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. Many thanks to Janet Williams for the photo of me signing books – always good to share those photos! Image from the Autumn Gathering in October 2024 (an Association of Christian Writers event) was taken by me, Allison Symes, as were all screenshots taken by me.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Ghastly weather all over the UK. Very wet with some flooding here. I hope all clears up soon. Writing wise, it was good to get back to my usual flash fiction Sunday afternoon, the first of the New Year. Am also looking forward to sharing author interviews on Chandler’s Ford Today in due course. And I’m delighted to say I was on Val Penny’s blog as a guest writer looking at Why I Write. Link below.
Facebook – General
Sorry running very late today (7th January 2025). Have had one of those days – good but busy. Lady was delighted to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal again today and I was delighted later, to have my first swim of 2025. The water seemed warm compared to the cold outside!
What one thing about creative writing do you enjoy the most?
My answer is creating characters who come to life as I flesh them out more. I love that process. It means I know I’ve got a character who has a story to share.
Okay, what other thing about creative writing do you enjoy the most?
My answer is getting the story finished, submitted, and accepted!
Best get on with things then!
Hope the first Monday of the New Year hasn’t gone too badly. Lady got off to a good start by seeing her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals again. Avoided part of the park (think muddy ski slope and you have a good idea as to why my doing this was a good idea!).
Glad to see Writing Magazine have issued their competitions guide again. Will have a good look through at at some point soon and mark up some possibles. I find doing that is a good inventive to then get something in for said possibles!
Character Tip: Give some thought as to what you most love about your character and also what you loathe about them. Think about why you come up with the answers you do here. It will give you further insight as to what your character is made of and you are bound to find that useful as you tell your story (sorry, their story!).
Hope you are having a good weekend. No snow here, thankfully, but it is very wet and there is flooding in the usual places around here.
Will be looking at a topic close to my heart for Chandler’s Ford Today this coming week. I’ll be discussing The Joys of Fairytales. It’s apt too as later in the month I will be going to see Cinderella, as staged by my excellent local theatre company, The Chameleon Theatre Group. Looking forward to seeing that and sharing something about my love of a classic story form on Friday.
Also glad to report there will be more author interview coming on CFT too. More details nearer the time.
4th January 2025
Many thanks to Val Penny for inviting me on to her blog today. It was a joy to talk about Why I Write. It is a great topic!
It makes you think about why you put yourself through producing work you don’t know will see the light of the day. (It’s why acceptances mean so much when you get them). You do need a thick skin and the love of story I think to be able to keep going despite setbacks (which every writer faces).
I also share something of my writing journey as that has a huge impact on why I write at all. See link.
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again
I usually submit stories for Friday Flash Fiction over the weekend so will look forward to doing so again this coming one. It will keep me on track (though they are open for submissions again from today, 7th January).
I like to mix up my story moods for all flash I write and go from a mixture of light and dark (which directly inspired the title of my first collection, From Light to Dark and Back Again. Sums the book up well, I think).
Given fiction reflects the human condition – with all our failures and vices – I think a mixture of light and dark is appropriate for that reason too!
6th January 2025
It’s the first Monday of the New Year. It’s dark, the weather’s ghastly, and it is still a Monday. Definitely time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Making the Best of Things. Perhaps an apt title!
I get my inspiration for my flash fiction and short stories from many different sources. I like this a lot. I’ve found it pays to keep the ways you’re inspired varied as it keeps things more interesting for me too and encourages me to “raise my game”.
Naturally I’m inspired by books and stories I love written by other authors. The various prompts are a huge source of inspiration, especially if I tweak them a bit to suit my purposes better.
The proverbs and well known sayings are often great for use as themes for your stories. And ideas do occur as I’m out walking the dog. (I note them down as soon as I can on getting home again). Reading comes into all of this a lot. I’ve been inspired for stories by interesting non-fiction articles or books as I wonder what my character might make of what is in that article or book.
Ideas are all around but it is a question, I think, of expecting there to be ideas and thus to be open to spotting them. Reading does expand the mind. It can expand your own imagination too. I like that a lot too.
The one thing I consistently find is if I’m especially tired, that is when ideas can be harder to spot. So I aim to be kind to myself, get some rest, and read. I know that will fire up my own imagination again in no time, spurred on by that rest.
Hope you have had a good day. No snow here but did have a very heavy frost. Am so thankful writing is something I get to do in the warm!
Looking forward to resuming my flash fiction Sunday afternoons tomorrow. I’ve also got a couple of short story competitions I want to enter so will try to start fleshing out ideas for those as well. Plan to send in a story for Friday Flash Fiction when they re-open next week.
Good to have my copy of Writing Magazine come through the letter box. Pleased to see Debz Hobbs-Wyatt’s piece in there. I recently interviewed her for Chandler’s Ford Today re her novel, If Crows Could Talk. I always see it as a good month when I know (or have heard of) at least four or five authors in the magazine. It is a good month this time!
Goodreads Author Blog – Influences
Isaac Newton claimed “If I have seen further it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants”, rightly meaning he was building on what had gone before. But every single writer does this, regardless of what we write. Every reader will experience it, regardless of what you read. Why?
Simply because every author has their influences – the writers who have gone before. I have too many to mention but I especially love Pratchett, Austen, and Wodehouse (what a trio!). Every writer is inspired by what they read and readers get the benefit of that though they won’t know it directly.
Austen showed me the wonderful use of irony in fiction. Pratchett showed me fantasy and humour were a superb mix. As for Wodehouse, his mastery of the English language is sublime and his creations live on long after him. Nobody will forget Jeeves and Wooster.
Any time I enjoy a book, I am indirectly taking in what and whom the writers of those books were influenced by. I think this is a lovely thing.
WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK
AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsAllison Symes @AllisonSymes1 gives a fascinating insight into an author’s world and she’s on my blog today. https://t.co/Yzckrmi3Do#flashfiction #shortstories #authors
— Val Penny (@valeriepenny) January 4, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsMany thanks @valeriepenny for inviting me on to your blog. Always a joy to talk about why I write! https://t.co/szGZP0VeSJ
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 4, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jshttps://t.co/piKtsH5Pou Many thanks to Val Penny for inviting me on to her blog today. It was a joy to talk about Why I Write. It is a great topic! I also share something of my writing journey as that has a huge impact on why I write at all.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 4, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsliked Allison Symes's blog post: Influences https://t.co/UzS2lQuaQq via @goodreads I look at influences on authors and readers for Goodreads this week. I have too many to mention. I won't be the only one who feels this way. pic.twitter.com/3sGGjUs7r5
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 4, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsIt’s the first Monday of the New Year. It’s dark, the weather’s ghastly, and it is still a Monday. Definitely time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Making the Best of Things. Perhaps an apt title! https://t.co/9lWrcWK559
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 6, 2025
It’s Monday. It went dark even earlier than normal thanks to bad weather. It’s still Monday. It’s time for a story then. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Wishing Wisely. Jenny spends a lot of time wishing but is she wishing for the right things? Find out here.
Don’t forget I’ll be sharing the second half of a superb interview with Debs Hobbs-Wyatt on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. She’ll be discussing her If Crows Could Talk but shares so much useful advice, it doesn’t matter where you are on your writing journey you will find it useful. Be sure to check it out – link up tomorrow. See above.
Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today. Good time had by all. It’s their rule to always have a good time and to be fair they do stick to it!
I’m a huge fan of writing prompts and like to mix up the types I use. It means I don’t stick to my favourites all of the time. It would be easy to do that. As I write a lot of flash, I need ideas all of the time so am always looking for ways in to finding said ideas. Prompts are enormously helpful here, I use them as a way in to creating characters and situations I can put them in, and they give you practice in writing to a topic set by someone else. That’s handy if you enter competitions.
While it is still a little way of yet, I am pleased I’ve booked my train tickets for the Bridge House Publishing Celebration Event in London in December. Always good fun and it is lovely hearing people read their stories Hope to read some of mine too. Always good to have something to look forward to at the close of the year!
It’s Monday. It’s been dull, damp, and dreary in my neck of the woods. Not much natural light at all today. Time for a story then.
Pleased to spread the word about flash fiction at the Book Fair at The Hilt today. This year I took part in the talk slots which were on offer.
Allison Symes: Collected Works 