Tag: character tip

Tips, Blurbs, and Using Set Themes

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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 had a good weekend. Stormy on Saturday, sunny on Sunday – typical for the UK! Lady had a lovely time and very busy on the writing and editing front, which I love. Will be sharing good news soon.

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Hope you have had a good day. Weather changeable but Lady had a lovely play time – and the zoomies – with her best pal, the Rhodesian Ridgeback today.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Why Write Fiction on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Looking forward to sharing that. I do answer the question, you’ll be glad to hear.

I was pleased to recommend two fictional historical books and one non-fiction one at an online meeting last night. Good fun. (For the record I recommended The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey, The Sunne In Splendour by Sharon Penman, and London by Peter Ackroyd. All excellent reads and different in style).

Character Tip: Think of one character you have already written or are thinking about writing up into a story and then name three things you would associate with them. May well prove to be useful additional information for you character outline.

This is especially useful if you haven’t already thought of three things so ask yourself three questions you know you haven’t already done. If you know about their physical appearance, think about what makes them tick. If you know the latter, think about what they would never wear or always wear etc. It will show you more about them and you are bound to find a use for that.

Hope you have had a good start to the week. Mine has been hectic but then it usually is on a Monday. Lady has had an excellent start to her week because she got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback bestie for the first time in a few days and saw her Hungarian Vizler pal too. Win-win, or perhaps as they would say, woof-woof!

Time Tip: Don’t worry about those days when you know you can’t get much writing done. Mondays are always like that for me. I focus on doing “little bits and pieces” so I can save my longer periods of writing time later in the week for bigger stretches of work. Not only is this efficient, I feel I have done something useful with the small pockets of time I have had and it ensures those are not wasted.

Hope the weekend has been a good one. Nice to see calmer, sunnier weather today. Lady and I appreciated it over the park earlier.

Loved going to The Chameleons Open Evening last night which was their way of celebrating their 60th anniversary this year. I will write about this for Chandler’s Ford Today in a couple of weeks time.

Writing Tip: It is worth keeping an eye out on writing competitions for another reason, especially the ones with a theme set for you. Why?

Simply because I’ve sometimes come across those I would have loved to have entered but know I cannot get anything in for the deadline. So I use the theme as a prompt and write my story up later. The same theme may come up again at some point. They often do. If not, I have another story to put towards another collection.

A soggy Saturday here though so far the rain hasn’t been as bad as predicted. Hope it stays that way especially as I’m off to The Chameleons Open Evening later on.

Writing wise, I’ll be asking a leading question for Chandler’s Ford Today next week when I discuss Why Write Fiction? Link will be up on Friday for that one.

If you write articles for a magazine with an ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) it is worth putting your articles down on your listing with the Authors Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS). It makes a big difference to your payment received and the good news is online magazines can have an ISSN. I list my articles for Writers’ Narrative with ALCS, for example. To find out more about ALCS, do check out the link.


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I love writing quirky tales from time to time, often with a humorous twist. Flash is the ideal format for these, I think, because they work best when kept to a tight word count. (You don’t want the “laugh” being dragged out – flash won’t allow you to do that).

Usually with these I do know the ending first and then work out how I could have got to this point. It means my structure is a logical one and I often do these with any of my twist flashes and short stories, regardless of the story mood. I find it works. A twist, humorous or otherwise, does have to have a solid foundation behind it. Without that, it won’t convince the reader.

It’s Monday. Hectic as ever and time for a story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Need to Know. Am sure you will understand Bill in this one.

What does the need for secrecy, Wendy, doughnuts, and a new bakery in town, all have in common? Answer: Bill. Find out why and what here.

 

I mix up the ways I come up with ideas for flash fiction and other stories. I do this to keep me on my creative toes but it is a good idea anyway. You don’t want to miss out on possible sources of inspiration after all.

So I use various random generators (and will mix up the parameters I set on these too as that gives me further ideas), books of proverbs and phrases, story dice, books of prompts (and I’ve contributed to some of these – good fun to do) and, of course, from Flash NANO. As mentioned on my author page, I will use set themes from competitions as prompts whether or not I enter the contest. I should add prompts are a regular feature of Writers’ Narrative too. Check out the latest issue at the link below.

 

If you’re in the UK, I hope you’ve managed to dodge the heavy rain today!

Do keep an eye out for flash fiction competitions. There are plenty out there and some short story ones add flash on as a category or allow your minimum word count to be 1000 words, which is at the top end of flash. There are opportunities out there.

Flash is also easy to share on your social media platforms and your website. Doesn’t take up too much room and gives followers a taster of your writing style. Besides it is fun to do and I love playing with genres and setting my characters in all sorts of situations. Give it a go! I’ve found it has also sharpened up the other writing I do, which is no bad thing either.

Goodreads Author Blog – Blurbs

A brilliant blurb is an excellent draw for me to buy the book it is on. Tricky to write though! (I do think writing flash fiction regularly at least gives you practice in writing to the word count required for blurbs but I am biased here given flash is what I do).

What I want from a good blurb is a taster of the book. I must have an idea of who the lead is and the problem (the major one) the character is facing. I have then got to feel as if I must read on to find out what happens. If successful in making me do that, the blurb has done its job!

Blurbs are best kept short. You do just want a taste, not the whole buffet, but it has to be enough of a taster and that is the tricky bit to get right, I think.

Mind you reading lots of books and seeing how other authors have done this is a great way to learn for when you hopefully get to do this for yourself! Not that I need encouraging to read more, mind you. That is always a great thing to do whether you write as well or not.

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June 2025 edition shared further up but please do see the March 2025 edition below. Always worth a re-read or two! Ties in nicely with my comments about historical fiction and non-fiction further up.

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Thoughts on Editing

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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 the train is welcome (grass has been looking sorry for itself). Writing wise, lots going on and I hope to share some very exciting news on this soon.

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Pleased to be back on Chandler’s Ford Today with my latest post, Thoughts on Editing. Naturally I am biased on this topic given I am an editor but I share useful thoughts and tips on editing anything (yes, really). Hope you find the post informative and practical.

Am off to The Chameleons Open Evening tomorrow (7th June) as they are holding this to celebrate their 60th anniversary this year. Congratulations to them all. They put on some wonderful plays so if you have a chance to get to one or more, do go.

The Open Evening is on from 6 pm to 9 pm and will be at the Ritchie Hall in Chandler’s Ford. All welcome to go and find out more about what it takes to put on a performance. Volunteers always wanted for roles on and off the stage. 

Thoughts on Editing

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Hope today has been okay. Another soggy one but Lady got to play in front of her Hungarian Vizler chum again so all is well with their worlds! Not sorry about the rain. Grass needs it. Relieved it’s not coming down as a torrential downpour which just floods everywhere. Rain coming down at a steady rate means the ground is more likely to make better use of it. Also Lady and I get damp rather than soaked so there is that as well!

Don’t forget I’ll be sharing Thoughts on Editing for Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above.

Will be off to visit The Chameleons as they hold their Open Evening to celebrate their 60th anniversary on Saturday evening. Hope to catch up with my lovely editor at Chandler’s Ford Today there as well.

Character Tip: What draws you (or repels you) to the character you’re writing about? There has to be a strong reason why you want to write their story up whether they’re going to be the hero of the villain. This all ties in with character motivation of course but I do think this is a huge driver for any story to be a success, regardless of its length.

Hope today has been a good Wednesday for you. Lady showed off in front of her Hungarian Vizler pal again today. The latter looks on Lady playing, almost as if she was being an indulgent granny watching her favourite grandchild! Lady just has a fabulous time (but I am sure she is aware she is showing off!).

Writing wise, am looking forward to going to an online sci-fi and fantasy group (run by the Association of Christian Writers) later this evening. Always good fun. Am making good progress on a longer short story too. Group was great fun. Longer short story on the back burner for the moment. Things have cropped up but I hope to share news of this soon.

I’ll be sharing Thoughts on Editing for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday – it is always a timely topic especially given I am editing away at the moment and loving it. See above.

 

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Delighted to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest drabble (100 worder), Starting Over. Find out what role the “umbrella from hell” has to play in Mary’s life here.

I mentioned yesterday about using flash to play with genre (see below) but inevitably my favourite genres come through in my flash fiction stories.

For me, these are what I call fairytales with bite (humorous fantasy, sometimes grimmer fantasy!), historical fiction, crime and many more but I would say these are my main three.

There is often a strong element of justice being done in many of my stories too which crosses the genres but I know for me is inspired by my love of the classic fairytales. The rotters rarely get away with it in those tales. You know the comeuppance is coming. The great thing with flash tales is that comeuppance comes very quickly, sometimes in only 100 words!

One of the things I enjoy most about writing flash fiction is the opportunity it gives me to play with character and, therefore, genre. I can and do set my characters, some of whom are definitely not human, in all kinds of settings and back and forwards in time as well.

What I focus on is making my character believable as I mentioned the other day. Their world may be fantastic. But their actions and attitudes should always be relatable. (Not necessarily agreeable though!).

Fairytales with Bite – Seasonal Magic

In your magical setting, do the seasons, whether they’re the same as ours or not, play havoc with a character’s magical abilities? Does the availability of natural light, or its lack, change what your characters can do or limit their powers in some other way? If it does, can this be overcome by what they would consider artificial means?

Can enemies take advantage of when powers are “down” due to seasonal fluctuations? What would your world do to protect itself against that?

Equally when there is an abundance of natural energy (not necessarily light though this is an obvious one to think about), does that boost your character’s magical powers and how can they make the most of this while this lasts? Can your world take advantage of this against their enemies?

Certainly I wouldn’t think it unreasonable for lack of light or other energy source to have a direct ability on someone’s magical capacity in stories. It an also limit the powers of magic forcing your characters to find other ways to resolve their problems. There will be interesting story ideas to emerge from that.

This World and Others – Times

Time is a major factor in all of our lives and that goes for our characters too. Even the superheroes need their down time. So what kind of down time would your characters need (other than the obvious ones of food, drink, rest) and how would they get this time off?

How is time measured in your setting? Are the lengths of days and nights the same as ours, or are they wildly different and, if the latter why is that the case? This has a direct impact on what could be grown in your setting too and what your characters are likely to be able to eat. It would then in turn have an impact on the kinds of employment in your setting too. If only certain items of food can be grown, your setting would need workers for that, others to process it for the general market and so on.

The way time works in your setting will have an impact on what you characters could get done in a typical “day”. That will have an impact on how long they will need to fulfil their quest or whatever task you’ve set them to do. Of course if they have more time in a day than we do, that could help them a lot!

But it pays to plan out how time will work in your setting.

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Tips, Writers’ Narrative, and Defining a Good Read

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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. Image of me holding Creativity Matters, From Light to Dark and Back Again and Tripping the Flash Fantastic was taken by Adrian Symes. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. A huge thank you to The Chameleon Theatre Company for permission to use the photos in the bonus Chandler’s Ford Today post shared below.
Hope you have a good weekend. Mine encompassed the glamour of wood treating a fence panel to getting on with my writing. Both creative in their way though, I suppose!

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Today has been somewhat soggy but Lady didn’t mind. She got to see her Hungarian Vziler pal again today and Lady never frets about the rain. She’s got a good coat, she can shake it all over Mum, so why worry?

Writing wise, hope to share some exciting news soon. Looking forward to being able to do that. Watch this space as they say.

Apologies for forgetting to put a title to my June newsletter – oops! But many thanks to all my subscribers. Your support is much appreciated. Other than that little faux pas, I have found the transfer over to MailerLite to be painless, I’m glad to say.

Character Tip: Whatever kind of character you create – and I have many non-human ones in my cast list – they still have to be understandable to readers.

So motivations and wants need to be clear and we should be able to see why someone would do something. Nothing is to “come out of the blue” – nobody ever believes that.

Hope Monday hasn’t been too bad. Busy one here as always. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today so her week has got off to a good start.

Writing Tip: Want a quick easy outline for a story? Just ask two questions.

  1. What does your character want?
  2. What gets in their way?

In fleshing the answers out to those, you will be off to a flying start with your outline and the resulting story. All stories need a structure and those two questions give your tale a great “backbone”.

Hope the weekend has been a good one for you. Still can’t quite believe it’s June already.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Thoughts on Editing for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. It is always a timely topic and I share tips which have proved useful for me as a writer and as an editor.

Looking forward to popping along to The Chameleons’ Open Evening later this week too.

Pleased to say my author newsletter went out again today. It’s only the second one I’ve sent using the new service provider. All well so far and pleased to be able to schedule it too.

Glad to catch up with some friends from Swanwick on a Zoom session last night. Good way to keep in touch.

31st May –  First Post – Bonus Chandler’s Ford Today post
Two posts from me tonight. First up is a bonus Chandler’s Ford Today post. As you know, I often go and see plays performed by our excellent local theatre company, The Chameleons. They’re celebrating their 60th anniversary this year and are holding an Open Evening next weekend (Saturday 7th June). More details in the post but if you can get along, they will be pleased to see you.

The Chameleons – Open Evening – 7th June 2025 – Celebrating 60 Years of Drama

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31st May – Second Post – June 2025 edition of Writers’ Narrative

Second post and I’m pleased to say the June edition of Writers’ Narrative is now available. See link below.

The theme is on Worldbuilding (which comes into various forms of fiction and not just fantasy and sci-fi – e.g. crime fiction has to set its world too, you need to know era for one thing).

I share Five Top Writing Tips, useful for whatever you write. Do enjoy a cracking read.

 

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Flash fiction helps with other forms of writing in all sorts of ways.

Writing to one line sentences, as I set recently for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group, can be used to help practice writing straplines. Longer flashes (say up to 500 words) can be used to help get you used to writing to the word count needed for a synopsis.

Plus it can be used as a warm up exercise ahead of your main writing work and, as I’ve mentioned before, you could polish those pieces up and get them out for competitions etc.

Well worth trying. I find writing flash to be an absorbing challenge.

It’s Monday. Time for another story. Hope you like my latest one on YouTube – Taking Time.

Can the old Master of Time live up to his reputation when put to the ultimate test? Find out here. This is one of my fairytales with bite.

 

Looking forward to flash fiction Sunday afternoon shortly. Need to look out some more competitions soon to have a try at but that may well need to wait until next weekend. Am happily busy elsewhere, writing wise.

I’ve always loved the way The Bridport Prize describes flash fiction – as the “art of just enough”. Sums it up so well. Inference is a powerful tool in the flash format. Picking the right telling detail about your character and/or setting can leave much else to be inferred but readers will pick up on this.

I know I love it in any length of story when an author doesn’t tell me every single thing. I like to work things out. All that is needed are the right clues to do that.

Flash fiction writing is great practice in working out what you do need to reveal and what you can leave to be implied. As such it is an excellent writing exercise. But the better news is there are opportunities for being published and competitions for those flash pieces you come up with.


Had a lovely morning wood treating a fence panel – I know it’s all glamour here! Lady was enjoying the cool indoors. (I also cannot trust her to not want to stick her nose in the wood treatment pot. She is a curious animal but sometimes there is such as thing as too much curiosity!).

Writing wise, pleased to say the June 2025 edition of Writers’ Narrative is out – theme is Worldbuilding. Every fiction writer does this to a certain extent. Even in flash fiction I have to show a reader where my story is, sometimes indicate era and so on. Link to the magazine shared via my author page. See above.

Last but not least, my author newsletter is out tomorrow. Can’t believe we’re almost at June already. I share news, tips, and links to my flash stories online in the newsletter. To sign up head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

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Goodreads Author Blog – Defining a Good Read

How would you define a good read? For me, it is any story of any length and genre, where I have to read through to the finish. Usually it is the character which grips me. Sometimes it’s an intriguing premise. The very best stories have both of those.

But I have been just as entertained and gripped by a well crafted 100 word story as I have been by the other end of the scale, a 100,000 word novel.

I like a wide variety of genres though my favourites are fantasy, fairytales especially, history (fiction and non-fiction) and crime.

Thankfully I have not abandoned many stories of any length because they haven’t engaged but in those cases where it did happen, I know it was because I wasn’t convinced by the characterisation, yet alone gripped by it. Still in a way this is useful. I know what I like and dislike here so I can avoid making the same mistakes in my own work.

Life is too short to not have good reads in your reading pile!

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Book Reviews, Editing, and Writing Superpowers

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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 the weekend went well. Good to be back in the garden again. Lawn grateful I was I think! Pleased to see lovely foxgloves in flower too. Writing wise, am pretty much back to my normal routine and enjoying that. Lady, as ever, appreciates the company of her pals at the park. We appreciate the little things in life. They’re often more important to you than you might think. Know this is true for me and the dog!

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Soggy one here in Hampshire though Lady was delighted to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal again. Both dogs had a lovely time in the park before the rain set in.

Writing wise, will have further editing work coming up shortly. Looking forward to starting on that.

There will also be a bonus Chandler’s Ford Today post on Saturday this week from me as I’m publicizing The Chameleons’ Open Evening on 7th June. They’re celebrating their 60th anniversary this year and are inviting people to see what they do (and where they need volunteers) on and off the stage.

Plus I will be looking at History and Stories in my usual Friday night slot where I look at the links between history and stories and why I love both. (Nice link here as The Chameleons have acted out many wonderful stories, some of them history based, over their 60 years on the stage).

Stories, whether as prose or plays, can explore history and shed new insights on it.

Bank holiday here today in my part of the world. Lady was thrilled to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals today. We either see all we know on a bank holiday or nobody at all – there is no middle ground!

Had a quick look at the random question generator I use every so often to trigger story ideas. Usually the question gives me the theme I write to (and my characters answer the question, it literally is the story).

The question which came up tonight was if you could have one superpower what would it be? Now that is a fabulous question and I’m sure an article or two could be written around it but I wondered about answering it for this post from a writing viewpoint.

So which writing superpower would I like to have? I think it would be the ability to keep writing, no matter what. I wouldn’t ask to write perfectly from the get go because I think a lot of excellent stories come about thanks to having decent editing work done on them.

But to keep going whenever and whatever the circumstances, that would be a good thing to have. It isn’t always easy to do this so having a superpower boosting me here would be most welcome.

Hope the weekend is proving to be a good one for you. Cut the lawn yesterday. Desperately needed doing. Looking much better now and it was a great workout for me!

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again too. (I know. I can hardly believe is is almost June either). You can sign up at my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Writing wise, I’m working on a longer short story as well as my usual flash work at the moment. Have put final touches to my presentation for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group for Wednesday. Now done! Will be back to blogging and editing shortly. I do like a good mix of things to do!

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Have got to the end of the first week back from our wonderful Northumberland break. Always tough, the first week back from any kind of break but hey I’m there so now it is a case of onwards and upwards.

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at History and Stories for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. I love history. I love stories. History is full of stories. It’s a gem of a topic to write about! I’ve also found reading historical fiction has led to me reading historical non-fiction too but more on this in my post on Friday.

Character Tip: Remember it isn’t compulsory to like the characters you create, far from it, but you do need to know what drives and motivates them so you can write their stories up with understanding of where they are coming from and why.

For villains, you do need to look at why they have become that way. Not all of that will make it into your finished tale but enough should so readers can see why they’re being the way they are too.

If, say, your villain is driven by the need to make money a line of dialogue with another character or their own thought showing their need for enough money will create that understanding.

Readers (and you) still don’t need to approve of how they go about things here.

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Hope today has been a good one. Looking forward to the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction Group tomorrow. The topic is Tens. Looking forward to seeing everyone then. Zoom has made more things possible including writing groups like this one.

Am hoping to go an in-person ACW meeting later this year but have to book it first. Hope to do that in next couple of days. I like a good mixture of in person and online events. In a world which is far from perfect, why not have the best of both worlds when it comes to meeting with other writers?

Flash is also wonderful to share in any kind of workshop and/or writing group given it is short. I’ve always found stories illustrate points well. People remember the stories. (This is nothing new, far from it. Jesus did this with parables. Aesop did it with his fables too. All would count as flash fiction as we know it now).


It’s a Bank Holiday Monday where I am but it is still Monday. Time for a story then and I hope you like my latest on YouTube – Mixing It Up.

What harm could it do to mix up the dragons’ magical foodstuff and give it to the butterflies instead? George thinks it will be okay but is he right to do so?

 

Titles are important for any story (or article come to that) given they’re the first hook to entice a reader into reading your work. 

For flash fiction, I try and use mine to do some “heavy lifting” in terms of indicating to a reader the tale’s probable mood without using up any of my precious word count. (Most flash competitions don’t include the title in the limit they set you but there are always exceptions so do check).

I also use titles as a brainstorming exercise. It’s fun to do too. Why not give it a try?

Writing Exercise: Give yourself five minutes. Jot down as many three to five word titles as you can in that time. It helps to think along the lines of Subject and Action (a refusal to act will count as an action). Also consider Subject and Job.

You are looking for two immediate hooks here. People will want to know about your subject depending on what action or job you’ve given them in the title.

For example, how about George, the Butterfly Tamer, as an idea. I would immediately want to know who George is, how can anyone tame butterflies, and why does anything think it is needed. The story would reveal the answer to those questions but I’ve got to read it to find out. Job done by the author there I think! Do see my YouTube story for this week too – see above. I wrote this post first then decided to write the story up with just the title to go with. Good fun to do.

I’ve also found when I do this exercise once I get started, a whole raft of other ideas come. Later, I will review my title lists and the ones which still appeal to me are the ones I will write up. But this exercise is definitely worth trying. Hope you have fun with it.

Looking forward to the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction Group on Zoom on Wednesday. Have set what I hope will be an intriguing theme (Tens – what would you make of that?) Alas, I’m not telling all here, but it is fun coming up with different ideas for these meetings and, of course, a good challenge to me.

Whatever you write, doing something different every now and then is a good challenge and will help sharpen up your other writing – or at least I’ve found that to be the case. It’s another good reason to enter story competitions every now and then (but do check the competition background out first and ensure you’re happy with it). Again, it makes you do something different, you are often set the prompt and it is a good challenge to see what you can do with it.

(Am also pleased because when I relax I play with words too. Have today got the word rewrites out in my phone’s equivalent of Scrabble. All seven tiles out so I get the bonus points too. Apt word for a writer and editor, I think!).

Goodreads Author Blog – Book Reviews

Do you read book reviews? I do. As a writer myself, I appreciate the reviews which come in on my books but I also like to write reviews on works by other authors. Other than buying the book itself, reviewing is probably the next best way to support authors. I keep my reviews short and would put in a plea to review when you can. It helps more than you know.

I try to review the moment I’ve finished a book whether it’s on Kindle or in print. Otherwise, I know I may well forget to do it. Life getting in the way and all of that…

The best reviews give a good flavour of what the book is about without giving too much away. The good news is they don’t have to be long to be effective.

Why not review the book you are currently reading? Doesn’t have to be a contemporary one either (though that obviously does help current authors) but there’s nothing to stop you giving your thoughts on a classic work either. I know I still find those useful for the classics I’ve not yet got around to reading.

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Once Upon A Time

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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. One image kindly provided by the Hampshire Writers Society where I have been a guest speaker. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a lovely weekend. Busy but fun one here and so delighted to hear I’ll be in print again later this year, details below. Lady having a lovely time catching up with her pals and enjoying the lovely weather.

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Am pleased to be back on More than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. This time my post is called Once Upon A Time.

I discuss how these famous opening words to classic fairytales can inspire us with our own opening lines. For one thing, they show you don’t need too many words to set a scene, genre, and time scale!

Hope you enjoy the post.

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Hope you have a good start to the week. Lovely weather here. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today so all is well in her world.

Looking forward to sharing my review of Sudden Death at Thornbury Manor which I went to see performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group last week. The review will be on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. It’s the first time I’ve been to an interactive murder mystery play.

Writing Tip: How easy or otherwise do you find getting into your character’s head so you know where they are coming from here? I find I must be able to do so to understand their motivations properly and be able to write their story up. A few pertinent questions can help here. A good one to always ask is what do you want and why? That alone can give you a good “backbone” for a story.

Publication News
Am thrilled to say my story, The Family Legend, will be in the Magi themed Bridge House Publishing anthology due out later this year. Huge congratulations to all of the other writers who will also be in this book. I share the full list below and it is good to see some familiar names here!

Jane Spirit – A Royal Dilemma
Diana Powell – Adoration
Adam Mizler – Caspar’s Story
Joyce Frohn – Epiphany
Sally Angell – Follow Your Own Star
Michael Rogers – In the Departure Lounge
Margaret Bulleyment – Island Views
Sara Winslow – Lavender
Sara Page – Nativity
Paula Readman – Quizmas Rivalry
Richard Balou – Return of the Magi
Steve Wade – Seosamh, Meryem, the Busker and the Boy
Sharon Keely – Star Over Dartmoor
John Walker – The Census
Allison Symes – The Family Legend
Ian Inglis – The Four Wise Men
Anne Meale – The Gift of Common Ground
Rob Whaley – The Lost Magus of Michigan
Caliman Florentina – The Mysterious Journey of a Soul
Henry Lewi – The Road Trip
Yrev Very – The Second Coming
Liz Cox – They Came from the East Riding on Camels
Sarah Swatridge – Three Wise…Monkeys?
Penny Dale – Travelodge Epiphany

Will share further news such as publication date when I have it. It will be good to be in print again!

Am posting early as busy but enjoyable weekend this time. Hope the weekend is going well for you. Weather forecast for next week looks almost summery which will be nice. Touching to see such a wonderful turnout in Rome for Pope Francis’s funeral. TV figures etc will be even higher of course. He will be much missed.

Looking forward to reviewing Sudden Death at Thornbury Manor, recently staged by the fabulous The Chameleon Theatre Group, for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. First time I’ve been to an interactive murder mystery play. It was fun but more on that in my post next week.

Character Tip: What kind of language (and not just swearing!) is your character going to come up with and why? Are there words they always use or words which would never pass their lips?

Give some thought as to why this is and you will find out more about your character, which I’m sure you will find a good use for in fleshing them out more. It is a case the writer always needs to know more about the character than the reader does.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Am enjoying the sunshine, as is Lady, who got to play with Coco the lovely Labradoodle this morning before it warmed up this afternoon.

Many thanks for the congratulations over my publication news shared the other day. Much appreciated.

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group tomorrow evening. Always good fun.

Flash Fiction Tip: I’ve found it useful to focus on my character and their situation, get that draft down, tidy it up and then and only then worry about the word count. You do need to get your story “right” and I have ended up with a story over the word count of the competition I had in mind but where I really didn’t want to change anything on it. I feel it would spoil something so I simply save that story for another competition instead.

It’s Monday. Okay, it’s a lovely sunny Monday but it is still Monday and time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Pictures.

It is only after her mother’s death Sally discovers why there were never many family photos up at home. Maybe some things were best left hidden after all…

 


Delighted to say one of my longer short stories will be in the Magi themed Bridge House Publishing anthology due out later this year. Meantime will crack on with flash fiction Sunday afternoon!

After the 100 worders, I think my favourite flash category is the 300 words one because that seems to be the word count I write to most often after the good old drabble. It is also a common competition category for flash tales so well practising writing for.

In my collections I have a few stories which are between the 750 and 100 words limit but the majority are either 100 or between 100 and 500. I literally do average out at about 250 or so!

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting next week on Zoom. Will be looking at genres. This is just one aspect to flash I love and take advantage of a lot – the fact I can put my characters anywhere and everywhere in stories so I do.

When I have a competition with a set theme I take time to work out what kind of character would be best suited for it. When it’s an open theme, I work out what theme I ‘d like to write about and then figure out the best fit character from there. You do want a good match up here.

Goodreads Author Blog – Family Stories

What do you think about stories based around families? I loved the Little Women series based on the March family from Louisa May Alcott and still have a very soft spot indeed for Jo. I still have the books (bought from a local newsagent back in the days when they would often stock popular titles. Indeed the Little Women series was part of a “Deans Classic” collection).

I also adored Enid Blyton’s Famous Five series (and again still have a very soft spot for George).

But the novel which always “got” to me was Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. I loved the whole idea of a story told by the horse and the Gordon family I thought were lovely. (That idea was explored further in the old Southern TV series which was based on the novel and ran with the basic idea while remaining faithful to the spirit of it, not an easy balance to get right, when it was a popular weekend teatime serial and more stories were wanted once they’d finished with the novel itself!).

I don’t specifically seek out family stories though it is funny how many of my childhood favourites are based on them (another one was Heidi).

Mind you, some of the classic fairytales show families which are far from ideal – check out Snow White and Cinderella to name but two!

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Relatable 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 weekend. Lovely one here and even more spring flowers emerging. Good to see. Lady enjoying the better weather too. Busy on the writing front but had a productive weekend, which always pleases me.

Facebook – General

Hope you’ve had a good day. Another lovely sunny one here.

Looking forward to going to an Association of Christian Writers Zoom session tonight. The talk sounds interesting.

Won’t be getting much writing done today due to that but I do go to these things, when they’re of interest, when I can. I see all of this as part of what you do when learning your craft, looking to develop further etc. Investment in time for your writing is seldom wasted.

Plus it will be lovely to see ACW friends online again! One of the aspects of the writing life I love is the social side to it – online and in person.

Another lovely day and Lady got to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals today so win-win all around there. How come it is the end of March already?

Author newsletter out again tomorrow. Will be looking at humour as my topic this time.

Writing Tip: You’re tired. It’s been a hectic day. (Mondays always are for me). The thought of writing much seems to fog your already tired brain. So focus instead on writing little bits.

It’s what I use Mondays for with my writing. I add bits to my newsletter, start drafting blogs and flash pieces (but with no pressure to get these things completed that same day). I see this as building up my stock of material I will complete later on.

And the funny thing? I always feel better for having written those little bits. Creativity is good for you, even in small amounts.

Another lovely sunny day with a promising week ahead. Lady and I plan to enjoy as much of that as we can. Will be “zooming” around again this week as I have an online ACW event to attend on Tuesday evening and will be hosting another ACW group on Wednesday which is one I usually go to for a good old chat about all things science fiction and fantasy related.

Will be sharing What Makes a Story Work on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday.

Author newsletter is out again on Tuesday, of course. If you would like to know more about flash fiction and discover tips and story links do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Character Thought: What is the one thing you know your character wouldn’t dream of doing in normal circumstances but you then make them face it? What would their response be? It’s absolutely fine to drop your creations in the mire! I find it great fun but this could, of course, just be me!

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Am delighted to be back on More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers, with my latest post – Relatable Characters. I share thoughts on why my favourite Easter stories resonate with me and also share tips on how we can create our own relatable characters. Hope you find the post useful.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope the day has gone well. Nice one here.

Character Tip: In getting to know your character before writing their story up, think about what would be a nice day for them and why. What would be a horrible day and why?

Both of these things have to have a reasonable chance of happening in your story. Think further about how they would handle each type of day and what that reveals about them. There will be insights here you will be able to use in your story. Your characterisation will be deeper and better for it too.

It’s a lovely sunny Monday but it has been hectic for me and it is still Monday when all is said and done. I share Garfield the cartoon cat’s attitude towards disliking Mondays in general. Time for another story from me on YouTube then. Hope you like my latest here – Craving.

What could my character be hiding in her food shopping she really cannot explain, especially since at her age she should know better? Find out here.

Hope you are having a lovely weekend. Happy Mothering Sunday to those who celebrate. Looking forward to flash fiction Sunday as ever. It’s a nice way to wind down after a busy week and I get more stories written – win-win there!

Most of the competitions I send flash pieces into don’t count the title as part of the overall word count you’re allowed. I am always pleased about this! It helps – a lot! 

But a useful tip for those places which do count the word title as part of the overall count is to reserve three to five words for your title. If you end up using less what you have “left over” could be used for the story itself if you need that.

Hope you are having a good weekend. Pleased to be out in the garden for a bit. Mowed the lawn and kicked the football for the dog. It does make quite a sight but it keeps Lady happy and away from the lawnmower. Am sure she sees it as an outdoor vacuum cleaner (which she also still sees as “the enemy”). I had hoped she’d have grown out of that but alas no!

Looking forward to catching up with friends on Zoom later on.

Writing wise, I’m a fair way towards another flash fiction collection in terms of word count. (Don’t yet know when the third one will be out but I have had the nod on it). Have a couple of stories I want to look at tomorrow as part of my flash fiction Sunday as I have competitions in mind for these. Both stories have now had the required “rest time” so I should be able to read them as a reader would. It’s the only way I find works for me which helps me spot the flaws. Then I can do something about said flaws!

Goodreads Author Blog – Beginnings

While true every story has to have a beginning, a middle, and an end, the beginning is what writers tend to focus on because we know readers won’t get to the middle yet alone the end if the beginning doesn’t grip them enough. No pressure then!

Also many of us study classic opening lines (from say Pride and Prejudice, 1984 and many more) to help us learn our craft here.

I know what I look for in a beginning, when I am reading, is to have a sense of setting and who the lead character is likely to be. I love stories which start with dialogue as that is like eavesdropping on an interesting conversation (here I can do this legitimately!). You also get a sense of the two or more characters involved in that conversation.

Basically, there has to be something which engages my interest immediately so have that “must know what happens next” moment.

With my own stories, my beginnings are rarely exactly the same as I first drafted them. When I come back and edit I can see how I can strengthen them so I do. Every word matters. I have to look for maximum impact on a reader. Hopefully that means they go on to have a great beginning with my stories and then discover what else those tales contain.

Every writer in history has had to do this. It is why the classics are the classics. Their beginnings have stood the test of time. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if as you read this, you can think of your own favourite beginnings to stories. I’ve done so in writing this.

Of course, I don’t think you can ever beat the classic fairytale opening of Once Upon A Time. That got me into reading fairytales, fantasy, and reading in general so plenty to like there!

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Author Interviews

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Hope you have had a great weekend. Nice one here. Making good progress on the writing. Significant editing done too. Hope the week ahead continues to go well for us all. There are more signs of spring appearing all the time too, which always cheers me up.

Facebook – General

Pleased to share my latest post on Authors Electric. This time I look at Author Interviews. It is a great joy to be on both the receiving and setting end of these, given I’ve appeared on other writers’ blogs, have been on podcasts, and, of course, I set many writers questions over at Chandler’s Ford Today.

I discuss how I’ve used author interviews to help me on my own journey to becoming a published writer and how I continue to find such interviews engaging and informative. Hope you find the post useful and thought provoking.

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Hectic here but it was good to see Lady playing with her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals earlier this morning.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing a fabulous interview with Joy Wood on Chandler’s Ford Today post on Friday. Tomorrow I’ll be sharing my Authors Electric post about Author Interviews. See above. Not a coincidence this one!

Hoping to get an article finished and sent off later this evening plus I hope to work on my presentation for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group later this month. Am almost there on it.

Had a productive weekend but Mondays are always one of those days when I don’t get so much writing done due to commitments elsewhere so I use Mondays to do little bits and pieces. These things mount up.

Hope the weekend has been a good one. Nice to see more sunshine.

Writing wise I’ll be getting on with Flash Fiction Sunday shortly. Later I have editing to crack on with and a presentation to add more to so I will be happily out of mischief for the rest of the day, no problem!

Also have just heard will be off to a murder mystery my local amateur theatre group is performing in April. Will be going to this with my lovely editor from Chandler’s Ford Today. Looking forward to that already. Plus I will have a writing Zoom to go to in early April as well as so plenty going on.

Character Tip: This is where writing what you know can help you in the creation of your characters. We know what we like and dislike in other people so let’s put that to good use as we invent our own people/beings of choice.

We understand what can make people angry, for example, so how can you tap into that when writing an angry character of your own? Look at the reasons why people have the attitudes they do.

There will be something you can use for your fictional creations from that. Understanding motivation helps so much here I think.

Hope you have had a good start to the weekend. Managed to get washing out and dried on the line today – yes, I know it’s sad but it is a win, honestly! Also lots of daffodils now out in one of my borders – daffodils always make me smile as I see them as pretty cheery plants, and they also remind me of Wordsworth.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing a fabulous interview with Joy Wood on Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Do look out for that on Friday. The interview is packed full of useful thoughts and tips and you can also find out how and why competition slogans had an impact on her writing life. Looking forward to sharing that and hopefully catching up with Joy again in person at Swanwick later this year.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Lady had a fabulous time in the park today with her Rhodesian Ridgeback chum and Coco, the lovely Labradoodle. Great time had by all. Hopefully more of the same will take place tomorrow!

I haven’t used dogs much in my flash fiction tales and short stories. I tend to focus on characters who are human or fantastical in some way though my YouTube story this week, Temptation, is one for dog owners to enjoy especially.

But there is nothing to stop us using the qualities most dog owners appreciate in their pets (loyalty, love, faithfulness, mischief making, just being fun to be around etc!) in other types of character for our stories. Just a thought.

To quote The Bangles, it has indeed been a Manic Monday and it is time to share another story of mine on YouTube. Hope you like the short but sweet Temptation. Dogs and their owners will especially appreciate this one.

Temptation can attack anyone or anything but especially, in some cases, where cooked chicken is involved.

 

Both of my flash fiction collections with Chapeltown Books have titles which indicate something of their genre and/or mood. From Light to Dark and Back Again very much flags up the mood of the stories. Tripping the Flash Fantastic indicates the genre (flash and fantastic tales/fantasy).

Did I have either of those titles when I began compiling my books for submission? No! Both had alternative working titles. The titles I ended up with came to mind as I was drafting and editing. This happens so I no longer worry about it. I find I have to have a working title for anything I write but am not worried if it ends up changing. I think I just need a placeholder and I work with that.

Most of the time when ideas for alternative titles come up, they are better than the original but it doesn’t always work out that way. When it doesn’t I simply stay with what I first came up with. I always ask myself what kind of impact the title has on me (and therefore on a likely reader) and the strongest impact is always the one I go with.

Looking forward to flash fiction Sunday afternoon tomorrow. Friday Flash Fiction is about to run their annual Andrew Siderius competition so do look out for this. I hope to have a go.

Also looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting later in the month. Will be looking at editing flash fiction for this one. One massive benefit to flash fiction writing is you do learn to improve your editing skills considerably and that can then filter across to other forms of writing you do. I’ve found this to be the case.

Goodreads Author Blog – Books and Their Moods

Now it’s no secret the books I read often depend on what mood I’m in. When life is grim (and the news even more so), then I will usually go for humorous reads such as works by Wodehouse, Pratchett, and Austen, something I know will make me smile basically. I see it as having something lighter to counterbalance the darker side of life.

But books too have their moods and certain genres play on this to good effect – horror, crime, and thrillers, all indicate the moods of their stories to name but a few.

Now I’m one of those readers where I don’t want the mood the book to match my mood. I like that counterbalance though there are books I will always read regardless of what mood I’m in. For example, I will always find time to re-read Agatha Christie or Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time (which is a fabulous book and the only novel to make me change my view on a historical person, in this case Richard III).

So which books do you use to lighten your mood? Which ones do you read regardless of mood of book or your own mood?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Publication News and Character Voice

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Hope you had a lovely weekend. Good one here despite the weather. Managed to get some stories submitted for competitions. Hope to look at a good competition guide I have to pick others to have a try at soon. All good for encouraging the imagination.

Facebook – General

Hope you’ve had a good day. Murky and grey again today but not as cold as yesterday. Lady and I weren’t sorry about that.

Don’t forget I’ll be interviewing the great Gill James on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday to discuss her new book, Natascha’s Story. Gill is author, editor, and publisher and is the brains behind CafeLit, Bridge House Publishing, Chapeltown Books and more.

As well as discussing writing for the younger end of the children’s market. Gill will be sharing thoughts and advice which will be useful to any writer so do check this out when the post goes out later this week.

Writing Tip: If you’re thinking of having an author newsletter, think about what you would want to see in it if you were receiving it rather than writing it. Seeing things from the viewpoint of your audience is so useful (and for your fiction and non-fiction writing elsewhere too).

As well as the content itself, think about how you would want the newsletter to look. Keep it uncluttered but with plenty of interesting things for your reader such as text boxes, bullet points, photos (suitably sourced of course so either use your own or use a free to use photo site such as Pixabay), and white space to make it a pleasure to read.

Gaps (white space) matter because what you don’t want is a huge block of text hitting your reader in the eye. Trust me, it’s off putting and won’t make readers want to read on.

Publication News – 10th February – Freedom on CafeLit
It’s a lovely start to the week for me as I have a new story up on CafeLit called Freedom. Hope you enjoy it. Find out here if Goldilocks really is a reformed character or not.

Hope the day has gone well for you. Busy one here so it is now especially nice to be back at my desk and start writing. Have a couple of stories to review this evening ahead of submitting them for competitions.

Character Tip: How do I know when I have got my character’s voice right? It’s when I can write their dialogue knowing this is exactly what they would say given the circumstances I’ve put them in. Everything rings true.

Sure, later, I’ll tidy that dialogue up as there will be things to strengthen and correct but I will know I’ve got the voice right. This is another reason why I need to know their major trait because a lot of their attitudes and therefore what would say and think comes from that.

Another grim and drizzly day. Lady and I made it around the park in record time. Even she wasn’t sorry.

Writing wise, I’m looking forward to sharing a fabulous author interview with Gill James on Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Amongst other topics, we’ll be discussing the joys and challenges behind her latest book, Natascha’s Story, which is aimed at they younger end of the children’s market. Plus Gill will be sharing wonderful writing and marketing tips plus much more besides. Do look out for this next Friday. Plenty for writers of all genres to enjoy.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to have got stories reviewed and submitted over the weekend. This coming weekend, I hope to look through and pick a couple of other competitions to try.

Plus I will need to think about stories for competitions I usually enter soon too. With competitions coming up in May, June etc it is about now I will look through stories I’ve already drafted and check to see if any are suitable. Often I find something which is and so polish that up and send it in.

Sometimes I will think not and create something new but I do make sure I write new stories throughout the year so I always have a stock to refer to like this. I’ve found it pays (and it is lovely when I find a story which will suit a competition theme – think square peg and square hole here! Very satisfying whether or not it goes on to do anything in the competition itself. You can only give these things your best shot and you do have to be in it to have any chance of winning it).

It has been a grey murky Monday,. But I was cheered by having a story up on CafeLit today (see my other page for the link to that – see above). But of course I am also cheered whenever I share another YouTube video. Hope you like my latest on here called Proportion.

Has Glenda blown things out of proportion or have she and Dave really got a witch stuck in their chimney, broomstick and all?

 

I enjoy submitting stories regularly to Friday Flash Fiction because it has (a) got me back to writing 100 word stories regularly and (b) I like having a deadline (to be in for the following Thursday) to stick to as I find having any deadline means I am more likely to get something written and submitted. 

Competition deadlines are useful for the same reason. You know you have to meet the date to have any chance at all.

Many thanks too for the comments in on my latest story on FFF – Come Back.
It’s going to be flash fiction Saturday afternoon for me this week as I’m out at a village/church event tomorrow. I do hope the weather picks up a bit in time for that!

The challenge of flash fiction is in coming up with so many different and interesting characters. It is the bit I enjoy the most as I’ve always loved creating people for stories.

The first thing I need to know is what makes my character tick because from that I can work out whether they’ll be interesting enough to write about. It is a bit like casting the right person for the right role in a play. Get it right and it will work seamlessly. If you don’t, however, readers/audience members will find your character hard to believe/get behind. (And you as the writer will find to harder to write the story up with any enthusiasm).

When I know what makes my characters tick, I want to feel like I cannot wait to write their stories up. This is a great sign. It shows you that you do have something to work with here and you will be more inclined to get on and do it.

Certainly this has been my experience. So a little time taken out to work out the character first pays dividends, I find.

Goodreads Author Blog – Books, Books, Books

Of all the inventions created by mankind, books are one of the best. I cannot imagine a world without books. Nor do I wish to be able to do that.

Books entertain, educate, inform, can show us plenty about this world we won’t get to find out any other way (not all can travel as freely as they’d like for example), and take us to worlds which will never exist but which are fun to visit for the purposes of a story. I’m thinking Middle Earth and Discworld amongst many others for that!

I never mind about the book’s format. I just want a good story for fiction. For non-fiction I want an interesting narrative which keeps me gripped by the subject. Most of my books are paperback (my favourite format) but I cherish my hardback, audio books and ebooks just as much. All have their advantages.

I have various books I re-read during the course of a year, though for some if I have the story as a film, I will take the story in again that way. I often rewatch Hogfather by the late great Sir Terry Pratchett. I can then read another book by him or another author, having taking in a story I know I will want to take in again at the right time of year, in this case just ahead of Christmas.

But I fervently believe you have to have the books in the first place!

And if you want to check out books and authors new to you, why not check out what your local library has to offer? They are full of the most marvellous books, books, books!

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Story Tips

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Happy New Year! Am slowly resuming my usual writing routine and it is good to get back to it. Having said that, I did enjoy the Christmas break and I hope you did too. This week, the first full week “back” for many (bar New Year’s Day of course), is going to be the tough one, I think, but I hope reading and writing help a lot – I know they do for me. Both take you away from it all for a bit!

BookBrushImage-2025-1-3-19-624Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today so she was happy.

Am pleased to share my first Chandler’s Ford Today post of the New Year. I look at Story Tips and this, I hope, will be useful whether you write flash fiction, short stories, or anything longer, fiction wise. As well as sharing tips I’ve found useful, I look at taking in stories via song and film as well as books, and share what I think the story writing challenge is to all writers. Hope you enjoy the post.

Story Tips

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It was a much pleasanter but colder day for walking Lady today and she got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals this morning so she has a good but tiring day, the kind she loves. Enjoyed listening to Classic FM at the Movies for a lot of New Year’s Day. Glad it finished with the Wallace and Gromit tune – the best thing on TV over Christmas we felt. Loved all the film references.

Also appreciated Classic FM playing one of my favourite movie film tunes – the only one I can think of which inspired a cartoon series. What can it be? Nothing else but The Pink Panther of course. Those of you of a certain age will now have had your first earworm of the year but it is a great theme!

Does music ever influence what I write? I find not at all with classical on in the background. What the music does for me is help me relax. When I’m relaxed I’m happy to write and keep writing.

Character Tip: What would your characters like musically and why? What does this say about their personalities? How could you use that to flesh them out more for your readers? Could their choice of music have a direct effect on the plot?

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1st January 2025

Happy New Year! Started 2025 by going for a long, wet, and muddy walk with other half and Lady though the weather here wasn’t as stormy as had been predicted. We got home again less wet than expected and Lady had a fabulous time.

Will be sharing Story Tips on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above. Glad to say there will be an author interview coming up later this month and I’ll be reviewing a pantomime by my local amateur theatre company as well. It’s good to be back in business!

Writing Tip: It’s natural for us to think of new beginnings at this time of year so think about what new start your characters would like to have and why. There will be great story ideas to come exploring that thought. Have fun!

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

No Friday Flash Fiction story from me today but they are open for submissions again from next week – see screenshot. Am hoping to be getting back to sending tales in to them regularly from then onwards. Did like the break though and I am sure they would’ve done too! If you’d like to check out some of my stories on here do follow the link.
Screenshot 2025-01-03 at 10-02-13 Holiday - Friday Flash FictionWill be sharing Story Tips on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. Useful for flash fiction and writers of any length of story. Link up tomorrow. See above.

Plan to be submitting work to Friday Flash Fiction again from next week. Haven’t yet chosen my first flash competition of the year yet to have a crack at but I’m keeping my eyes open. I do already have a couple of standard length short story competitions on my To Do list though and hope to start work on those in the next week or so.

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1st January 2025

Happy New Year!

Hope you enjoy reading and writing more flash fiction over the next twelve months. I plan to!
Later in the month there will be another session of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group, which I’m looking forward to very much. I expect by then January will have felt as if it has gone on for ever. Do check out Brian Bilston’s wonderful poem Mnemonic for the definitive thoughts on that!

Less is More is the theme for flash fiction writers

Fairytales with Bite – Beginnings

At the start of our New Year, it is natural to think about beginnings. In your setting, how is time marked out and what day/month would your characters know to be the beginning of a new passage of time for them? (Doesn’t necessarily have to be in the form of a year of course).

Do your characters welcome new beginnings as set by the passage of time or is it something they dread? Are there communal celebrations as we know?

What beginnings would your characters like to have? What is getting in their way to achieving these? Which would they fear and why? What would happen if they have to face up to those fears?

Beginnings are a chance to start again, to do better, and the marking of time is one way to set a new beginning. How would you characters make the most of this? Or what would they do to get out of having to face up to a new beginning?

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This World and Others – Changes

A New Year is a change to make changes to normal life. I don’t bother with New Year Resolutions. They tend to be broken by the end of January (at best!). But I often take the chance at New Year to look at where my writing is at and consider where I would like it be by the end of this coming twelve months. I make changes as I need to so I have my best chance of achieving what I would like to see done. Same as most people, right?

But what about your characters? Do they welcome changes or fear them? Do they have to be dragged/forced in to making any changes at all? Which changes should they make and why? Who is pushing them to do this and what are their motives for pushing your characters to change? Those motives don’t have to be great, naturally! How do your characters react to the ones trying to make them change? As ever, what are the consequences?

If there was to ever be an ingredients list for a great story, I would list characters, conflict, action, consequences. Wharever your word count, having those things in a tale (and ensuring all are delivered on) will help your story be well on its way to being a great one.

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Author Interview: A Right Cozy Christmas Crime with Wendy H Jones

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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. Many thanks to Janet Williams for the shots of me signing books at The Hilt Book Fair.
Hope you have had a good few days. Had lovely trip out with other half to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Lady had a fabulous time too. Pleased to say I have broadcast news and I know others who will be on the same show so am pleased for them all too. More details below with a link to come later.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am delighted to share a wonderful interview with Wendy H Jones about A Right Cozy Christmas Crime (Scott and Lawson), a recently released anthology of cozy crime stories. We discuss the joys of anthologies, the appeal of cozy crime, and the use of Christmas as a setting plus much more besides. Do check the interview out. And maybe you’ll have an extra idea for your Christmas present list.

What I love about short stories and flash fiction is you get to visit so many different “worlds” and characters and anthologies are the prefect place to have such stories collected. I deliberately read novels, then shorter forms of writing, then back to novels again. I want to read across the spectrum and often will check out an author new to me when they’ve got work in an anthology like this one before going for their longer works.

A Right Cozy Christmas Crime with Wendy H Jones – Author Interview

 

 

 

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Had a lovely day out with other half and Lady today. Other half and I were celebrating our 37th wedding anniversary.

Writing wise, don’t forget there is a fabulous interview coming up with Wendy H Jones about A Right Cozy Christmas Crime (Scott and Lawson) on Chandler’s Ford Today – link up tomorrow. See above. I love short stories, crime tales, and anthologies. This latest publication has the lot. Plenty of useful thoughts are shared. Do check it out.

Last but not least, I’m thrilled to say my festive flash fiction story, Perspective, will be broadcast on Hannah Kate’s Three Minute Santas show on North Manchester FM on Saturday 14th December 2024. The show is on from 2pm to 4pm. Congratulations to all who have had their tales chosen. I’m looking forward to hearing them all. It’s a lovely show and supportive of writers and the story world. I hope to share a link later.

 

Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal this morning and, to our great surprise and delight, her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal this afternoon on our usual walk. An unexpected and welcome play time ensured as the walk has a nice area of green where the dogs can play. They had a lovely time.

Looking forward to the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event on Saturday and to an ACW group meeting on Zoom this evening where I love joining in with talk about science fiction and fantasy. A lovely time is had by all.

Character Tip: Put yourself in your character’s shoes. You don’t have to like your characters (I can think of a few of mine where if we could meet in life we would not get on at all) but you do have to understand where they’re coming from and why. I think it is the only way to write for them with any conviction. I’m convinced when an author does get behind their characters like that, this comes through in the story and makes it more believable.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Am pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale Printing Error. This is an entry for their Christmas competition and in this one the word I had to use was peace. Hope you enjoy the story.
Screenshot 2024-12-06 at 09-48-50 Printing Error by Allison Symes - Friday Flash Fiction

As mentioned over on my author page, I’m delighted to say my festive flash fiction story, Perspective, will be broadcast on Hannah Kate’s Three Minute Santas show on North Manchester FM on Saturday 14th December 2024. The show is on from 2pm to 4pm. Link to come later.

This was one of the several flash pieces I’ve recently got out to different places. Always good to know one got through okay!

Will not hear back on the others for some time and only then if they get a placing. You do get used to this. Often it is a question of competition organisers simply not having enough time or people to email all who entered rather than anything else.

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Have received the reading order list for the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event on Saturday. Have worked out what I’d like to read. Always a fun task! Am looking forward to hearing the other stories too – it is a treat to be read to and I love reading my work so win-win here It’s fun. Flash works so well for open mic type things.

Am also looking forward to catching up with Debz Hobbs-Wyatt and Hannah Retallick, whom I interviewed for Chandler’s Ford Today recently. It will be great to catch up with friends, old and new.

 

Fairytales with Bite – Timing

What do your magical characters make of timings? Cinderella was useless at it, of course. How good or otherwise are your characters in keeping to time and what are the consequences when they’re not? Also could someone else make use of someone’s punctuality and use it against them?

Do any of your character’s spells have a timing limit on them? Some fairy godmothers do have this feature, of course! Automatically set to midnight, naturally – it’s never three minutes past one, is it?

If your character has to get their timing spot on with something, what obstacles will you put in their way to make it as difficult as possible for them to achieve this? What will they have to do to still make their objective happen?

Can your character use split second timing to achieve something different in the world of magic? What would this be? What other powers could it unleash?

Timing can be everything in a story (as it so often is in film). How can you make best use of this thought for your characters and their situations?

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This World and Others – Decisions

How easy or otherwise do your characters find making decisions? A lot will depend on what the decision is and how it is going to challenge them personally, of course, but as a general rule, do they have problems making up their mind about something or do they always know what they want?

The latter trait could be useful in showing something else about their personality. The go-getters don’t tend to be the shy, retiring type!

How do your characters react when having to make decisions they wouldn’t normally face? Many a quest tale has started with this. The way they respond so often makes the adventure memorable (The Lord of the Rings is the obvious example here).

I outline my characters with enough information so I know how they are likely to respond in most situations. There is still the room for them to surprise me and they do sometimes but the surprise comes out of what I already know about them so isn’t “out of kilter” for the way I’ve portrayed the character to date.

Funnily enough, I don’t usually need to know much about how they look – what I’m after finding out is their personality and then ideas for their appearance come from that. My major decision is in working out just how much I need to know about my characters before writing them up.

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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