Tag: creativity

Being Interviewed

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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. One image in my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week was kindly supplied by Wendy H Jones but added to by me thanks to the wonder that is Book Brush! Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good few days. Has turned cold and bright here but Lady and I love autumn days like this. Writing going well. Had a lovely time at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group where we looked at linked flash. I’ve written more of that for my Seeing The Other Side. Good fun to do.

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Pleased to be back on Chandler’s Ford Today with my latest post, Being Interviewed. This has come about because I am about to be interviewed for Writers’ Narrative in the forthcoming October edition about Short Form Fiction. More news on that next week.

Meantime, this post shares hints and tips about preparing for interviews, even if you are not published yet, or if this kind of thing seems a long way off. There is much to learn from author interviews right now.

I also look at what I think makes for a good interview and discuss prep work needed by interviewer and interviewee alike.

Hope you find the post useful.

Being Interviewed

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Another lovely autumn day at the park for Lady and I. We hope to catch up with her best buddy tomorrow.

Writing wise, don’t forget my post on Being Interviewed, which is full of useful tips, will be out on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above.

It’s also not long before the next issue of Writers’ Narrative is due out but, meantime, why not check out the current issue, which is full of useful information about publishing. 

 

Hope today has gone well. An odd one for me as today would have been my late parents’ wedding anniversary. Lovely autumn day, another one of the kind Lady and I love though, so a joy to get to the park though we didn’t see any doggy chums today. Also looking forward to ACW Flash Fiction Group meeting tonight. It was good!

Will be sharing Being Interviewed on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I share tips and thoughts on handling interviews which will be useful, even if you have not been published yet and this kind of thing seems a long way off. (It may well come around sooner than you think!). See above – and I was glad I prepared for interviews ahead of actually having them. It paid. See CFT for more.

Writing Tip: You know your character. You know what drives them. Do you know what kind of vocabulary they would use? Would they have any pet phrases which could reveal something about them? Do they have any pet phrases which others could use “at them”? I can think of some my late parents did use with me. Am not saying what! But you could use this kind of thing to give even greater depth to your characters and make them seem more real to your readers.

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Friday Flash Fiction is taking a short break from submissions and won’t take any until after 3rd October. Do see the screenshot and I hope all at FFF enjoy a well earned break.

But if you want a great read do check out the link as there is plenty to enjoy here.

In other news, I’ve booked my ticket for the Bridge House Publishing celebration event in December. It will be great to catch up with fellow flash fiction and short story writers here. Looking forward to this already. 

Don’t forget my next author newsletter will be out next week. I share tips, flash fiction story links, news, and much more. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

A huge thank you to all of my subscribers – the support is much appreciated.

There is another flash fiction competition I want to make sure I have a go at before the end of the year so hope to start work on a piece for this over the weekend.

Also delighted the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group yesterday on the theme of linked flash went well. People had plenty of cracking ideas here and I hope they go on to write the stories up.

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What makes your character’s irritable, other than things like tiredness, not feeling well, overwork etc? What would happen if they had to face something which would trigger their irritable mood but they couldn’t react in the normal way they would do? Perhaps they are trying to impress someone so know they have to rein the irritability in somehow.

How do they do it? Does it pay off? If they can’t keep the irritability in, how would the other character react? Would they prefer your lead character to just be honest in the first place?

Definite story ideas there.

Fairytales with Bite – Celebrations

Shortly, I’ll be hosting a family celebration – everyone is looking forward to it – but what would this kind of thing look like in your setting, especially if magic is involved or could be involved? I must admit I love the opening of The Lord of The Rings with Gandalf’s fireworks. Rightly these are spectacular.

So how would your magical characters celebrate anything? How would the governing powers arrange state celebrations (or commemorations for that matter. Sometimes a commemoration can involve an element of celebration especially if you are recalling a moment of deliverance, say).

Would your characters use magic or any other form of power they have to help with their celebrations? Are certain powers only used for this kind of thing and who developed these things and the rules for their usage?

How long do the celebrations go on for and does everyone have a good time (I personally would hope they would!)?

This World and Others – Official Events

Linking with Fairytales with Bite above, how would official events be run? Are these all sombre occasions or is there a mixture of celebratory and commemorative events? What would be the history behind these things? Is magic involved in running these events of would that be deemed inappropriate if, say, one event involved remembering the misuse of magic and the consequences of that?

Are all of your characters pleased to take part or witness these commemorative/official ceremonies or do any of them see it all as a waste of time/public money/both? Do any of your characters protest/otherwise try to disrupt these things and, if so, what are the consequences? Would the “general public” (in whatever forms they are!) be against for for them?

Are there events your characters feel should be commemorated officially but are not and, if so, why was that decision taken and by whom and can it be changed?

Story ideas there!

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WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

As I shared the September 2025 issue above, I thought I’d pick out a back issue for this spot. All great reading.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Autumn Gathering, Flash NANO 2024, and Story Moods

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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, as were photos from the recent Autumn Gathering event which the Association of Christian Writers held earlier this month. Image of me at the recent Book Fair was taken by Janet Williams, my lovely editor at Chandler’s Ford Today. My book stand shot there was taken by me though.
Hope you’ve had a good weekend. Clocks went back an hour in the UK over the weekend. I was glad of the lie in though deep down I wish they’d pick one time and stick with it but there you go. Lady is not fazed by this at all. When she decides it’s time to get up, it’s time to get up! Writing wise, am looking forward to taking part in Flash NANO once more, starting on Friday. Good luck if you are taking part in this or NaNoWriMo (and even better luck if you’re attempting both!).

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It’s good to be back again on More than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. I discuss the Autumn Gathering this time, reflect on a wonderful day held earlier this month in Rugby, and look at the value of getting together with other writers, in person and/or online. Hope you enjoy the post.

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Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today and we managed to avoid most of the rain so not a bad start to a Monday, I guess.

Managed to get a lot of writing and editing done over the weekend so well pleased with that. Today I’ll get less done simply because Mondays are always hectic for me but this is where “little bits and pieces” of writing come into their own. I’m still being creative. I still get work done, I get to tick things of my list, Win-win-win there!

It has taken me a while to do it but I have become better at working out what I can do with the amount of time I’ve got to write and it is paying off.

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Hope you have had a good weekend. Weather lovely here today, the kind of autumn day I like.

Writing Tip: Next Friday, I shall be beginning my Flash NANO “campaign” and what I have found useful here is to have a go at each prompt as they come in. I don’t worry about editing or polishing up until after the event ends.

On days when I’m too busy to even have a go at a prompt, I get back to Flash NANO as soon as I can, resume from where I’ve left off and then eventually catch up. But again no editing or polishing until after 30th November.

By then my earlier stories have had plenty of time to “rest” and I can then evaluate them with a much clearer eye. Good luck to all taking part in this or NaNoWriMo.

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Hope you have had a good start to the weekend. Wet and horrible this morning, lovely and sunny this afternoon – sums autumn up well, I think.

Hope you enjoyed Part 1 of my interview with Debz Hobbs-Wyatt re her If Crows Could Talk on Chandler’s Ford Today yesterday. Part 2 follows next Friday and again there is going to be plenty of useful writing advice and thoughts for wherever you are in your writing journey. Do look out for this.

Will be reviewing I’ll Be Back Before Midnight for Friday 8th November. Great show, phenomenally strong storyline, and I look forward to sharing more about what made it so in my CFT post.

Has been nice to have a quieter weekend given the last two have been busy but fun but I also appreciate the quieter ones, especially at this time of year just before things hot up again for Christmas – yes, there I’ve said it!

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Only a few days to go before the start of Flash NANO for another year – hooray! It’s an enjoyable challenge and the prompts are interesting; some I’ve done before, others I haven’t. All good for stretching the old imagination.

Will be looking at festive flash fiction for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting in November. Know we’ll have fun with this. It’s a wider topic than might at first appear given you can look at various traditions, including the Christian one, for inspiration here.

The other way of mixing up your flash types is to try different styles (as well as vary your word count). Why not try an all dialogue story? Why not write a story form one character’s viewpoint and then flip it around and write another one from another’s point of view?

Two people can have widely differently interpretations of situations. You can get something out of that for two flash stories here. Your tale from Character A’s viewpoint will be different to the one told by Character B. Your reader can have fun working out who was right!

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It’s Monday. It’s the first one since the clocks went back in the UK. It’s pitch black now at 6.pm as I write this. Definitely time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – The Way The Cookie Crumbles.

Chocolate chip cookies with Gran sounds wonderful but what will Gran reveal which may come as a surprise to her daughter and granddaughter? Find out here.

Author newsletter out again next week. Hard to believe we’re almost at November. Have got a couple of flash competitions I want to draft something for but hope to get around to this during the coming week or so.

I sometimes know what the mood of the story is going to be from the word go – this is often the case with competitions with set themes. So then I figure out what kind of character would best suit that mood.

I also want to know my character can “deliver” on the story, that they’re worth writing about and they will suit the theme. It’s one reason why I find character traits a useful way into writing a story and working out which traits would suit the mood of the tale.

There is no shortage of traits and we all can draw on our own experiences of them, I think it helps make your stories seem more real, no matter how fantastical the setting, because they’re based on traits we all know and identify with.

464632843_10162367610202053_1053634426870491839_nLots happening towards the end of next week. My November newsletter will be out, of course, and I’ll be starting my Flash NANO campaign for another year on the same day, 1st November.

My train tickets for the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event have arrived – two days after I ordered them at the weekend. Always impressed with this. So looking forward to going to the event again.

Will be fun to find out what prompts come up for Flash NANO this time. New, at least to me for this year, was the chance to submit a credited prompt. I have sent one in but don’t know if it will be taken. Will share after November (if I remember!) if it isn’t.

But I enjoyed thinking of something to send in. And I haven’t written a story to my prompt already. If it gets picked, I’ll do it on the day it’s chosen. That for me is a crucial element to the fun of Flash NANO – joining in with everyone else on the same day.

AE - January 2023 - Story moods varied with the prompts but I liked that about Flash NANO

Goodreads Author Blog – Memory Books

When my now late mother was in care, memory books were a big thing in her care home and these were so beautifully produced. They looked like large scrapbooks and they were on different topics.

One of my favourite ones was old advertising signs. Brought back so many memories which, naturally, was the idea. I have come across the odd one of those on Amazon but it struck me you could make your own and use the memories triggered as your own story prompts. (You could use your own photos, say).

But you can also use books themselves this way. I inherited several from my mother and every time I see them those bring back memories. Some of my own books now (especially those by the likes of Wodehouse and Pratchett) have now had newer editions of the same stories issued. Though for Pratchett I much prefer those with the covers by Josh Kirby. The colourful images are so apt for Discworld.

Certain books I re-read at certain times of year because they are either (a) appropriate for the season or (b) much loved books I have to get a re-read in during the year somehow. Lovely memories associated with both types.

And then there are my special shelves. Here I have books I’ve written and/or contributed to plus books signed for me by their authors, all good friends of mine. Lovely memories of getting them to sign for me too.

Just more proof, if it were needed, books are indeed wonderful things! And while I would never be without the Kindle you can’t beat the paperback either.

Screenshot 2024-10-26 at 17-31-53 Allison Symes's Blog - Memory Books - October 26 2024 09 31 Goodreads

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Back to the beginning with the first edition of the magazine, the August 2023 issue. I talk about Boost Your Writing with Flash Fiction. Well, I would now, wouldn’t I? And it really won’t be long now before the magazine is back out again.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Favourite Aspects of Writing

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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 had a good weekend. Had a lovely time with family for a family birthday. Lady had a smashing time. Lots of cuddles, extra food, and she just adores being with people. One shattered but happy dog at the end of the evening! Writing going well and will have another workshop to do in November which I’m looking forward to doing. Not that far away now. I can hardly believe we’re into October already.

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It’s hard to say what is my favourite thing about writing.

For fiction, I love coming up with characters. Always did like the idea of inventing my own people/other beings of choice. This is from a woman who has written from the viewpoint of a mother dragon, mind you!

For non-fiction, I love it when an idea for a blog post sparks other ideas and I know the post will end up being useful and I hope entertaining too. I am so glad the days of dull but worthy non-fiction works has finally bitten the dust. Not before time. I recall going to libraries as a child and the non-fiction section contained rows of huge encylopedias and the like. Wasn’t going to encourage me to read there – and I loved reading back then just as much as I do now.

I think most people have creative skill. It’s a question of working out what it is and then deciding if you want to develop it or not. I can’t draw. I can sing. I can’t dance. I can write. There has to be a creative outlet somewhere – or at least there has to be for me and writing is it.

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Lady got to play with her two special girlfriends, the Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler, today. Great time had by all. Missed the thunder and heavy rain thankfully – that came in later. Lady thankfully isn’t frightened of storms but she doesn’t like them either. Her policy is to get up and move to what she considers to be the safest room in the house. Once she’s done that, she’s happy again!

Many thanks for the comments coming in on The Old Days, my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction. Have you been to a school reunion? See what my characters make of their one in this story.
Screenshot 2023-09-29 at 10-11-20 The Old Days by Allison Symes

Wow! October already. Author newsletter out earlier today. I share some thoughts on finding ideas this time along with the usual news and story links. Hope you enjoy.

Will be celebrating the joys of The Writing Community for Chandler’s Ford Today later this week. Looking forward to sharing that post on Friday.

It was fantastic to catch up with my lovely editor here, Janet Williams, in person yesterday. Great to have a good chat and I am looking forward to seeing Wyrd Sisters with her to be performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group towards the end of the month.

It will be the first time I’ve seen a Discworld play and given the story is such a strong one, I just know the play will be something special. Plan to review in due course for CFT.

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Posting at a different time today as have a family birthday do. Lady loves these events. Everyone makes a good fuss of her and she usually gets more snacks than usual. It isn’t even her birthday! See photo above! Fab time doesn’t begin to cover it…

What events would your characters want to celebrate? If your story is in a fantasy/sci-fi setting, are birthdays celebrated as we know them or is the date of birth considered irrelevant? Could they consider the day someone graduates to be more important, for example? What events would characters be compelled to honour in some way, whether that compulsion is imposed by family, friends, the wider society, or the government?

There needs to be a sense your characters have a life away from your story. You can imagine Character X going to school even if that is not part of the tale. Characters will have memories so what would they consider important enough to recall?

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope you have had a good day. One of my favourite writing exercises is to jot down promising opening lines I will flesh out at a later date. I often use odd pockets of time for this and the great thing is when I have more time at my desk I’ve already got ideas to think about.

If an opening line still grips me a couple of weeks or so after I drafted it, I then run with it. I outline my character and work out how that opening line would apply to them. That nearly always sparks the kind of story they would have to be in for this to happen. Basic story structure in place and away I go with my first draft.

My opening line from Seeing Is Believing (Tripping The Flash Fantastic) reads When Ben was unwell, strange signs appeared in the sky above his house. That was fun to flesh out! I worked out who Ben was (not all of this is in the story. Only I needed to know it). I also worked out from that why strange signs would be associated with him. Then I was away on my first draft.

As I am writing flash and short stories a lot, I am always looking for ways into character creation. I also like mixing up the kinds of writing exercise I use. It keeps me on my toes and they all generate ideas.

TTFF with social media icons
It’s Monday. Autumn is really coming in now with the dark evenings starting in my part of the world as early as 7 pm. It’s still Monday. There has been heavy rain. Dog really wished it hadn’t thundered, though not scared of it. (She just moves to what she thinks is the safest part of the world and treats it as an inconvenience!). Definitely time for a story then. Hope you enjoy Escape, my latest on YouTube. One of my darker tales, this one.

 

Amazon have an offer on the paperback of From Light to Dark and Back Again. Details in the link below. A fantastic review here refers to FLTDBA as “An eclectic mix of flash fiction, from an author with a great imagination.” I always appreciate reviews received and it is a great way to give some feedback to an author.

So please do consider leaving reviews. My example above proves it doesn’t have to be long. As well as being an obvious morale boost, reviews can help authors with their marketing. I review too – and not just on books.

I do a fair amount of online shopping and I always check the reviews out on products new to me. I find them a useful guide. And yes I am a great believer in reviewing and being reviewed – to me it is only right to be on both sides of the coin here!


Posting outside usual times due to family commitments (nice ones!). Flash has to focus on moments. Events are often held around a specific moment such as a birthday in a character’s life or an event considered to be important if it is some sort of ceremony. Can you use this as a backdrop to your tale?

If it is meant to be central, your flash tale will focus on why an event is important to your character but you can’t go on at length. So hone down your event to a specific thing your character is focussed on – an outline for your story will come from that.

If the event is a birthday, your character may wish to focus on the cake. Maybe they never had one before? Maybe their attempts at baking have gone wrong and someone has come to their rescue meaning for once they’re looking forward to eating their birthday cake?

You get the idea. I’ve found figuring out what really matters to my character helps me to write them and their tale up more efficiently.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Books as Presents

I’ve long loved receiving books as presents. Next best thing is receiving book tokens so I can go out and buy my own books later. And I love giving books too. If I’ve loved a book, I can think of nothing more lovely than sharing that experience with a friend by getting them to read the book too.

Paperbacks and audio books are by far the easiest formats to go for and I must admit I love seeing book shaped presents under the Christmas tree. Okay, you can’t really disguise them but why would you want to? The anticipation of discovering what book has been bought for you is great. Don’t want anything spoiling that.

Matching up books with friends is a fun game too (and a nice one). Putting potential book lists together is also a pleasurable task and I will be starting mine soon for the Christmas season. Readers and writers are the easiest people in the world to buy presents for – we always want books. Well done, us!

As for books I’ve received, all are treasured. People have chosen well for me and I appreciate that.

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES
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Starting and Finishing and Creativity

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Some images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing.
Hope you had a good weekend. Nice quiet one here but lots of exciting news to report this time plus I hope a useful blog I prepared for the Association of Christian Writers on Starting and Finishing.

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Facebook – General

You know how sometimes there is no news and then all of a sudden there is loads to share – well today is one of those days for me.

Delighted to say my new author newsletter is now out there (for more do see https://mailchi.mp/22ec1b09a6da/allison-symes-february-2022-newsletter).

Many thanks also for the comments in on Tears Before Lunch, my most recent Friday Flash Fiction story. See https://www.fridayflashfiction.com/100-word-stories/tears-before-lunch-by-allison-symes for more.

And I’m delighted to share the link to the brand new edition of Mom’s Favorite Reads which is free. See https://moms-favorite-reads.com/2022/02/01/moms-favorite-reads-emagazine-february-2022/ – the range of articles in here is amazing. Do check it out.

Has also been a good day for another reason – I’ve booked my place for the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School in August. Can’t wait to go and there is plenty to look forward to before then.

I’ll be at the Scottish Association of Writers conference in March and running a workshop on flash fiction there. So looking forward to that – https://www.scottishassociationofwriters.com/workshops-speakers/

 

Hope Monday hasn’t been too trying. Newsletter out tomorrow, new story video out (will share link on my book page shortly), and pleased to have submitted a new story to Friday Flash Fiction. I’ll be discussing Dialogue in Fiction for my Chandler’s Ford Today post on Friday.

I use more dialogue in my short stories (1500 words plus) than in flash though I am counting thoughts as internal dialogue and I do use that a lot in flash. It’s a great way of taking you straight into a character’s head and showing you their thoughts and attitudes. You see things as they see them and I think it a good way of developing character empathy. Okay you may not always agree with them but that’s another matter! You at least see where they are coming from.

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Hope you have had a good weekend. Lovely to catch up with writing friends on Zoom last night. Always such a morale boost. Am getting my next author newsletter up together ready for sending out next week. If you would like to sign up for tips, prompts, news, stories etc., head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

What would you say was your favourite kind of story? I suppose mine comes from my life long love of fairytales in that I love to see wrong being righted and the underdog to do well. Mind you, that does open up a lot of possibilities for reading material as well as for writing stories. Wrong being righted is a common theme to crime stories after all. And the underdog aka the hero nobody expects to be a hero is a common theme in fantasy.

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I talk about Starting and Finishing for More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers, this month.

I discuss how I often get into starting a story by using a random generator and share why spider diagrams are so helpful too. As for the other end of the story, I look at how for twist in the tale stories, it is a good idea to write that twist down first and then look at what could lead to that point.

I also look at whether planning your work out kills off spontaneity.

Hope you enjoy the post and find it useful.

 

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

The new edition of Mom’s Favorite Reads is out and you can download it for free. See the link at https://moms-favorite-reads.com/2022/02/01/moms-favorite-reads-emagazine-february-2022/ for more.

In my column this month (see Page 42), I talk about Creativity. I look at some of the different ways I use to trigger story ideas and fuel my own creativity (and I discuss picture prompts and random generators amongst other things. I hope to talk more about random generators for a future column as these are so useful). My theme for people to write to this time was What Creativity Means to Me and the responses to that were wonderful but don’t just take my word for it – go and treat yourself to a good and free read!

 

Hope you enjoy my new YouTube story – No B Gratitude. This story was inspired by something that came up on a random question generator – the question was what was the most recent silly thing you’ve done?
So I got my character to show you! (There’s also a pun in the choice of music chosen for this one – I was so pleased to find it available to use from YouTube’s comprehensive audio library which is the audio equivalent of Pixabay for photos).

Just to flag up there is an offer on From Light to Dark and Back Again at the moment over on Amazon.

What do I love most about reading flash fiction by other writers? Firstly I learn a lot from seeing what other people do with the format. Secondly, I love to see what writers do when writing to the same theme and word count.

The Waterloo Art Festival Writing Competitions held in the last few years were a great example of this – the fifteen winners for each year, including yours truly, all wrote to the same theme and word count yet the stories were so vastly different.

Last but not least, it encourages me to “up my game” and see what I can do better. Why is that a good thing? Because it fuels the old creativity “grey cells” and helps me produce (a) more work and (b) better work because I have tried to stretch myself a bit.

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Twist endings work beautifully in flash fiction precisely because you don’t have to wait long for the pay-off! I’ve always loved that aspect of things. And the nice thing here is you don’t have to limit twist endings to crime stories, though that is the obvious home for them.

Twist endings can also be punchlines so will work well for humorous tales. And a monologue can be enlivened by a surprise ending too. For this kind of tale, I always write the twist first and then work backwards to get to the start. It seems an odd way of doing things to begin with but you do get used to it. It also means you have a logical plot leading to that final twist. You don’t want your twist let down by a weak start or flabby middle.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Books and Trains

Books and trains are a match made in heaven (especially publishing heaven!). As well as stories inspired by train (and my favourite here is Murder on the Orient Express – the ultimate train, yes?!), books are the best form of portable entertainment and a fabulous way of passing the time.

I must admit I wait to read until I know I am on the train I want otherwise there is the risk I will still be reading at the platform long after the train has gone! (It helps a lot if I know I’m going somewhere like London Waterloo which is the end of the line as I know I can’t miss my stop either!).

It is no coincidence that the major stations have bookshops on them. For me the perfect way to escape the cares of the world is to read, ideally while listening to classical music via my headphones. (If there’s a cup of tea or hot chocolate to hand, even better!) And if I’m not reading stories while travelling, I am writing my own so I love that too.

It probably helps that I write flash fiction which a dear friend described as a “bus stop read”. It works well on trains too!

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Share Your Story Summit and Musical Connections

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Image Credit:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated.

Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing.

Book signing images for From Light to Dark and Back Again were taken by my lovely editor at Chandler’s Ford Today, Janet Williams.

Lady looking on unimpressed as I signed Tripping the Flash Fantastic was an image taken by Adrian Symes.

Images from the Share Your Story Writing Summit provided by them to all presenters (and am thrilled to share what follows!).

Details of the summit below. Will also be issuing a bonus newsletter shortly with full details of the summit too. 

To sign up for my newsletter (with giveaway) please sign up here.

3. writers IG 2021

Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today


Pleased to share my Chandler’s Ford Today post for this week. Musical Connections was a joy to write and listen to (see the post for some wonderful Youtube clips) and I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks for the great comments on this so far.

Over the next couple of weeks, I plan to share a couple of posts on topics I hope will be useful. I plan to discuss book trailers and videos and give some useful pointers for where to go for down-to-earth advice when new to the writing game (though that will still be handy for older hands given timely reminders are always helpful! I know I find them handy!).

Thrilled to bits to be taking part in the Share Your Story summit later on in the month and am looking forward to giving a Zoom talk to a WI affiliated group just ahead of when the summit starts.

Slap bang in the middle of the summit will be when my recent interview with #HannahKate will be broadcast, link to follow in due course.

So lots going on but all of it fun and that’s the way I like it!

Quick reminder that my Musical Connections post is up on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow and I hope it leads to plenty of lovely meanderings down Memory Lane. It certainly had that effect on me!

But the big news is I can now share more details of the international writing summit I’m taking part in. This is the first event of this kind I’ve taken part in as a presenter (though I have been to others as an audience member and loved them).

I will be producing a bonus newsletter with full details over the next couple of days so please sign up to my newsletter via my website (allisonsymescollectedworks.com) if you would like that.

I’m planning to produce a quick Local Author News Update post for CFT probably sometime next week outside of my usual Friday slot as well. Will flag these up as and when they’re about.

Meanwhile, the main points:-

Summit is from 18th to 23rd March 2021.

Summit is called the Share Your Story Writing Summit and features a wide range of authors and topics.

There is limited free access with 3 to 4 presenters on any one day of the summit.

Each of the days (and therefore topics on that day) is available for 24 hours only.

BUT:-

Pre-sale Early Bird Pricing – If you would like access to everything (and why not!), then between the dates of 4th to 17th March, you would pay $47 USD. There are 23 presenters and 23 workshops. That is a lot of info for not much money! Bargain…

During the summit itself – March 18th to 23rd 2021 – you can get access to everything for $67 USD.

AFTER the summit itself – March 24th 2021 onwards – You would pay $97 USD

And there is an affiliate link so I will earn a small amount of money if you go for any of the paid versions. You also get to keep the talks and there is a wealth of experience and advice here, all of which will be useful.

So it pays, literally, to get in early, folks! No surprises when I mention my topic is on flash fiction! The link takes you to the summit landing page where you can choose the free or paid for versions. See https://www.creativeu.ca/a/46030/yLSebqrq for more details.

#freesummit #summit #free #shareyourstory #creativity #write #shareyourstory2021

Am so looking forward to being part of this!



Looking forward to sharing news about the international writing summit I’m taking part in soon (from tomorrow onwards so watch this space). See above – I am rather pleased about this! I’m also looking forward to checking out the other topics on offer for this. The range is fantastic but don’t just take my word for it!

In other news, Lady had a fabulous time with her best buddy, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, this morning. You can always tell when a dog is happy when she walks home slowly, tail wagging all the way, gets home, has a drink, and then crashes out, perking up again when she senses my hubby or I are about to have lunch. It is Lady’s role to supervise us having our lunch, of course. We couldn’t possibly eat it all by ourselves.

Plenty of non-fiction work going on at the moment with talks etc., but am getting some flash fiction writing in (and producing the short story videos for Youtube upload on a regular basis helps ensure that too!). I’m starting to get material together for a third collection and that takes time but I am pleased to have made a start on that.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

As well as the writing summit, which I flagged up yesterday, I’m waving the flag for flash fiction again in mid-March via Zoom to a WI-affiliated group. On 20th March, my interview with #HannahKate for her Hannah’s Bookshelf show on North Manchester FM will be broadcast where again I wave the flag for flash and blogging, (I almost typed flag the wave just then – lovely Spoonerism I think!).

Am also drafting flash fiction pieces though I will up the pace on that work once the summit is over.

I do love the variety of writing and try to ensure I enjoy it all. That’s important. Writing and marketing are hard work but a joy and having that joy helps you keep going when times are tough.

I still have “no hears” on submitting work and I always will but I know now I can always submit that work elsewhere when I can get back to the piece in question. Nothing is wasted in writing. What you can’t re-submit somewhere, you can analyse and see if you can work out why it didn’t get placed or what have you. It does pay to do that. I’ve picked things up on a piece later I didn’t see at the time of submission and you can take what you learn there and use it to help you be more successful with other work.

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The big news, as I mentioned on my author Facebook page, is I’m taking part in an international writing summit from 18th to 23rd March 2021. My topic is Flash Fiction – Why I Love It and Why I Think Every Writer Should Try It!

More details on the summit can be found at https://www.creativeu.ca/a/46030/yLSebqrq

The summit is free but there are paid for options if you would like to be able to access all of the topics or are not sure you can actually be about on the day in question for the relevant presenters to you. Bear in mind there are 23 presenters on 23 wonderfully varied topics so I strongly suspect you would find several of the topics would be of interest!

I will be issuing a bonus newsletter about the summit sometime over the next couple of days and you can sign up to receive this, and future author newsletters from me, at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com/

Allison Symes (1)

PS.  I never dreamt, when I first started writing seriously many many years ago, I would see things like the poster above. I can’t tell you how many rejections I’ve had in my time. I almost certainly could cover my walls with them had I kept them. So being open to trying new forms of writing – flash fiction in my case – has proved productive. Not giving up and developing stamina to take the setbacks on the chin also does. No short cuts but dreams can sometimes come true. (And no fairy godmother in sight either, which is a tad annoying given I write so many stories about them, but there you go!).


Always delighted to wave the flag for flash fiction and am looking forward to sharing more news on the international writing summit I’m taking part in soon where I do precisely that. (Hope to start sharing from tomorrow onwards so watch this space. There is a wonderful range of authors taking part on a lovely variety of topics so there will be something for everyone – see above and this will almost certainly be my big news for 2021, I think).

One thing I’ve found useful at “live events” such as the railway station signing I had for From Light to Dark and Back Again was it is easy to demonstrate what flash fiction is by reading some out! Entertains the public, it always give me useful practice at effectively “open prose readings”, and I’ve made sales that way too.

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Fairytales with Bite – What Counts as a Bad Week in a Magical World?

Well, what does count as a bad week in a magical world? Is it when every spell you use goes wrong no matter what you do? (See The Sorcerer’s Apprentice for more on this and with fab music too!).

Is it when there is too much magic flying about and the results are questionable to say the least? That wizard who wanted to change an annoying junior into a statue for half an hour to teach them a lesson finds it has backfired when that statue walks off complaining loudly and embarrassing him?

Now for your villains of course a bad week for everyone else would count as a good week for them. Hey, we’re villains, doing what we’re supposed to be doing. So what would they do to cause trouble for everyone else? Does it backfire on them? Does the rest of your society eventually get their revenge here?

And who decides whether it is a bad week anyway? How would your created society decide what was good and what wasn’t?

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This World and Others – What Makes Your Created World Stand Out

What makes your created world stand out so you have to write it into life? What attracts you to it? The good news is here is what attracts you here should attract other readers.

My view is your world has to have enough depth to make you want to write about it. Your characters have to be compelling but so does the setting in which you set them. So think about what would make you want to live in the place you’ve invented? Is it the magical elements? Is it the fantastic scenery free from all pollution etc?

What would a reader find that was special about your setting? What would make them want to read more about how life is lived there?

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ASPECTS OF THE WRITING LIFE

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Facebook – General

What aspect of the writing life do you find most enjoyable? I find mixing with other writers at conferences and so on is the best here. I love finding out what others write (and often why too) and their inspirations.

Biggest problem? Finding enough time to read widely so I continue to feed my mind with ideas! Solution: working on it. I read at bedtime but am often too tired to read as much as I’d like to do.

I love that spark of creativity that comes as you write that initial draft. I also love the editing process and I swear I can almost feel that story improving as I take out all of my unnecessary words. I do sometimes wonder how many drafts Shakespeare, Dickens etc went through. I am grateful cutting and pasting is confined to the computer now. I have done this literally and it’s not fun.

What would I like for the future? I’d like people to make time for reading. I’ve heard people say they don’t read. Why? It beats me and saddens me as to why people don’t see the importance of reading.

Feature Image - Flash Fiction - Books are Gateway - image via Pixabay

Says it all really and applies to non-fiction equally as fiction. Image via Pixabay.

Fill that blank sheet with ideas from non-fiction as well as other fiction works - image via Pixabay

The basic necessities of the writer’s life!

 

Facebook – General and look ahead to Chandler’s Ford Today post

My Chandler’s Ford Today post for this week will talk about what book launches mean for an author and share a report on a recent one by children’s writer, Anne Wan. More details and the link tomorrow.

This post made me think more about the special moments in a writer’s life. The first is completing your first story or article. Okay, it will need a lot of work. Okay, it may never be published but it is proof you are on your way as a writer.

First publication (online or in print) is an obvious special moment. Someone else liked your work enough to want to publish it. (Even those you know who aren’t fond of books or understand your wish to write WILL understand this one is special).

Receiving your first comments on blog posts or your website (and hopefully they’ll be positive ones) indicates you are reaching out to your readers. Going to your first writing conference and meeting with writers in and out of your genre and learning from them and the courses you go to is a stand-out time too. You learn to network from things like this and each course will be a mini-master class.

So what would you count as a special writing moment?

Anne Wan and Allison Symes at Bay Leaves Larder

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

All of my stories in From Light to Dark and Back Again are under 1000 words and most of them are in my speciality, the 100-word tales. But there are some 250-words, 500-words etc tales in there too. The longer stories have room for a greater depth of characterisation, which can make the difference to your tale “working” or not.

Some of these longer flash fiction tales focus on familiar fairytales but others are complete crime stories. They were all fun to write! In all of the stories in the book, the length of the tale is right for that particular story. And that is what matters whatever you write.

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From my railway station signing. The lovely origami boxes were made by my CFT editor, Janet Williams.

 

And Finally – Personal Note:  Mabel

I have sometimes mentioned my border collie, Mabel, when writing online and I am sorry to have to say she had to be put to sleep last week.  She was 13 and had been ailing for some time.  While we knew it was coming, her loss has been and continues to be a huge loss for my family and I.  In the fullness of time, we hope to adopt and rescue another down on its luck collie but right now we mourn Mabel but are grateful for the five very happy years we had with her.  She nearly died five years ago when she was abandoned on a cold January night and tied to a lamp-post.

In the fullness of time, we hope to adopt and rescue another down on its luck collie but right now we mourn Mabel while grateful for the five very happy years we had with her.  She nearly died five years ago when she was abandoned on a cold January night and tied to a lamp-post. She was rescued by animal charity, Oldies Club, who specialise in rehoming older dog.  They send their dogs out to fosterers so reports can be written about how the animals settle into home life and a big thank you must also go to Mabel’s fabulous fosterer, Wendy Nutland.

Mabel-Gracie

My two girls, both much missed. Mabel, the border collie, left us last week. Gracie, the bearded/border cross, left us five years ago. And yes it is the same ball. They both loved it.