Tag: am reading

Publication News and The Perfect Ending

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All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Week has got off to a great start with the news The Best of CafeLit 13 is now out. I have three stories in there. More below on that. Also the June issue of Writers’ Narrative is out now too. Can’t believe we’re in June already but at least the weather is stating to play along with the idea we’re due some sunshine now!

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Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today. Three very happy dogs went home again after a lovely time in the park. Dogs know what matters!

Writing wise, I’m talking to Jenny Sanders again for Part 2 of a fabulous interview on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Her devotional book, Polished Arrows, was published recently and this week we’ll be talking about marketing, launches, the value of good supportive writing groups, and much more besides. Don’t miss! Lots of tips and useful thoughts here.

Now to give Amazon their due. I contacted them on Sunday to ask them to add The Best of CafeLit 13 to my Amazon Author Central page. I’ve found, from past experience, I need to give them the details and they add anthologies (because I’m not the publisher but am a contributing author). Anyway, it was done yesterday, well within 24 hours.

Have just added the book to my ALCS records too. I’ve found it pays to add new publications (books or articles where there is an ISSN number) as soon as I can to make sure I get it done. Will make a difference to my ALCS payment next year, which is the best incentive to get it done!

 

My three stories in The Best of CafeLit 13 are Cinnamon Comforts, Untaken, and Sweet Dreams. It’s good to be back between the covers with old friends in this anthology and I’m looking forward to catching up with their works here, as well as checking out those authors new to me. I often do read anthologies as you might expect and find them to be a fabulous way to try out works by authors new to me. If I like their work, I will often then try their longer works. This is a great way to discover new writers.

I also like to read collections of short form works in between reading novels. I like to ensure I have a good reading diet of longer works and shorter ones. Anthologies make it so much more convenient to catch up with the latter!

Also if you are writing in the short form, reading books like this can count as part of your market research. It is always good to know what is already out there and from that you can work out where you would fit in. A publisher needs to know where you’d fit in with their lists and you need to be able to show them that you can.

Publication News (as you may have gathered from the above!)

Thrilled to say The Best of CafeLit 13 is now out. I have three stories in here. Will say more about this during the next few days but just wanted to (a) share the news and (b) congratulate the other authors with work in here. Nice to see names and old friends here. Well done, all. (What is especially nice here is the stories are voted for by other CafeLit people so nobody can know their story is going to make the cut).

Will be sharing Part 2 of an in-depth conversation with Jenny Sanders for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Next time we’ll be looking at launches, marketing, and more. Link up on Friday.

Many thanks for the comments coming in on my Unwelcome News, my latest Friday Flash Fiction tale. Just who is the worst here – Melissa or Stefan? Read the tale and see what you think. Link here. (Great fun to write).

 

Delighted to say the June edition of Writers’ Narrative is now out. The theme is poetry this time and my article looks at The Links Between Flash Fiction and Poetry. There are more than you might think. I also include a flash fiction piece told in poetic form as I sometimes write stories this way and it can work well. I share some tips for doing this too.

My article is on Pages 14/15 but do check out the excellent pieces throughout. For one thing, you can find out if you know who your padawan is! Go on, you know you want to find out!

 

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Hope you have had a good day.

Something I mention to members of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group is to look out for the short story competitions. Many of them either have a lower word count limit of 1000 words (making it the top end of the range for flash fiction writers but still do-able) or have a range of word counts for you to write to.

The Bridport Prize, for example, has a flash fiction category but also has a short story one. No reason why you couldn’t enter both with different tales should you wish.

Another one is the HISSAC Annual Open Short Story competition where they want short stories up to 2000 words and flash fiction up to 500. There will be other competitions out there who will do something similar. Worth watching for.

Competitions are great for making up face up to working to a deadline and if you get listed or win, even better!

447551831_10161932010872053_7782713995846695559_nIt’s Monday. It has been a sunny one too. Still Monday though. Still time for a YouTube story from me. Hope you like my Life Changing Moments. Those who came to the recent Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting will recognise this as my response to a prompt I set.

Usually when I put my YouTube videos here, they are inserted into the page  and you click and play. Not happening tonight. Please use the link above. Screenshot to just give you an idea but there is more to this story so do check the link out! Thanks.

Screenshot 2024-06-04 at 20-27-49 Life Changing Moments - YouTube

The buzz of being in print never diminishes! The Best of CafeLit 13 is now out and I have three stories included. I also enjoy getting to update my records over on the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) and on Amazon. This will be a lovely job to do later this week! Done. See above but most enjoyable tasks to do!

Will be getting on with some flash fiction writing today. Nice way to spend Sunday afternoons! I do more later in the week too but there is something about Sunday afternoons which helps with focus. Well, I know it helps me.

Favourite thing about creating a character? I think it is that moment when I think “yes, I know you, I’ve got where you’re coming from” because then I know I can write from their viewpoint effectively. I understand what drives them and what mistakes they’re likely to make. Once I’ve “got” this, I can’t wait to write their stories up and that is always a good sign.

 

It’s that time of the month again – time for the author newsletter. A huge hello to those who have subscribed since last time and an enormous thanks to all who support me here. All much appreciated. The theme this time is questioning your characters, something I do all the time. It pays especially when you’re writing a lot of stories and need ways into coming up with characters all the time.

Screenshot 2024-06-01 at 11-39-23 Allison Symes - June 2024 - Questioning Your Characters

Goodreads Author Blog – The Perfect Ending

Is there such a thing as the perfect ending to any story? The only reason I’m not sure about this is because all writers are human and we’re all fallible. No perfect writer = no perfect writing.

I know, looking back on my older stories, I can see ways of improving them thanks to things I’ve learned about writing craft and technique since that time. BUT you can improve on what you do. I can look back at those stories and know they were the best I could do at that time. So am reasonably pleased with them but am more pleased with improvements I have made since that time. Writing is always a case of developing your craft, I think.

For stories by other writers, what I look for is an appropriate ending for their characters’ stories. Yes, sometimes that ending can be ambiguous. (After all, tomorrow is another day from Gone With The Wind is a good example of that kind of ending). But it should be appropriate to all that has come before and as long as it has done that, I’m happy.

Screenshot 2024-06-01 at 20-03-53 The Perfect Ending

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Caring for Characters and Story Twists

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All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a lovely Easter weekend. I’ve loved the church services and, separately, listening to the Classic FM Hall of Fame for 2024. (When will Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis by Ralph Vaughan Williams make it to No. 1? So deserves it. You feel like you’re going back in time listening to that!).
Am so looking forward to sharing Part 1 of a very special two part interview with Sophie Neville for Chandler’s Ford Today. Sophie is best known for her role as Titty in the classic children’s film Swallows and Amazons but she has done so much else too. More to come in the interviews. Part 1 up on Friday.

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Hope you have had a good day. Shorter swimming sessions for the next couple of weeks due to the Easter holidays. Lady may well be getting longer walks in the afternoon, not that she’ll mind. She loved seeing her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback buddies today. Lady came back from that tired but happy (which is my standard look when I come back from a swimming session!).

Writing Tip: What is it about your characters which appeal to you the most? What makes you care about what happens to them? Sorting that out so you know will help you create characters which appeal to readers too.

433946484_10161810925617053_1614668251130398056_nLady got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Labradoodle pals this morning. Bank Holiday Mondays (as today is in the UK) always feel like a strange kind of Sunday to me. It was nice to see some spring weather though.

Newsletter went out this morning. No April Fool’s about that! Link to the current edition here but if you like the look of this and would like to sign up do head over to my landing page at my website. Separate link for that here.

Managed to get a fair bit of writing done over the weekend and am going through PowerPoints I’m due to present (one next week!). Am so looking forward to sharing Part 1 of a wonderful two part interview with Sophie Neville (Swallows and Amazons) for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Be sure not to miss. Sophie discusses her incredible creative life. Very inspiring.

Screenshot 2024-04-02 at 20-11-29 Allison Symes - April 2024 - Flash LightHappy Easter! Nice to have some spring weather to go with it, though I understand the rain is due back again later, alas. Lady had a nice surprise today as she got to see her Hungarian Vizler chum at lunchtime.

When do I know a character will “work”? There’s no one single thing, to be honest, but when I can know how and why they would react in any given circumstance, that is a good sign. It shows me I’ve outlined them deeply enough.

Sometimes I will come across or think of something which will make me think Character X in Story Y would say exactly that, and this is another good sign. Sometimes I can come across something a character of mine in a story would not say and that, funnily enough, is useful as well because it then makes me think of what they would come up with instead. (I’d also know why here).

Knowing my characters well enough has been an enormous help to me. Having different ways to create characters (crucial as I am inventing characters a lot!) is invaluable. And knowing the characters gets me a long way to knowing what their stories will be and why. Story structure is not a glamorous thing but, for me, it underpins all the fiction I write.

434386649_10161807265932053_5419165843243315380_nIt’s the small victories in life which really make you want to cheer at times. Today (30th March 2024) is the first day this year I’ve had my washing out on the line and got it dry! Yippee! Also happy to see my bluebells are beginning to emerge.

Many thanks to all who have subscribed to my author newsletter since last time. Welcome aboard and many thanks to the longer term subscribers too. Your support is much appreciated. (Next letter due out on 1st April – not an April Fool’s, honest!).

Writing wise, I am so looking forward to sharing Part 1 of a very special two-part interview with the lovely Sophie Neville on Chandler’s Ford Today. Sophie is still very well known for her role as Titty in the children’s classic film, Swallows and Amazons. She has gone on to have a superb career in TV (in front of and behind the camera) and in writing and has recently won awards for her scripts too.

There is so much to discuss with her (if anyone could be said to have immersed themselves in the creative life, it is Sophie) and I am so looking forward to sharing the first part next Friday, 5th April. Link up on Friday. Don’t miss!

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The joy of flash fiction and story collections is in having “bite size” reads which are so easy to dip into. I often mention using pockets of time for writing and that is a great and useful thing to do. I’ve found it has made me more productive because I’ve got ideas waiting for me to assess and then write up.

But why not use pockets of time for your reading too? I tend to use my lunch break for this but it helps me to read more and that is never going to be a bad idea!

What I like about the CafeLit and Bridge House Publishing anthologies especially is getting to read other authors in one book. That shows me whether I like their style or not and, assuming I do, it makes it far more likely I will check out their own longer works of fiction.

If you would like to know where to start, why not check out the Bridgetown Cafe Bookshop which covers the works of authors writing for Chapeltown Books too. So am not unbiased here but well produced story anthologies are a joy to read so why not check them out?

Screenshot 2024-04-02 at 20-21-49 The Bridgetown Café Bookshop

It’s Monday. Okay it’s a Bank Holiday Monday in my part of the world and we’ve even had some sunshine, hooray! Still time for a story though. Hope you enjoy Unfair, my latest on YouTube. (Short and sweet this one).

 

Happy Easter! Don’t forget my author newsletter is out again tomorrow. Not too late to sign up. Just head on over to https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com for that.

What I find useful in compiling my newsletter is adding bits and pieces to it throughout the month as thoughts occur to me and then editing appropriately a few days before it goes out. I also do a couple of test runs to make sure all is okay.

Flash is great to share on a newsletter too. Doesn’t take up much room(and this is another reason why I also add links to my stories on Friday Flash Fiction here as well. Easy enough to click on a story title that takes your fancy and have a quick read over a cuppa. Challenge to me? Coming up with intriguing story titles but it is good to be kept on the old writing toes here!

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My flash fiction collections, From Light to Dark and Back Again and Tripping the Flash Fantastic, are square books. The design makes them stand out and they are ideal gift books, as someone rightly pointed out in a wonderful review for the latter.

Fabulous collection of poems and flash fiction. Some made me giggle, some made me gasp, all surprised me! I found it a real page turner, as the stories had such unexpected twists and turns! Some were actually quite moving. Highly recommend this! Makes a lovely present as well, with its (to me) unusual shape.

All of the Chapeltown flash collections are in this shape as part of an overall branding style. I think it works well though I accept I am biased (and bound to be so) here! The paperbacks are a great size to fit into pockets, bags etc so again are ideal for a train/bus ride read. Very easy to take with you (and even easier still if you go for the Kindle version of them!).

Flash with Amazon and Barnes and Noble

Goodreads Author Blog – Story Twists

I love twists in stories as long as they suit the character and situation. An early one I came across was in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie, whom I understand received complaints about what she did here. Can’t say more without giving things away but it is a great book and I highly recommend it especially if you like twists.

I use twists a lot in my own flash fiction. For a very short tale like this, often my closing line is the twist. I have done this with the “standard” twist but have also written humorous twist endings. All good fun to do.

The tricky bit is ensuring that the twist does come across as “natural”. It must fit in with what has been revealed about the character and their situation, otherwise it will look like a “fix” to get the author out of a tight corner. My favourite twists are when I look back through the story, having read it through, and then spot the clues to the twist which is about to be revealed. Naturally I learn a good deal for my own writing studying things like that.

This is where I think writers are so lucky. To write well, we need to read well and widely. So if we ever did need an excuse to have a book in our hands, that’s it, right there, regardless of whether there is a twist or not!

Screenshot 2024-03-30 at 17-47-46 Story Twists

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Anthologies

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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.
Another hectic week, more rain too! Am hoping the weekend proves to be a much needed time to wind down a bit!

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Pleased to share Anthologies, this week’s post on Chandler’s Ford Today. I look at the advantages of writing for them and share some tips on working to themes. Most anthologies do set these and it is good practice in any case given so many competitions do as well. Hope you find the post useful.

Anthologies

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Looking forward to sharing my Anthologies post on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. This is a classic case of writing about what you love as well as what you know! Link up tomorrow. See above.

Had a fabulous time at the Flash Fiction group meeting on Zoom last night (for the Association of Christian Writers). Great responses to the writing exercises I set. Hope you all get some stories submitted and “out there” as a result.

Don’t forget my monthly newsletter goes out on the first of each month so there is still time to sign up in time for April’s one. Head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com – would love to have you “aboard”. I share tips, writing advice, as well as news.

What I have in the back of my mind here is writing something I would love to receive myself in my inbox for this kind of thing. Mind you, I try to take that approach with my story writing too. I try to keep an Ideal Reader in mind, always, while writing what I love to write.


It’s my turn on More than Writers (the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers). This time I talk about Signs of Spring. This applies to our writing too! Hope you enjoy the post.

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I took part in the Andrew Siderius Memorial competition on Friday Flash Fiction last week with a 100 word story. This week I have had a go at the up to 500 words category. Good challenge to mix up the word counts you write to!

Hope you enjoy The Fairy Godmother’s Guide For Finding A New Client, which is one of my longer titles! Sums the story up though.

Screenshot 2023-03-31 at 19-47-23 The Fairy Godmother's Guide for Finding a New Client by Allison Symes

Lady had a fabulous time with her Aussie Shepherd gentleman friend today. Both dogs have a very impressive thundering gallop when they run! Okay, they can send up some seriously impressive mud as well but one cannot have everything!

There is a useful competitions guide (often covering flash too) in the current edition of Writing Magazine but I think the next one is due out at any time so it may pay to grab a copy of the current issue while you can. The guide takes you up to December.

I’m currently prepping a story for a competition and hope to end up submitting that sometime in April.

Don’t forget to look out for Mom’s Favorite Reads due out again soon. I will shortly be setting my challenge for the May edition. See it as a good way to practice writing to a word count of 300 words maximum.

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Damp and grey day here, not that Lady cared. How does the weather affect your characters’ moods? Do they match the weather or do they deliberately go in the opposite direction (if only to cheer themselves up a bit on days like today, say? I find the writing carries on regardless – it is time which is a more relevant factor for me.

May be an image of text that says "Creative writing does just that for reader and writer. Readers can tell when something is written with love and care. You've got to care about what you write to stand all the rejections you are likely to get before acceptances come. Come INSPIRE"

Fairytales with Bite – Humorous Magic – What Could Go Wrong?

What kind of magical jokes would your mischievous characters do and what would be the consequences? In your setting, is magic taken seriously most of the time but with the proviso of something like an April Fools’ Day where folk are allowed to be more playful with their spells (on the understanding nobody gets hurt or made to fall in love with someone they wouldn’t usually fall for)?

I mention the latter as some limits would have to be set to prevent unfortunate consequences which would continue for longer than the period of mischievous magic allowed for. But tricks, jokes – what kind would these be and does your society welcome this as a way of letting off steam every now and again?

If humour is frowned on (it can be closely linked to free speech), how would your characters let off steam? Would there be underground comedy venues? I grew up watching The Goodies. Check out their episode Goodies Rule UK for their take on this – I find this is still funny after all these years. If funny magic is banned, why, who brought in the ban, and does anyone defy it?
Where humorous magic is allowed, who clears up the inevitable mess? There will be someone!

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This World and Others – Treating Magical Accidents

That last line leads nicely into this topic. Where magic is practiced, things are bound to go wrong. See The Sorcerer’s Apprentice for one thing! So who would deal with the accidents? Is there the magical equivalent of paramedics, the St. John’s Ambulance Brigade, or any other first responder? Are magical mishaps treated magically or with or traditional kinds of medicine, similar to what we have?

Also, is there any such things as a magical accident insurance company? I could see there being funny stories here, especially with what might go on the claim forms. (Fans of UK comedian Jasper Carrott will remember his routines with insurance claim forms. Hilarious stuff).

Are there particular groups in your setting who would be more prone to this kind of accident, due to either being more clumsy or less experience with magic than other more privileged groups? Would this lead to them being allowed to get more magical experience (if only to keep everyone else safe from them)?

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ALLISON SYMES – BOOK BRUSH READER HUB

MOM’S FAVORITE READS LINK – CHECK OUT THE MAGAZINE INCLUDING MY FLASH FICTION COLUMN HERE –

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Regular Writing and What Makes a Good Read

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Hope you had a good weekend. Starting to get rain, thunder etc here. Lady okay with it but does not like being woken up by it. Can’t say I blame her.

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Hope you have had a good day. Not bad here and I managed to get some swimming in as well so that’s good. Managed to duck most of the showers as well – definitely a good day. Lady and I have had plenty of soakings in our time so any time we miss out on that, we feel we have won!

Just to flag up there’s an offer on the paperback on Tripping the Flash Fantastic. See the link at https://mybook.to/TrippingFlashFantastic

Writing Tip 9002.5 or thereabouts: Regular writing is important. So is life. If life does get in the way, don’t feel bad about what you can’t do. Focus on what you can.

If it means you need to have another writing session some when else, then fine, so be it. The writing journey is a marathon and not a sprint. Pacing yourself helps a lot.

I must admit I know there are some nights of the week I know I’m not going to get a lot done so I focus on blogging (just adding a few paragraphs sometimes) or I draft a flash story. It gives me something to work on when I do have more time.

 

Am grateful Lady isn’t fazed by thunder and lightning as we had some in my part of the world at about 11 last night. Her policy here is the same as mine – the sensible one of sleeping through it and letting the weather carry on without you. It’s not as if it needs our help!

My Chandler’s Ford Today post this week will be about Good Interviews. I’ll be looking at what writers can do to help themselves prepare for these as well as looking at interviewing your characters to find out more about them ahead of writing their stories up. Link up on Friday. (And I’m interviewing two great writers for CFT before long – more news nearer the time – so I plan to be practicing what I preach here!).

Chandler's Ford Today post reminder picture(1)Comments welcome for CFT


Changeable weather today with rain forecast this week. Won’t be that sorry, though it will mean Lady and I will probably get a bit wet. The trees here are shedding leaves early to conserve water so the rain is needed. And Lady and I are used to being “drips” anyway so that’s okay!

Many thanks for the comments in on Fitting In, my latest Friday Flash Fiction tale. In case you missed it, you can find it here.

Now this story is loosely based on fact. I did have a dog called Gracie and I did fall for her immediately. Inspiration for story ideas can and does come from incidents in life but also from what I read and sometimes an overheard bit of conversation which intrigues me. (Train journeys are great for that by the way).

It’s being open to the possibility you might get a story from something that is important I think. The more you read, the more you are open to being inspired too.Screenshot 2022-09-02 at 09-11-55 The Arrangement by Allison Symes

Hope you have a happy weekend.

Any autumn plans you’re looking forward to? Any books you’re planning on reading this season? I mentioned the other day I’m currently reading Churchill’s Wizards on Kindle (having just finished the excellent Regal Retribution by Jennifer C Wilson).

It’s a lovely contrast in reading material – non-fiction -v- contemporary fiction (historical crossed with ghost). But I love to mix up my reading and ideas for stories come from both sides of my reading diet. I’ll read something and the cogs get whirring and I jot down ideas for another flash story or blog post. Reading feeds the imagination and it pays all writers to keep theirs topped up.

Best of all, it is fun to do!

And talking of reading, why not check out the latest edition of Mom’s Favorite Reads? It is free to download, has a wealth of articles, photos, stories and, of course, my flash fiction column.

This time I’m talking about Questions and Answers in Flash Fiction. I love questions as they give you a great story structure from the word go. Your story has to answer the question set. Your question draws the reader in – they know there will have to be an answer by the end of the story. Do also check out the flash fiction pieces that came in as a result of my challenge – there are wonderful stories here.

Screenshot 2022-09-03 at 20-32-31 Mom’s Favorite Reads eMagazine September 2022

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Don’t forget I often post flash fiction videos to my YouTube channel. New subscribers are always welcome (and the current ones treasured!). You can find my channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPCiePD4p_vWp4bz2d80SJA

Screenshot 2022-09-06 at 20-23-13 Allison Symes

 

It’s Monday. It’s time for a story I think. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – The Right Number. No prizes for guessing which random generator I used to trigger the idea for this one!

 

Does geography come into your fiction at all? It sometimes ventures into mine. For example in A Day Out from Tripping the Flash Fantastic, I refer to Earth Mark Two. I didn’t have the room in this story to say more than that but you immediately know you’re in an alien environment loosely based on what we know here.

More importantly, I didn’t need to say more than that. As ever it is the telling detail which matters here. You can bring the senses in here too.

For example, if you say Character X was standing by the blood red waterfall, you can deduce they must be on a foreign planet even if you don’t give the name of it.

Also think about how geography might impact your story (the quest tale is the obvious one here but it can be done for the smaller flash stories). If your character is on a mission to deliver cakes, (quite possibly to Grandma’s house), how could the geography get in their way and what do they do to bypass that? There’s the story. Readers will want to know if those cakes did get delivered. There’s your structure.

The geography is what causes conflict and challenge for your character and they will have to resolve it as best as they can to be able to do what they are meant to do. Usually failure is not an option (and you can increase the hazards for your character here by making it clear what will happen if they do fail).

May be an image of ‎tree and ‎text that says "‎Just give your readers what they need to know to picture your world. Everything else they will هll in from what they have read/seen on film.‎"‎‎

I often refer to some of my stories as “fairytales with bite” because they often have a twist and they’re not aimed at children. They often see characters getting their comeuppance. I also like to look at stories from the viewpoint of alternative characters to the well known ones.

Indeed my first story in print was A Helping Hand in Bridge House Publishing’s Alternative Renditions. My story looked at an aspect of the Cinderella story from the youngest step-sister’s viewpoint. Great fun to do.

The original fairytales are anything but twee as I’ve mentioned before. They can work so well as in flash fiction format, especially if you want a succinct story focusing on one incident in a character’s life.

My The Poison Pen from From Light to Dark and Back Again looks at the Snow White story from the viewpoint of the crone before the King marries Snow White’s mother and shows early indications of what the crone is like.

This kind of tale can add to the world of the well known fairytales I think. But you need to think about what character you’re going to use for this and work out what you can do with them. In this story’s case, I am showing the crone was like this years prior to the original Snow White story. In other words, she’s got form!

My flash collections are available in Kindle and paperback

Goodreads Author Blog – What Makes You Read?

Leading question, hmm? What makes me read is curiosity first and foremost. I have to find out what happens to the characters in the story. Or I have to find out what an expert is imparting to me via their non-fiction work. I read to escape worries and cares for while. I read because I love stories and finding out things. I read because it is a privilege and pleasure to be able to do so.

Reading fuels the imagination and that is why I think all writers should read widely and regularly, inside and outside of their chosen genre. I’ve had story ideas come to me from reading non-fiction. Occasionally a blog idea will occur to me from reading something in a story. I also see reading as supporting the industry I am part of – makes great sense to me.

Besides, as we go into autumn in my part of the world, what is better than curling up with a hot chocolate and a good book or something fascinating on your Kindle?

Screenshot 2022-09-03 at 20-47-58 What Makes You Read

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Opening Lines, Dialogue, and Persistence

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. I use Book Brush for captioning etc. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes, as was the photo of Lady.
Hope you had a good weekend. My part of the world is experiencing a heatwave at the moment. Lady and I don’t really “do” heat so won’t be sorry when it cools down again.

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What do I look for when reading a story by someone else and what can I learn from it for my own writing?

The main thing I look for is how the story made me feel. I then look at why it achieved that. I can then go back over the story (especially if it is a short story or piece of flash fiction) to look at how the author achieved this. It will inevitably be to do with how they portrayed the character.

I sometimes have fun trying to spot the turning point in a character. Sometimes the odd line will prove to be really important to the story later on and I like trying to guess what these might be. Sometimes I guess correctly.

A lot of the time I haven’t so I go back through the piece to see if I can work out whether I should’ve guessed correctly. You can learn a lot from doing things like this, including how to plant your own red herrings when the need arises!

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Wow! What a warm Monday! You’ll be glad to know Lady is fine, drinking plenty, and staying out of direct sunlight. It’s about the only time she is ever remotely sensible, not that I am sorry about this. She got to see her best mate, the Ridgeback, briefly this morning before it really heated up, which cheered both dogs up.

I suspect her buddie, like Lady, has spent the rest of the day curled up somewhere cool, pausing every now and then to get up and have a good drink. It truly is a dog’s life…

I mentioned last week I’d found a title for my “X” feature for this week’s In Fiction series for Chandler’s Ford Today. Drum roll please… it is going to be (E)xcellence in Fiction – now before you all start shouting at me and saying I am cheating here, let me just say one thing.

You’re quite right!
Am I sorry? No!

I did consider other options such as X-Ray Vision and Other Special Gifts In Fiction. Now I could have written a post on that but obviously It would be heavily weighted in favour of sci-fi and fantasy writing so I thought a broader topic more people can get more out of would be the better idea. Link up on Friday.

Chandler's Ford Today post reminder picture(1)
Writing Tip:

Keep it simple is a good maxim to go by for writing dialogue. I occasionally have a pompous character who won’t use contractions or will use complicated words and everyone else around them is wondering what on earth they’re going on about. Keeping the dialogue simple helps increase pace. Your characters can share information more quickly.

It is especially important in fiction for characters to get to the point – readers want to find out what happens after all. We all know those who “go around the houses” a bit in their speech – that’s fine for people we know. It’s not fine in stories. Readers will switch off. When you need a character like that, use the verbosity every so often. Readers will get the idea this character is like that but at the same time won’t be bored to ears by them either. They know to expect it.

I find the more verbose characters work best for humorous pieces (and ideally the story is on the relatively short side too. You don’t want to run the risk of the joke wearing thin long before the reader gets to The End).

Characters can bring each other up to date with story events via dialogue

Hope you have had a good Saturday. It was still well into the 20s temperature wise late last night. Thankfully Lady tends to crash out after a busy day and she loved her time down in the West Country yesterday.

The other half and I decided a day out would do us all the world of good and we had a fabulous time. Nice coastal breeze too. (We always carry water for Lady wherever and whenever we go out, including our local park, so she always has plenty to drink. She enjoyed some paddling yesterday – as indeed did I!).

Comments still coming in for Respect, my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction. Many thanks, everyone. It seems people agree with my character’s attitude to nobody disrespecting her cat! See the link in case you missed the story – and beware the cat!

Do you have a particular kind of character you love to write about? I like the feisty underdog type of character. You know, the one most would overlook or dismiss as being unimportant yet who turns out to be the most important of all. I think this love comes from my love of fairytales and my faith too. (See Matthew 23: 12 – For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted).

Many stories revolve around a “turn around” in fortunes and so often with fairytales, the attitude of the main character will often dictate what happens to them. In Beauty and the Beast it was the arrogance of the prince that got him turned into a beast in the first place.

So what can you do with your characters that acts as a “had this coming” moment and can they redeem themselves or be redeemed someone else? Being redeemed I think for me gives a truly happy ending/happy new beginning.

20220708_122648Screenshot 2022-07-08 at 17-15-37 Respect by Allison Symes

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Am delighted to say I’ll be giving a flash fiction workshop online in September. Looking forward to doing that. I share news and tips on flash fiction writing via my author newsletter as well, which goes out on the first of the month. If interested, please head to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com where you can sign up.

I used a random noun generator to help me write my latest YouTube story, Crumbs! Link to video below.The words which came up were cookies and road. I love using the random generators as they’re great ways to get prompts for stories you might not otherwise have thought to write. I also like to mix up which ones I use and all of them are helping me to increase my productivity so win-win there.

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It has been a very hot Monday on 11th July 2022, hasn’t cooled down much since. Time to relax a bit. Hope you enjoy Crumbs! which is my latest YouTube video.

How many stories had I written before getting into print for the first time in 2009? I don’t know to be honest. I wasn’t keeping count of all those rejections! However, it would not surprise me if it was a considerable number.

Where I could get feedback, some competitions offered it, I always took it. I learned a great deal from that, as well as from reading writing advice columns in magazines and reputable websites. Listening to/reading author interviews was also enlightening here.

I was, and still am, greatly encouraged by those stories of people taking a long time to get into print and then they do it. I then became one of those people!

So it pays to persist, it pays to read up on your craft, go to writing events etc. The one thing nobody can give you is the determination to do all you can to improve what you do which greatly enhances your chances of publication. (It is a question of chances.

Always be wary of anyone guaranteeing publication – vanity publishers thrive on this – they’re trying to sell you your dream – and boy do they charge!).

This is where the support of writing friends is invaluable and why again going to writing events, and any opportunity where you can get to meet other writers is such a good idea. What is nice now is there are more opportunities out there – online magazines are now a “thing” as is the independent press. Then there’s print on demand, reputable self publishing services, and places to go to for advice (the Society of Authors and the Alliance of Independent Authors).

Good luck!

 

I first got into print back in 2009 with a re-telling of the Cinderella story in A Helping Hand in Alternative Renditions published by Bridge House Publishing. That was a standard short story but I have re-told fairytales in flash fiction too.

Sometimes I’ve taken a character from a fairytale and shown something of what has happened to them before the “big event” related in the standard fairytale. My Living the Lie is an example of this (Tripping the Flash Fantastic). It looks at the beast in Beauty and the Beast before he goes on to meet her. This kind of story is great fun to do.

And there’s a wide range of fairytales to choose from where you could do this. If you ever wanted to know what happened to a minor character in a story, here’s your chance to do so – you write that story!

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Goodreads Author Blog – Opening Lines

When I have small pockets of time I jot down ideas for potential opening lines for future flash fiction/short stories of mine. It is a good use of time and the opening line is so important in hooking a reader in to reading your story and your books.

So it is worth jotting down ideas for me to work on at a later date. And it is opening lines which draw me into reading a book at all. Every writer knows they’ve got to polish these up and get them as good as possible.

It was a truth universally acknowledged – just that section of Jane Austen’s opening to Pride and Prejudice drew me in. Why?

Firstly, I wanted to know what that truth was.

Secondly, the word universally implies agreement but it also opens up the possibility someone somewhere won’t agree (and I wanted to find out if I might be that someone. I can only find out by reading on).

Thirdly, there is already a hint of irony here and in only six words. Now that is quality writing!

There has to be a sense you’ve got to find out what happens next. That’s how I know an opening line will work for me. If the opening line works, it is highly likely the first page, the first chapter will and so on and before I know I’ve read the book!

Screenshot 2022-07-12 at 08-32-42 Opening Lines

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Hello Again – Hope You Had a Lovely Christmas!

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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.

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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!

 

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.

Screenshot 2021-12-28 at 20-08-10 Tripping the Flash Fantastic Amazon co uk Symes, Allison 9781910542583 Books

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.

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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