for the profile comes up time and again. I’ve just blocked a certain Mr SJT again.

So be careful, folks! And I’m so grateful for the support from other writers here. We do have to “put ourselves” out there to a certain extent and of course that can make us more susceptible to this kind of scam.

It is a right pain in the neck though! Am looking forward to getting on with some proper writing later – will cheer me up no end. And I am starting to cheer up putting this very post together!

This one above definitely NOT the original and the best!

(No room for false modesty here. No time for scammers or would be scammers at all though).

Hope you have had a good start to the week. Not bad here. Lady got to play with Coco the lovely Labradoodle and her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal this morning so she thinks Monday has been fabulous. Her owner does not necessarily share that view about Mondays though I am looking forward to what will be a great Zoom group later this evening.

Writing Tip: You really cannot edit a blank page so try not to worry if you don’t have a lot of time to write. I never do on a Monday. It is a question of doing what you can and I’ve always found five minutes of writing makes me feel as if I have done something creative, which in itself gives me a boost. When I can do more than that, even better naturally but those five minutes here and there build up. I have completed articles and stories this way.

Lovely church service, had some rain though Lady and I managed to miss most of it.

Writing wise, I’m busy preparing my PowerPoint for the next Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom later this month. Am also busy preparing my first newsletter to come out on the new newsletter email service provider. Am taking the opportunity to spruce up the look of the newsletter too.

Will be starting flash fiction Sunday shortly. Have a competition in mind for one piece I want to work on today. It’s one I drafted a while ago but I know where it could do with strengthening so will get on with that. I do take comfort from the fact I can’t think of any writer who ever wrote the perfect first draft. I know I won’t be the one to ever change that!

Hope your weekend is going well. Have been out in the garden. Nice to have lunch out there with the other half and the dog. Don’t do this nearly often enough. Delighted the camellia at the front which I pruned back is out in full bloom and looking marvellous (and better than before for having had that prune, much like my stories are so much better when I’ve given them a decent editing!).

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Working Out What You Need to Know For Character Creation for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday, which I hope you will find useful.

As ever, looking forward to flash fiction Sunday for me tomorrow, especially this week after “writing admin” though I am glad to say the newsletter service provider changeover seems to be sorted. I will know for sure on 1st May when I send the first newsletter out on the new system but all is set up as it should be. Am glad to have that done.

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Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting later this month on Zoom. We will be looking at playing with genres in flash. Should be fun. I’ve set some interesting exercises I’m looking forward to sharing with folks later.

Am currently resting a piece for a flash competition I always have a go at but want to get this submitted by the end of the month, which I should get done.

Flash Tip: It’s a good idea to practice writing to 100, 250, 300 and 500 words for flash competitions. These are some of the most popular categories I regularly come across. At least one is bound to suit you!

It’s Monday again. Time for a story from me. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Timing.

Steve, the new postie, thinks Dave is an exceptionally helpful colleague but is he right to do so? Find out here.

 

Hope the weekend has been a good one for you. Nice one here. Family over on Friday night, gardening yesterday which I enjoyed because it was productive (I cannot always say this for my efforts in the garden!), and, naturally, flash fiction Sunday afternoon for me. Am also working on a piece for a competition.

One of my favourite moments when writing flash is when I know I’ve got the ending right. It will be something to make you laugh, make you think, or be a “punch in the gut” style ending, all of which I love reading in stories as well as writing these myself. But knowing I have produced the required ending is always a satisfactory moment.

What makes for a great flash fiction story? For me, the answer to that is when you have read a flash piece where you feel not one word could be added to it. You also feel not one word could be taken away. And that can happen at ten words, fifty, 100 etc.

I find nearly always it is the character which grips me which leads to stories like this. And not just for flash fiction.

This is why, for me, a way into creating stories of my own is always to start with the character and work out why I have to write about them. What is it about them which fascinates me because it will be that which is more likely to fascinate a reader?

I find it is a good place to start.

Goodreads Author Blog – Changes in Your Reading

What changes in your reading have you noticed over the years? For me, there have been two major changes.

One is happily reading ebooks on my Kindle. I held out against having one for a long time because I will always love paperbacks but do find the Kindle useful especially when I’m away. Gives me far more room in my suitcase and I don’t have to fret about only being able to take so many books with me. I can have as many as I want on the Kindle!

The other major change is happily reading non-fiction. Fiction will always be my first love for too many reasons to say here but I have discovered the joys of non-fiction reading and only wish I’d discovered those sooner than I have done. Still, better late than never!

During lockdown, that dreadful time, I was focusing on reading humorous or other lighter works and found those to be therapeutic. I still do this when the news is especially grim so am back to the lighter works again now.

Am currently reading a wonderful book of writers’ quotes and a collection of flash stories (though some of those aren’t light in tone but in fiction I have no issues with that. I suppose that is because I know it isn’t real life. What I can’t cope with when life is grim are dystopian works though I do understand the market for them).

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Writers and Stationery – A Match Made In Heaven

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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. Images of me with CafeLit 13 and Creativity Matters were taken by Adrian Symes. Many thanks to Wendy H Jones for the other Creativity Matter shot with the rosette on it (love that rosette!). Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good week., Pleased to announce I will be changing newsletter service provider from 1st May. I have put in the link to the new one where you can subscribe now. This link is on other pages of my website too now. Lady has had a lovely week with her friends int he park – as have I!

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Hope you have had a good day Lady had a lovely time in the sunshine with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal this morning. Great time had by both dogs.

Delighted to share my latest Chandler’s Ford Today post. This week, I talk about Writers and Stationery – A Match Made In Heaven. I don’t know of any writer who has enough notebooks and pens!

Fun post to write. Just to prove that, here’s the opening line.

With apologies to the late Jane Austen, I will start by saying it is a truth universally acknowledged that writers have two obsessions, okay three if you count chocolate, but what are the other two?

Hope you enjoy a cheerful post written in a cheerful spirit!

Writers and Stationery – A Match Made In Heaven

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Lady and I made the most of a lovely sunny day again today. Didn’t get to see any of her pals today unfortunately. Lady had to put up with me but she made do well enough!

Will be sharing Writers and Stationery – A Match Made in Heaven on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. See above. Such fun to write. Hope you will enjoy the post too.

Newsletter News: Just to say I am changing my newsletter email service provider. Sadly, my current one is stopping the free plan (as from June), which is more than enough for my needs as things stand at the moment so have found another leading service provider instead. I didn’t want to leave this until the last minute so have made the switch now.

For new subscribers, I do have the link set up so you can sign up both my via website and I will also be sharing the link again on my website/blog round up post tomorrow. I’m also sharing it here. See screenshot below for what the new sign up form looks like.

The first newsletter to go out with the new service provider will be the May one. Any queries, do contact me via my contact form via my website.

Hope you had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today. Lovely time had by all.

Had a lovely Zoom meeting re editing at lunchtime and am looking forward to another webinar this evening on storytelling. Zoom has made a lot of things possible including learning more about your craft without having to travel anywhere. It means I can take part in more things than I would otherwise have done and I’ve made the most of this, especially over the last couple of weeks or so.

Zoom Tip: I prepare presentations on PowerPoint when I run groups on Zoom but it pays to have a practice run on this ahead of your meeting. I do rehearse short stories and flash (especially for Open Prose Mic Nights) via Zoom but you can do the same with presentations. 

I do find on the run though I will think of other ideas to add in to make the presentation more useful. I think this is because I am putting myself in the audience seat when doing such run throughs and I can spot any gaps or something which would be additionally useful that much more easily.

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No Friday Flash Fiction story from me this week as the submissions window isn’t open again after the Andrew Siderius competition. The window will be reopen again soon and I will flag it up when I know it is.

Writing for FFF has got me back to the joy of writing the 100 word tales, which was my introduction to flash fiction in the first place. Also bear in mind the 100 words limit is a popular competitions one so it is worth practicing writing to this flash category.

You still need a proper beginning , middle and end but it is often at these lower word counts, I work out the ending first and then plan backwards to get to the start. It gives me a structure and I can confirm it works. No danger of running out of word count for the ending because I have already sorted that out. Helps keep me on track for a tight beginning and middle too. No waffle room at all! That is a great thing.


Just to confirm the news I’ve shared over on my author page, I am changing my newsletter email service provider. Link here. First newsletter out on the new provider on 1st May where I will continue to share news, tips, story links, and celebrate all things flash fiction related in particular. Any queries, do contact me via the contact form on my website.

Looking forward to getting on with more flash fiction writing over the weekend. This kind of admin is rarely fun!

Another glorious day. I don’t usually use the weather at all in my stories which is for two reasons.

Firstly, I want to avoid cliche (yes, like the proverbial plague!).

Secondly, I am usually focusing on what my character is saying, thinking, or doing. To me that has always been more interesting.

But there is no reason why you can’t use the weather to reflect or contrast with your character’s moods. You could use the weather conditions to make those moods better or worse (and readers will then want to find out what the outcome will be). Moods will have a direct impact on actions and attitudes – they do for us after all!

Fairytales with Bite – New Starts

How easy would it be for your character to make a new start in their magical setting? Fairy godmothers and their ilk aren’t exactly going to be able to pretend they’re not magical so if someone has had enough, or retires, what happens? Can they hang up the old magic wand and have a new start? Do they find they can’t give magic up altogether or is it a case magic won’t let them go?

For non-magical characters, where do they fit into your society? Are they prized for special skills not available to those who are magical? (You could also look at the reasons they they’re not available There could be some interesting stories here). Are they looked down on? Are they expected to be in certain stations in life? Can anyone break the mould here?

What would a new start mean for your character in terms of how they would break the news to whom they are closest to – or do they just get on with the new start anyway and deal with the consequences later on?

This World and Others – Career Changes

Linking in with Fairytales with Bite, new starts can often led to career changes. Why would your characters want to change careers, how easy or otherwise do they find this, and does it work out for them? Good story possibilities there.

Are certain characters encouraged to change careers and what is the motivation behind that? Could be good – no not! (Someone wanting to get a certain character out of the way for a job they want perhaps?).
Is there such a thing as a Careers Advisory Service in your setting? (There could be humorous possibilities here).

When a career change has happened, how does your character adjust? What inevitable mistakes do they make? How would this impact on the story as a whole?

Good possibilities for serious and humorous stories here, I think. This is where we can write about what we know of the working world but put it in a different magical setting and adjust accordingly. There would be careers in the magical world we wouldn’t have obviously but it could work the other way around. Your setting needs skills only the non-magical have. (Could this be behind alien abduction stories, they need someone do do the cleaning! Just a thought!).

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Favourite Kinds of Story

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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. Images of me with books taken by Adrian Symes. Handy having that facility!
Hope you have had a good weekend. Weather continues to be lovely here. Good writing weekend. Will have news soon of a change. More to come later.

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Hope you have had a nice day. Gorgeous weather again and Lady got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal. Lovely time had by both dogs (and their owners, as we appreciate the lovely walking weather as opposed to getting soaked during the winter months!).

Will be looking at Writers and Stationery – A Match Made in Heaven for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Looking forward to sharing that. (I could’ve titled this one Stationery Addicts Anonymous!).

Looking forward to going to a storytelling webinar tomorrow night. Plus I have an editing forum meeting during the day. Another busy week on Zoom!

7th April – Guest Blog Appearance

Hope you’ve had a good day. Lovely weather here and Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today so had a lovely time at the park with her chum.

Delighted to say my Tripping the Flash Fantastic is part of a feature over on Sandra’s Book Club today. Check out the details on the link. Nice start to the week (and don’t forget you can buy copies of both of my flash fiction collections from me via my website and also via The Bridgetown Cafe Bookshop, which is Bridge House Publishing’s online book shop. Naturally you can get them from Amazon too).

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Hope your Sunday has been a lovely, restful one. Not bad here. Lovely church service and lunch, now an afternoon of writing – all very much what this doctor orders! Will be getting on with flash fiction Sunday shortly. Incidentally even when I have some down time words still come into it – have a lovely couple of word games on my phone!

Character Creation Tip: I like to know main traits when thinking up characters because behaviours and attitudes come from those things but I do use both the negative and positive aspects of these traits. There is always a flip side to a trait regardless of which way around you start!

For example, if you have a character who is honest, are they honest to the point of being brusque? Who could they upset that way? Definitely story ideas there.

So take a trait and “flip it”. See what you can get from these things by taking both the positive and negative views of it. It mixes things up, is a better balance (given nobody is perfect) and you can get your other characters to react to whichever aspect of that trait you show.

Hope your weekend has got off to a good start. Lovely weather again here. So nice being out in the garden today.

Writing wise, I am looking forward to sharing next week’s Chandler’s Ford Today post especially as it is on a topic I really should have written about before! And what could that possibly be?

Simple! I’ll be talking about Writers and Stationery – A Match Made In Heaven – and it so is! I can’t think of any writer I know who could tell me exactly how many books they have or how many notebooks and pens etc they have. I know I can’t do that either! Fun piece to write. Link up next Friday.

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Plan to explore how we can use genres in flash fiction for the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group later this month.

Especially if you lead with characters, as I do, you can set those characters anywhere. I’ve written crime flash, historical flash, fantasy flash and much more.

It is one of the joys of the shorter fiction forms that it is easier to do this, plus you have different places to submit to, including competitions so you can have a great deal of fun playing with genres like this. Yes, you do have to “obey the rules” for each genre bit it is do-able.

It’s Monday but it is a lovely sunny one so that’s good. Still Monday though and time for another YouTube story from me. Hope you like my latest on here – Wake Up Call.

When you know you’ve messed up, you know why you messed up, and it doesn’t help at all you’re a fairy godmother.

 

I’ve mentioned before because I write a lot of flash fiction, I need to have various ways by which I can create characters and trigger story ideas. It’s not a bad idea to mix up the way you do things here because I find it keeps my fiction writing life interesting for me and, I hope, readers.

There are a huge variety of random generators to choose from, plus well known proverbs and phrases, but how about this for another way into creating stories?

There seems to be a National day for almost anything. Today, 6th April, is the day for, amongst other things, National Carbonara Day, (which sounds wonderful), National Teflon day (will that stick, I ask myself), and, in the UK, today is the start of the new taxation year. It isn’t widely celebrated that one!

But how about using these things in stories? Could your character be creating a carbonara for someone special or doing to to cheer themselves up after a horrendous day? Could romance bloom in amongst the tax ledgers! You could also set stories using the national day event as a backdrop. Could it complicate things for your characters in some way or make life easier? Your call but story ideas for sure here.

Congratulations to all who won or were listed in the Andrew Siderius competitions recently run by Friday Flash Fiction. Enjoyed reading these.

Looking forward to my usual flash fiction Sunday afternoon tomorrow. I find it a lovely way to create after church, walking the dog, and lunch. Should be getting back to the 100-worders tomorrow too. I sent in a longer flash for the above competition which was fun to do but anything over 100 words wise now story wise seems ever so long to me! Flash fiction does do this to a writer.

Having said that, I have written at the other end of the spectrum too. The one category I’ve not yet had a go at is the “mid-range”, the novella. Wouldn’t rule it out though. And it is possible to have novellas told via flash fiction with each story (acting as its own chapter) up to 1000 words, each story standing alone, but there also being an overriding arc you can follow through to the end, just as you would for a longer work.

Goodreads Author Blog – Favourite Kinds of Story

I love a whole range of stories and books so it is hard to pick just one overall favourite but we all have those we turn to time and again, especially if life is grim. Right now I know I can’t bring myself to read dystopian fiction. If I want dystopian I’ll watch the news!

I’m a great believer in books being a wonderful source of entertainment. This doesn’t stop them from being thought provoking as well, far from it, but at the end of the day, I want a rattling good yarn I know I can enjoy again and again if I so wish. So where do I turn to for these?

My picks are the classic fairytales, anything from Discworld by the much missed Sir Terry Pratchett, anything by Agatha Christie and P.G. Wodehouse. Always worth re-reading! Then there are the classic works of Jane Austen, crime novels generally, historical fiction geenrally, and The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey.

What I look for and find in all of these and many others are stories which take me away from my troubles for a while. Books shouldn’t be underrated for their capacity for this. I do think right now they can be wonderful escape for so many of us.

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What Makes A Story Work

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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. Image of me at a local book fair taken by my lovely editor at Chandler’s Ford Today, Janet Williams. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good week. Continuing to enjoy the lovely weather, as is the dog. My camellia (a pretty pink) is now beginning to come out. Looks great. Writing wise again have been busy on Zoom but also doing plenty of “bits and pieces” around this. Has been a good writing week to date.

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Hope you have had a good day. Gorgeous weather here.

Delighted to share What Makes A Story Work for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I look at the role of dialogue and description, what you take in from stories you read, understanding the characters, and much more besides. Hope you find the post useful.

What Makes A Story Work

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3rd April 2025 – 1st post – META protest

Two posts from me tonight.

First up, a protest against outright theft by META. I am standing with #TheSocietyofAuthors against the theft of authors’ books to train AI #dothewritething.

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3rd April – Second post

Just to say I’ll be sharing What Makes A Story Work on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above.

Am looking forward to sharing my next CFT post on 11th April too as it is on a topic every writer will identify with. More details nearer the time.

Have had a good week on Zoom again and an looking forward to another webinar on Storytelling next week. I do think Zoom with its ability to allow people to join in with various writing and other events online has been one of the few positive things to come out of the pandemic. I’d not used it at all prior to that. And it’s thanks to Zoom I’ve rediscovered the joys of PowerPoint, which I use for my Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meetings.

Writing Tip: Do your characters have catchphrases? These can be useful but I’ve found it best to use them sparingly, especially in short form writing. What you don’t want is for readers to get sick of the things. Even the famous comedy characters didn’t use their best known sayings all of the time.

Hope you had a lovely day. Lady had a fabulous “puppy party” with Her Hungarian Vizler friend and Coco, the lovely Labradoodle, though it was more a case of Lady and Coco doing the running around.

Will be sharing What Makes A Story Work on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above. You do pick up so much about this topic simply by reading lots of lovely fiction!

Glad to say my author newsletter went out yesterday. Definitely not an April’s Fool!

Writing Tip: I like to build up a “stock” of flash fiction and blog pieces for later use. I find this pays off a lot during those frantic times when I know I haven’t got much writing time. So when I haven’t a particular writing task to do, I will spend some time writing these because I know it will come in useful later.

So if you are “stuck” for something to write, why not try this? Use a writing exercise or a random generator prompt to start you off (it’s amazing how many of those can also be used for non-fiction).

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Am back on Friday Flash Fiction but this time with a story, It Was There, which comes in at just over the 300 words mark. It is my second entry for the Andrew Siderius competition FFF are running. You could have one story on one theme for the 100 words category and then use the other theme (two are always set for this) for the longer word count category which is what I have done. Hope you enjoy the story.

Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal again today. Good time had by both.

This doesn’t just apply to flash fiction, of course, but do ensure you keep to the right word count for competitions you enter. (This may not apply to novel competitions so much though most would be expecting a word count there of 80K to 100K words). What you don’t want is for a good story to not make the cut because of a rule infringement like that.

But I have found it pays to get the story right first and then worry about the word count. Sometimes I’ve had to put a story which is right but cannot make the word count requirement aside and save it for another competition with a higher “allowance”. It happens sometimes. But I usually do get to use that story in another place later on.


Another lovely sunny day. So nice to be out and about with the dog at the moment. She appreciates it too.

Now getting out and about in the fresh air does us good but how could you apply this to a flash fiction story? Could you get your character going out on their normal walk but with something different happening during it? How would they react to this? What would trigger the “something different”?

Equally if your character goes a different way to their normal walking route, why do they choose to do this? Are they trying to avoid something or someone? What do they notice which they might not have done had they stuck to their normal route and how would this impact them? Does it make them change their thoughts about something or someone?

Story ideas there I hope!

Fairytales with Bite – The Natural World in a Magical Setting

When your setting is a magical one, what would the “natural” world look like? Would this be considered to be any form of life which wasn’t magical in some way? Or would it be the natural backdrops against which your stories are set?

What would your magical characters make of the natural world around them? Do they care for it or treat it with contempt (and is there a natural backlash from that attitude)? Would some of your magical characters care for the natural world – I.e. they would be our equivalent of environmentalists, naturalists etc?

Would your younger characters in the equivalent of schools study their natural world or it is of little interest because it isn’t magical in itself?

Now I would say the natural world is magical in itself when you think about how beautiful it is but would your stars of your setting take the same view?

This World and Others – Environments

What kind of environments does your setting have? Are they similar to what we have? If not, how do they differ? What kind of atmosphere does your setting have? Do your characters need oxygen, water etc? If not, what do they require instead and how are these produced? Are these things produced naturally or do they have to be manufactured and if the latter how is that done?

Do your characters live in what we would consider to be a pleasant environment or is that the privilege of a few? Is your setting’s overall environment better or worse than what we have here, especially in terms of things like pollution? Has your setting been better in the past and, if so, what changed?

What would your world consider to be “science”? It is approved of by those who are magical or do they see this as being too like humanity for comfort? Could there be snobbery against science here? How would the working environment be in your setting if this is the case?

Those who are scientists as we understand the term could have a hard time indeed here in terms of being “socially acceptable” and being able to get anything they do accepted by those around them.

Environments don’t have to be comfortable!

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Relatable 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. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Lovely one here and even more spring flowers emerging. Good to see. Lady enjoying the better weather too. Busy on the writing front but had a productive weekend, which always pleases me.

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Another lovely sunny one here.

Looking forward to going to an Association of Christian Writers Zoom session tonight. The talk sounds interesting.

Won’t be getting much writing done today due to that but I do go to these things, when they’re of interest, when I can. I see all of this as part of what you do when learning your craft, looking to develop further etc. Investment in time for your writing is seldom wasted.

Plus it will be lovely to see ACW friends online again! One of the aspects of the writing life I love is the social side to it – online and in person.

Another lovely day and Lady got to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals today so win-win all around there. How come it is the end of March already?

Author newsletter out again tomorrow. Will be looking at humour as my topic this time.

Writing Tip: You’re tired. It’s been a hectic day. (Mondays always are for me). The thought of writing much seems to fog your already tired brain. So focus instead on writing little bits.

It’s what I use Mondays for with my writing. I add bits to my newsletter, start drafting blogs and flash pieces (but with no pressure to get these things completed that same day). I see this as building up my stock of material I will complete later on.

And the funny thing? I always feel better for having written those little bits. Creativity is good for you, even in small amounts.

Another lovely sunny day with a promising week ahead. Lady and I plan to enjoy as much of that as we can. Will be “zooming” around again this week as I have an online ACW event to attend on Tuesday evening and will be hosting another ACW group on Wednesday which is one I usually go to for a good old chat about all things science fiction and fantasy related.

Will be sharing What Makes a Story Work on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday.

Author newsletter is out again on Tuesday, of course. If you would like to know more about flash fiction and discover tips and story links do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Character Thought: What is the one thing you know your character wouldn’t dream of doing in normal circumstances but you then make them face it? What would their response be? It’s absolutely fine to drop your creations in the mire! I find it great fun but this could, of course, just be me!

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Am delighted to be back on More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers, with my latest post – Relatable Characters. I share thoughts on why my favourite Easter stories resonate with me and also share tips on how we can create our own relatable characters. Hope you find the post useful.

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Hope the day has gone well. Nice one here.

Character Tip: In getting to know your character before writing their story up, think about what would be a nice day for them and why. What would be a horrible day and why?

Both of these things have to have a reasonable chance of happening in your story. Think further about how they would handle each type of day and what that reveals about them. There will be insights here you will be able to use in your story. Your characterisation will be deeper and better for it too.

It’s a lovely sunny Monday but it has been hectic for me and it is still Monday when all is said and done. I share Garfield the cartoon cat’s attitude towards disliking Mondays in general. Time for another story from me on YouTube then. Hope you like my latest here – Craving.

What could my character be hiding in her food shopping she really cannot explain, especially since at her age she should know better? Find out here.

Hope you are having a lovely weekend. Happy Mothering Sunday to those who celebrate. Looking forward to flash fiction Sunday as ever. It’s a nice way to wind down after a busy week and I get more stories written – win-win there!

Most of the competitions I send flash pieces into don’t count the title as part of the overall word count you’re allowed. I am always pleased about this! It helps – a lot! 

But a useful tip for those places which do count the word title as part of the overall count is to reserve three to five words for your title. If you end up using less what you have “left over” could be used for the story itself if you need that.

Hope you are having a good weekend. Pleased to be out in the garden for a bit. Mowed the lawn and kicked the football for the dog. It does make quite a sight but it keeps Lady happy and away from the lawnmower. Am sure she sees it as an outdoor vacuum cleaner (which she also still sees as “the enemy”). I had hoped she’d have grown out of that but alas no!

Looking forward to catching up with friends on Zoom later on.

Writing wise, I’m a fair way towards another flash fiction collection in terms of word count. (Don’t yet know when the third one will be out but I have had the nod on it). Have a couple of stories I want to look at tomorrow as part of my flash fiction Sunday as I have competitions in mind for these. Both stories have now had the required “rest time” so I should be able to read them as a reader would. It’s the only way I find works for me which helps me spot the flaws. Then I can do something about said flaws!

Goodreads Author Blog – Beginnings

While true every story has to have a beginning, a middle, and an end, the beginning is what writers tend to focus on because we know readers won’t get to the middle yet alone the end if the beginning doesn’t grip them enough. No pressure then!

Also many of us study classic opening lines (from say Pride and Prejudice, 1984 and many more) to help us learn our craft here.

I know what I look for in a beginning, when I am reading, is to have a sense of setting and who the lead character is likely to be. I love stories which start with dialogue as that is like eavesdropping on an interesting conversation (here I can do this legitimately!). You also get a sense of the two or more characters involved in that conversation.

Basically, there has to be something which engages my interest immediately so have that “must know what happens next” moment.

With my own stories, my beginnings are rarely exactly the same as I first drafted them. When I come back and edit I can see how I can strengthen them so I do. Every word matters. I have to look for maximum impact on a reader. Hopefully that means they go on to have a great beginning with my stories and then discover what else those tales contain.

Every writer in history has had to do this. It is why the classics are the classics. Their beginnings have stood the test of time. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if as you read this, you can think of your own favourite beginnings to stories. I’ve done so in writing this.

Of course, I don’t think you can ever beat the classic fairytale opening of Once Upon A Time. That got me into reading fairytales, fantasy, and reading in general so plenty to like there!

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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