Tag: am writing

Love Stories and When Writing Doesn’t Love You

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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.  Many thanks to Paula Readman and Adrian Symes for certain publicity shots shared below. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you’ve had a good weekend. Lovely one here, even saw some sunshine. Writing going well and have finally started submitting competition entries. Have done this before – off to a slow start but then I just keep going. Lady still getting plenty of mud on her at the moment, not that she minds this!

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Hope today has gone well. Lady enjoyed seeing her Hungarian Vizler friend and loved playing with Coco the lovely Labradoodle. Lady has also had a huge walk with me this afternoon. Lady loved it. Has had a great day.

Looking forward to going to a friend’s online book launch on Friday evening. Plus, aptly, I’ll be discussing Writing Events on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. My next post on Authors Electric is out tomorrow and will be about The Shortest Time. More tomorrow on that but it is an apt title for a flash fiction writer. Could be a good story title too…hmm…. Now there’s a thought.

Character Tip: What kinds of characters do you like? Why do you think this is? Now have another look at their stories and watch out for where their good qualities, the ones you love, show up the most. It will almost certainly be in what they do and possibly in the attitudes they show. But how has the author shown you this? What can you learn from this to apply to your own creations?

Hope your Monday has gone well. Lady’s day got off to a cracking start given she saw her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today. Lovely to have some sunshine too.

Plenty of writing work done over the weekend so was happy with how that went. Will be getting on with my usual Monday bits and pieces and then look forward to having more writing time as the week goes on. Am never sorry to get Monday behind me though I do get lots done, just not as much as I’d like on the writing front.

Now I have some competition entries out there, I’d like later this week to pick another couple to try and then write stories up for them. There are a couple of big competitions I like to try so will be having a go at those in due course.

And a huge thank you to Jenny Sanders for flagging up Hannah Kate will be having her Spring Equinox flash fiction show again on North Manchester FM. To find out more, do click on the link (and get drafting! Note to self: do likewise!). Deadline is 16th March 2026. Story length is three minutes maximum recording time. I find about 125 to 150 words is about right usually but to make sure I record my final draft on Zoom and play it back so I can hear how it sounds and get the timing right. Zoom gives you the timing which is so handy for things like this.

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


Hope today has gone well. Soggy again here – surprise, surprise not!

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Writing Events for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. I’ll be sharing some thoughts on residential, day events, Zoom ones too, and discuss what I look for when deciding what to go for here. I also share the general benefits to writers in going to good writing events because there are quite a few benefits. Post up on Friday (and that will be around again before we know it!).

Have finally sent in some story competition entries. Have been a bit slow to get started here but now I have started, I will aim to keep going.

Don’t forget if you have subscribed to Writers’ Narrative, now they’re on Substack, you will receive an article on the topic of the month every couple of days or so. You’ll also be able to easily look up articles you’ve missed. My next one here will be in early March. I must admit I’ve found Substack pleasantly easy to use (and I haven’t always been able to say that for a platform new to me).

14th February 2026 – St. Valentine’s Day

As the rhyme says, roses are red, violets are blue
You love writing but it doesn’t always love you!
Allison Symes – 14th February 2026

Do you ever feel that way? I think most writers can feel this way sometimes. Often it is a case you’re tired. I find a few earlier nights, less writing, a bit more reading, and more sleep help clear this feeling away. We’re not machines (is anyone else tired of being asked to confirm they’re not a robot by the way?).

Creativity of any kind is wonderful for the brain but when we’re tired, it’s time to be kind to yourself. Breaks will help you get back to normal writing activity more quickly in the long run.

I find having evenings when I can’t do much writing a help, funnily enough, because when my writing time does increase again, I’m keen to get back to it and hit the ground running. I use those small periods of time when I can’t do much else for writing admin and other tasks I want to get out of the way. That helps a lot as I reward myself with being creative again when I do have more time.

And I can’t stress enough about getting enough sleep because that kind of thing does help your creative side. Being overtired does get in the way of it and I’ve found that one out the hard way years ago. It’s a mistake I try not to make now. It pays.

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Am looking forward to next week’s meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group.

Will also be sharing something a bit special in my next author newsletter due out on 1st March. Am looking forward to getting that out there. If you’d like to find out more, do sign up at my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

One great use for those small pockets of time we all get but can’t do a lot with is to draft a flash piece, say a 50 or 100 worder. The old school method of notebook and pen is wonderful here and I use typing up my drafts from these (as I do after Swanwick each year) as my first edit. But getting something down on paper to work on further later on always cheers me. I know I can do something with this story later on.

I’ve used five/ten minutes productively too. I’m also old school enough to sometimes like getting back to pen and paper too. Mind you, I remember literally cutting and pasting when I worked as a secretary. I’m not at all sorry cutting and pasting on a PC/laptop is far better and easier!

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It has been another hectic Monday. Time to wind down with a story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Magical Suppliers.

Has a shop keeper found the best way of stopping the evilly inclined in the magical world? Find out here.

 

Mid-month already though I think February is short-changed because January hogged all the days! Flash fiction Sunday will start for me shortly. Am looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting later this month. Our topic will be On This Day. Incidentally, that would be a great theme or title for a story. Why not give it a go?

F = Flash is fantastic to write and read.
L = Language is there for you to play with for you to make the most of your word count.
A = Adjective usage is something you will hone again to make the most of the word count – your character will race up a hill rather than run up the hill quickly.
S = Story impact will be strong because there is no room for the old purple prose, you do have to stick to the point of the story.
H = Have fun setting your characters in different genres and times – I do.

Flash fiction is remarkably versatile. Restrictions, such as word counts, can do much to encourage your creativity.

Flash fiction, like any kind of storytelling, must have a proper beginning, middle and end. It is just “condensed” to a tight word count. I find it useful, for a 100 word tale, to have my opening paragraph set the dilemma my character faces. The second paragraph shows how they try to overcome it and the last paragraph will show the results.

I’ve long found having a rough structure to my stories helps make them work. I know what I must have achieved by the first third of the story, what the middle must do (and that will help keep things interesting and stop it from sagging), and then a natural lead into the conclusion.

Structure sounds boring but it is a crucial component to all stories.

Goodreads Author Blog – St. Valentine’s Day – Love Stories

I write this on 14th February 2026, St. Valentine’s Day. Love stories are a crucial part of our literature. I’m sure when asked to name love stories, the following will come to mind:-

Romeo and Juliet
Pride and Prejudice
Persuasion
Jane Eyre
A Tale of Two Cities
Gone With The Wind

I must admit I don’t like overly sentimental stories. I want to see a love story as part of the overall plot or where the plot wouldn’t make sense without the love element. I also want to see characters come to the romantic conclusion naturally and for them to make mistakes on the way. This is one reason why I think Pride and Prejudice is such a superb book.

There are love stories within other tales of course. I’ve always loved the love stories of Aragorn and Arwen and Faramir and Eowyn in The Lord of The Rings, though they’re not the main plot for that magnificent work.

I suppose I could say my biggest love story is my love for books and stories generally. That love is a permanent one!

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Supporting Anthologies

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Hope you have had a good weekend. Busy one here. Family travelling about on different days for various things so it was especially nice to get to a lovely, lazy Sunday evening. Lady enjoyed her different weekend too – she had to put up with me taking her out rather than another family member. I managed to get plenty of writing done but didn’t avoid getting soaked, alas!

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Hope today has gone well. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler and Coco, the lovely Labradoodle, today. Managed to avoid the rain this morning but, alas, not this afternoon. So we are half wet!

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Writing To Themes on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I hope that will be useful. The tips I will be sharing here are ones I’ve used for years and continue to use. If you’re writing short fiction and entering competitions, you’ll come across a lot of set themes, which are all chosen because they’re timeless and writers can get so much from them. More to come with the post on Friday.


Hope the week has got off to a reasonable start. Lady had a fabulous time with her best friends, the Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler, in the park today. All three saw their favourite human of all time, “Pete the Treat” as well so it was fair to say the three dogs went home having had a great time and plenty of treats! We were all pleased to see some sunshine too.

Writing wise, the next couple of days will be particularly busy so I’ll be focusing on getting various bits and pieces done. Did manage to get a fair bit done over the weekend. Am also catching up with reading. Am enjoying some great anthologies/collections of non-fiction work at the moment.

Character Tip: Think about what you can learn from how a character speaks. You should pick up something on their level of education, class, and more. How can you apply this to your own characters? The choice of words used makes such a difference here.


Hope your Sunday has been a peaceful one. Am looking forward to flash fiction Sunday, which I’ll start shortly after posting this.

The one regret I do have with my writing is not starting a lot sooner than I did. All the clues were there early on that writing was something for me. I always loved inventing stories during what was called Composition (part of English Language lessons). I did have notebooks and jotted down thoughts and ideas. Goodness knows what happened to them but the signs were there.

Sometimes on reading a story I didn’t like, I would think I would write the character this way instead, all of that kind of thing. But I didn’t get around to actually start writing seriously until I hit a milestone birthday (and in the same year had a significant life event too).

Next month I’ll hit another milestone birthday which will also tell me it will have been thirty years since I finally succumbed to the writing bug. It’s the only bug I’ve ever been really glad to catch!

Tip of the Day: If you want to write, write. It doesn’t have to be perfect. First drafts never are but make a start and see where the journey takes you and have fun with it too. You want to enjoy as much as you can of the process. You also cannot know how long it will take you to get “anywhere” (the definition of which depends on what you want to come from your writing) so the earlier you can start, the better.


Hope the weekend has got off to a good start. Not bad here. Even saw a little sunshine. Still plenty of mud around and Lady does have a talent for finding it all.

Writing wise, I’m glad to say my latest post Researching for Short Form Fiction Writers (for Writers’ Narrative) is now up on Substack. Link here. Many thanks to all who have subscribed to my Substack over the last few days.

For Chandler’s Ford Today next week, I’m looking at Writing to Themes, which is something I do for Writers’ Narrative, Chandler’s Ford Today and almost all of the story competitions I enter. Post up on Friday for that one.

As ever, am looking forward to flash fiction Sunday tomorrow. As ever, again, the weekend flies by!

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I’ve got one of those days today when I may as well have a revolving door as my front door. Now here’s a story prompt thought for you, knowing we all get days like that. Why not put your character in this situation and see how they handle it? Could make this funny or tragic – whatever mood takes you here. But have fun writing your character into a busy situation and see what they do – it may even prove therapeutic to you!

Hope Monday hasn’t been too bad. The usual hectic routine for me. Definitely time for a story then. I hope you like my latest on YouTube – Not Such A Good Idea.

Swapping some dark chocolate for something very different has consequences for two friends. A joke doesn’t always work out as planned.


Every writer has their favourite themes and mine often come up in my flash fiction and short stories. But this is another reason why I love competitions where someone else has set the theme. It challenges me to write something different when the theme is not one of my tried and tested favourites (and it often isn’t).

I’ll be looking at Writing To Themes for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday and will be sharing some tips I’ve found useful here. I hope it will prove to be useful. But in general terms it pays to practice writing flash fiction and short stories to various themes given these are often repeated (and for good reason too – these themes are timeless).

Managed to dodge a lot of the rain today so Lady and I will take that as a win.

Have a flash piece I am hoping to submit to a competition either tomorrow or early next week. Am also enjoying co-judging a flash fiction competition so, as has happened with editing in the past, I am on both sides of the fence at the same time again here. A nice place to be, mind you!

As you know, I mix up how I find ideas for my flash fiction pieces. Sometimes I will use topics connected with a season, most of the different random generators, books of prompts, story cubes and so on. I’ve been inspired by part of an overheard conversation before now too. The trick, if there is one, is to be open to the idea there are ideas out there waiting for you to work them up into stories. I’ve been inspired by characters I loathe (in a reverse way – I won’t write characters like that, I will write them like this instead and that has sparked a few tales). I’ve been inspired by characters I love.

If in any doubt, read more because it will remind you of what you love in stories and that should hopefully encourage you in your own writing. I find this to be the case and see it as a wonderful bonus for writers. We get even more pleasure from reading!

Goodreads Author Blog – Supporting Anthologies

I’ve had the great pleasure of having my work published in many anthologies over the years and some of my flash fiction work has recently appeared in another one (Editor’s Choice – Friday Flash Fiction Favourites).

I love reading anthologies too because I get to explore the works of many different authors in one paperback or ebook. Nothing to dislike about that and I’ve gone on to read longer works by authors whose stories I first came across in the shorter forms.

I also “use” anthologies to whet my reading appetite in between novels. I’ve long believed it is good to have a balance of long and short form reading. There are some amazing flash fiction and short stories out there where you do feel another word couldn’t have been added without “diluting” the impact of those tales.

Reading anthologies also helps support the smaller presses who give more authors more chance to have their tales seen and read. That in turn gives us more choice in our reading material. We all win here in supporting the anthologies.

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Outlining and Prompts

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Hope you have had a good few days. Looking forward to going to the Association of Christian Writers Autumn Gathering in Rugby at the end of the week. Will be good to catch up with folk. Am looking forward to the workshops too. Won’t be long before Flash NANO starts in November either. Have found that great fun to take part in over the last couple of years and am looking forward to being part of it again.

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Taking part in Flash NANO

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Hope you have had a good day and managed to avoid at least some of the rain. Mu gutters were doing their usual splendid impersonation of Niagara Falls at 9 am today! Thankfully it was dry when Lady and I went out and she did get to see her Hungarian Vizler friend, much to the delight of both dogs.

Looking forward to sharing a fabulous interview with Miriam Drori about her new book, Loyalty and the Learner, on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Looking forward also to my trip to Rugby on Saturday to join the Association of Christian Writers for their Autumn Gathering. Am hoping the weather will be better!

Writing Tip: I often outline my characters by interviewing them. A couple of pertinent questions gets the ball rolling nicely. Once I know the character well enough, I can write their story up. So I look at what motivates them (and from that, why). I also look at what secrets they might keep and why.

For example if my character is motivated by the need to be discreet, I would probably discover a secret from their past which is so horrendous, discretion has become second nature for them. I can then decide whether to reveal their secret and how they handle the outcome of that or take another route and get them doing something drastic to keep that secret. Either would be a good story to write up.

PROMPTS - I like to mix up the kinds of prompts I use, it encourages more creativity

7th October
A deeply sad day.

Writing wise, I’m working on blogs, editing, judging, as well as flash fiction at the moment. Enjoying it all too. I find writing therapeutic at times in terms of it giving me a creative outlet and I escape for a while into the world I create. Reading helps me escape into worlds other writers create – love that too.

Having said that, I don’t always like what my characters get up to and some of them I definitely wouldn’t want to meet for real, so to speak. It is the way of things but I also take comfort from the fact my characters should have a life of their own, else they would only be cardboard cutouts. Nobody relates to those.

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Drizzly but clearing up here today. Hope your weekend has been a good one.

Busy editing and judging at the moment. Will be enjoying flash fiction Sunday afternoon too today.

Character Creation Tip: It’s not unknown for authors to base their characters on aspects of themselves. Well, you draw on what you know here, right? True but I’d be wary about doing this if writing horror, erotica or even crime! You do want to separate the author from their work!

My approach is to take what I know about human nature/behaviours – and specifically what can result from a trait – and ask myself questions especially the What If one. The What If question is useful for getting an outline/rough idea together. I look at what a character would do and why.

Knowing the why is important for me because I can then write the story up with confidence knowing where it and its characters are going. The why makes motivations understandable (though not necessarily nice).

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Hope you have had a good start to your weekend. I’m looking forward to going to the Association of Christian Writers Autumn Gathering next Saturday. Looking forward to catching up with people and enjoying the workshops.

On Chandler’s Ford Today next week, I’ll be chatting to fellow Swanwicker, Miriam Drori, about her new novel, Loyalty and the Learner. Looking forward to sharing that.

Writing Tip: What have I found to be the most useful piece of writing advice I’ve picked up over the years? I’d say it was to write first and to edit later and that’s it’s okay to write a rubbish first draft. Everyone does! Just get those ideas down and then come back to them, after a suitable break away to evaluate them properly and then do the inevitable tidying up work which needs to be done.

The time away from your first draft is vital to be able to judge it properly but I use that time away to go and draft something else. I can then rest that one and come back to the first piece. It means I always have something on the go. I like that.

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Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting in a couple of weeks. Will be looking at how to make the most of Flash NANO, which stars on 1st November, and I’ll be sharing tips on how to make the most of writing prompts. I’m writing on prompts again for Authors Electric this month (due out on 18th October).

I use a wide variety of prompts. It keeps things interesting for me but it also means I’m not fazed when I’m set them by other writers. I know I can produce something. I can polish things up later and only I see the first draft!

I use the prompts directly but I often do put my own twist on them and get yet another idea. So if an opening line prompt says something like He wasn’t amused to get a parking ticket, I would change that to something like The alien wasn’t amused to get a parking ticket. I know I could have fun with that one!

PROMPTS - The advantage of writing to prompts is it gets you used to writing to topics set by someone else, handy for competitions with set themes, and writing events
It’s Monday. Time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Lighting Up. I expect many will identify with this one!

 

There are plenty of flash fiction competitions out there. A quick Google search will bring up loads of them. All of that is good news but do make sure you check out the terms and conditions and you are happy with these.

I never enter competitions which require me to sign away all of my rights (just what is in that for me?! I also may want to do something else with a the story in the future. Signing away my rights means I can’t do that).

I also check the entry fee is proportionate to the prize on offer. I also check out the competition’s website. Usually there are FAQs here which I find it pays to look at. The competition should be easy to find online. If they have a Facebook page, do check out the comments. If you’re not sure about a competition (a) walk away, you have to be comfortable with where you’re sending your work as you want it to reflect well on you and (b) do ask the writing community.

If you’re part of online writing groups do ask around here too. Someone is likely to be able to answer your query. Also the competition organiser should cover a lot of the common queries in their FAQs and, if not, be amenable to you putting a query to them.

Always walk away from those who don’t want to be helpful – you have to query why, right?

462210759_992961259510402_736286537237125836_nOne reason I love writing something for Friday Flash Fiction most weeks is it gets me back to my first introduction, and therefore love of the flash fiction format, the classic 100 word story otherwise known as the drabble.

For flash competitions and markets, unless they want a specific word count, I write to just under the overall limit. I want to make the most of the word count room I have available. So if I have a 250 words limit and my story comes in at 150, I will save it for a competition or market which is looking for word counts of 200 words or fewer.

The reason for that is so I can make every possible use of the word count limit I have got. If I’ve got the room for that powerful line which shows something useful about the character it’s going in. Here it is a case of adding depth to the story and character.

No line will ever go in, regardless of word count, if it doesn’t add something useful to the story in some way but if I’ve got some extra room, I see it as a wasted chance if I don’t use it this way.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Books With Impact

To an extent, all books have impact. The first impact is on you as the reader making you decide whether you loved the book or not. But when I talk about books with impact, I mean those stories which stay with you long after you’ve read them initially and which you will happily re-read at any time.

For me, this includes The Lord of the Rings, Pride and Prejudice, most of the back catalogues of Agatha Christie, P.G. Wodehouse, Terry Pratchett, and the classic fairytales.

What pleases me now is I’m increasingly adding non-fiction to that mix. It makes for an interesting “reading diet” and I would include most of Ben Macintyre’s books in the “will happily re-read” category.

I don’t mind the book format I use either. I mainly read paperbacks and ebooks with hardbacks every so often coming into the mix (but I have to be very sure of the author for those!).

The impact I look for in fiction is entertainment. For non-fiction it is in learning something new to me in a way that entertained me (and I welcome the development of creative non-fiction here because this is one of its strengths).

Screenshot 2024-10-05 at 17-43-41 Allison Symes's Blog - Books With Impact - October 05 2024 09 43 Goodreads

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This time I share the link to the September 2023 issue of the magazine which had marketing as its theme. Always a timely topic, that one! I have two pieces in here – Marketing Your Books and Writing for Online Magazines. And it really isn’t long to go now before the magazine is back with us again!

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Publication News and The Perfect Ending

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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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Questions and Answers In Writing

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Hope you have had a good week. Lovely to have the temperatures matching the spring weather at last. Posts will be out at different times next week but am looking forward to my Scottish break. Will do hubby, dog, and I the world of good, as it always does.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Delighted to share Questions and Answers in Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I look at the value of a simple but timeless structure for writing, which works just as well for non-fiction as it does for fiction. I also share specific examples of good questions to ask for use in fiction and non-fiction respectively. Hope you find the post useful.

Questions and Answers In Writing

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The spring sunshine has finally turned up with a lovely temperature to go with it. Lady and I are loving this.

Will be looking at Questions and Answers in Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. See above. Post will look at how these work for fiction and non-fiction. They do make a useful structure for your writing.

Writing Tip: Mix up how you find prompts for your writing. It keeps things interesting for you by keeping you on your creative toes. No bad thing that. I like to use a mixture of the random generators, story cubes, books of prompts, proverbs and phrases etc. I have written stories, many of which went on to be published, from all of these methods.

442385796_10161874238522053_2352573593092291139_nHope you have had a good day. Proper spring weather at last – Lady and I loved it.

I’ve mentioned before I use random generators of various types to help trigger ideas. They are the modern equivalent of story cubes (and I use those too!). I had a quick look at the random question generator tonight and came up with What is one of the great values that guides your life?

Now that could make an interesting blog post or non-fiction article but it would have uses in fiction too. You could use this as a theme, deciding on the value in advance and showing that being played out through your story. You could get your character to answer the question directly and then backing it up with their actions. You could also have fun here by showing them failing to live up to what they said. What would be the fallout there? There would be some.

Screenshot 2024-05-08 at 19-52-48 Random Qs

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest 100-worder, Artistic Inspiration. Talking of inspiration, this one is inspired by the old Tom and Jerry cartoons (which are always worth watching). Find out why via the link. Hope you enjoy the story.

Screenshot 2024-05-10 at 10-16-39 Artistic Inspiration by Allison Symes

Another great way to have fun with flash is to write what I call a “two-hander”. This is where one character is directly addressing another one who is reading what the first one has sent to them which is in the style of a letter, minus the usual greetings and yours sincerely bits etc.

My example of this is You Never Know from From Light to Dark and Back Again where my lead character is berating the unseen other character for envying them a luxurious life as a magical tour guide.

The story shows exactly why it is any thing but that. Would you fancy the Gollum special (the raw fish diet), for example, which my lead character has to have? Doesn’t matter if they get tired of it. Would you listen to Snow White’s advice to never eat anything red and glowing? (I can’t help but feel that is good advice outside of fiction as well!).

Fun to write but you need a strong lead character who has enough to say on the theme of the story and ideally does so with wit. (Nobody likes a whiner). You want your readers to end up sympathising with what the lead character is putting up with here. So think about who your two characters would be and how the second one would give the first one something to write to them about.

Allison Symes - Flash Fiction Collections

If you have a character with special powers or abilities, you do need to let readers know about this before any demonstration of those things.

In my Being Yourself (Tripping the Flash Fantastic), my character reveals what her special gift is, then demonstrates it, leading to a satisfying conclusion as she…. Well no spoilers here as ever but the point is I do set that special gift up ahead of showing it in action. To do anything else won’t ring true for a reader.

A reader will also need to understand why your character wants to use these gifts/powers. Doesn’t necessarily have to agree with the course of action being taken by the character but there has to be what I call good follow through in that a reader sees what is happening, understands why, and so the story will work for them.

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Fairytales With Bite – Travels

How do your characters get around in your setting? Do they rely on broomsticks or do they have more sophisticated forms of travel? Do your characters regularly travel or is it something they only do out of necessity (such as with the hobbits in The Lord of the Rings)?

Are certain species banned from travelling and how did that come about? Is travel easy for most or only the reserve of the privileged few? Is magic used to power transport or is that saved for other more important things? You could have a combination of machines as we would know them with magical power saved for what cannot be done mechanically.

Which characters can fly directly? Which need to use a broomstick or other device? Can animals fly in your setting and would that be restricted to those who would normally be renowned for running such as the horse? (You could argue their flying would equal their running on the ground, they would just be “running” in the sky effectively).

Are there places in your setting where everyone loves to go? Where would they avoid and why?

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This World and Others – Wonders

There are so many wonders on our planet, despite the ever grim news, it can be easy to miss them. From the glories of nature to the wonders of the universe above us (and getting to see even more of these thanks to the space telescopes) to the tiniest flower, there is much to wonder at and admire. But you do have to have an open mind and an appreciative heart to see this, I think.

So in your setting, do your characters see the wonders around them or do they take these for granted because they are always here? Would they suddenly realise how much these things mattered if they were taken away for some reason?

Wonders also span the scientific world in terms of discoveries in so many fields, including medicine. What would be the equivalent in your setting?

What is the view of your Joe Public here? Do they appreciate the wonders around them or do they need these pointing out? Who benefits the most from wonders where discoveries happen and new inventions occur? Do the benefits get down to the ordinary people?

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Faith In Stories

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Hope you have had a good weekend. Weather still chilly but sun is appearing more often. I’ll take that. Really enjoyed the play I went to see last week – review on that coming up on Friday on Chandler’s Ford Today. I have CFT to thank for introducing me to the joys of local theatre and National Theatre Live. Must try and catch some more of the latter again soon. I see theatre as enacted stories – another way of taking tales in.

BookBrushImage-2024-4-30-20-320Hope you have had a good day. Enjoyed a great swim this afternoon and caught up with friends there.

I’ll be reviewing Waiting For Gateaux, recently performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group, for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Looking forward to sharing that.

Author newsletter goes out again tomorrow. (1st May 2024). How come it is the end of April already? (Lovely to see all the bluebells out in my part of the world though).

Writing Tip: If you do have or are thinking of having an author newsletter, do have items you can always share which will be useful to people regardless of whether or not you have any news to share.It pays to plan out what you will do with your newsletter long before you set one up. I have done this with mine and find it pays off.

I often find I have lots of items of news at once and then none at all for a bit so I will share what I have when I have got it but also share advice and tips useful to writers. There is no use by date on those!

Think about what you could talk about here as well – for example your writing process, what you have found useful to you, favourite stories of yours and why you like them and so on. You’re engaging with your readers directly here so make it fun and useful. I try to go for a bright cheery style with mine. Okay if you write horror, that style might not be so apt (!) but there has to be something of value to your readers for them to keep reading what you send out.

Newsletter with envelope imagePleased to be back on More than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. This time I’m talking about Faith in Stories where I look at having belief in the process of creating your tales. I share what the biggest single thing any writer can do to help themselves (reading, no surprise there) and discuss why it helps. Hope you enjoy the post.

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Nice quiet day here. Lovely way to wrap up the weekend.

Don’t forget my next author newsletter is out on 1st May. If you’d like to subscribe head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

When I draft a new story, I start with the character(s) but have different ways of bringing them into being. I use a simple template a lot where I jot down a name, their species (where apt), their main trait, and anything else I think I might need to know.

Sometimes I write down something I just know they would say or think and then work out what it is that makes me feel this because that will indicate the underlying trait of this character I will want to bring out more in the story itself.

Sometimes I write down a line of dialogue or internal thought and then work out what kind of character would come up with this. All are fun ways to create characters.

When it comes to competitions, especially those with a set theme, I like to work out what kind of character would best serve that theme. When there is an opening line competition, again I would work out what character would come up with this line, or if it is a description, what character would be noting this and then work out why it is important to them.

But for all stories, regardless of who writes them, for me it is all about the character. I have got to get behind them to want to read on and I take the view most readers will take the same view with my creations.

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Hope you are having a good weekend so far. Nice quiet one here. Lady got to see an old pal, Miller, today. Dogs do get so much from being with their pals.

Am looking forward to reviewing Waiting for Gateaux for Chandler’s Ford Today next Friday. Will also be having a smashing author interview coming up on CFT towards the end of May which will continue into the early part of June.

Many thanks for the lovely comments coming in on my most recent Friday Flash Fiction tale, Deception. In case you missed it, please see the link.

Also the next issue of Writers’ Narrative will be out soon. Do look out for it if you subscribe.
Screenshot 2024-04-26 at 10-12-54 Deception by Allison Symes

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I’m fond of poetic justice stories and flash fiction suits these well. You set up the situation. You show the character who is either on the receiving end of said poetic justice or is the one to dish it out. You finish by delivering on that justice in the last line.

One example of this is my The Circle of Life from From Light to Dark and Back Again. This one is just under 100 words and I get my character to share their story in the first person where they show you what they want to do something about and why and then finish with how they are going to do it. Let’s just say those on the receiving end of the plans here deserve it.

It was a fun and satisfying story to write and I hope readers like it but the important point here is if you have set something up in your tale, you must deliver on it. Else there is no point. What I love about flash fiction is the restricted word count means you do have to ensure everything in your story is necessary. You haven’t the space for anything irrelevant. This does wonders for your story pacing too.

From Light to Dark and Back Again - by nightIt’s Monday. It’s been a long day. It’s time for a story. (Plus side it isn’t raining this week!). Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Something. The lead character may seem familiar to all fairytale lovers.

 

Am happily working my way through some of my own answers to exercises I set for the ACW Flash Fiction Group back in March for story ideas for my YouTube channel and Friday Flash Fiction. Am looking forward to tackling what I came up with for the April session in due course as well.

The March session involved possible opening and closing lines (two of my favourite writing exercises as my recent Chandler’s Ford Today post on the topic highlighted).

The April one saw the return of my character creation template and there are at least two possibles here I am keen to get to work on soon. When a character possibility grips you like that, it is a great feeling. Mind you, I feel the same way when I read a story by another author and I really “get” their character. Sam Vimes from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series is a classic example of that as are Jeeves and Wooster from P.G.Wodehouse’s fabulous works.

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I was looking at genres and flash fiction for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Wednesday night. As flash has to be character led (no room for lots of scene setting basically so you must lead with characters), you can set those characters wherever and whenever you want. Those characters don’t have to be human either.

I also use a simple template to help me create some potential characters. I put those ideas aside for a while and then come back to them later. If the ideas still grab me after that break, I will write them up. I know there are at least two from Wednesday’s session I drafted I will come back to at some point. Looking forward to doing that.

But it is the time away from your jotted down ideas which matters. You need objectivity and time away from your notes helps you get that. The positive thing for notes like this and for draft flashes that time away doesn’t have to be a long one. I usually find a few days is enough. What matters is your being able to come back to your work and be able to see it as if for the first time. It is that which will help you see the strengths and weaknesses of your ideas. You can then of course do something about the latter.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Holiday Reading

Am looking forward to a break away in May but I already know what my holiday reading will be. It will be whatever I am currently reading on my Kindle. The ebook comes into its own for this kind of thing, of course. No packing of heavy books. No limitation on what you can take to read either. All I must remember to do is pack my charger (especially since it does my phone as well!).

I don’t read what is normally known as holiday reading. Not really my genre though I can appreciate why the lighter reads are wanted for the summer season. (They’re even more important to cheer people up if the weather is a wash out as it can be in the UK).

For me, my light reads are the humorous books I love – Wodehouse and Pratchett works especially. I usually get to listen to some Pratchett audio books on the journey to and from my destination so get some extra stories in that way.

All counts as holiday reading in my book, some pun intended! I’m just listening to the tales rather than reading them but audio books are fantastic inventions. I get to take in even more stories and revisit old favourites -nothing to dislike about that.

Screenshot 2024-04-27 at 17-57-08 Holiday Reading

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My Top Five Writing Exercises

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Hope you have had a good week. I’ve had a busy one with the ACW Flash Fiction Group and a lovely trip to see the latest production from my local excellent amateur theatre company. Review to follow on CFT in due course. All I will say is with the title being Waiting For Gateaux I was expecting some laughs. Lady got to see her friend Coco the other day for the first time in ages and both dogs were very happy to see each other. Dogs are lovely like that.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Had a lovely time at Ritchie Hall for Waiting For Gateaux last night. Review to follow for Chandler’s Ford Today in due course.

Meantime, I’m pleased to share My Top Five Writing Exercises as my CFT post this week. If you would like to try writing exercises to help with your story creations etc but don’t know where to start, why not try out the five I list here? I use them all regularly. There are many other exercises available but these are the ones I use most often.

My post also looks at how writing exercises encourage you to think in different ways (and therefore stretch your imagination). I also share further top tips for making the most of writing exercises. Hope you find the post useful.

My Top Five Writing Exercises

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Am off to see Waiting For Gateaux, the latest production to be staged by The Chameleon Theatre Group at Ritchie Hall tonight. Should be fun. Will be reviewing for Chandler’s Ford Today in due course. I also get to meet up with my lovely CFT editor at these productions so we do kind of consider these to be a CFT works outing!

Will be sharing My Top Five Writing Exercises for CFT tomorrow and evaluating what I find helpful about each of these. There are many more I could have mentioned as I use far more than five but I thought the ones I picked for this post would be useful for any writer to use. See above.

Chandler's Ford Today post reminder picture(1)

Every so often I receive reviews directly rather than via Amazon etc. Delighted to say one came in for me today for Tripping the Flash Fantastic. A huge thank you to the reviewer concerned.

I like how Allison Symes managed to put together a book of short stories, flash fiction, and poetry that intrigued me here and there. Tripping the Flash Fantastic is also very easy to read through because the stories are short—before long, I found myself already having devoured more stories than I thought I could in a short amount of time. The stories are also creative and while not all stories resonate, it is inspiring and quite original. I like simple books like these. From KO.

I’ve mentioned before all authors appreciate reviews. They help make our books more visible and all writers welcome validation of their work (and we get that from reviews and other feedback from readers of course).

Reviews don’t have to be long either. Nor is there a use by date by which you need to get reviews in by. Yes, they are especially useful shortly after publication but I’ve reviewed books by other authors which I came to years after those books originally came out. You can’t know when someone is going to see your books.

But do review. It doesn’t take long. And it gives the author something to share as part of their marketing via posts like this one, mentions on their website etc.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to share my latest story on Friday Flash Fiction – Deception. The opening line for this one started life as an exercise I set for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group which I run once a month on Zoom.

I always have a go at the exercises (I don’t want to miss out on the fun of creating stories from them!) and knew this one had potential. This story, I think, will have resonance for many. Many thanks to those who have already commented on this.

Screenshot 2024-04-26 at 10-12-54 Deception by Allison Symes

One of the delights of going to see a live production, as I will be doing this evening, is watching for those lovely moments which add to the characterisation of the play in question. These will be those “flash moments” which help you understand a character better and can be funny, moving, tragic etc. Mind you I am off to see Waiting For Gateaux so I am expecting humour with a title like that!

Glad to say last night’s Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group on Zoom went well last night. I hope everyone gets something positive from the exercises I set. I have a go at these myself after the meeting and I think I can do something with at least two of what I drafted last night. Hope to start drafting something over the weekend when I have more time.

Sometimes for these meetings, I will prepare an answer to an exercise in advance to give an example but I do love joining in with live writing exercises myself. Does wonders for the old brain cells!

I often set and AM set writing exercisesLooking forward to tonight’s meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group. Always good to see everyone and we usually draft flash pieces in response to prompts (or have the starts of stories to finish off later) by the end of the evening.

I join in with these exercises and indeed, from the meeting in March, I’ve used a couple of opening lines I drafted then for YouTube and Friday Flash Fiction stories this month. That’s a result as far as I’m concerned.

Pleased to have received a review of Tripping the Flash Fantastic directly (see my author timeline on Facebook for more on that). See above. But I will sneak in another plea for reviews for all authors. Thanks.

I like to mix up how I open my flash tales but the one thing I try to do for all of them is to hit the ground running. I want to engage readers immediately. Sometimes I do that by setting up an interesting premise. Other times I’m showing a character in the middle of something and you have to read on to find what happens.

Sometimes I’m using thoughts, dialogue, or questions. But whatever I use, I always ask myself what is in this for the reader? That matters. Keeping your audience in mind all the time helps with focus. It makes editing easier too. With that question in mind, it is easier to spot what would be useful to a reader and what could be cut.

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Fairytales with Bite – Magical Equipment

In your setting, what exists in the way of magical equipment? Who makes it? Where do they get their “components” and do they have to meet safety standards?

(I’m married to an electronics engineer. Safety standards come into his world a lot and rightly so but I see no reason why they can’t come into a fictional world too. Indeed, a good story idea would be about someone trying to enforce safety standards for the greater good and the struggle they have to get everyone else in their society to accept that point. How many accidents would have to happen before the need for change is recognised and your character is the one to lead the way here?).

Can all of your characters access the magical equipment they need or are these reserved for certain species and/or for those at a certain level of magical ability? Your governing authority could of course control who can gain that magical ability to limit what powers can be used by whom that way but there would be an interesting story in why they are doing this.

Also does magical equipment go wrong? Can it be fixed? Who would carry out repairs and “servicing”? Is there the equivalent of an MOT for a witch’s broom? (If not, why not! Would love to see a queue of witches lining up to get their vehicles through statutory checks. What would happen to any unfortunate service engineer telling an annoyed witch her bristles need replacing? Could see some funny stories coming out here!). How can wands be checked to ensure they are doing what they’re supposed to do? Who cares enough to ensure magical equipment does work properly?

What controls do your governing authority have to ensure shoddy equipment doesn’t make it out into the open? Where has your world come from in terms of equipment development to get to where they are now?

Who has invented the equipment? What was done to improve the original models (almost inevitably improvements would either be necessary or become desirable when technology changes)?

Give some thought too as to how well or otherwise your characters use magical equipment available to them. That could make a huge difference as to whether they complete their “mission” successfully or not. Tools/equipment matter!

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This World and Others – Manufacturers

Linking in with Fairytales with Bite above, who are the manufacturers who make the products your characters will use? (The best known one of course is Ollivander the wand maker from the Harry Potter series but I liked that character. I liked the way it was realised someone had to make the things the main characters need to use).

How do the manufacturers access the ingredients and materials they need? What difficulties do they face here? Do they ever find materials they could always access before become rarer due to reasons of natural disasters/magical wars/other events in your setting or other manufacturers effectively buying up the lot?
Do magical manufacturers trade knowledge and materials with each other? Are there trade bodies? Do governments agree standards manufacturers have to meet and enforce that?

How did manufacturers get into the business? Is it a question of following the family business? How did those businesses begin? What made characters realise their talents lay in making equipment rather than using it directly?

How do they balance selling their equipment to those they would far rather not have these things with being able to survive? (Well, would you want to sell equipment to Sauron or Voldemort but what choice would you give your manufacturers for your own cast of villains here?).

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Screenshot 2024-03-22 at 15-23-10 Writers' Narrative April 2024Screenshot 2024-03-22 at 15-24-20 Writers' Narrative April 2024

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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History – Fact and Fiction/The Joy of Author Interviews

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Hope you have had a good week. Glad to be talking about history, something I adore, for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Lady has been out and about with her closest girlfriends and we’ve had more sunshine. (You make the most of that while you have it. Lady shares that view!).

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Delighted to share History – Fact and Fiction for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I’ve loved history from an early age in fiction and non-fiction forms.

I recently gave a PowerPoint talk on two women united by one king (Richard III – the women in question are Josephine Tey and Philippa Langley) and fiction as well as non-fiction can do so much to bring the past to life. My post looks at the advantages of both forms of writing when it comes to history and I also share how music can help enhance historical portrayals too.

I’m currently reading Double Cross by Ben Macintyre and loving that. If you have any suggestions for good historical reads, fictional or otherwise, do pop across to the CFT page (link below) and share in the comments box. Would be good to get a reading list going!

Hope you enjoy the post.

History – Fact and Fiction

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Pleased to be back on Authors Electric. This time I’m talking about The Joys of Author Interviews. I look at conducting them (I do this often for Chandler’s Ford Today) but also what I find fascinating about interviews I listen to/read which are conducted by others. Hope you enjoy the post.

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Sunshine again today! Lady and I made the most of that.

Looking forward to sharing History – Fact and Fiction on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above. I love history. Historical fiction can bring out truths which cannot be proved in the traditional sense but which could be said to be reasonable supposition based on what is known.

I use reasonable supposition for my historical flash pieces such as in My Girl (Tripping the Flash Fantastic) where the viewpoint is from Queen Anne Boleyn on the eve of her execution.

For fictional characters, having worked out their main trait, their attitudes and behaviours will be based on that. I like to think of that as “following through”. If a character’s main trait is slyness, then they will act in that way and their attitude reflect it.

Characters have to seem true to a reader to convince them to follow the character’s story.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

End of the working week means it’s time for another story. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction. This one is called Sharing Is A Mug’s Game. Find out why my character George comes to this thought – is he right?

Screenshot 2024-04-19 at 10-13-07 Sharing is a Mug's Game by Allison Symes

Flash fiction is ideal for Open Prose Mic Nights. Doesn’t take too long to read. You can mix up the mood of the stories you pick for this too. But I do practice what I read beforehand. Find it helps with the nerves (and there should be some good nerves here – some adrenaline is useful for a performance. I find it gives me a kick start!).

I like to mix up the mood for the stories I put in collections but you can pick a big enough topic to write about only. Dawn Kentish Knox did this with her excellent The Great War, which contains 100 tales of 100 words each. It also has to be a topic that is of huge interest to you. You need the commitment to that topic to be able to produce that number of stories.

For assortments of stories, which so far has been my route, it is a question of getting the balance of stories right – literally from light to dark and back again.

From Light to Dark and Back Again - by night

I’m a huge fan of outlining but I focus on ensuring I know my character(s) well enough. I work from their major traits and what attitudes/actions these would be likely to lead them to and that in turn helps ensure their motivation is understandable.

If a reader understands why a character is acting the way they are, the character will come across as more believable, regardless of how fantastic the setting might be. I see doing all of this as my bedrock for a story.

Once I know my character I can then see what kind of situations they are likely to end up in. A forthright character, for example, is likely to cause upset simply by being tactless. What is then fun is working out what that leads to – one of my stories with a character like that ending up cutting up someone in a car park who later on was revealed to be the judge for a story competition they’d entered. Oops!

Following through to ensure everything about your character makes sense pays dividends. You’re less likely to have plot holes for one thing because you have already figured out what Character A would be likely to do/feel in the situation you’ve set up.

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Fairytales with Bite – Breaking the Magical Rules

For your magical setting, it pays to let readers have some sense of the rules early on. For example, can all of your characters use magic? If there are limits, why have these been imposed and are they imposed fairly?

What are your characters allowed to do with their powers? What are they expressly forbidden to do and how are these rules enforced? What would happen to anyone who broke the rules accidentally? What would happen to someone who did this deliberately? I would hope there would be a difference here!

Give some thought as to who in your creation set the rules for magic. If these were imposed on your setting by a superior power, why was this done and by whom? Why are they not involved with your setting now? Are they likely to come back?

Most of us understand and accept most laws but there will always be some which niggle, which seem petty or bureaucratic. What would the equivalent of these be in your setting? Does someone breaking rules like that get away with it? Could it lead to petty laws being repealed? What would your character be seeking to change here and are they doing it for the greater good of their society?

Sometimes there could be a point to breaking the magical rules, especially if these were being misused. So who would challenge the status quo here and what has led them to do so?

Story ideas there!

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This World and Others – What is Normal Anyway? (Settings)

I think this is a good question to answer regardless of what your setting is! For your world, what would be considered normal behaviour? Would it equate with what we consider normal behaviour? What would your world make of humanity and the ways we organise our countries etc?

In an alien setting, where there are special powers/magic/greater scientific discoveries etc, what would be considered normal there? Would someone we consider to be a genius be seen in a different light in your setting because intellectual capacity is so much greater?

What would be the normal use of magic, special powers etc? What would be considered excessive?

Within your communities in your world, what is the range of expectations? If you have a magical community, what would be considered normal for elves to be able to do, dwarves to be able to do and so on? Do the different groups co-operate to make things better for all? (And yes we could do with more that here!).

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Caring for Characters and Story Twists

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a 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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Facebook – General

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!

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

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

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Online Workshops and Broadcast News

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good few days. Delighted to share broadcast news this time (and there will be publication news in the next post too). Weather still all over the place though have had some spring sunshine. Lady is as loveable as ever and continues to have a great time with her pals.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am pleased to share my latest post on Chandler’s Ford Today and this week I’m talking about Online Workshops. I discuss the advantages of these and share tips on how to make the best of them, whether you’re an attendee, a tutor, or, like me, you do both. Hope you find the post useful.

Mind you, if you find the refreshments on offer at an online workshop are not all they should be, you really do only have yourself to blame!

(Will be having some fabulous author interviews coming up on CFT in April and May. Am so looking forward to sharing these too. More to come later).

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Broadcast News: Am delighted to announce my story Budding Betrayals will be broadcast on Saturday 16th March on North Manchester FM. I have an unusual lead character in this one but you will have to listen in (live or on catch up) to find out more.

Hannah Kate is hosting a special Spring Equinox show in her Saturday afternoon slot and I am delighted my tale will be part of it. Many congratulations to every one else taking part too. See link and screenshot for more. I hope to share the link to the show itself sometime next week.

Screenshot 2024-03-14 at 09-49-18 North Manchester FM Hannah's Bookshelf Spring Equinox Special Saturday 16 March 2-4pm - Hannah Kate

Today would’ve been my mother’s 90th birthday. Many thanks for the gift of reading, Mum. It has led to a lot!

Don’t forget my next author newsletter goes out on 1st April. Not an April Fool, honestly! To sign up for news, tips, prompts etc, head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

I chose a monthly time slot deliberately as it gives me plenty of time to put the newsletter together and it isn’t too frequent an arrival in your inbox! All of the author newsletters I subscribe to are either monthly or occasional. Does anyone send one out weekly? How would you have the time?!

Having a newsletter forms part of my marketing, of course. It’s a joy to put together and it also gives me an opportunity to share links to my stories on Friday Flash Fiction for the month and to my videos on my YouTube channel. It makes a good “one stop shop” for me here.

Newsletter with envelope image

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Am delighted to share my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction – Neighbours. Neighbours are not always what they appear to be and that is the case for the characters in this story. Hope you like it.

(From tomorrow, 16th March 2024, Friday Flash Fiction are running an annual competition in memory of Andrew Siderius. Check out the home page for more information).

Screenshot 2024-03-15 at 10-08-09 Neighbours by Allison SymesPleased to have another flash fiction tale due to be broadcast by Hannah Kate on North Manchester FM this coming weekend. (Saturday 16th March 2024). I hope to share a link to the show itself sometime next week. This news came as a nice surprise today.

Am making good progress on what I hope will end up as a fourth flash fiction collection in due course too.

I love flash for its flexibility in mood, style, genre I write in, and even the word count I write to, as long as I don’t go over 1000 words. Great fun to do. It also makes for an excellent warm up writing exercise. Why not give it a go? I did. Two published books later and another in the pipeline, I’d say I made a good call!


My mother would’ve been 90 today. She saw my first published story in print. She would’ve been pleased about the flash fiction collections. I owe my love of stories and books in general to her. It is the gift which keeps on giving.

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction group meeting later in the month. Always good fun. It’s also an opportunity for folk to share news of relevant competitions etc as no one writer can know them all and I was told about Flash NANO via the Flash Fiction group. Am appreciative of that!

I sometimes write what I call “slice of life” flash tales. One of these is Judgement Day from Tripping the Flash Fantastic which has a “punch in the gut” ending. You would root for my character in this one and that, of course, is the reaction I wanted to generate with this story.

When I write slice of life tales, I focus down on what matters most to my character and that then is the story. There will be change. There will be development. There will be reflection. All of this comes together to bring about an emotional tale, which I hope gives readers pause for thought. For me, that is the purpose of a slice of life tale.

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Fairytales With Bite – Humorous Fantasy

I am very fond of humorous fantasy and my favourite series here is the Discworld one by the much missed Sir Terry Pratchett. Humour can often get across points better than “telling”. People are more willing to “take in” humour.

Humour has its place in the world of the fairytale too and many of my flash fiction pieces fall in this category. I love ending a fairytale piece with a punchline ending.

One of my own favourites here is Making The Grade from From Light to Dark and Back Again. I often read this one at Open Prose Mic Nights as it is short (100 words), has a punchline ending, and involves a magical character and exams. All good fun!

I’ve found a good way into writing this kind of humorous fairytale is to have a strong character in mind first. Ensure you know what their main traits are. My character in the story above is determined to do things her way and a lot of the humour comes from that.

I also find knowing a rough idea of the ending helps. I often write down a potential punchline finish first and then work out what could lead to that. It means I have a logical structure in place. I’m just writing from B to A rather than A to B.

So think about what your characters would find funny. Also what situations could you put them in where humour could develop. I am a big fan of outlining (yes, even for 100 word stories) and find jotting down ideas helps clear my mind and sparks other ideas too. I then go with the one which has the biggest impact on me as that will be the same reaction other readers will have.

But do have a go at writing humorous fairytales. They are good fun. I find they work best when kept relatively short but there are places in the flash fiction market which would be open for these kinds of stories.

And they make people smile. I like that.

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This World and Others – Humour In Your Setting

Linking with Fairytales with Bite, I thought I’d look at humour in your setting. Does your setting have anything intrinsically funny about it? Does it have species which are considered to be funny by others and if so, what are they? What is it about them that produces the smiles? (I think there is something intrinsically amusing about the duck-billed platypus, for example. I like the way it breaks the rules. Mammals aren’t meant to lay eggs but it does).

What would your characters find funny? Do the powers that be in your setting encourage humour or suppress it, given humour is often linked to freedom of thought and speech? What would your characters do or where would they go to find humour? Is there an underground humour movement? (For more on this kind of idea do check out The Goodies’ show Goodies Rule UK? It is brilliant).

Do all of your main species have humour or do only some have it? What kind of problems could their humour cause, especially where it is not shared? Could you use humour in your stories to bring species together, maybe to even wrap up your stories?

Humour is a powerful and wonderful thing. Tastes in humour vary too. That could be something to be explored in your character portrayal too.

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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