Tag: blogging

Double Blog Day – Stand Alone Books and Out and About with Jane Austen (again!)

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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, as were the photos from the Dorset Museum for my More Than Writers post this week.
Hope the week has gone well so far. Weather becoming changeable, a good reminder we are rapidly heading into autumn (in my part of the world anyway). I like autumn. Love to see the leaves changing colour. Lady doesn’t mind which season she’s in though can find the high heat of summer trying. Have had to cancel some of her walks during the heatwave this year.
Writing wise, had a lovely session of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group this week. Will have a smashing author interview coming up too plus I too am being interviewed so lots going on.


Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today and More Than Writers

29th August 2025 – 1st post – More Than Writers

It’s double blog time again for me and the first one I’m sharing today is my More than Writers post for this month. This is the blog spot of the Association of Christian Writers and this time I’m talking about Out and About with Jane Austen.

I look specifically at what writers can gain from going to exhibitions like this and why one particular thought I had here is a good challenge for all writers. If you can, do get down to The Dorset Museum in Dorchester as this exhibition is on until 14th September and is worth going to see.

(A longer version of this post was on Chandler’s Ford Today recently but for More than Writers I wanted to look at things writers especially can learn from such things, as well as to celebrate the life and times of Miss Austen, of course. Don’t think you can do that often enough incidentally!).

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29th August 2025 – 2nd post – Chandler’s Ford Today

Second blog post from me today and this time it’s my Chandler’s Ford Today one. Again I look at something well worth celebrating – Stand Alone Books.

I share what I like about such books. I’m not unbiased here as I write them too. My flash fiction books are different from each other and each can be read alone, though naturally I would love people to read both of them and to get my third when it is out next May as that will be different again!

I also look at the joys of writing such books and naturally I look at the challenges too.

Hope you enjoy the post.

Stand Alone Books

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It’s double blog day again for me tomorrow so do look out for two posts from me. I will be sharing my latest on More Than Writers (the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers) which is about my recent visit to a Jane Austen exhibition in Dorset. I specifically look at what writers can get from going to things like this. The second will be my usual Chandler’s Ford Today post where I will be looking at Stand Alone Books. See above for both.

Writing Tip: Always have in mind your potential audience for what you are writing, as well as the reason why you writing it. It helps with focus. I wrote a longer piece for CFT about Jane Austen which was to give a general overview of the exhibition a little while back with the idea to encourage potential visitors to go to said exhibition (and if you can get to go before it ends in mid September, I would). My post tomorrow for More than Writers narrows my focus down as to what writers can learn from this kind of event (and there is plenty too). So one idea, two articles, two different areas of focus – and this works. 

For fiction, think about what your potential audience will get from your story, whether it is to be entertained, or made to think about something (though there is no reason why you can’t do both of those things as a good story will always have me asking myself whether I would act as the character did or not). What is the focus of the story? Why will your character appeal to readers?

Hope the day has gone well. Had some welcome rain today. Actually had to towel the dog down for the first time in weeks.

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting later this evening.
Am also looking forward to sharing a wonderful author interview on Chandler’s Ford Today in September. Am also working on interview questions for myself at the moment. Am almost there on them. More news later on that one. But plenty going on, I’m glad to say.

Don’t forget the next issue of Writers’ Narrative will be out again soon too. It is free to subscribe to so why not check it out? It is written by writers for writers and covers so much but why not see for yourself?

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope the working week has gone well. I can now share what were my two entries for the recent Friday Flash Fiction competition and, once again, heartiest congratulations to Sue Clayton, who won with her tale Per Annum, plus the runners-up.

My two pieces were:-
Making It Up
Faith and Flowers

Hope you enjoy these two but do check out the other tales here. I’ve had a fabulous read doing so and am sure you will too.

Had a lovely session of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group yesterday. Was pleased we all got to draft some stories. I joined in with this too and now have two pieces to polish up and submit somewhere. All good!

It’s funny how your perspective can change over time. I remember being terrified of writing exercises. Would I be able to write something? I was sure it would be absolute rubbish if I could get something down.

Now I rarely pass up the opportunity to have a go at any writing exercise. I know the first draft will need work so I can forget about the rubbish bit. It’s fine for it to be rubbish. Nobody writes the perfect first draft but there will be something I can take from my initial draft and make better still. And that has the possibility of going on to be published or do well in a competition. Everything to go for then as far as I’m concerned.

With flash, you can have fun playing with genres as well as the moods of your stories within any one genre, so why not give it a go? If you usually write funny flash, why not try writing a more moody one (and vice versa)?

I like to mix up the word counts I write to though for Friday Flash Fiction it is usually the classic 100-worder I send in with an occasional trip to the longer flash category allowed. But elsewhere when I’m entering competitions, my usual word count is 300 words or fewer. It is by far the most popular word count category I come across.

Mind you, I also come across competitions which don’t advertise themselves as being flash ones but are. For example, Writing Magazine does run a 750 word story competition. Also many of the short story competitions will allow you to send in something at 1000 words, the top end of flash so there is a kind of crossover point here which flash writers could take advantage of.

Certainly it would be worth having a go at these, even if you don’t enter the competitions. Why? It would give you useful practice in writing to the top end of flash.

Fairytales with Bite – Being Creative

How would creativity manifest itself in a magical world? Would it mean inventing things without the use of magic etc or would it mean developing and creating new kinds of spells or both? Would there be a writing world here, an artistic one etc? How would stories be told in your world? Are there any creative things your magical setting copies from Earth and why did they pick these things to ape?

Is creativity valued or is it seen as secondary compared to doing an honest day’s “magical work”, say? Not everyone appreciates creativity here so it wouldn’t be unreasonable for some in your setting to take the same view. That could give other characters of yours difficulties if they were of a creative persuasion. Mind you, you could be creative in turning that into a good story!

This World and Others – The Unexplained

Our world has much which is unexplained. How would this apply to your setting? Especially if your setting is more advanced than ours in terms of technology, science, magic even, what would remain unexplained to them?

Would this cover your setting’s natural world? Just think of how much we don’t know about our oceans, for example. What would your world’s equivalent be here?

I am always amazed at the pictures sent back by the space telescopes. What would your world’s equivalent be here too in terms of the technology here but also what planets and star systems surround them?

When it comes to your world building, there will be things you need to know but which the readers of your works may not. Can you cover all you need to know so there is nothing or very little unexplained to you?

Knowing how your world works (or at least enough of it to get your started) will save you much rewriting later on. If you know your setting has a form of power we don’t know here, for example, your working out how this would work, how it is supplied etc will add credence to your tale.

You can never just wing it but you don’t necessarily go into details to the nth degree either. What you do need to know to be able to show the reader what they need to know is what is key here.

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Stories in Troubled Times

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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 the week has been a good one so far. From insane temperatures over last weekend and continuing on Monday and Tuesday, we now have milder, cooler, far pleasanter temperatures and Lady and I are both relieved about that. It’s also meant she has seen some more of her chums, of course, especially from Wednesday. Writing continuing to go well. Easier to work in cooler conditions too!

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Pleased to be back on Chandler’s Ford Today with my latest post, Stories in Troubled Times. I love stories of all kinds and lengths regardless of whatever is going on in the bad old world but when times are troubled, as I think they are now, I find fiction to be a wonderful comfort. Generally you know things will work out okay in some way in fiction! That was one thing which always appealed to me about the classic fairytales, and still does.

I look at what I think the role of stories is and how stories inspire other stories, including in different formats. A well known film only came about because a certain director was inspired by what he’d seen from another director and asked the classic “what if” question.

Do check the post out and I hope you enjoy it. 

Stories in Troubled Times

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Today has been another lovely cooler day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal and both had a great time. Mind you, our park grass does resemble straw right now. Had a great time at another ACW Zoom group I “go to” monthly. Nice way to catch up with folk.

Will be sharing Stories in Times of Trouble on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. Fiction is always a wonderful thing but I find especial comfort from it when times are on the grim side. Fiction can provide an outlet, for one thing. I don’t have to encounter dystopian unless I want to for another! More on this in the post tomorrow.

Comments are always welcome on the CFT posts by the way. They just need to be family friendly.

 

Much happier dog and dog Mum today. Lady had a lovely time in the park with her Hungarian Vizler pal and a good run around with Coco the lovely Labradoodle. The air was much fresher, the temperature delightfully cool and it was fabulous to see the dogs having a healthy, happy time of it.

On the other side of life, I am off to the dentists this afternoon…. Wish me luck. Thankfully, it went okay!

Writing wise, I’m looking forward to sharing Stories in Times of Trouble for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Later this month, I’ll be sharing a fabulous author interview here too. More on that nearer the time.

Writing Tip: Never worry about a first draft having to be perfect. It isn’t the purpose of the first draft to be perfect. Its purpose is just to get your ideas down. Sorting out which work best and which need strengthening can happen later.

I know I’ve got to be able to see the whole thing before I can decide what works and what doesn’t. So I find it useful to take the pressure off myself here and just write, get those ideas down and, separately later on, get on with the editing.


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It’s Friday and time for a story again. Am pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest drabble, Super Power. See what my two fairies, on secondment to Earth, choose as their additional gifts to help them cope with humans. Has Bella chosen wisely?

Should be able to share the first link to the partial serialisation of Seeing The Other Side on CafeLit soon. Will keep you posted. Am excited about this as it is the first time I’ve had anything serialised. Naturally am also looking forward to the whole book coming out too.

The challenge of flash remains as having a complete story with a proper beginning, middle, and end, in a few words, often fewer than most would expect for any story. But it does encourage and develop tight writing and I love that. It’s a good challenge to rise to and I can and do have great fun placing my characters in all sorts of situations and genres. I just need to stick to the word count limit.

Hope your day has gone well. Nice to have cooler weather. Much nicer for the dog and I.

Flash Tip: This is one I use all of the time. I draft my flash story first, tidy it up, and then and only then worry about the word count. The story has to be right and it has meant sometimes a story I thought would be 100 words works better at 150.

So I just write another 100 word tale for any competition I’ve got in mind. I don’t try to make the 150 words one “fit”. It never does. Cutting too harshly as well as padding doesn’t work well for your stories.

Fairytales with Bite – Hotting Up and Characters

This one I thought was an apt topic as the weather in the UK over the last few days as I write this (July 2025) has”hotted up” considerably. I’ve had to cancel a few walks out with the dog given the pavements were too hot. But how can we use the topic of hotting up for our characters and our stories?

For the avoidance of doubt, I definitely don’t mean erotica here. I do mean getting your characters to feel the pressures of expectation and then having to face even more pressures and then more pressures after that etc. And then throwing magic into the mix as well to make things even more complicated.

Giving characters dilemmas and then further dilemmas they must solve and ideally a limited time span in which to do it is a timeless way of heating things up and crosses all genres.

As for magical characters, what pressures could be put on them to make them use powers they don’t really want to use? What would be the outcome? Which powers would they reveal to have had which they’ve not used before, which they have not had the need to use before? How does this change things for them because it will do so? They will have to come to terms with what they’ve done afterwards, for one thing.

Pressure is the key to hotting things up for your characters but magical powers, being allowed to use certain skills and not allowed to use others, can heat things up still further. You could also explore further why certain skills are banned and why. Your character already knowing this is going to feel the “heat” of the pressure to try to stick to the rules here when they know deep down they cannot do so.

This World and Others – Magical Climates

As well as thinking about your magical world’s “physical” climate (is it like we have here for example?), give some thought to other types of climate. What would your setting’s political, religious, societal climates be like? How would the use of magic impact on all of these?

Are magical skills encouraged in all sections of society or are they limited to a few? Who gets to decide who can use what magical powers? Do the non-magical sections of society look down upon or up to those with these powers? Is the “magical climate” tightly controlled by some overseeing authority to ensure magic cannot get out of hand?

I am thinking of the Patrician in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld here. After the events in Sourcery, magic doesn’t get the upper hand in the series again, at least in the ones with the Patrician in it! He may not have magical powers but he does have enough other skills to ensure people don’t cross him. Those that do never get to do it twice. If you haven’t read Discworld do check it out. It’s a wonderful series.

Incidentally in the witches books in Discworld where magic does come into the stories more, it is the witches who control it. The reasons for their actions are clear too. So they control the magical climate.

So give some thought as to who would control your setting’s magical climate and how successful or otherwise are they are with this? Who might seek to change the climate and what reasons do they have? They don’t have to be good reasons but they should be those readers would understand. We all get the idea of being greedy for power but what is interesting is seeing how a character develops that. What starts them off on to wanting to change the magical climate in your setting for their own ends.

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History and Stories/Writing for Online Magazines

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All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good week so far. Mixed bag, weather wise, but Lady has seen her chums most of the week so is happy. Writing and editing going well. Booked for a writing event later in the year (and that kind of thing always makes me smile. Have something to look forward to later).

It’s double blog time. Firstly, Chandler’s Ford Today and, secondly, More than Writers.

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Delighted to be back on Chandler’s Ford Today with my latest post, History and Stories. I love history and stories and, of course, history is full of tales. 

Also as a topic, there are wonderful stories in both the historical fiction and non-fiction departments here, so you will never be short of something intriguing to read (and learn from).

I look at untold history too (what could all of those servants from years gone by have to share with us if they were able to do so? Food for thought or fiction writers there!).

I share how it is possible to write historical flash fiction and how you can “drop” history into a story even if you’re not specifically writing in the genre. Plenty to read and digest here. Hope you enjoy the post.

History and Stories

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More than Writers

Am delighted to be back on More than Writers, the blog spot of the Association of Christian Writers, with my latest post on Writing For Online Magazines.

Well, they do say you should write what you know and given I write for two online magazines… (Chandler’s Ford Today and Writers’ Narrative), I felt this was an apt topic!

I hope you find the post useful as I share useful thoughts and tips about this kind of writing.

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Hope you have had a good day. Weather much nicer today and Lady loved seeing her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals again.

Booked my writing event for later in the year. Will sort out train tickets later (though I have got the ones I need for Swanwick – those arrived last week! Sometimes at least I can get a good discount on booking early so this is not as mad as it may seem, honest. Looking forward to Swanwick and the other writing event already).

Looking forward, much nearer in time, to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom. That happens tonight! (Wednesday 28th May to be precise!).

Writing Tip: Use your own love of stories (and their characters) to work out what you want your stories and characters to be. I know I like characters who do something to try to help themselves, even if they don’t succeed, so will base at least some of my characters on that kind of being. Not all of my characters are human – other beings can try hard and have their failures too! It will be the effort to try to do something which readers will sympathise with.

I’ve never had time for tales where good things happen to the “hero” thanks only to rotten things happening to other characters. I want my people/other beings to earn their successes.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest drabble, George The Butterfly Tamer.

The title idea came from an exercise I’ve set so I thought I would go on to see if I could write the story up to go with it.

Hope you enjoy the tale – it’s a mixture of horror and humour (and could be described as one of my fairytales with bite).

Wonderful meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting last night. Amongst other things connected to the theme of Tens, we had fun with writing ten word stories. No more, no less.

Why not give it a go? It’s fun. It’s also useful practice for writing a strapline for any longer work you are writing. Why?

The ideal strapline isn’t too long! Indeed my one for From Light to Dark and Back Again comes in at exactly ten words with A collection of very short stories to suit every mood. Does what it says, folks!

As for my thoughts on ten word stories, here are those I shared last night.

Mary rammed the umbrella from hell into the park bin.

The aliens diverted past Earth, as they’d heard about humans.

Mark refused to swim in the sea, he’d seen Jaws.

Sarah unintentionally shared salad with some slugs and a caterpillar.

The fairy slammed her wand down, beaten by an amateur.

Hope you like those though I appreciate the one involving Sarah may make you wince! I could, if I wanted to, expand these stories further later on and use them as closing or opening lines too.

Will be sharing thoughts on “tens” in flash fiction as part of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting later this evening. I prepare my PowerPoints for these meetings during the month (as I do with my newsletters) so there isn’t one big rush as the relevant date is coming up. I like things which take the pressure off. I also find it fun to compile things as I go. Gives me plenty of editing time later in the month too, which is always a good thing.

When I haven’t a lot of time to write, and I am itching to write something (which is my state of mind most of the time!), I will brainstorm, have a go at a writing exercise, or draft a flash tale. All great things to have a crack at when I only have five minutes, ten minutes or what have you. And I get something drafted I can polish up later.

Fairytales with Bite – Putting On a Show

How would your characters hide their real feelings in a magical world where mind reading, telepathy etc are likely to be commonplace? How good are your characters at “putting on a show” here? We all have to cover up true feelings at times (and sometimes for the best of reasons. For example, we’re sparing others who have gone through worse our problems).

But we don’t have to get around magical powers. Your characters may well have to do so. What can they use to help them here? Are mind blocks a thing in your setting or can only those of a certain status use these? Can your characters have filters to limit the scope of telepathy being used on them rather than by them?

Are certain kinds of characters better at putting on a show like this than others and , if so, what are the reasons for these? Plenty of practice perhaps? Survival depending on it? (Is that still the case now or a historical element?).

Plenty of food for story thought there, I hope.

This World and Others – What Society Expects

What does your fictional society expect from your characters and why? Are the same standards applied to all or only to some? Why any discrimination? Could there be good cause for it?

Where do the expectations come from? History (and all the nastier elements of that leading society to realise it has to have certain standards of behaviour to try to prevent these things happening again)? Faith of any kind? How does your society treat those who rebel against it and are they right to take the line they do?

Good story thoughts can come from looking at how your society has developed over time and what/who were the causes for changes? Is your society grateful for those changes and those behind them? Is there anyone who resents/tries to resist these? (I am thinking of the Luddites here who smashed machinery fearing job losses but you could take that idea further and apply it to your setting and people).

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What Do I Love About Writing?

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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. Photos of me with Creativity Matters were taken by Adrian Symes.  One promo image of Creativity Matters was kindly supplied by Wendy H Jones. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes, as was the photo of Lady having a wonderful time at Druridge Bay.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Had a fabulous holiday in Northumberland last week. We all enjoyed it. Lady had a wonderful time. All those walkies! Now back to the normal routine – the common thread here? I kept writing in the evenings. Writing is work but it is also a great joy. I have to be ill not to want to do it!

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Hope you have had a good day. It was good to get back to swimming again today. Mind you, it was hard work!

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again before too long. To sign up for news, tips, story links and more, do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Writing/Editing Tip: I’ve always found it helpful to get that first draft down, warts and all, before doing any editing on the story or article. I’ve got to see the whole thing written down before I can judge it objectively enough to deal with the inevitable faults. But this is what the first draft is for – get those warts out of your system by writing them out and then stamp on them during the editing process!

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Hope Monday has been kind to you. Lady was overjoyed to see her two best friends, the Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler, in the park today, especially after a lovely week’s break away in Northumberland last week. It was sweet to see.

Writing wise, am slowly getting back to my usual routines. Was pleased to get plenty of story writing done yesterday, including a submission. Another is fleshing out an idea I’ve had for a while and beginning work on it. Was pleased with how that has gone but plenty still to do. Will be back on this later this week, I hope.

Pleased to be back on Authors Electric with my Out and About – Inspiring Ideas. Sometimes ideas for blogs feed in to each other and my recent Chandler’s Ford Today article (which is longer) explored this theme too. The Authors Electric post gives a good summary though of things which can help inspire your writing when out and about, even if you don’t wander far from home. Hope you find it useful.

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Hope the weekend has got off to a great start. Am on way home from a fabulous week in Northumberland. Great time had by all.

Writing wise, I’ll be welcoming Val Penny back to Chandler’s Ford Today about a short story collection she is contributing to and on something different for her. This anthology is called The Ring which follows what happens to a Roman ring over time. The book will be raising funds for The Reading Agency too. More on this next week.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

What do I love most about writing? Hard to pinpoint exactly but a huge part of this is the sheer joy of meeting the challenge of creating something new which will hopefully resonate with readers.

For flash fiction, my initial thought was to see if I could write 100 word tales. Then the challenge went to could I write 50 worders? Could I write right across the spectrum for flash? Then could I get a collection together?

There are always new things to try in writing, whatever your field. Each article and story I write is a new challenge in and of itself. I do love this. What helps is knowing I can write short stories, flash, articles etc.

The challenge always is can I do something with this topic, this story idea – will they work this time? It keeps you on your creative toes (which I think is beneficial, if only because you don’t rest on your laurels. You also don’t take anything for granted).

It’s a lovely sunny Monday but still a Monday and time for a tale. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Breaking the Chain.

The opening line to this one is based on an exercise I set the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group recently. I only changed one word – the starting one to give my character a name. The name occurred to me as I was drafting the story. That happens.

Sometimes I don’t name a character deliberately (usually when I feel it would have more of an impact keeping a sense of the unknown going usually though that wasn’t the case here).

Why does Louise know her grandson, Mark, smashed the last thing her late husband, Tom, gave her? What will she do about it?

 

Sometimes I link flash stories. For example, my recent one on Friday Flash Fiction, Rivalry, links to my YouTube tale, The List. You can check them both out below. Mind you, I don’t think I would trust Shirabelle any further than I could throw her. See what you think!

Why link stories? Sometimes it is because I can think of a further idea which the 100 word limit in Friday Flash Fiction (the one I prefer to adhere to) won’t allow me to include so I get another longer tale out of it for my YouTube channel (and another post to share like this one!).

Best reason of all though? Simply because it is fun to do this sometimes. I like to mix things up and reusing a character or two is one way I do this.

Just got back from a lovely break in Northumberland. Have followed my own advice in yesterday’s Chandler’s Ford Today on Inspiration Ideas as I have taken lots of photos. Plan to use some of these to inspire flash stories later. Landscape ones will be especially useful I think.

Hope to look up more flash competitions to have a go at soon too.

Goodreads Author Blog – Holiday Reading

I recently had a lovely holiday in gorgeous Northumberland and naturally took plenty to read with me.
Equally naturally, lots of walking and fresh air in forests and on beaches meant I didn’t get to read as much as I’d planned! But there is no way I wouldn’t pack plenty of reading material. You just do, right?

I like to take my Kindle, one or two books, and magazines. All easy to pack, of course.

Mind you, when I could read, I made the most of it. Comfy chair, gorgeous outlook, drink to hand – perfect reading conditions.

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Popular Themes – Is There Anything New To Say?

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Hope you had a good weekend. Lady did – she got to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback again. I managed to get plenty of writing done, which always pleases me. Full steam ahead for the week to come, I hope!

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Delighted to be back on Authors Electric. My post this month is called Popular Themes – Is There Anything New to Say?

I thought it would be an apt topic given a certain saint has just had his renowned saint’s day and there are more than a few love stories around at the moment!

I share my thoughts on the importance of bringing something new to the mix and share how my way in to this is via the character(s).

Hope you find the post useful.

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Hope your Monday has been reasonable. It’s not my favourite day of the week by any means but what was lovely this morning was Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler and her Rhodesian Ridgeback pals. A great time was had by all.

It seems the scammers were especially busy earlier today as I spotted a couple within the space of a few minutes. Tiresome, tedious and a reminder, I suppose, we all have to be careful. The golden rule of if it seems too good to be true is right here.

Writing wise, had a smashing weekend getting plenty done with story and article submissions achieved. Hope the rest of this week follows a similar pattern!

Lovely church service this morning. Enjoyed that. Lady also got to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal unexpectedly after that and both dogs were so pleased to see each. Very sweet to see.

Sent off a story for a competition. Have picked another one to try (and have got a rough edit of a potential story for it too). Had a good evening writing yesterday!

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again before too long. I share news, tips, story links etc. To sign up head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

I’ve found adding bits and pieces to my newsletter throughout the month is the best way to write it. I also allow a few days before it is due to go out to check it and to make sure there is nothing missing. I usually pick a theme for the month. The one for March will be titles, a great form of advertising for your stories if you get them right.

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Hope the weekend is going well so far. Still grim, weather wise.

Writing wise, I’ll be discussing Making the Most of an Author Interview for Chandler’s Ford Today next week and plan to share tips I’ve found useful. Hope you will do so too. I also hope to have further author interviews (more news as I get it) and hope you enjoyed the great one with Gill James, which I shared yesterday.

Character Thought: What would a character of yours usually see as nothing out of the ordinary but another character shows them otherwise? What has brought about the chance of perspective and is the second character right in bringing it to attention of the first character or not? What is the impact of the change of perspective on the first character? Do they handle it well or not?

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Lady hit the jackpot this morning in that she firstly got to play with Coco, the lovely Labradoodle, and then, separately, with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal. Lovely time had by all. Lady tired but happy. Definitely a good day in her books.

Talking of which, what would be a good day for your characters and could you get some stories from that? A day in the life of can make an interesting take for a story. Works best when kept short so what better format than flash fiction for that?

It’s Monday. It’s cold BUT the sun came out today, hooray! Note to anyone not in the UK – most of us have had several days of grey, murky weather. Okay not unusual for February but it is so nice seeing the sun again! Still time for a story though. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Listening to Reason.

What do you do when you are fed up with some jerk being incredibly rude to you and in a crowded shopping centre where people are laughing? Well, when you’re in my character’s shoes, you have options you know will silence the jerk and the laughter. Find out what these are here.

 

Will be working on another flash story for a competition which isn’t advertising itself as a flash one but is because it wants a maximum word count of under 1000 words. It pays to look out for these. There are more of this kind of competition than you might think. Also several of the short story competitions have a minimum word count of 1000 words so flash fiction writers could go in for these too if they wished.

It pays to practice reading flash fiction (and indeed other stories) aloud. It is so easy to stumble over something you know well (and even easier on material you don’t!). I use Zoom to record myself when I’m preparing for an Open Prose Mic session or anything like that. It means I go into the event more relaxed than I might otherwise have been simply because I do know I have prepared all I can.

Separately I’ve found reading work out loud, even if not an event, to be useful because it means I can hear how my dialogue comes across and so on. You can hear where the prose seems “heavy” or too complicated and I can then edit accordingly.

Goodreads Author Blog – Flash Fiction

My main writing work is in the field of flash fiction where the longest any story can be is 1000 words. You can pack a lot of characterisation and drama into that limit. As well as having individual pieces published online and in print anthologies, I have two collections of flash fiction books out with a third in the pipeline. The advantage of flash fiction is you get a short sharp read and it can have a huge impact on you because it is so short. It is undiluted fiction, if you like.

Probably the best known of all flash fiction stories is Ernest Hemingway’s famous For sale: baby shoes, never worn. There is a world world behind those few words. Very much punch to the gut storytelling there.

I make a point of reading flash fiction and short story collections in between reading longer works. I want to read from as wide a field as possible and I will always put in a huge plug for the shorter forms of fiction, just as I am doing here! It isn’t just because I’m published in these forms, honest.

Do check out the collections. There are so many fabulous stories to find out there and word count shouldn’t come into your reading choices, I think.

I also think reading long and short forms of writing makes for an interesting reading “diet” for you. I know I love mine!

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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The Positives and Negatives of Adaptations

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Hope you have had a good few days. Less rainy but still incredibly muddy over the park, not that Lady cares! Writing wise, I’m looking forward to writing up and sharing a review of the fabulous pantomime, Cinderella, staged by The Chameleon Theatre Group. It was fun to go and see. It will be fun to write about! Oh yes it is!

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Pleased to be back on Chandler’s Ford Today with my post The Positives and Negatives of Adaptations. As well as answering the question implied in the title, I share what I look for in a good adaptation and invite you to share which worked for you and which didn’t in the comments box. Hope you enjoy the post.

The Positives and Negatives of Adaptations

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Hope you have had a good day.

I’ll be talking about The Positives and Negatives of Adaptations for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. See above.

Title change here as I did talk about adaptations some time ago but thought it time for an update. It’s also timely as I’m off to see a classic adaptation (Cinderella) for the pantomime as performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group later this evening. Will report back on that in due course. Looking forward to doing that.

And I’ll have a wonderful author interview coming a little later on in February too. More details nearer the time.

29th January 2025
Glad to be back on More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. This time my topic is Getting There and I hope you find it encouraging. I share thoughts on what I think writers should see as “getting there” and feel that progress can often be in small steps, which mount up over time.

My next blog here won’t be until March because I had the foresight to pick the 29th as my day to blog and therefore only write in February once every four years!

I do hope you find this one useful at what can be a dark and dismal time of year.

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It’s Friday, the end of the working week for many, and time for a story to see us into the weekend. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction called Turn Up For the Book. I’ve mentioned before about how you can use proverbs and well known sayings to inspire stories. This is the latest from me using that basic idea.

Hope the day has gone well for you. Am looking forward to having many a good laugh this evening at Cinderella, the pantomime being staged by The Chameleon Theatre Group as their choice of pantomime this time.

Writing Thought/Exercise: What one thing would guarantee a good laugh from your characters and why? There could be some interesting stories to come from answering that one. Have fun!

The challenge with flash fiction is ensuring you have written a complete story (and not just an extract). This is why I find it useful to outline my character because I use that to figure out why I am writing about them and what they are doing, the emphasis being on doing, because something has to happen in a story for it to work at all.

Sometimes I will know the opening line or the closing line and can work out the rest of the story from there but knowing the character generally gives me my way in. I also know from my outline when the point of change has to happen and that’s the key moment in any story regardless of word count.

Fairytales with Bite – Battling The Elements

Now I know it’s January and this weather isn’t unexpected but over the last few weeks I’ve spent a lot of time battling the elements. I’ve not won! The UK has seen storms with stronger wind speeds than normal and I’m grateful I haven’t experienced flooding, power cuts etc others have. But you prepare for these things as best as you can and I am also grateful for my heavy duty dog walking coat. It has seen sterling service recently!

Given our stories are set in magical settings, there are other elements other than natural ones our characters may have to battle. As well as magic in and of itself, what other elements could your characters face? Could the weather take on a personification? Could elements include the weather being abused by those powerful enough to do and your characters have to find a way of stopping this?

Could water, the sky, the ground, any basic feature you care to name cause problems for your characters other than what you might expect to come from in a non-magical setting? For instance, rather than “just” flooding, could your characters be facing flooding which is programmed to seek them out and destroy them? Who or what is behind that and how can your characters overcome it?

Good story ideas there I think.


This World and Others – Weather and Other Forecasting

I’ve long thought the weather forecasts are a kind of intelligent bet. Mostly they are accurate (and better than they once were) but sometimes they are anything but. And I still rely on the old look out of the window method of forecasting to decide if I need my big heavy duty dog walking coat or not. I like the fact the old saying of Red sky at night, Shepherd’s delight, Red sky in the morning, Shepherd’s warning is still amazingly accurate.

So what kind of forecasting goes on in your setting given all of that? Is it a purely scientific approach? Or it is based only on old country sayings? Or is it a combination? Which do your characters rely on and are they ever caught out and get it wrong? What effect would that have on their story?

There can be stories too told from a forecasting angle. Who invented the forecast methods your setting uses? How did they persuade the authorities to take these on? Who regulates what can be forecast and how?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Am hoping to share the next issue in my next post as it is a joint January/February one. Do look out for it. In the meantime, do have a good read of the current edition.

 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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The New Writing Year

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All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes, with the image of me holding The Best of CafeLit 13 taken by Adrian Symes.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Pleased with writing done over that time which included writing new flash and reviewing draft short stories. Hope to submit the latter in the next couple of weeks or so. Have got my eye on other competitions to enter too. Lady has been in fine form too.

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Hope Tuesday has been okay for you. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler today (and our neighbour’s retriever) so she has had a good day. Still pretty cold here.

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again before too long. It’s amazing how quickly the first of the month comes around. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com and many thanks to all who have subscribed.

I subscribe to a number of author newsletters myself. I find them useful – writers always learn from each other – as well as helping me to stay informed of what else is going on out there, writing wise. I find the world of writing infinitely fascinating and love hearing more about it and not just in my sphere.

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Hope Monday hasn’t been too bad. Lady got to catch up with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today and has had a good day.

Monday is one of the days in which, due to other commitments, I don’t get to do so much writing so I use it to do “little bits and pieces” which then frees up my time later in the week, when I can have longer writing sessions.

What do I count as “little bits and pieces”? Well, adding items to my newsletter is one, finishing off a blog post is another etc. Longer writing sessions will see me write one or more flash pieces, edit a story, make submissions and so on.

It is a question of working out how to make the best use of your writing time, I think. I aim to finish most days by being pleased with what I managed to get done in the time available to me rather than beat myself up about not getting much done. It helps me cope with Mondays for a start!

Hope the weekend has gone well. Freezing again here and murky.

Glad to say I’ll be talking to fellow Swanwicker Gemma Owen-Kendall about her novel Red Daisy for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. It is a great interview. Looking forward to sharing it.

I hope there will be further author interviews throughout the year. It’s always fascinating to find out about the writing journeys of other writers. I’ve always found you can learn so much from each other this way.

I often “interview” my characters when I’m preparing a story. I find it useful to know what makes them tick and certain questions such as what is the one thing you would ask for if you could be allowed a wish to be a great way to find out more about my potential “star”. For a start, I will find out if they would ask for a selfish wish or not and that alone can reveal more about them.

Pleased to be back on Authors Electric with my first post here for 2025. This time I talk about The New Writing Year.

I share how I use January, often a gloomy month, to ensure I have something to look forward to, writing wise, later in the year and discuss competitions and writing plans. This time of the year is a great time to focus on what you’d like to achieve by the end of it, I find.

Hope you find the post useful as you consider your own writing plans for the year ahead.

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I love flash fiction for many reasons but a big one is being able to set my characters in different settings, meaning I can play with genre here.

I’ve written fantasy flash, fairytale flash, historical flash, crime flash, ghost flash and much more. I like the variety.

What all of these things have to have in common though is characters who will grip a reader (not literally!). This is why I always start by working out who my characters are and I have found this pays off.

It’s Monday. It’s still cold, dark and January and, of course, Monday. Time for another story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube. This one is called To Do. Wilma takes matters into her own hands when she gets fed up with her neighbour’s boasting and she gets to complete her yearly bucket list too. Find out how and why here.

 

Will shortly be embarking on flash fiction Sunday. Also want to review a couple of stories I drafted last week. For flash and short stories, I usually find a few days is enough time to give me the necessary distance to see what needs to be fixed. The one thing I know for sure is something will have to be fixed!

I also write longer short stories though I tend to stick to between the 1001 and 2000 words mark for those. I must admit anything over 1000 words does seem lengthy to me!

Am delighted to say I will be sharing my first author interview for 2025 on Chandler’s Ford Today next week. I’ll be interviewing fellow Swanwicker (and short story and flash fiction writer) Gemma Owen-Kendall about her novel, Red Daisy, which was launched at Swanwick last year. Looking forward to sharing that.

Talking of flash fiction, Writing Magazine have a 500 words competition. See link for more information and good luck if you enter this. Deadline is 15th March 2025. If you can get hold of the current copy of the magazine, they’ve issued their competitions guide. Well worth having to hand.

Goodreads Author Blog – Why Reviews Matter

There are two things every reader can do to help authors. The first one is obviously to buy their books in whatever format you prefer (and where that’s not possible, do borrow from the library. Authors usually receive Public Lending Right – at least in the UK). The second one is to review their books here on Goodreads and/or Amazon.

Reviews matter to writers for several reasons.

Firstly, it is good (and encouraging) to know we are being read.

Secondly, it is helpful for us to know what you like about our books and yes occasionally what you dislike. All we want is for any review to be fair, as most of us accept not everyone is going to like what we do.

Thirdly, we can use the fact we have had reviews as part of our marketing.

I always check out reviews for any product I’m interested in – books or otherwise. Often, I will come across something linked to the product I’m looking into I hadn’t heard of before simply because a review for it turns up. I then check it out.

The good news is reviews do not have to be long. Some of the best ones I’ve had have been one or two lines only. What helps is in saying you liked the book (hopefully!) and what in particular stood out for you. Job done.

Do I review books myself? Oh yes. I tend to do this in batches of two or three books at a time but I keep my reviews short. (Also makes it easier for the author to use part of the review in quotes they want to share).

A good New Year’s Resolution for any reader would be to review more. As we’re a community who love books and stories, it’s a nice one to try to keep, don’t you think?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Best Invention Ever – Books!

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All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes, though photos of me with The Best of CafeLit 13 were taken by other half, Adrian Symes. Thanks also to Julia Pattison for taking the image of me about to run a workshop at Swanwick 2023.
Hope you’ve had a good weekend. Back to hot sunny weather here. Getting ever nearer to the wonderful Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick – so looking forward to that. Lady has been catching up with her pals and having a great time in the park with them. Dogs keep things simple. I like the simple approach myself when it comes to drafting a story. I ask myself whose story is it and then work out the character and away I go from there.

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A hot one day but Lady keeping nice and cool, I’m glad to say. I have a flask of water with me for her which is a blessing.

Will be reviewing Bleak Expectations recently performed by the excellent The Chameleon Theatre Group for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. If you love a Dickens spoof and your own local theatre company put this show on, do go! Locals to my area, if you’ve not seen The Chameleons in performance, you should. You’re missing a treat otherwise. More to come in my post this week.

Don’t forget my author newsletter is out again on Thursday. Yes, I know, how did we get to August already, but there is no getting away with it. But plenty to share in my newsletter so do look out for it. If you’ve not signed up you can at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

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Pleased to be back on More than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. This month I’m talking about Best Invention Ever – Books! Well, it’s hard to argue with that one, isn’t it?

Regardless of what you like to read, life would be so much poorer without books in it. Hope you enjoy the post. I do ask how can we persuade people there are books out there for them, especially if they don’t come from a background of having always read. I do come from that background and am mindful I shouldn’t take that for granted.

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Lovely sunny day and Lady got to see her Jack Russell pal, Willow, today. Very sweet dog. Lady always pleased to see friends.

Had a lovely Zoom session with Swanwick friends last night but what is nice is the next time we meet up it will be in person at Swanwick. So looking forward to that.

Writing Tip: I draft my various posts in advance, I’ve found it pays. When I have any spare writing time, I jot down ideas and then start writing those up even if I don’t have a definite date in mind for using said posts. It does mean I always have something “on the go”. It also gives me more time to finish these pieces off. I’ve found that pays too.

Same applies for story writing. Even if I don’t have a definite market or competition in mind, I will draft away because I know I will find a home for these tales later on.

453212528_940839758055886_1379820348304126146_nHope you have had a good weekend so far. Nice to have lunch out in the garden with other half and the dog. Just as well we did, Is clouding over ominously as I write this!

Next week’s Chandler’s Ford Today post will be a review of Bleak Expectations, recently staged by our excellent local amateur dramatic company, The Chameleon Theatre Group. Their last performance of this is tonight, 27th July. Those with fond memories of the Radio 4 show of the same name (which includes me) will love this show as it is based on that and written by the same chap, Mark Evans.

Looking forward to flash fiction afternoon which is a highlight of most of my Sundays. Have a competition entry to finish and send in too this time as well as preparing my usual stories. Am making good progress towards a potential fourth collection too. During the week my writing consists of a mixture of blogging, story writing, and marketing items (such as getting my newsletter ready etc). Never short of things to be writing and that is how I like it.

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Have used one of the prompts I worked on during the recent Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting from my most recent YouTube video which I shared yesterday. I love joining in with the live writing exercises. It keeps me on my toes and I get more flash written – win-win.

All of us share what we prepare on the night. I like to encourage this because it is a good idea to get used to talking about what you write. Helps overcome the nerves in doing so too I find.

Youtube image 2It’s Monday. It’s a hot Monday. It’s still Monday. Time for a story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – All Going Swimmingly. Those from the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group may recognise this one from our recent meeting. Knew I’d do something with this tale and here it is!

 

Always look forward to Sunday afternoons. I always write a lot of flash fiction then. I know it sounds almost too horrible to contemplate but it won’t be that long before I am drafting my festive flash pieces. Yes, I know. Not even out of summer yet and I’ve hinted at a certain season coming along!

I bear in mind the women’s magazines will already know what will be in their seasonal specials later this year already so I tend to draft my festive pieces as and when the mood strikes me. I often do this in late summer/early autumn so I know I have pieces to look at and polish before sending them in anywhere. I like having time on my side as much as possible.

453042414_10162062645657053_8222404052672727223_nI sometimes have fun with my flash tales in that I use films I’ve loved as inspiration. For example, my Where The Wild Wind Blows (Tripping the Flash Fantastic) is based on The Wizard of Oz and I use one of the witches for the viewpoint character. It was great fun to do and a different slant on the tale I think.

I have a soft spot for this kind of story writing given my first story in print, A Helping Hand (Alternative Renditions – Bridge House Publishing) is a take on the Cinderella story. Hard to believe that was way back in 2009 – where has the time gone?

The tip I would give here though is always pick a story or film you know almost “inside out”. You need to understand the characters in the, if you like, “authorised” version before you can work out how to write a story suing a different angle based on it.

If you know Cinderella well, you will know the cast of other characters in that fairytale as well, giving you the opportunity to write something from their point of view. As you will know the characters well, your sharing of their viewpoint will come across as plausible to other readers who also know the story well, which is what you are after here.

Goodreads Author Blog – Spoofs

I’ve recently watched a wonderful play (Bleak Expectations) based on the works on Dickens, of course. The show itself was based on a Radio 4 comedy from many years ago and that and the play are written by the same man. There were many wonderful references to lines by Dickens, book titles etc in the play, which I loved. It was great fun spotting them!

But this led to me thinking about spoofs in general. Many are based on books – Bored of the Rings, anyone? (There is also A Midsummer Nightmare out there).

What I hope is the case here is the spoof comes about as a result of a genuine love for the author/books being spoofed. That is definitely the case with Bleak Expectations and if you get the chance to hear the radio series or go and see the play I heartily recommend it. Loads of laughs too! I wonder if any of these spoofs have led to people discovering the authors of the original works? I would like to think so.

One of my favourite moments from the long running Radio Four series, I‘m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, is when they have a books round and usually the players have to add a word to the title or take a word away to come up with a totally different book. I’ve often thought some of the titles they come up with for this would make excellent spoofs.

A well done spoof then, I think, can add to the pleasure of reading in general. Certainly Bleak Expectations has reminded me of Dickens’ titles I need to check out again!

Screenshot 2024-07-27 at 17-20-28 Allison Symes's Blog - Spoofs - July 27 2024 09 20 Goodreads

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the link to the November 2023 edition of the magazine. The theme this time was Novels and my article is called Writing Novels. I share what I learned from writing my first novel. Do check the excellent advice throughout the magazine out.

 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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The Joys of Creative Writing

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Hope you have had a good weekend. Not bad here. Writing wise, I’m talking to Jennifer C Wilson on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday about her new book, 31 Days of Writing. Looking forward to sharing that.
Pleased to see numbers for my YouTube channel and author newsletter are growing steadily. Enjoying preparing a presentation at the moment for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction group. Always fun to do and the presentations trigger ideas as I prepare these. I’ve followed up on many of these with work inspired by these ideas appearing on YouTube and Friday Flash Fiction in particular. Would like more of the same!

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Am pleased to be back on Authors Electric with my new post, The Joys of Creative Writing. I’d been planning to write on this topic anyway but having been burgled last month, well let’s just say it gave me extra motivation to write this one! I share why it did and why I feel the creative arts are more important than many realise. Hope you enjoy the post.

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Hope your Monday hasn’t been too hectic. Lady got to see her best friend, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, today. Lovely time had by both of them.

The writing life is full of ups and downs. You get better over time I think at coming to terms with that and just getting on with the next story, the next project etc.

Just heard today my submission for the Bridge House Publishing anthology has been turned down. Later on in the summer I will have another look at the tale and see if I can (a) improve it and (b) send it somewhere else.

Often when work has been turned down, I have found the answers to those last two points are yes and yes! I’ve then sometimes gone on to have turned down work published elsewhere. So worth another look, always, is my motto here.

For Authors Electric, my post tomorrow will be about The Joys of Creative Writing. Timely I think! Link up tomorrow. See above.

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Hope you have had a good day. Celebrated our church’s 206th anniversary today, which was lovely. A lot happened in 1818 including the publication of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. A timeless book, I think, because it asks a timeless question – just who is the monster? That’s how I see it anyway.

The one positive thing about time seemingly whizzing by at the moment is it means The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick is also rapidly approaching (August).

I’m running a two part course there, Editing as an Author, Editing as a Competition Judge. So looking forward to doing this but do check out all the other courses on offer too. Bear in mind too there are four part courses, one hour workshops and a lot more at Swanwick including the chance for 1:1s (I’m doing this too this year on the editing theme).

Hopefully see you at Swanwick in August.

Screenshot 2024-06-16 at 16-24-40 Short Courses Swanwick Writers' Summer School

Strange old weather today. Have managed to avoid most of the downpours.

I’m delighted to say I’ll be welcoming Jennifer C Wilson back to Chandler’s Ford Today next week to discuss her forthcoming publication, 31 Days of Writing. This book comes out on the same day as the CFT post. Much to look forward to in the interview including thoughts on publishing via Amazon and much more besides. So looking forward to sharing this.

Writing Tip: For flash fiction and short story writers especially, always double check whether your title is included in the overall word count you are set for competitions. Some places do include it.

What I do with these markets and competitions is to allow five words for my title. I have to have a working title in any case which may or may not change later. But having something in place immediately means you won’t forget this aspect.

If you find later you only need three words for your title, then you will have a couple of “spare” words to put into your story which is especially useful for those places where you have to write to an exact word count. Think of your working title as a kind of place holder. I find this helps a lot.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today. Both dogs so pleased to see each other.

Thought for you: which of your characters would be pleased to see each other and why? What has kept them apart? Which would be horrified to see the other and why? What brought them back together again?

I’m sure there would be some flash fiction stories to be written up based on those thoughts – have fun!

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It’s Monday. It may just be me but it’s been more hectic than normal. It’s still Monday. Time for my latest on YouTube then. Hope you enjoy Forward Thinking. Just what do you do when a silly bet has gone wrong and you now have to pay up… find out here.

 

Wow, halfway through June already. Author newsletter is out again on 1st July. If you’d like flash fiction/short story news, tips, story links etc., do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

I enjoy reading author newsletters as well as writing my own. I like to find out what the news is from my favourite authors and tips etc are always useful. If you’re thinking of starting a newsletter of your own, you might like to check out a post I wrote about this for Chandler’s Ford Today called, surprisingly not (!), Author Newsletters.

Author Newsletters

Have fun mixing up what you do with the writing prompt generators. If you use a word based one, as I often do, change where you put the word you’ve been given. Put it at the beginning, at the end, somewhere in the middle and ring the changes.

There’s nothing to stop you either writing one story with that word at the beginning, another in the middle and so on. What I would do there is change the characters and situations – the common thread would just be the word you’re placing and where you’re placing it. But you would have two or three stories here based on one prompt – I like that idea.

Could you also change the mood of the stories you write here? Could one with your chosen word be a feel good story? Could another with that same word in it somewhere be a tragedy?

Have fun!

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Goodreads Author Blog – Short Form Collections

I read a number of short form collections because (a) I love them and (b) I’ve contributed to many of them in my time and still do, the most recent being the hot-off-the-presses The Best of CafeLit 13. Also my flash fiction collections, From Light To Dark and Back Again and Tripping The Flash Fantastic, come into this category too.

Short stories are fantastic for dipping into. They’re also great for helping me make up my mind what longer form work I want to read next. I also like to ensure I have a good reading diet by reading novels, short stories, flash, magazines, ebooks etc. I’ve never seen the point of limiting yourself to just reading in one category!

But the advantage of the short form, flash or standard length short story, is in giving a reader an impact that much more quickly. For twist in the tail stories, you get to the twist more quickly too. I like that.

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Questions and Answers For Characters

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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. Unbelievable weather here – heavy rain, gale force winds etc. March is supposed to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb. No sign of the lamb yet! (I also know parts of the country have had snow too). Am always grateful writing is something to be done indoors! Writing wise, will have a very special interview coming up on Chandler’s Ford Today in early April. Looking forward to sharing more about that a bit nearer the time.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

29th March 2024 – CFT
Second blog from me today and it is my usual weekly post for Chandler’s Ford Today. This time I talk about Questions and Answers for Characters. This ties in nicely with my More than Writers post for ACW (see further down) too given I look at how little details can make a story seem more believable to readers.

Well, getting little details right about your characters will help make them more believable to readers too. For this post, I share what I think are five useful questions to ask of your characters which would, I’m sure, inspire story ideas for them to “serve in”. I’ve long found outlining my characters does then trigger story ideas and I think is well worth doing. Hope you find the same.

Questions and Answers for Characters

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29th March 2024 – MTW
It’s double blog day for me today. First up is my post for More than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. (Well, it was first up when I put my posts on Facebook!). This time I talk about Easter Stories and Little Details. I share how the little details in the biblical accounts make them more real for me.

I also go on to discuss how getting the little details right in your stories will help make your characters and tales seem more believable to readers too. This ties in nicely with my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. More on that in a moment. (See above). Hope you enjoy the MTW post.

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Can’t believe the weather today – heavy rain and gale force winds! I was walking Lady earlier when another local commented it feels more like November. It does too. For those of you who have had snow, I’m sorry!!

On to happier matters. I’ll be looking at Questions and Answers for Characters for Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. Some of what I share in here could make a useful template if you’re not sure where to start in finding out what you need to know about your potential creations.

It will be a double post from me tomorrow as I’ll also be sharing my More than Writers post tomorrow for the Association of Christian Writers where I’ll discuss Easter Stories and Little Details. Again see above! Blogs can be like buses – none for ages then two or three at once!

I often find little details make a character/story for me because it helps to make them seem more real and believable, no matter how fantastical or otherwise the setting is.

Also had a lovely time at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting last night. Lots of great ideas were shared. I take part in the writing exercises I set on the night of the meeting. I love live writing exercises. They fire up the old imagination and I now have some promising opening and closing lines to investigate further in due course. That will be fun!

 

Strange weather again today though Lady did see her Hungarian Vizler chum and we managed to get damp rather than have a thorough soaking. I guess that counts as a win.

Looking forward to tonight’s Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom. Will be looking at Endings and Beginnings. Apt as we head into Easter.

Will be looking at Questions and Answers for Characters on Chandler’s Ford Today on Good Friday. See above. I’ll be sharing tips on what I’ve found useful in getting to know characters before I write their stories up. Hope it will prove useful. Also pleased my copy of Christian Writer arrived yesterday. I have a humorous piece in there this time which I hope ACW members will enjoy.

And don’t forget the April issue of Writers’ Narrative is already out in good time for a fantastic Easter read! Check it out at the link.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to say my second entry for the Andrew Siderius competition for Friday Flash Fiction is now up on site. This one, Memories, has the theme of manipulation and is in the 151-500 words category. Hope you enjoy the story. Let’s say my sympathy here is for my alien character and there is none at all for Mrs Evans. See what you think. Link here.

Screenshot 2024-03-29 at 09-29-35 Memories by Allison SymesFlash fiction is great for sharing different moods of story. I’ve written funny tales, scary ones, and the poignant kind, just to name a few examples.

One of my latter type is Judgement Day from Tripping the Flash Fantastic. It is a story I often read out at Open Prose Mic Nights and the last line has a “punch to the gut” ending appropriate for the character and their situation. With this tale, I did know the ending first and worked out what would lead to that ending.

If you’d like to find out more, do check out my Amazon Author Central page.

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A useful writing exercise, which I’ve used to kick start flash fiction ideas, is to just jot down ideas for titles and then one or two lines working out which direction you could take those titles.

For example, if I used a title such as The Open Door, I would then write a line or two indicating what kind of mood I would want the story to be, what kind of character would best serve that mood, and then I’d jot down some notes for a potential character. All of that would be about a paragraph, similar to this.

But it is enough of an outline to get me started and I find that in itself is enough to fire up other ideas. I often find it is the starting of a piece which can prove tricky. Once I have a way in, I can then get on with the first draft.

I can then judge the piece as a whole later and make suitable amendments (and there always are some!). But you have to have something down in the first place to be able to do that. Getting over a blank page/screen, for me, is vital.

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Fairytales with Bite – The Biter Bit

One of the things I’ve always loved about fairytales from an early age is that justice will be done. Sometimes that justice can be on the rough side – a case of the biter bit. But for those characters who are kind and honourable, you know somehow things will work out for them in the end. (If only that was always true in life!).

The phrase The Biter Bit would make a great theme for many stories. Who would deserve to be bitten like that? What have they done to deserve it? And where does magic come into it? Is it a case of an annoyed magical being doling out the punishment here (as is often the case with the fairytales) or would they be on the receiving end? Who would be powerful enough to do this?

Thinking about your setting as a whole, how would the justice system operate? Who would make sure any kind of poetic justice, especially if a magical kind, wasn’t overdone?

Story ideas there too I think!

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This World and Others – Sayings

Proverbs and sayings are so useful for giving theme ideas for stories. I’ve sometimes used them directly as titles too. But for your alien setting, what kind of proverbs and sayings would they have? Would they be similar to ours or something totally unknown?

Many of our proverbs and sayings come from the Bible, Shakespeare etc. Where would your setting’s sayings come from? What would be the texts your characters would treasure and how have these influenced their culture/outlook/treatment of aliens (including humans)?

There is no reason either why you couldn’t use our sayings to influence how you portray your alien characters and/or settings.

For example, take the saying Truth Will Out. If your character is an honest one in a setting which isn’t, how would that play out? What led to your character becoming counter culture here? If the setting is based on truthfulness, what would it do to characters who were not (and again what led them to being counter culture here? I think it would take more than just greed here too. To go so against your own culture would take strong motivation given the risks involved, especially if your setting has the death penalty. So the drive behind this would have to be more than material, I think).

Again, interesting story idea potential here.

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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