Author Interview Questions and Ghost Stories

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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. Many thanks to my lovely editor at Chandler’s Ford Today, Janet Williams, for taking the image of me at the 2023 Hiltingbury Book Fair.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Glad to see some wonderful autumn weather with plenty of sun and a nice temperature. Lady off to a great start this week having a riotous time with her best pal, the Rhodesian Ridgeback.
Writing wise, am looking forward to sharing a wonderful interview with Ruth Leigh on Chandler’s Ford Today later this week. There will be another great interview with Anita D Hunt the week after. Plenty to look forward to and lots of useful information for any writer.
And I can confirm I will be going to the Hiltingbury Book Fair next month.

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Facebook – General

Lady was delighted to see her Hungarian Vizler pal this morning. Lovely time had by both dogs. Another lovely autumn day too here.

Don’t forget I’ll be talking with Ruth Leigh about her new book, The Further Adventures of Isabella M Smugge, on Friday on Chandler’s Ford Today. There will be plenty of useful tips too – so be sure not to miss it.

Looking forward also to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting next week. Always good fun and it has been wonderful to hear how group members have had work published and/or broadcast on North Manchester FM when Hannah Kate puts out the call for theme related flash fiction to be sent in.

Well done, everyone, and keep up the good work!

 

Lady has had a fabulous start to her week having a wonderful time with her best pal, the Rhodesian Ridgeback. As well as running around and play fighting like the overgrown pups they are, they gave each other cuddles too. Very sweet to see.

Writing wise, I’m busy preparing various interviews for Chandler’s Ford Today and there will be more to come in October, I’m glad to say. There is always plenty to learn from these, I find, and they’re great fun to conduct.

Writing Tip: Whether you’re published singly or a number of times, or even if you’re not published yet, look at the questions posted in author interviews and work out how you would answer them if someone posed them to you. It will make you think in more depth about what you write and get you used to talking about what you do.

I did this early on in my career and worked out what I would say. I found that enormously helpful especially in overcoming nerves. I knew I had something I could say and that helped a lot. Plus you learn a lot from the tips and advice writers share in these things. I always ask authors to name three top marketing tips as we can all learn from that and no one writer can know them all.

460226249_10162248915762053_570811761049776159_nHope the weekend has gone well. Lovely autumnal weather here. I enjoy days like these. Lady does too. Pleasant, not too hot etc.

Many thanks for the lovely responses to my post the other day about my taking part in the Hiltingbury Book Fair. Much appreciated. More on the event nearer the time.

My author newsletter will be out again before you know it. If you’d like to sign up for news, tips, story links etc, do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Writing Tip: Know your character. Know them well enough for whatever length of story you write. For flash, I need to know less than, say, a novelist would need to know but I still need to know enough. Above all, I do need to know what drives them and makes them tick. That underpins their attitudes and actions/reactions.

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Hope you have had a good start to your weekend. Not bad here. Got the lawn cut. Always looks good for it.

Am delighted to say I’ll be interviewing the lovely Ruth Leigh for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. My post, Catching Up with Ruth Leigh: The Further Adventures of Isabella M Smugge, goes out on Friday.
Since we last talked on CFT, Ruth has had two other books out (A Great Deal of Ingenuity and The Unexpected Book of Poetry) and we’ll be discussing how those came about, as well as celebrating Ruth’s new Isabella book. Isabella is one of those characters for whom it is true once you’ve met them you don’t forget them. That’s always a sign of a great character in my view. More to come nearer the time and I’m looking forward to sharing the interview.

And if you love author interviews, as I do, I’ll have another fabulous chat the week after, this time with Anita D Hunt where we’ll talk about her domestic noir novel, Behind The Curtain. Much to look forward to in both interviews.

Last but not least, I’m delighted to say I’ll be taking part in the Hiltingbury Book Fair again. The date is 19th October and I will share more news on this as and when I get it. It was a huge success last year and naturally everyone will hope it is again this time.

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Facebook – From Light To Dark and Back Again

Many thanks to all who have subscribed to my YouTube channel. I create flash fiction videos (using Book Brush for the video element and my imagination for the rest!) and usually put a new tale up every Monday. New subscribers are always welcome.

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It’s that day of the week again. The day Garfield the cat hates with a passion – Monday. I’ve not yet met anyone who is especially keen on it. By my reckoning, it’s time for a story then.

Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – First Trip Out. If there’s a moral to this one it is to be wary of Granny’s recipes especially when she can’t recall where she got them! But does my character, Bill, follow that advice? Umm… no. Find out what happens here.

 

One of the joys of being published with Chapeltown Books was having some input into the covers for From Light to Dark and Back Again and Tripping the Flash Fantastic. All of the flash fiction books published by Chapeltown are square books (ideal for gifts!) but there is a central image to the front cover.

For my first book, I deliberately went for a ripples picture. I think this apt for flash fiction as a whole given flash infers so much and there are ripples coming out from the stories as a result. It is one of the aspects to flash I adore because I like to work things out when I am reading stories by other authors. I just need the right clues to be able to do that.

With flash, I don’t have a lot of time and space in which to plant said clues (often I only get to plant one but it is key as you would expect). Readers don’t get much time in which to work things out but I love the challenge of that myself when I am reading flash by other writers. It is a good challenge!

 

I’m going to be taking part in the Hiltingbury Book Fair again next month as I mentioned over on my author page. This time I’ve opted to give a short talk and a reading or two from my books as part of this event. I have found before demonstrating what flash fiction is by reading some out is a great way to encourage sales. Naturally I hope it will do that again this time!

There was a good range of authors and genres at last year’s event. I hope that will be the case again. Certainly I happily enjoyed representing the short story and flash fiction forms last time and am looking forward to doing so again.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Ghost Stories

Earlier this week, I was sorry to hear about the death of Kenneth Cope who famously played the role of the ghost detective, Marty Hopkirk, in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). It was known as My Partner The Ghost in the USA. It was a great series.

This led me to thinking about ghost stories generally. Now I know next month (October) would probably be a more appropriate time for this post but I would like this one to be a kind of tribute to a great show. It was quirky, it was different, and I loved it. I still love quirky and different stories and shows. I write quirky fiction too.

For me the ultimate ghost story does have to the classic A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. What I love most of all I think about this is the ghosts, while scary (especially the Ghost of Christmas Still To Come), have a positive role. They are on a redemption mission and I feel it is appropriate to be reminded of that at Christmas. As a Christian I see the link to the redemption story of Jesus whose birthday I celebrate then. But I like the fact the ghosts aren’t just there to scare. They do have something to do. The story wouldn’t work without them.

For any story to work well, the characters have to be believable. One way of doing that, of course, is to ensure they have every reason to be in the story and no reason NOT to be in it. Dickens does this brilliantly here. (I’d also argue the hardhearted Scrooge is far scarier than the ghosts by the way).

So, yes, even ghosts have to have a reason to be in a story and I like the fact it isn’t always about scaring people. Sometimes it is to help them. I’ve written the odd short story on this theme myself and loved doing so.

Screenshot 2024-09-14 at 17-55-23 Allison Symes's Blog - Ghost Stories - September 14 2024 09 55 Goodreads

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the June 2024 edition of the magazine which had poetry as its theme. My article here looked at The Links Between Poetry and Flash Fiction Writing.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Books, Movies, and Music

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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 few days. Nice to see some autumn sunshine emerge. Lady has continued to have riotous times with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal so she is is having a cracking week. Writing wise, am happily busy editing and preparing author interviews to share. Also looking forward to judging flash fiction again soon and the Association of of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting later in the month. Plenty going on and with more to come. On a sadder note, another link with my childhood passed away this week.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Pleased to share Books, Movies, and Music for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. This post was inspired by the recent Classic FM Movie Music Hall of Fame. I look at the links between movie music and books/plays (there were SO many on the chart). Where there wasn’t a link with a book or play, there sometimes was with an author (e.g. Wilde by Debbie Wiseman).

I also look at earworms and suggest a couple of them. You may or may not thank me for that! I also ask if strong stories automatically means strong films.

Hope you enjoy the post and do share your favourite movie themes based on books in the comments box on CFT. There are fewer pictures in the slideshow below because I did share a few YouTube clips in the CFT post itself. Go on. Check out the Pink Panther YouTube clip in the post. The orchestra is having a fabulous time playing this. And it remains the only film series I know of which inspired an equally wonderful cartoon series.

Books, Movies, and Music

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I was sorry to hear of the death of Kenneth Cope today. Had a good innings (he was 93) but I remember him well from that fabulous show, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). Entertaining show with a wonderful theme tune. Have shared the link to the latter. See below.

There are certain shows where the theme tune so matches the characters and stories. This was one. Doctor Who is another. (I recall Kenneth Cope from Carry On At Your Convenience too).

My Books, Movies, and Music will be on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. This was a joy to write given it combines several of my favourite things. If I could’ve found a way to mention chocolate in this, I would have had a set of favourite things but alas the chocolate will have to wait for another more suitable post.

11th September
To all who mourn today, I send my deepest condolences.

 

Lady saw her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal again today and the pair of them had a lovely time. Dogs, unlike humans, keep it simple.

Will be discussing Books, Movies, and Music for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Looking forward to sharing that. See above. After that will come the first of two super author interviews. Those will be a great way to wrap up the month.

I love putting questions together for my guests on CFT. It’s a good challenge for me and I hope proves to be so for them! What I aim to do is to ask questions which encourage the author to “open up” with the result being seen as a written, in depth conversation. I think it makes for a good read. More to come on both author interviews nearer the time.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It’s Friday. It’s time for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Appearances. This will ring a bell for fans of certain cartoons. See the story for more.
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There are many advantages to writing flash fiction but two of the major ones, at least for me, are the way it shows up your wasted words and it encourages you to write tighter, leaner prose. It has led to me asking myself whether I do need a certain phrase or, even if so, can I express it better? Most of the time the answer to that question is yes and so I rewrite.

It also encourages you to think of the right detail to include so your readers can get a good picture of your character and situation in a few words. The right image can add depth to a story.

I ask myself what detail would help do that. What is it a reader would find helpful here? Answering that helps me with focus. Sometimes I use colours, one of the senses, an item of clothing etc. Using those details flags up they matter to the character in some way but it also helps “fix” a picture of the character in a reader’s mind better, I think.

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11th September
To all who find today difficult, I send my deepest sympathies.

 

Flash by its nature has to capture a moment in time but it has to be a significant one for your character. What is it about them and their situation we have to know? What is the point of change by the end of the flash piece?

Less is more could be said to be the flash fiction writer’s anthem but the right telling detail can add depth to even the shortest of stories. So think about what would make your character stand out. Would it be something they wear? Is it their attitude as shown in their thoughts and dialogue?

Why is it this character who is facing Situation X? What do they seek to gain or lose by dealing with that situation? Answer those questions and you’ve got a good outline and be well on the way to a first draft.

Fairytales with Bite – Time

When time crops up in fairytales, it usually is midnight. No other time. Just that one. See Cinderella for more on that.

I’m also very fond of the quote from Terry Pratchett’s magnificent Reaper Man (which I must re-read soon given it does have a harvest theme and it is September as I write this) – The kind of Death who poses against the skyline and gets lit up by lightning flashes doesn’t turn up at five-and-twenty past eleven if he can possibly turn up at midnight.

That wonderful quote shows a great deal about the character of the “real” Discworld Death and the one who was meant to replace him all in just one line. Brilliantly done.

Midnight then has a great deal of resonance but for your own characters why not pick a time which has meaning to them? If your character has a reason for loathing or loving a particular time, show that in your story. You can then get them to face having to do something at your chosen time and their attitude towards the time in question will have a bearing on how well or otherwise they do handle that situation. It should increase tension nicely!

There is also the possibility of using Time as a character. Would you show Time as cruel or kind? (Bear in mind the answer to that could depend on the attitude of your other characters. Time might be kind but the characters may have good reason not to see it that way).

What would you get Time to do? Can magic challenge Time or is there always a payback for trying to chat Time? (Someone usually does try as they try to cheat Death in Discworld. Never works but there can be fun stories as we, as readers, watch the characters try and fail!).

Also give some thought as to how time works in your setting. Would it be the same as here or does your setting have a 48 hour day or, come to that, a 4.8 hour day? How would this work? How would your characters manage it (given for them it would be normal)?

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This World and Others – Sense of Place

In your setting is there a sense of place? Can people conjure up what your setting looks like? Can they visualise your characters living in that setting? Do you focus on one place or a whole world?

What can be useful here is deciding on your focus. If you are having stories set in one place, think about whether that place is a city, a village, or what have you. You can then research cities and villages here (and ideally visit some) to get a feel for what would be in these places and then have the fun of inventing the equivalent for your world.

Give some thought as to what your characters would hear, smell, see etc (and what they would consider as “normal” noises, smells etc so they barely notice them but an outsider would do).

If you are using a whole world setting, focus on what a reader needs to know and experience. If your story is mainly set in and around a desert, the reader won’t need to know about riverside villages etc. They will need to know how your characters manage in that desert setting.

But there is plenty of research you can do here which will help to bring a sense of place to your fantastical settings. We do have to base the latter on what we know here and then change things but you know what you are changing and why. You will write from a position of strength/background knowledge then.

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the September 2023 edition of the magazine which focuses on the topic of marketing. Always useful that one! I have two articles in here – Marketing Your Books and Writing for Online Magazines. And remember the magazine will be back soon!

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Writing News and Books For Life

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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. It was soggy with me. Time for some autumn sunshine I think. I do love the changing leaf colours at this time of year. Lady doesn’t care much what the weather is as long as she goes out and has a great time (ideally with friends too). Hope to have some news of another book event I’ll be involved in before long too.

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Facebook – General

Hope you’ve had a good Tuesday. Weather still damp and dreary here. I do prefer the crisper, drier autumn days!

Had a turn down for one of my stories come in today. Will have another look at the tale and see if I can polish it further and sent it out elsewhere. Have done this before and had work accepted on the second or third attempt. Worth a go.

On the other side of the fence here, I will be putting on my judge’s hat for a flash fiction competition soon. Looking forward to that.

Am also preparing some other submissions as well as editing at the moment so plenty to keep me occupied. I like it that way. I also like the mixture of writing fiction and non-fiction. Both are interesting challenges. I like the variety too.

459114764_10162228394567053_3916676174138914329_nLady has had a marvellous start to her week in that she caught up with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal, whom she hasn’t seen for a few days, today. The dogs had a great run, a playfight (I know – Lady’s 7 and the Ridgeback is 6 but they still love doing this, overgrown pups that they are), and a massive run around together. Both went home tired but very happy.

Pleased to say there will be further author interviews to come for Chandler’s Ford Today. I have two lined up for the end of September on successive weeks and I will be preparing another one very shortly which will eventually appear in October.

I love author interviews whether I read them, listen to them, or conduct them. I always learn something interesting and I find it endlessly fascinating finding out how other writers find their inspiration, what marketing tips they’ve found most useful etc. We can and should all learn from each other, I think.
I have a page over on CFT and you can find it at the link.

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So far today there has been thunder, heavy rain, and sunshine. Wonder what the rest of the afternoon and evening will bring!

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting later this month. We’ll be looking at marketing, which is always a useful topic.

Flash fiction is good to share as part of an overall marketing campaign. It doesn’t take up much reading time. It gives readers something entertaining and different too. It shows something of your style and work. It makes it more likely they’ll check out what else you do.

What I’ve never found appealing as a reader is the buy, buy, buy approach (it comes across as nagging!) so my own take here is to share something of value such as a flash story, mention my books, and then share tips etc. I think it makes marketing more palatable to me as the writer and I hope to others as potential/actual readers.

458982584_10162220083877053_1374665248102102331_nAnother soggy day. Glad to be in!

Will be looking at Books, Movies, and Music for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. When you’re writing on three wonderful things, the post can’t help but be a joy to write. Am looking forward to sharing it on Friday. It was inspired by the recent Classic FM Movie Music Hall of Fame.

Writing Tip: I find it useful to prepare bits and pieces for my newsletter throughout the month so towards the end of the four or five week period, I can just edit what I’ve got, put it any final story links and then said newsletter is good to go. Find this useful and jotting down things for my newsletter as and when is another good use of those pockets of time we all get.

Newsletter advert - share tips etc

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I’ve signed up to take part in Flash NANO once more. It won’t be that long before this starts (1st November). For the last couple of years, I’ve managed to produce something to all thirty prompts. Some have since been published, others I’m saving for a further flash collection, and others I know won’t make the cut. It happens.

What I got from those tales was having a go at the prompt set (some of which were types I’d not tried before) and being able to produce something to it. That cheered me up at the time especially when I was tempted to think I haven’t written a story like this before, I’m not going to do this, but yes, I found I could.

Whether I’ll come back to these later and see if I can do something more with them, I don’t know. I do find with all writing prompts though they are a great way in to my writing work for the day. They almost act like a “warm up” and that is useful in and of itself.

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It’s Monday. It’s been as hectic as ever, albeit the weather at least was drier than over a soggy weekend. But given it is still Monday (and I agree with Garfield the cat about Mondays), it is time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Another Time.

 

It doesn’t seem like two years since we lost the Queen. Where does the time go?

Time and anniversaries (including the happier ones naturally) are great topics for flash fiction. What does an anniversary mean to your character especially if they’re in a situation where they face it alone? Which anniversaries would they welcome? Which do they go out of their way to avoid?

Also wedding anniversaries have associations – the 40th anniversary being a ruby one, for example. You could take something like the object here and weave a story around that. I did so a little while ago with Ruby on my YouTube channel. See link.

 

Have submitted an autumn themed story this week. Am looking forward to flash fiction Sunday afternoon tomorrow. And I hope to soon have news of a book event where I hope to spread the word about flash fiction – more news when I have it. Plenty going on then and I’m editing too.

Many thanks for the comments coming in on my latest story on Friday Flash Fiction – The Clock. Also thanks for the comments on it on my Facebook page. Much appreciated. I’ve been talking recently about using numbers in stories and one way to do so is to use the number as a time. Here I went a step further and used the time measuring device instead.
Screenshot 2024-09-06 at 09-03-25 The Clock by Allison Symes - Friday Flash Fiction
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Goodreads Author Blog – Books for Life Acrostic

B = Brilliant “device” for education and entertainment.
O = Original stories coming out all the time plus the classics to enjoy.
O = Other formats suit the book too – ebook, audio, hardback, paperback – something for all.
K = Kindle reading has led me to finding authors new to me and I often go on to buy their paperbacks later.
S = Stories, single or series, set in all worlds and this one – what’s not to like about that?

 

F = Fairytales, fantasy, and flash fiction – these are three of my favourite book things to misquote The Sound of Music.
O= Originality in the sharing of non-fiction has led to creative non-fiction, which I adore.
R = Reviews – I give them and, like all authors, would like some for my works – reviews do help authors.

 

L = Libraries are fantastic and encourage a life long love of reading.
I = Imagination fired and not just for fiction – what ideas from the past, as shared in books, have led to new inventions or developments?
F = Frankly, my dear, I think the book is one of humanity’s best inventions to misquote Gone With The Wind.
E = Enjoy your books and I think it is no coincidence some of the best films are based on books (because it has been proven the stories already work!).

Screenshot 2024-09-07 at 17-43-58 Allison Symes's Blog - Books For Life Acrostic - September 07 2024 09 43 Goodreads

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the May 2024 edition which had memoir as its theme. My article talked about Using Memoir Techniques for Character Creation.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Story Judging

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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 few days. Autumn coming in rapidly here and Lady and I have had our first soakings of the month! Looking forward to sharing two fabulous author interviews on Chandler’s Ford Today towards the end of the month plus I hope to have news of another writing event in October before long. Meantime, keeping busy writing and editing here. Huge advantage to this is I keep dry!

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Lady and I had another soaking this morning. We may have been marginally less wet than yesterday but there wasn’t much in it!

On a much happier note, I’m pleased to share Story Judging for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I look at where competition judges can tell how much (or little) editing has been done on the pieces they get to read and I share what I think story judges are looking for. I also share handy tips.

Hope you find the post useful and good luck if you are entering competitions. I find they’re a great discipline for helping you to get used to writing to deadlines.

Story Judging

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Lady and I had a real soaking this morning! Hope it wasn’t too bad where you are. Only time I was pleased to get wet today was when I went swimming!

Don’t forget Story Judging is up on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. See above. Will be back to see The Chameleon Theatre Group’s latest production in October so will review that in due course for CFT too.

I’ve mentioned before I often use Zoom to record stories and play them back. Well, I was glad I did last night. A story I’ve got in mind for submission has to come in at under the three minutes mark. Discovered mine was over four! Have already edited the piece so hope it will now be to the right time length but I will re-record later and make sure. I’ve found it is the only sure way to make sure my timings are right.

 

Hope you have had a good day. Lady had a cracking time in the park with her pal, Coco, and then got to see two other rescue dog pals she sees every now and then. Grand time had by all. Rain held off too so will count that as a win.

I’ve been thinking of music and books a lot recently, partly inspired by the recent Classic FM Movie Music Hall of Fame chart which they played on Bank Holiday Monday. Wonderful music and many of the pieces relate to books or plays. Shakespeare turned up a few times for that chart. Would like to think he would be pleased about that. (Jane Austen and Charles Dickens were represented in there too).

Character Tip: Why not see what your character’s musical tastes are and why they have them? This could reveal something about their background and/or personality. Also think about a piece of music which would suit your character and think about why it would be that one. (If you pick Jaws, you are either writing about a shark or your character is of the kind I am likely to avoid!).

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It’s Friday. It’s the end of the working week for many of us. Weather here has been frightful too. So definitely time for a story then and I hope you like my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – The Clock.

Screenshot 2024-09-06 at 09-03-25 The Clock by Allison Symes - Friday Flash Fiction

Names can reveal a lot about characters such as age and social status. Sometimes I know the character’s job before I know the name but sometimes that occupation inspires my name choice. In Being Yourself (Tripping the Flash Fantastic), I knew my character was a librarian and then worked out a name to suit (I came up with Jane Stephens for this one).

Sometimes I don’t need to worry about names at all as I know the story will work best in the first person but even there I can show a character referring to or talking to someone else by name. What they call someone can be enlightening too. Do they use the full name? Do they use a contraction? When they speak the name is it with affection or contempt?

 

I’ve mentioned before you can have a lot of fun writing flash because, despite the limited word count, there is much you can do with it.

For example, I write across the whole spectrum from 50 words to the full 1000 and pretty much everything in between. I also mix up the genres I write in here and also the moods of the stories. I mix up writing in first and third person. I’ve occasionally used second person too.

But I also mix up the formats I use so sometimes I use acrostics (especially on Facebook and my blog round up). I have also written flash pieces in diary format, as letters, and in poetic form too. At some point I may have a go at flash in tweets because that is do-able.

The important thing in all of this? Having fun with it! You have to enjoy what you write/the process of writing and accept you are in for the long haul.

But the joy of creating something you hope others will enjoy I think is a great thing and feedback from sites like Friday Flash Fiction is enormously encouraging too. You can’t assume anything in the writing life but you can give it your best shot and have fun as you do that.

Being open to improving your craft matters too but that is fun in itself when you have the support of fellow writers. It is my experience the writing community is a tremendously supportive one and it is lovely being part of that.

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Fairytales with Bite – Rough Justice

Justice can be very rough indeed in the fairytale world. The prince didn’t expect to be turned into a beast in Beauty and the Beast, did he?

But for a wider fantasy setting, what would count as rough justice? Would it be the misuse of magic for aggressive purposes or would it be the withholding of magic when it could be used to help a character?

Who determines the usage of magic and when that usage spills over into abuse of power? Someone has to set the rules. There would have to be some rules given the lack of them would lead to anarchy, though you could give some thought to who would want to stir that up in your setting.

If someone is after power, which is what characters so often want (just so like us, eh?), how would they stir up that anarchy and then bring it under control again so they could rule?

Often when there is a power struggle, justice and truth are trampled on. Who would bring these things back and how would they do it? Who would ensure justice was just that only without any rough bits?

Story ideas there I think!

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This World and Others – Good -v- Evil

One of the things I love about fairytales is they call out evil for what it is. There is a clear divide between good and evil.

It doesn’t mean good characters are flawless – they’re not, any more than we are. It does mean they know what is right and wrong at least at the basic levels and the heroes here, to my mind, are those who are prepared to stand up for what is right, regardless. (See The Lord of the Rings, the Narnia series and so much more for more on that).

In your setting, is the divide clear? Would your readers know who they should be rooting for to succeed? Yes, sometimes you can have a “good villain”. The Sheriff of Nottingham, as played by the much missed Alan Rickman, in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves is one such but it was still right he did not succeed in the end.

The problem with evil winning is it is so depressing. The brute forces win, characters are oppressed, where is the hope in that kind of story? Indeed, where is the story? Frankly, we also see enough of all of that in the news!

So we need characters then who are prepared to stand up against evil. They’re not always going to get it right. Many of them will die. (To paraphrase Lord Farquaad in Shrek, that is a sacrifice the bad guys are prepared to make!).

But the interesting story is when those on the side of good do take up a stand against evil. We want to see what they do and whether it succeeds or not. If they face setbacks, which I would expect, do they overcome those? How do they overcome them? Is the cause of good upheld successfully?

One of the joys of fantasy and fairytales is when good is upheld. It gives hope. Yes, it may be escapism but I’ve never seen the problem with that. I want characters in conflict with each other and the right ones succeeding in the end. I guess I have wanted that ever since I first read the classic fairytales. I’ve seen no reason to change that view!

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I’m sharing the November 2023 edition of the magazine which focused on novels. My article is on Writing Novels and I shared what I learned from writing my (as yet) unpublished novel.

 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Seasons and Scheduling

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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. Many thanks to Jen Wilson and Penny Blackburn for the Swanwick shots used above.
Hope you had a good weekend. I managed to get plenty of writing done and mow my lawn which did look as it if was turning into a wilderness, thanks to the rain we’ve had recently. Lady and I are disliking the humid weather at the moment but so far no storms. Hope I don’t end up regretting typing that! Lady isn’t scared of thunder but doesn’t particularly like it either. She doesn’t mind getting a good soaking though. Thankfully she dries far quicker than I do.

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Facebook – General

Lovely to be back to the normal timetable for the swimming pool. Enjoyed that. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler friend again today and has had some long walks so all is right with her world, as it should be.

Am looking at Story Judging for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Will be sharing thoughts and tips so hope it will prove useful.

Will have two fabulous author interviews coming up for CFT towards the end of the month too and am looking forward to sharing those. I always learn so much from author interviews.

Fun thought: if you could interview any author from the past, who would it be and why? I’d be torn between interviewing Jane Austen and P.G. Wodehouse, I think. I know I’d want to chat to either/both of them with regard to humour in fiction. I would hope both would be delighted their works are still so treasured too.

 

Hope you have had a good start to your week. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler friend today and it was sweet to see them both showing affection towards each other.

I prepare blog posts in advance and schedule them. I then come back to them with about a week to go before publication so I can double check them, add in anything further if appropriate (this can often be the case for my Chandler’s Ford Today posts), and then I know they’re “put to bed”, so to speak. I am a great believer in scheduling!

I use odd pockets of time, as I’ve mentioned before, to jot down story ideas but I also do this for non-fiction. On picking an idea from the pile I like, I will then start drafting a non-fiction post. Five minutes here, another short session there (and I get several of these during the week), and I am well on my way to getting my first draft done.

Those pockets of time do mount up and are worth using in this way. I’ve found they’ve helped me be far more productive.

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I know it’s hard to believe we’re at September already but I think it is one of the loveliest months of the year. I love the changing colours of the leaves and the decent workout I get when I clear up the fallen oak leaves. (Not kidding there. It really does help with my keep fit!).

Author newsletter went out earlier today. Many thanks to all of my subscribers for your support.
Delighted to say I’ll be sharing fabulous author interviews later this month on Chandler’s Ford Today. More details nearer the time.

Writing Tip: Do write what you yourself would love to read. If you accept the writing journey is a long one, you do need to care deeply about what you write. It helps to keep you going.

If later, after publication say, you still need to care about what you have written/are currently writing, as you will always be promoting your work in some way.

Also given marketing is part of the writing life, it pays to find forms you enjoy doing and can therefore keep going for the long term. I only started my newsletter when I knew I could do that. I also have in mind what is it it for the reader but I try to have this in mind for all I write. It encourages me to ensure there is no purple prose, only what a reader needs/will enjoy.

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Am surprised we’ve got to the end of August already but there you go. Author newsletter out again tomorrow of course.

Will be discussing Story Judging for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Link up on Friday.

Delighted to receive a shout out as part of a lovely review for The Best of CafeLit 13 on Amazon. Well done to all of the authors in this book. It is a great collection and perfect for dipping into and/or for those times when reading time isn’t as long as you’d like. Short stories and flash fiction fill that gap nicely I find!.

I often read collections and have discovered authors new to me this way so yet another benefit to reading the short forms. Why not try this out with CafeLit 13? Link below.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Busy preparing an autumn themed story for submission later this week, I need to record it to get my timings right before sending it in. Autumn as a topic though is a great one. My gran hated the season as she saw it as the season when everything died. She too did die in the autumn.

Me? I love the season. I love the changing colours. I see autumn as paving the way for new life to come in the following spring (especially for trees). Before long I will have a good workout clearing up my oak leaves too!

But if you’re thinking of using autumn as a topic, one way in would be to consider what your character makes of it and why. Equally you could look at this from the view of something important happening to your character in the season (and why it has to be autumn rather than the others).

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It’s Monday again. Having said that, it is the first one in what I think is my favourite month of the year. There is something charming about September I think. I love the changing colours of the leaves etc. But it is still Monday when all is said and done. I’ve yet to meet anyone for whom it is their favourite day of the week.

So with that in mind it is story time then! Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Moving On.

 

Hope you have had a good weekend. Have enjoyed my usual Flash Fiction Sunday Afternoon Session!
I like to mix up the moods of the stories I write, as well as their word counts and styles. It keeps things interesting for me and I hope readers too.

Am especially keen on lighter stories given the news is so grim. I do believe there is a place for the humorous, the feel good, and the lighthearted stories. I think escapism of that nature is appreciated. I know it is by me! One of the functions of stories is to take a reader away into other worlds for a while. They don’t all have to be grim ones!

Yes, I do write darker flash pieces too. I know the world (and therefore the fiction which reflects it) is not all sweetness and light but I do like a good balance. If you can’t have unremitting good cheer, I think it follows you can’t have unremitting grim too.

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Dialogue is a great way to start any story but for flash fiction I think it has even more impact. Given there is less room for description and narrative. dialogue has to work harder in a flash story as it needs to convey information the reader needs to know, give some sort of hook to keep the reader interested, as well as move the story forwards. Not much to ask then!

This is one reason why I often use questions in dialogue. A reader instinctively knows the story will have to reveal the answers to those questions by the end of the story. From the writer’s viewpoint that gives a useful framework for your story.

And I must admit if a character came up with the line ‘How have I ended up on this alien planet and what is that being pointed at me?’, I know I would want to read on! Okay dialogue doesn’t have to be so “in your face” intriguing as that but something as simple as ‘You do know Katie got it wrong, don’t you?’ would equally intrigue me enough to read further.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Music to Suit The Written Word

I had a lovely bank holiday recently listening to the Classic FM Movie Music Hall of Fame. I voted for The Lord of the Rings soundtrack, which to me has everything – classical, choral, opera, and Enya! I was delighted it was voted the favourite again.

What I love about the soundtrack is each track brings the film (and therefore the book) to mind at different stages of Frodo’s quest. It just works. That’s what I think an excellent soundtrack should do for a film and, given so many movies are based on original novels, the books too.

Often when listening to classical, I can see a piece working well for a book I’ve read (or for a particular character) and this is even the case when the music hasn’t been written specifically for this. Many of the classical pieces are based on well known works – there are a few pieces relating to Romeo and Juliet for example.

So there is a link between music and the written word. Given I love both of these things, I like this a lot.

For my own stories and characters, I can sometimes picture what would make a good soundtrack for them or I hear something and think this would suit Character A etc.. I like this too. For me, it brings those stories and characters to life even more.

Screenshot 2024-08-31 at 17-32-13 Allison Symes's Blog - Music To Suit The Written Word - August 31 2024 09 31 GoodreadsI write with classical music on in the background

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the March 2024 edition of the magazine which had the theme of writing for children. My two articles in this one were about writing for children and also for writing for anthologies.

 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Random Generators

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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. Lady had a wonderful puppy party with not one, not two, but three of her best buddies earlier this week. All of the dogs went home shattered but happy! Writing wise, I have two blogs to share this week with one on competitions (More than Writers) and the other on Random Generators (Chandler’s Ford Today). Hope you find both useful.

BookBrushImage-2024-8-30-19-748Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Delighted to share Random Generators as my post on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. This is a topic close to my writing heart given I use a wide range of these and find them so useful for triggering story ideas. I share reasons why these things are so useful to writers and tips for making the best of them. Hope you find the post useful.

Random Generators

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Pleased to be back on More than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. This time I talk about Competitions and share hints and tips I’ve found useful. Hope you find them useful too.

I also look at what I think judges are looking for in competition entries. Am looking forward to putting my judge’s hat back on in September for a writing group, which is why this topic sprung to mind.

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Lady had a fabulous puppy party this morning with her best pals, the Hungarian Vizler, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, and Coco the Labradoodle. Very tired but happy dogs went home (and before it became so humid this afternoon too so win-win there).

Will be discussing Random Generators on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above. I use a wide variety of these and find them all useful. Many of my tales created this way end up on Friday Flash Fiction or on my YouTube channel.

Writing Tip: If you have brainstorming sessions every so often (and I do for titles and opening/closing lines), do put them away for a while afterwards. As with resting a story before being able to edit it effectively, I find I have to rest the ideas I’ve come up with here and it is only with time away from them, I can then work out whether they are “goers” or not. Pleased to say most are and I get on with drafts but inevitably I do have to discard some ideas – this is the way of it.

Sometimes an idea which seemed good at the time was only good enough for that time. The cool light of day, and switching my brain from creative to objective judging mode can be illuminating to say the least. I used to worry when I discarded ideas but have learned over time other, better ideas do occur to you so I no longer worry about this aspect.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Glad to say my story Fifteen is now up on Friday Flash Fiction. The idea for this one came from my Lift Up Your Pens session at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick recently.

I was discussing using numbers in fiction and one of the ideas I shared was that of writing a story based around a character having a fear of a certain number. Find out why my character Shelley chose this one rather than the more usual thirteen.
Screenshot 2024-08-30 at 09-53-44 Fifteen by Allison Symes - Friday Flash Fiction

I use names in my flash pieces for various purposes. Sometimes I use them to indicate likely age. Sometimes I use them to indicate likely social class. Sometimes a name can combine those two factors. I don’t always use surnames because I often find just the first name gives the detail I want readers to pick up on. But I do ensure the name suits the character.

Occasionally I do use the random name generators (especially those where I can select fantasy names. Many of these generators have different settings and it is worth having a look at them to find which would suit you best). Funnily enough I often don’t use the name generated but what it does do is trigger off an idea of my own from it and I then go with that. As ever with me, it is the getting started which matters!

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With the exception of Friday Flash Fiction who want up to 100 words, most of the flash competitions I try have a word count of 250 or 300 words. If you wanted to practice writing to specific word counts, I would recommend the 100, the 250 and the 300. I’d also check out the competition guide Writing Magazine issue as these detail flash competitions as well as standard short story ones.

Don’t forget to check out their website as well for other competitions. Some are subscriber only. Others are open to all. And I will flag up now they are running the Grand Flash Prize again, deadline is the end of the year for that one.

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Fairytales with Bite – Favourite Books

Do your fantasy characters have favourite books? Are there tales which are considered classics and which everyone is supposed to read/have read? Would any of these be the same or similar to our fairytales? Indeed, what would they have as fairytales and are ours a poor imitation?

What is the attitude towards reading in your world? Is it encouraged or looked down on? Can anyone access books? What would be the equivalent of libraries/book shops in your setting? Would information found out from books (or something of interest in stories) be of crucial importance to your characters as they deal with their situations?

If your setting has multi species, which would be the favourite books of each and is there any crossover happening here? Is there something with unites the different species? It is one of the things I love about books – they can be a great way to bring people together. So could this happen in your story and what would the outcome be?

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This World and Others – Access to Books

Linking in with Fairytales with Bite, access to books is governed by whether there are such things as libraries in your settings. If not, how else would people access books? Do your characters ever earn enough to buy their own? Are certain books reserved for select species and why is this, if so?

What would those in authority worry about people finding out from books? Are they right to worry? Has there been any historical precedent for trouble being caused by folk accessing books they should not have done?

Or have books been suppressed in the past, they’re not now, but someone is looking to suppress them again? Who would this be? What are they trying to cover up? Do they succeed? Story ideas there I think!
Meantime I’ll continue to appreciate my own access to books! They are wonderful things.

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I’m sharing the April 2024 edition on editing. My article here asks the always pertinent question – Editing:  Do You Love It or Loathe It?

 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Music, Character Tips, and Flash Fiction News

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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. Many thanks to Julia Pattison for the image of me at Swanwick 2023 above.
Hope you have had a good weekend. It was the last summer bank holiday in most of the UK. Weather got better as it went on, which was nice. Lady doesn’t understand bank holidays though. Misses her friends given normal routines tend to get dropped including by us. Writing wise, I was glad to have received a commended for my story, Demanded, in the recent Friday Flash Fiction competition. Am resting another story for another competition. Hope to submit that over this weekend.

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Facebook – General

Hope you have a good day. Bank holiday weeks always feel a bit odd, as if you’re missing a day or are a day out somehow.

Pleased to say Friday Flash Fiction is now open again for submissions. Have just send a story in. Have another story I want to send in for a competition later this week. Plus Hannah Kate is putting out calls for stories for her Autumn Equinox show on North Manchester FM again. Many thanks to Jenny Sanders for flagging that one up. Do follow the link for more details.

Now this is one area where I do always use Zoom to record my stories because I want to make sure my tales do come in at under Hannah’s timing limit and it is the best way I know of doing just that. Good luck if you are having a go at sending something in. Hope to have a crack at this myself later in the week.

Autumn Equinox Stories Wanted for Hannah’s Bookshelf on North Manchester FM

Screenshot 2024-08-27 at 19-52-56 Autumn Equinox Stories Wanted for Hannah’s Bookshelf on North Manchester FM - Hannah KateHope you’ve had a good Monday (and made the most of the bank holiday if that applied). I’ve enjoyed listening to Classic FM’s Movie Hall of Fame today (26th August 2024) where they counted down the top 100 film themes voted for by listeners.

I voted for The Lord of the Rings soundtrack and was pleased that hit the top spot again. Epic book, epic film, epic soundtrack. Classic stories stay with you, as does classic music. I can’t say a specific piece of music has ever inspired me to write a story but maybe I should try that sometime. It would be a sound prompt!

Character Tip: What kind of music does your character like most and why? Is it something they’ve always loved or something they developed a taste for (the latter is the case for me with classical)? Do they find music helps them to unwind and what would they need to unwind from? I’m sure there are story ideas there!

457214661_10162170743762053_2434117636414299628_nHope you’re having a good Sunday. Lovely service this morning. Quiet day the rest of the day. Just what the doctor ordered etc.

Don’t forget my author newsletter is out again next week. I share news, tips, story links and much else. If that is of interest please head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Also, many thanks to those who signed up to the newsletter at Swanwick recently.

I outline my characters but never use all of the information I trigger doing this in the story itself. What it does do is give me enough information to be able to write my characters with conviction. I know what they’re going to be doing and why, so away I go on my first draft. I know I need to know my characters well enough to be able to drop them right in it in whatever situation I choose and that is so much fun!

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Many congratulations to Tom Baldwin who won the Friday Flash Fiction competition with his story, Wedding Day. Congratulations also to the runners-up and those who were Highly Commended and Commended. I was delighted to find my tale, Demanded, is one of the Commended ones. Nice start to the long weekend!

I’ll be discussing Random Generators for Chandler’s Ford Today on 30th August. I use these often because I am always looking for ways into creating story and/or character ideas. I use a variety of these things and have found them all useful. Link up on Friday.

A huge thanks for the great response to yesterday’s CFT post about Swanwick. (Am already looking forward to Swanwick 2025).

Screenshot 2024-08-09 at 09-38-35 Demanded by Allison Symes - Friday Flash Fiction

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

May I welcome all who have subscribed to my YouTube channel, especially since I see the numbers have gone up. Welcome aboard and I hope you enjoy the stories I share here. If you’re interested in subscribing, just follow the link.

I usually put a new story up on Mondays. It’s good fun to do. I use Book Brush for creating the video – lovely and easy to do too. Having my own channel makes for a nice, visual media addition to my marketing and I also use it to advertise flash fiction and all it can be.

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It’s Monday. Okay for a lot of the UK it is the summer bank holiday but it is still Monday when all is said and done. Time for a story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Perfect Timing.

 

F= Fun format to write for and it helps you to learn to write tightly and to not fear editing.

L = Less is more is the anthem for flash fiction writers – you have to be selective as to what you show a reader.

A = And if you like creating characters, as I do, this is the form for you as you need loads of them!

S = Succinct storytelling, giving readers only what they need to know and allowing them to infer plenty for themselves.

H = Has various divisions – the dribble (50 worders), the drabble (100 words), micro (usually under 300 words), plus the 500 and 750 word forms – there will be at least one to suit you.

Flash Fiction focuses on THE important aspect of a character's life

Not a great day to be out and about here – has chucked it down for most of the day. Not that this worries Lady. She dries quickly. It is a good day to be indoors writing and reading though!

I like to be inside my characters’ heads for all of my fictional work. I have got to understand where they’re coming from, even though often I don’t approve of their actions and attitudes at all. One huge advantage to outlining a character is you do get to understand them. I’ve found it helps me to portray them realistically, even if they’re a fantasy creature.

In my Time for Some Peace (Tripping the Flash Fantastic) I write this from a mother dragon’s viewpoint and her actions are understandable based on what I’ve shown you about her. But I outlined that bit in a line or two before I wrote the story up.

Goodreads Author Blog – Next on the TBR Pile

Working out what to read next is probably the reader’s most difficult dilemma though it is a lovely one to have. I mix up reading novels with short story and flash fiction collections. I also mix up the genres I read. I also like to mix up the mood of what I read. I also mix up reading classic and contemporary.

At the moment I’m happily reading some of P.G.Wodehouse’s works as I want a lighthearted read. Am loving getting into the stories of Jeeves and Wooster again. Am currently reading Aunts Aren’t Gentlemen and I was delighted to come across a reference to Blandings Castle, the scene of some of my favourite Wodehouse stories with the lovely Lord Emsworth and the wonderful Uncle Fred.

Not just here but in series books, I love those little “nods” to other places the author writes about. I see this a lot in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld too. In the fabulous Maskerade (a spoof of opera and The Phantom of the Opera especially), the Lancre witches come to Ankh-Morpork where so many of the other Discworld novels are set. I love links like that and often I will find my dilemma about what to read next is solved because having read Maskerade again, for example, I wold probably go on to re-read one of the Sam Vimes books, the common link here being that fabulous fantasy city.

Screenshot 2024-08-24 at 17-57-56 Allison Symes's Blog - Next on the TBR Pile - August 24 2024 09 57 Goodreads

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time, I share the first edition of the magazine – the August 2024 one. I talked about Boost Your Writing With Flash Fiction. Now that will be a topic which will always be close to my heart, pen, laptop etc!

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Swanwick 2024

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. A huge thanks to all who contributed to the pictures for my Chandler’s Ford Today post about Swanwick this week. I especially appreciate those of me taking part in events. Always tricky to do those shots yourself!
Hope you have had a good few days. Weather all over the place once again. My Chandler’s Ford Today post this week was a particular joy to write – well, it was on Swanwick 2024 a subject close to my heart. I hope the post gives you a good flavour of what makes Swanwick special for so many writers, including this one.

Swanwick 2024 - Open Prose Mic Night and Lift Up Your Pens

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Hope you have had a good day. For those of us having a bank holiday this weekend, hope it proves to be a good one.

I’m delighted to share Swanwick 2024 as my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. This one was a labour of love! I review my week there, share something about what makes The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick so special, and celebrate its 75th anniversary.

I also got to have an almost red carpet moment with fellow Swanwicker, Dave Bromley, but find out more about that in the post. Link below.

Swanwick 2024

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Not great weather today though it didn’t stop Lady having a lovely time with her Hungarian Vizler chum this morning. Mind you, I got to reprise my excellent impersonation of a bedraggled rat! Wasn’t quite enough rain to be a fully fledged drowned rat!

My Swanwick 2024 post is up on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. If you want to know something about why The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick is so special, do check my post out. See above.

My next events will be the Association of Christian Writers’ Autumn Gathering In October and the Bridge House Publishing event in December, both of which I’m looking forward to already.

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again soon. I know. It’s hard to believe we’re so close to September, one of my favourite months, (and only one more Bank Holiday to go in the UK before…. Best left there I think).

Oh and a sneak peak at a lovely moment from Swanwick. I was delighted to get to present a Swannie to Dave Bromley this year. To find out more about Swannies and what this was all about see my CFT post tomorrow.


Hope your Wednesday has gone well. Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting later this evening. Also looking forward to sharing Swanwick 2024, my post for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link for that up on Friday. See above. The next best thing to being at Swanwick is to write about it!

Character Tips: Especially for my flash fiction, I need to know the character well. They are my way into the story. It doesn’t mean I have to know every last detail though. I just need to know enough to help me picture them and envisage the sorts of situations they would end up in and how they would react to these.

So often working out answers to a couple of pertinent questions such as what would you never do and why will reveal a great deal about my character’s attitudes and assumptions and I can make good use of those. I can, of course, make them have to face the thing they don’t want to do but I will know their reasons for this and I think that helps me create a more believable character.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Friday Flash Fiction is currently closed for submissions, understandably taking a break after their recent competition. I look forward to sending pieces in again to them soon but what I am especially grateful to them for is helping me rediscover the joys of the drabble, the 100 words flash fiction type.

I started in flash fiction writing 100 worders (for CafeLit) but then branched out into writing the longer forms of flash and short stories (which I still write). The discovery of Friday Flash Fiction led me back into writing the 100 worders regularly and I am loving doing this.

I like the discipline of creating a brand new 100 word story for them most weeks of the year. I also appreciate the feedback and support from other writers on the site plus I get to enjoy a thoroughly good read every week. What’s not to like about that? If you would like to check out my stories here do follow the link.
Screenshot 2024-08-23 at 19-24-27 Friday Flash Fiction - Search Results

One of my favourite comments about flash fiction comes from the good people at The Bridport Prize who refer to it as “the art of just enough”. I think that’s a great summary of it.

I have it in mind when I’m drafting my stories. I think about what the reader needs to know and give them that and nothing else. They do get the “just enough” so they can make inferences needed, where appropriate.

I know when I’m reading I don’t want the author to spell out everything. I want them to give me enough, regardless of the length of story, so I can figure some things out too. It is always fun going on to find out whether I’m right or not.

Allison Symes - Flash Fiction Collections

Hope you have had a good day – has been trying here. But knowing how I feel when days are trying is something I can transfer to my characters when I put them in trying situations. (I make sure I do of course!).

Drawing on what you know in terms of how you feel when things go wrong or disappointment hits is something you can transfer to your characterisation. It makes for believable characters readers will identify with because they know where the character is coming from and why they are feeling the way they do. We’ve all been there. Our characters can go there too!

One of the great comforts about reading, I think, is when we read characters going through hell and high water and think well at least it isn’t us or we know how the characters feel. Stories are fabulous for encouraging empathy like that.

Do I find it relaxing when I put my characters through the mill? It can be amazingly therapeutic at times but my goal is to ensure it all works out and becomes a good story a reader will enjoy. That’s the challenge and I love rising to it.

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Fairytales With Bite – Accountability

With my writing, I find having deadlines makes me accountable. I have to get columns done by a certain date, stories off to competitions and/or markets by a certain date and so on.

Leading on from that thought, in your world, when a task (magical or otherwise) has to be done, who makes sure it gets done and in the right way? Who follows through? Who reports back X has been done in the right way? Who reports back when it hasn’t been?

What you are looking for here are story possibilities from the chain of command which must exist. Even in the most democratic of fantasy settings, someone does have to give the orders, there will be others below them and so on.

There would be room for humorous stories here too. It doesn’t have to be deadly serious. As ever, I will flag up Discworld here where there is no doubt about who is in charge of Ankh-Morpork but so much humour does come from those wonderful novels. I’m especially fond of the Sam Vimes books here. He knows he’s accountable to Lord Vetinari. Doesn’t mean he has to like it though! When Moist von Lipwig comes into the stories, he finds himself accountable to His Lordship and to an extent Vimes as well (see Raising Steam).

So who would you have accountable to whom? How does this work?

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This World and Others – Record Keepers

Every society has its history and archives. Some treasure these more than others. Every society has its good and bad history. Some acknowledge this. Others definitely don’t.

In your setting, which records are kept and why? Who can access them? Are there any secret records only a privileged few can ever access? Have any records been destroyed and, if so, which ones and on whose orders?

Are the record keepers treated well or are they kept under the thumb by dictatorial bosses? How did the record keepers get to hold that position in the first place? I would envisage connections working here – the old boys’ network perhaps – especially if there is anything which has to be kept secret from the general public. You would want someone you could trust in positions like that.

Also give some thought as to how far the records go back and in which manner they’re kept? Is technology used or is it all kept on scrolls? When you have a character needing to look something up, how easy or otherwise would they find doing this? Do they find the information they’re after?

Records matter. They’re used for all sorts of things including family history research. Would your characters need to look up some of their ancestors and, if so, why? Would they be pleased or horrified at what they find out?

Story ideas there!

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Well, given my editing course at Swanwick recently, I thought the April 2024 edition of Writers’ Narrative on that theme was the best one to share this time! In the magazine my article asks Editing: Do You Love It or Loathe It? Always a timely question!

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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The Joy of Writing Events

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. A huge thank you goes to Penny Blackburn for the image of me reading at the Swanwick 2024 Open Prose Mic Night, to Jen Wilson for taking the one of me at the Lift Up Your Pens session, and to June Webber for the Swanwick celebration photo. (I swear I was on the apple juice and NO not cider!).
Must admit the weekend was mainly spent recovering from Swanwick week but I suspect every other attendee did much the same! Have slowly resumed my usual writing routine this week. I find having a routine helps enormously. I know what I am writing when and by the end of the week I’ve got more done precisely because I haven’t dithered.
Of course most of this week I’ve also been thinking about what was I doing at Swanwick a week ago. It would never surprise me if other Swanwickers do the same.

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Facebook – General

Hope you have had a good day. Glad to be swimming again. First time back in the pool after Swanwick. I came out feeling a little bit less like a beached whale! (You do get looked after very well at The Hayes!).

Writing Tip: Even if you’re not thinking of being published or are published yet, it would still pay you to work out what you would say if someone asked you about what you write. That question does make for a good ice breaker at events like Swanwick so it would pay to be ready for it.

Should the time come when you’re submitting work to a publisher/agent, they will want you to be able to describe your work succinctly. If you are writing a book or a short story collection, it also pays to think of your one line hook for it because these take more time than you might expect to get right.


Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group on Zoom on Wednesday. Plan to share some useful tips, after which I hope people will share a piece or two of flash fiction.

It’s not a bad idea to get used to sharing work in an environment where you are comfortable doing so. It gets you used to reading your work out. You receive immediate feedback from a friendly audience. It can be a major source of encouragement.

Talking of which I was encouraged Bridge House Publishing shared an excerpt from my Tripping the Flash Fantastic. See screenshot. Nice start to the week.

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Pleased to be back on Authors Electric with a timely post. I talk about The Joy of Writing Events, two days after returning from the wonderful The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. Post went out originally on 18th August 2024.

I look at the joys of being with like-minded people who understand the joys and frustrations of writing and discuss the benefits of joining in with writing events. Zoom, of course, has come into its own thanks to the pandemic making online events possible. I regularly run a workshop on flash fiction using this.

What is great is that there are benefits from both types of event. For me, being with others who understand that urge to write is one of the biggest ones. No need to explain anything!

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I was mugged by Lady on getting home from Swanwick yesterday as expected. Lady duly delivered and she was delighted to see her best pal, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, as we returned from our lunchtime walk today. Win-win for the dogs!

Eventful journey home yesterday as the train to London St. Pancras had to stop at Kettering because of a medical emergency and everyone had to change trains. Just hope that poor passenger is okay. Especially glad to get home after that and see everyone.

Will be writing about my week at Swanwick for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Looking forward to writing that one up! The rest of the weekend though is booked for recovery time. As expected, I came back from Swanwick, re-inspired, re-enthused, and shattered but these are all signs of a truly great week!
Many thanks to June Webber for the picture too!

Celebrating at Swanwick 2024 - photo from June Webber
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I was resting a flash fiction competition entry prior to going to Swanwick. Glad to say I have now reviewed it and submitted it.

I knew there wasn’t a lot to do to it but those who came to my editing course will know I talked about having a “final, final edit” where I look for typos, ensure I’m following all the rules etc. I then get the story sent off which is now done for this one. I won’t know anything until much later in the year but I’m 11 days ahead of the deadline so that pleases me too.

Never leave submissions to the last minute – you will miss something. I’m not guilty of this one myself but have known it to be done. It never pays off.

So on to the next flash competition then and I do have something in mind to have a try for here. Now to get on with a first draft (though I will probably add this on to my flash fiction Sunday afternoon spot later this week).

Sometimes I know which competition I’m trying. Sometimes I have an idea for a character, write their story up, and then if a suitable competition comes up, I will review my story and after polishing it, send it in. But I do always like to have some flash “on the go”. That does pay off!

Polishing your manuscriptIt’s Monday. It’s the first Monday back from Swanwick. I need a story! Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Dial a Character.


I suspect it will be a slow return to normal after the bliss of Swanwick week. Having said that, one thing which will help enormously is having my usual flash fiction writing on a Sunday afternoon! I also had the lovely task of judging some flash stories for a competition and I have now sent in my choice. It was hard to pick a choice (which is alway a good sign of great quality writing overall). I’ll be judging flash stories again for a writing group in September and am looking forward to doing that. Will also be resuming my editing work later this week.

Oh and have managed to submit a story for a flash competition, which I was “resting” during Swanwick week. I’d drafted it at the end of July, edited it a week or so into August, and then rested it, came back home, minor tweaks only required, and off it has gone.

One of the things I mentioned in my editing course was having a deadline by which you will send a piece off somewhere. It is possible to use editing as a form of procrastination and I am aware of this so always set myself deadlines to get work out by. It gets around that issue nicely.

456023104_10162139308377053_632554507637700600_nLooking forward to seeing everyone next week at the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction group on Zoom. I plan to share some top tips and I hope people will get the chance to share some of their flash pieces. Well, everyone likes to listen to stories, right?

Pleased to share the word about flash fiction at Swanwick. It is also a fabulous format to use at Open Prose Mic Nights because you can give your audience complete stories and still not over run. Win-win there.

Am looking forward to resuming my usual flash fiction writing on Sunday afternoon. Nice way to end the week. Good luck to anyone who has entered the Friday Flash Fiction competition (which is timed to run as the Edinburgh Festival runs).

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Goodreads Author Blog – Celebrating Books and Those Who Write Them

I’ve recently returned from my highlight of the writing year – a week spent at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick, which is set in the lovely county of Derbyshire. I have a week of workshops and courses (I ran a two part one on editing there this year) and spend a week immersed in the wonderful world of writing with other authors who understand the drive to write at all.

It is also fantastic catching up with old friends in person. For the rest of the year we stay in contact online. It’s also lovely getting to meet new people and chat with them about what they do writing wise. (The topic is a guaranteed ice breaker).

I like to see Swanwick as a chance to celebrate books and those who write them. I come back refreshed, reinvigorated, and shattered! You can feel the creativity in the air, I think.

In general terms, I would like to see more celebrations of books and their authors. Books are one of the best things humanity has ever given to the world.

Screenshot 2024-08-17 at 20-12-50 Allison Symes's Blog - Celebrating Books and Those Who Write Them - August 17 2024 12 12 Goodreads

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I’m sharing the recent May 2024 edition which was based on memoir. My article was on using memoir techniques for character creation.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Never Fear The Editing

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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 and some Swanwick photos were taken by me, Allison Symes. Many thanks to Val Penny for arranging for one photo to be taken and to then send it on, more below.
Had a fabulous time at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. I will write about it in more depth for Chandler’s Ford Today soon. Am home again inspired, encouraged, and shattered! Am listening to Classic FM for the first time for a few days and am finding it especially soothing.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am on way home from the fabulous The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick as I draft this. So good to catch up with so many writing friends. I keep in contact with many via social media and some via Zoom but you cannot beat getting together in person.

Many thanks to all who came to or gave feedback on my two part editing course and/or the Lift Up Your Pens session I led on Sunday morning. I looked at different ways of using numbers in fiction for that. If, however, you would like more on editing, do check out my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week aptly called Never Fear The Editing.

Never Fear The Editing

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The week at Swanwick passes so quickly. Many thanks to all who came to my Editing as an Author, Editing as a Competition Judge two part course today.

I’ll be discussing more on editing for my Chandler’s Ford Today post tomorrow too. Glad to get together for fellow Association of Christian Writers for a group photo today which was taken on Val Penny’s phone by a staff member of The Hayes.

The ACW contingent at Swanwick 2024

The ACW contingent at Swanwick 2024

Another wonderful day at Swanwick though I am glad the temperature has cooled somewhat. My Chandler’s Ford Today post will be up again on Friday where I’m talking about Never Fear The Editing. See above.

In something that is no coincidence whatsoever, my editing course at Swanwick is tomorrow and will be on Editing as an Author, Editing as a Competition Judge.

Had a fabulous time at the third part of Vivien Brown’s Short Story course. I had great fun killing off one of the characters we had to create on Monday as part of the homework exercise that was set. I do believe in killing my fictional darlings!

Then I was off to SpellBound Books and their talk in Pitch to a Publisher. I will be back for Part 2 of this later today. I’ll be finishing the afternoon with a Show Don’t Tell workshop, the topic is always useful.

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As well as discussing editing at Swanwick this week, it was lovely to answer questions about flash fiction too. I loved advertising flash through the Open Prose Mic Night too. A huge thanks to Penny Blackburn for the photo.

Meantime if you would like to read some flash, why not check out my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Stuck?

Reading at Open Prose Mic Night - Swanwick 2024 - many thanks to Penny Blackburn for the pic

Reading at Open Prose Mic Night – Swanwick 2024 – many thanks to Penny Blackburn for the pic


Screenshot 2024-08-16 at 16-59-14 Stuck by Allison Symes - Friday Flash Fiction

Pleased to share how flash fiction writing has helped my editing skills as part of the two section Editing course I ran at Swanwick today. Hope I have persuaded some of the joys of editing too!

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Had a wonderful time at the Open Prose Mic Night here at Swanwick last night. I read a selection of pieces from my two books, CafeLit 13, and printed some of my tales out from Friday Flash Fiction to read too. It made for a nice selection and I came in at under the five minutes mark, as is required. (This means it is more likely everyone who would like to read gets a go!).

I was also pleased to be asked for some advice on flash fiction this morning, as well as, later, being complimented on my stories. Thank you to those concerned. Feedback like this is invaluable because most of the time writers are working away on their own of course.

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Fairytales with Bite – Where Magic Can Be Found

In your fantasy setting, can magic be found anywhere or is it limited to specific locations? If the latter, is there a geographical reason for that? Does your fantasy setting ever have interaction with non-magical species or worlds? If so, do “your people” hide their skills or use them to dominate others?

Are there those who have seen and experienced the awful side to magic (all forms of power can be abused so that applies here too)? Do they do all they can to fight it? What can they right back with?
If there is “raw” magic in the geography itself, can that be “mined” by anyone? Are there rules governing its use?

Where magic can be found as a theme can be taken in positive or negative directions. So what do your characters make of magic and why? Story ideas there!

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This World and Others – Creativity and Collaboration

I’ve not long returned from The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick which is a fabulous week where delegates find themselves immersed in the world of writing, There is a lot of creativity and collaboration! Many of the workshops and courses, including the one I ran on editing, are interactive in that exercises are set, feedback is given there and then and so on.

So what would be your world’s equivalent of this? Would this kind of creativity and co-operation be confined to what we know as the humanities/creative arts?

Of course here you often see these wonderful attributes in things like engineering, science etc where the great discoveries, engineering achievements and so on can’t possibly be achieved by one person but where a special someone (like Isambard Kingdom Brunel) is needed to kick start the process off. By this I mean they achieve great things but also enable others to do so building on what they have done.

So who would your special characters be here? What have they contributed to your world? What obstacles did they have to overcome? Plenty of story ideas there.

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the September 2023 issue of the magazine with its focus on marketing, always a timely and useful topic. I talk about Marketing Your Books and Writing for Online Magazines for this one.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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