Random Questions and Feedback

January 25, 2022Leave a comment

Image Credits:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Some images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing.

Good to see the evenings slowly becoming lighter in my part of the world. It’s still January though… aka the month that goes on for what seems like forever!

Facebook – General

So cold out there today in my part of the world – even the dog wasn’t impressed.

Had a lovely time talking about flash fiction via Zoom to an ACW-affiliated group last night. I do hope it leads to more people trying flash fiction for themselves – it is good fun, addictive, and helps you sharpen your writing skills.

Certainly I’m not afraid of editing thanks to writing flash and it also makes me think about the impact of my stories and characters from the start. Doing that means I am thinking about the reader’s needs immediately. It also means I am less likely to go off at unhelpful tangents which only slow stories down.

And it is the perfect format for those times when you don’t have much time to write. You can get something drafted in a few minutes. The great thing is it doesn’t have to be perfect. That’s what the editing stages are for!

ASPECTS OF WRITING - Treating writing and editing as separate tasks

Has been a good Monday for me – as busy as ever but I seemed to get more things done more quickly. I wish all Mondays were like that. Still you treasure the good ones you get!

I’ve used the same prompt (from a random question generator) to trigger two stories. One I’ve submitted to Friday Flash Fiction and the other one I’ll share on my book page shortly as it is the latest in my YouTube videos. The question generated was what makes you cry? Link further down.

Interesting one as you can take this in a tragic direction but there is a possibility for comedy too (which is the direction I’ve taken). And of course you can adjust it to think about what would make your character cry.

I love random generators. They really make me put my thinking cap on.

Screenshot 2022-01-13 at 21-22-24 Random Number Generator

AE - Jan 2022 - Random question generators

AE - Jan 2022 - I have to have a way in to creating a character

AE - Jan 2022 - Random number generators

Screenshot 2022-01-25 at 20-06-15 Allison Symes

Have been enjoying a quiet weekend. I’ll be taking a broad look at Characters in Fiction for Chandler’s Ford Today later this week. Looking forward to sharing that on Friday. Have been spending time preparing pieces for different blog spots – plenty to keep me out of mischief anyway!

And I am also getting my author newsletter together ready for that to go out on 1st February. (Do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com if you would like to sign up – I share news, tips, prompts, videos etc here).

What is the one thing you like most about writing? I know it’s hard to say but for me that feeling of knowing you’ve created a piece of work that you can’t improve any more and someone else has accepted it – well, it is hard to beat that one!

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Hope you have had a good Saturday. Many thanks for the comments coming in on Someone Like Her my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction. It is lovely receiving feedback from other readers on this site and I love reading through the other stories too.

What I find helpful in feedback I receive is in finding out what readers responded to – was it the character, the twist ending etc? (This is another reason why book reviews matter – it isn’t just the number received, it is what is said here as well).

And in giving feedback, I look to stress the positives, share what I think can be improved, and maybe make market suggestions if something obvious comes to mind. Sometimes a story you’re reading for a competition just calls into mind a possible market for it.

Am looking forward to giving a Zoom talk on Monday night too. So all go at the moment but in a very good way.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Many thanks for the views coming in so far on Crying, my latest YouTube video. Much appreciated, always. See video link below.

For a short story like this one, I nearly always go for using the first person. I can take you straight into my character’s head and show you their thoughts, attitudes and actions. I like to think of it as “hitting the ground running”.

The funny thing here though is I had barely used first person before writing flash fiction. I suppose for a short word count format the immediacy of the “I” character has more impact than it would do in a longer piece where its effect might be “diluted” a bit. I do know it works really well in flash though.

Pleased to be sharing my latest YouTube story called Crying. This came from a random question generator and the question that came up was what makes you cry? Find out here what makes my character cry. Hope you enjoy it.

I’ve never liked those stories where the description seems to go on for ever and ever, amen. Funnily enough I have no problems here with classic novels where the writers had to spell everything out for their readers (no TV, no film, no easy way of a reader visualising what London looks like etc).

But in this day and age where we can get a good idea of what a place looks like because of our experiences with TV and film, I certainly don’t want to see that kind of description in any kind of story.

This is where flash fiction comes into its own. It makes you focus on only the most important things that have to go into the story for it to make sense. Having to work to a tight word count means you have to make choices but it is all for the good of the story – and that is always a great thing. Regardless of what we write, we should always be focusing on what is for the good of the story (which is where that famous phrase about “killing your darlings” comes in I suspect).

(But if you do want a great read right now and one which is free how about following this link to Mom’s Favorite Reads?).

Am giving a Zoom talk on Monday night about flash fiction. Love talking about that. I also think it is a great form for people who don’t have a lot of time to write but know they want to write something! And you can. Over time you can build up another flash stories for your own collections etc. I remain convinced in learning to write to a tight word count, that skill will carry over into writing query letters, synopses etc that also have to “not go on for too long” and convey information to attract an agent/publisher quickly.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Best Friends in Fiction

With my other writing hat on, I blog including for a weekly online magazine. My current topic for them is Best Friends in Fiction but I realised it would be a good topic for Goodreads too. When a lead character and their best friend/sidekick character are well portrayed, it is a joy to read their adventures and the interactions between them.

Can you imagine Holmes without Watson or Wooster without Jeeves? So many classic stories depend on the best friend character – and across genres too. Think Sam Gamgee and his support of Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings. (It was literal support at some points too).

Characterisation has always been what makes or breaks a story (of any length) for me. I have got to understand where the characters are coming from, even if I disagree with their attitudes and actions. And for lead and best friend characters I have got to see why the lead has the best friend character they do.

Holmes is a genius but needs Watson to temper that but Holmes does recognise that. Watson knows he can never be as brilliant as Holmes but knows he has his own role to play that could not be fulfilled by Holmes. Can you imagine Holmes trying to narrate a story for the masses? Err… no I think!

Do you have any favourite best friend fictional characters and if so why have you chosen these? Mine is Sam Gamgee – you can’t beat the guy for loyalty and guts when it matters.

Thanks for the shout out @valeriepenny – always glad to spread the word about flash fiction, and mine in particular! (Both books available as paperbacks and ebooks). https://t.co/eMuveQQ0Ss pic.twitter.com/CVDP5JYxyN
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 22, 2022

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liked Allison Symes's blog post: Best Friends in Fiction https://t.co/GAhBj5URDN via @goodreads Characterisation makes or breaks a story. The portrayal of a lead character and best friend/sidekick is vital for stories to work. You can't imagine Holmes without Watson, can you? pic.twitter.com/pAzWHZKAU8
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 22, 2022

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Best Friends in Fiction

January 21, 2022Leave a comment

Image Credits:

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Some images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Image of Lady and myself taken by my other half, Adrian Symes. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing.

Hope you have had a good week. This week has ended well as a still poorly Lady is now a lot, lot better and back playing with her pals in the park again.

Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am pleased to share Best Friends in Fiction, my latest blog for Chandler’s Ford Today. I take a look at the role of the best friend/sidekick character and nominate the one I think is the best fictional friend of all time. Take a look at the post and see if you agree with me. Nominations for your own candidate would be very welcome in the CFT comments box!

I also discuss why some stories simply wouldn’t work without the best friend character (and I am sure you can think of loads of examples. To name only one could you really imagine Wooster without Jeeves? I know I can’t. And while I know Jeeves is Wooster’s “gentleman’s personal gentleman” there is no question that the advice and help he gives Bertie is the kind of advice the very best kind of best friend character would give.)

Hope you enjoy the post.

Best Friends in Fiction

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Had a lovely time at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction group meeting on Zoom last night. We were chatting about writing prompts and random generators amongst other things, both of which I love and use a lot. I like to mix up the kinds of prompt I use as that keeps me on my toes.

And if you are looking for ideas for prompts, I will flag up Prompts 2020, Prompts 2021, and Prompts 2022, all of which were produced by Gill James and with contributions from many Bridge House Publishing authors including yours truly. The link takes you to the Bridgetown Cafe Bookshop page. But having a book of prompts to hand is a good idea as is using the different kinds of random generators. It all helps inspire the imagination.

Screenshot 2022-01-20 at 19-51-08 Amazon co uk Prompts by Gill James

Screenshot 2022-01-20 at 19-49-30 The Bridgetown Café Bookshop

Hope you have had a good day. Lovely highlight for me today was having a long overdue catch-up chat over a cup of tea with my editor at Chandler’s Ford Today, Janet Williams. (As ever, Lady thought any visitor has to be for her. It is difficult to convince a dog otherwise).

I’ll be talking about Best Friends in Fiction for CFT on Friday. So much wonderful fiction relies on the best friend/sidekick character and, as well as looking at what the best friend’s role is for, I nominate whom I think is the best ever friend in fiction in my post. Looking forward to sharing that. See link above.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It’s the end of the standard working week (at least here in the UK) and it’s story time again. Am pleased to share Someone Like Her, my latest piece on Friday Flash Fiction. This story is a little unusual for me in that it is the first time where I have deliberately repeated a whole line. It is appropriate to do so for the tale and I think gives the piece a good rhythm.

Normally I would consider a repetition like that a waste of words, especially in such a tight word count. I would normally seek to say something similar in a different way if I needed some repetition for emphasis, say. But here I think the repetition works well. Comments always welcome here and on the Friday Flash Fiction page under my story.

One huge benefit to flash fiction writing is, if you are pushed for time (and how many of us are not at times?), you still have a form of writing where you could produce something in ten minutes, say. Okay it will need editing later but all forms of writing need that so that’s fine.

I must admit I find it satisfying to produce a piece and not have to wait too long for a pay-off from it (and even when that pay-off is a turn down, I can edit the piece again and re-submit it somewhere). I’ve found it useful to save small pockets of time to draft future stories.

When I have more time, I can come back to those and polish them up, ready to submit somewhere. But it is so nice knowing I can use those pockets of time for something useful (and which helps me make the most of those longer writing sessions later on).

What do I want a flash fiction story to achieve? Well, a lot depends on the story’s mood of course but whether I am trying to make a reader laugh, cry, or scream, it is all about the impact. My characters must make my readers care about what happens to them. There has to be impact. I want a reader to enjoy my flash pieces and feel that not a word could be added or taken away.

Fairytales With Bite – Three Is Magical

The number three crops up in fairytales often. Three wishes. The youngest son (out of three) is the one to do well. And then there are the titles – The Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, etc. In any story where something happens, then that same or very similar something happens again, I am expecting the something to be resolved on the third “go”. The Rule of Three is something we take in all the time while being usually unaware of it.

And there are good reasons for this. The first “occasion” sets up a situation, the second one repeats it where the character clearly hasn’t learned the lesson they’re supposed to have learned, but on the third time they have changed what needs to be changed so the situation is resolved, usually happily. The structure works.

A fourth “go” and the story would seem to drag on for too long. Resolving the situation in two “goes” would not seem realistic either given characters (and us!) need time to realise they’ve got something wrong, work out how to put something right, try something, it still doesn’t quite work out, but on the third attempt they’re there.

So three is a magical figure for fiction telling then. With fairytales, you can always arrange for your character to have three magical objects (naturally the last of these will be the most powerful). What matters here is how your character uses these things. Do they use the first one wastefully or greedily? Does this backfire so they are less greedy or wasteful when it comes to using the second object but are still not quite using magic honourably?

By the time they’re ready to use the third, have they stopped being greedy or wasteful and use the last object in a sensible way? Scene – action – reaction. Scene – action – reaction. Scene – positive action – positive resolution.

This World and Others – Who Tells The Stories?

What form(s) do stories take in your created world? Is there a written/printed story tradition or is it oral only? Is technology used for storytelling or are there bards and the like telling stories the old-fashioned way? Are stories valued and accessible to all?

Or does your world prefer facts only and the stories told are those of past battles won etc? (It can be an interesting reflection on a place where it celebrates its victories but ignores its defeats. For that sort of world, I would expect there to be oppression, no freedom of the press etc).

Who tells the stories is an interesting question in another way. Who tells the storytellers what they can say? Does the narrative ever change? Does the narrative get challenged? And what would happen if your created world was made up to face up to the fact that one of their so-called great victories was actually a defeat and there has been an almighty cover-up?

Are there libraries and who can access these? If books are banned in your creation, which ones and why? Also is there a black market for the banned books (there often is for this kind of thing)?

Whose voices are represented by the stories being told? Whose stories are ignored or treated with contempt?

Answering questions like these will help give you a clearer picture of what your world is and its attitudes. It should then show you your characters’ reactions to those attitudes. Do they just accept it as it has always been that way or do they seek to change it?

How did 2021 go, writing wise? Did you set writing goals? I set a few. I managed a few too while there are others where I didn’t get as far along as I thought I would. That’s fine. They come up the queue for this year! So never fear, another year is here and goals can be moved. pic.twitter.com/awLiOqzjtw
— ACW (@ACW1971) January 19, 2022

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Not everyone likes writing goals but I find having something I’d like to achieve defined means I’m more likely to do it or make progress on it. I like to set an achievable goal, another I’m likely to do, and a long term one, where it is a question of monitoring progress. pic.twitter.com/mSBVmglQBL
— ACW (@ACW1971) January 20, 2022

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Goals confirm why no writer should compare themselves with another. Calls on our time differ. Our writing differs. So will our goals. Writing goals are meant to spur you on and encourage you. If goals make you feel miserable, change them. They won’t work for you left as they are. pic.twitter.com/J2KySeRCZz
— ACW (@ACW1971) January 21, 2022

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Someone Like Her, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/8yoEAjyIvE Delighted to share my latest FFF story – being different can be a life saver. Find out why here. Hope you enjoy. pic.twitter.com/IZf2cVobzq
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 21, 2022

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Best Friends in Fiction https://t.co/6l8ngpHlAy I look at the role of the best friend/sidekick character in fiction and nominate the one I think is the best ever. Check the post out and see if you agree! pic.twitter.com/6A08Ai7zTp
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 21, 2022

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Firing Up The Imagination

January 18, 2022Leave a comment

Image Credits:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Some images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing.

Hope you had a good weekend. Mixed bag here – my dog, Lady, wasn’t well though she is a lot better now, thankfully and getting on with plenty of writing (which always cheers me up).

Facebook – General

I talk about random generators for my Authors Electric post on Firing Up the Imagination this month. I use a variety of these to trigger story ideas, title ideas, theme ideas and so on. I’ve even used a number generator to trigger numbers I either use as countdowns in my tales or house addresses where the action take space. Why not give them a go? They’re great fun to use and you can set your own parameters on them too.

AE - Jan 2022 - Mixing up how I approach writing

AE - Jan 2022 - Thinking outside the box

Screenshot 2022-01-18 at 20-21-41 Firing Up the Imagination by Allison Symes

Towards the end of last week, Lady came down with the same bug her best buddy, the Ridgeback, had. Glad to say both girls are now a lot better and were so pleased to see each other this morning.

Sent in another story for Friday Flash Fiction over the weekend and am looking forward to taking part in the ACW Flash Fiction group Zoom meeting on Wednesday. For my FFF story, I did something a little unusual – I repeated a whole line deliberately. I hope to be able to share the link on Friday but the reason for the repetition was that it added “oomph” to the storyline and to my lead character’s portrayal.

With the flash fiction word count being what it is (and 100 words for FFF) I would normally see repetition as a waste of words and I would usually find a different way of saying the same thing if that was justified. Often that kind of thing brings emphasis to a point without the need to repeat. But for this story the direct repetition was the correct way to go. I look forward to sharing the link later in the week and you can see what you think.

What matters is why you’re doing something like this and the reason has to be strong enough to justify it.

Hope you have had a nice weekend. It was lovely catching up with two lovely writer friends on Zoom last night.

I’ll be talking about Best Friends in Fiction for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up on Friday. And I’ll be taking a briefer look at Animals in Fiction again for Authors Electric on Tuesday. Link above.

Many thanks for the comments coming in on Dodging by Numbers, my latest piece on Friday Flash Fiction.

I must admit, especially given what my story is about, I prefer painting by numbers, which is something I did as a kid. I also used to like I-Spy as a kid, both the game and the books on different topics where you got points for specific things observed.

Topics included things like birds, cars, butterflies, on a train journey etc., and I understand the books are still going strong. The idea of course was to encourage observation (and it kept kids quiet on a journey! I know as I was one of those kids!). Also it encouraged kids to collect books, another good thing!

But being observant is excellent prep work for creative writing. You spot things and story ideas occur.

Your observations encourage you to ask questions such as the classic “what if” and that is probably my favourite trigger question for a story. You can do so much with that one but it helps enormously to have an observant, inquiring nature as you’re more likely to ask the question and want to answer it. I can’t honestly say what impact the I-Spy books had on me for developing curiosity about the world around me but triggering interest is key to learning anything I think.

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Hope you have had a good Saturday. It has been pretty cold again here but on the plus side, my winter jasmine is out, and I am beginning to see some signs spring is on its way. Won’t be long I hope before I see the first snowdrop.

Now what do your characters make of the seasons? Do they have a particular favourite? Are they at their best in one, say, and at their worst in another? How could that affect their behaviour and how the outcome of your story might play out?

If you have a character who loathes the long dark evenings of winter, what would it take to make them do something that needs doing as part of your plot? How would they make themselves face up to having to get on with the task in hand regardless?

This would be a good opportunity for your character to show grit and determination. It should also encourage reader sympathy. I have a lot of sympathy for characters who make themselves do what has to be done regardless of personal feelings, likes and dislikes.

Also working out what your characters like/dislike here gives you a chance to flesh them out more so you understand where they are coming from, even if some of this does not make it into your story. I have found the more I know my character, the better I can write up their story as I am writing about them from conviction. And I think some of that comes through to your reader.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

One great way to get “into” a story is to come up with a cracking opening line which gives your character a “do or die” scenario you know has to be resolved one way or the other by the end of the tale.

In my Decisions from Tripping the Flash Fantastic, my opening line reads “He could watch the world end or jump on to the alien spaceship that encourages visitors.”. Decision time right there and then, consequences will have to follow whichever choice is made, and hopefully your reader is hooked to want to find out more.

And it is great fun, and a good use of time, to draft opening lines like that and come back to them later to write the stories up. You give yourself thinking time for one thing. Also if you find that promising opening line isn’t as good as you thought, and that is where the break away will help you come back and judge it objectively, change it to something you want to write up.

When I have moments like that, I then write up the new idea pretty much straight away fuelled by my own enthusiasm for the new idea that has occurred to me believing it will be better than the original one. Most of the time it is but I needed to get the original idea down first to help clear my imagination to come up with the better one! The old brain can be a bit funny like that but it does mean when you jot down ideas, you are “clearing the decks” ready for your subconscious to get to work.

It’s Monday (Blue Monday too). It has been a long day. It is story time then! Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – The End Is Nigh. (And if you, like me, find Monday especially tiring and busy, then the thought it is almost the end is nigh for this particular Monday is a good thing too!).

I discussed Reading as Therapy in my Goodreads blog this week but reading is, of course, so much more than that. See link here and further down.

Reading is vital to anyone wanting to write whether it is flash fiction pieces or a three volume epic because:-

What you read inspires what you write. I love fairytales. So I like to write my own. I don’t want to write my version of Cinderella but I have written twists on that classic story. I like to write from a fairy godmother’s viewpoint etc but I needed to know the fairytales and how they work to be able to do that.
You take in subconsciously how stories work, how dialogue is laid out etc so that helps you when it comes to writing your own tales.
You literally see who the publishers are and what they are producing. Some authors credit their agents in books. So reading is a way of picking up information that might prove useful to you when it comes to submitting your own work.
I read in my field (I need to know what else is out there and I will always read genres I love, including those I write in), and out of it. I widen my sources of inspiration thanks to doing that.

I’ve mentioned before I also mix up the kinds of things I read. I read short and long form, fiction and non-fiction, books, and magazines. It all counts. Best of all it is fun!

It is good fun every now and then to have a writing session where I jot down promising opening lines. I come back to them at a later date and if they still grab me, I write them up. A really good opening line can be a complete flash fiction story in and of itself (though you can still go on and write a fuller version of the story later if you wanted to do so).

And when you only have short pockets of time to write, why not draft this kind of thing? You are doing something creative. And your subconscious can “brew” on the lines you’ve come up with (which will help you when it does come to writing the story up). You may not be able to get to your desk for a bit. Fine. Let your mind start thinking up possibilities for those opening lines. You are thinking possible stories out and that is never wasted time.

Goodreads Author Blog – Reading as Therapy

Now there are certain things I see as therapeutic – chocolate, classical music, my dog, and, naturally, a good book or several. When the news is grim (as it so often is these days), a good book can transport you back in time, forward in time, anywhere on Earth (other planets are available if you like sci-fi), and can chill you, thrill you or make you laugh.

Books are wonderful. Doesn’t matter what format they come in either.

And when my own mood is low, reading a cosy crime (Agatha Christie) or something by Wodehouse or Pratchett or Austen is the very thing to help lift it. Books cannot stop my problems, yet alone the ones we see in the news day in day out, but they can transport us “somewhere else” for a while and sometimes that is all you need.

So yes I see the act of reading as a therapeutic art in and of itself and one major reason why I would love to see everyone enjoy books and reading.

Photo by Brett Jordan on Pexels.com

liked Allison Symes's blog post: Reading as Therapy https://t.co/Vt6DK1kr2E via @goodreads I discuss reading as therapy this week. I don't just read for that reason but books are a wonderful aid for when the news is grim, as it so often is these days. pic.twitter.com/gfiYVHb1at
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 15, 2022

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Authors Electric: Firing Up the Imagination by Allison Symes https://t.co/pz220wzDGp I share how useful I've found random generators in triggering story ideas for AE this month. Give them a go. They're fun too. pic.twitter.com/78RjrSQJnE
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 18, 2022

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Animals in Fiction

January 14, 2022Leave a comment

Image Credits:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Some images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Many thanks to Geoff Parkes and Penny Blackburn for shots taken of me at Open Prose Mic Nights at the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School. (Looking forward to being back there again!).

**Hope you have had a good week. I think I’ve had the best comment ever on any post I’ve written in my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. See further down for more on this.**

Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am delighted to share Animals in Fiction, my post for Chandler’s Ford Today for this week. I look at favourite animal characters as well as explore their use in stories. I also look at writing from the viewpoint of an animal, which is something I’ve done from time to time.

And I am thrilled comments are coming in on this one already, including one that I think may well prove to be the best comment I’ve ever had on a CFT post (and possibly on any blog post!). Once you’ve read the post, scroll down and check out what one of my readers’ dogs made of the theme for Jaws! My sympathy is with the dog.

Also, do send in your own comments on the CFT post about your favourite animals in fiction.

Animals in Fiction

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Good news – Lady got to see her best buddy briefly today. Latter is much better and the two dogs were delighted to see each other, especially since today is not one of the days they usually meet.

I’ll be sharing my Animals in Fiction post for Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. Looking forward to sharing that. I loved animal characters when I was a kid. I have a soft spot for them still (helped no end by being a dog owner I suspect). Give some thought as to the ones you loved in books. Comments are always welcome over on the CFT page – link up tomorrow – would love to hear your thoughts on this topic over on that page then.

I have written stories from the viewpoint of an animal though I mainly focus on humans/humanoids but every so often it is good to turn the tables. I can use animal stories to show what I think they might think of us!

Screenshot 2022-01-14 at 20-07-24 Animals in Fiction - Chandler's Ford Today

How has Wednesday been? Lady’s had an okay day but she missed her best buddy today (and that’s because her pal isn’t feeling too well, poor thing. Very much keeping everything crossed, paws included, that all is well again soon). It is lovely to watch how dogs make friends with each other.

Talking of friends, how do your characters measure up here? Do they have plenty of them? Or do they believe in quality over quantity? Equally, how good a friend are they to others?

There are plenty of stories where friends come to the rescue but how about writing one where a friend lets someone down and then goes on later to make up for it? Could have a lovely emotional rollercoaster of a story there. Rebuilding trust is difficult though not impossible. How do your characters manage it?

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to share Dodging by Numbers, my new story on Friday Flash Fiction. I used a random number generator to come up with the number 766 and you can find out how I worked that into a flash fiction piece here. Hope you enjoy it.

The more observant may have noticed I used the same number for my YouTube story this week, Lucky Number.

You know how coincidences don’t really work in fiction, right?

You know you have to plant clues for the readers so when your event happens they know it was within the realms of possibilities for your character so don’t feel cheated, right?

So the wise author never ever uses coincidences because they know they won’t be believed by a reader, right?

Well, there was no coincidence here either!).

I have a “stock” of stories for reading out at Open Prose Mic Nights. Flash fiction works brilliantly for this as you can’t go on for too long – and everyone likes that!

Naturally I mix up the mood of the flash tales I read out. I like to start and finish with an amusing piece and have something darker and/or more reflective in the middle section. And I do practice reading the stories out loud first at home. (For one thing I have found knowing I’ve done that helps steady the old nerves a bit!)

Delighted to say I’ll be giving a Zoom talk on flash fiction again soon. Always happy to spread the word about what a wonderful format it is!

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I must admit I do a lot of my reading in bed – it’s a wonderful way to unwind. But we all get stressful days when perhaps it is more of an effort to read. This is where I do turn to flash fiction and short story collections. I am still reading wonderfully crafted stories. I’m just going for the shorter form. I also deliberately read collections in between novels. I like to mix up what I read in terms of author, genre, and length of story too.

Writing flash fiction gives me a great opportunity to mix up what I write too in terms of word count, genre I write in (as I’ve written crime flash, historical flash, fantasy flash etc). And it is such fun to do especially if you like creating people as I do. I’ve found flash has helped me to develop my show and not tell technique as well (which can of course be applied to any length of fiction).

Writing short is also marvellous practice in preparing material for blogs, advertising, blurbs etc.

Fairytales With Bite – Time

How is time measured in your fictional world? Does it have the same divisions? I’ve used time in my flash fiction stories (and in one crime story I had 1a clock as a murder weapon!).

Do you use Time as a character? I’m drafting a story with this in mind and am showing Time as a character who cannot be cheated. The fun here is in showing how another character tries to be the one who will finally achieve that. There is always someone who will try to do that which has not been done before and you could make that a comedy story or a tragedy.

What impact does time have on your characters? Are they ruled by the clock or other time measuring device? How does time affect the way in which they live? In your fictional world, is there anyone who can control time and how do they do this? I would expect there to be a heavy price to pay for that ability (with great power should go a sense of great responsibility and, if not, misusing the ability to control time should have consequences. Note I said should there!).

How does time affect what your characters can do and when? Do different characters appear at differing times of the day/week/year etc? Why do they only come out at certain times?

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This World and Others – Reacting to Time

How does your world measure time? Does it worry about keeping “tabs” on time? Or do your characters just go with the flow? Do your characters age, as we understand the term? If they get to one age and then stop at that point until, presumably, they die, why does time stop for them?

Time, of course, has a big impact on us all and governs so much – everything from when we get up to making the most of natural daylight before having to go inside for the night. We can’t keep going for 24/7 – sleep has to happen. Time tires and ages us. But when we are having a lovely time of it, don’t we want those times to last for ever?

Now think about your characters. What are their attitudes here? How do they react to time? Do they see it as kindly or as a cruel thing (and age would probably have a role here in how your characters respond to that)?

With time of course there comes the point when it has to stop. We’re mortal after all. How do your mortal characters handle this knowledge? Do they make the most of the time allotted to them?

Dodging by Numbers, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/Zx259Uz0FF I used a number generator for this story. See what I did with the number 766 here! pic.twitter.com/F7UJGsLPHv
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 14, 2022

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Animals in Fiction https://t.co/UAjk6Wm3QH I discuss animal characters, explore their use in tales, and writing from an animal's viewpoint. I'm thrilled comments are in already, including one which may be the best comment I’ve ever had on a post. It involves Jaws. Check it out!
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 14, 2022

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Getting Into Character Heads and New Stories

January 11, 2022Leave a comment

Image Credits:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Some images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.

Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Images of me reading at Swanwick Open Prose Mic Nights taken by Geoff Parkes and Penny Blackburn. Image of me book signing at Swanwick was taken by Fiona Park. Many thanks, folks. Looking forward to seeing you again at Swanwick later this year hopefully!

Hope you enjoyed the weekend. Glad to be back to producing stories for YouTube and Friday Flash Fiction.

Facebook – General

Hope you have had a good Tuesday. Many thanks for the views coming in on Lucky Number, my latest YouTube video. It is always great fun putting these together. I adore using the Book Brush tool for videos here and being able to add a music track from YT’s library of free-to-use clips.

I don’t have a lucky number. I don’t believe in such things but characters can and do. How would their belief in a lucky number affect their behaviour? How would other characters respond to their behaviour? Equally what would their belief in an unlucky number cause them to do?

If you set your story in another world, what numbers would that world consider lucky or otherwise? Thirteen, for example, is often considered unlucky because there thirteen people at the Last Supper of Christ, including the traitor, Judas Iscariot. There usually is some reason why numbers have luck associated to them. Could you find interesting stories to tell about that?

Glad to get to my desk to sit and write for a while. Mondays are always horrendously busy for me. Is there a particular day of the week you find challenging? For me it is a relief to get to my desk on any day of the week but especially on Mondays. I find writing so therapeutic and I can feel myself relax as I start).

I don’t know quite what it is but getting into the heads of characters and bringing them to life is just wonderfully relaxing and a challenge. Responding to that challenge gets the old imaginative sparks flying and before I know it I am taken out of myself which I guess is the point! Characters should seem real to you for them to stand any chance of seeming real to a reader.

Hope you have had a good weekend. Weather better but colder today.

My Chandler’s Ford Today post this week is called Animals in Fiction and I am looking forward to sharing that on Friday. I share some of my childhood favourites here and what I think would be the downsides to writing animal characters. Mind you, this is from someone who wrote a story from the viewpoint of a mother dragon! See below.

Has been a blustery and wet day in soggy Hampshire. Hope things have been better with you (though given the power cut earlier this week I am just thankful to have got in from walking the dog to a nice cosy home!).

Do you find it harder to get your creative juices started at this time of year when it is dark and gloomy (in the UK at least) or does the time of year not matter? I find when I get started, I end up being on a roll. It can be the getting started which is tricky which is why I use a number of ways to help me begin a story. I’ll be talking more about that in my next column for Mom’s Favorite Reads but in the meantime there is always the January issue to enjoy.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I’ll be looking at Animals in Fiction for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I sometimes have animal characters in my flash fiction but I prefer writing human/humanoid characters. It is easier to give them thoughts and dialogue!

But animals can (and have been used to) represent human behaviour, especially in fables. Many of those would fall within the flash fiction category thanks to their word count. The best fables are kept short. They’re easier to remember this way and especially in the days before print that mattered.

Pleased to share Lucky Number, which is my latest YouTube story. See link further up. I used a random number generator to come up with 766, the “lucky” number in this tale. It isn’t usually a number associated with luck, good or otherwise, so why is it considered lucky by my character, Denise? Check out the video – hope you enjoy.

One of the joys of flash is being able to capture those moments which would not sustain a full standard length short story of 1500 words or more, yet is still a complete tale in and of itself. It means nothing is wasted here.

So if you have a writing exercise jotted down which won’t come to more than 1000 words, why not review it and see if you can turn it into a piece of flash fiction? It doesn’t just have to sit in your notebook!

And given there are more competitions and markets for flash now (especially the indie press), there’s every reason to try and get it published too. Good luck!

Many thanks for the comments coming in on New Start, my first story of the New Year for Friday Flash Fiction.

Am looking forward to the ACW Flash Group Meeting later on in the month too. That took a break for Christmas and it will be lovely to see everyone again, even if we are in a Zoom box!

When choosing pieces of flash to read out, I usually focus on the 100-worders. They’re to the point and are effective at showing what flash is quickly. If I’m reading at an Open Prose Mic Night, I usually start and finish with a 100-word tale and then have something a little longer in the middle.

Even then I tend to go for the 250-300 words and no more. These stories still have the “oomph” effect of flash but also show you can put in a little more, relevant, detail which adds detail and information that you can’t do in the drabbles.

And it is fun to mix up the word counts I write to – give it a go! There will be markets and competitions for the differing lengths of story.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Why Reviews Matter

Every writer with a book out longs for reviews but they can be difficult to come by. I’ve never really understood why. Reviews don’t have to be long. Indeed the short one or two liners often work better.

And, aside from buying the book itself, leaving a review is one of the best ways you can support authors.

What I like to see in a review (and try to do when I give them) is for the reviewer to give a flavour of what the book is about without giving too much away.

I like to see mention of characters that have grabbed the reviewer’s attention and, in flash and short story collections, which were the “stand out” tales.

Reviews obviously help raise an author’s profile. The author can quote from them on their website, Facebook and social media posts etc. And they really don’t take long to write.

My policy here is to review a book as soon as I have finished reading it. It ensures I don’t forget to do it. Maybe that is where the problem lies. Any thoughts?

liked Allison Symes's blog post: Why Reviews Matter https://t.co/swFwOL1bgU via @goodreads I look at reviews this week, share why they matter, and outline what my review policy is. Any thoughts on why reviews can be hard to obtain? Comments welcome over on my Goodreads page. pic.twitter.com/6f1sRzuqud
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 8, 2022

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Pleased to share Lucky Number, my YouTube story. I used a random number generator to come up with 766, the “lucky” number in this. It isn’t usually a number associated with luck, so why is it considered lucky by my character, Denise? See the video.https://t.co/j5uPnKFMMI
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 10, 2022

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J is for January (and power cuts!)

January 7, 2022Leave a comment

Image Credits:

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Some images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing.

Hope you have had a good start to your New Year. Bit of an “iffy” one here given a major power cut took me offline for several hours on a very cold night this week. Mind you, when power was restored, I found I really appreciated lighting, heating, being able to have hot drinks etc again!

Onwards and upwards though and I am glad to share my first CFT post and Friday Flash Fiction story for the New Year here.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am delighted to share my first post for Chandler’s Ford Today for 2022. J is for January looks at what I like and dislike about the month, shares some amusing “national” days associated with the month, and I discuss its usefulness for planning out what you would like to achieve, writing wise, for the year to come. I also flag up using historical events for story and article inspiration and share a useful link, naturally for events linked to January!

Hope you enjoy the post. It is such a relief not to be writing by torchlight and tea light. See below for more on this – it has been one of those weeks! It has not been the best of starts to a New Year but do I appreciate my lighting, heating, being able to write properly etc now after that power cut? You bet!

J is for January

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5th and 6th January

Sorry not able to post on Wednesday as major power cut in my area went on several hours. I remember the Three Day Week back in the 1970s when power often went off and this reminded me of that. Not a good reminder either!

What I had hoped to post is below.

Came home from the dentists today (went okay) to then have the house plunged into darkness thanks to a power cut! I am typing this by torch light. Have no idea when power will be back on though the powers that be say to allow 3 hours. (Update: It wasn’t. Closer to 12 hours!).

On the plus side Lady got to play with her best friend, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, and her other pals, a lovely Hungarian Vizler and Labradoodle respectively, and a marvellous time was had by all. There was another Ridgeback out, a lovely gent of a dog, and it is quite some show when two Ridgebacks decide to have a play fight! Given they weigh 100 kilos between them, you stand back and watch the show! Even Lady does…

Writing wise, I’m working on a talk I’ll be giving in February and looking forward to sharing my J is for January post for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I am also brainstorming ideas for a short story I want to write up.

Now you know I’m a big fan of characters. For me they make the story, they drive the story, they are the story. When we think of books we’ve loved it is, for me at least, the characters I recall. So what is it about characters that will make them work for me?

They have to be believable, even if they are set in an incredible setting. I have to be able to see where they are coming from and to understand their objective even if I disagree with it. I either have to root for them to succeed or for them to fail, depending on whether I agree with their objective or not. I have to care about what happens to them.

And that is the challenge for me as a writer. To come up with characters readers will care about.

And it is not just a challenge, it is great fun!

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It is a joy to be sending stories in for Friday Flash Fiction once again. Am pleased to share my first for the New Year. Appropriately it is called New Start and I hope you enjoy it.

5th and 6th January

Sorry not able to post on Wednesday due to major power cut. My part of the world was without power for several hours on a very cold night – no happy bunnies around here I can tell you! What I had hoped to post is below. (I couldn’t even sync on Evernote – needs net connection for that!)

Have to admit typing by tealight and mini torch thanks to a major power cut is not fun. I guess it shows that (a) the smallest of lights helps against the darkness and (b) extending that out, the short form of story can show something of human nature just as much as the longer forms can. Indeed the short form can be more intense.

Flash light illuminates then. So does flash fiction! It can be a question of asking what reaction you want to bring about in your reader as a result of their having read your story. So what do you want to illuminate – the dark or lighter sides of human nature?

I like to write both (though there is a limit to how dark I go due to personal taste and my faith). I suppose it is because we all know life is not a laugh a minute and I guess I like my fiction to reflect that. Yes, there are laughs but not always.

Fairytales With Bite – Attitudes

What are the prevailing attitudes of the characters in your fairytales? I have a very soft spot indeed for feisty aka take no nonsense heroines. I have no time at all for those who seem to be helpless but whom you know if they put some thought in it could help themselves (if only by avoiding the obviously stupid things).

What are the attitudes of those in authority in your setting? Do they lord it over everyone or do they seek to serve? Is there a democracy or a benevolent dictatorship? What are the attitudes of the people to those who rule over them?

What is the general attitude towards magic? Is it seen as just one of those things and taken for granted or is its power, and those who wield it, feared, resented even? What problems could those attitudes cause for your characters?

Attitudes affect actions. A belligerent character could be useful in a situation where toughness, determination to see something through matters. They could be a complete pain in the neck where you need diplomacy and levelheadedness to see your characters through!

So attitudes matter. It pays to give thought as to why your characters have the ones that they do and how these are going to shape your story because they will. They kind of have to as characters make the story and attitudes make the characters.

This World and Others – The Role of Magic

Is magic a major asset or hazard in your created world? The answer to that will depend on the attitude of your characters. Do they use magic or have they been used by it? Is magic in the hands of the elite or is magic controlled by someone else the elite answer to? Who would that be? How have they come to wield the power that they have?

Also, have there been any kind of magical accidents which have impacted on the landscape of your created world (politically, geographically or both)? I would expect here people to be wary of magic due to that but what happens when magic has to be used? How are fears overcome so magic is used in a safe way?

New Start, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/vvEJFAmGK4 It is a joy to be sending stories in for Friday Flash Fiction once again. Am pleased to share my first for the New Year. Appropriately it is called New Start and I hope you enjoy it. pic.twitter.com/ScWpVwF592
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 7, 2022

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https://t.co/iRPlOUaect Am pleased to share my first post for CFT for 2022. J is for January looks at what I like/dislike about the month and its usefulness for planning what you'd like to achieve, writing wise, for the year ahead. I share a useful link for inspiring ideas too.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 7, 2022

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New – and Looking Forward

January 4, 2022Leave a comment

Image Credits:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Some images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.

Book cover images from Chapeltown Books, Bridge House Publishing, and Wendy H.Jones.

Welcome to 2022! Hope you enjoyed the Christmas and New Year break. I did but am pleased to be back in the writing “saddle” once again. Oh and it was a real pleasure to include a certain YouTube clip below to tie in with one of my posts. Think Hebrides…

Facebook – General

Bitterly cold today, not that Lady minded. Good to get back to swimming today after a Christmas break. You can always tell when it is really cold outside because it is the only time the water in the pool feels remotely warm! I’m sure they keep it at the temperature they do to ensure you get swimming quickly – it works!

Will be subbing a piece to Friday Flash Fiction shortly now that submissions are open again. Good to get back to that. Am thinking up ideas for a longer short story I want to do. The old brain is ticking over nicely!

Many thanks also for the views so far on my first YouTube video of the year. Appropriately the story is called New. Possibly I should create something for the end of the year so I can call that Old!

It has been a Bank Holiday today (and I believe the Scots have another one tomorrow – enjoy!). I find these days feel a bit surreal.

I get on with my usual bits and pieces so I can get them out of the way so I can then settle down to do what I really want to do – write – but the world outside my door is a lot quieter than it often is and it all feels a little odd. And I know I shall “feel” as if I am a day “out” all week! Ho hum… Mind you, I am looking forward to resuming swimming tomorrow after a break for Christmas. Could do with it too!

Christmas was very enjoyable! (Lady gets a bit confused too – she will wonder where my family are tomorrow- there is no way you can explain holidays to a dog).

Now writing wise this week, my Chandler’s Ford Today post will be called J is for January. I look at the positive and negative aspects and share some interesting “national days” associated with the month. Link up on Friday.

I’m back to creating my YouTube videos again and I will be sharing my latest one over on my book page (From Light to Dark and Back Again) shortly. Also see above!

Feels good to be back in the writing “saddle” again.

What are you looking forward to most this year in terms of writing and/or books you want to read? I want to keep going with the blogging, get my third flash fiction book submitted, and try and submit a book proposal for the non-fiction project I’m working on.

I want to have another crack at the Bridport Prize flash fiction category later on in the year too. As mentioned yesterday, I hope to get to Swanwick in August and I hope there will be other writing days throughout the year. I’m also looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Golden Jubilee weekend at the beginning of June.

Reading wise, I want to bring my To Be Read piles down (and the one on my Kindle as well) significantly though I am making good progress here. (My main problem with reading is I tend to read in bed and when I am too tired, the reading gets put on standby for a bit. This is something I try to avoid as much as possible).

And I’d like to be published and published again and published again etc etc!

Better get my head down and get on with some writing then!

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1st January 2022 – New Year’s Day

Happy New Year, everyone! Hope you have had a good start to the new year. Am looking forward to various writing events including the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School in August and getting out and about to day events again. It was nice to be able to start to do that again in 2021.

And the January edition of Mom’s Favorite Reads is now out – see link. My theme for the flash fiction column this month is New, an apt topic for this time of year.

You can take the topic in various directions – new beginnings for a character, a character having to face up to being forced to do something new and how they handle that, a character picking up an object new to them and how that changes them.

I also share a flash fiction tale of mine which involves a character having to get new furniture in thanks to the antics of a greedy golden-haired child – for more see the link.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope it has been a good first day back to “normal” where that applies. (So much depends on what you define as normal too!). I’ve mentioned before that I listen to classical music when writing and have just finished listening to The Hebrides Overture on Classic FM. It is my favourite Mendelssohn piece. Why? Because it really does conjure up images of that fantastically beautiful part of the world via music. Amazing work.

When writing flash fiction pieces, I do give careful thought as to the images I want to “plant” in the readers’ minds. If I’ve decided to write a humorous piece, I will think about how and where the laughs or smiles will come and then work out what images of my characters in action could lead to that. (I don’t always aim for outright laughter here. A story that makes someone smile is equally good. I remember those that make me smile and I know they always lift my mood).

Nice to get back to creating the YouTube videos again after a brief Christmas break. Hope you enjoy the latest one called New. And the Mendelssohn clip above may be “old” music but it is still pretty wonderful. In with the New AND in with the Old!

My column in Mom’s Favorite Reads this month talks about New. I set a different challenge this time too. As well as inviting fiction pieces in on my theme, I have also opened it up to include flash non-fiction pieces on the same topic of up to 300 words. And if you want to check out the magazine, do see the link. Also see the Facebook link below.

It is great fun choosing a topic and writing an article around it. I like themes which are open to interpretation. It gives writers more to work with. I think you’re more likely to come up with something unique too.

1st January – New Year’s Day

Happy New Year, everyone. This time of year reminds me of a pivot because this is the point where many of us take time out to consider change etc. It’s what New Year resolutions are for after all. Flash fiction by its nature has to have one pivot which changes the character and the course they are on, though it can come right at the end of the story and be a twist ending.

Equally you can set the character what seems like an impossible challenge they have to meet right at the start of the story. That’s the pivot, the point of change, which must come in any length of story. And both types of pivot are great fun to write up! Hope you have a fabulous writing and reading New Year.

Goodreads Author Blog – New Year, New Books, New Authors?

Happy New Year, everyone. I hope you received lots of lovely books for Christmas. Am currently working my way through the latest Richard Osman one and a couple of flash fiction collections, and am loving them all. The To Be Read pile shows no sign of going down much though I think that is how it should be!

So with a new year ahead of us are there new books you’re looking forward to? Are there new authors you discovered in 2021 whose works you really enjoyed? A new year gives us the chance to try new books and writers new to us and I hope to do plenty of that over the next twelve months.

I like to mix up classic and contemporary reading and going to book events, whether I take part in them myself or not, gives me plenty of opportunity to boost my contemporary To Be Read pile!

What matters is enjoying plenty of stories. And I must admit I have finally got to watch the latest Bond film No Time to Die. I thought the storyline there was excellent. However you take your stories “in”, whether you read them, watch them, listen to them, or do a mixture, as long as the tale grips you, you are on to a winner. And I was gripped by this one. As ever with any great story, the characters make it work. They are the story.

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liked Allison Symes's blog post: New Year, New Books, New Authors? https://t.co/hzWmSO1J3b via @goodreads I look at the joy of a new year with its chances for reading new books and finding new authors. I give my verdict on the recent Bond storyline. Happy New (reading) year! pic.twitter.com/pkgCd6P0rc
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 1, 2022

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Many thanks, @valeriepenny. My flash fiction collections (Chapeltown Books) are below. https://t.co/qZuan6Gu8q pic.twitter.com/1DuZM1PlRb
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 2, 2022

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Nice to get back to creating the YouTube videos again after a brief Christmas break. Hope you enjoy the latest one called New.https://t.co/qBPhGp5Mtz
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 3, 2022

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Out With The Old?

December 31, 2021Leave a comment

Image Credits:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Some images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Hope you have had an enjoyable Christmas break. Happy New Year!

Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

Firstly, may I wish you a very Happy New Year.

Secondly, I’m pleased to share Out with the Old?, my new post on Chandler’s Ford Today. Hope you enjoy it. I talk about whether you should necessarily discard everything that is old about your writing (old markets, old work which has been turned down, old ways of doing things) and about appreciating the new.

I also look at how this time of year is a great opportunity to assess where you are writing wise and maybe set some plans for the coming twelve months. And I also include a timely reminder that it is a normal part of the writing life to have to take the rough with the smooth, which gives added reason to celebrate the positives in writing when they happen.

Out with the Old?

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One of my post Christmas treats is to have a day trip to Dorset with better half and Lady. Cobwebs well and truly blown away. Lovely time had by all. Big walks are not where I find story inspiration funnily enough. What they do achieve is being something where I chill out. It’s being in that state of mind which does achieve kickstarting the old imagination.

Posting early today but am pleased to share my latest post for More Than Writers, the blog spot from the Association of Christian Writers.

This time I talk about Aspects of Writing. I look at what I need to know before writing and why it helps to accept a first draft is not meant to be perfect, far from it!

ASPECTS OF WRITING - Asking characters questions

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Will be sending out author newsletter tomorrow. I share tips, prompts, links to stories and videos I’ve created etc, as well as news. To sign up head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Given flash is brief, and newsletters work better when they’re kept fairly short, a flash fiction based newsletter is a good match up I think! (And Tripping the Flash Fantastic is still on offer over at Amazon – see screenshot).

Happy New Year!

Looking forward to resuming drafting drabbles at the weekend. The 100 worder is a great form to practice as there are plenty of competitions and markets for it. Check out the Writing Magazine Competition Guide or do a web search. And if you can write to that tight a word count, it will help you draft your blurb and synopsis for longer works.

Lovely warm and sunny day for the time of year though Lady did manage to find all the mud in the park this morning!

As I write this on route to see family, I get glimpses of people, houses etc. Now any of these could spark ideas for flash fiction pieces. Who is that person? Why do they live where they do? Have they always lived there? If not, what or whom made them move? All story ideas there.

Anything that triggers you asking questions, start wondering “what if” etc, will have good flash potential to it. And people watching is a great one – just be discreet. Nobody should be able to guess what or whom inspired your story unless you tell them.

Fairytales With Bite – New Beginnings

This is an apt topic as we rapidly approach 2022. Do your characters see a new calendar year as a chance to have a new beginning or is this not something which would occur to them perhaps because their world does not celebrate the passing of time like this? If the latter is the case, what would make your character decide now was the time to begin again and which aspect of their life needs them to have a new start?

You could argue that a new beginning for a fairytale character should start after the “happily ever after” bit because your character(s) would be making a new life for themselves. And there are stories to be told here. How well did Cinders, Snow White etc adjust to married, royal life for example?

I should stress that does not need to be a negative story. They could adjust very well indeed but it would be likely they would need time to adjust, they would make mistakes, and it would be there that the stories could be told. How do they overcome all of that?

How supportive are their spouses? What mistakes would they make as they adjust to married life themselves? Certainly there would be space for good romance stories there – and probably humorous ones too, if the couples overcame the issues in a humorous way.

New beginnings, for me at least, would be positive stories and there is no reason why that can’t happen in a fairytale world. For me, here, the stories would be more interesting if the fairy godmother was not called in to sort things out and the couples had to sort things out themselves, probably making a bit of a hash of it along the way but overcoming that too. (Don’t we all do that at times?!).

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This World and Others – A Brand New World

I don’t know about you but the New Year period can feel a little like we’re about to enter a brand new world. There is (usually) more optimism and hope around for the start of the next twelve months. Okay, at the end of the year, we tend to look back and review whether the year was as good as we’d hoped for or not. In the case of 2020, with the onset of Covid, I suspect it could be named the Year Everyone Wants to Forget. (And I suspect 2021 is not going to score too highly in the Best Year of All Time Awards either!).

How do your characters respond to a new time in their lives? Are there the equivalent of New Year celebrations? If so, how are these celebrated and do your characters join in with this? What is societal expectation here? If not, how is the passing of time marked in your fictional setting instead? Why is it different from what we know? What would make your characters feel like they were about to enter a brand new world? Are they right to feel that way?

Taking your setting and characters a whole, what is the prevailing mood? Is it optimistic or pessimistic and why? For example if your world is generally optimistic because it is at peace, most people have all needs met etc., what would it take to change that mood? What would make it become a brand new world in a negative way? (And you can swap that round too – what would make a negative world positive? In either case, are the changes permanent?).

https://t.co/cgBzLxPDnn. My turn on the ACW blog today. I share how accepting a first draft isn't meant to be perfect helped me. pic.twitter.com/3HfB36nKaN
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 29, 2021

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Out with the Old? https://t.co/xgpU1xDR6E Firstly, Happy New Year! Secondly, in Out with the Old?, I ask if you should discard everything that is old about your writing. I also talk about appreciating the new and look at how now is a great opportunity to review your writing.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 31, 2021

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Hello Again – Hope You Had a Lovely Christmas!

December 28, 2021Leave a comment

Image Credits:

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Some images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing.

Hope you have had a lovely Christmas. A shorter post than normal due to the Christmas break but hope you enjoy it and find the tips useful. I moved my usual Goodreads blog post to Monday this week so that is included here. The period of time between Christmas and New Year is a bit of an odd one.

Facebook – General

This week is always an odd one in that the days after Christmas seem to blur into each other until we reach New Year’s Eve. I do know it doesn’t “feel” like a Tuesday even though I know it is!

Do your characters ever feel this way? Can their mistakes with dates/times etc create havoc in your stories? (Certainly there would be comic potential here). Are your characters punctual and, if so, what happens when they have to deal with someone who isn’t?

Time can be a useful device in a story – it is a good way of making things happen. Characters set up a meeting. There has to be a time for it even though the real story will be in the meeting itself and the outcome from it.

You can also use Time as a character too. Is Time cruel or beneficial or does the answer to that depend on the perspective of your character?

Hello again! Hope you had a lovely Christmas. We did (and I can confirm there is no such thing as leftover turkey when you have a dog in the house!). Nice to be able to see family and I am happily reading one of my presents – The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman. Enjoying it so far.

I resumed a little bit of writing late last night and have been putting the finishing touches to my next author newsletter, due out on 1st January.

For Chandler’s Ford Today this week, I’ll be asking if it should be a case of Out With the Old? Link up on Friday. I hope to resume preparing YouTube videos and stories for Friday Flash Fiction later on in the week.

And I did have a nice surprise over the Christmas period. I received a review of Tripping The Flash Fantastic directly.

This is an interesting book of flash fiction; a fascinating way to read stories here and there and before I knew it, I accidentally finished the book. A book of flash fiction and short stories is a great way to engage in stories even when things are busy.

Many thanks to my reviewer and they hit on an important point. No matter how busy you are, there is something you can read – flash fiction is ideal for the quick read!

Where will your fiction take your readers and will it make them laugh

NO POSTS Christmas Day or Boxing Day

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

There’s a special offer on Tripping the Flash Fantastic on Amazon at the moment so if you want a quick to read New Year bargain, do follow the link!

In other news, I’m sending out my next author newsletter on 1st January (am not promising to be particularly early though!). Do sign up for this at the landing page for my website at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Am also working behind the scenes on further workshop and talk material so plenty to keep me busy. Naturally I talk about flash. Am thrilled the form has taken off in such a big way. Good fun to write and read. Never waste a writing exercise again – polish it up, send it out as a piece of flash fiction. Why not? You have nothing to lose here.

Good to be back at the old writing desk once again. Hope you had a lovely Christmas. Hope in amongst your book presents, there are some flash fiction collections included! I’m currently reading a couple myself, as well as Richard Osman’s latest. I often have more than one book on the go at a time. It saves me making up my mind deciding which one I will read next when I can so easily decide which two or three I’ll tackle next instead! Reduces the To Be Read pile a bit quicker too.

What I love about the festive season is there are many possibilities for coming up with some lovely flash tales. I’ve written about Santa, his helpers, used other characters from well known fairytales so often performed as pantomime at this time of the year, amongst others. This is very much the “light” side of what I do and it is great fun. I don’t just write these tales now either. I will draft up ideas as they occur to me throughout the year and then save them for this time of year.

One of my festive flashes is about a young shepherd at the Nativity

Screenshot 2021-08-27 at 20-13-07 Allison Symes

Another great character to write about - Rudolph

Santa is great to write about for festive flash fiction

I no longer stay up for New Year, the ultimate first of the month

Image - Allison Symes - Using Light and Dark in Flash Fiction

Image - Allison Symes - Light and Dark is a feature of life so let's use it in fiction

NO POSTS Christmas Day or Boxing Day

Goodreads Author Blog – Stories at Christmas

Thought I’d put my blog up after Christmas this time. Next one will be back on Saturday.

I hope you received plenty of books in the formats of your choice for Christmas. Am currently reading the second Richard Osman book and enjoying that. I’m also reading a couple of excellent flash fiction collections. Whoever said you only had to read one book at a time?!

Naturally I enjoyed stories via film over Christmas Day and Boxing Day. The Muppet Christmas Carol is a must. How can you not love an adaptation where the narrator, in this case Gonzo, recommends you read the original book?

The other must is The Polar Express. I’ve not read the book but the film is wonderful. Has a bit of a dark edge to it as well. Definitely not twee and something to make you think about the nature of belief. Oh and Hogfather. I didn’t get around to re-reading the Terry Pratchett classic this time (I usually do) but did watch the film.

Have you found a good film adaptation makes you read the book? I have. One of my earliest introductions to Dickens was watching the Alec Guinness version of Oliver Twist. I just had to read the book directly after watching that. And yes it can be fun spotting where lines (especially of dialogue) are kept word for word with the book and where it is clear some editing has gone on.

Do I mind if the film adaptation doesn’t stick to the original book entirely? Not if it is done well. The Lord of the Rings is a classic example. Not everything from the books goes into the film version (and that goes for the extended version too) but the spirit of the book shines through those movies and that is fine with me.

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liked Allison Symes's blog post: Stories at Christmas https://t.co/BceBORso3p via @goodreads I ask if a good film adaptation makes you read the book if you haven't read it first. I loved seeing these two again in the Muppet Christmas Carol. Fab adaptation of a wonderful tale. pic.twitter.com/B3L40aCzlN
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 27, 2021

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Merry Christmas!

December 24, 2021Leave a comment

Image Credits:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Some images created in Book Brush using Pixabay images. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. I also took photos from my Scottish break this year to illustrate light and dark. See further down. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. I hope you have a lovely Christmas, however you celebrate it, and I hope there are plenty of books amongst your presents!

Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

Pleased to share my Merry Christmas post on Chandler’s Ford Today. I share the link to the Three Minute Santas festive flash fiction broadcast on North Manchester FM hosted by Hannah Kate and another story called Festivities.

I also discuss the joy of writing festive pieces and share some thoughts about “baking the perfect story”. I mention ingredients and method too! Hope you enjoy the post. And as the post says, Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

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Other half and I have now had the booster. Rest of family will be “done” tomorrow. Will be a relief to have it dealt with. And a big thanks to the lovely folk at Salisbury City Hall today. Hubby and I jabbed and out in under 10 minutes.

I’m sharing festive flash fiction on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. See above!

To all who were shortlisted in the Friday Flash Fiction festive competition, well done.

Best writing tip of the year for me was to record on Zoom a practice run of any talks/presentations ahead of giving them. Zoom converts any recording into a mp4 file. I found on playing things back I was speaking too fast. Yet it didn’t seem as if I was when recording.

Lesson learned here: you are not always the best judge of how you come across. You can’t fool a recording on play back! But worth noting and learning from.

Indulged in some alternative creative therapy earlier – Christmas baking! Best of all, it meant I had to be in the warm on what has been a bitterly cold day for a lot of the UK. It is another advantage to writing – generally you do it indoors!

Have started indulging in my favourite Christmas stories – watched The Muppet Christmas Carol, which is just brilliant. Next up on my list will be Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather.

No YouTube video from me this week and I will probably not submit anything to Friday Flash Fiction over the Christmas period but I will look forward to resuming both of those after a bit of a break.

Am currently reading two excellent flash fiction collections by other authors and hope to review those in due course. Yes, I read in my genre as well as outside of it. You do need to know what is going on in your field too. No two writers go about their storytelling in exactly the same way and I find the differences in style and approach fascinating.

What we can do is learn from one another – what works well, what doesn’t and so on. I know I’ve been grateful (and will continue to be) for learning this way. One aspect to creative writing is we keep on learning – how to improve our craft, get better at spotting what markets are best suited for our work etc – and that is so good for us in terms of this keeping our brains active and in terms of encouraging and developing our own creativity.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope you have a lovely Christmas and get to enjoy plenty of books, stories, flash fiction tales etc. The latter is of course ideal for a quick read when time is tight! I’ll be back posting on here again next week.

Meantime, I’m sharing the link to my page on CafeLit where you will find a mixture of flash pieces and short stories. Hope you enjoy. Merry Christmas! (And yes it is a good reminder to me to submit more work to CafeLit next year!).M = More flash tales for 2022.
E = Exploring more genres and varying word counts
R= Remembering not to exceed the 1000 word limit for flash.
R = Rules can be stretched a bit – hyphenated words count as one word in flash.
Y = Yet noting you do still have to hyphenate where that is legitimate – no cheating!

C = Characters are the stars of the stories.
H = Hearing their tales, their voices is what readers want.
R = Readers are your audience of course so write with them in mind.
I = Imaginative characters in unique settings will grab readers’ attention.
S = Stories – it is all about the story and its impact on readers.
T = Truth is often revealed by characters, usually showing some aspect of our nature.
M = Mirroring life, stories can share what we might not like to discuss in more palatable ways.
A = Always be truthful in your writing even when telling stories – you have to believe it first.
S = Structure and editing – don’t rush either as it pays to get these right.

Merry Christmas!

Turning the tables on a character is great fun to do and I’ve used this for my longer short stories too. (My It Is Time from Mulling It Over by Bridge House Publishing is a good example of this).

You have the ending set up in advance – the moment the tables are turned and this is especially true for a flash story where it works best as the last line. What you need to work out is whether the character deserves having the tables turned like that or whether you are going to leave your readers with a sense of pity for your character where such a thing is undeserved.

If your character does deserve what is coming to them (and most of mine do), then you need to work out why. Also are your characters going to have a chance to redeem themselves, say, or do they blithely ignore all of that and what hits them hits them?

One of the reasons I love A Christmas Carol is because Scrooge does deserve the fright he gets but he recognizes this and accepts the need to change. That kind of story is so positive and I love them.

And it’s perfectly feasible to do this in flash. This kind of story is where I do work from the ending back to the start and use a spider diagram to help me work out the best start. I’ve found that technique for this kind of story is especially effective as it ensures I have the “turn around” written and good to go. I can then work out what led to that. You don’t have to always write A to Be. B to A can work really well too. Give it a go!

Scrooge is not thrilled to see the late Jacob Marley

Scrooge is less impressed to see how haunted he is

Scrooge is horrified to see how much glee his death will bring to others unless he changes his ways

Dark grey streets typical of Dickensian London

Bob Cratchit is astounded at the change in Scrooge after this particular Christmas. Pixabay image.

Scrooge decides to go to his nephew, Fred, and his wife’s house for Christmas after all. Pixabay image.

Fairytales with Bite – Light and Dark of Fairytales

Fairytales reflect the light and dark side of life. They show cruelty up for what it is and ensure the villains get their comeuppance, though this doesn’t usually happen for a while. Pantomime, which so often uses fairytales as the story base, adds humour into the mix. But both of these don’t shy away for calling out the dark and ensuring the light triumphs.

Maybe, because we know so often that doesn’t happen in real life, the appeal of fairytales is very long lasting. I think there is a deep-rooted need to see wrong being righted. I know I feel that way.

Fairytales are also realistic about what human nature can be. We don’t question Snow White’s stepmother’s murderous intent. We just know some people are just like that, again motivated by envy a lot of the time, or being unable to accept the person they’re feeling murderous towards for other reasons.

But fairytales can also show virtue being rewarded and I’ve always loved that aspect, again because it so often doesn’t happen for real (even though it should!).

So fairytales are far from twee then. They’re open to interpretation and cover a wide range of emotions we recognise in ourselves. Light and dark both have to be shown – and shown honestly – and I feel fairytales are brilliant at that. I don’t feel they will ever lose their appeal simply due to that.

This World and Others – Deciding What You Need to Know

Every writer, regardless of what they write, needs to decide what they need to know before bringing their story to life. I need to know my character’s major traits (and as a result what can come from those). I don’t need to know what they look like and, even when I do, that comes in later for me. Other writers need to have an idea of what their people look like before fleshing them out more. Different strokes and all that.

When it comes to world building, what do you need to know there? Do you need to know the physical geography of your setting or its political make up? Do you need to know both and one directly affects the other? If so, how? What will make your fictional world seem real to you? You have to believe it first before any reader might.

It would pay to take time out then. You have this great idea. You have fantastic characters you can’t wait to bring to life on the page. So what do you need to know to make the most of these, to get the best out of them? Even if you don’t usually plan, a little forward planning could save you considerable time on the editing later on.

And it may well be you will need to know things the reader does not but that knowledge will help you write your characters with more conviction. It is my belief (as a reader and a writer) that sense of conviction does come through.

It is what I think keeps readers glues to characters and their stories. It definitely pays to work out in advance what you need to know to convince yourself. You will write with more confidence. You will know this character. You will know their story. I hope you find a bit of forward planning helps you against the wretched Imposter Syndrome which affects most writers at some point.

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Photo by Brett Jordan on Pexels.com

https://t.co/KLrtuZwD59 In my CFT post, I share the link to the Three Minute Santas festive flash fiction broadcast on North Manchester FM hosted by Hannah Kate and a tale called Festivities. I discuss writing festive pieces and “baking the perfect story”. Merry Christmas! pic.twitter.com/V7pFOw0zJ0
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 24, 2021

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