Tag: Character thoughts

Back on the Radio and Blog Appearance

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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 are all okay. Weather has suddenly warmed up considerably. Feels more like summer than the summer did. Glad to say I was back on Hannah Kate’s radio show over the weekend – details below. And I am a guest on Gill James’ blog too again see below.

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Am pleased to now be able to share the Mixcloud link from Hannah Kate’s radio show, Hannah’s Bookshelf, which went out on Saturday. This show is what Hannah calls a pick and mix (I remember Woolworths too) and there is an author interview here, the What Am I Reading slot I took part in, and much more besides. Do check it out if you love books in any way whatsoever! Further down are links to the two halves of the show so you have a choice of how to listen!

Much as I love reading books, I also enjoy listening to them so having a radio show all about books makes a great deal of sense to me! One of my favourite book radio reads is The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. This was done on Radio 4 Extra (and I suspect will be broadcast again at some point). If you are a fan of Richard III, this is worth checking out (the book itself and the radio read of it).

 

Many thanks to Gill James for inviting me on to her blog to discuss The Best of CafeLit 12. It was great fun to do this and I share what was behind my story, Jubilee, which is in this anthology. I also share why I love short stories and flash fiction. It isn’t just because I am published in both, honestly. Find out more via the link.

Screenshot 2023-09-04 at 14-49-31 Allison Symes talks to us about being invovled with The Best of CafeLit 12

Hope you have had a lovely weekend. Great to see some late summer/early autumn sunshine.
Will be looking at The Benefits of Creativity for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. There are many benefits and I believe everyone has some creativity. It is a question I think of finding what yours is and enjoying it, playing to its strengths if you like. More on Friday when the post goes up.

What do you like about stories the most? Yes, I know, tough question time and on a restful Sunday too, what am I thinking of? I ask because my favourite moment is when the story has been resolved but I know the characters have brought that resolution about by their own attitudes and actions. I like to think the characters have earned their good ending.

 

It was a joy to be back on North Manchester FM with Hannah Kate on her Hannah’s Bookshelf show. I was taking part in her What Am I Reading? slot and that was a joy to do. I come in at about the 28 minutes mark on Part 2 of the show but do check out both halves. Links to both below.

This is a fabulous show which celebrates books and writing. What is there not to love about that? I review books by Stephen Clark (history), Jennifer C Wilson (historical fiction, romance, collection), Val Penny (crime), and Ruth Leigh (women’s fiction, Christian fiction, humour).

I’ve mentioned before I like to mix up my reading – and why not? I’m not going to be confined to one genre! Mind you, that is one thing I love about flash fiction writing. As it has to be character led, I can set my characters in any setting, time period etc. It is a joy to do that.

Part 1 – https://podcast.canstream.co.uk/manchesterfm/index.php?id=49679

Part 2 – https://podcast.canstream.co.uk/manchesterfm/index.php?id=49680

Screenshot 2023-08-31 at 19-56-24 North Manchester FM Hannah's Bookshelf Saturday 2 September 2-4pm - Hannah Kate

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope you have had a good day. Another scorcher today. Lady has kept cool. On this, she is a remarkably sensible dog. On almost everything else, she’s anything but (being lovable helps her cause a lot!).

I often end a flash piece with a punchline (especially if it is a humorous tale) but sometimes I finish with a line of dialogue which acts as the punchline. I did this for George Changes His Mind in From Light to Dark and Back Again. There was nothing to add after that final comment from my character. So I left it there!

Writing flash over time helps you develop a good sense of where the story should stop. This is another good reason to practice writing flash as learning what makes a good ending and leaving it there can apply to other forms of writing too.

Flash with Amazon and Barnes and Noble

It’s Monday. It has suddenly become very warm. On the plus side I know it is not me having a hot flush. It is still Monday. Definitely time for a story. Hope you enjoy Therapy, my latest on my YouTube channel.

 

How do I decide which word count to write to for my flash fiction? For competitions and websites like Friday Flash Fiction, the word count is usually set. (I could write longer stories for FFF now I have two of my 100-worders on there but it has been a joy to rediscover the joy of writing the 100 word stories/drabbles again so am happily sticking to that for them).

When a word count isn’t set, I get my first draft down first (having a rough outline as what I want this story to be). It is then a question of working out what I can do to tighten up the writing and sharpen the piece overall. There is always something!

I then look at what word count I have reached. If, for example, I am just over 300 or 500 words (two common categories in competitions) I see if I could legitimately get my story down to those word counts or just under them. Sometimes I can. Sometimes I can’t.

If it is a question I can’t reduce it without losing something valuable, I would enter that story for the next category up. So my possible 300-worder coming in at 350 would stay that way and I would put this in for a 500 words or under competition instead.

The crucial factor is how well the story works at a given word count. If it is working fine, I leave it alone. If I can see ways to improve it (which often does bring the word count down), then I will improve it.

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Many of my flash stories focus on one character. Given I don’t usually ask my characters to talk to themselves, I do use thoughts (in italics) as the best way of communicating to the reader. After all we think so our characters would think.

Fiction reflects our reality even if the setting is fantastical. The joy with reading a story though is being able to read the character’s thoughts! And I like to use those thoughts to show something of my character’s state of mind and attitudes.

When I have a longer flash piece with more than one character, thoughts can show the reader the character may be thinking one thing but saying quite another to the other character. Hopefully the reader is then hooked into wanting to find out how things pan out.

For one thing, I’d want to know if there is a good reason for the thinking one thing but saying another – the character could be trying to protect the other from something. Equally they could be lying. And then I’d want to know why. Only one way to find out – I keep reading.

Character Flaws

Goodreads Author Blog – Promoting Books

As a writer as well as reader, I have a vested interest in promoting books. Obviously I would like to promote my own but I like to promote books by other writers I’ve loved reading too. Why? Because I have an even bigger vested interest in sharing the joys of reading with others. Why?

Well, it is the way to encourage book reading, book buying, use of the libraries and so on – all good things. Reading is good for us. It entertains, it informs, it helps us escape for a while. It deepens our vocabulary. It helps us puzzle things out.

Don’t you try to guess the ending for a crime story ahead of reading that ending? I do all the time. Sometimes I do guess the killer correctly, sometimes I don’t but I have had a fabulous time in guessing and I always like it when an author manages to wrong foot me too. I go back through the book then to try and spot the clues I missed first go around.

Every writer’s most difficult task is in getting that initial spark of interest in their work. We need to encourage people to read, to see the point of reading, whether they then go on to read our work or others. Ideally they’d do both of course!

And I am conscious there are other forms of entertainment. We have to make the case for books, I think, as being a fabulous use of anyone’s time.

Screenshot 2023-09-02 at 20-08-38 Promoting Books

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Being Interviewed

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Image Credit:  As ever Pixabay/Pexels unless stated.

Interview News:  It was fabulous being interviewed by Paula C Readman on her blog. More details below.

Facebook – General

Is it me or are the nights drawing in earlier than usual for August? Still I suppose the upside to that is it encourages me to be either at my desk writing or curled up with a good book reading.

Talking of which, most of my reading I do at bedtime. I’m not seeking to analyse a story at this point! I just want to be entertained and go to sleep having enjoyed a good read. I DO, however, make a note of whatever particularly grabbed me about the book/short story. You can learn a lot from that.

I mix up reading fiction and non-fiction too. A good non-fiction book will grip me just as much as an excellent novel etc and reading non-fiction regularly can help trigger ideas for stories. Having said that, you should see my TBR pile, “real” and electronic versions! Still, those will keep me out of mischief for some time and that is never a bad thing!😀

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I am delighted to be on the other side of the interview desk tonight with my appearance on #PaulaReadman‘s blog, Funeral Birds to Stone Angels. Hope you enjoy the interview (and do check out the other interviews on here too (see the Guest Book Tour Page). The chats are fabulous and I find I’m always entertained by what other authors have to say. I usually learn something useful too so win-win!).

Allison Symes - Published Works

Yours truly and some of my collected works! Image by Adrian Symes

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Delighted to see this on the Waterstones site. Looking forward to seeing Tripping the Flash Fantastic on there too!

I do enjoy writing character thoughts. I love creating dialogue too but with my 100 word stories in particular, I often don’t have room for my characters to get a conversation going!

I can get them to think though and thoughts reveal so much about the character.

What would you make of a character who thought something such as “I can’t be bothered to go to Helen’s”?

What would your initial thoughts be? That the character was lazy? Dog tired and just can’t face going out?

A lot of the assumptions you make here will depend on how much of the story you’ve already read.

But what if that was the opening line? You would be expecting to see a lazy character maybe get their comeuppance perhaps? That might be the point of the story. And it may well be BUT one thing I also love is layering so how could I layer that line to get something more from it?

“I can’t be bothered to go to Helen’s. I’ve been around there so often in the last few weeks and yet she never comes here.”

Now what would you think? Maybe you would feel more pity for this character now? I know I would.

The lovely thing about layering is you get to direct how it goes and you can throw in a red herring too.

“I can’t be bothered to go to Helen’s. I’ve been around there so often in the last few weeks and yet she never comes here. I reckon that agoraphobia she says she has is just an excuse to never go out. It only needs one bus ride to get here. Just what is her problem?”
Allison Symes – 24th August 2020

Any sympathy for this character has now gone right out of the old window, yes?

Work out what you want to reveal about your character and remember you don’t have to share it all at once!

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I can’t say I was impressed with Storm Francis. (I should imagine the Pope might not be too happy at having a storm named after him. I wasn’t impressed there was a Storm Alison a few years back – okay having the second l in the name was probably too much to hope for. I know I can be a right shower at times but a storm? Really?! 😀😀).

Have got an interesting challenge for this week’s CFT post. I’m reviewing the summer! No. Stop it. It is NOT a two word article ending in the word “awful”. Honest. Link up on Friday. Probably best leave it there I think!

 

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I hope you enjoyed my story, The Special Offer, in my last post. It was great fun to write and I do love using the random generators to trigger ideas. With most of them you can set your own parameters too.

The great thing with all of them is you can choose how to use what you generate. Will the words be a title, a theme, or just be placed in the story somewhere? And you can combine all or any or all of that of course.

With the number generator, you could use the numbers for times (as I’ve mentioned before), but how about a number being used as a house address where something spectacular happens? Or where the number has special meaning for your character?

It can be useful to write down a list of ideas that occur to you. The first few will be the “obvious” ones but those further down the list are unlikely to be so self-evident. THAT is where you may well find the germ of an idea that YOU can turn into something special.

Have fun!

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It was great fun taking part in #PaulaReadman‘s post on her blog today. Just so you know, I do have an interview page on my website, to which I gladly added my appearance on Paula’s blog earlier today. Scroll down and enjoy the read! Hope you enjoy the other interviews on there too. (And Paula is very generous with the cake too!).

It’s always an interesting experience for me being interviewed given I spend a fair amount of time doing the interviewing for Chandler’s Ford Today. Best thing of all? I get to talk about my big fictional love – flash fiction!

 

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I hope Monday has been okay for you. Can’t say I’m looking forward to the storm that’s heading to most of us in the UK tomorrow. Still I guess I won’t need any help blowing away the proverbial cobwebs tomorrow!

I’ve just shared on my author page a flash story I created to illustrate a point I was making about layering your characters and not revealing everything about them all at once. I’ll share that story here too.

“I can’t be bothered to go to Helen’s. I’ve been around there so often in the last few weeks and yet she never comes here. I reckon that agoraphobia she says she has is just an excuse to never go out. It only needs one bus ride to get here. Just what is her problem?”
Allison Symes – 24th August 2020

Now you’ll notice immediately there’s one thing missing. Something I’ve often said is important to a tale and that is the title. It is the first “lure” into a story for your reader. So how do I go about choosing a title

?Sometimes a title comes about as a result of the theme of the story. Sometimes it can be based on the character name or their attitude. But here what would I go for and why?

I’d probably call this I’m Not Going Again because (a) it fits the story and (b) will hopefully intrigue a reader enough to find out who is the I in the tale and why they’re not going to somewhere again.

The reason why is important in fiction. Readers lap up a story because they have got to find out what happens. And that’s a good thing.

Think of the stories you’ve loved. What kept you reading them?

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I was right not to be impressed with the storm. Oh it was windy and rainy all right, but Lady and I were not sorry to get back home after our walk today. Was nice to see some sunshine later though.

Now when it comes to my flash tales I write a mixture of “sunny” tales and others which are darker in tone. This is partly due to my writing reflecting what I like to read and directly inspired my first book’s title of course.

Also because I cannot write “light” all the time.

I think it was Terry Pratchett who said you needed to have some tragic relief sometimes. The older I get the more I appreciate that.

My first love will always be light prose (and ideally funny with it) but I do think you need the darker stories as well. Doesn’t that reflect the human condition? Okay there is a limit to how dark I go but I love a well crafted crime novel as well as a funny memoir or short story collection. And there will always be room on my shelves for both.

Flash fiction is fantastic here as the form lends itself well to playing with character and seeing what you can do with them. Therefore it gives you plenty of opportunities to write lighter tales and darker ones and every which shade in between.

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Goodreads Author Blog –The Wonders of Non-Fiction

The majority of my reading, whether in paperback or on my trusty Kindle, is fiction to be honest. But I’m a fiction writer so you would expect that.

However, my non-fiction “reading diet” has increased over the last couple of years, partly because I also blog for an online community magazine and a good general knowledge, as well as good sources of research, are useful for that.

But I have found I wanted to read more factual work in between the escape from it all in fiction kind of books.

I’ve enjoyed a few of Ben Macintyre’s books and have developed a greater appreciation for what is known as creative non-fiction.

Gone are the days of worthy tomes gathering dust on shelves somewhere and rightly so. You want books to be in the hands of eager readers and that goes for non-fiction too.

And non-fiction writers still have to know their audience and draw their readers in every bit as much as fiction writers must do.

So what do I look for in a good non-fiction work?

1. I still want to be entertained and often that is with a narrative that grips and is telling me an exciting “story”. The only difference with fiction is that here the story is a true one.

2. I want to learn something new and/or back up the knowledge I already have on a topic. (Ideally I’d do both).

3. I want the non-fiction book I’ve picked to encourage further reading on the topic and give me a source of ideas as to where to turn next.

So what are your favourite non-fiction books? Have you made any great discoveries this year?

 

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The Writing Life – and Publication News

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Image Credit:  As ever, all images, unless stated, are from Pixabay

 

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I thought I would look at what reading non-fiction has done for me.

I was a huge fan of the Simon Schama History of Britain TV series so got the books too. They are a fascinating read both in terms of content and how they are structured. Lots of useful pointers there for a writer.

I love guide books. Whenever I visit a historical place, I always get the guide book (and usually a nice pen too!). I learn so much from the contents but also from the human interest stories that often form part of these and how they fit into the factual narrative. Again, things to learn about blending material there.

I sometimes read specific books around a subject but I also love dipping into encyclopedias and other reference books (Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable is a favourite) and seeing what I find out! It is a lot of fun exploring avenues here and makes you think along ways you wouldn’t have planned. Ideas for stories and blog posts do spark from doing things like this. Give it a go. If nothing else, you expand your reading!

So true. Pixabay.
Sometimes the books come to you! Pixabay
FLTDBA in NZ. Image kindly supplied by Raewyn Berry
Books are their own world. Pixabay
I doubt if they’d let you put your feet up with a good book in here. Pixabay
Why look despondent in a library? I wouldn’t. Pixabay
What worlds can you explore in flash fiction? Pixabay
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Hope you have lovely books as presents! Pixabay image
Another gorgeous library. I love pics like this.
A book worm’s idea of heaven and picture books will be in here! Pixabay image

Pleased to bits to have my first review for From Light to Dark and Back Again on Amazon.com – the simplest thing people can do to support authors is to review their books. Reviews don’t have to be long either. Honesty about what you liked (or didn’t) is key.

So please, please review!

Also pleased to say that the Kindle version of The Best of Cafelit 8 is now available. There will be a paperback later in the year. My flash stories Dignity and Injustice and The Art Critic are here. The book is now on my Author Central page.

Last but not least, I’ve finally sent off a pitch for an idea I’ve been working on. Got to have the old hat in the ring after all to be a contender!

Do I still get nervous about submitting new work? Oh yes. Do rejections still leave me feeling flat? Oh yes. But, over time, you do get used to this being a normal part of a writer’s life. You do dust yourself down, look at your idea again, think about reworking it and so on.

Sometimes when an answer is no, the real answer is not yet or not here. What you can’t know when you submit material is whether similiar ideas have been received by whoever it is you’re submitting work to and so, of course, they can’t have something that is too like work they’ve already accepted. Park the idea, revisit it later, and if you can think of a suitable alternative market, go for it. The worst that can happen is they say no but, even after all the years I’ve been writing, you still have to fight the nerves and get that work out there!

Of course, you can’t beat the feeling when you receive acceptances! I only wish I could bottle it.

Open Prose Mic Night Swanwick 2019 - image by Penny Blackburn

I read The Art Critic at Swanwick earlier this year. Many thanks to Penny Blackburn for the picture.

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Love having my creations around me! Image by Adrian Symes

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My flash fiction collection. Image taken by Allison Symes.

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The lightbulb moment of inspiration for writers is wonderful. Pixabay image.

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Write to screen but edit on paper. Pixabay image.

Glad to report The Best of Cafelit 8 is now up on my Amazon Author Page (see link above). Looks good on there! (Am also looking forward to the paperback coming out later in the year and the Bridge House Publishing event in December. Always good fun).

How do you find writing works for you when you’re tired? I find that shorter pieces of writing perk me up and I save the marathon sprints for when I have more energy. I do get ratty if I can’t write at all as those nearest to me would testify.

I have got to write something creative even if it is just the outline for a flash fiction story. Having said that, once I get started, I find the creative instinct takes over and often I’ll get to the end of a session having written more than I thought I would. So that cheers me up no end. Mondays ARE the worst day of the week for me for this. Do you have any bugbear writing days? How do you manage them?

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My favourite part of writing is when I’m drafting a character’s thoughts. Why? Because I can get the character to show something of themselves without them being aware of it! It is the reader who will make judgements about the character based on what they read of their thoughts and actions.

I also like writing thoughts because they can be a great way of a character revealing what they think of themselves and what they feel other characters think about them. They don’t have to be right on either of these! (There’s potential for comedy or tragedy there).

Also characters will think things they would never say out loud to anyone else (just as we do) and there can be fun to had there as a reader “watches” a character struggle to keep their real feelings for another character hidden.

If you think someone is a dingbat but they’re your boss, you’re going to think twice about saying so AND know you’ll have to suppress how you really feel to make sure nothing embarrassing unwittingly is “let out”.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Do the seasons affect what you write? I can’t say I’ve noticed anything here but I can imagine it may be easier to write a darker tale when all is dark and gloomy outside. (You’ve at least got the atmospheric setting for it!).

Having said that, I often write cheerier stories during the darker months because I like something to cheer me up and I figure readers would like that too!

From a practical viewpoint, when the weather is awful, the lure of being at my desk in the warm with hot drinks on the go is too tempting to resist so I don’t! There is much to be said for bad weather increasing productivity!

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Managed to do some writing while I was away in glorious Northumberland for a week. As well as my blog posts, I’ve drafted two new flash fiction stories (of the circa 500 words variety. I know, that’s going on a bit by my standards! Good fun to write though).

Pleased to say The Best of Cafelit 8 is now out on Kindle. It is now on my Amazon Author Central page (see links shared earlier). My flash tales Dignity and Injustice and The Art Critic are in there. Very different moods too just on those two stories. What I love about the Cafelit collections is the range of styles and moods of tales they have. (Paperback will be out later in the year).

I’m a great advocate of short story and flash fiction collections for the obvious reason I am sometimes in them (!) but also because they are a fabulous way to get a feel for a writer’s work. Give them a go!

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I was away last week in gorgeous Northumberland and the scenery was amazing. The dog loved the stunning coastline and we all did plenty of walking.

I don’t usually go in for a lot of descriptions in my stories. There isn’t the room for them in flash fiction but if I ever set a story on a windswept beach with stunning views, then you can take it I was referring to either Dunnet in Scotland (right on the top edge of the country) or Duridge Bay in Northumberland! Would love to revisit both places next year.

Where setting is invaluable for a writer is where it is almost a character in its own right. Check out the crime writing series for great examples of these (Morse = Oxford is probably the best known). Mordor hangs over Frodo Baggins long before he gets anywhere near it. The latter is a great example as the very name Mordor implies dread and darkness. Well it does for me anyway.

(Oh and for Part 3 of my What Books Mean to Me series on Chandler’s Ford Today this week I will be featuring, amongst others, two Scottish crime writers who very much use their settings as a vital part of their stories. More later in the week).

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What is your favourite kind of character?

I like characters that can surprise me even though I created them.

I like characters who might seem a bit dodgy but really do have good hearts. (It may be a cliche but it’s one I love. I also think we need far more good hearted people in this world – can we ever have enough of them? I think not).

I love characters who can make me laugh. The character who is good at one-liners will always go down well with me, even if they’re a villain. (‘And cancel Christmas’ – Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is a great example of that kind of character).

I love the underdog who becomes the hero/heroine. I like supporting characters who understand their role is to support the lead and don’t resent that. (Sam Gamgee of The Lord of the Rings and Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter series are great examples there).

So what kind of characters do you really love to read about and, better still, write for?

 

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Goodreads Author Blog – Holiday Reading

I drafted this just as I was packing up to come home from a fabulous week in Northumberland. Lots of walking and wonderful scenery.

As ever, I took lots to read, read some of it, and fell asleep far too quickly.

My best opportunities for reading came before an evening meal and even then I had to fight the urge to nod off. I blame the gloriously fresh northern air!

I mixed up the reading I did do. Naturally I took the Kindle, magazines, and paperbacks.

Do you find you read more or less when away?

I don’t usually buy specific holiday reading as I see holiday time as a chance to reduce my To Be Read pile a bit. It’s another matter whether I’m successful or not!

What matters though is whether you can read for five minutes a day or five hours a day, you ARE reading!

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