Tag: Closing Lines

Author Interview: Val Penny – Hunter’s Rules and Lynsey Adams – Book Blog Tour Organiser

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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 Val Penny and Lynsey Adams for images associated with their interview on Chandler’s Ford Today this week.
Funny old week again. Lovely sunshine followed by heavy rain – the British summer is in full swing! Had a lovely time watching The Chameleon Theatre Group’s latest production – review to follow on Chandler’s Ford Today in due course. Do check out your local amateur theatre companies. I’ve seen some splendid shows staged by The Chameleons. You may well be in for some good surprises here with your own companies. Also I see plays as staged stories so that and the idea of supporting local theatre all at the same time is a fabulous one I heartily endorse.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

So pleased to welcome back Val Penny to Chandler’s Ford Today. We celebrate her Hunter’s Rules, which was recently launched at the Harrogate Crime Festival. Well done on achieving something so prestigious, Val!

In this in depth interview, Val shares with me the joys of coming back to write about familiar characters, writing straplines, what she loves about book blog tours and crime fiction, and much else besides. Plenty of useful thoughts and advice here – do check this out.

I also have a brief chat with Lynsey Adams who organised Val’s book blog tour. Lynsey shares a few tips on what authors should think about when planning their own book blog tour. Again do check this out.
Am sure you will find plenty of information which is useful and entertaining from both ladies. Thank you both for taking part in this.

Author Interview – Val Penny – Hunter’s Rules and Book Blog Tour Organiser interview – Lynsey Adams

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Am off to see Bleak Expectations, the latest show to be staged by The Chameleon Theatre Group, tonight. Looking forward to that and catching up with my lovely editor at Chandler’s Ford Today too. Plays are staged stories when all is said and done so I see these as another way of taking in wonderful tales I might not come across another way. Nothing to dislike about that!

Writing Tip: When you’ve enjoyed a fabulous tale of any word count, why not look at it again and work out what it was you especially liked. If the characters gripped you (as I would hope they would), work out what it was which made them “do” that to you. What made them stand out? How did the author achieve that? Which details were key in getting the character across to you that way? There will be something!

Another thought – re dialogue. Now we know that fictional speech can only replicate real speech but it has the advantages of having far fewer hesitations and repetitions in it because we don’t want our readers to nod off due to boredom. But if you’re tempted to abbreviate fictional speech think about how it will look on the page/on the screen to your reader. It still has to “look right” to read right.

Whatever your kind of character, their dialogue has to fit their portrayalHope you’ve had a good day. Lady managed to see her Hungarian Vizler friend and Gertie, a lovely Golden Retriever, whom we see from time to time. Lady went home shattered but happy (as one of her favourite tricks is to suddenly get a burst of energy and run around pals showing off as she plays with her toys. I have no idea if that impresses them but it impresses her).

Am off to the theatre again tomorrow for a Chandler’s Ford Today works outing! My lovely editor and I will be seeing Bleak Expectations (a stage play based on the hilarious radio comedy of that name) being staged by The Chameleon Theatre Group. Review will follow in due course. Am expecting plenty of laughs and Dickens based jokes. Should be a lot of fun. If you can, do check out the radio show. I thought it was fabulous.

Talking of CFT, I’m talking with Val Penny about her Hunter’s Rules and Lynsey Adams about book blog tours on Friday. Lots of useful information from both ladies. Be sure not to miss it and well done to Val for having her new book launched at the Harrogate Crime Festival too. See above.

As for this evening, I’m running the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom later. Theme is summer. Jury is out as to whether summer has turned up. I have had the sun back out today so I would give a cautious thumbs up to this one (given I know the rain is back for me tomorrow!).

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Delighted to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my new story, Life Dreams. What does someone, whose species uses dreams to communicate, do to avoid being caught by them and dragged back to their own planet? Find out here!
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Do look out for Friday Flash Fiction’s annual Edinburgh Festival competition (it runs in conjunction with the actual festival). See screenshot but more details will be put on the website soon. The FFF competition runs over two weeks. Worth having a go. It is free to enter. You can enter one 100 word story per week for the fortnight the competition is on so two stories in all.

The 100 word category is a popular one for competitions. It is a great discipline for sharing what matters to your characters. You give the reader what they need to know and the rest they can infer. Well worth practicing regularly (which is one reason why I submit stories to FFF often!).

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Writing to closing lines is great practice for coming up with punchlines or twist endings. Every so often one of my brainstorming sessions will be to do this. (I also use such sessions for coming up with title ideas and opening line possibilities).

Once I’ve got some closing lines down, I rest them for a while before having another look and seeing what I could use. Inevitably there will be some discards but there will be ideas which literally stand the test of time with me. I then have the fun of working out how I could get to that closing line. The line will throw up different possibilities and I go with the one which appeals to me the most.

For example, if my closing line was And the day had started so well too, I could use that line to produce a humorous story. I could also use it to produce a sad or slice of life tale. I would then decide what mood I wanted to write to and then figure out what character could serve my purposes here. All good fun and then I write my first draft.

But what I am keen on is to ensure that lovely closing line I’ve got seems like the only way to end my story. It has to seem natural and not tacked on though that is true for any line for any length of story.

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Fairytales with Bite – Agencies

In your fantasy setting, what agencies exist? Is there one, for example, to train fairy godmothers to an acceptable standard? Is there a law and order agency (and, if not, why not? Who would ensure criminal magic did not run riot here?). Who runs the agencies and are they accountable to higher powers? How do those higher powers operate?

Within the agencies themselves, what hierarchies exist and how did these come about? There would be potential for humorous stories here I think as well as dramas. Where you have organisations you have the competent, the incompetent, and those who muddle their way through. You could have fun here!

How would your characters fit into that kind of set up? Could one of your “muddling” characters develop something which proves to be brilliant? How would they handle their unexpected success, given others wouldn’t have expected it either?

You may not want one hugely powerful magical being running everything. It would be bound to drain powers etc. So how would the ones at the top of the tree farm out jobs for others to do and where could your characters fit in to this?

Would the agencies be your world’s major employers and how easy or otherwise is it to get a job with them? Does it depend on the “old boys’ network” and could someone break that if so?

Story ideas there I think.

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This World and Others – Who Does What?

Wherever there is a setting, no matter how far away or fantastical it is, you have administration! It does get everywhere. To be fair, a job has to be done, someone has to do it (and therefore has to organise how they do it).

I’ve always loved the quote about Death from the Discworld novels by the much missed Terry Pratchett. The Archchancellor refers to Death as a Professional fellow with a job to do. And if you read the Death novels here you will discover there is an immaculate system of hour glasses and books. There is a reason why Death has a huge desk!

So for your characters who does do what job? Is it based on their species, their class status, or a mixture?

Do certain species have certain talents so your setting rightly deploys them for the jobs requiring those skills? How did those talents develop in the first place? Who organises your setting? Discworld has the Patrician and the Guilds. Who runs your world? Are they good at it? Is there any threat to their position? Do they give the most awkward jobs to the ones who might challenge them? Do they give offers others cannot, dare not, refuse? (Good way of dealing with enemies!).

If your characters are nowhere near the seat of power, and perhaps glad to be so, what would they do? What would they be expected to do in usual circumstances? If those change, what would your characters have to learn to do (and quickly)?

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I’m sharing the link to the May 2024 issue which was about memoir. My article is about Using Memoir Techniques for Character Creation.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Bridge House Celebration Event

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Image Credits-:
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Many thanks to Lynn Clement for taking the pictures of me reading at the recent BHP event for my CFT post this week. Screenshots and most photos for my CFT post this week were taken by me, Allison Symes.
Bitterly cold weather all week here. Writing progressing well – am so glad it’s an indoor job! Looking forward to hearing some festive flash fiction over the weekend, including one of my pieces. It is a thrill to hear my stories on air.

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Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

Delighted to share my new Chandler’s Ford Today post which is all about the recent Bridge House Publishing Celebration Event. It was such fun to go to this and catch up with people. It was by no means certain it would go ahead and, of course, the last two years the event has been affected by Covid. Hope you enjoy my round-up. Already looking forward to next year’s one.

Bridge House Publishing Celebration Event 2022

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Lady had an unexpected surprise today – she got to play with her best buddy, the Ridgeback, who looked very fetching in her coat. Both dogs very happy to see each other.

Looking forward to sharing my next Chandler’s Ford Today post tomorrow. I’ll be looking back at the recent Bridge House Publishing Celebration Event. Always good to go to this. Always lovely to write about it afterwards! See above.

Also looking forward to hearing the Three Minute Santas show on North Manchester FM with Hannah Kate over the weekend. Festive flash is fun to write and wonderful to listen to – will share the link once I’ve got it. Hope this will be in the next post.

Coming up in the New Year will be another flash fiction workshop in January. I did get my competition entry in for the Writing Magazine Grand Flash prize. (You’ve got to 31st December on that one – 500 words maximum).

 

Hope you have had a good day. Still bitterly cold.

Characters have always fascinated me – in my own work as well as in what I read. I do want to know what makes them tick. I need to care about them enough to want to find that out. Often it can be an intriguing bit of dialogue or an internal thought that lures me into reading more. In that, I’m getting a snapshot of what the character is like. Attitudes show up in what they say or think. When I’m writing, I am thinking what it is about this character that would make a reader want to find out more? There has to be something!

I guess the lure of any well written story is wanting to find out what happens. That something happening has to occur to someone which is why for me at least characters are more important than plot. A great character will drive the plot. A good plot won’t be saved by a poorly portrayed character. Readers have to care about your characters (even if that includes wanting to see them fail. There is still care for the character there – you want to see them get their comeuppance).

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Glad to report the December double issue of Mom’s Favorite Reads is now available free to download on Amazon. I took the topic of Fifty as my theme for this edition. I also set a double flash fiction challenge. Do check out how people responded to it. There are great stories here. (And the rest of the magazine is a wonderful read too but don’t just take my word for it – check out the link below.).


I was chatting about closing lines yesterday (see below) so I thought I’d look at opening ones tonight. I love to use an intriguing situation or an interesting bit of dialogue (ideally something that poses a question) so readers have to read on. I also like to set scenes as much as possible too.

One of my favourites here is from Where the Wild Wind Blows from Tripping the Flash Fantastic. That reads The Witch had just finished planting out her runner beans when the farmhouse landed on her head. No prizes for guessing the inspiration behind that one!

But what matters is having something that encourages your reader to read on and I find thinking about what I would like to read helps here. Having an Ideal Reader in mind and thinking about what they would want to see helps enormously too. I am writing for an audience so it makes great good sense to write with them in mind from the get go.

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I love to end a flash tale with a twist or humorous ending, but not always. There is room for the thoughtful ending too. This works especially well for monologues but I did also use this kind of ending for The Pink Rose in Tripping the Flash Fantastic. This is a compassionate Alzheimer’s story and therefore the ending needed to be appropriate for that.

I also used the phrase “the pink rose” in the opening and closing lines deliberately. It was like a “circle” effect here which again was apt for this kind of tale. Knowing the characters well means I get a good idea of what kind of ending would be apt for them.

The one thing in common with a twist or humorous ending though is it would probably pay to write your thoughtful ending first and then work out the steps that led to it. I’ve done this. It is a good technique to help you ensure your story has the right internal logic to make it work.

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Fairytales with Bite – The Underdog

The underdog crops up a lot in the fairytales. Cinderella is a classic example of that. She was not expected to “win”. She was expected to continue to be the kitchen skivvy. I think one of the classic fairytale tropes is that the underdog can win (and to encourage compassion for said underdog – encouraging compassion is always a good thing!).

Often in the fairytales the underdog is in that position through no fault of their own and usually due to the cruelty of others. So another message here is that cruelty will eventually fail (though I must say I find that doesn’t come as quickly as I’d like!).

An interesting thought for a story idea (or several) is what about the underdog who does deserve to be in that role. What have they done to put them into this position? Are they remorseful? Can things be put right?

As a matter of note, I always look out for the seemingly unimportant characters in fairytales. They do usually tend to end up being far more important than anyone initially thought and that’s an idea to play with in your own stories too.

I also love it when an underdog does a lot to help themselves get out of their situation and doesn’t just rely on a fairy godmother turning up. Much as I love the Cinderella story, I do query why the godmother didn’t intervene earlier to help the poor girl against all that cruelty going on. I wouldn’t have minded Cinders challenging her on that but maybe that was best saved for after the happy ever after ending. Cinders wouldn’t be the underdog then!

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This World and Others – Species and Specialisms

Picture the scene. You’ve created a fantastic multi-cultural world. You’ve got a nice array of species. You’ve worked out how they get on with the others (or not as the case may be). You’ve worked out the politics and/or history behind all of that. You’ve figured out how basic needs are met and so on.

So think in more depth about what the individual species are and why you need them in your setting. What are their specialisms? Do they have to co-operate with others to get skills and other resources they can’t do/produce for themselves? Are there biological reasons why they can’t do these things? How does the need to trade with others affect the politics of your world? Can anyone upset the old apple cart here and, if so, how do they do it?

If you have species with specialisms, does that encourage tolerance in your setting or are those with “better” specialist skills resented? What would that resentment lead to?

Also what forms are the specialism in? Technology? Better ways of food production? What you are after here, I think. Are skills which are definitely needed and which others might have cause to envy or resent. Every story needs conflict and resolution. This could be another way into setting up some interesting conflicts.

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Board and Card Games and a Trip Down Memory Lane

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Image Credit: All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated.

Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Images of me signing copies of Tripping the Flash Fantastic taken by Adrian Symes.

 

Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

It’s time for a trip down Memory Lane with my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week.

I look at board and card games. Which were your favourites? Were there any you loathed? I share a few thoughts on why I think playing games like this are good for you and not just at Christmas and holiday time.

No surprises here when I say I’ve always been fond of the word games! But I have added to my vocabulary since playing Scrabble and games like it and for a writer, when is that ever a bad thing? Now I just need to find a way of working the word “Xi” into a story of mine!!

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Thrilled at another wonderful review for Tripping The Flash Fantastic. Many thanks to all who have reviewed so far.

I know it means so much to writers to have feedback like this and it helps more than might at first appear. So if you’re thinking of writing a review for a book you’ve loved, please do!

Moving on, so to speak, I hope those of us with pets are managing to find ways of helping them cope with what is, for them, a stressful time with regard to fireworks etc. Am currently listening to Classic FM Pet Sounds and enjoying it. Lady is curled up on the sofa and is at least relaxed which is probably the best to hope for.

I appreciate this year is going to be worse as there are no organised displays etc but I must admit I do wish there would be a switchover to using silent fireworks. All the colours, all the fun, none of the noise that is so distressing to animals. Win-win. The sooner they are used by everyone the better.

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Trip down Memory Lane for my Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I’ll be talking about board and card games. Naturally I have a fondness for the word based board games! More on Friday.

Many thanks for the great response to my new story on Facebook flagging up my Youtube channel.

Am making good progress on my non-fiction project and looking forward to getting back on with tonight’s stint on that shortly.

Am also preparing some fab interviews to come on Chandler’s Ford Today for later this month so plenty going on. Looking forward to sharing these later in the month.

Also looking forward to taking part in the #BrechinBookFest later in November and will be writing about that for CFT just ahead of the event.

And don’t forget it you would like a signed copy of From Light to Dark and Back Again and/or Tripping the Flash Fantastic, do just DM me and we’ll take things from there.

Reviews, as ever, would always be most welcome. They help authors a lot and don’t need to be long. (Am so glad Lady can’t give a review. She looks distinctly unimpressed below!).

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From Light to Dark and Back Again

Do you have any favourite story themes? Mine fall into the following categories:-

1. Underdog winning through.

2. Injustice rectified. (Very close links to 1 usually).

3. Hidden pasts, usually magical, and kept hidden because the secret keeper has moved to another world, usually this one.

4. People trying to use magic for their own ends and failing miserably. (Lots of scope for humour here).

5. Character studies (I love the poignant ones which can show you another way of looking at things. Some of my historical flash tales cross with this category).

And the nice thing with all of the above is there is so much scope with each and every one. Different characters handle situations in their own way.

For one character, a humorous story would be their best vehicle. For another, it would be a “straight” tale, possibly tragic.

What I do know is the mood of the story has to reflect something of my character’s personality and attitudes, otherwise it won’t ring true.

Photo by Mark Neal on Pexels.com


I often work out what the most important thing is about the character I’m about to put in a story and then why that matters. There is the story in a nutshell.

Sometimes I work out what the character’s major trait is and how that affects them and the world around them. There is many a good story to be written using that route.

I do have a lot of fun with feisty characters here. They land themselves and others right in it and that is such fun to write and to read. I also think you can get a sense of when the writer has had fun creating their stories. Something of that comes through.

The reason formulaic writing can get a bad press is it comes through that the writer is bored with sticking to the same old, same old. Even in linked flash fiction stories, or series novels, the characters have to engage the readers each and every time.

That means the writer has to love writing about them to be able to keep that up. Therefore, there has to be something very special about their lead to generate that. What is the something special about your main character? Why do you write for them?

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I sometimes know the closing line for a flash fiction story right at the outset. I draft something that I know will be the perfect finish to a tale and then work backwards from there to get to the beginning of the story. It is also a great way of mixing up my approaches to story writing.

I find that keeps things fresh and interesting for me and hope it will do so for a reader too.

In The Magician in Tripping the Flash Fantastic, I knew what the closing line would be immediately. (I can’t say what it is without giving the story away!). Punchlines can work well here too. It’s then a question of finding the appropriate start to your story so that punchline is justified.

However I approach writing the story, my overall aim is to have a story that “flows well” so a reader will be taken along for what I hope will be an enjoyable but brief ride!

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Meeting online is better than not meeting at all! Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
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Fairytales with Bite – Who Controls The Magic?

Interesting question this one, I think. If your story is set in a magical world, is everyone magical? Does everyone have the same abilities? Is there room to improve on your skills here? Is there anyone who has more magic than anyone else and what do they do with the “extra”?

Is there magical infighting and how does that manifest itself? If a species with the gift of invisibility resents another species who can fly, how could they use their gift to try to either gain the ability to fly themselves or to stop the others from doing so?

Wherever there is any kind of power, there will always be those who resent the ones wielding it so you can reflect that in your stories too. It is all about control when all is said and done, so who does the controlling?

How do they maintain their position? Do they use fear or do they reward those who work for them well so people are happy to go along with it?

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This World and Others – Etiquette and Expectations

Have you given thought to etiquette and expectations in your fictional world? Are there any?!

Any kind of society, including a fictional one, has to have some sort of system by which it works. Where you have a system, you will often have a class system.

What is expected by those who run your created world of those they rule over. What do the “subjects”expect of their rulers? Do either of them deliver?!

Do standards here match or mirror those of here on Earth?

There should be some kind of laws your society runs on, including a criminal law so people know what will happen if they fall foul of what is expected from them. How would this manifest itself in the world you’ve invented? Is their idea of what is criminal the same as ours or different?

Do the various species in your fictional world have varying standards of etiquette? Are there any common grounds between them? If one species thinks burping is the highest compliment known, how do they get on with another species who considers it rude? What would unite them?

Plenty of food for thought there!

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One of the best ways to escape is with a good book. Image via Pixabay.

WHAT NOT TO SAY TO A MAGICAL BEING

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FAIRYTALES WITH BITE

What Not to Say to a Magical Being is full of advice to prevent magical disaster hitting you.  The temptation to let your mouth run riot when faced with a magical being who may or may not be past their prime must be resisted.  If you want to see the next hour that is…

THIS WORLD AND OTHERS

Closing Lines is a follow-up post to yesterday’s Revealing Opening Lines.  A good closing line ends the story at an appropriate point, leaving you wanting more (but deep down you know the writer is right to finish there, anything else would be padding). I share an example of one of my closing lines.  In this particular case, it would also make a good opening line for a second story and I must look into that!  But that is often the way with a good closing line – it can give you the spark for a new tale.

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I discuss tag verbs tonight, following a conversation I had via FB with another writer, Geoff Parkes from Southampton Writers’ Circle.  I share my approach to this.  For me, the golden rule is clarity.  If it is clear enough from context who is speaking, why bother with a tag verb?  Equally “he said/she said” is absolutely fine most of the time.  Comments welcome!

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This statue reminds me of myself when I was a lot younger. Okay I wasn't made of stone (I'm still not!) but I did always have my head in a book. (And do so as often as I can now!). Image via Pixabay.

This statue reminds me of myself when I was a lot younger. Okay I wasn’t made of stone (I’m still not!) but I did always have my head in a book. (And do so as often as I can now!). Image via Pixabay.