Questions To Ask Your 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 the week has gone well so far. Blustery rain and storms coming in though there is a brief pause for some sunshine as I type this. Had a lovely time with the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group this week and Lady caught up with her “boyfriend”, the Australian Shepherd this week so, all in all, we’d say it was an okay week!

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Hope today has been okay. I must admit I prefer Jane Austen to Storm Austen any time. Mainly wet and windy here though Lady and I were grateful for a break in the weather for her morning walk. You do give a few heartfelt thanks when you don’t get a soaking! I know not to take that for granted!

Writing wise, I’m delighted to share Questions to Ask Your Characters on Chandler’s Ford Today and hope you find it useful. I also look at the question of does planning your writing mean it becomes formulaic writing?

I also list some questions which would be useful regardless of what genre you write in and share more specific questions which could be useful for many genres (and I am sure could be adapted for still others).

I also look at exploring traits further and how characters need to be believable. I know a good character (whether they themselves are good or not is another matter) will keep me reading to find out what happens to them.

Questions To Ask Your Characters

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Hope today has gone well. It has been chilly but we had sunshine so it was particularly nice at the park. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal again too. I had a nice swim later too.

Writing wise, I’m sharing Questions To Ask Your Characters on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow.  See above. Hope you will find it useful.

I find quizzing my characters a useful tool. I vary what I ask, depending on the character type I know I’ll be using, but the joy of this technique is just a couple of questions will give you ideas for your character development, will help you know enough about them to write your story up, and I find can lead to plot ideas which hadn’t occurred to me initially.

As ever, it’s about asking the pertinent questions. More in the post tomorrow but basically you are getting a structure to your story here. Stories which don’t grip me seem to have a weak or non-existent structure, at least to me, so I find this a great aid.

Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady and I managed to avoid getting wet today and she saw her Hungarian Vizler pal too. Lady also had a fabulous run around with her Australian Shepherd “boyfriend”, the lovely Bear. The two of them went home tired and happy. The Vizler being older “supervises” and a grand job she does of it too.

Writing wise, am looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting later tonight. It was great!

Later in the week I hope to start preparing questions for two super interviews I hope to share on Chandler’s Ford Today later. I also have some enjoyable “homework” to do for my online launch for Seeing The Other Side in November plus story editing for competitions. So no getting bored here then but that is how I like it.

Oh and I’ll also be working on my next Writers’ Narrative article too. My last one, Darkness in a Flash, received a number of likes and comments which is always appreciated. Writers may not work in the proverbial garret but any more but when you put work out there, you can’t know how it will go down unless someone takes the time and trouble to tell you. Many thanks for all who have, and not just for that piece. I know I’m not the only writer to appreciate this, far from it.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I hope Storm Austen hasn’t caused too much damage where you are and if you’re staying put with a hot drink and a novel by Jane Austen, I don’t blame you!

I rarely use the weather in flash fiction or short stories because I’m only too aware it is to easy for this to slip into cliche. It was a dark and stormy night…. Well, quite, but it’s not specific enough.

Getting a character to put on two coats, wellies, and assure another they will be only ten minutes and yes they have got the torch which is fully charged etc, all of that is far more interesting to me. I can picture the two characters here. I can hear the voice too.

It’s then a question of finding out whether that character will be back in ten minutes after all or whether this will be where said character will meet a dastardly ending. But I’ve got to read to find that out so the author will have done their job well here.

As with anything in a story, give specific details. It’s easier to picture. Showing us it was bucketing down outside is far more interesting, at least to me, than saying it was raining heavily.

Had a lovely time at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting last night. It was good to see everyone and we did get to draft a couple of stories on the theme of light and dark. I’ll now rest mine for a bit and come back to them later though I do know they both need tightening up but that’s fine.

A first draft is never perfect. It’s not meant to be. I’ve always loved the late Sir Terry Pratchett’s quote on this that “a first draft is just you telling yourself the story”. Isn’t that a perfect sum up of what a first draft is meant to be?

Flash Tip: Know your character well enough. For a flash piece, you may only need to know one or two details (and character attitude to life would be a good one to know) but it will make all the difference to how convincing your character comes across as to a reader.

Looking forward to working with the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group later this evening to our theme of light and dark. Plenty of ideas to come from that and I have a soft spot for this given it inspired my first book’s title, From Light to Dark and Back Again. I hope all of us will get a couple of stories drafted this evening.

I suspect most of us have favourite themes we like to write around. I will always have some humorous fairytales on the go but do you find sometimes when you look back at several stories you’ve written, there is an underlying theme?

I’ve particularly noticed this when putting collections together and, for the fist book, when I wasn’t writing funny tales, I was writing stories of justice.

So that tells you I like a laugh and I like to see wrong being righted!

Yep, spot on there.

Fairytales With Bite – Words of Power

All words have power – power to make us laugh, cry, scream etc. But in magical setting, they have even more power.

What words are used specifically for spells in your setting which couldn’t be used elsewhere? Are certain words/spells forbidden (and yes I am thinking of certain ones in the Harry Potter series here). Who would want to defy convention here? There is always plenty of room for tales about good versus evil and words and the power that can be behind them will come into play here.

Who came up with the words of power in the first place and how did they imbue the words with their meaning and practical usage?

If your setting has more than one magical species, are the different kinds allowed to use all of the same words of power or does each species have their own and nobody outside of their group can use these? How is this policed? (I have visions of magical dictionary enforcers here…! Hmm… could be some good funny tales there).

Which words do your characters go out of their way not to use and why? Which would they use in everyday usage and for what spells which they are expected to use?

This World and Others – Controlling Language

Following on from Fairytales with Bite, who are the powers that be who would control the language your species would use, whether it is specifically for magical purposes or not?

Is there freedom of speech as we would know it? Is certain speech forbidden because of the magic it could unleash and how do your characters know it should be forbidden? Or has someone always told them that and there is nothing to back this up? It is so easy to go along with something because that is how things have always been done. Who could be the brave soul in your stories to challenge this/see if there is any justification behind this?

Who lays down the rules for how magical language (as opposed to everyday speech) is used and by whom? Are spell books and the like written in older style of the main language or have these been updated? Old English is considerably different to that used now! The former is not all that easy to read either.

So who decides what can be “translated” to a more modern usage and which items have been deliberately left in a less easy to understand language because that would easily control who had access to it?

Food for thought there and again plenty of opportunity for characters to uncover things which the powers that be might wish they hadn’t.

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Ghosts and Taking Books With You

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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. Due in for a wet week or so which means back to the boot and big coat! Lady won’t worry. Writing going well. Have picked some stories to edit for competitions and hope to do that later this week.

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Hope you’ve had a good day. It’s been a wet one here with more rain to come. Mind you, it is nice to see the trees changing their leaf colours (bar the holly of course!).

Writing wise, I’m looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting tomorrow night. We’ll be looking at light and dark as themes.

Managed to get more writing done on my busy night, Monday, than I anticipated so I count that as a win. I managed to get a pitch off which I’d been working on for a while. Nice to tick the box on that one. Will be a while before I know what happens with it.

Have selected some stories for competitions and hope to work on those later in the week. Need to get them sent off by the end of November for one and end of the year for the other, but I will probably try and get them sent off together.

Also added more to my newsletter and continued to work on a proofing task I’m working on right now. Making good progress on that and it’s an enjoyable job too.

And the best thing about writing? It’s the perfect creative task for the indoors, accompanied by beverages and treats of choice of course!

Another hectic Monday so it must mean story time. Well, it is a good way to start the week.

Hope you like my latest tale, which first appeared on Substack yesterday – Worth It. Look out for my YouTube story as well as this links to this one. (See further down). 

If you like the fairytales, you’ll love both of them.

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Am pleased to be back on Authors Electric with my latest post, Ghosts. Well, it is apt for this time of year.

I look at favourite ghost stories, why I need to believe in the ghost as a character for them to work for me, and look at some well remembered and loved shows I enjoyed watching which feature ghosts. Most recently, that has included the series Ghosts which I thought was brilliantly done.

I also like ghost stories which make me think or encourage empathy. Ghosts don’t necessarily need to be scary after all but they should have good reasons for being in a tale at all. And yes I’ve written some flash tales featuring ghosts including in my Seeing The Other Side. Given the topic of my Authors Electric post this month, my book title seems peculiarly apt!

Hope you enjoy the post.

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Hope your weekend has got off to a good start. Managed to get the grass cut today and it is the start of my usual autumn workout – clearing the leaves! Still it saves trips to the gym and keeps me warm.

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Questions to Ask Your Characters for next week’s Chandler’s Ford Today. I’ll be suggesting some which I use a lot and hope the post will prove to be useful.

Am looking forward to next week’s meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group, something Zoom makes possible. We’ll be looking at light and dark as our theme. Should have fun with that one and certainly it’s timely!

Facebook – From Light To Dark and Back Again

Wet day today but when out and about with the dog (who doesn’t care about the rain), you can get to notice things around you which you might not if you were meeting up with dog walking friends (whose dogs do loathe the rain). Sounds can seem different too partly because I’m not chatting away with said dog walking friends! (Will make up for it when the weather breaks and they’re back out).

Now the use of sound is something you can use in your stories, including in flash. You can get a character to be listening out for a sound (and the reason why will be the story hook there). You can get a sudden sound to bring about a change of behaviour in your character (and again the reason why will be the interesting thing here).

I find the hardest sense to use in a story is touch, funnily enough. It’s easy enough to get a character to see, hear, smell or eat something but touch is harder, I think, to do convincingly unless you are writing something like a love story, which I don’t.

If I get a character to brush by something, I need to already have established this is the kind of thing they would do otherwise it looks too convenient. I’m not going to force a sense into a story when I can’t have it there as a natural part of my character’s life and behaviour.

Mind you, that goes for almost anything, I think.

Whatever doesn’t help the story in some way should come out.

Lady did get to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today and, later on our evening work, a human chum we haven’t seen for a while who always gives her a cuddle and dog biscuits. So Lady has had a great day!

Less so for the tired humans of the household. Mondays are usually busy for us but today just seemed to be on another level. Am so glad to be at my desk writing.

And with that, I would say it’s definitely time for another story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Tip Off. It links to my Substack one too. (See above). Hope you like both of them.

Even in the fairytale world, there are behind the scenes deals here but can my business man here get the better of the Big Bad Wolf? Find out here.

 

Looking forward to getting on with flash fiction Sunday shortly. As well as my usual Substack and YouTube tales, I need to look through my stock of drafts for a couple of competitions which are coming up. The stories I’ve got in mind will be well rested by now!

Am also looking forward to catching up with the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group this week.

Don’t forget it won’t be that long before my next author newsletter goes out. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

I share many of my online story links here in a kind of “one stop shop”, as well as sharing tips and news. It’s a joy to put together and a huge thank you to my subscribers for supporting me here.

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Brrr…. It has been chilly but bright today. Time for the big cardigans and hot chocolate. Mind you, I can enjoy both of those while writing so win-win here. Lady doesn’t notice unless it is a few degrees below zero of course, not that we’re there yet.

Looking forward to flash fiction Sunday tomorrow. Have spotted another competition to have a crack at but may already have some suitable pieces drafted. Will look into that further.

It is just one reason why I love having “stories in stock”. I will often write drafts to themes I want to write about and it usually is a matter of time before that theme comes up as a competition or there is an open one and the word count I’ve written to will suit it. Win-win here too.

GOODREADS AUTHOR BLOG – Taking Books With You

It’s not that long ago when we were in holiday season. I write this in October 2026 but it was only a couple of months back the holidays were in full swing, as was the heatwave in the UK. Now I must confess for once, while I did take my Kindle with me on holiday, I was too shattered at the end of each day to use it. I focused on some writing and reading my writing magazines.

But I do like to take books with me in some way whenever I’m out and about. And if I’m at an event, as I will be again in November and December, there is every likelihood I will be bringing new books back with me! I suppose this is one reason why I am so fond of the paperback. There are so much easier to lug about compared with the hardbacks.

Books though have followed me around all of my life from childhood home to my various homes I’ve lived in as an adult. I can’t imagine there being a house without books in. Certainly should I move again, I do know my books are definitely coming with me. Will take me ages to pack them, mind you, but I see that as a good thing.

But you can take books with you metaphorically as well. One of the joys of reading, in any format, is recalling favourite lines, incidents, characters etc and the more you read, the more you can do this. I love recalling these things when I can’t have the actual books with me for whatever reason. And I guess this means one thing – we all have to read more. I don’t see any problems there!

Let’s keep reading then!

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Fairytales and Their Impact

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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’ve had a good week. Had smashing day out with other half and the dog down in Dorset. Lady made some fans in the very friendly dog cafe we visited and she’s seen her friends so she has had a terrific week so far.
Writing is going well. Looking forward to catching up with members of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group next week.

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Delighted to share a topic on Chandler’s Ford Today, which is close to my writing and reading heart – Fairytales and Their Impact.

I have so many reasons to love fairytales. One of them is being given the two volume set of The Readers’ Digest Collection of Fairytales which collates so many of the original stories. My late Dad gave me this and I still have them, though one of the volumes does have a spine with a lot of tape on it!

Another reason is, naturally, my first story in print was A Helping Hand in the 2009 anthology Alternative Renditions (Bridge House Publishing) which was another look at the Cinderella tale but this time from the viewpoint of the younger stepsister.

My post considers the impact of fairytales on writing craft because they can teach writers so much including the use of the Three Act Structure, clear character definition, only giving you what you need to know, no sentimentality (good and evil are both shown for what they are) and so much more.

Hope you find the post useful.

Fairytales and Their Impact

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Quiet day in the park today with Lady but that may have been useful as I suspect she is still tired from our super day out yesterday. I know I am and even more so after my swim today though it was lovely to chat to regulars there.

Writing wise, I’m sharing Fairytales and Their Impact for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow on a topic close to my heart. See above.

Delighted to have booked my tickets for (a) Hannah Ruth Retallick’s launch of her latest flash fiction collection, Falling Woman, which is later this month and (b) my place at the Bridge House Publishing Celebration Event in December. It’s always great fun.

Had a lovely day out with other half and Lady in Dorset. Good weather, great walking and a smashing lunch at a very dog friendly cafe. Good time had by us all. Lady made some fans there too!

Did us good which led me to think about what would your characters do when they felt the need to take time out? Where would they visit? Why are these places special to them?

Food for story thought there.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Have had one of those days when I may as well have put a revolving door on the front door. Likewise for other half. Won’t be sorry to have a quieter weekend.

Loved listening to the Classic FM concert which was staged at the Royal Albert Hall recently. The broadcast went out earlier this week and it was sublime especially listening to Sir Willard White.

Good music can transport you to other worlds. And great stories, including flash ones, can do the same. Maybe this is why I find having classical music on while writing such a help then.

I haven’t used music as a story theme though I did have the great joy of editing a music themed flash fiction collection for Chapeltown Books, which was a joy to do.

Maybe I should give some thought to what kind of music my characters would like at some point because I can see that triggering some story ideas. You can never have too many of them!

Thrilled to discover another review on Amazon for Seeing The Other Side. Many thanks to the reviewers (and those who reviewed the book on its blog tour. I hope to create some graphics for those reviews and share them later. Am looking forward to this as it is both creativity and marketing – that at least is fun!).

Reviews mean so much to an author and they don’t have to be long either so if you can help writer friends this way, I know they’ll appreciate it. I know I do!

Also looking forward to my online launch for Seeing The Other Side in November. If you want to book tickets, they’re free, do check out the link below. Will share this again later on and via my newsletter. Hope to see you there.

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Had a special trip out today which was lovely. Full of those moments of observation which might inspire story ideas later. I usually take a few photos because you can’t recall everything. I just use these as an aide memoire.

What would your characters want to remember from their trips out? What would they be keen to forget?

Story ideas there too.

Fairytales With Bite – Day Trips

Do your characters ever take time out for day trips? Where would they go? Would your setting have a tourist industry as such?

If your setting is a magical one, are your characters allowed to use their normal powers when on down time? Or can they only use self defence ones or anything which helps them survive outside of their usual environment?

If they visit non-magical locations, do they hide their true nature? What would happen if they didn’t? I’d expect chaos and misunderstanding. Not everyone would welcome magical beings to their world, especially if there had been previous problems.

Story ideas there and I think good potential for funny ones too.

This World and Others – Getting Away

Do your characters find it easy to get away from it all? What methods would they use to get away?

For those who can fly, can they just literally take off or do they have to register what we’d know as a flight plan? How would your setting avoid chaos in their skies, especially at peak times?
Would your setting have public transport as we know it? If so is this powered magically or not? What kind of magical species would operate these systems? Are any banned from doing so?

There could be story ideas here as well as from your characters getting away.

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Interview with Gill James on Seeing The Other Side – and Favourites

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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. Busy one here – lots of admin – but managed to get plenty of writing done though competitions are still going to have to wait for a bit but that’s life for you.
Looking forward to sharing a presentation on 12th October with an online group I go to and I have an interview with Gill James which went out last week. See below for more.

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Pleased to finally share my interview with Gill James about Seeing The Other Side and flash fiction. This went out last week but today is the first chance I’ve had to share it but better late than never is a good motto!

Hope you enjoy the interview. I get to answer the tricky question about whether I have a favourite in my new book, how I discovered flash fiction in the first place, and I share a tip or two for anyone wanting to write flash.

Many thanks, Gill, for the interview.

 

It’s a busy Monday and am looking forward to going to an online history group this evening, which is why I’m posting early.

Still time for a story though which I initially posted to Substack yesterday. Hope you enjoy Ten.

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Hope you’ve had a relaxing Sunday. Was a mad rush this morning but this afternoon has proved calmer.

Writing wise, I’ll be cracking on with flash fiction Sunday shortly. Looking forward to tomorrow when I am due to share a presentation for a group I go to online once a month. And I hope to get on with drafting some questions for a future Chandler’s Ford Today interview during the coming week as well.

Competition writing is again on the back boiler for the moment though I do have drafts to look at and revise so I kind of have something here (or will do once the editing gets done). There are times when you’re just on the go all of the time – I’m in one of mine right now! (I suspect things will slow down a bit in November and then speed up again as we head to the festive season).

Writing Tip: When time is short, focus on writing and reading what you can. The rest of what you’d like to do here can be done later. Prioritising what does have to be done has taken me ages to get right but I have found it worth doing and it is helping me now.

The other thing helping me is drafting bits and pieces in odd moments and coming back to them when I’m at my desk again. It means I’ve already made a start and that helps a lot because it makes me feel better – I have done something creative.

Hope your weekend has got off to a good start. Getting chilly here.

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Fairytales and Their Impact for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. This one has been a real joy to write given fairytales continue to have a major impact on my stories. You can spot the influence! More on this in my post on Friday.

Hope to catch up with some writing pals on Zoom later this evening and cracking on with flash fiction writing tomorrow.

Dialogue Tip: I’m a great believer in keeping things simple here so I will get one character to use certain kinds of words and another one something more “lofty”.

When my flash tales often feature one character only, I already know what their background will be and that directly affects how they speak and think. Knowing your character is key. What would they say? How would they say these things?

Keep those thoughts in mind and your dialogue will be fine.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady had a fantastic puppy party with her two closest chums, the Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback. Later, I had a lovely swim and tonight will be happily spent writing.

Delighted to share my interview with Gill James over on my author page here. See above. I love author interviews – taking part in them and being the one to set the questions. You always learn so much from these.

But I often interview my own characters too. It’s a good technique to help me work out what I need to know so I can picture my characters and believe in them enough to feel they’ve got a story worth sharing. I’ve got to be convinced by them before anyone else can be after all!

Another hectic Monday but I’ve a lovely online meeting to look forward to this evening. Meantime it’s time for a new YouTube story. Hope you enjoy Ten For Tea.

The kid may be right to want to make amends for broken furniture but can Goldie’s Mum find enough chairs to make this work? And who on earth is coming to tea?

Haven’t shared a flash acrostic here for ages. Time to rectify that then!

F = Fun format in which to write and you can vary the word count up to 1000 words.

L = Lively writing because you haven’t got the word count room to do anything else but it is fab for your readers.

A = Assuming different identities for your characters – from humans to magical beings to dragons – and telling their stories is fun.

S = Styles of story can vary too from standard prose to acrostics to flash pieces told in poetic format to all dialogue ones.

H = Handy practice for writing exercises set at groups and workshops too; if you’re already writing flash, you’ll be used to writing to smaller word counts, which is all you have time for at these things.

We’re well into autumn here now in the UK and the weather is turning colder by the day. When I want to indicate a season in a flash tale, I will pick one detail for a character to notice.

Instead of going on about the leaves changing colour, I’ll get a character to spot the Virginia Creeper is turning to red earlier this year than it did last (which also tells you the character is observant and interested in plants). Picking the right detail conjures up more inferred information and does wonders for keeping your word count down.

What can be tricky is working out what the right detail is for your story. I try to use something which brings in at least one of the senses because it helps readers picture things, hear things, imagine the smell, touch or taste of something.

It’s all about the focus, folks.

Goodreads Author Blog – Favourites

We all have favourite things – beverages, chocolates, books and stories though for the last three I find hard to list just one thing for!

I think the characters we create should have favourite things too – it helps them seem more real. I agree with Samwise Gamgee from The Lord of The Rings about his love of potatoes. Gollum on the other hand can have the raw fish on his own!

Favourite stories stay with you all your life. My own writing is inspired by the fairytales I’ve always loved. The elements of right being done for the deserving, the villains getting their comeuppance and so on come into my stories a fair bit. Indeed it can be fun when reading another author to play “spot the influence”. You usually can spot some.

I treasure my favourite books – ones I’ve bought, inherited or have been written by friends. I think you can’t have too many favourites here!

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The Chameleon Theatre Company – Review – Curtain Up

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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 MASSIVE THANK YOU TO THE CHAMELEON THEATRE COMPANY FOR KIND PERMISSION TO USE THEIR PHOTOS FOR MY CHANDLER’S FORD TODAY POST THIS WEEK.
Hope you have had a good week. Odd one here. Have been under the weather but now okay. Weather a mixed bag but improving. So I guess things are on the up! Lady doing well too. Hope to have news soon about the online launch for Seeing The Other Side. Watch this space. SEE BELOW AS NEWS CAME IN ON THIS AFTER I PREPARED THIS!

 

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Am delighted to share The Chameleon Theatre Company – Review – Curtain Up for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. It’s always a delight to have an evening out to watch my local amateur theatre company at work.

Loved this play – hadn’t heard of it before I went to see it but then theatre is a good way of showing you new stories told in a new way. Hope you enjoy the review, do support your own local amateur theatre company (there are loads of excellent ones out there), and I am looking forward to The Chameleons’ next show, which will be their pantomime, Dick Whittington, next year. Oh yes I am!

The Chameleon Theatre Company – Review – Curtain Up

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Hope you’ve had a great day. Lady caught up with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today and a good time was had by all. Nippy out today though.

Thoroughly enjoyed the conversations from the ACW online group I host – we discuss things related to science fiction and fantasy. It was good fun.

Am going to a couple of online launches, one later this month and the other in November. I’ll be going to Hannah Ruth Retallick’s launch for her new flash fiction collection, Falling Woman, later this month. That is being published by Chapeltown Books.

Link for that is https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/online-book-launch-falling-woman-by-hannah-retallick-tickets-2001712907190

And the second online launch?

That will be on 19th November for Seeing The Other Side by yours truly!

Both events give a great opportunity to celebrate flash fiction. Hope to catch up with you at either or both of these. Link to my launch below.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/seeing-the-other-side-by-allison-symes-tickets-2003146968506?af=

Am delighted to share my latest article on Writers’ Narrative, Darkness In A Flash. As we go into October and head towards Halloween, it is natural thoughts turn to stories about ghosts and the darker side of fiction. But can this be done successfully in the short fiction forms?

I say it can, my article explains how, and why you don’t need the gory to make your readers feel the appropriate chills. I also look at the “purpose” of darker fiction too. Fiction does reflect life and that comes in many shades.

Hope you enjoy the post and find it useful. Many thanks for the likes received so far too.

https://writersnarrative.substack.com/p/darkness-in-a-flash

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Hope you’ve had a good week. Lady had a fabulous puppy party this morning with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals and then Coco, the lovely Labradoodle, came and joined in too. All four dogs went home tired and happy.

Hope to resume flash fiction writing over the weekend, especially on Sunday. Have got a story in draft which might be suitable for a competition. All I know at this point is it needs work but that’s okay.

It’s being aware of the need for work to be done which matters and then doing it. As ever, the time I’ve had away from it will help me see what needs doing more easily. You do then read the piece with fresh eyes, almost as if someone else had written it, which is the mindset you need to get into for successful and productive editing work.

The advantage of flash is you don’t need nearly so much time away from a piece as a novelist does to be able to see the work clearly enough to see the faults and virtues of your draft (and there will be virtues, honestly).

Happy writing and editing this weekend!

My big news is I now know my online launch for Seeing The Other Side will be on 19th November. Looking forward to that already. Have shared the link over on my author page on Facebook (see above here) but will share again in due course.

Am also looking forward to going to Hannah Ruth Retallick’s launch for Falling Woman which is on later this month. I just love the thought of celebrating not one but two new flash fiction collections coming out from Chapeltown Books.

Flash is the perfect format for when you don’t have much time to read or if you like to be able to dip into stories as and when. Equally what I love about it is having a feast of short fiction to enjoy across a book format. I make a point of mixing up what I read in terms of length and having flash and short story collections about means it is easier to make sure I get my short fiction “fix”.

And if you’re not sure what to buy someone book wise, a flash or short story collection gives them plenty to “dip into” as and when. I’ve always seen my books as a literary equivalent of the mixed assortment! Why should that just be confined to chocolates…!

Quiet one in the park but at least the heavy rain had eased and Lady and I managed not to get a complete soaking. We were mildly damp and given how heavy the rain was first thing, we appreciated this!

Writing wise, I’m hosting an ACW online group this evening so that should be fun. I’m just putting the finishing touches to some blog questions regarding Seeing The Other Side and hope to get those sent off either today or tomorrow. Do plan to get back to competition writing from the weekend onwards. Have a presentation to write for later this month (and am looking forward to presenting another one I’ve already got prepared for an online group I go to on a Monday once a month).

I hope to get a fourth flash collection together but need time to sit down and work on that but I hope to get to that in November. So plenty going on and that’s how I like it.

Flash Fiction Tip: Every so often I draft lines which could work well as opening or closing lines. I decide how I’m going to use it and then draft the story but I often put the line at the end and work backwards to get to a logical starting point.

When I do use it as the opening line, I need a series of “events” which follow from that line to get to a good conclusion, good in terms of serving the story and character well.

But whichever way round I do this, I have to focus on what matters for the character and the story. I have to keep to the point of the story. This is the chief reason I think flash is such a brilliant writing exercise, even if your main writing work is in something else.

Fairytales with Bite – Sparkling Conversations

I love reading and writing sparkling conversations between characters. It is like overhearing an interesting conversation (and you can’t get into trouble for this one either!). You also find out more about the characters from what they say, how they say it and also what is implied. Do they answer a question directly or are they keen to switch topics, say?

Now in the magical world where mind reading could be a “standard” thing, what kind of sparking conversations can your characters have, knowing they won’t be able to hide their real thoughts (at least not easily anyway)? Does it lead to more honesty because they can’t easily hide their thoughts and what kind of troubles could that honesty lead to? Honesty isn’t always welcome, especially by the reigning powers.

When conversations refer to magic itself, are there words or phrases your characters dare not use and how do they stop themselves from doing so (given I would imagine the consequences of saying those things would be severe)?

What kinds of conversations could lead to sparks flying? Who would want to set those sparks flying at all?

Story ideas there for sure. Happy writing!

This World and Others – Languages

Now when I write what I call my fairytales with bite, my humorous fantasy pieces, I get my characters to speak in English. It’s kind of convenient!

If I did need to make up words for, say, a spell, I would probably go back to Old English for inspiration here and ensure the meaning of the word was clear from context. I once judged a competition for the Scottish Association of Writers and many writers used Scots as part of their prose but it was fine – I learned from this and the meaning was clear from context.

Now in your setting there will be different species, different countries (as we understand the term), different cultures, languages etc. Do you focus on one area, one language or do you get the different species and languages to interact with each other? Is there a kind of universal translator (the Tardis on Doctor Who could translate almost anything and I’m sure Star Trek had something of this nature) or do you get your characters to speak one common language and save their native one for when amongst their own kind?

All of that works but it is a question of picking the one which works best for your creations and then being consistent with it.

I’ve often said clarity is king and it is for writing but what leads to clarity working so well is consistency. The two feed into each other.

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Character Likes and Dislikes

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Hope you have had a good weekend. Lovely autumnal weather here. Writing and editing work going well and Lady is continuing to have a great time with her pals, the Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback, but there is now a new boy to our “group”, the fantastic Flash, a black lab. The Ridgeback is especially keen on him and Lady has spotted an opportunity to have a bigger group to herd up so everyone is happy here.

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Hope today has gone well. Odd one for me as not feeling brilliant so have cancelled a few things today and have taken life that bit easier. Hope it’s just one of those 24 hour buglets.

Writing, though, is lovely because I get to sit down, I can take my time doing it, and I always feel better for having written something. I guess it’s a need to get a creative fix here.

Writing wise, I’ll be delighted to share The Chameleon Theatre Company – Review – Curtain Up for Chandler’s Ford Today later this week. It is always a delight to see their shows and this was a new story to me. Find out more when the link goes up on Friday.

It has been a particularly hectic Monday so am glad to be at my desk and share stories with you.

First up tonight is the one I shared on Substack yesterday called Autumn Colours, one of my darker pieces. Hope you enjoy it.

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Hope you’ve had a good weekend. Have loved the warm autumnal weather.

Writing wise, I’m hosting an ACW online group next week plus I hope to catch up with some blogging I need to get done. My Writers’ Narrative article about Darkness in a Flash is out next week too. Not going to get around to competition drafting this weekend after all but things should ease up towards the end of next week so should get to make some progress then.

What first drew me to writing short stories and, from there, to flash fiction? I can’t pin down any one thing here. I’ve always loved fiction of all lengths but there is something so compact about short tales which makes me adore them. I like being able to read about and write a complete world in 2000 words or fewer and then move on to more! You can’t read a novel in a day (at least I can’t). I suppose it is a case of getting my story fix per day right!

Hope your weekend has got off to a good start. Not bad here.

Will be sharing The Chameleon Theatre Company – Review – Curtain Up for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. It wasn’t a play I’d heard of but then that is one of the joys of going to your local excellent amateur theatre company. You get to discover many wonderful plays. Review up on Friday.

Going to the theatre is just one fabulous way of taking in stories, apart from reading them. Am also fond of good film adaptations and audio books/productions. Where I’ve read the originating book first, as so many productions are based on novels and short stories, I like to see the adaptation has stuck to the book as faithfully as possible or, at the very least, to its spirit. I’ve got to feel the original novelist/short story writer would like what has been done with their works.

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Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal again today. Quiet one here as not feeling brilliant but writing is useful for taking your mind off things. Flash is great when you know you want to write something but not necessarily a lengthy piece!

I think writers do have two great joys – writing and the love of reading which got us into writing our own stories in the first place. The lovely thing with flash it is a perfect format for dipping into and I often read flash and short story collections in between reading novels. I like a good mixture of long and short fiction in my life, whether I’m reading or writing it.

I’m currently preparing some answers to questions for a blog I hope to appear on in due course (I will share the link as and when) and one brilliant question was to ask about my favourite story in Seeing The Other Side. Now I love them all, naturally, though there is one which stands out as I gave it a test run at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick in 2025 where it was well received.

But with rare exceptions, most stories are great aren’t they? And the challenge of writing your own remains fun, as it should do (most of the time anyway).

It has been a non-stop Monday so am glad to be sitting down to write this. Time for another story on YouTube. This one is lighter in tone than my Substack one this week (Autumn Colours – see above) but both are written to the 50 word classic dribble word count.

Hope you enjoy Change of Plan.

No matter what world it is, there will be disagreements between mothers and daughters as to what the latter should be wearing when they go out. See what happens here on this in the fairytale world.

Will be cracking on with flash fiction Sunday shortly. The last few weeks have seen me write plenty of 100 worders for Substack and YouTube so will be writing to a different word count today.

It’s a good idea to mix up writing to different flash fiction word count ranges as you will find competitions to suit whatever word count you are using. It’s also fun!

The dribbles (fifty worders) are great for sharing on social media. The 100 worders are good for sharing on your website/blog. Both give folk a chance to enjoy your writing style.

As ever, am looking forward to flash fiction Sunday tomorrow. I shared some thoughts on getting work out there with the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group earlier this week and I hope in time I’ll get to see they did get some of their flash pieces published/broadcast etc.

Am also going to an online launch for a flash fiction collection by a fellow Chapeltown Books author later this month. Always good to celebrate flash books getting out there. And don’t forget they make excellent presents!

I’ve always loved inventing characters so getting to do this all of the time for flash writing is a joy. What makes characters come to life for me is their voice. Can I imagine Character A saying the things the author has given them to say?

The answer to that should be an unqualified yes. Even where Character A says one thing but thinks something else it should be clear to the reader why this is. There it is interesting to find out whether thoughts and speech ever come together or whether what the character is really thinking finally emerges undermining what they’ve said.

But the author has done their job well there because I only have one way to find out – keep reading.

Goodreads Author Blog – Character Likes and Dislikes

We all have our likes and dislikes when it comes to characters. I love those who try to get things right, fail, try again, eventually get them right. I don’t like characters who rely on others to do all of that for them or if they are relying on the misfortunes of others to make things right for them. Doesn’t seem quite right to me.

I find it fascinating to find out more about a character as I read on and that goes for their likes and dislikes too. How will those likes and dislikes pan out during the course of the story? Could someone’s dislike of tea, say, give them problems when they’re trying to win someone over who loves the beverage? Good potential for comedy there.

A character seems to be more real to me, even when they’re the most fantastical creation, if they have likes and dislikes. I will have much more empathy for a tea drinking fairy godmother who is bemoaning the lack of time for a decent brew or two than one who just gets on with the job and shows no “humanlike” traits about them. Indeed, the latter is more likely to come across as a cardboard cut out.

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Comedy In Writing

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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’ve had a good few days. Pleasant autumnal weather here and Lady has enjoyed seeing her pals, as ever. Had a lovely session with the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group and am ploughing on with proofreading work and writing.

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Pleased to share Comedy in Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I celebrate comedy in books, films, radios, plays etc (the post was inspired by my recent visit to The Chameleon Theatre Company to watch Curtain Up), and look at comedy moments (which can bring so much depth to characterisation in a book which may not be funny overall).

I look at humour as a natural development. It should never feel forced. I look at humour and perspective too and how humour can ease tensions – that alone can make all the difference as to how things work out for your characters.

I look at humour as a character trait (is your character witty, droll, sarcastic etc?) and invite you to suggest which humorous books work for you and which do nothing for you. Comments welcome in the CFT box, as always.

Hope you enjoy the post. I love humour in fiction and think we can do with much more of it.

Comedy In Writing

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Lovely day in the park with Lady’s Hungarian Vizler pal and later, after a short swim, met up with some of my friends for tea and cake, as you do. So as you can imagine it has been a nice day (the chocolate cake and peppermint tea were wonderful, only one of those things was good for me!) and hope it has been likewise for you too.

Writing wise, my author newsletter went out earlier today and it was lovely to see everyone at last night’s meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group.

A huge thank you to Jacci Gooding for the shout out for me and Seeing The Other Side in her newsletter, which also went out today. That came as a very pleasant surprise.

Last but not least look out for Comedy in Writing on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above.

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady caught up with her Hungarian Vizler pal. Nice autumnal day, gave blood (if you can, please do, folks) and a special birthday in our household today too so a nice way to end the month.

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting later this evening. Author newsletter out again tomorrow. Will be looking at Comedy in Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Again, see above, and the Flash Group Meeting was fab.

Writing wise, am catching up with various blogs and other pieces of writing I want to get done.

Character Tip: Sometimes I will put on particular outfits to suit a mood or for a special occasion. We all do, right. So can our characters. What would your characters choose to wear for (a) moods and (b) special occasions? There will be stories behind exploring those thoughts.

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Hope today has gone well. Pleasant one here and Lady got to see her Australian Shepherd boyfriend again and, later, her Hungarian Vizler pal. Lady has had a great week on the old social front.

Writing wise, I’ll be trying to get a draft started for a competition I’ve got in mind (but the deadline is the end of the year so I do have some time in hand but I like it to be that way). My next Writers’ Narrative article is due out next week too and I’ll be looking at Darkness In A Flash for that. Well, it is October and the nights are already coming in earlier and we haven’t had the clock change yet.

Character Tip: I often use traits as a way in to getting to know a character well enough before I write them up but sometimes a line of dialogue comes to mind and that shows me their main trait immediately. What would you make of a character who came up with “I told her umpteen times she’d regret getting involved with him.”

I’m hearing a shrill tone of voice, an element of bossiness (is that why the “her” here has not taken what could be good advice?).

What makes me wonder at this point is this speaker a gossip or are they genuinely trying to share some news with someone else who needs to know? I am also wondering what relationship the speaker has with the “her” in this tale (and probably with the “him” too).

But this is good. You want readers to start wondering about things like that – it is the key way to keep them reading. Certainly it makes me want to write the story up to find out more and that’s the best sign of all for a writer.

Great autumnal weather at the moment and am enjoying seeing the slow changing of the colours of many of the trees around my area. (There are lots of holly trees in the area too so not everything changes!).

Talking of changes, these are great trigger points for flash fiction tales. Okay, in the lower word count limit, you would need there to be one point of change with the appropriate consequence. In a standard short story you could have more but I’ve found with flash having to focus on the one point of change means I have a sharper, stronger tale.

I really do have to focus only on what matters for the character as a result of that change. One change = one consequence for the character = no dilution of the impact of that change on the character or the reader.

The change doesn’t have to be something dramatic to have consequences for your character. Something as simple as a bus being late could have consequences for your character. What does the being late do for them at (a) work or (b) for any appointment they were supposed to be keeping? Also how well does your character handle being late at all – some will handle it better than others?

Story ideas there.

Will be looking at outlets (some at least) for flash fiction as part of tonight’s meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group. There are loads of outlets out there and far more choice than when I started writing flash seriously, which is great. You could spend all of your time writing flash pieces for the different competitions out there.

I’ve been writing a lot of drabbles (the 100 worders) for Substack and YouTube recently so may well pick a different word count to write to at the weekend. Picking a word count in advance gives you practice at writing to that count. If you go for the 50, 75, 100, 250, 300, and 500 word counts, you will find many competitions taking these.

I’ve also found picking the word count in advance means I need to think about how the story will look on the screen/page (a 50 worder is basically a paragraph, a 100 worder two paragraphs and so on).

Knowing this in advance means I tend to work out first how my story will end and then work backwards to the beginning. It makes sure each paragraph (or in the case of the 50 worder the one paragraph) does have everything in it to make it a proper story with a beginning, middle and end.

Fairytales with Bite – Special Numbers

This year has seen some special birthdays, you know the ones that end in zero, there’s a special anniversary coming up (likewise with the zero!), and certain dates, regardless of the year, always have significance. That thought can trigger story ideas.

What numbers would be special to your characters and why? What would they be keen to celebrate and/or remember? Equally, which numbers would they go out of their way to avoid? A number linked to a sad date, for example, could trigger memories for your character. Have they come to terms with this and “handle it” or do they go for a policy of avoidance or do other characters help them here?

Your setting may well have special numbers too – for example the date linked to its founding. Do your characters celebrate something like that or feel it is nothing to celebrate?

If your magical characters use numbers in their spells which would they use and what properties do these have as part of those spells? Also in a magical world, could anyone ever be said to be lucky or unlucky with their numbers in life? That is, do they consider certain numbers unlucky like we do with the number thirteen?

This World and Others – Significant Dates

Linking to Fairytales with Bite, how does your setting’s dating system work? Is it similar to ours or totally different? Do they have months as we understand them, for example?

If they mark the passing of time in ways we do not, how would their ways roughly equate to what we do here? I think there would need be some “equivalence” so readers can picture how time is used in your setting and what we would do here instead.

Does your setting mark special dates and, if so, how? Is everyone expected to take part in whatever ceremonies take place here?

What dates would have significance for your characters and why? What would they do differently on these dates?

Also we use the sun and moon to divide up day and night – what would your setting do if it is not based on something similar? I think there would have to be some sense of time and therefore dates and time passing by etc.

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As The Dark Draws In…

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Fabulous family weekend. Good time had by all. All shattered including the dog. Now back to usual writing and editing work.

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Am delighted to be back on More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. This time I look at As The Dark Draws In, which I thought was a good topic as we head rapidly towards October.

I look at making the most of the darker, longer evenings by reading more and suggest using the theme of As The Dark Draws In for your characters. There will be plenty of story opportunities there. Most characters have to face their “dark” and either fight it or succumb to it. Either way there are consequences which your story will share.

I discuss how in the natural world, as with the Christian faith, we see the dark coming and then the light breaks through. That’s a good theme for stories too. Plus I look at being the light for others and stories encouraging empathy.

Hope you enjoy the post.

As The Dark Draws In by Allison Symes

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Hectic day, have run late all day (yes, it was one of those Mondays!), but Lady had a fabulous puppy party in the park today with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal, our neighbour’s gorgeous Golden Retriever and a handsome black lab called Flash. Four tired happy dogs went home.

As it is Monday, that does of course mean it’s story time. Hope you like my latest which went up on Substack yesterday – Four. It’s a thoughtful piece, I think.

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Had a fabulous family day yesterday. Lady had a wonderful time, including with another family dog, and was shattered by about 7 pm! (Mind you, so was I). Busy morning today too as a family member was taking a service in Salisbury and I am in the role of support for that. Great to see everyone at Salisbury again. I last saw them at my book event for Seeing The Other Side held outside their lovely church.

Will be cracking on with flash fiction Sunday shortly and then focusing on various bits and pieces I want to get done. This week, bar Wednesday when the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group happens, will be a quieter one. Oh and the next newsletter goes on Wednesday too.

Dialogue Tip: If you’re using slang terms or words associated with a particular region, make sure readers can pick up the meaning from context to allow for the fact not everyone will know what these things are. The use of these can be great for adding some “colour” to your character – you can guess where they’re from, at least originally, for one thing – but clarity is everything.

Will be a busy family day today so won’t be writing much and am posting early. Will be looking at Comedy in Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today which will hopefully lead nicely into a review of The Chameleon Theatre Company’s production of Curtain Up the week after.

Looking forward to the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group on Wednesday and the next day will see my next author newsletter going out.

Next weekend, I hope to resume drafting stories for competitions. All go here but this is good. No further news yet on events for Seeing The Other Side but will keep you posted. I am at the point where I know I have enough material for another book but hope over the later autumn and winter months to sit down with this and get another book ready to submit.

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Busy day again though Lady did get to see her Australian Shepherd “boyfriend” and later her Hungarian Vizler pal too. There will be a tired dog on our sofa tonight!

Writing wise, my next author newsletter goes out on Thursday. If you’d like to sign up for tips, story links and more, do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Many thanks to my subscribers for your support. It is much appreciated. A lot of the writing life can be a lonely one (though I make up for that at the Bridge House Publishing Celebration Event and The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick every year!).

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It’s Monday, it’s storytime. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Research Purposes. Like my Substack story this week (see above), it involves the number four.

Jimmy and Gran have a disagreement on what could be construed as good research purposes. It involves chocolate. More details here.

 

Hope the weekend has gone well. Busy family one but absolutely lovely as always.
Writing wise, will be cracking on with story writing shortly and hope to get back to submitting for competitions soon too. Last couple of weeks have been especially busy. Mind you, I see this as the calm before the storm of the festive season!

Flash Fiction Tip/Prompt: Have fun inventing titles and then seeing if you can draft a flash piece around them. I often do this. Sometimes I will need to put a promising title aside to think over options but that’s fine. A promising title can make you think of characters and situations you would not otherwise have done and can be a useful way into starting another draft.

Looking forward to flash fiction Sunday tomorrow as always. I need to draft some more flash for competitions. There have been a couple of competitions I’ve missed this year because I’ve been busy with other things, notably Seeing The Other Side, but that has been (and continues to be) a lovely thing to be busy with!

Don’t forget to sign up for Writers’ Narrative – it is free and you receive in your inbox articles on the topic of the month from a wide range of published authors, including yours truly.

Many of my articles look at working in the shorter forms of fiction so are relevant to flash fiction and short story writers. It is a joy to write for this ezine – well worth your checking it out but don’t just take my word for it!

GOODREADS AUTHOR BLOG – Events Where Stories Are Told

I love taking part in Open Prose Mic Nights when I can and also relish being part of the audience for them. What can you dislike about events like these where you know stories are going to be told? Naturally this does help the authors too and they are great ways to engage directly with potential readers. They link back to the oral storytelling tradition too, a pleasing circle I’d say.

But I also love in stories where there are events the characters are going to because inevitably stories will be told at these things, even if it is just about what is going on in the area of the setting at the time. So many plots hinge around who meets at what event and what stories they exchange. Can you image Pride and Prejudice without the ballroom scenes, for example?

Potentially any time characters meet up anywhere in whatever setting you care to name, there will be opportunities for story sharing. Whether the characters are telling the truth or not, and how important that may be to the plot, is something else I love discovering.

But get the characters together – that’s when the story really takes off. And events give you the chance to create a memorable setting too.

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Reading Feeding Into Writing

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Busy but fun week. Went to see Curtain Up performed by The Chameleon Theatre Company. Review to follow on Chandler’s Ford Today in due course. Lots of writing done. Plus will be having a family do at the weekend – the dog loves these so I expect a very tired Lady on the Sunday!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Hope you have had a good day. Quiet one in the park but Lady and I had a lovely time. Gorgeous autumn weather at the moment too. We’re making the most of that.

Lovely to catch up with my editor from Chandler’s Ford Today last night when we went to see Curtain Up staged by The Chameleon Theatre Company. Review to follow in a couple of weeks.

Talking of CFT, I’m pleased to share Reading Feeding Into Writing for this week’s post. Given this combines two of my favourite things, writing and reading, you can imagine this was an especial joy to write. I look at past inspirations, love of stories (as this is the gift which keeps on giving), and analysing stories written by others so you can work out what you like and dislike and apply that to your own creations. I also suggest some useful questions to ask yourself here.

Hope you find the post a good read and useful.

Happy reading and writing!

Reading Feeding Into Writing

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Hope you have had a good day. Lady had a fabulous time with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal today. Both dogs had a great run and came home tired but happy.

Writing wise I’m sharing Reading Feeding Into Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up on that tomorrow. See above.

Next week I’ll be meeting again with the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group and the next issue of my newsletter will be out (I know, I know, how can it be so close to October already?).

Tonight though I’m off to see The Chameleons perform Curtain Up. Looking forward to this. They always stage excellent productions and this is a comedy, which ticks all of the right boxes for me. I could do with a laugh basically!

Hope today has gone well. Quiet one in the park though a lovely autumnal day, the kind Lady and I like best.

Writing wise, hope to get various bits and pieces written tonight as I won’t be writing much tomorrow. I’m off tomorrow night to see The Chameleon Theatre Company perform Curtain Up, which looks fun. Will be nice to catch up with my lovely editor at Chandler’s Ford Today here too as we usually see our local amateur theatre company’s productions together. It makes for a great evening out. Review to follow in due course. Watching plays is another fabulous way to take in stories too!

Talking of reviews, every author including me greatly values these. As well as the obvious validation aspect, we can use quotes from the reviews in further marketing. I hope to do this soon with some of the fabulous reviews I received during the blog tour for Seeing The Other Side though I suspect this may need to wait a week or so.

The next few days will be especially busy but I would put a call out for more reviews to go up on the usual sites because this is the second best thing you can do for any writer, other than buy their book.

The great thing is reviews don’t have to be long – a line or two is fine.

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Busy but fun family day coming up tomorrow so will get back to flash fiction writing on Sunday. I suspect I may have to have a crack at further competitions from later next week. I have a definite one in mind, which I usually have a crack at, that I definitely want to do before the end of the year, which is racing towards us. (I know!).

Flash Fiction Tip: There is lot to be said for keeping it simple. It helps with word count. Keeping it simple will mean going for two direct words rather than five, for example.

Having said that, I sometimes want to write a character who does go “around the houses” when they speak. I can show them being long winded in the first couple of lines of dialogue they say. After that I can get them to “tail off” or have another character interrupt them (because by that time the other character will get how long winded this character is and will want to interrupt them or risk being bored by them all night).

I’ve had one of those days today where I’ve not had time to do much, I’ve had lots of things on, and the front door would probably have been better as a set of revolving doors. It is, to quote my dear mum, one of those days where I’m meeting myself going backwards.

So not much time to write today either but this is where flash can come into its own because I can either write about it as I am here or get a couple of lines down which might be a promising opening to a new story. Snippets of time to write mount up so it is worth using them to write something.

Years ago, when I had some caring responsibilities, I found ten minutes writing here, another ten minutes there could often be the only writing I could do in a day. But over the course of just a week, I found I could get a story drafted, maybe two.

And I found because I knew time was limited I just got to my desk and hit the ground running so to speak. Sometimes a lack of time can do wonders for your focus.

Am looking forward to catching up with the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group next week. We’ll be looking at various ways in which to get our flash pieces “out there”.

Building up publication credits with your short form writing can also help when submitting queries for longer work to publishers and/or agents because it shows them (a) you take your writing seriously, a track record does mean something, and (b) someone else decided they liked your work enough to publish it. Well worth doing.

I’ve been pleased over recent years to see more flash competitions about and even some of the short story ones allow submissions at 1000 words so there are options. The biggest issue is picking which competitions to try because you’re unlikely to get to do them all.

But as ever always check out the background of the competition and make sure you’re happy before sending anything. It pays to do your homework there. Once you’ve found the competitions which are right for you and are “sound”, good luck! You to have to be in it to have any chance of winning it after all.

Fairytales With Bite – Guest Lists

Guest lists and who should/shouldn’t be on them are not the easiest things to handle. Even in the fairytales, this isn’t always correctly done – see Sleeping Beauty for the classic example of that. Even when right not to invite someone, as in that case, surely basic precautions should have been taken to avoid the “revenge of the uninvited” scenario! Mind you, I guess that would have meant no story…

Thinking about your characters, who would they want to have on the guest lists of their special events? Who would they never invite and why? Bound to be story thoughts there.

Also what kind of special events would your characters have or like to be able to have? If they do manage to have their events, what would they do if the uninvited turn up? There’s bound to be someone wanting to cause a scene for your character here – what is behind all of that? Is your character right to feel the way they do or not here? Could the uninvited have justified reason to be upset with your character?

For important state like events, who would be on the guest lists for those? Who would your governing authorities not want to see turn up?

Also who gets the job of compiling guest lists? It’s not an easy one. It’s too easy to upset someone without meaning to either with this. So could your character be given this job as a test for them? If they can handle this well, could they then go on to handle even more important jobs?

Plenty of story thoughts there, I think.

This World and Others – Ceremonials

In your setting, what kind of ceremonials does it have? Does this depend on the “country” in your world or is it a one world government kind of system? Are the ceremonials used to commemorate things deemed important to remember (such as our Remembrance Day events)?

Ceremonials tend to be stately and formal but could your setting have a kind which is less so? I’m thinking along the lines of a “friendly ceremonial” for, say, youngsters becoming adults, doing well in exams etc, and all done publicly deliberately to encourage others to follow the same route in life.

What is the history behind the ceremonials? Does anyone object to them? What would happen to them if they did so publicly? Would they be going against general public opinion or are they on track with the public but not with the government and they are the ones prepared to speak out, no matter what?

Again, story ideas there, happy writing!

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Storytelling

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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. Quiet one here but next weekend will be a different story – family do which we all love. Writing and proofreading work going well.
Lady and I popped along to a local dog show, not to take part, but to have a nose (literally in her case) and to catch up with those we know, humans and dogs. Off to see The Chameleons perform Curtain Up later this week. Should be good.

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Hope today has gone well. Lady was delighted to see her Hungarian Vizler pal again today as we saw her at the local dog show over the weekend, not that either of them took part in it!

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Reading Feeding Into Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Definitely a post which was a joy to write and I’m looking forward to sharing that.

Won’t be long before my next author newsletter is due out once more. To sign up for story links, tips and more, do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Character Tip: When you’re reading works by other authors, once you’ve enjoyed the story take a moment to think about what worked about the characters and what didn’t grip you so much. You can learn a great deal from what you come up with here which you can then apply to your own creations.

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Lady has had a fabulous day in that she had an early morning playtime with her Aussie Shepherd “boyfriend” and, later when out with me, she got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback “girlfriend” too. One tired but happy dog is curled up on the sofa as I write this.

Has been a busy day for me too, as Mondays always are, so am glad to get to my desk. For one thing, I sit down for a while!

And of course Monday means storytime. I share Stash, which I first posted on Substack yesterday. Hope you enjoy it. I see this one as a historical flash fiction piece.

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Lady and I popped in to see the local dog show going on at our park after church today. Got to see some pals there. This show had to be cancelled as it was originally going to be in June, during the first heatwave. Much better today. People – and their dogs – seemed to be enjoying it all.

Writing wise, I’ll be cracking on with flash fiction Sunday shortly. I hope to chat with members of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group soon about ways to get your work out there. One tip though is flash is easy to share via your website/author newsletter etc and gives something of value, an entertaining tale, to your followers. It also gives a flavour of your work, which is why I share stories on Substack and YouTube.

Talking of which, I ought to get on writing this week’s tales! Done and shared above and further down!

Hope the weekend has got off to a reasonable start. Not bad here. Have got around to doing some sorting out. Not a displacement activity for the writing, honest! It’s been something I’ve needed to do for a while and I feel better for doing it.

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Reading Feeding Into Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. If you ever needed an excuse to read more (as if, I know!), this post may well be for you. If you love books at all, it definitely will be. Looking forward to sharing that one.

Am off to see The Chameleon Theatre Company perform Curtain Up next week. Will be going with my lovely editor from CFT. On the same day I’m off to the dentists! Lovely as they are, I will be much more keen to go and see our local amateur theatre company in action (can’t imagine why, eh?!). The company have staged some marvellous shows over the years. Review will follow on CFT in due course.

Character Tip: What makes a character come alive for you when you read the work of other authors? It can vary. Sometimes a line or two of dialogue will help you “hear” and then “picture” that character. Sometimes a physical description will be enough for you to picture them and then want to find out what they get up to.

For me, I want to hear the character talk or think. From there I pick up their attitudes. I don’t need to like those attitudes. Especially when I don’t like them, I want to find out what makes the character that way and there is only one way to find this out – I read on. But working out what makes other authors’ characters spring to life can be a huge help when you’re creating your own.

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Know I’m not going to be popular saying this but I have booked my Christmas food shop slot! Yes, the year is speeding by and things like this confirm it.

What do your characters make of the passing of time in their setting? Do they regret it speeding by or does it seem to drag for them? There will be stories behind why they think the way they do here.

And if your setting is in another world where time doesn’t exist as such or there is something we’d recognise as time but which works in a different way from what we know here, again how do your characters response to this? How does it impact on their stories?

It’s another busy Monday so time to relax with a story, I think. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Family Tradition.

Gran introduces Sarah to a family tradition involving making cakes. Find out what here. I suspect we’ve all been here!

 

I suspect this is true for you too but I’m starting to get adverts etc relating to the festive season coming up in a couple of months. Now for me the timing of this too early. We haven’t had Harvest Festival, Halloween, Bonfire Night yet etc. But the thought of bad timing made me think this could be a good story prompt.

What would be a case of bad timing for your character and why? What would the consequences be (and there would be bound to be some!)? Why did your character get their timing wrong especially if it is not something they would usually do or if they were facing something or someone where they had to be punctual?

Bound to be stories to come from that thought. Now how to work out how to switch off the festive adverts for the time being…

Looking forward to flash fiction Sunday tomorrow and that is probably when I’m going to pick out another competition to try.

Also looking forward to catching up with writer pals on Zoom later tonight. Always good to catch up. Getting together by Zoom when other means aren’t possible is one of the few good things to come out of the pandemic, I think.

Flash Tip: When you’ve got your story down and you’re happy with the character and storyline, then and only then is the time to have a look at your word count. This ties in with your choice of phrasing because so often I’ve found I can reduce my word count a lot by simply improving my phrasing.

What matters is getting your draft down first and you will write whatever comes to mind first. It’s why I can’t stop myself writing what I know are my own wasted words but I do know I’ll get rid of them later so that’s okay.

Don’t break the flow of getting that draft down. The choice of phrasing is a fine tuning issue and that Is reason enough, I think, to treat drafting and editing as two separate things. I know I can’t combine them.

Goodreads Author Blog – Storytelling

Storytelling is one of the finest things humanity has given the world. To begin with it had to be done orally. Later came the books and serialisations in newspapers, the magazines etc. Later still came books all could access via the penny dreadfuls (it was an accurate description but they did get people reading) but, better still, via the library system.

Storytelling matters. It makes us feel human simply because it helps us empathise with others as we read what the characters get up to and wonder if, in their shoes, would we have done the same thing.

I love the way we now have so many ways to tell stories – in print, via audio and radio, on the stage (am off soon to see what I have no doubt will be another excellent production from my local amateur theatre company), on the screen (small and large. I loved the Peter Jackson adaptation of The Lord of The Rings – it brought the story to someone I know who would never read a book that size).

I like taking part in Open Prose Mic Nights when I can. It’s a great way for a writer to engage with their potential readers directly and I think it brings storytelling full circle.

I also get to “feel” (from audience reaction) to what works well, what works as I hoped, and which is okay but didn’t get such a strong reaction. That may mean the story needs more work or it just doesn’t work so well for that particular audience. Another one may react differently. You learn so much here.

And I love performing my stories here. I’d never act but performing here is the nearest I get to it and it is a fabulous way to share stories.

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