Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good few days. Nice to see some autumn sunshine emerge. Lady has continued to have riotous times with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal so she is is having a cracking week. Writing wise, am happily busy editing and preparing author interviews to share. Also looking forward to judging flash fiction again soon and the Association of of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting later in the month. Plenty going on and with more to come. On a sadder note, another link with my childhood passed away this week.
Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today
Pleased to share Books, Movies, and Music for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. This post was inspired by the recent Classic FM Movie Music Hall of Fame. I look at the links between movie music and books/plays (there were SO many on the chart). Where there wasn’t a link with a book or play, there sometimes was with an author (e.g. Wilde by Debbie Wiseman).
I also look at earworms and suggest a couple of them. You may or may not thank me for that! I also ask if strong stories automatically means strong films.
Hope you enjoy the post and do share your favourite movie themes based on books in the comments box on CFT. There are fewer pictures in the slideshow below because I did share a few YouTube clips in the CFT post itself. Go on. Check out the Pink Panther YouTube clip in the post. The orchestra is having a fabulous time playing this. And it remains the only film series I know of which inspired an equally wonderful cartoon series.
Books, Movies, and Music
I was sorry to hear of the death of Kenneth Cope today. Had a good innings (he was 93) but I remember him well from that fabulous show, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). Entertaining show with a wonderful theme tune. Have shared the link to the latter. See below.
There are certain shows where the theme tune so matches the characters and stories. This was one. Doctor Who is another. (I recall Kenneth Cope from Carry On At Your Convenience too).
My Books, Movies, and Music will be on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. This was a joy to write given it combines several of my favourite things. If I could’ve found a way to mention chocolate in this, I would have had a set of favourite things but alas the chocolate will have to wait for another more suitable post.
11th September
To all who mourn today, I send my deepest condolences.
Lady saw her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal again today and the pair of them had a lovely time. Dogs, unlike humans, keep it simple.
Will be discussing Books, Movies, and Music for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Looking forward to sharing that. See above. After that will come the first of two super author interviews. Those will be a great way to wrap up the month.
I love putting questions together for my guests on CFT. It’s a good challenge for me and I hope proves to be so for them! What I aim to do is to ask questions which encourage the author to “open up” with the result being seen as a written, in depth conversation. I think it makes for a good read. More to come on both author interviews nearer the time.
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again
It’s Friday. It’s time for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Appearances. This will ring a bell for fans of certain cartoons. See the story for more. 
There are many advantages to writing flash fiction but two of the major ones, at least for me, are the way it shows up your wasted words and it encourages you to write tighter, leaner prose. It has led to me asking myself whether I do need a certain phrase or, even if so, can I express it better? Most of the time the answer to that question is yes and so I rewrite.
It also encourages you to think of the right detail to include so your readers can get a good picture of your character and situation in a few words. The right image can add depth to a story.
I ask myself what detail would help do that. What is it a reader would find helpful here? Answering that helps me with focus. Sometimes I use colours, one of the senses, an item of clothing etc. Using those details flags up they matter to the character in some way but it also helps “fix” a picture of the character in a reader’s mind better, I think.
11th September
To all who find today difficult, I send my deepest sympathies.
Flash by its nature has to capture a moment in time but it has to be a significant one for your character. What is it about them and their situation we have to know? What is the point of change by the end of the flash piece?
Less is more could be said to be the flash fiction writer’s anthem but the right telling detail can add depth to even the shortest of stories. So think about what would make your character stand out. Would it be something they wear? Is it their attitude as shown in their thoughts and dialogue?
Why is it this character who is facing Situation X? What do they seek to gain or lose by dealing with that situation? Answer those questions and you’ve got a good outline and be well on the way to a first draft.
Fairytales with Bite – Time
When time crops up in fairytales, it usually is midnight. No other time. Just that one. See Cinderella for more on that.
I’m also very fond of the quote from Terry Pratchett’s magnificent Reaper Man (which I must re-read soon given it does have a harvest theme and it is September as I write this) – The kind of Death who poses against the skyline and gets lit up by lightning flashes doesn’t turn up at five-and-twenty past eleven if he can possibly turn up at midnight.
That wonderful quote shows a great deal about the character of the “real” Discworld Death and the one who was meant to replace him all in just one line. Brilliantly done.
Midnight then has a great deal of resonance but for your own characters why not pick a time which has meaning to them? If your character has a reason for loathing or loving a particular time, show that in your story. You can then get them to face having to do something at your chosen time and their attitude towards the time in question will have a bearing on how well or otherwise they do handle that situation. It should increase tension nicely!
There is also the possibility of using Time as a character. Would you show Time as cruel or kind? (Bear in mind the answer to that could depend on the attitude of your other characters. Time might be kind but the characters may have good reason not to see it that way).
What would you get Time to do? Can magic challenge Time or is there always a payback for trying to chat Time? (Someone usually does try as they try to cheat Death in Discworld. Never works but there can be fun stories as we, as readers, watch the characters try and fail!).
Also give some thought as to how time works in your setting. Would it be the same as here or does your setting have a 48 hour day or, come to that, a 4.8 hour day? How would this work? How would your characters manage it (given for them it would be normal)?
This World and Others – Sense of Place
In your setting is there a sense of place? Can people conjure up what your setting looks like? Can they visualise your characters living in that setting? Do you focus on one place or a whole world?
What can be useful here is deciding on your focus. If you are having stories set in one place, think about whether that place is a city, a village, or what have you. You can then research cities and villages here (and ideally visit some) to get a feel for what would be in these places and then have the fun of inventing the equivalent for your world.
Give some thought as to what your characters would hear, smell, see etc (and what they would consider as “normal” noises, smells etc so they barely notice them but an outsider would do).
If you are using a whole world setting, focus on what a reader needs to know and experience. If your story is mainly set in and around a desert, the reader won’t need to know about riverside villages etc. They will need to know how your characters manage in that desert setting.
But there is plenty of research you can do here which will help to bring a sense of place to your fantastical settings. We do have to base the latter on what we know here and then change things but you know what you are changing and why. You will write from a position of strength/background knowledge then.
WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK
This time I share the September 2023 edition of the magazine which focuses on the topic of marketing. Always useful that one! I have two articles in here – Marketing Your Books and Writing for Online Magazines. And remember the magazine will be back soon!
AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsLooking forward to going to the ACW Autumn Gathering next month. What I love about writing events is meeting other writers who understand the wish to write. I’m encouraged by this and wonder if we need that more often than we might think. Zoom is a lifeline here too. pic.twitter.com/HBrSjz1VO4
— ACW (@ACW1971) September 11, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsI find the good old notebook and pen is the most useful aid at any writing event. It pleases me “old school” technology still has a part to play in the writing world and also like to think of this as writers doing their best to support the stationery industry! Good for us! pic.twitter.com/PklczOl1vL
— ACW (@ACW1971) September 12, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsAppearances, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/y43VXQuy0M It’s Friday. It’s time for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Appearances. This will ring a bell for fans of certain cartoons. See the story for more. pic.twitter.com/ML5i7QIICp
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) September 13, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsBooks, Movies, and Music https://t.co/U8j9Vd98WR
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) September 13, 2024
This CFT post was inspired by the recent Classic FM Movie Music Hall of Fame. I look at the links between movie music and books/plays (there were SO many on the chart). Still others had links with authors. Hope you enjoy the post.
Allison Symes: Collected Works 