Tag: Asking what if

Brainstorming and Spreading the Word about Flash Fiction

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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 had a great weekend. I had a lovely time at the Association of Christian Writers Autumn Gathering writing event on Saturday in Rugby. Plan to write more about that and supportive writing groups for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Do look out for it. I’ll be sharing some tips on what to look for if you’re thinking of joining a writing group. Lady has had a good start to her week, seeing her best pals. Always comes home looking so happy when she’s met up with them.

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal again today. Two happy dogs went home.

Will be sharing a bonus Chandler’s Ford Today post tomorrow advertising the local Book Fair. Do look out for it (and the event itself is this coming Saturday, 19th October. More details in the post tomorrow and if you can come along even better).

Writing Tip: Every so often have a brainstorming session. Jot down ideas for titles, opening/closing lines etc. It’s good fun, a great creative exercise, and later once you’ve reviewed what you’ve come up with, you will find something you can work up later. What’s not to like about that?

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Has been drizzly and murky here but Lady didn’t worry as she got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today. Good time had by all.

Will be writing about the Association of Christian Writers Autumn Gathering and Supportive Writing Groups for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I’ll be sharing useful tips for what to watch out for when you’re thinking of joining a writing group. Link up on Friday. More author interviews to come soon too.

Hectic day today so won’t be getting so much writing done today but Mondays are always like this for me and I more than make up for it during the rest of the week. What I do on Mondays is focus on little “bits and pieces”. I can tick some of those off my writing to do list at least. Makes Mondays a bit better for me!

463270484_999554918851036_116990171191685620_nHad a fabulous time with the Association of Christian Writers yesterday. Will be writing more about that for Chandler’s Ford Today this week but it was just marvellous getting together with people I haven’t seen in person for some time. Regards to all and I hope you all had safe journeys home.

Have spent this afternoon copying over various pieces of writing I managed to get done on the train journeys – did more than I thought. Good use of time that!

Will be back to editing and judging later today, once I’ve written and edited some of my flash pieces.. Am almost there on the story judging and plan to get results back to the writing group this week. It’s a lovely task to do and many thanks to the writing group concerned for inviting me.

Will have some news to share later in the week about my being judged for one of my stories too. I’ve often been on both sides of the editing fence at the same time but this is the first time I’ve been on both sides of the competition judging one!

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12th October 2024

Am on my way to the Association of Christian Writers Autumn Gathering at Rugby.

Looking forward to seeing everyone, the talk by Paul Kerensa, and the workshops. Will be a long but excellent day. I hope to write about this and the value of supportive writing groups for Chandler’s Ford Today next week.

Have seen dawn rise as I travel. Very nice but also proof the mornings are darker for longer. Will be pitch black when I go home again.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Will be spreading the word about flash fiction at the local Book Fair this coming Saturday 19th October. I’ll be sharing a bonus Chandler’s Ford Today post on this tomorrow with more details. But it has been great last weekend and this coming one to be out and about on the book stands once more.

 

It’s Monday. It’s been more hectic than usual for me so I too am glad to take time out for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – The Day Out. What on earth Could Vera have done to make headlines in her home world? Find out by following the link.

 

I was glad to share the benefits of flash fiction yesterday when chatting with various people at the Association of Christian Writers Autumn Gathering. The ACW group leaders who were present invited people to join them to discuss what their group does as the last event of the day.

I waved the flag for the online groups given the Flash Fiction Group could never get together in person, we live hundreds of miles apart, and there are a number of ACW groups like this now which have formed to cover different genres. With Zoom distance isn’t a problem though wifi connections can be at times but that’s tech for you and I found out long ato there is no such thing as the totally perfect system.

One major benefit I was keen to share about flash fiction is it helped me to get my head around the whole idea of show, don’t tell. I have got to get my characters to show you what you need to see because I don’t have the word count room to do otherwise. This is no bad thing though and it has benefited my other writing, even my blogging, because I have learned to write “tight” with no wasted words or anything that could be construed as padding!

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Am on the train today and as I travel I get glimpses of “other lives” especially as I go through the towns. Could any of that inspire flash fiction? Oh yes.

As well as Kipling’s Serving Men of who, what, where, when, how and why coming in handy here, my favourite addition of what if will also help me develop ideas. If you don’t like outlines as such, but need something to get you started on flash or other writing, all of these questions are brilliant places to start. Often I find just a one line answer is enough to trigger the ideas.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Special Book Moments

I’m sure all of us have special book moments when a story just “clicks” with us. I love those moments.

I recall studying Pride and Prejudice at school and remember loving it so much I read it again immediately at home. My mum loved Jane Austen and this novel remains a comfort read of mine. I had an excellent English teacher (Miss Mackenzie) who brought to life for me the fabulous use of irony in this book.

As for Terry Pratchett, my first Discworld novel was Jingo. Loved the cover and blurb. Hooked by the end of page one! Naturally had to read the rest of the series after that.

As for The Lord of The Rings I was intrigued by the hobbies and Gandalf from the start so naturally kept reading.

Books are so special anyway but are even more so when they give you fabulous memories too.

Screenshot 2024-10-15 at 20-03-28 Allison Symes's Blog - Special Book Moments - October 12 2024 00 01 Goodreads

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the December 2023 edition of the magazine which looked at Finishing Strong, always an apt title for an end of year issue. I looked at Finishing Strong in the Short Fiction Forms and shared a separate piece under the Writing Group of the Month section about the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group which I lead monthly. Much to enjoy in this issue and it really won’t be long now before the magazine is back!

 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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What Is In Your Writing For A Reader?

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good weekend. It was a Bank Holiday weekend in the UK and yes we got the rain – traditions continue to be upheld there! Looking forward to a Scottish holiday coming up soon but I hope to still post as am taking laptop with me. Writing is a joy. Where I do take a break is in getting to do more reading than I would usually do at home – love that aspect of holidays.

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Lovely to see some spring sunshine today and Lady got to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback so we both count that as a win-win.

Every so often I write slice of life flash pieces, one of which is They Don’t Understand from From Light to Dark and Back Again. It also counts as a monologue where my character unveils more of his life – and you find out what a life it was. These kinds of stories work best when kept short. The emotional impact of them is more keenly felt by doing that. Besides one huge advantage of writing any kind of flash fiction is it teaches you fast to get rid of the waffle.

Looking forward to sharing Questions and Answers in Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. These make a useful structure and I use them a lot. There will be more author interviews coming up later in May and early part of June and I am hoping to conduct more after that.

I love talking with other authors here. Always something of interest to learn. You never known when it might become useful for you. What I love about writing is you are always learning – great brain exercise.

 

Am delighted to say the May edition of Writers’ Narrative is now out. The theme for this month is memoir. My piece is on Using Memoir Techniques for Character Creation and that can be found on Page 14 but do check the whole magazine out. There is an excellent range of pieces on why people should read memoir, 21 tips for writing memoir, and much else besides. Remember it is free to subscribe. There is a link to do so inside the magazine itself.

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Changeable day weather wise here. Not that Lady worries.

Will shortly be working on my Sunday flash fiction writing. Always look forward to this. I read a lot of flash fiction as well as write it and it is a good idea to read well in your chosen field as well as doing so outside of it. All good writing inspires and what writer doesn’t welcome an inspiration boost every now and then? Reading is the way to get said boost!

I love reading the flash pieces on Friday Flash Fiction and it is a great way to see what 100 word stories look like on screen as well as seeing just what range of tales emerge. It is seriously impressive. It also helps you see where your work could fit in. What’s not to like there?
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May 4th 2024 – Hope you have had a good day, especially if you’re a Star Wars fan! (Well, today is your day, is it not?).

Pleased to say I have had a a good response to my review of Waiting for Gateaux, my Chandler’s Ford Today post from yesterday. My next one on there will be all about Questions and Answers in Writing and how writers, fiction or non-fiction, can make use of these. Link up on Friday.

Writing Tip: Always ask yourself what is in your writing for your reader. It will help you focus. It also means you do know your intended audience (or likely one anyway) and it makes editing simpler in that you will cut out what doesn’t benefit the reader in some way.

Just doing the latter will improve your writing so much. I’ve forgotten who said it but there is a lovely quote about not writing the boring bits readers skip. It is useful to have that side of the coin in mind as well for those drafts. If it is useful to the reader in some way, it won’t be boring.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

As well as mixing up the kind of flash tales I write in terms of genre, I like to mix up the word counts I write to as well. For Friday Flash Fiction, it is nearly always the 100 word count I work to though I do occasionally send them in a longer piece.

But for my stories for my YouTube channel, I like to write across a range of about 50 words to 300 or so. And every so often I will come across a competition I like the look of so I stick to their word count requirements. It is good practice to regularly write across the word count range. It’s fun too.

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Following on from my post yesterday (see below), I DID do something with my haunted teapot story idea, which came about as a way of showing how you could use Kipling’s famous six honest serving men (and my What If additional question) to outline a story idea.

So then it’s a wet Bank Holiday Monday here in the UK and it is time for a story. Just what can I do with a haunted teapot? Find out here with my latest on YouTube – Time For Tea.

 

Kipling’s six honest serving men give all writers a classic outline, these being What, Why, When, How, Where, and Who. I’d also add in What If – now there’s a classic question for you. The nice thing with these is a brief one liner for each of these will spark possibilities for a story. For example:-

What – Author needs an idea.
Why – For her daily Facebook post to share something useful to other writers in particular.
When – Right now!
How – By using a well known writing tip from Kipling to show how that tip works in practice.
Where – To be shared on Facebook.
Who – By author.
What If – She adds in a question of her own and uses that to expand the outline.

Now apply that to a potential character and situation.

What – Haunted teapot.
Why – Previous owner renowned for drinking tea by the gallon, tea was her life, can’t quite let go.
When – New owner finds previous owner haunting that teapot when they move in.
How – New owner was going to use the teapot for making their own tea and discovers the ghost as she lifts the lid on it.
Where – In the kitchen.
Who – New owner and previous owner – new owner flees one way screaming, the previous one flees the other way, nobody else was ever meant to use that teapot.
What If – That teapot haunts anyone who ever uses it. Someone has to smash it to break the curse on it. New owner comes back and does so. Sets ghost of previous owner free and vanishes.

Get the idea? And I may well do something with that story outline. Watch this space. Will let you know if anything comes from it. I did do something with it – see my YouTube story above.

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One thing you can do with flash fiction is to write linked flashes where the same character(s) appear in more than one story. I’ve done this with my third flash collection (which has been given the nod by my publishers but I don’t have a publication date yet). It was fun to do and I would like to do more of this.

It means you can develop the character(s) a bit more over the course of two or more stories without exceeding your word count limit. You can also have Character A in one tale, Character B as the lead in the second one where Character A is either referred to or effectively plays a cameo role, and then have Character A lead again in a third story.

Linked flashes also lend themselves well to novellas in flash too where you have a 20,000 words + book where each chapter is it is own flash fiction tale but there is an overriding arc developing throughout the stories leading to a conclusion, as you would have in a novel. Not something I’ve tried. Is something I wouldn’t mind trying at a later date though.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Fiction Acrostic

F = Fantastic for the range of genres to choose from.
I = Imagination let loose in history, crime, fantasy, sci-fi, and so many more.
C = Characters whose journeys you follow, willing them on to succeed or fail, as appropriate.
T = Timeless truths are often conveyed in stories and books and are more easily remembered too.
I = Inspiration from so many fields of fiction to current writers and to those yet to come.
O = Opening up so many worlds, there will be at least one fiction genre to suit you.
N = Never ever be stuck for something to read – the world of fiction is an expanding and wonderful one.

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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YouTube for Authors and The Magical Week

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Image Credit:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated.

Some images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.

Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. From Light to Dark and Back Again from the Swanwick Book Room all the way back in 2019 also taken by me. Can’t wait to be back at Swanwick again. I’ve missed seeing friends for the last two years. Zoom has helped a lot but it’s not the same as meeting up in person.

Nice sunny end to the week where I am, busy Zoom week coming up next week, and I share a new flash tale and some thoughts on how a fairy godmother might spend her week. See Fairytales with Bite below for more on that.

Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

Delighted to share YouTube for Authors, my Chandler’s Ford Today post for this week. Many thanks for helpful comments in on it already.

I discuss how I use YouTube, share some thoughts as to what else authors can do with the medium, and why I think having a visual way of sharing my work is an advantage. What is also lovely is being able to add audio to YouTube videos. We all know the right music can enhance a film. It can do the same for the videos you create. See the post for more. Below is the video referred to in the post.

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Back to the will-the-sun-come-out-or-won’t-it-routine today. My old granddad was right when he said a British summer fell on a Wednesday afternoon. It happened yesterday!

Will be sharing my YouTube for Authors post on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow and hope you will find it useful. (Am looking forward to sharing further fab interviews here in August too but it is going to be a joy writing a review for The Chameleon Theatre Group once again when I go to see their show on 29th July. So looking forward to seeing their shows again – a little bit of normality returns at least).

Will be giving a talk on short story writing via Zoom next week and am looking forward to that. Plus I will be taking part in the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group, again next week and again on Zoom. (It is an excellent word to get out on Scrabble. I did so recently and was so pleased to get it out on the triple word score. It is a feat I am unlikely to repeat).

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This is more like it. Sunny and warm here in Hampshire today and Lady got to play with her two best buddies, the Rhodesian Ridgeback and a lovely Hungarian Vizler. These two like to give me cuddles as well as play with Lady (and she doesn’t mind as she gets cuddles from their owners), they’re lovely dogs, but you don’t want to stand behind them when their tails are wagging at speed!

Writing wise, my CFT post this week is about YouTube For Authors, the idea for which came out of my interview with #HelenMatthews last week. I hadn’t anticipated using a visual medium to share stories even two years ago but I have been pleasantly surprised at how easy YouTube is to use. Also proof that networking with other authors can inspire writing ideas!

Busy preparing Zoom talks right now as well and have sorted out the project I want to take with me to Swanwick which I hope to work on while there. (One of the days is a quieter one where you can work on your own material and I found I got a lot done in 2019 when I was last able to take advantage of this).

Also looking forward to going out by train again and getting work done via Evernote en route. On a good trip to London once, I managed to draft three flash stories and part of an article for CFT on a trip that took about 80 minutes.
Also looking forward to being able to put two books of mine (From Light to Dark and Back Again and Tripping The Flash Fantastic) out in the Swanwick Book Room. Last time, I only had the one.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope you enjoy my latest story on #FridayFlashFiction – The Unpaid Shift. This story is a result of a writing exercise I set for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group. Great fun to write up and I have every sympathy with my lead here for not wanting to work more unpaid overtime. Does he buckle? See the story for more.

Screenshot 2021-07-16 at 18-47-03 The Unpaid Shift, by Allison Symes

When I write a twist in the tale flash story, whatever its mood or genre, I always write the twist first and then work out different, logical ways of getting back to the beginning again. I want to make sure that the opening for the story is as strong as the great twist I’ve come up with and this is where I will use spider diagrams.

I work out different “what if” possibilities from that twist and then go with the one I like the best. It is always the one that makes me react the most whether it makes me laugh or shudder with horror. If it does that to me, it will make a reader react likewise (most of them anyway). Thinking with my audience in mind all the time ensures I cut out anything irrelevant. If it bores me, it will bore them.


Looking forward to waving the flag for short stories and flash fiction via Zoom talks I’m due to give this month. Also looking forward to waving said flag for flash via the Swanwick Book Room in August (and I hope there might be others from the Chapeltown stables there as well).

Looking forward to getting back to live events again but am grateful for the opportunities Zoom has given and continues to give. Flash on a small screen works well (and many thanks for the views and likes over on my YouTube channel too. I’ll be talking about YouTube for Authors for my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week as well).

Youtube gives me a visual and audio outlet for my storiesScreenshot 2021-07-16 at 19-35-51 Allison Symes
Fairytales with Bite – The Magical Week

I thought I’d work out what a working week in a magical world could look like for your average working fairy godmother and the like.

Monday = Check client list for the week. Is there an ill-treated goddaughter on the list for visiting this time? (If so find out what her shoe size is and ensure it is unique to her. This will be useful for later. Also check out whether she can grow pumpkins. Not everybody is green-fingered so you may need to bring own stock in). Also get washing out but use magic to peg it to the line and keep any rain off for long enough. You have the magic. You may as well use it to help with the housework.

Tuesday = Pop along to local palace and ensure there are no spinning wheels anywhere. You want to cover all angles on the fairytale front here. That done, put a note in the diary to regularly check this as you know what the local witch is like and would not put it past her to wait until after you have done to smuggle one in.

Wednesday = Get rest of housework done using magic. Catch up with correspondence from those wanting you to turn up and help them. Sort into piles of Deserving and Not Deserving as Probably Being Greedy. Work out a schedule for the Deserving. Work out a schedule for paying a stern visit to the latter and warn them to change their ways. You don’t grant wishes like that. The wishes you could grant to punish them for greedy are not the ones they would want.

Thursday = A day for spreading goodwill and happiness with the aid of a magic wand. Your favourite day of the week.

Friday = Everyone clocks off early on a Friday and you are no exception though you do check all the clocks in your area are set to the right time. For some of your spells, timing (I.e. knowing when it is midnight) is crucial. See if you can sort out that dodgy spell you have on slippers. You still can’t figure out where the glass bit comes from but do know it’s a pain. You’re not in business to give work to chiropodists when people go to them moaning about damaged feet, having spent a long evening dancing in glass slippers.

Saturday = Time for some work in the garden (and to ensure you have pumpkins growing nicely in case others need them). Weeding is done by magic as it is boring but you do like to plant and prune things yourself. Meanwhile your magic wand is having its weekly recharge.

Sunday = Even a fairy godmother needs to put her feet up. Time for tea, gossip with fellow fairy godmothers via crystal ball, and cake. Lots and lots of cake. Magically produced as you are no baker. It is the first thing you use your newly recharged magic wand for. In your view, it’s a great cause.

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This World and Others – Places with Meaning

Most of us have places that have special meaning for us. Maybe it is where our loved ones proposed or where we spent our early childhood. So how about our characters?

What places mean the most to them and why? Where would they never visit and why? If they found they did have to go to somewhere they’d previously avoided, how did that work out? Was it as bad as they feared or was everything they had heard about the place wrong? How do they react to the latter?

Is there a special sacred places most of your characters would want to get to and is there an obligation for them to go? How do your characters travel?

As for the meanings, the same place can have different resonances for different characters. One might think Place X is wonderful, another may consider it as ugly as sin. Why do they hold the views they do? Does one of them change their mind and what does it take to get them to do so?

Plenty of story thoughts there I think.

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