Tag: editing flash fiction

Book Buying Season

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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 was one photo for my Authors Electric post.
Hope the weekend went okay. Wet, windy and wild here in Hampshire. Time again for lots of soakings for the dog and me and plenty of warm towels to snuggle up with! Am so thankful writing is generally done indoors!

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Lady and I made the most of some sunshine this morning (which we were so glad to see after yesterday) and had a lovely time in the park. Even better was meeting up with her Rhodesian Ridgeback chum – zoomies followed!

Writing wise, will be working on the first part of my blog round up for this week and editing work.

Looking forward to drafting some flash pieces with the ACW Flash Fiction Group tomorrow night. (I do always set exercises but they are fun ones, honest!).

It’s also not long now before the last Flash NANO starts and am looking forward to that. I understand there will be something else from November 2026 but will have to wait and see what form that takes. I like the idea of having a month working on flash prompts though. It helps output a lot!

Lady and I set a world record time for getting around the park this morning – the weather was awful. At one point, I did think I was going to have to thumb a lift from Noah – there would have been room in the Ark for the pair of us, I’m sure.

Writing wise, am ploughing on with blogs and editing. I hope later this week to pick a story I’ve already drafted and look at it with a view to entering it in a competition.

Also looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom on Wednesday. Also looking forward to seeing some of the group at the ACW in person event on Saturday at Egham. It will be good to catch up with friends in person once again. I confidently expect to come back with more books to add to my TBR pile!

Wet and wild here in Hampshire today, unfortunately. Still in some ways it means it is the perfect day to stay inside and get on with some writing.

Writing wise, I’m looking forward to sharing a fabulous interview with local (to me) author, John Puzey, about his latest book, Captive Audience, on Chandler’s Ford Today next week. John is a stalwart member of our local amateur theatre group, The Chameleons.

Stepping into the lives of characters is nothing new for him. This book was inspired by letters from John’s father when he was a prisoner of war in World War Two. Do check out the interview especially if you have any interest at all in historical writing, fiction and non-fiction. Link up on Friday.

Pleased to be back on Authors Electric with my latest post, Book Buying Season. Well, it is timely given a certain event is only a couple of months away now. I also look at why I think this season is also Author Event Season and I hope all of these go well for anyone holding them. I have a couple of events coming up later this month and in December where I hope to sell books. I also look at the biggest challenge to all writers in this post.

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Hope today has gone okay. Not bad here. Almost time to start thinking about drafting some festive flash fiction. When I am ahead of myself, writing wise, I have been known to do this in July but not this year!).

Will have the joy of proofing a story of mine which will be in an anthology soon. Will share more news on that book before too long.

Editing a piece of flash fiction takes time. Okay, it cannot be as long as for a novel, say, obviously, but where the editing skill comes in here is working out what you can take out without spoiling the story overall. I have left pieces at a longer word count before now when I’ve felt the flow of the story works better with those “extra” words in it. I have to consider how the story flows. It’s not just about getting it to the “right” word count.

It’s Monday. It has been so stormy here – the rain has been torrential. Definitely time for a story I think. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Achievement.

The wandmaker finds out how Jill, a young fairy, earned enough money to get a wand upgrade, where Cinderella’s story comes into it all, the role of the kitchen sink, and cheery songs.

 

Time for an acrostic I think, on this wet and wild Sunday afternoon. Well, why not? Hope you enjoy this one.

F = Fantastic format for anyone who loves creating characters and a wide mixture of genres in which to put them.

L = Length is anything from a few words up to 1000 maximum and plenty of categories across the range.

A = Attitudes and actions of your characters come across clearly in this sharply written format.

S = Stories can cross time, space, dimensions known and unknown and so much more – it’s just the word count which has a limit.

H = Have fun experimenting with characters and genres here as writing flash will tighten up your other writing too, removing all fear of editing.

Hope the weekend has gone well so far. I’ve resumed my usual autumn workout in clearing up oak leaves in front of my home. We have some superb and very old oaks and I don’t mind clearing up. It keeps me warm, I love the trees, and it means I get very good value for money out of my Garden Waste collection service each year!

The changing colours of the leaves (and their falling) shows up the passing of time so well and we need to show this to an extent in our stories. We expect to see characters change in our tales, no matter how short or long the stories are, and regardless of the time span of those tales. Without the change, whether it’s due to internal or external conflict or both, there is no story after all.

Goodreads Author Blog – Story Acrostic

Haven’t written an acrostic for a while. Hope you enjoy this one.

S = Stories spring surprises with characters who keep you gripped.

T = Tall tales, flash fiction, short stories, novels, novellas – there is something for everyone across so many genres.

O = Originally stories were told in oral form but now we have print, audio, ebooks, which is all to the good, something for everyone again.

R = Re-reading favourites is always a joy, as is discovering new authors and new stories.

Y = Young or old or anywhere in between, there are stories for you.

Have a fantastic read!

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Springtime in Words and Music

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Many thanks to Janet Williams (my lovely editor at Chandler’s Ford Today) for taking the photos of me at a local Book Fair. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good week. Have had a lovely time on Zoom this week at an online book launch from a fellow ACW member and then on the next night I followed on with the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group. Lady has had a smashing week too in that she has seen plenty of her friends.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Hope you have had a good day. Lovely day in the park though Lady had to put up with just me today. Having said that, we both had a lovely time.

Pleased to share Springtime in Words and Music as my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. I discuss books I associate with the season (well some of them anyway) and share some thoughts as to how we could use spring as a season in our writing. Plus there are some lovely music clips courtesy of YouTube.

Hope you enjoy the post. Thought it would be a nice one to wind down a working week with and the writing thoughts I hope “spring” story ideas off in you!

Springtime in Words and Music

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Will be sharing Springtime in Words and Music on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. Link up then (see above) but in the meantime if you fancy a fantastic read (and why wouldn’t you?), why not check out the April 2025 edition of Writers’ Narrative, which came out today (27th March 2025).

The theme is Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy, a theme I love as many of my flash tales are fantasy related. And yes it is possible to write fantasy in the shorter forms of fiction. My two articles in this month’s magazine are Flash Fiction Fantasy and Writing Fantasy in Short Forms of Fiction.

Do check out the wide range of articles in here which look at all aspects for writing in these genres.

 

Hope you have had a good day. Lady had a fabulous puppy party this morning with her best friends the Hungarian Vizler, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, and the lovely Labradoodle. Some very tired but happy dogs went home again!

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom this evening. We’ll be looking at editing flash fiction, always a useful topic.

Enjoyed going to an online book launch by a fellow ACW member last night.

Will be celebrating Springtime in Words and Music for Chandler’s Ford Today. Link up on Friday. Pieces like this are always a joy to write. See above. It was a pleasure to write this one. Need more positive things right now, yes?

Has been a nice week so far. Hope to look at competitions again at the weekend as I am actively trying to submit more flash pieces to more competitions this year. Not doing badly so far.

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Something a bit different this week. Friday Flash Fiction are currently running the Andrew Siderius competition. Last week I submitted my 100 word entry. This week I use the other theme in the 151 to 500 words category as you can only enter one story in each category and only use one of the two themes for each tale you send in. It is about the only time of year when I do enter longer stories for FFF.

Hope you enjoy my It Was There (which comes in at just over 300 words).

As ever do check out the other tales, the 100 words and the longer ones, on this site. Makes for a great read!

Pleased to report I have two articles in the latest edition of Writers Narrative. (April issue out today – see my author page for the link – see above). One of those articles looks at Flash Fiction Fantasy and I often do write flash pieces on a fantasy theme. It can be done!

I know when you think of fantasy it is easy just to think along the lines of a three part epic (The Lord of the Rings, anyone?!) but I often write fairytales with bite which come in at well under 1000 words so it can be done.

What I do is select the relevant telling details to flag up this a fantasy piece and I often do this via the characters. For example, I will often show you a fairy godmother at work so that flags up immediately this has to be a fairytale/fantasy piece. I can show a spell being cast or someone being on the receiving end of that spell and again it flags up this has to be a fantasy piece.

So if you like fantasy but want to write the short form, you can do it and have a lot of fun with this. I do.

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There is more to editing flash fiction pieces than just trying to get to the required word count, as I’ll be exploring with members of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group this evening.

I learned to appreciate editing much more than I had done on realising good editing was helping me obtain more acceptances for flash and short stories. It has also helped to know no one writer ever gets it right first go and, for me at least, it is easier to edit the whole thing so I can see what it is I have to work with than try to do it a paragraph at a time etc.

I’ve also learned to see writing and editing as two separate creative tasks, It is lovely when as I edit a story, I can see it “tightening up” and becoming a stronger piece for it. There is a creative element here, honestly.

Fairytales With Bite – Keeping Busy

Keeping Busy
A fairy’s work is never done.
Dawn to dusk, always on the run.
Checking on clients old and new
Having many spells on the brew.
Recording how these things work out
Being honest by sharing doubt
If ideas are useful or not.
It’s never good when a new spell
Blows up the roof and creates hell!

Allison Symes
26th March 2025

This World and Others – Working Weeks

Naturally most of us are used to a standard working week of Monday through to Friday. But what would a working week look like in your setting? Are there weeks as we know them or does your setting measure time in a totally different way? What does work look like to your characters? Are their jobs similar to what we know here? What jobs would be different because your setting is literally alien?

As in any setting, there will be those who love their work, those who hate it, and those who work just to meet needs (which can also include cultural expectations as well as financial requirements). There will be those who work hard and those who do the bare minimum, the ones you know could do more but don’t. So how would characters like that work in your setting? How about writing some “industrial” stories set in your world? There could be potential for humour and/or drama here. Work is something we all understand so a story set in the world of work should be relatable.

And there are stories to be written about those characters who leave their working week behind altogether to do something unexpected? Why? What happens? What is the outcome? If they return, are they welcomed back? Do others understand why they did what they did? How would your characters handle any resentment because they didn’t keep going with a normal working week and left their colleagues to it all?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Do see the link to the April 2025 magazine given above.

 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Onwards and Downwards

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Image Credit:  As ever, images are from Pixabay or Pexels unless otherwise stated.

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Making progress on editing my flash competition story. You get to a point where you remove the “obvious” unnecessary words. (As you know, I get to cut very, actually, and that out as these are my pet wasted words. I still haven’t found a way of stopping myself writing these things in the first place but hey that’s what the first edit is for!).

The tricky bit is now when I’ve got what I want in place but need to find ways of rephrasing without losing meaning. There’s the challenge of flash fiction writing. I know this story will work well at the word count I’ve got to get it to. It’s whether I’m up to the job of doing it that is the issue here!

Onwards and downwards then (with the word count!).

 

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Am enjoying listening to the Classic FM Hall of Fame for 2020. Disappointed though one of my choices, Danse Macabre, has slipped down in the rankings, though I expect I’ll hear my other two choices sometime tomorrow. (Jupiter from the Planet Suite by Holst and Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis by Vaughan Williams).

Classical music is a wonderful relaxation aid which is why I have this on while writing. The more relaxed I am, the more I write.

Almost there on my flash fiction piece. Want to put it aside for a while so I come back to it with a fresh eye. It is amazing what a difference that makes. You spot things you missed etc. Also I look for how the story makes ME feel when I’ve had a break from it. If it still makes me feel the way the story is meant to make me feel, then it will do the same for a reader.

I was so sorry to hear about the loss of Tim Brooke-Taylor. Was a huge fan of The Goodies (and still am. Favourite episode? Hard to pick but Goodies Rule UK and the giant Dougal from The Magic Roundabout is an image that is hard to forget!).

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It hasn’t felt like a Bank Holiday Monday, has it? Still on the plus side, the bluebells and primroses are out, we are successfully wearing Lady out so know she is definitely getting the right amount of exercise, and the writing and editing continue apace.

Two of my nominees for the Classic FM Hall of Fame dropped places this year (yes, I know. I am beginning to wonder if there is an Allison effect here. If there is, it’s not a good one!). Jupiter, appropriately, rose though! Well done, Gustav Holst!

I’ll be looking at Reasons to Be Cheerful in my CFT post later this week and yes I am of an age to remember Ian Dury and the Blockheads.

My favourite picture, taken today, is of Lady with one of her favourite toys in her mouth, as if it was an overgrown dummy. Enjoy (she did – and promptly dropped the ball on realising Mum was trying to take pictures again!).

Lady with dummy

Lady with dummy! Image by Allison Symes

Coping with the downside of the writing life (rejections, competition entries not getting anywhere etc) takes time but it does get better over time. Why? Because I’ve learned if a story hasn’t done well in one place, I can look at it again, see if I can improve it, and submit it somewhere else. I’ve had work published by doing that.

Oh and I almost always can improve a piece of work. The one thing I’ve learned years ago is that nobody writes a perfect piece of work. All you can do is the best at the time and seek to grow and develop from that point. Yes, I look back at work I’ve had published for a while and I can see now how I could make it better, but that was where I was at as a writer at that time. What matters here is moving on and always striving to improve what you do.

That’s the challenge for any writer, published or not. Enjoy what you do, that’s crucial, but also seek to get better at it. In the striving, you WILL improve.

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What do I look for in a flash fiction story when I’m reading works by other authors?

1. I want to be entertained. (Hey I’m just like that!).

2. I want the story to have emotional impact.

3. I want the point of change to be a good one with a real problem for a realistically drawn character to resolve.

4. I want to feel as if not one word could’ve been added to the story.

5. I want to feel as if not one word could’ve been taken out without the story losing something important.

6. I want to feel something for the lead character, whether it is to empathise with them, or to heartily hope they come to disaster because they’re a well drawn villain. But that character has to make me feel something (and separately to what the overall story makes me feel).

7. I want to read more by that author!

Naturally all of these points are a challenge to me too but that’s a good thing. There is no such thing as a perfect piece of work. It is the best you can make it at the time. What you want is for it to resonate with readers and for them to enjoy where you’re taking them with the stories.

 

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How do you know when you’ve found your writer’s voice? I think it is when you come up with a piece of work in a way that seems the most natural way to you. You see a competition, say, like the sound of it, and know instinctively how you’re going to approach it. Ideas may start coming to you based on how you’ve approached competitions before and obviously you go for what worked best for you.

In my case, I know I’m going to outline my character, then a story they could be in, and away I go when I’ve got that in place. The style of writing is an indicator. There is a lot of humour in my flash fiction but it is generally shown through the characters themselves. So based on that alone a competition which calls for a darker style is probably not going to be for me. (I’ve got to get a little humour in it somewhere and that’s not suitable for all topics/competitions).

Learning then where your strengths are and where your writing cup of tea is, I think, crucial to you finding your voice. Once you’ve got that, away you go.

West Bay in December 2018. Image by Allison Symes.
There is something almost mystical here. Pixabay image.
A storyteller on their travels perhaps? Pixabay image.
A stalwart character in the fairytales. Pixabay image.
My smartphone has not yet managed this! Pixabay image.
Hope you have lovely books as presents! Pixabay image
Hope your Christmas books take you to all sorts of wonderful places! Pixabay image
How many story ideas could come from an image like this? Pixabay.
The universe is beautiful. Pixabay image.
Books and tea, bliss! Pixabay image

Story time I think. Hope you enjoy. Hayfever sufferers, this one is for you.

A MISGUIDED DAY OUT

After a fraught day in town, Hattie told Betty a soothing walk in Meresfield Park Gardens would do them both good. Tea and cake would follow.
The smell of the tea roses was so strong Betty thought she was being bathed in it.
It was a pity she suffered from hayfever.
It took her a fortnight to stop sneezing altogether.
It took her a month to speak to Hattie again.

Allison Symes – 13th April 2020

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While every genre has specific requirements, what every good story needs can be summarised as follows. (A lot of this can apply to non-fiction too).

Memorable characters with distinctive voices. For non-fiction, this equates to a memorable narrative style and voice. Think of documentaries you have loved. What made them stand out? A lot of that will be down to the narrative voice.

A plot that keeps the reader enthralled and has plenty of ups and downs. For non-fiction, it is a case of setting out what you want to share with the reader in an entertaining and informative way. No dull list of facts etc. You want to engage with your reader and draw them into the world you’re trying to show them.

To meet the needs of the reader whether it is to entertain them with a story or show them something they hadn’t known with non-fiction. You really do need to know your audience.

A powerful ending that delivers on a promising start.

No sagging middles!

A good, memorable title which hooks the reader.

To be a good advert for the other writing you do!

 

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Goodreads Author Blog – Entertainment and Escapism

I can understand why, after the coronavirus is over, there will be lots of books and stories dealing with that topic. It’s just I can’t bring myself to write stories like that. I’m not sure about reading them either. Why?

For me, in times of trouble, I want books and stories to make me laugh and give me some escapism for a while. I don’t think that should be undervalued.

I raise a hearty three cheers for all who, by writing, seek to entertain and amuse us. It is not an easy thing to do.

So I shall continue to look for escapism and entertainment. Those can be very good coping mechanisms and books and stories are great vehicles for delivering on those things.

I do hope and pray though that the bookshops, particularly the independents, will recover well from this. I hope online buying of books has proved to be a lifeline.

The one thing that is clear to me is people still want stories. And I doubt if I’m the only one who wants entertaining right now!

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Word Play

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One joy of writing is the joy of reading. This is partly because it makes sense to read from (and therefore support) the industry you want to join! Also, you need to read widely to discover the range of writing out there and to find out from that what it is you want to write. There’s also the sheer pleasure of reading well crafted stories that inspire you to work harder on your own!

Playing with Words, as my CFT post this week discusses, is both a fun and invaluable thing for writers to do.  My post this week also pays tribute to Denis Norden and celebrates puns and playing with language.

 

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I like to “hit the ground running” when I write flash fiction and do so in a number of ways.

I can take you straight into the lead character’s thoughts, or show you an image of them doing or reacting to something. I also try to show you their general attitude within the first couple of lines. Attitude in itself can tell you so much about what a character is likely to be like (and whether you would like them or not!).

I can also show you a character’s observations such as in my Circle of Life. That opens with “People throw kittens in the river here. I hate that.” Immediately shows a conflict. Immediately shows an attitude at odds with the view held by others around the character. You also know they’re going to do something about it. It is a question of what and will they get away with it?

With all of these different kinds of opening, I am aiming to provoke curiosity in the reader to make them want to find out more.

What worlds will emerge from your writing? Pixabay image
What journeys are your characters going on? Image via Pixabay
Being lost in the world of your story. Pixabay image
Picking up wriitng tips will help you improve your work. Pixabay image.
Let the words flow! Image via Pixabay.
When is your writing time? Pixabay image
Great characters will engross you. You will lose time reading their stories. Image via Pixabay.
Love this clock. Pixabay image.
Stories can take you to fantastic places. Pixabay image.
Great characters = great books. Image via Pixabay.
Books invite you into their world. Go! Image via Pixabay.

My CFT post this week looks at Playing With Words. I also pay tribute to the late Denis Norden, who along with Frank Muir, was a wonderful wordsmith. Link up on Friday. I also take a look at puns. (Muir was wonderful on Call My Bluff years ago and Norden – well, I loved his dry wit and manner – and Take It From Here, written by them both, was a forerunner for modern radio comedy).

Two of my favourite ways to end a flash fiction story are a twist in the tale finish or a punchline. Both of course can revolve around puns. I love playing with language but one of the great joys of loving books is coming across others who are masters at this sort of thing. Their work is a joy to read and/or listen to and if you haven’t come across a copy of Muir and Norden’s My Word Ultimate Collection, do yourself a favour and dig out a copy from somewhere. If you like tall tales and puns, as I do, this is a fabulous book.

Transistor radio. Pixabay image
The love of writing must equal the love of reading. Pixabay image.
A good writing group will help you discover this. Pixabay image.
Play with words and fill that blank page. Pixabay image.
Even older radio. Muir and Norden developed modern radio comedy as we know it now. Pixabay image.
Edit, edit, edit! Pixabay image.
Old radio. Pixabay image.

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Flash fiction can be a great vehicle for (a) puns (as part of a punchline to finish with) and (b) short, sharp humorous moments. A good funny flash fiction will not only make you laugh but you should be able to spot other potential for humour had the story been a longer one.

The lovely thing is you can combine humour with other things such as poetic justice to create a great story. Characters being annoyed at the situation they’re in may well make you smile in recognition of their predicament. The situation is rarely funny for the characters themselves. Shouldn’t stop us smiling though!

Reach for those ideas. Pixabay image.
The tools of the scrivener’s trade. We’ve come on a bit since then! Image via Pixabay
Great characters will engross you. You will lose time reading their stories. Image via Pixabay.
Let your writing sparkle. Image via Pexels.
Great reading desk. Image via Pixabay.
The perfect way to relax. All writers love to read. Image via Pixabay.
Love the bike. Pexels image.
Whenever and whatever you read, enjoy. Image via Pixabay.
What decisions will your characters make? Image via Pixabay.
What wonderful worlds we can creat! Image via Pixabay.

My late mum always believed in being short and to the point. Think she’d be pleased I take the same approach by writing flash fiction!

You lose any fear of killing adverbs or cutting whatever isn’t necessary for your story when you write flash and, of course, you can carry that over into whatever other writing you do. There’s no chance of getting confused over your characters either given, realistically, you only have the room for 1, maybe 2, main people.

I admit I do miss the fact you can’t have subplots in flash fiction, that really is the privilege of a short story or a novel, but I do love being able to cut to the chase with the very short tale. Definitely a case of you pays your money, you take your choice here.

Write your piece, leave it for a while before editing. Pixabay image.
Preparing a talk or a flash fiction story perhaps. Image via Pixabay.
Good reading – and writing to be done – here. Pixabay image.
Words are the power source of so much creativity. Pixabay iamge.
As I write now. Pixabay image.
Reading is wonderful. Image via Pexels.
It always is! Reflecting first helps a lot! Pixabay image
Always good advice. Image via Pixabay.
Always good advice this. Image via Pexels
Big screen, little screen, LOTS of stories on either! Image via Pixabay

Time for some autumnal flash fiction one-liners, I think. Hope you enjoy.

1. There were some things brought down by the autumn winds that would have been best left undisturbed.

2. The mouse scoffed the loaf that was meant for the church’s Harvest Festival display, much to the vicar’s chagrin.

(A case of For what we have received, we are truly grateful, I think!).

3. Would the leaves come down deeply enough to cover a body, she wondered?

4. With the nights drawing in, there was more scope for planning and executing the perfect crime.

5. It would be easy enough to do, he thought, given she always has soup at lunchtime on these cold days.

Hmm…. it looks like I’m in a criminal frame of mind this evening!

 

A beautiful woodland walk. Pixabay image
This was just down the road from where I was staying. Love the light here. Image by Allison Symes
Love the sunshine through the trees. Pixabay image.
Glorious autumn. Time to take stock briefly and then move on. Pixabay image.
The perfect place to reflect and take stock. Pixabay image.
Poetry conjures up images so beautifully. Image via Pixabay. See Sandra Lyn Gordon’s wonderful poem on Chandler’s Ford Today for another example of great imagery.
Your stories should take us on a journey. Image via Pixabay.
This statue reminds me of myself when I was a lot younger. Okay I wasn’t made of stone (I’m still not!) but I did always have my head in a book. (And do so as often as I can now!). Image via Pixabay.
Escaping with a good book is a fantastic idea. Image via Pixabay.

Is it harder to write longer fiction where you have to keep the readers enchanted enough with your writing to follow the story through to the end or more difficult to write short, sharp stories?

I wouldn’t like to judge on that one as both have their challenges and their joys. Both are vital for ensuring literature has a wide range of styles and lengths of story to suit all tastes.

One problem I face when editing flash fiction is ensuring I keep the important details in as it can be easy to cut far too much out to keep to a set word count and the story is the poorer for it. In those situations, I let the story go what is its natural length whether it’s 50 words or 500 or 1500!

The acid test for me is the editing is done when I cannot add to the story or take away from it. It is a question of not overegging the pudding or cutting back so harshly you have a limited story left. Anything that dilutes the impact of the story on a reader, and that can include harsh editing, is out.

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Goodreads Author Programme – Blog – Playing with Language

One of the joys of reading across a wide range of genres, including non-fiction, is discovering the different ways authors play with language.

For me the late Denis Norden and Frank Muir were great exponents of this and one of my favourite paperbacks is their My Word The Ultimate Collection. This is full of puns and tall tales galore! Bliss and an addictive read.

I like crisp, punchy styles of writing but every so often you come across a line or two that are just so engrossing, they almost take your breath away. P.G. Wodehouse was a master at creating worlds within what would be considered now very long sentences, but you simply have to read to the end.

I suppose the real test of a good story is does it provoke your curiosity enough so you read it through regardless of the style or genre in which it was written?

What fictional world have you created? What ways and rules have you set for your characters? Image via Pixabay.
Books should keep you gripped and that is down to the characters. Image via Pixabay
A familiar sight to many of us. Image via Pixabay.
The good old notebook. Image via Pixabay.
So true. Pixabay image.
Love this image! Image via Pixabay
Good advice – and it applies to our characters too. Image via Pixabay
Potentially your blog can go global. Image via Pixabay
Your blog, your topic, your theme – just be sensible on copyright and libel issues. Image via Pixabay.
Have notebook. Will jot down ideas for how to drop my characters right in it and work out how they get out of it again. Image via Pixabay.

Fairytales with Bite – Fairytales A to Z Part 8

Since the alphabet doesn’t divide neatly into three, I will conclude this mini series tonight with the final five letters – V through to Z.  Hmm… going to have fun here I think!

V = Variation
Whatever genre you write in, there should be variation in the types of character you portray.  A story with all heroes is no story at all!  There has to be a villain somewhere (even if the characters concerned don’t think they’re villainous at all).  Also, in a magical setting, there should be variation in how much magical ability characters have.  If they all have unlimited powers, where is the conflict? You’d have a stalemate situation.  The characters know they can’t better each other, at least not with their powers.  So vary things, mix things up, deliberately drop your characters in it, and see what happens!  This is very much the fun side of writing.  You will soon find out who your strong characters are.

W = World
The world you set your stories in can almost be a character in itself.  It needs to be believable, no matter how fantastical its powers or setting.  There must be things about that world we can identify with here.  For example, every world has to be governed somehow so politics has to rear its (at times) very ugly head.

X = Xeno (meaning strange!  Confession time: did have to look it up.  I could have gone for X-rated for this but felt it was too obvious.  I also want to remember this word next time I play Scrabble!).
So word of the week for me is this one then!  Seriously, though, no matter how strange the world you’ve created is, there still has to be something about it that fascinates a reader.  If it is too odd, you risk alienating the reader.  Does that mean your world has to be a sensible one?  Not necessarily.  There has to be a point to what the world does.  If it mines balloons for example, it would make sense to do that if is that world’s chief export to its nearest neighbour.  I did like Monsters Inc for showing why the monsters had to get the children’s screams (they needed it as it was their power source) and I liked it even more when the monster world discovered making the children laugh was a greater source of power.

Y = You
The first fan of your writing should be you.  Your fairytale, whoever it is aimed at, must first convince you.  Is the magic a vital part of the story?  It should be for a fairytale. Do your characters have to get themselves out of trouble without magic?  Even better!  You should enjoy what you write and at the same time be open to where it can be improved.  Not an easy balance to strike which is why it is such a good idea to put work aside for a while and then re-read it.  You will come back to the story with a more open mind, having had the break from it.

Z = Zippy
There will be many in the UK especially who will remember Zippy as a character from children’s TV show, Rainbow!  However for this, I mean zippy in terms of lively.  Your fairytale should be a lively read from start to finish.  Your characters should be lively and engage with your reader.  (This is why if you enjoy your writing, there is every chance others will too.  As for the feeling after reading something you’ve written “this is rubbish”, bear in mind every writer goes through that.  This is another reason for putting work away for a while before coming back to it).

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This World and Others – Playing with Words

Playing with Words is not just the title of my latest CFT post but the theme for this week for me.  I also take a look at this topic on my latest Goodreads blog.

So how do I like to play with words then?

1.   I like twist endings to a lot of my stories so there is a lot of playing with words to be had there in coming up with a twist that works.

2.    I sometimes end stories with a punchline which often revolves around a pun.  Puns are the very definition of playing with language!

3.     I like to take known phrases and play with them to come up with something that has “echoes” but which is also unique to my story.  For example, we usually talk about punishing the guilty for crime etc but my story in From Light to Dark and Back Again is deliberately called Punish the Innocent.  The idea is to get you wondering (a) why would someone want to punish the innocent, (b) do they do so, (c) were the innocent that guiltless after all?

I sometimes use spider diagrams to help me work out in which directions I could take a story idea and then I pick the one that I like the best.  Playing with words here helps me come up with thoughts deeper than my initial “obvious” ideas and therefore I hope a more original story line.

The world’s most beautiful library perhaps? Image via Pixabay. But lots of lovely stories to read which may well spark off ideas for other stories. Only problem? Where to start!
Well, let’s do so by writing lots of stories! Image via Pixabay.
Is it Time for a Change for the dragon in my story on Cafelit? Image via Pixabay
Hopefully the Book Fair will encourage even more reading! Image via Pexels
Connections to what you read and what you write. What are yours? Image via Pixabay.
Use personal reviews to help you generate character and story outlines. Image via Pixabay.
Is the truth welcome in your fictional world? How does your community react to it?. Image via Pixabay.
Very old school writing. Pixabay image.
Love this library. Mine is somewhat smaller than this! Image via Pixabay.