Tag: creative writing

Mixing Writing Exercises Up and Series or Stand Alone Books

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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. One photo taken by my lovely editor from Chandler’s Ford Today, Janet Williams, from the most recent Hiltingbury Book Fair. One image of me holding a copy of Creativity Matters was taken by Adrian Symes. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Much cooler than the last one. Much nicer for Lady and me. Writing and editing going well. Hope to share links to the first part of the serialisation of Seeing The Other Side soon. Exciting times!

Facebook – General

Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today. Lovely time had by both dogs. Will need to watch the weather later in the week given the temperatures are going up again. Lady didn’t miss out when I had to skip walks. She was perfectly content staying in the shade at home and I can see us having to do that again later this week.

Looking forward to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick in just over a month’s time. It is the highlight of my writing year. Am so looking forward to catching up with fellow writers again. Will be leading a couple of volunteer sessions (Lift Up Your Pens and Lift Up Your Hearts, always lovely to do).

Writing Tip: To get the most out of writing exercises, mix up the type you do. For example, I love the opening line kind so, yes, I often do them but I also have a crack at the closing line ones. I like to try the one line stories, as well as flash fiction ones which specify a different word count (100, 250, 500, and 750 worders are popular).

As well as giving you different experiences in producing stories to different kinds of exercise, you may well find a type which you really take to – I’ve taken to the 100 worder for example. I find it’s also fun to mix things up and see it as a great way of getting more stories down than if I just stuck to one or two kinds of exercise.

Also you don’t know if you can do these exercises unless you do give them a go.

Hope you’ve had a good start to the week. Tiring one here. Lady had a lovely time in the park though she didn’t see any pals today. Hope to make up for that later in the week.

Lovely weekend writing wise. Got plenty done, which always pleases me, especially since Monday is the one day of the week when I know I won’t get too much done.

Character Tip: Think about the characters you love and loathe in books you read. What is it about them which makes you feel this way? Is is their attitudes, their behaviour, a combination, or something else? Then look at how the author has shown you these things (and it will be in more than one way too).

Can you apply any of what you have picked up here to how you present your own creations? Writers always learn from other writers and the most fun way of doing this is by reading a lot in and out of your genre. So if you did need an excuse to read more, by all means use this one!

Had some thunder and rain today. Has cooled the air down more which is great. Lady isn’t fazed by thunder. But she isn’t keen on it either so takes the approach it is best to stay out of the way and curl up somewhere cosy. You can’t argue with that, can you?

Writing wise, will be starting flash fiction Sunday shortly before resuming works on blogs etc (I always have at least one on the go. I have a low boredom threshold!).

Top Tip: Want to make the most of your reading? As well as enjoying the stories you read, have a look at them again when you’ve finished. Work out what it was which appealed to you the most and why. You can learn from that for your own writing.

Every writer is inspired by their own love of reading. You pick up so much unconsciously almost as to what makes a character grip you etc. As you read, you are just aware this character is gripping you.

So when you go looking for specifically what made you feel this way about a character, you will find it. Often I find it is a turn of phrase which brings a character to life for me. It “rings true”. It is the “rings true” moment we all strive to write into our own works.


Hope you have had a good day. Got some rain today – made the air lovely and cool.

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Quizzing Your Characters for Chandler’s Ford Today next week and sharing different ways in which this can be done as well as sharing three standard questions which would be a fabulous outline for any story.

Looking forward to a lovely Swanwick Zoom later tonight and flash fiction Sunday for me tomorrow. Have a story I want to get off to a competition too.

Marketing Tip: I deliberately don’t try to do every single marketing thing a writer could do. I think you do have to pick what you can do consistently and, importantly, enjoy doing because that will help you to be consistent at all.

Consistency resonates with readers, I think, if only because it shows you take what you do seriously. You are here for the longer term. Plus it makes sense to enjoy this side of life (or as much as possible anyway) because it is part of the writing life. Every writer, published, self published or what have you, has to do their own marketing so it makes sense to like what you do here.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I’ve had one of those days where I’ve run late on most things all day and that includes getting my Facebook posts up. (Gone past 8 pm today). You do just get days like that but how about this for an idea?

Story Idea:  Create one of these days for a character and see how they handle it. You could get several tales out of that thought because you could have different characters facing different difficulties in the space of a day. You could mix the mood of the stories up here too.

Have fun (and yes I will almost certainly explore this thought myself at a later date).

It’s Monday. Has been more hectic than usual for me. Hope yours has been better! Time to wind down with a story then. My latest on YouTube is Ring Any Bells.

The new vicar is holding auditions for bell ringers but will the next door neighbour get away with their way of auditioning or not? Find out here.


Do dates have meaning for your characters in your stories? There are the obvious dates to use such as birthdays and personal anniversaries but bear in mind you could use historical dates (whether or not your stories are set on Earth).

Dates are a great way to use numbers in your flash fiction because your story can hinge about the meaning of this date. Your character will have a heightened emotional response to it, else why is it special or important in some way to them? Naturally you can get another character to spoil or enhance things here. Good story outline there, I think.

And if you can’t think of a number to use as a date, do use the random number generator. You won’t be stuck for thoughts here using that!

Flash comes in many forms. As well as the different word counts you can use (up to 1000), you can mix up the styles a bit too. For example, I’ve written acrostic flash fiction, poetic flash fiction, all dialogue flash fiction and more. I’ve written historical flash, crime flash, ghost flash, fairytale flash and more. I’ve turned writing exercises in to published flash fiction too.

I think many write flash without always realising it. If you ever take part in a writing exercise set by someone else, you will only get to write a hundred words or so in the time you’ve been given.

If you go in for Open Prose Mic Nights, you usually only have five minutes in which to share something. That’s perfect flash territory because your material cannot go on for too long.

It’s not a bad thing to prepare material to last for a short time whether or not you take part in these things. Why? Because it would be something useful to share on your social media, website etc. That gives you something of value to share with potential readers and that is always a good thing.

Goodreads Author Blog – Series Books -v- Stand Alones

Do your prefer series books or stand alones? I love both, naturally and can see the merits in both.

Sometimes a story can only be told in one book – The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey is a great example of that. Nothing can be added.

But I do love series books, such as Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, where the major characters develop over time. Indeed, you can follow a whole life story for them within the overall plots of the individual books.

Sam Vimes is the best example here as you see him go from being a drunk copper to becoming a heroic copper who marries the fabulous Lady Sybil Ramkin (what she doesn’t know about dragons isn’t worth knowing) and then on to being a Duke, still being heroic and never losing sight of himself. He’s not one for whom fame would get to his head. Love all of that. And you get to see that slowly revealed over many novels.

This kind of thing I think is the best feature of series books and is why crime series tend to do so well. You follow the results of the individual case plus you catch up on what the lead characters have done/are doing. Plenty to like there.

In my field, short fiction, you obviously get to have lots of stand alone stories but you can have series ones too. I write linked flash fiction sometimes where a character will turn up in more than one tale yet each story is its own complete tale. Fun to do and a good challenge.

Am glad to say I will have a new book out next year (more details nearer the time) and I have had fun with linked flash in that. Looking forward to saying more about this later. But you can have series and stand alones in short stories and flash fiction too.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

MailerLite – Allison Symes – Newsletter Sign Up

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Light and Dark and Reading Moods

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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. Two images of me, one with Lady and the other with me holding books, were taken by Adrian Symes.
Hope you’ve had a good weekend. Very hot (30 degrees +) so have focused on keeping Lady as cool and comfortable as possible. (At one point my other half was able to measure the temperature on our manhole cover just for interest – it was 51 degrees C, yes 51!). Good weekend for writing though and I’ve found another competition for me to submit a piece to, which I hope to get done later this week.

Facebook – General

1st July 2025 – Newsletter
Hope you’ve had a good day. Got Lady out earlier today. Not sorry about that as it has heated up considerably since lunchtime. I did enjoy my swim this afternoon though!

Author newsletter went out again today. Many thanks for all who support. It is much appreciated.

Had some lovely news from another newsletter I subscribe to – The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick one. They set a competition for a six word story on the theme of Hesitation. I was one of the joint winners with another colleague here. My entry is below. Hope you enjoy it.

Decisions by Allison Symes

Have the dagger. Should I? Macbeth.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

A scorching day but Lady had a lovely, short time in the park this morning before it heated up too much. She and I have drunk plenty of water today too. Will be glad when it cools a bit. Lady will feel the same way.

Author newsletter out again tomorrow. Can hardly believe it’s almost July but the newsletters do show the passage of time only too well! Next issue of Writers Narrative should be out any moment too. Will share the link once I have that. See further down – I was right here!

Writing Tip: Ensure your working conditions are as comfortable as possible. It does have a direct impact on how well or otherwise you work. Right now, I’m ensuring I drink plenty of squash, water etc. Once good thing about this is it ensures I have to have a screen break later on. Too easy to forget to do that.

Pleased to be back on More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers, with my blog about Light and Dark.

I look at how contrasts work so well in fiction and light and dark are perhaps the obvious ones to use. Plenty of interesting stories can come from these though especially if you show a character following a redemption arc, going from dark to light.

Hope you enjoy the post and you do write some wonderful tales based on the theme.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Getting warm again though Monday is going to be the “big one” to watch out for. I suspect Lady and I won’t be going out much.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Stories in Times of Trouble for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Link up on Friday.

Looking forward to flash fiction Sunday afternoon tomorrow. The story I rewrote as an exercise during the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group on Zoom earlier this week is one I’ll be looking at and then I’ll see if I can find a home for it.

It is always lovely to finish a piece off, find a suitable competition, and get the work submitted. It is satisfying even if the story doesn’t do anything in the competition. But you have to be in it to have even a chance of winning it.

Entering writing competitions is excellent practice in writing to deadlines too. I check out the background of the competition to ensure I’m happy with it (the fees aren’t exorbitant, it has a good track record and so on). It just pays to be aware there are scams out there but there are plenty of genuine writing competitions to have a try at so why not give them a go?

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Glad to report the July issue of Writers Narrative is now out. Amongst the many excellent articles in here, I share a piece called Developing Productive Writing Routines That Work For You. Have a fabulous read (especially since it far too hot to do much else right now!).

 

A scorching Monday where I am. Lady and I have kept as cool as possible. But it is still Monday and that means it is time for another story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Worst Habit.

Confession can be good for the soul but possibly hazardous to life and limb as the latest fairytale client finds out here.

 

My next author newsletter will be out on Tuesday. How can it be almost July already? (Mind you, we do have the heat to go with it in the UK at the moment).

I share news, tips, links to my online flash tales and much else besides here. I especially hope you will find the tips useful with your own flash (and other) writing. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

And now to crack on with flash fiction Sunday, well at least it is for me!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.


Hope the weekend is going well so far.

One of the reasons I love flash fiction (and there are so many reasons to do so) is you get a complete story world in a short word count. It makes the form, I think, addictive to read as well as write. Given I love inventing characters, I get to do this all of the time, naturally, so that’s another reason to adore flash writing.

I’ve always had a very soft spot indeed for any story, of whatever word count, where the character voice grips me from the start so I then have to finish reading the story and can’t bear to put the tale down until I have finished it.

With flash that’s more convenient, given I can only go up to 1000 words maximum. I can’t see anyone finishing The Lord of The Rings in one sitting now, can you? And sometimes at least you do just want a satisfying read which doesn’t take too long.

Goodreads Author Blog – Reading Moods

I have various reading moods. Sometimes I want a huge novel to read. I want the complete epic story and that’s that. Sometimes I want quick satisfying reads, which is where short stories and flash fiction come in. Mind you, it helps I write the latter two fiction forms. It does mean I’m biased but in the best possible way of course!

I deliberately mix up the word count lengths I read to as I want a variety of tales to enjoy. I also mix up the genres I read. So for a while, I will read crime, then move on to something else and so on. I often use the short fiction forms as my reading material between reading the novels. I like to see them as appetizers!

I rarely read dystopian works on the grounds the news is gloomy enough but I love lighthearted reads, especially during the summer months. Wodehouse is ideal here I think.

MailerLite – Allison Symes – Newsletter Sign Up

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

See July edition above but to keep things interesting please see below a back issue.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Celebrating 60 Years of Drama with The Chameleons – A Look Back at the Open Evening

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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. The Creativity Matters image was kindly supplied by Wendy H Jones. One image of me with books taken by Adrian Symes. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good week so far. Has become hot here so Lady has had to miss some of her walks (getting too hot in the afternoons basically). Writing continues to go well. Glad I can do that in the cool at least!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Hope you have had a good day. Another hot one here but thankfully the morning was much cooler and Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals before it became too hot. No outings this afternoon!

Delighted to share Celebrating 60 Years of Drama with The Chameleons – A Look Back at The Open Evening for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. It was a joy to go to the Open Evening and I even found a Symes family link and odd visitors to the Ritchie Hall where The Chameleons are based. Full report in the post.

Hope you enjoy it and many congratulations to The Chameleons for reaching such a wonderful milestone.

Celebrating 60 Years of Drama with The Chameleons – A Look Back at the Open Evening

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Hope you’ve had a good day and managed to stay cool. Lady had a lovely time in the park while it was cool enough this morning but a quiet afternoon as it heated up considerably after about 2 pm where I am. I took the chance to have a good swim and felt much refreshed for that!

Don’t forget I’ll be sharing Celebrating 60 Years of Drama with The Chameleons – A Look Back at the Open Evening for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up on that tomorrow. See above.

Writing wise, I am busy editing, preparing blogs and flash fiction, and putting the finishing touches to my presentation for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group next week. Best of all, I keep cool while doing all of that.

Writing Thought: One positive thing about the hot weather where I am at the moment is I need to get up and take drinks more often and later on answer the call of nature. So I guess the hot weather is giving me additional screen breaks! These are important.

I have found I work better (and for longer overall) if I build these mini breaks into my writing sessions. Else you can find yourself getting bogged down and too tired simply due to things like dehydration and eye strain from being at the screen for too long in one “hit”.

All I know from that is it doesn’t help your writing at all.

Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady got to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals this morning before it became too hot. I didn’t take her out this afternoon. She and I were not sorry about that.

Delighted to be back on Authors Electric talking about Themes. I look at how I use these for creating characters and stories and why I find them useful for workshops I run and my monthly newsletter.

I also share a theme I used recently and on which I based an exercise, which I share again here.

Hope you give it a go and find the post useful. 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my Trifling Around. This one is a fun, summer related piece. Doesn’t even matter if, like me, you loathe trifle (sorry, I never have liked the custard, all the other ingredients would be okay though!). Hope you enjoy it.
One question all writers need to be prepared to answer is the inevitable one – what do you write? I was asked this earlier this week at a group I go to when I mentioned my third book is due out next year. So I told them!

But that meant I know what to say, having given this prior thought. I also know to keep it short. I can always take further questions from people later but a brief summary of what you write is always handy for a writer to have to hand. It’s good practice in flash fiction writing too as you do basically want a one line summary.

An exercise I set for a recent Association of Christian Writers Flash Group Meeting was based on the theme of Tens. The exercise was to write a story in exactly ten words. Nothing more. Nothing less. Why not give it a go?

The point of this exercise, funnily enough, is to give practice in writing straplines for longer works later on. Ten words works well for this.

My From Light to Dark and Back Again has the strapline of A collection of very short stories to suit every mood. Ten words to the full stop! Did I get that done in one go? Oh no.

Also ten word stories are fun and easy to share on social media etc. This is one of those I came up with for that exercise. Hope you enjoy it.

The aliens diverted past Earth, as they’d heard about humans.

Allison Symes – June 2025

Well, you couldn’t blame them, could you?

 

Fairytales with Bite – Good News

I’ve recently had the excellent news my third flash fiction collection, Seeing The Other Side, will be out in May 2026 with a partial serialisation of the book coming this July. Naturally I reacted pretty well to this news! I also want to say a huge thanks to all who sent congratulations etc via my Facebook page, all much appreciated. 

But my good news led me to wonder what would your characters see as good news and why? What situations could you have where one character sees something as good news and another as anything but? Who would be right?

How would your characters receive any kind of news? Is their technology the same as ours or significantly better or worse? Could the problems with their technology lead to your characters doing something which would usually be frowned upon in their world but where they honestly feel they have no choice?

What news is so important to them they have to “cheat” to get it through? Do they get away with it? What happens when the news does get through? There is bound to be a reaction of some kind which in turn is likely to drive further drama/tension and actions with consequences. (All great for storytelling though!)

This World and Others – Handling The News

There can never be any one great way to handle news, bad or otherwise. It all depends on the individual, of course, but you might like to look at that aspect for finding out more about your characters, which could prove useful for whatever story you put them in.

Do your characters take things calmly or do they make the biggest fuss imaginable over even the slightest bit of bad news? What drives your characters to react this way? Is your character wary of “drama” and so they make themselves react calmly, no matter what? How do they do this? What led them to decide this was the best way to be? There will be stories behind all of that.

As for news via media, who does get to handle it before the public can know about it? Is there government interference here or are the broadcasters genuinely independent? Who does get to decide what news the public gets to find out about?

Even if there is no official “interference” who gets to make the editorial decisions and can they be “bought” at all? What would happen if they broke a story the government would not/did not want to go public?

Handling the news can be tricky indeed.

MailerLite – Allison Symes – Newsletter Sign Up

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Why Write Fiction

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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 so far. Not bad here. Keeping busy writing wise and Lady is having a lovely time at the park. It is the simple things in life….


Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Pleased to be back on Chandler’s Ford Today with a question which might seem odd for me to ask. My topic is Why Write Fiction and I discuss this in terms of the value of stories.

I also look at how they provide escapism, entertainment, and education and how fiction encourages empathy because you identify with the characters you’re reading about.

Hope you enjoy the post and comments are welcome in the CFT box.

Why Write Fiction

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Despite some damp weather this morning Lady had a lovely time at the park and managed to meet up with her Hungarian Vizler pal. Both were pleased to see each other which is always lovely to see.

Don’t forget my Why Write Fiction post will be up on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow (see above) and I plan to share something of the lovely time I had at The Chameleons Open Evening the following week. Their history is a remarkable one.

Pleased to say there will be a smashing author interview coming up towards the end of July too. Always good to have things to look forward to, I find!

 

Hope today has been a good one for you. Has become very warm again today.

Enjoyed a great discussion on an online editing meeting today. We were thinking about what editors (and I would say this applies to writers just as much) can do to help themselves when the weather does get hot. My thoughts here were on ensuring you keep up a good fluid intake (the non-alcoholic kind!) and having more screen breaks. Mind you if you do drink more to keep fluid intakes up, as you should, the screen breaks will follow out of necessity a little while later.

But it is important to think of these things. Not enough fluid intake will lead to concentration levels dropping. As a result, you will feel more tired more quickly so it is worth doing. This is where Lady helps me. I have to take her out every so often so I get a “furry induced” screen break and that usually leads to a good drink for both of us when we get back again.

Writing wise, I do a lot of my writing in the evening, which is usually a lot cooler and that helps a lot too.

But do look after yourself.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Delighted to be on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest drabble, Fifty. Find out how Melanie comes to the aid of her neighbour Jane, who is not looking forward to hitting a landmark birthday. Mind you, Jane does have a good reason. Find out what here.

Another reason to read widely and well is it will influence what you write. I love fairytales, history, crime, and many other types of fiction so all of those things come into my flash fiction and short stories (not necessarily all at the same time). Reading inspires your own creativity as well as being the single best way to support the industry you want to be part of.

So investing in books (and I do see them as that) is a good idea. I often test out authors new to me by trying their ebooks first and then there are the libraries. Borrowing from there supports them. There are all sorts of ways to develop your own reading and it will encourage your own writing. I’ve found this to be the case.

We all build on what has gone before. Even Isaac Newton acknowledged this when he talked about if he had seen further, it was because he had stood on the shoulders of giants. It’s just as true for writers.


Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting later this month. Will be looking at the theme of perspective.

Talking of which, do you find you have a favourite perspective? Flash fiction has encouraged me to write more in the first person but I do try to balance that by ensuring I write plenty of third person stories too. I sometimes write in the second person but limit this as I think it can come across as gimmicky but for short works it can be effective. You do need a strong “you” character for readers to get behind though.


Fairytales with Bite – Everyday Upsets in a Magical World

How are everyday upsets coped with in your magical world? You know the kind of thing – everything from someone not putting the loo seat down (or up) to putting a spoon in the wrong place in the cutlery drawer.

We might moan at our loved ones on this but what would your magical character(s) do?
Would they just moan or would they do something else given they would have the powers to do so? Or are there rules preventing that kind of thing?

Is magic only allowed to be used for specific purposes? Is it banned from being used for settling petty squabbles and how is that policed? What led to the rules being brought in? Story ideas there, I’m sure.

What would count as an upset in your world with regards to the legitimate use of magic? What would count as a break of the rules? Are minor indiscretions overlooked (student pranks etc) or is every break, no matter how minor or otherwise, clamped down on? Who would do that? What happens to those who cheat and how are they found out? What damage could they do if not stopped?

Again story ideas there. I think there would be potential for humour too.

This World and Others – What Magical Worlds Might Envy from the Non-Magical Ones

This might seem like a strange topic. Surely it would be the other way around? But I think there are possibilities when magical worlds might envy those without such powers.

For one thing, would the magical worlds believe the non-magical ones have fewer complications simply because of the lack of that source of power? Would your magical government have to use extra resources policing the system so it isn’t abused (see Fairytales with Bite above)? Who would it have to rein in and how successful are they in doing this?

Also consider the climate of your setting. Has damage been done to it by too much magic going through it (which would be a good reason for your magical government to envy those without it)? What is done or will be done to deal with that damage?

Also would our world have things your magical world might prefer (such as our beautiful environments, especially if theirs has been damaged due to magic)?

Food for thought there, especially if their world had once been as lovely or better than ours.


MailerLite – Allison Symes – Newsletter Sign Up

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Consistency and When Is A Story Truly Finished?

2 Comments

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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. One image of me with books was taken by Adrian Symes.
Hope you have had a good weekend. It was a Bank Holiday in the UK. Also commemorating the 80th anniversary of VE Day this week. Lots of fascinating and brave stories will come to light this week and it is good we remember. Stories are wonderful things for helping with remembrance.

Facebook – General

Hope you have had a good day. Lady had a lovely time playing with her two best doggy pals again (and should hopefully get to do the same again tomorrow).

Looking forward to sharing Building On What Has Gone Before for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. All writers do this. We need to do it too. More in the post later this week.

Consistency plays a huge part in my writing routine. I focus on certain aspects such as my author newsletter, regularly updating my blog, having time set aside for flash fiction writing and so on. I find it works. I work out my writing tasks over the course of a week and find I cover what I want to do most of the time doing this.

Sure, life gets in the way sometimes, but I just pick things up from where I’ve left off and that’s okay. It’s taken some time for me to be able to reassure myself it is okay but I’ve got there! Learning not to beat yourself up over what you can’t get done because… well, it takes time.

What is, for me, even more important is ensuring I enjoy what I do writing wise. That matters. It is what helps keep me going when life does get in the way because I have it to look forward to again and that cheers me up a lot.

Hope you have had a good start to your week. It’s a Bank Holiday here in the UK and I was pleased I did get to see the flypast over Buckingham Palace to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day. Nice to see some of the talks with veterans too.

Lady had a fabulous time at the park with her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals so her week has begun well. Nice to see the first rhododendrons out too.

Didn’t get to sort out my competition entry as hoped but I hope to do that this week. Having said that, I did have a good weekend writing wise with plenty of other work I needed to get done finished. It’s another reason I give myself plenty of time ahead of any competition deadline. Things like this happen. I’ve got used to that idea and it no longer throws me the way it would once have done.

Hope the weekend has gone well. Enjoyed catching up with some of my fellow Swanwickers on Zoom last night. 

Friday Flash Fiction are having a brief break from taking story submissions but will be reopen again soon. See screenshot.

Question for the Day: When is a story truly finished? It isn’t necessarily when you write those magical words The End. For me, that is the end of Stage 1, getting that draft down. But there does come a point when, having edited as well as possible, you do have to let your story go and get it out there. So for me a story is finished when I have submitted it and it has been accepted.

When it isn’t, I have another look at it, make any improvements I can now see thanks to the break from it, and then have another go at finding a more suitable home for it. Sometimes I can’t see any obvious improvements to make so again try to find a more suitable home.

Sometimes stories are turned down because the editor has recently accepted something on a similar line. It isn’t necessarily the case there was something wrong with your submission.

But I do see the end of my story is when I have placed it somewhere. To me that is happy ending!

Hope you have had a good start to your weekend. Have started wood treating a fence – I know, I know. The glamour of it all!

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Building On What Has Gone Before for Chandler’s Ford Today. Link up next Friday. This topic is something which is true for most people/most industries and writers aren’t exempt. Looking forward to sharing more of this, and why building on what has gone before is a good thing, next week.

Writing Tip: Mix up how and where you get your title ideas from. It will keep things fresher and interesting for you. Also it is a good idea to have more than one way of generating these in any case. I like to have a Plan B, a Plan C etc etc!

I use phrases, proverbs (and sometimes subvert these), as well as using part of my character’s dialogue or their thoughts for a title which I hope acts as a hook to get the reader to find out what the story is about.

I always ask myself would this title interest me if I came across it if it was written by someone else. It’s a good thought to have in mind, I find. Always think of the reader.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Flash fiction is wonderful for capturing those moments which are lovely to write and read but shouldn’t be stretched out or padded to make a standard length short story. Padding never works and I think most readers can easily spot it.

I also like flash for thoughtful slice of life stories which I feel work best when kept short and to the point. Flash helps a lot there with its word count limit!

It’s Monday. Okay, it is a lovely sunny one (mainly) and it’s a Bank Holiday in the UK but it is still Monday. Time for a story then.

Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Acting the Part. Members of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group who were at the most recent meeting may well recognise the opening line here! Hope you enjoy the story.

You work so hard at your job. You know standards are slipping. You think of something which will improve things. How does it go? Find out for this Dark Lord here.

 

Flash fiction has many advantages, including its ability to be a useful warm up writing exercise for those writing longer works. Best of all there is nothing to stop you revising those draft flash pieces and submitting them as well at a convenient time. You have a market for these things now.

Marketing Thought: You’ve written a long piece of work (novella/novel). How about writing some flash pieces to use as advertising for the book itself? For fans, these could be added material to run with your novella/novel. It will be a bonus for them and a way in to the longer work for others.

As ever am looking forward to flash fiction Sunday tomorrow. I hope to get a flash piece out for a competition then too.

Have sent in today a six worder for a fun flash competition linked to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. Great fun to do. Never let anyone tell you the short form is easier than the longer forms of writing. It isn’t necessarily so!

But do bear in mind the six word form makes a great writing exercise. Why not try it sometime? You could also develop the stories further later if you wanted to do that.

Goodreads Author Blog – Short Novels

Most of the novels I read come in at around the 80-90,000 words mark. There are exceptions. The Lord of the Rings is a mammoth of a book but so wonderful.

But I do read under this standard word count. A lot of the anthologies I read/have work in can be under this count but there is a novel too, which stands out for me, and it is always a joy to re-read.

This book has had a huge impact on me (and many others). It comes in at under 60,000 words. It is the magnificent The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey, which made me think again about Richard III. It remains the only fictional work to make me change my mind about a known historical figure.

It is a story about Inspector Alan Grant, confined to a hospital bed, who looks into whether there is a case for Richard III being guilty of the murder of the Princes in the Tower. It is thought provoking to say the least.

What is lovely about this novel is it does what it has to, so to speak, without a word wasted. There is no padding. I can learn from that as a writer. And it does prove short novels can work as well as the much longer ones. Highly recommend checking this one out.

MailerLite – Allison Symes – Newsletter Sign Up

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Character and Story Traits I Love

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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 had a lovely Easter weekend. Sorry to hear about the death of Pope Francis.
Writing going well. Weather a bit of a mixed bag at the moment but that’s April in Britain for you! Lady hopes to catch up with more of her friends as the week goes on.

Facebook – General

Hope you have had a good day. Quiet one in the park with Lady but the weather was good and Lady had a great time running around.

Writing wise, don’t forget my next author newsletter will be out on 1st May, the first one from the new service provider. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

The next edition of Writers’ Narrative will be out before too long as well so do keep an eye out for that too.

Also have exciting writing news I cannot share yet but hope to do so soon. Good start to the week basically!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Mixed bag weather wise today. Nasty but thankfully shortlived storm this afternoon. Lady managed to stay dry this morning and did get to see her Hungarian Vizler pal so all well there.

Looking forward to seeing Sudden Death at Thornbury Manor, the latest show from The Chameleon Theatre Company, with my lovely editor, Janet Williams, later this week. It will be another Chandler’s Ford Today “works outing”. The play is one adapted from the radio and is an interactive murder mystery where the audience can interrogate the cast. Sounds fun and I will review later for CFT.

Talking of CFT, I will have another smashing author interview to share in May but more details on that nearer the time.

Happy Easter to all who celebrate. Lovely church service this morning.

Just to flag up Friday Flash Fiction are wanting submissions sent in from Mondays to Thursdays only. See link for more information.

Planning to submit my competition story next weekend a good way ahead of the deadline. Today has been busier than expected so will be spending today writing flash, editing, writing blogs etc. Lots of “bits and pieces” but I enjoy writing sessions like this. The work mounts up over the course of time too.

Hope the Easter weekend is going well for you so far. Am tuned into the Classic FM Hall of Fame chart (and have been since yesterday) as the new one is unveiled over the long weekend. Am hoping I don’t hear the three I voted for until Bank Holiday Monday! Two of mine made it to the last day of the new chart being unveiled. To quote Meatloaf, “two out of three ain’t bad”!

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Honest and Dishonest Characters for Chandler’s Ford Today. Link up next Friday. After that I will be reviewing The Chameleon Theatre Group’s latest production, Sudden Death at Thornbury Manor, which I’m off to see next week. Ties in nicely with next week’s CFT post given the show is bound to have plenty of both type of characters here!

Writing Tip: Much as I love the outline, do give yourself manoeuvre room. What I mean by that is I don’t plan out every little thing about my characters or my storyline. I just need enough to get started and to have a rough ending in mind. It gives me space to work out how ideas which occur to me as I write my draft (and it happens a lot) will fit in or are better than my original thoughts and I can adjust accordingly.

I usually find if I know enough about my characters an apt story for them will occur from their outline anyway and it is why most of the time I focus on knowing my characters first. The one exception to that is if I am entering a competition with a set theme where the situation has been given to you. I then work out the kind of character which would best suit that situation.

But whether I work with the situation first or with the characters, I always give myself that manoeuvre room as better ideas occur to me. It is one of the laws of writing other better ideas will occur to you as you write your drafts but you need to have written something to generate those or so I have found. But if you have got that manoeuvre room available it is easier to put those better ideas to good use.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope today has gone well for you. Submitted a flash piece yesterday. Am building up a bank of 100 word stories as I have different outlets for them and it is good to have something I know I can call on when I spot a competition I like. There are a number of 100 word competitions out there so it is worth keeping an eye on.

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group next week too. Will be looking at writing in different genres using flash, which is something I do a lot as flash can give you more freedom than you might think. It is just the word count limit you need to watch.

It’s Monday, albeit a Bank Holiday one in the UK. Time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – The Waiting Game. I sometimes write historical flash fiction and this is an example of that.

What someone who could be considered to be the power behind the throne really makes of their role. It isn’t all banquets and flashy clothes. Would you do what my character is preparing to do?

 

Plenty of lovely singing at church this morning including the classic tune of Maccabeus from Handel for Thine be The Glory. This wonderful music often turns up in the Classic FM Hall of Fame, which I am enjoying this weekend. Not heard this one so far this year.

Prompt: Story thought for you. What would your characters like to sing if they could pick one tune? Why would they choose this? There will be a story behind their choice. What could you do with that?

Looking forward to flash fiction Sunday afternoon tomorrow. Am hoping to submit a competition entry as part of that.

When it comes to flash competitions and titles, most of the competitions don’t include the title as part of their word count allowance but there are always exceptions to the rules! I always note whether a competition allows for the title in the word count or not, along with what the overall word count is.

Where a competition does include the title as part of the word count permitted, I allow up to five words for the title. I then write to the story up to whatever word count is remaining. If I end up taking a couple of words out of the title, I can add them to the story or not, depending on whether I need a couple of extra words or not. It is always all right to come in at under the word count stated, unless a competition expressly states they want a specific word count.

Basically, it pays to check and double check the rules. Competitions do vary in their requirements and you don’t want your stories discarded due to not following these things.

It happens. But it doesn’t have to happen to you!

Goodreads Author Blog – Character and Story Traits I Love

One of the things I love about series novels is watching how the characters develop over several books. The best for me for this is the development of Sam Vimes in the much missed Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. 

The transformation in that character is astounding and so well done. Start with Guards! Guards!, work through Men at Arms (which is also a fabulous detective tale) and wind up with Raising Steam and you will see what I mean.

But thinking about this led me to consider those character traits I love to see in fiction. I love courage, honesty, working hard etc and Sam Vimes easily embodies all of those. He’s also not afraid to upset his “superiors” when he needs to do that. I have a soft spot for characters doing that. It usually is deserved!

What I’ve always loved about the classic fairytales is characters deserving of help get it. Those who are arrogant etc are usually brought down a peg or two. But with rare exceptions they do learn their lesson. Oh if only that would happen in life, yes?

One huge advantage to reading widely (across genres as well as types of fiction such as short stories, flash as well as novellas and novels) is you get to see so many more character developments and I have always loved this as a reader. It means even more to me now I’m a writer as well.

MailerLite – Allison Symes Newsletter – Sign Up Link

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

What Makes A Story Work

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Image of me at a local book fair taken by my lovely editor at Chandler’s Ford Today, Janet Williams. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good week. Continuing to enjoy the lovely weather, as is the dog. My camellia (a pretty pink) is now beginning to come out. Looks great. Writing wise again have been busy on Zoom but also doing plenty of “bits and pieces” around this. Has been a good writing week to date.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Hope you have had a good day. Gorgeous weather here.

Delighted to share What Makes A Story Work for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I look at the role of dialogue and description, what you take in from stories you read, understanding the characters, and much more besides. Hope you find the post useful.

What Makes A Story Work

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

3rd April 2025 – 1st post – META protest

Two posts from me tonight.

First up, a protest against outright theft by META. I am standing with #TheSocietyofAuthors against the theft of authors’ books to train AI #dothewritething.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

3rd April – Second post

Just to say I’ll be sharing What Makes A Story Work on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above.

Am looking forward to sharing my next CFT post on 11th April too as it is on a topic every writer will identify with. More details nearer the time.

Have had a good week on Zoom again and an looking forward to another webinar on Storytelling next week. I do think Zoom with its ability to allow people to join in with various writing and other events online has been one of the few positive things to come out of the pandemic. I’d not used it at all prior to that. And it’s thanks to Zoom I’ve rediscovered the joys of PowerPoint, which I use for my Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meetings.

Writing Tip: Do your characters have catchphrases? These can be useful but I’ve found it best to use them sparingly, especially in short form writing. What you don’t want is for readers to get sick of the things. Even the famous comedy characters didn’t use their best known sayings all of the time.

Hope you had a lovely day. Lady had a fabulous “puppy party” with Her Hungarian Vizler friend and Coco, the lovely Labradoodle, though it was more a case of Lady and Coco doing the running around.

Will be sharing What Makes A Story Work on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above. You do pick up so much about this topic simply by reading lots of lovely fiction!

Glad to say my author newsletter went out yesterday. Definitely not an April’s Fool!

Writing Tip: I like to build up a “stock” of flash fiction and blog pieces for later use. I find this pays off a lot during those frantic times when I know I haven’t got much writing time. So when I haven’t a particular writing task to do, I will spend some time writing these because I know it will come in useful later.

So if you are “stuck” for something to write, why not try this? Use a writing exercise or a random generator prompt to start you off (it’s amazing how many of those can also be used for non-fiction).

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Am back on Friday Flash Fiction but this time with a story, It Was There, which comes in at just over the 300 words mark. It is my second entry for the Andrew Siderius competition FFF are running. You could have one story on one theme for the 100 words category and then use the other theme (two are always set for this) for the longer word count category which is what I have done. Hope you enjoy the story.

Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal again today. Good time had by both.

This doesn’t just apply to flash fiction, of course, but do ensure you keep to the right word count for competitions you enter. (This may not apply to novel competitions so much though most would be expecting a word count there of 80K to 100K words). What you don’t want is for a good story to not make the cut because of a rule infringement like that.

But I have found it pays to get the story right first and then worry about the word count. Sometimes I’ve had to put a story which is right but cannot make the word count requirement aside and save it for another competition with a higher “allowance”. It happens sometimes. But I usually do get to use that story in another place later on.


Another lovely sunny day. So nice to be out and about with the dog at the moment. She appreciates it too.

Now getting out and about in the fresh air does us good but how could you apply this to a flash fiction story? Could you get your character going out on their normal walk but with something different happening during it? How would they react to this? What would trigger the “something different”?

Equally if your character goes a different way to their normal walking route, why do they choose to do this? Are they trying to avoid something or someone? What do they notice which they might not have done had they stuck to their normal route and how would this impact them? Does it make them change their thoughts about something or someone?

Story ideas there I hope!

Fairytales with Bite – The Natural World in a Magical Setting

When your setting is a magical one, what would the “natural” world look like? Would this be considered to be any form of life which wasn’t magical in some way? Or would it be the natural backdrops against which your stories are set?

What would your magical characters make of the natural world around them? Do they care for it or treat it with contempt (and is there a natural backlash from that attitude)? Would some of your magical characters care for the natural world – I.e. they would be our equivalent of environmentalists, naturalists etc?

Would your younger characters in the equivalent of schools study their natural world or it is of little interest because it isn’t magical in itself?

Now I would say the natural world is magical in itself when you think about how beautiful it is but would your stars of your setting take the same view?

This World and Others – Environments

What kind of environments does your setting have? Are they similar to what we have? If not, how do they differ? What kind of atmosphere does your setting have? Do your characters need oxygen, water etc? If not, what do they require instead and how are these produced? Are these things produced naturally or do they have to be manufactured and if the latter how is that done?

Do your characters live in what we would consider to be a pleasant environment or is that the privilege of a few? Is your setting’s overall environment better or worse than what we have here, especially in terms of things like pollution? Has your setting been better in the past and, if so, what changed?

What would your world consider to be “science”? It is approved of by those who are magical or do they see this as being too like humanity for comfort? Could there be snobbery against science here? How would the working environment be in your setting if this is the case?

Those who are scientists as we understand the term could have a hard time indeed here in terms of being “socially acceptable” and being able to get anything they do accepted by those around them.

Environments don’t have to be comfortable!

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Relatable Characters

Leave a comment

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Lovely one here and even more spring flowers emerging. Good to see. Lady enjoying the better weather too. Busy on the writing front but had a productive weekend, which always pleases me.

Facebook – General

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope the day has gone well. Nice one here.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Goodreads Author Blog – Beginnings

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Zooming Around and Author Anniversaries

Leave a comment

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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. Had a fabulous birthday weekend. Lovely to see folks. A huge thanks too for all of the online birthday wishes. Lady had a great time too. Now back to the writing work…

Facebook – General

Looking forward to going to an online book launch later this evening. Lovely way to end a Tuesday!
Will be sharing Springtime in Words and Music on Chandlers Ford Today on Friday. Nice to finally have the weather to go with a post like that!

Hope to have more time this coming weekend to explore more competitions to try. Have a draft story ready for one of the regular ones I go in for so also hope to edit that and submit in a week or so.

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again in a few days time. To sign up head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com and many thanks for all of you who subscribe. The support is much appreciated.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Hope you have had a good day. Hectic here but then it is Monday. Looking forward to going to a friend’s online book launch tomorrow evening plus I then have the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Wednesday. I will be “zooming” around. Sorry, couldn’t resist that one.

Writing Tip: What do your characters do with their spare time? Do any of their hobbies and interests have a bearing on what they do in the story? Do any of your characters take up a hobby or interest which they know will help them later? Does it pay off?

Hope you’re having a lovely Sunday. Enjoying a quiet one after a fabulous do yesterday. So good to see everyone. Lady is still pretty tired from yesterday!

Writing wise, will be getting on with flash fiction Sunday shortly. I hope to have another go at the Andrew Siderius competition being run by Friday Flash Fiction at the moment (they do this annually). This time I will have to write in the 151 words + category. You can only enter one story per category and my story last week was a classic 100 worder.

Busy week coming up. Will be going to an online book launch and the following night I will be leading the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group. All will be fun though!

22nd March 2025
A huge thank you for the wonderful birthday messages. Much appreciated. Had a fabulous day with family and friends today. Lady is shattered but then she was hosting a spaniel family member (and yes the spaniel went home very tired but happy too!).

Writing wise, I’ll be celebrating Springtime in Words and Music for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. I’ll also be looking at ways of using spring itself in our stories. More on that next week.

Meantime I’m looking forward to flash fiction Sunday tomorrow. Have another competition entry I want to sort out too.


Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope the day has gone well. Lady had her usual wonderful time over the park. Always good to see that.

Sometimes when I am out and about, I will spot things I think I can use in a story. It’s okay. I’m not a spy, honest. But I will see, for example, an interesting coloured hat, or catch a snatch of conversation I know I can turn into something a character of mine would say and so on. Incidentally, I should add the original people having the conversation would never know I’d used it even if they read my story out loud in front of me and I remembered it was them saying it originally.

Why? Simply because I have one golden rule here – never use anything directly, I am treating these things as prompts and then put my own spin on them. That’s where the creativity comes in.

So if my interesting coloured hat was a purple trilby, I would turn it into a lime green knitted hat – you get the kind of thing. But it will be little details like this which will help make my characters and their stories stand out. Colours and items, not necessarily clothing, can make it easier for readers to picture your setting and your characters.

It’s Monday. It’s been even more hectic than usual my end. Definitely time for another story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Breaking the Contract.

It seems anyone can succumb to the lure of chocolate but for some at least there are consequences…

I know the theme for my Friday Flash Fiction story this week and will be working on that soon. I like to enter a range of competitions and tend to find I have a rough split between those where the theme is set and the other kind where it isn’t. I love both. It’s a good idea to regularly practice writing to both types then you will be ready for any competition coming your way.

One thing about using the random generators (or books or prompts) is it does give you practice at writing to themes not set by you. I plan to have another look for more competitions to have a go at next weekend, when I should have more time. 

Good luck if you are sending in any stories shortly.

22nd March 2025 –

Well, my birthday do went by in a flash, somewhat appropriately given what I write! Great fun.

On a somewhat more serious note, life is made up of good moments and I aim to treasure the ones which come my way.

Now there’s a thought you can use for your flash and other stories too. Which moments would your characters treasure and why? Also which moments are they glad they would never see again and why?

Bound to be some story ideas there.

Goodreads Author Blog – Author Anniversaries – P.G. Wodehouse

Often when we think about author anniversaries, we’re commemorating the birth, sometimes the death, of globally renowned authors such as Jane Austen, Charles Dickens etc. Or it can be the anniversary of when one of their most famous books was first published, you know the kind of thing here.

But 2025 sees a strange author anniversary for one writer and where the events took place within weeks of each other. In early 1975 the wonderful humorous author, P.G Wodehouse was finally knighted. In February 2025, sadly he died. So this year sees the 50th anniversary of these things and the P.G. Wodehouse Society (UK) has been commemorating these. (I’m a member).

I love Wodehouse’s way with the English language. It is simply brilliant and his characters live on in your head long after you’ve finished reading the stories. I even like Wodehouse’s golf stories and I hate the game as I do see it as a good walk ruined! There aren’t many writers who could achieve making someone read about a subject they are really not keen on. Even fewer can make them enjoy it!

Wodehouse’s characters live on in the forms of Jeeves and Wooster, Lord Emsworth, Uncle Fred, and so many more. There are some books of letters out written by the great man too and they’re well worth a read as they’re a fascinating insight into the writing life he enjoyed.

You also get to see his wartime controversy from his viewpoint (and I would add had the Nazis got irony at the time Wodehouse would have been in real trouble. Check out the reproductions of his radio speeches which caused so much trouble and you will see what I mean).

But above all check out his stories, Especially when life is grim, and it is right now, they are a tonic and I happily recommend them just on those grounds.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Writing Competition Tips

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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. Weather becoming cold again but generally dry. Pleased to have finally submitted a long term project this week – if I don’t hear within a certain time frame, it’s a no. Continuing to get stories and blog posts done. All enjoyable, to write, which is how I like it.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Pleased to share Writing Competition Tips on Chandler’s Ford Today and I hope you find it useful. 

I share why even if you’re not listed or win, it is still an invaluable thing to do to enter writing competitions regularly and discuss why following the rules to the matters is vital. You’d think this is obvious but I’ve had the privilege of judging some competitions and it isn’t always done.

I also look at checking word counts, getting word counts and online forms for submission correct, and much else besides.

Writing Competition Tips

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Today would have been Mum’s 91st birthday. She taught me to read long before I started school and my love of books and stories comes directly from her.

Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals and also saw the lovely Coco and Daisy as well. It was a lovely puppy party in the park today though it was a chilly one.

Writing wise, I’m sharing Writing Competition Tips on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow.  See above. Hope it will prove useful.

The following week, I’ll be interviewing the lovely Joy Wood and she has a thing or two to say about competitions as well – more details nearer the time – and much else besides. All useful stuff for any writer. Looking forward to sharing that too.

Managed to finalise my long term project and submit it last night. If I don’t hear within six months, it’s a no. Meantime, I’ll crack on with other writing work.

 

Lady has had a great day as she got to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals again. She’s had a good week so far.

Will be sharing Writing Competition Tips on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above.

Many thanks for the support re my newsletter. Next one will be out on 1st April and that isn’t an April Fool’s, honestly! To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Will also be having a piece on Authors Electric out in a few days time.

Over the weekend, I hope to look out for a couple of other story competitions to have a crack at as I’ve got an objective this year to try to enter more of these. It will make me produce more stories, if nothing else. Besides which it is fun coming up with stories and I’ve found it to be true the more I write, the more ideas I generate. I like that aspect too!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Delighted to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale, Picking a Favourite. I suspect many writers will identify with this one. Hope you enjoy it.
Flash fiction isn’t new, far from it. Its name may have changed over time (I know of micro fiction, sudden fiction, and many more names besides), but the format is an ancient one. Think about Aesop’s Fables or Jesus’s parables in the Bible – pretty much all of these come in at under 1000 words.

And the format is a brilliant one for punchline endings, twist in the tale endings, and if you want to get a message across in a succinct but entertaining way. This was especially important back when literacy was reserved only for the privileged few and when the majority would have taken in stories via the oral tradition. It’s much easier to remember a short story than a long one!

Most writers will encounter writing exercises in courses and workshops. You never get very long to have a crack at these things during the session as you usually get about five minutes or so. But the material you come up with here could be turned into polished and published flash fiction tales. Why not have a go?

Good questions to ask potential characters for a flash story:-

  • What is the one single moment you think is the most important? It should be clear from the answer why that is and there should be inklings of a story idea forming from this.
  • What would you say is your main attitude to life and give some indication of why it is this one.
  • What one thing would you never do and what would you do when faced with it?

Good outline right there – have fun!

Fairytales With Bite – Lines Never Said by Magical Characters but Should Have Been

Just sometimes, because my mind works this way, I think of lines magical characters could’ve said but didn’t. Hope you enjoy the following.

Red Riding Hood – My granny has never been that hairy, wolfie, and my eyesight’s fine. I’m not as stupid as you think. Yes, this is a shotgun.

Aladdin – And this piece of rug is supposed to keep me from certain doom is it? Tell me, how does it fly again? A few magic words, hmm? Do you mind if I walk?

Humpty Dumpty – I’m an egg. I’m oval. What could possibly go wrong if I fall from this wall? Hmm.. Think I’ll go somewhere safer.

Hansel and Gretel – Let’s put stones down to follow home rather than the bread. On the other hand, maybe we should find somewhere better to live. I don’t recall Father standing up for us that well.

Cinderella – So you’re my fairy godmother are you? Where the hell have you been?

Well, they would have a point, wouldn’t they?

This World and Others – Languages and Usages

In your setting, how many languages are there? Are they all spoken by many? Do they all have a written system? Are certain languages used for business/politics with others used for cultural or other reasons?

How did the languages develop? Was it a question of one species colonizing everywhere else and imposing their language or is there much more co-operation between your different peoples so languages are shared in a more friendly manner?

Are certain languages used for reading, entertainment etc? Or is there one overall language everyone knows and the others are then a question of cultural choice?

What is your literacy rate on your setting and are some languages encouraged and other discouraged? Why would that be? What would happen to anyone going against this?

How is the teaching of languages done? Are all encouraged to learn more than one language?

Where language represents cultures, are any suppressed and why would that be? Could you tell stories about an underground movement against this?

Story ideas there I think.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.