“Lent” and Borrowed

February 24, 2026Leave a comment

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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 weekend.

Pleased to say we’ve had some sunshine and some of my early spring flowers are emerging. Lady is still getting pretty muddy over the park though! Writing going well. Had a good stint, especially on Sunday. Here’s hoping the next few days go well on all fronts!

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Hope today has gone well. Have enjoyed being out and about in the sunshine (yes, really!) with Lady and her two best pals, the Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback.

Writing wise, I’m looking forward to the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group tomorrow. The topic will be On This Day, which should prove to get our imaginations started. Well, I hope it will!

Have drafted a flash piece which I hope to submit in the next day or so. Was a joy to write.

Also due to have a super interview coming up very soon on Chandler’s Ford Today. More about that nearer the time but plenty going on right no, which is how I like things to be.

Hope your week has got off to a good start. Lovely sunshine today. Cheered me up no end seeing that. Lady was cheered up by having a great time in the park with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals.

Hard to believe we’re racing towards the end of February already. Talking of which, it’s almost time for my next author newsletter and the one for March will be special. I celebrate a certain landmark birthday next month so have prepared something special to go with that newsletter when it goes on out on 1st March.

To sign up for this, and to receive news, tips, story links and more, do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

As ever, a huge thank you to all of my subscribers.

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Hope your weekend has gone well. Managed to see some sunshine! Lady didn’t. She was too busy with her head to the ground “tracking”!

Looking forward to getting on with flash fiction Sunday. I’ve yet to find somewhere I can regularly submit work to as I did with Friday Flash Fiction but will do so eventually I’m sure. Meantime I’m judging, editing, and writing so I’ve got plenty to be getting on with.

Every so often I check out the Book Brush hints and tips videos and did so again recently. Am looking forward to implementing some of the ideas coming from those.

Flash Fiction Tip: I know it sounds odd but leave worrying about the word count until later. Get your story written, rest it, edit it, then worry about what word count you want for this piece. When I am specifically writing a 100 word story (as I hope to do later this afternoon), I know what will work out as about three short paragraphs. So I have my character and situation in the first paragraph, the problem worsening in the second one and a resolution in the third one. It’s a loose structure but it works.

Hope you have had a good start to the weekend. Still pretty muddy over the park though I am seeing more crocuses and spring flowers out now.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Catching Up on Chandler’s Ford Today next week. It will be a round up of my most recent news. Not long after that I’ll be sharing a super author interview. More on that nearer the time.

Character Tip: Have you ever written characters you dislike? I have. It’s an interesting challenge because I need to figure out why I dislike them and then what makes them act in the way that makes me dislike them in the first place. You do have, I think, to be able to work out where your characters are coming from. You don’t have to agree with them though. I can think of several of mine I disagree with but I do know why they acted the way they did.

I have to get into their heads and mindsets and keep mine out of the way. Understanding motivation is pivotal to this. This is another reason why asking my characters a few pertinent questions is a good idea. I get to “see” them and their way of thinking and then I can write their stories.

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Prompts for any kind of fictional writing come in a variety of forms and I like to use a good selection. They all challenge me to think laterally. I also like not being reliant on only a couple of prompt types because you can never know what can come up in competitions so the more prompt types I can put my hand to, the better. I also think it is great fun creatively too. My most recent YouTube story – Learning From the Past – was inspired by a proverb and I hadn’t used those for a while. So I like to revisit old favourite prompt types from time to time too.

There is no such thing, I think, for a writer as running out of sources of ideas. I think the problem can come in when working out where to start looking and how to hone things down so you’re not overwhelmed. It’s why when I use the random generators, I only set a few things to be generated at a time (you can generate loads). I’ve found limits, including the word count for flash fiction, to be an aid to creativity, not a restriction. I think it is because you have to work with what you have got and that certainly compels me to get on with it.

Hope your Monday has been less hectic than mine. I do know it’s time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Learning From The Past.

Will Annabel get through the Flying Fairy Test this time? Can she avoid the mistakes which made her a laughing stock amongst other FFT inspectors? Find out here.

For flash fiction, I need to come up with characters and situations continually so need various ways of doing this. This is why I use the random generators, the books of prompts, proverbs and phrases, story cubes and much more. All of these things encourage you to think creatively and links start to form. From there, I get the beginnings of a possible story outline.

But you need to have something for that initial spark which is why knowing where to start can be the issue rather than the actual drafting of the story. I like to have loads of different ways in which to start! Options here are always a good thing and mixing up the things I use keeps me on my toes too. I don’t want to be stuck only being able to create stories in one or two ways.

So if you have tried and tested favourites for story ideas, why not try out some new ones to add to your repertoire? I’ve done that with the various random generators and have found it has paid dividends as I’ve come up with many stories I wouldn’t have done in any other way.

As ever, I’m looking forward to flash fiction Sunday tomorrow. It’s a lovely time to get some new pieces drafted. It won’t be too long before I start thinking about putting another collection together.

Flash is fabulous for those times when you haven’t got much time to write but it does take crafting to get it right and that does take time. This confirms my belief I’m right to write first and edit later so I can see, with suitable distance, what needs improving. There always is something but that’s the nature of writing anything.

Looking forward also to next week’s meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group. Hope to get some work drafted then too.

Goodreads Author Blog – “Lent” and Borrowed

I couldn’t resist the pun on “lent” given we’re in the Christian season of Lent but it led me to think about our beloved books. Have you ever lent books out? Have you ever borrowed books from friends? I must admit I’ve only done these occasionally. My main borrowing, especially when I was younger, was from the libraries (those wonderful institutions). (Confession time: yes, I do need to make more time for more visiting here).

Many of my friends are fellow writers and we all have great reading collections of our own. I’ve long thought writers have two joys – the joy of creating stories and of reading those stories which inspired us to write in the first place.

It is a joy that some of my shelves contain books written by those friends and signed for me. Every time I pass those shelves, I smile. Books in themselves can be associated with fabulous memories. When they’re signed for you by the authors, even more great memories are created.

I like to buy and keep my books. I do end up with the occasional duplicate but I usually donate those. (Though that isn’t so easy to do these days). I buy paperbacks mainly but use Kindle to try out authors new to me. If I like their work, I’ll usually go on to buy future paperbacks from them.

I am always happy to recommend books though (and can’t get in enough plugs for the fabulous The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey).

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ALLISON SYMES ON SUBSTACK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

: A very special book in my memory! My first printed story, A Helping Hand, was in here!

: Six of the seven books my stories have appeared in (okay in the case of Limerick Nation, one limerick!). Baubles is the other book. Image taken by me.

: Transforming Being. Image by Bridge House Publishing.

: Where my stories are in print. Image by Allison Symes

: My latest published story is in The Best of Cafelit 6.

: My tale Evergreen – Never Old and Good to Go – is in this collection from Bridge House Publishing

: Many of the Cafelit, Bridge House, and Chapeltown authors contributed to this book by Gill James. There is a prompt for every day of the year.

: Lovely to see my books on a bookshop shelf!

: I contributed to this. Image from Bridge House Publishing

: Image from Bridge House Publishing

: Image from Bridge House Publishing

: I was in this Bridge House anthology. Picture taken by Allison Symes

liked Allison Symes's blog post: "Lent" and Borrowed https://t.co/gbSzGthxFy via @goodreads I look at lending books and borrowing them for Goodreads this week. I also discuss books and memories. Hope you enjoy the post. pic.twitter.com/FscrNI654K
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) February 21, 2026

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Hope you like my latest tale on YouTube – Learning From The Past.

Will Annabel get through the Flying Fairy Test this time? Can she avoid the mistakes which made her a laughing stock amongst other FFT inspectors? https://t.co/2rfJ8TSsaR
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) February 23, 2026

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Stories In Other Forms/Top Ten Tips For Researching

February 3, 2026Leave a comment

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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. Mixed bag here given the weather got in the way of getting certain tasks done but hey it is February (and it isn’t January!). Lady doing well. Writing going well too and the new look Writers’ Narrative is about too. Do check it out.

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Hope today has gone well. Busy one here though it was good to get into the swimming pool today.

Writing wise, I’m looking forward to sharing my review of Camelot The Pantomime which was recently staged by my excellent local amateur theatre company, The Chameleons. It’s always a joy to go to these things and a great pleasure to write them up afterwards.

Am about to be a co-judge on a flash fiction competition for a writing group. Looking forward to reading the stories and yes judging stories can often be enlightening as to where you’ve come on your own writing journey. It can also encourage you to “up your own game” when you read high quality entries.

My first post on Writers’ Narrative is now up on Substack. I share Top Ten Tips for Researching and hope it proves useful. Remember it is free to sign up to Writers’ Narrative so do check it out.

Hasn’t been a great Monday for me (though Lady did have a lovely time with her Hungarian Vizler pal) but what has cheered me up has been the new look Writers’ Narrative is now out. Do check it out. My articles on here will be appearing soon.

And in other news, Editor’s Choice: Friday Flash Fiction Favourites is now out on Amazon. I have a few stories in there. Looking forward to my copy arriving later this week as it will be a lovely final hurrah for what was a fabulous website.

Hope your weekend has gone well. Weather has been a mixed bag though at least it is less rainy and stormy than earlier this week!

Glad to say my author newsletter went out earlier today and the new look Writers’ Narrative is out too. Be sure to subscribe. My first posts now it is on Substack will appear later this week. One huge advantage to the platform move is it is going to make it easier for you to look up topics by title that the magazine has covered. I can imagine that being a blessing to many.

Writing Tip: When thinking of topics of your own to write about (for fiction or non-fiction), play a quick game of Word Association first and list all the words you can think of connected to your topic/theme. As you write more words down, you will find more possible connections and ideas for your piece.

31st January 2026

Well, we’ve got there. Finally it is the last day of January! Naturally February will go by in a flash as it always does. January has been a funny old month with more downs than ups this time, unfortunately. I do hope things have been better for you. On the plus side, the writing is going well and, especially when times are not as good as I’d like, I do find writing to be wonderfully therapeutic.

Writing wise, I’ll be reviewing Camelot The Pantomime which was recently staged by our excellent local amateur company, The Chameleons. That post will be live on Chandler’s Ford Today from Friday next week. It is always a pleasure to go to their shows and a joy to write the reviews.

My author newsletter will be out again tomorrow, 1st February. Writing a monthly newsletter is a literally timely reminder of how quickly the year goes by. I do sometimes use the seasons as good topics to write pieces about for the newsletter. There are calendars of events on this day out there which can also be inspirational both in terms of the event itself giving you something to write about, but those things can also suggest wider themes to write about too. Well worth checking out (and just as useful for fiction as non-fiction). For example, if a topic is about a historical event, you could just as well write a story about it as write an article.

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Flash is a wonderful vehicle for exploring ideas. Occasionally, what I think will make a great flash tale proves to need a longer word count and I find myself with a longer short story instead. That’s fine. I can find a different market for that.

But when you have a story where you want the maximum impact for the minimum amount of words, flash fiction is the way to go.

It’s Monday. It’s not been a great one for me this time. So I too definitely feel in need of a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Staying At Home.

When can a deliberately missed opportunity be the best thing of all? And does the dog agree? Find out here.

From the longest month ever to the shortest one but it lovely to be in February at last. I get to spot more signs of spring for one thing.

When you think of this month, certain topics spring automatically to mind as possibles to write about. Nothing wrong with the love theme but think about what you will bring to it which will make your characters and story stand out.

I know I have to care about the characters in some way for their stories to have any chance of succeeding with me and that goes for long, as well as short, form work.

Talking of short form work, it’s time I got on with Flash Fiction Sunday Afternoon!

January cannot be said to be a “flash” month given it doesn’t go quickly! Still, we’re almost there now. By the time I post this, there’ll only be a few hours to go!

My author newsletter is out again tomorrow and, amongst other things, I share an exclusive 100 word story in it. I hope to find another home for further 100 word stories in due course. The Friday Flash Fiction Editor’s Choice book is due out in February. Now out. See above. I have stories in there and will share the link once I’ve got it. Am looking forward to getting this myself. I do know from the quality of the stories on FFF the book will be an excellent representation of that.

I am still keeping Sundays as flash fiction afternoon because I still need to write plenty of material for other collections and competitions, of course. It’s also a great way to wind up the week/begin the next one (either works!) as far as I’m concerned.

Goodreads Author Blog – Stories in Other Forms

I like taking in stories in various forms – books (paperback, hardbook, ebook and audio). I listen to some (audio books and radio plays etc). I sometimes get to watch them. I include the film adaptations here including Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Lord of The Rings.

But I also get to watch plays staged by my local and excellent amateur theatre company. I’ve just seen their most recent production, the wonderful Camelot The Pantomime, which was such fun. The joy with pantomimes is they are usually based on the classic fairytales and/or British legends so you’re reminded of those stories too.

But my local theatre company have also staged plays such as All My Sons by Arthur Miller and the stage version of Blackadder amongst many, many others. The range does go from funny to tragic and I have loved all of them. These plays have brought stories to me in a different way. Many of them I would not have taken in via any other medium. Some, such as Blackadder, I’ve seen via TV and audio. I did wonder how that would work on the stage but it was wonderfully done (and yes it included the iconic last episode of Blackadder Goes Forth).

So if you want to try stories in a different way, why not check out your local amateur theatre company? When their production is based on a book, you can then read that too after having seen it acted out for you.

MailerLite – Allison Symes – Newsletter Sign Up

WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

See above links for February 2026 Writers’ Narrative. With Substack, the articles will appear every few days. But you can easily search for articles you’ve missed and so on.

ALLISON SYMES ON SUBSTACK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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liked Allison Symes's blog post: Stories In Other Forms https://t.co/w0prAXiiBj via @goodreads I look at stories in other forms, including pantomimes, for Goodreads this week. It is a joy to read stories, listen to them AND watch them acted out on stage. Hope you enjoy the post. pic.twitter.com/Tvm38Z2dOf
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 31, 2026

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It’s Monday. It’s not been a great one for me. So I too definitely feel in need of a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Staying At Home.

When can a deliberately missed opportunity be the best thing of all? And does the dog agree? Find out here.https://t.co/Hb4E3PbetX
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) February 2, 2026

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My first post on Writers’ Narrative is now up on Substack. I share Top Ten Tips for Researching and hope it proves useful. Remember it is free to sign up to Writers’ Narrative so do check it out. https://t.co/I6kc06Z6Ms pic.twitter.com/XXvCRqZXtw
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) February 3, 2026

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Spoofs

January 23, 2026Leave a comment

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Image Credits:- All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Hope you have had a good few days. Lady needed an X-ray but is fine and recovering well. Writing going well too. And mostly Lady and I are managing to avoid the rain so we always take that as a win.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am pleased to share Spoofs on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. A great spoof has to mimic what it is spoofing successfully so people will “go along” with the spoof and enjoy it (and what it is mimicking). This requires an in depth knowledge of the original work and, I believe, a great love for it. You have to know exceedingly well what it is you’re spoofing.

But when done well, this format is a delight. It isn’t just found in books either and I name two films and, separately, a TV series, which I think spoof brilliantly.

To find out more do check out the post.

Spoofs

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Lady is pretty much back to her old self today (needed an X-ray the day before, see below) and it was particularly nice she caught up with her two best pals, the Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback today. Seeing them perked her up no end and they all had a lovely time, despite the mud.

Writing wise, I’m sharing Spoofs on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. Looking forward to sharing that. I look at what makes for a good spoof and if ever there was a time of year to enjoy them, I think it is now while we are still in the depths of winter with spring still a fair way away. See above.

It’s my experience too that humorous writing, of any kind, while it may be easy to read definitely isn’t easy to write. I salute anyone who manages it. This is partly because humour is subjective, of course, and not of all it “reads across” well. Also especially with a spoof, you do run the risk that those who love the original you base your spoof on will loathe the take you put on it!

But a good spoof is a great joy and you can find them in many art forms. More in my post tomorrow.

Hope the day has gone well. Has been a strange one here as Lady had to have an X-ray. She’s okay and we have had confirmed what we thought was the problem but it is manageable and things will get better from here because we know what it is. So glad to have her home again. The house has felt very odd without her here.

Writing wise, I loved the ACW Connect session run by the Association of Christian Writers last night. It was good to see old friends and chat with new ones. I’m also looking forward to the next session of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group next week. I’m off to the panto next week too – oh yes I am!

I’ll be sharing Spoofs on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I like a good spoof and share some of my favourites as well as discussing what I think a good spoof should be. It was fun to write, as you can imagine.

Writing Tip: My week is made up of writing sessions where I can get lots done in one go and lots of smaller sessions. Writing flash is great here because I can use the smaller time slots I have available for that. But a good idea is to save the smaller sessions for those writing tasks you’re not so keen on (e.g. marketing, editing etc) so you have the longer ones for longer stretches of creative writing, which is where most of us get the maximum enjoyment from our writing.

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Lady was delighted to catch up with her Hungarian Vizler friend today and two chums she hasn’t seen for a while – the lovely Coco and Charlie. Lady is much more herself after her X-ray earlier this week.

Flash Fiction Tip: Always focus on the lead character (in stories under 250 words or so, you are likely to just have the one character in your story). Think about their purpose. What are they seeking to achieve? Do they do so or fall flat on their face (which you can exploit, of course, for a humorous tale)? What drives them? What gets in their way? All of those questions would be good to answer for longer works too. Motivation matters for our characters. It is that which does so much to make them believable to readers.

Hope to get around to looking up some flash fiction competitions over the weekend. I know of a couple of possibles but it will be a case of having the time to check them out before I draft anything. It always pays to check the details to avoid the risk of being scammed etc. Sadly rogues target any industry including the writing and publishing ones.

Also some competitions have very restrictive conditions which may well make you think twice about going that route. I avoid those who want to take all of my rights, for example, on the general principle I really don’t like this. The author is unlikely to do well out of this.

Having said that, when I’ve found suitable competitions, I love the challenge of getting something into them. It is fun to do. And you do have to be in it to win it after all.

It is possible to write flash without realising it. Any novelist who prepares a blurb or the shorter kind of synopsis will be writing up to the 1000 words maximum (and probably closer to 500 words). It would count as flash!

Any writer who takes part in writing exercises at online or in person events will be writing flash as you never have enough time to write more than about 100-200 words or so in the time you’re given for these things.

So why not look at those pieces you’ve drafted and polish them up and submit them? I was asked last night at the ACW Connect session (which was fabulous) where I submit my flash. Well, I build up stories for collections, of course. I also send them into competitions. I also share some in my newsletter/on my website (all counts as marketing).

Why not see if you can get your flash work out there and see what can be done with it? If you win or are shortlisted, anything like that, it also gives you news to share.

Flash Tip: Think about the purpose of your story. How do you want your readers to feel on reading it? Are you trying to make them laugh, cry, scream etc? From there you can work out the kind of character(s) which would be best suited for the story.

Fairytales With Bite – Starting Over

All of us need to start over at some point, whether it is starting a new job, new writing project etc. Why would your characters want or need to start over? Do they welcome or fear the prospect? How easy or otherwise do they find taking a new path in life? Is there support available?

What do your characters want their starting over to bring to them? There should be some advantages, otherwise why bother? If it is a question of necessity rather than wanting to start over, what brought them to this point? Could they have avoided it? If not, what advantages could they gain from dealing with the position they’re now in? Could something good come of the having to start over again?

Alternatively, is your character the one forcing someone else to start over? If they’re a fairy godmother or similar magical being, they could well need to use magic to bring someone to their senses to force them to face up to something and then change their ways. This is common theme in fairytales. Here, could you look at what was the last straw for your character which made them decide now is the time they are going to make Character X change their ways?

This World and Others – Finding A New Place

If your characters have to start over, as I discussed in Fairytales with Bite, would this involve finding a new place? Where would they go? Where are they coming from? Is the new place somewhere they want to go or are they out of options?

How easy or otherwise is it for your character(s) to find a new place to be? If they can choose where they want to go, given they can’t stay where they are for whatever reason, what would they be looking for? If they find this, does it compensate them for having to leave their old place at all? What does make them have to/want to leave?

In a magical setting, are characters expected to live in certain areas depending on their species? Or are the different species encouraged to live together and how does that work out? If it works out well, what would they do if someone from outside tried to change that? Would anyone be forced to find a new place because of this? (Sadly it is nothing new and we still see plenty of examples of it here).

Also, natural disasters can cause the need to find a new place. What kind of natural disasters could happen in your magical environment? Can the use of magic make things better or worsen them?

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WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

News: Writers’ Narrative will soon be moving to Substack. Subscription IS still free to the magazine. Have shared a link with an older version of the magazine below. Do enjoy and look forward to the next issue soon.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Spoofs https://t.co/IPU7qd3BOZ
Glad to share Spoofs on CFT. A great spoof must mimic what it is spoofing successfully so people will “go along” with it. Spoofs are found across the arts. I name two films and a TV series which I think spoof brilliantly. Hope you enjoy the post.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 23, 2026

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Pitching

January 16, 2026Leave a comment

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Image Credits:- All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.

Hope you have had a good few days. Lady and I have spent most of our time dodging the rain whenever possible and catching up with friends. Writing going well and I’m looking forward to joining in with an online event from the Association of Christian Writers next week too.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am pleased to share Pitching on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Pitching, I suspect, is one of those Marmite topics where writers will either love or loathe it. (The other one here is editing incidentally).

I share tips I’ve found useful for pitching, as well as discussing the importance of keeping accurate records of what you sent where and the result. I also look at some reasons why pitches can be turned down even though you have sent in the best possible pitch for the market.

I hope you find the post useful.

Pitching

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Hope your Thursday has gone well. Dreadful weather here today. Only time I enjoyed a soaking today was when I went swimming. Lady did get to see her Hungarian Vizler pal though and before the heavy rain came in so we’ll take that as a win.

I’ll be sharing Pitching on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow and hope it will prove useful. See above.

I’m off to the pantomime (oh yes I am) with my CFT editor later in the month to watch the latest production from The Chameleon Theatre Company. They’re staging Camelot The Pantomime. It should be fun and I plan to review it in due course. Those reviews are always fun to write.

Writing Tip: Every so often, I will check out the random generators and deliberately try one I haven’t used before. It’s a case of seeing what I can do with it. I can usually come up with something but the idea of trying something different here is to knowingly keep myself on my writing toes. And I get to produce stories I wouldn’t have produced any other way so I see that as a win.

Hope today has gone well. Lady had a fabulous time in the park. She saw her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals and her “boyfriend”, the lovely Aussie Shepherd. Great time had by all. Lady has shown her Ridgeback pal how to herd. Not sure the Shepherd knew quite what to make of that!

Writing wise, I’m looking forward to an ACW event online next week, the idea being it will help ACW members around the country connect and chat. Should be fun. Am busy writing various pieces including future Chandler’s Ford Today posts. I’ve drafted a couple of shorter flash pieces I hope to find a home for in due course too.

Writing Tip: Do you care about your characters? Do you root for them to succeed or fail (sometimes, at least, that’s apt for villains)? Do your characters make you want to find out what happens to them?

The answers to all of those should be a definite yes, naturally, because if your creations don’t grip you, they won’t do so for potential readers.

So there has to be something about your characters which makes you care, which is another reason why I like to outline “my people” so I get to know them a bit and, from there, I can start to care for them.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

One random generator I find especially useful is the random question one. What it comes up with can often give great ideas for themes and you then take that in the direction you want. One of my examples is below and I hope you enjoy it.

Theme: What’s something about you today that the old you would find surprising?

Changing My Life by Allison Symes

I open the red box which was in my wardrobe. I stored a letter in it years ago. My reopening date was to be my next birthday ending in zero.

I open the letter. I was to name on opening it five things I’d changed since writing it.

I’ve lost weight. I now swim. I’ve updated my clothes and look fabulous. I’ve discovered Fairtrade chocolate. Last but not least, I lost an abusive husband.

I feel happier than I have in years. He won’t feel the same. He won’t feel anything.

I buried him at the bottom of the garden.

Ends
Allison Symes – written on 11th January 2026.

Why not give the random question generator a try and use the questions as themes? I’ve written many stories this way.

Flash is a great joy to write and a continuing challenge, which is something I love about it. I have to find ways to keep on inventing characters and situations and it is fun to do. It is also nice to mix up the word count ranges I write to, though my favourite will always be the 100 worders. Well, as they were my way into flash fiction at all, it’s understandable they will always be my favourite, I think.

When I’m at workshops or events such as Swanwick, I enjoy taking part in the writing exercises which are set at these things. I try to polish up as many of my first drafts here as I can and see if I can do something with them. I have gone on to have pieces published doing this.

When I set exercises for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group, I either take part in the exercises on the night (I love live writing) or I have prepared something as an example. I still get more flash drafted so win-win here!

Flash is a wonderful tool for improving your writing overall. I’ve learned to spot my wasted words and so cut them out later. I’ve yet to work out a way of not writing those wasted words at all but so far that’s beyond me. I do know what to cut though and my first edit is off to a flying start thanks to that.

It also teaches you to think about what matters to your stories and characters and to focus on this alone. That’s no bad thing either. After all, this is what we need to share with readers first and foremost.

Anything that doesn’t move your story on in some way should be cut because why is it there if it isn’t a vital component?

Fairytales with Bite – Games

What kind of games would be played by your characters in your magical setting? Do they play games at all to unwind?

Games can teach us so much about winning and losing graciously. They can also encourage team spirit and co-operation. So where and how would your characters develop all of that if games were not a “thing” in your setting? Or is co-operation not a “thing” either and how would disputes get resolved in your setting to avoid absolute chaos?

Games can also be used to teach skills. What skills would be useful to your characters to learn this way?
Is magic allowed to be used in games or would that be considered cheating? Who would police things to ensure cheating was spotted and stopped?

We also talk about games as in playing games with people in a more dishonest way, usually to try to get something we want by underhand means? What games would your characters stoop to for something like this and do they get away with it?

Story ideas there for sure. Happy writing!

This World and Others – Arts and Crafts

One lovely thing about humanity, I think, is our arts and crafts. There is a huge range of them, of course, and often they are beautiful things. I admire anyone who can knit or crochet well, for example. Their finished works look amazing. (Also see tapestries for more of the same – beautiful objects, beautiful just because they are). I admire anyone who can draw or paint well – skills which are well beyond me but I do appreciate the finished articles.

Which arts and crafts would be found in your setting? Can anyone enjoy these? Or are certain arts and crafts limited to certain species? There may be good reason for that if so, such as the way your creations function may dictate what they can and cannot do here.

Would your characters have/go to arts exhibitions? Would their arts and crafts include the imaginative use of magic (for the public good of course)? How would your characters carry out their arts and crafts? Could they deliberately not use magic here to make the most of enjoying arts and crafts the “manual” way?

Which arts and crafts would your setting have which we either don’t have here or carry out in a different way? Could arts and crafts be used to build bridges between different communities in your setting?
And even if it is just something your lead character would do to unwind, which art or craft do they find the most helpful and why? Just answering that will tell you more about them, which in turn can impact on how you show them to us via your story.

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Pleased to share Pitching on CFT. I share tips and discuss keeping records of what you sent where.

I look at some reasons why pitches can be turned down though you sent in the best pitch for the market.

I hope you find the post useful.

Pitching https://t.co/PS62VhIQah
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 16, 2026

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Stories Everywhere

January 13, 2026Leave a comment

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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. Managed to get plenty of writing and editing done. Also pleased the temperature has come up somewhat. My solitary primrose made it through the snow and frosts! Lady continuing to enjoy getting out and about with her chums and that is how life should be, I think.

Facebook – General

Hope today has gone well. Wet and muddy here today. Lady did get to see her Hungarian Vizler friend but neither dog nor their owners wanted to be out for long. We weren’t!

Writing wise, I had a lovely time at the online group I went to last night. Am also looking forward to the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group later this month. Zoom is a fabulous thing though the words ‘you’re on mute’ have gone into the general vocabulary of everyone I know.

Will be sharing Pitching on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday and hope it will be useful. I suspect this topic will be another Marmite one (the other is editing) where writers will love or loathe it. But I still hope the post will be handy!

Hope the week has got off to a good start. Lady’s has. She saw her Hungarian Vizler pal and received pets from the shopping delivery guy (I loathe supermarkets).

Writing wise, am looking forward to going to an online writing related group on Zoom this evening so will get some “bits and pieces” of writing and editing done around that. Mondays are always hectic for me so this will be a fabulous way to unwind.

Have started going through the Writing Magazine Competition Guide and have marked up one or two possibles to try out. I hope, later this week, to check the background of these competitions out and maybe start drafting something. I do have a story to write for somewhere else so have started drafting ideas for that.

Hope your weekend has gone well despite the grim weather and even grimmer news. Mind you, I guess this makes me even more glad than I usually am to escape into the worlds of flash fiction and short stories. At least I know my villains will get what they deserve even if it does end up being in a roundabout way.

Am enjoying my usual Sunday flash fiction afternoon. The fact it is cosy indoors helps a lot! On a more serious note, I’ve always loved creating characters and in short form work you get to do this a lot. Know the people (or other beings of choice), know what drives them, and I’m off to a cracking start with a story outline.

Hope your weekend has got off to a good start. We don’t usually see friends, doggy or otherwise, at the weekend though today was a nice exception when Lady and I caught up with Daisy, a sweet spaniel, and her owner.

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Pitching for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Link up on Friday (which will halfway through January already, hooray!).

Though Friday Flash Fiction has now sadly shut up shop, Sunday afternoons will continue to be flash fiction day for me as I can get a reasonable amount of writing done and I do want that to continue.

Character Tip: What is your character’s level of education? It is worth giving this some thought as it will have a direct impact on the vocabulary and type of language they’re going to use, both of which can show so much else about them (such as likely class etc).

Readers won’t need to know the answer to this directly but will pick up on it subconsciously as they read what your characters say and think. Incidentally, that’s another lovely thing about reading – it’s the nearest we get to mind reading. We can read the minds of characters after all!

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Flash is a great way of helping your other writing as by the time you’ve written 200 or 300 words as a flash piece, you should find you’ve “limbered” up enough to get on with other, longer writing work.

Writing exercises set at events or workshops can only give people five or ten minutes at most to respond so you will “only” get a flash piece in terms of word count out of them but there’s no reason why you can’t go on to polish these pieces up and get them published.

Certainly collect them together, polish them up and you could have a collection on your hands.

It’s Monday. It’s January. It’s winter weather. Okay not unexpected but very few enjoy it! Definitely time for a story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – The Done List. Collie owners will especially appreciate this one!

Everyone has a To Do list, even when they can’t write them down. Find out why my collie character was happy to get their two jobs done, even though their Mum wasn’t.

Chilly again today. I don’t think Lady was that sorry to get back indoors again. It is during cold spells I really appreciate writing being an indoors job!

Glad to catch up with some Swanwick friends on Zoom last night. Hope to be back on Zoom again later on.

Writing wise, it’s flash fiction Sunday for me so will be cracking on with some new pieces in a while and, later, continuing the editing work on my Seeing The Other Side. All great fun.

Also a nice bit of news. I’ve often sent in pieces, and had them accepted, by Christian Writer, the magazine of the Association of Christian Writers. I now have a column in there called Allison’s Advice (I do like a nice spot of alliteration every now and then and it seems I’m not the only one!).

I’ll be sharing 100 word writing tips here. First one appeared in the magazine I received yesterday. I hope people are going to find the tips useful. It’s lovely getting some flash non-fiction published.

I love mixing up the mood of my stories and think this reflects life in a way. It is a mixture of funny and sad and I like my tales to reflect that. This is where I think a collection can work so well because it can show a range of emotions.

Naturally, I’m biased here, but I’ve always loved story anthologies, long before I became published in them, because I loved the variety of moods they can show. I still love them, of course.

If you write flash pieces over time, would it be worth you seeing if you have enough to get a collection together? The independent presses or self publishing would be the best routes here. But it is possible. Two collections later, with a third due this year, I can confirm it is worth doing.

One of my favourite parts of putting a collection together is grouping the stories. It’s fun as I can group character types or moods of story as I see fit. Okay, my editor may want to change this later and that’s fine but I do enjoy this process.

Goodreads Author Blog – Stories Everywhere

I like the thought of there being stories everywhere. Okay, I’m biased because I love reading and writing them. Inspiration for stories of my own can and does come from various sources too. There’s nothing to beat being inspired by what you love reading yourself, in my view.

Okay, there are stories I try to avoid, most notably the news which is so grim. There is a focus on negative rather than positive stories there and I would like to see a better balance. But I guess knowing this, it does encourage me to read more and escape into the world of books. Nothing wrong about that.

Where you have characters, you have stories. Where you have any society, you have stories. The fun with fictional writing is, of course, in inventing your own. The fun with reading is discovering what other authors have invented.

And the great thing here is the sky isn’t the limit.There are no limits. Fantasy and science fiction especially are great vehicles to explore other kinds of character and societies and I find these fascinating. What can also be fun is spotting the other books and stories which have clearly influenced the author. Quest stories, I think, will have some kind of nod to the ultimate quest story, The Lord of the Rings.

Stories being everywhere is excellent news for all of us who love reading. We will not lack variety or number of stories to enjoy. That’s definitely worth celebrating.

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liked Allison Symes's blog post: Stories Everywhere https://t.co/iDxdx5FzjG via @goodreads I celebrate the thought of stories being everywhere for Goodreads this week. Find out why I think this is the case here. pic.twitter.com/ssYO1ueShr
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 10, 2026

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It’s Monday. It’s January. It’s time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – The Done List.

Everyone has a To Do list, even when they can't write. Find out why my collie character was happy to get their jobs done, even though their Mum wasn't.https://t.co/XDdZbFIxJq
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 12, 2026

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Story Inspiration

January 9, 2026Leave a comment

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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 first full week back after the Christmas and New Year break has gone well. Lady has been pleased to catch up with her friends. Weather is what you’d expect for January! Writing and editing are going well and I have booked my big writing event for later in the year, which has cheered me no end.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Hope your Friday has been a good one. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler pal and her Aussie Shepherd boyfriend, who, by far, had the best coat of anyone for coping with the bitter weather today.

Writing wise, I’m pleased to share Story Inspiration for Chandler’s Ford Today this week and hope you will find it useful. I look at various useful “hunting grounds” where inspiration is likely to strike (and has done for me many times). These include books of lists, prompts, Kipling’s honest serving men and much more besides.

I hope you find these thoughts useful to encourage your own inspiration as it never does any harm to encourage that as much as possible.

Happy writing.

Story Inspiration

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Hope today has gone okay. Bad weather coming in this evening as I write this. Keep safe. Lady saw her two chums, the Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback, again today. Thankfully it was only light rain this morning. I don’t think any of the dogs would’ve been that sorry to get back indoors again.

Writing wise, I’m sharing Story Inspiration on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. I hope it will prove useful as I share some good ways to find inspiration. I always feel it is better to hunt for it than wait for it to come to you. There are various good “hunting grounds” for inspiration, some of which I’ll be sharing tomorrow, and which I hope will add to your “store” of places to look for sources of story ideas.

Hope today has gone well. Lady saw her best buddies, the Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback, today. Ice and snow pretty much gone, just in time for the storm to come in tomorrow! Oh well, at least the temperature has gone up somewhat.

Writing wise, am looking forward to meeting up again later in the month with the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group. We’ll be looking at Ways and Paths as a topic. Plenty of story ideas to come from that and I hope we will start drafting some on the evening.

Also have a story to get on and draft for a future submission. Plus I’m beginning to go though the Writing Magazine Competition Guide for possible places to try.

Looking forward to joining in with another ACW genre group online this evening. It’s always good fun and a great chance to socialise. Zoom continues to be a blessing when you can’t get together with other writers in person. Though I am looking forward to my big annual event in August – The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick – as well. Thinking about that cheers up a gloomy January for me somewhat!

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

My way into flash fiction writing was the 100 word story, also known as the drabble. CafeLit issued their 100 word challenge and I responded to it and haven’t looked back since.

Flash Tip: I’ve often found the best way into writing a 100 worder is to focus on the ending first. How do I want the story to end – with a laugh or with something else which will move readers in other ways? Is a line of dialogue to bring the story to an end the right way to go or should I finish the tale with an “event” which must finish the tale?

Once I have a rough idea of the likely ending, I can work backwards from there to the likely beginning. Knowing a likely ending also shows me the likely lead character who will be finishing the story. I can then work out more about them.

Having the tight word count means I have to only focus on that which is relevant but this is a good thing. I’ve found writing the 100 worders does encourage tighter writing elsewhere and helps me fight any tendency to indulge in purple prose.

As well as flash fiction, there is such a thing as flash non-fiction. Many blogs would count as this given often they come in at about the 500 words mark.

But have you given thought to writing a short piece sharing how you came to write one particular story, say? This would be of interest to other writers and your readers. Works best when kept tight but could give you excellent additional material to add to your website/blog.

Counts as part of your overall marketing, of course, as well.

Glad it’s warming up a bit outside. Spotted a primrose out in my garden just around Christmas time. Is still out. Seems to have survived the frosts and snow – at least so far. (Am putting the qualifier in because I recently said we hadn’t had any snow and, guess what, overnight we got some so I don’t want anything happening to that poor little primrose!).

Now, we all face tricky conditions at time but this can be fabulous for our characters. It is perhaps just as well they cannot tell their creators what they think of them for this. I do love dropping mine in the mire as much as I can.

So what traits do your characters have to help them handle the situations you put them in? Are they already resourceful or do they have to learn how to be so? Many great story thoughts to come from that, I think.

Traits are an invaluable way of gauging a character. You could also use them to figure out how they could develop others.

For example, if your character’s main trait is honesty, would they develop bravery to ensure honesty in their world continued? Would they fight to save what was good in their world and stop it from being obliterated by the greedy?

(And if anyone’s thinking there are parallels with what’s going on here right now, you’d be right but we can use some of this at least as inspiration for story ideas. When you know what’s driving someone, you can get stories out of that).

Fairytales With Bite – Resuming Normal Life

It always takes a little while to resume normal life after any kind of break and perhaps more so after a break like the Christmas/New Year one. Am slowly resuming normality myself!

But how would your characters get back to what is normal for them? How long would that take them and what does count as normal for them? What kind of breaks would they expect to be as part of their overall life?

What official breaks does everyone in your setting have to take? Are they appreciated or resented? Could the events themselves be “commercially exploited” (and that does tend to lead to resentment in some quarters)?

Do any of your characters use official breaks to get out of something they ought to be doing? Does that work or does it cause further problems later on? Does anyone resent having to resume normal life again?
Could enemies of your setting use the break to cause havoc and how would they do this?

Story ideas there, for sure.

This World and Others – Routines

I must admit I do like routines. I have one for my writing and have had this for years. Every so often I adjust it to take in new writing/editing work etc but, on the whole, I’ve found it useful to help me make the best of the time I have available for writing and/or editing on any one day. But I know not everyone likes routines. There are many who would find them restrictive.

What would your characters make of routines? Are there those who thrive on them (and if so, how)? Are there others who would feel routines are like straitjackets? What would happen if you have a character of each type stuck together and they have to work out some sort of routine to get them though to the time when they’re free to do their own thing again?

Does your setting have a routine in terms of characters have to work at certain times, relax at certain times etc? What would its views be on those who don’t follow the general pattern here? Could a setting with a fixed routine face enemies who would exploit the disadvantages of being too rigid? What would the enemies be seeking to exploit on your setting itself?

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Story Inspiration https://t.co/9xk0e4i5pz Glad to share Story Inspiration on CFT. I look at “hunting grounds” where inspiration can strike (and has for me often). I include books of lists, Kipling’s serving men and more. It never does any harm to encourage inspiration to strike.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 9, 2026

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New Year, New Books, New Authors

January 6, 2026Leave a comment

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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 your weekend went well. Some snow here though not too deep. Am wrapping up with multiple layers so I am waddling with Lady rather than walking with her right now! Hope the first full week back to “normal life” goes well. Pleased to be back writing and editing again. Needed and enjoyed the break but it is good to be back.

Facebook – General

Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler friend and, later, was escorted home by her Aussie Shepherd “boyfriend”. Lady is keeping her socials together, well enough!

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Story Inspiration on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Always a timely topic, this one. Writing and editing works are going well – and I’m staying out of the cold as much as possible, all wins here!

Writing Tip: Think about what inspires you to write – favourite stories, favourite types of characters etc – and then look at why you love these things. You will learn something useful from doing this and it will help you as you create your own tales. More in my post on CFT on this on Friday – what I can say now though is this works.

You know I said yesterday (4th January 2025) we hadn’t had snow in Hampshire as yet? Well, it is a clear case of me and my big mouth. We did get snow over night (probably 1 to 2 cm, no more than that). You’ll be pleased to know I won’t apply for any job in weather forecasting! Think that would be best for everyone…

Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today, both of whom were wearing coats. Lady doesn’t really need one (and I am sure she and her predecessors would consider them sissy for a collie/collie-cross anyway). All three dogs had a lovely time despite the cold and yes we owners did keep them moving.

Writing wise, am having a quiet evening getting on with various small writing pieces. Nice way to unwind after what is always a hectic day for me. And I get to stay well out of the cold too. Win-win there, I’d say.

Character Tip: What does your character make of their usual weather patterns? If cold is a regular feature of these, how does your character cope with it? (If they’re a northerner of any sort, they’ll put on their big coat. If they’re a southerner like me, they’ll put on a big coat with a body warmer under it – mind you, it did live up to its name today). How could cold weather help or hinder them? There will be story ideas there. Happy writing!

Hope Sunday has gone well. Bitterly cold and heavy frosts here in Hampshire but no snow (as yet anyway). Hope you are all okay. Lady has had a lovely day in that she saw her “boyfriend”, a lovely Aussie Shepherd, in the park earlier. He has a wonderful thick coat and I shouldn’t imagine felt the cold at all!

Writing wise, I’m making good progress with my editing work. I’ve also got ideas I’d like to develop this year and I hope to share some 100 word stories on Facebook every so often. I’ve enjoyed sharing my Friday Flash Fiction links most weeks and want to keep up writing the good old drabbles regularly.

One enjoyable task this coming week is to start reading the latest Writing Magazine. It came with its annual competition guide and I hope to work my way through at least some of that this year. There are more flash fiction competitions out there than you might think and I do find this guide immensely helpful.

Hope the weekend has got off to a good start for you. As I write this I am enjoying a trip down memory lane thanks to Classic FM playing the theme from Animal Magic. Older readers will remember that show!

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Story Inspiration for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. It’s a timeless topic and I’ll be sharing some ways I use regularly to keep triggering ideas. I hope you will find it useful and look forward to sharing that on Friday.

Have resumed my editing work and making good strides with it, including on my own edits for Seeing The Other Side.

Writing Tip: I use an old school diary to note down deadlines for competitions, my own deadlines for when I want to get work finished by, and so on. It pays. I see it as making an appointment with myself and my writing and it has helped me to get more done. For longer work, I can break my task down into “manageable chunks” and put those in the diary. It all helps.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Tonight, 6th January, is of course Twelfth Night, traditionally the time the Three Wise Men visited Jesus in Bethlehem. My story, The Family Legend, in the recently published Magi (Bridge House Publishing) takes a thought from this story – that at least one of the men were still alive thirty three years later and found out what had gone on in Jerusalem – and I ran with it.

But you too can run with the idea of an unexpected and/or unlikely journey and the characters that do this. There could be some interesting flash fiction pieces here too though I suspect you would probably need the 500 words plus range to do this justice in the very short form.

Hope you try the idea out though. Good luck!

It’s a bitterly cold Monday, the kind where Good King Wenceslas would feel at home. For me it’s definitely time for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Looking on The Bright Side.

A fairytale witch finally has to tell the facts of the magical life to her child, who is shocked to find out where their instructions come from. Find out more here.

F = Flash fiction – fun to write, easy to read, lots of impact due to its brevity.

L = Language and editing skills develop a lot when you write in this form as you do look for the right word which carries the right amount of weight for what you want to convey. No wasted words here. Where one word will have the impact I want, I’m using that not three or four.

A = Assessing the impact you want your story to have on readers and then working out the best way of doing it before writing anything is, I find, sensible for this format. I want to hit the ground running so to speak here.

S = Settings can be anywhere in time or space or in any kind of world you care to invent. What matters are the characters. People follow what they’re up to even if they’re a three headed purple dragon from the planet Zog. If people care about the dragon, they will read on.

H = Humour is fabulous for flash. It’s fun to end a story with a punchline.

Flash fiction is not new. It has been around for centuries. To name one example, all of Jesus’s parables in the Bible come in at well under the 1000 words mark limit for flash.

The form has had several names including postcard fiction (which I like – you can picture it); short short fiction (which I don’t like – it’s a mouthful); and sudden fiction (this is okay but doesn’t, to my mind, seem an apt term for thoughtful flash pieces).

But whatever you do call it, flash fiction is a fun challenge and I love writing to the various word count brackets within it. The most popular for competitions I’ve come across are the 100, 250, 300, and 500 word ones but the first three of those are the most common.

All of them are great fun so why not give them a go?

Goodreads Author Blog – New Year, New Books, New Authors

Happy New Year and I hope 2026 brings you plenty of books to enjoy. I hope amongst those books will be books and authors who are new to you. One of the great joys of reading is in discovering new stories to enjoy by writers you either already thought you knew well or by authors you’ve not read before. Everyone wins from that one.

I’ve not yet made any plans for my new reading year. I’m currently engrossed with the books I received for Christmas and loving them all. Then I may catch up on my poor neglected To Be Read pile or at least make some inroads into it. I suspect you may well be in the same reading boat, yes? I’ve not yet come across a reader and/or writer who hasn’t got lots of books “on the go”.

I used to feel sad at the thought I know I won’t get around to reading all of the books I would like to read. Funnily enough, I now feel comforted by the thought. Why?

Well, it confirms to me the world will never run out of stories to enjoy and that is a great thing.

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liked Allison Symes's blog post: New Year, New Books, New Authors https://t.co/y3gYqbxqwW via @goodreads I don't know about you but I'm still engrossed with my Christmas books. I haven't made plans for my new reading year but I hope there will be authors new to me in that. pic.twitter.com/ZttR7FWsFy
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 3, 2026

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It’s a cold Monday. Story time! My latest on YouTube is Looking on The Bright Side.

A fairytale witch finally has to tell the facts of the magical life to her child, who is shocked to find out where their instructions come from. Find out more here.https://t.co/jWiMMcntCv
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 5, 2026

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Meeting Up With Other Authors and Broadcast News

December 9, 2025Leave a comment

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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. Many thanks to Paula Readman for taking the shot of me holding up From Light to Dark and Back Again at the recent Bridge House Publishing Celebration event. Screenshots and photos from the recent BHP Celebration event were taken by me, Allison Symes. Hope all is well.

Had a fabulous weekend with other half celebrating our anniversary and then going to London for the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event. Lady is doing fine and getting to see most of her mates most of the time so all well there, though we consider it to be a win if we manage to duck the rain and strong winds.

Facebook – General

Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to see both her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today. Lovely time had by all but all three dogs were told off for trying to eat the mud! Why, oh why, oh why…

Character Tip: What would your character want for Christmas (or in their setting their equivalent event) and why? What does it reveal about them? What would they never want to receive and why? What would happen if they received the unwanted present? Could be some fun stories to write (and read) there.

A wet walk with Lady this morning but did get to see her Hungarian Vizler pal and, as ever, the two chums were pleased to see each other.

Delighted to start the week with great news. My festive flash fiction story which I submitted to Hannah Kate for her Three Minute Santas show on North Manchester FM will be broadcast on said show this coming Saturday, 13th December. I plan to listen live but will share a catch up link as soon as I can (probably early next week). It is always a fun show to listen to so heartily recommend it.

Hope your weekend has gone well. Busy one for me being out and about but had such a lovely time in Dorset and London. Relishing a quieter Sunday though and I’ll be cracking on with flash fiction Sunday shortly.

I will be looking back at the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Looking forward to sharing that (and am enjoying reading the books I brought back with me from that event. Well, you can’t NOT do that, can you?!).

Am currently having a go at the Friday Flash Fiction Christmas competition. Can submit one more entry and I hope to do that as part of my flash fiction Sunday afternoon a little later today.

Festive Flash Tip: You can write these regardless of the time of year. If good ideas occur to me in the summer for this, I go for it and write the stories up. I must admit I prefer my festive flash fiction pieces to be 300 words or fewer. I think they work best at this word length because you’re generally looking for a lighthearted fun piece and you don’t want to dilute the sense of fun by having too many words for it!

6th December – Bridge House Publishing event
Have had a fabulous day at the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event today. It was so good to catch up with friends. It was also nice to be back at the wonderfully named Theodore Bullfrog pub. Will write more about the event for next week’s Chandler’s Ford Today post though it was great to travel back with fellow Swanwicker, June Webber. Naturally we had a good natter!

Has been a busy weekend so far getting out and about. Nothing for ages, then loads of trips out. Suspect I will get something from the various journeys to inspire some flash fiction pieces.

Character Tip: I don’t usually worry too much about what my characters look like. I’m usually far more interested in their attitudes to life. But occasionally if I spot an interesting hat, say, I might wonder what character of mine might wear something like it. I have been known to wonder which character of mine wouldn’t be seen dead in a hat like that. These thoughts have given me ideas for characters and, from there, story outlines.

Images below were taken by me at the BHP event. Not long after the first shot was taken, the room was full of very happy BHP authors including me. For the second photo, it was good to be back on the BHP book table with Lynn Clement, whose The City of Stories I edited, and Rosemary Johnson, who is a dear friend from the Association of Christian Writers.

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Looking forward to listening to Hannah Kate’s Three Minute Santas show on North Manchester FM on Saturday. Delighted to say I have a story on there. The show is great fun to listen to – I hope to share a link early next week.

Is it difficult to think of different themes for festive flash each year? Depends.

I think because I go for character first, not plot, it helps a lot. So I examine the stories we know around Christmas, the Biblical as well as the secular ones, and look for characters who perhaps are not the main star of the show (some pun intended and I expect at some point I may well write a story around the Star of Bethlehem). You can have a lot of fun with characters like this.

Also give some thought to your favourite fairytales. They come up so often for pantomimes at this time of year so you could write festive flash around characters in these too.

It’s Monday, another wet and dismal one, so definitely time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Diet Change.

What on earth did Eliza wish for to make Santa read her note twice to ensure he hadn’t misread it? Was her wish granted? Find out here.

It was wonderful celebrating flash fiction and short stories in London yesterday at the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event. Now back to the desk to get on and write more flash fiction!

As ever at events like yesterday’s, people shared news of websites etc which take flash and I hope to look into some of those after Christmas. Know I won’t get much time to do this before then.

When it comes to writing seasonal flash, I look at one specific character or someone associated with them. For example, for some of my festive flash I’ve written about Santa, the elves, Mrs Christmas, a young shepherd who was worrying about leaving the sheep behind when they all went off to Bethlehem.

I think knowing the character for this kind of flash story is essential because you look at their links with the festive season and that in itself is usually enough to trigger story ideas.

Lovely to chat with fellow flash and short story writers at the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event today. I find I get a real buzz from being with other writers like this. It was good to share the joys of short form fiction with each other. Loved hearing the stories being read out. Am not often read to so make the most of it when I am.

Flash Tip: Focus on one moment, one character for your stories. Your story will have a much better impact because of that and it will be easier to stick to your word count.

Image below taken by me is of June Webber, my dear friend and fellow Swanwicker, reading her excellent story, Marmalade, at today’s BHP event.

Goodreads Author Blog – Meeting Up With Other Authors

Meeting up with other authors at various events is one of the joys of the writing life and one I greatly appreciate. It is lovely talking about stories and writing with those who understand why you have the drive to write at all.

Other authors are also fabulously supportive given we all have to market our own books. Most of us would far rather be writing.

Naturally a huge attraction at these events are the book rooms and book tables. Always a joy to buy books from writers I know and am always pleased to add more to my shelves.

If you can support author events, please do. Every writer I know will be pleased to see you. That goes for me too!

Happy reading!

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liked Allison Symes's blog post: Meeting Up With Other Authors https://t.co/jxS9zx4S6S via @goodreads I look at the joys of meeting with other authors as part of the writing life for Goodreads. If you can support authors and their events, please do. It helps more than you know. pic.twitter.com/jDPfoXKz9e
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 6, 2025

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It’s Monday, another wet and dismal one, so time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Diet Change.

What on earth did Eliza wish for to make Santa read her note twice to ensure he hadn't misread it? Was her wish granted? Find out here.https://t.co/u7wrmJVkxw
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 8, 2025

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Remembrance and Book Memories

November 11, 2025Leave a comment

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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. Blustery here. Very moving Remembrance Sunday events. One good thing about the rain was it did limit the fireworks which helped Lady. Writing and editing going well too.

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11th November 2025 – Armistice Day

Hope you have a good day. Good to remember Armistice Day today.

Writing wise, had a lovely Zoom session at a group I go to once monthly. Was a lovely way to chill after a hectic Monday (though Mondays are always that way for me for various reasons. I know I won’t get much writing done so I do write little bits and pieces I can flesh out for longer work later).

Am busy writing a review of the murder mystery play I went to with my lovely Chandler’s Ford Today editor, Janet Williams, recently. My post this week will be the review of The Ghost Train performed by The Chameleons but it was one of those weeks where Janet and I got to see two shows in three days. The next show we are likely to see will be the pantomine The Chameleons stage (and this year it is Camelot, oh yes it is).

Will also have another author interview coming up in December and I will be working on that later this week.

So all go here but in a good way.

Hope your Monday has gone well. Lady was delighted to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today, especially as the weather was dodgy. We all managed to avoid the worst though so we will take that as a win.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing my review of The Ghost Train recently performed by The Chameleon Theatre Company for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up on Friday. All I knew about the play was it was written by Arnold Ridley of Dad’s Army fame. Was pleased to have seen it – great story – more in the review.

Writing Tip: When you’ve got five minutes (I know – this will become less likely as we head towards Christmas!), but can’t get to your laptop, grab the old notebook and pen and brainstorm ideas. I find writing in the old school manner like this can make the ideas flow. It also gives me something to review later when I do have more time. I’ve had plenty of story ideas doing this.

9th November – Remembrance Sunday

As ever the Remembrance Sunday service where I go to church was deeply moving. I recall my late grandfathers. One served in the Forces and then went on to be an ARP warden in London’s East End (neither easy as you can imagine); the other worked in Woolwich Arsenal (and forever getting bombed out as you can also imagine).

I also think of my late parents. Dad was too young to be evacuated immediately so went through the Blitz on London with his mum until he could be evacuated. Mum was evacuated, didn’t say much about it other than she hated it. Two generations – that is all which stands between my generation and the Second World War.

For our tomorrow, they gave their today.

Writing wise, stories which focus on remembering can be deeply moving. I like to focus on one character, one pertinent memory. This kind of story (I like to think of it as slice of life), I feel, works best when kept short and to the point. It’s where flash fiction can come into its own.

Am delighted to say the November issue of Writers’ Narrative is now available. The theme this time is Narrative Non-Fiction and my article on the topic can be found on pages 18 and 19. (I use the technique a lot in my Chandler’s Ford Today posts as well as those I write for Writers’ Narrative). Do check out the other superb articles – see the link below for more.

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11th November 2025 – Armistice Day

Looking forward to having a go at today’s Flash NANO prompt later this evening. The prompt involves the use of magic and given I love writing and reading what I call fairytales with bite, I think this prompt has my name on it!

Have been very pleased to have some lovely feedback on the stories I’ve shared on the Flash NANO Facebook page. I don’t share all of my drafts but will share ones I think will amuse. (Well, at this dark time of year and with the world in a right old state, we all need some literary cheer, yes?).

It’s Monday, a soggy and dark one where I am, and it’s time for a story. I hope you like my latest on YouTube – Memories Edited. There is a (rough!) rhyming scheme to this one. Think it will have resonance with many.

9th November – Remembrance Sunday

Today is Remembrance Sunday and the focus is, naturally, on the past and to the huge debt we owe to those who gave up so much for our freedoms, which should not be taken for granted.

As well as flash fiction, there is such a thing as flash non-fiction and short reflective pieces can be amazingly touching, especially when based on memories (collective and individual). I think the important thing here is, whatever your topic, to write from the heart (though that is also true for fiction).

Compassion, empathy, acknowledging the past can be very powerful themes for our writing, fictional or otherwise.

Am enjoying the range of prompts from Flash NANO so far. Yesterday’s one from me was a story told as a list involving using a number in the title. I shared a story about the struggles a cat owner has in getting to get their pet to the vet. I speak as a dog owner! Make of that what you will but it was fun to do and I will crack on with today’s prompt later on today.

Another nice angle to these prompts is they encourage me to get a story down quickly. It’s good practice for when I am set exercises at places like Swanwick. I find fast writing a really good thing to do sometimes. It makes me think on my feet and I know it’s okay to write first, edit later.

Goodreads Author Blog – Book Memories

One of the pleasures of books is as well as giving you stories and non-fiction to enjoy, they can also conjure up good memories for you. Many of my books on my shelves are written by author friends and every time I see the books I remember the story and where and whom I got the book from! I also inherited books from my much read late mother and her Dickens leather bound set always make me think of her when I see them.

When I read the classic fairytales, I am taken back to childhood memories of reading these for myself and, even further back, when my mum read the stories to me.

I think this is why physical books will always be around. They can give you tangible memories in the way a Kindle cannot, though that does have its uses. I use mine to discover authors new to me, for example, and it is great for holidays/being away etc. Physical books can be heavy to cart around but I would never be without them.

With my own flash fiction collections, the memories of having my work accepted will always be very special. Having some input into the covers is another special memory.

I also remember when I first read certain books which are firm favourites of mine.

Books are truly wonderful things.

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As I’ve shared the new November issue above, I thought I’d sneak in the October one again given it’s about short form fiction, I’m interviewed in it, and am a cover girl on it! Well, you can’t blame me really, can you? Absolute thrill to do this interview.

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Am delighted to say the November issue of Writers’ Narrative is now available.

The theme is Narrative Non-Fiction and my article on the topic can be found on pages 18 and 19.

Do check out the other superb articles – see the link below for more.https://t.co/Xwnq66i9yY
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 8, 2025

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liked Allison Symes's blog post: Book Memories https://t.co/HJFCztKaKa via @goodreads I look at special memories books create for my Goodreads post this week. Am sure there will be plenty of books with special memories for you too. Physical books are great for this. pic.twitter.com/xOz7RUvesY
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 8, 2025

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It’s Monday, a soggy and dark one where I am, and it’s time for a story. I hope you like my latest on YouTube – Memories Edited. There is a (rough!) rhyming scheme to this one. Think it will have resonance with many. https://t.co/zn2GmUfi6t
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 10, 2025

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Starting A Piece of Fiction

October 10, 2025Leave a comment

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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 week. Lady has – she’s been catching up with her pals. Many thanks for great responses to my posts about the October issue of Writers’ Narrative where I’m the Featured Author. It’s not often you get to be a cover girl in your late fifties but there you go!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Hope you have had a good day. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler pal and Coco, the lovely Labradoodle. Lady has had a fabulous week in that she has seen most of her friends most of the time this week. I think most of us would count that as a great week.

Writing wise, I’m pleased to share Starting A Piece of Fiction on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Hope you find it useful.

Once I get started on a flash tale or short story, I am generally “away with it” (though I do use outlines to help me). What can be tricky can be knowing where to start and this post shares some thoughts and tips I have found useful over many years to overcome this.

I also share a useful template (which is easily adaptable) which, again, I hope you find useful.

Starting A Piece of Fiction

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Will be sharing Starting A Piece of Fiction on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. The following week, I will, as you will probably have guessed, be sharing a piece on Ending a Piece of Fiction. I hope both will prove to be useful. After that will be a fabulous interview with John Puzey about his book, Captive Audience, so plenty going on at CFT at the moment. John is also a member of our excellent local theatre company, The Chameleons.

Have been busy this week working on a presentation and pitches. Have sent the latter off. The presentation will be for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group later this month. So far it has been a non-fiction heavy week but I will be switching to the fiction side again soon.

And Lady had a great Thursday meeting up with her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals so she has had a great day, as did her friends.

Hope today has gone well. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler pal today – nice time had by both dogs.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Starting a Piece of Fiction on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Will be sharing tips I’ve found useful for overcoming hesitant starts to stories. I find once I get started it’s fine. It can be the getting started which can be tricky sometimes. I hope the post will prove useful. See above.

Marketing Tip: Consistency matters. It’s better to focus on a few things you know you can do (and keep doing) than spread yourself too thin. This is why I’m not on every social media platform out there (though that doesn’t preclude me from changing the ones I am on or adding others later). But I know I can post regularly where I currently do so I keep that going. Over time, consistency pays off. Readers know where to find you.

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Am thrilled to be one of two Editor’s Choices on Friday Flash Fiction with my tale, Finding Out The Hard Way. Hope you enjoy it.

Congratulations to Jim Bartlett for his story, Safer, which was the other Editor’s Choice.

Having two stories chosen doesn’t happen often so this was an especially nice surprise today.
We talk about having flashes of inspiration and they do happen but I find they come more often when I am at my desk working out ideas for characters and situations to put them in. Then the flashes can come.

Basically, I’ve got to put the work in, which is fine because I love that.

Where I do a get an idea out of “nowhere”, it usually is because something has been bubbling away in my subconscious for a while and it comes to the surface when I am working on something it could be useful for.

Often that something bubbling will be due something I’ve read so this is another reason to read widely and well, contemporary and classic works, short and long forms, and non-fiction because you want a wide pool to fish from for ideas to bubble like that.

It is also more likely you will get more ideas the more you read (and write).

Another aspect to flash fiction flexibility is mixing up the word count ranges you write to within the overall limit of 1000 words. You do develop favourites over time. My overall favourite will always be the drabble, the 100 worder, as it was my way into flash fiction in the first place, but I often write to 300 and 500 words especially. This is handy as so many flash competitions go to these word count limits. As you can imagine, I’m sure, this is no coincidence on my part!

Also when I have submitted stories for potential broadcasting, I am usually looking at the 200 to 250 word count tops for these, so it pays to practice writing to this kind of count.

You do, with time, get used to seeing/knowing what 200 to 300 words will look like on the page/screen so get better at knowing where to stop your story. You get a feel for what will fit in that word count limit.

I can usually tell at a glance now when I draft a 100 word story for Friday Flash Fiction, by roughly how much I’ve gone over on that first draft (and I always do go over). I’m not usually out by much when I compare my thought to the word count on the screen.

Mind you, that tells me how much I have to edit and I start by removing all of my wasted words (that, very, actually etc). Its amazing what a difference can be made to your word count removing words like that can do.

Fairytales with Bite – Options for Magical Beings

What options do your magical beings have in your setting? Are they born with their powers or do they develop these as they grow up? Which powers come to them as naturally as breathing and which do they have to learn? How would all of that impact on the kind of careers they can have later?

Do your magical creations get any choice at all on their career? Can anyone “rebel” against their “default setting” and do something different? What would the consequences be of that?

Are your characters happy with the skills they are born with and/or go on to develop? What are the advantages and disadvantages of them? Could any of your characters with powers envy those without them and why would that be? (Simpler lifestyle and less complications would be one thought springing to my mind).

This World and Others – Careers

In your setting what kind of careers are available for your characters? Is this dependent on magical skill set (see Fairytales With Bite above) or can anyone go for these careers as long as they’re willing to learn and work hard? How have the careers developed in your world? Is magic an advantage here or not?

Also are there careers not possible in your setting but which are still needed for your society to function?

Could magical power get in the way of these needed careers so your world has to import people /other beings of choice to carry out these vital roles? How does that happen? (There could be many a tale of alien abduction here – at least it would be for a reason that made sense!).

Are there careers your characters are desperate to avoid or get? How can they avoid/get them? Why do they feel this way? Could a story involve a character facing up to having to do a career they don’t want for a greater purpose?

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Thrilled to be 1 of 2 Editor’s Choices on Friday Flash Fiction with my Finding Out The Hard Way. Congratulations to Jim Bartlett for his story, Safer, which was the other pick. Having two stories chosen doesn’t happen often. This was a nice surprise today.https://t.co/mbBGjiiuzl pic.twitter.com/T9nx6uKkRM
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) October 10, 2025

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Starting A Piece of Fiction https://t.co/H08j0H23TI
Pleased to share Starting A Piece of Fiction on CFT. Once I begin a story, I am generally “away with it” (I use outlines to help). What can be tricky is knowing where to start. This post shares tips I've found useful.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) October 10, 2025

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