Tag: First drafts

Stories in Troubled Times

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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 the week has been a good one so far. From insane temperatures over last weekend and continuing on Monday and Tuesday, we now have milder, cooler, far pleasanter temperatures and Lady and I are both relieved about that. It’s also meant she has seen some more of her chums, of course, especially from Wednesday. Writing continuing to go well. Easier to work in cooler conditions too!

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Pleased to be back on Chandler’s Ford Today with my latest post, Stories in Troubled Times. I love stories of all kinds and lengths regardless of whatever is going on in the bad old world but when times are troubled, as I think they are now, I find fiction to be a wonderful comfort. Generally you know things will work out okay in some way in fiction! That was one thing which always appealed to me about the classic fairytales, and still does.

I look at what I think the role of stories is and how stories inspire other stories, including in different formats. A well known film only came about because a certain director was inspired by what he’d seen from another director and asked the classic “what if” question.

Do check the post out and I hope you enjoy it. 

Stories in Troubled Times

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Today has been another lovely cooler day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal and both had a great time. Mind you, our park grass does resemble straw right now. Had a great time at another ACW Zoom group I “go to” monthly. Nice way to catch up with folk.

Will be sharing Stories in Times of Trouble on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. Fiction is always a wonderful thing but I find especial comfort from it when times are on the grim side. Fiction can provide an outlet, for one thing. I don’t have to encounter dystopian unless I want to for another! More on this in the post tomorrow.

Comments are always welcome on the CFT posts by the way. They just need to be family friendly.

 

Much happier dog and dog Mum today. Lady had a lovely time in the park with her Hungarian Vizler pal and a good run around with Coco the lovely Labradoodle. The air was much fresher, the temperature delightfully cool and it was fabulous to see the dogs having a healthy, happy time of it.

On the other side of life, I am off to the dentists this afternoon…. Wish me luck. Thankfully, it went okay!

Writing wise, I’m looking forward to sharing Stories in Times of Trouble for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Later this month, I’ll be sharing a fabulous author interview here too. More on that nearer the time.

Writing Tip: Never worry about a first draft having to be perfect. It isn’t the purpose of the first draft to be perfect. Its purpose is just to get your ideas down. Sorting out which work best and which need strengthening can happen later.

I know I’ve got to be able to see the whole thing before I can decide what works and what doesn’t. So I find it useful to take the pressure off myself here and just write, get those ideas down and, separately later on, get on with the editing.


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It’s Friday and time for a story again. Am pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest drabble, Super Power. See what my two fairies, on secondment to Earth, choose as their additional gifts to help them cope with humans. Has Bella chosen wisely?

Should be able to share the first link to the partial serialisation of Seeing The Other Side on CafeLit soon. Will keep you posted. Am excited about this as it is the first time I’ve had anything serialised. Naturally am also looking forward to the whole book coming out too.

The challenge of flash remains as having a complete story with a proper beginning, middle, and end, in a few words, often fewer than most would expect for any story. But it does encourage and develop tight writing and I love that. It’s a good challenge to rise to and I can and do have great fun placing my characters in all sorts of situations and genres. I just need to stick to the word count limit.

Hope your day has gone well. Nice to have cooler weather. Much nicer for the dog and I.

Flash Tip: This is one I use all of the time. I draft my flash story first, tidy it up, and then and only then worry about the word count. The story has to be right and it has meant sometimes a story I thought would be 100 words works better at 150.

So I just write another 100 word tale for any competition I’ve got in mind. I don’t try to make the 150 words one “fit”. It never does. Cutting too harshly as well as padding doesn’t work well for your stories.

Fairytales with Bite – Hotting Up and Characters

This one I thought was an apt topic as the weather in the UK over the last few days as I write this (July 2025) has”hotted up” considerably. I’ve had to cancel a few walks out with the dog given the pavements were too hot. But how can we use the topic of hotting up for our characters and our stories?

For the avoidance of doubt, I definitely don’t mean erotica here. I do mean getting your characters to feel the pressures of expectation and then having to face even more pressures and then more pressures after that etc. And then throwing magic into the mix as well to make things even more complicated.

Giving characters dilemmas and then further dilemmas they must solve and ideally a limited time span in which to do it is a timeless way of heating things up and crosses all genres.

As for magical characters, what pressures could be put on them to make them use powers they don’t really want to use? What would be the outcome? Which powers would they reveal to have had which they’ve not used before, which they have not had the need to use before? How does this change things for them because it will do so? They will have to come to terms with what they’ve done afterwards, for one thing.

Pressure is the key to hotting things up for your characters but magical powers, being allowed to use certain skills and not allowed to use others, can heat things up still further. You could also explore further why certain skills are banned and why. Your character already knowing this is going to feel the “heat” of the pressure to try to stick to the rules here when they know deep down they cannot do so.

This World and Others – Magical Climates

As well as thinking about your magical world’s “physical” climate (is it like we have here for example?), give some thought to other types of climate. What would your setting’s political, religious, societal climates be like? How would the use of magic impact on all of these?

Are magical skills encouraged in all sections of society or are they limited to a few? Who gets to decide who can use what magical powers? Do the non-magical sections of society look down upon or up to those with these powers? Is the “magical climate” tightly controlled by some overseeing authority to ensure magic cannot get out of hand?

I am thinking of the Patrician in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld here. After the events in Sourcery, magic doesn’t get the upper hand in the series again, at least in the ones with the Patrician in it! He may not have magical powers but he does have enough other skills to ensure people don’t cross him. Those that do never get to do it twice. If you haven’t read Discworld do check it out. It’s a wonderful series.

Incidentally in the witches books in Discworld where magic does come into the stories more, it is the witches who control it. The reasons for their actions are clear too. So they control the magical climate.

So give some thought as to who would control your setting’s magical climate and how successful or otherwise are they are with this? Who might seek to change the climate and what reasons do they have? They don’t have to be good reasons but they should be those readers would understand. We all get the idea of being greedy for power but what is interesting is seeing how a character develops that. What starts them off on to wanting to change the magical climate in your setting for their own ends.

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New Year, New Writing Format for Val Penny

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Many thanks to Val Penny for supplying fab author pictures and book cover images for my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. Many thanks to Richard Hardie for the publicity shot of me with my two flash fiction collections.
Hope you have had a good week. Cold with some snow here though Lady has been too busy having a lovely time with her best girlfriends over the park to take any notice of that! Writing wise, I share my first author interview of 2024 and look at why you can learn so much from reading/listening/watching these.

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Am delighted to welcome back Val Penny to Chandler’s Ford Today to discuss her changing from her usual long form work to the wonderful world of the short story.

Val tells me all about her new book, Hunter’s Christmas and Other Stories, in my CFT post New Year, New Writing Format for Val Penny. Does what it says on the tin, folks!

Plus there are plenty of super tips and thoughts on the short story form. Val shares with me, for example, what she found were the challenges of the short story form and what she thinks makes a character sustainable for more than one tale of any length.

Much to enjoy here and many thanks, Val, for a super interview. Good luck with the short story collection!

New Year, New Writing Format for Val Penny

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Brrrr…. I can always tell it is especially cold outside because it is the only time the water in my local swimming pool feels like I’m getting into a tepid bath! Trust me, I’m not, but it just feels like it given outside is worse!

Will be sharing my link to New Year, New Writing Format for Val Penny on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. Do look out for that. See above. Lots of good tips and thoughts on the short form of writing.

Talking of short stories, I’ve got my first flash fiction competition entry off already this year. Next on the agenda is a potential longer short story for an anthology. Will probably look at that over the weekend. First draft done a while back so any time around now is a good time to come back to it so I can see it with fresh eyes and spot the errors. There will be some!

But then that’s the purpose of the first draft, isn’t it? Just get it down and come back and do the tidying up and sorting out later. Works for me. The crucial bit is having that time away from the first draft. It helps me to put some necessary distance between the rush of creativity where everything is wonderful and the downside where you think everything is rubbish to be able to spot yes, this bit is fine, this other bit needs work, and then get on and do said work.

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Lady got to play with her two girlfriends, the Vizler and Ridgeback, so is having a cracking time this week. As did they it must be said. Not quite as cold as yesterday but still time for the big coat. Fortunately most dog owners are well prepared. The new boots I had at Christmas are getting a very good airing!

Writing wise, it’s great to have my first author interview of the new year with Val Penny on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Double win here for me – we are talking about short stories too, which as you know are a huge love of mine. Link up on Friday. See above. I always find I learn a great deal from author interviews whether I conduct them, read them, listen to them etc.

Interviewing your characters by getting “them” to answer a few pertinent questions is a great way to get to know said characters well enough to write their stories up. I find the answers to said pertinent questions also throw up ideas for stories to put those characters in. If you’ve not tried this, give it a go.

You don’t need to ask a lot of questions – just a couple to get you started and these can range from finding out what your character tastes are (which will lead you to wonder why they have these) to what they would never do. The latter can lead you to dumping them right in it and having to face up to having to do this very thing – all good fun!

Author interviews are useful for another reason too. Long before my work started being published, I would study said interviews and look at the kinds of questions being asked. Let’s just say it’s proved to be excellent research material.

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Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest story, Consequences. Just how strict can librarians be? Find out here and do you agree with the attitude of my librarian character here.

A huge thank you to all who have commented on this so far – check the comments out for their views on my librarian here!
Screenshot 2024-01-12 at 11-57-23 Consequences by Allison Symes

Hope you haven’t got too cold today. Lady is probably wondering why I am encouraging her to keep moving when we’re out and about right now. It’s not for her. It’s for me!

Looking forward to the first meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom later on this month. Will flag up Writing Magazine has a 500-word competition open at the moment. Deadline 15th February. For more details see the link.

There is an entry fee but it is cheaper if you are a subscriber to the magazine. (They also have a very useful competitions guide out with the magazine this month so if writing competitions are of interest to you, it would probably pay you to get a copy of this).

Screenshot 2024-01-12 at 09-55-31 Writing Competitions - Writers Online

I sometimes love playing around with well known sayings for titles/themes for stories. I’ve done this for my YouTube story Lost in a Bad Book. Why a bad one? Well, check out the video to find out why!

But changing one word in a phrase like that can be an excellent way to come up with something which is different and will grab attention. Wouldn’t you want to know how a book could be bad, for instance?

I’ve talked about using books of proverbs and sayings for inspiration before. It is worth doing and you can change the odd word here and there in such things to get even more ideas for stories. Well worth a go.

Fairytales With Bite – The Fairy’s Commandments

If there was such as a thing as a list of commandments for fairies to follow, I think it would look something like this.

  1. Never waste magical energy when common sense could solve a dilemma for you.
  2. Don’t transform animals into magical objects unless there is no choice. There was a bad backlash from the animal rights lobby after the Cinderella case.
  3. Make sure you can read your spells properly. Glass slippers, really? Those must have been horrible to wear. Nobody wants that happening again and it was assumed to be due to an elderly fairy godmother not reading said spell properly.
  4. Don’t let humans know of your existence especially when working in their world. They are curious enough creatures. We don’t need more curiosity from them. We don’t need them tracking our world down either. They’ll only try and colonize it.
  5. Know who and what you are taking on magically before you do so. Saves time and a lot of grief.
  6. Keep up to date spell books and always ensure your wands are fully charged.
  7. Always carry at least one spare wand. Things go wrong when out working. You need back up.
  8. If an evil witch wants to boast of her evil deeds, let her ramble on. You can spend the time working out how to outwit her.
  9. Make sure you know what your powers are and, more importantly, your limitations. We all have them. Then play to your strengths.
  10. If you are on call as the Tooth Fairy, try not to reach for the pliers unless the kid does have a long record of being obnoxious.

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This World and Others – Rules and Regulations

Rules and regulations are needed for any world including our fictional ones. Not the most interesting thing to think about perhaps but you do need to know how your world works. Where magic is involved, how far can it go? Would there be rules governing the behaviour of magical beings to ensure they don’t wipe out the non-magical ones? What can’t be solved with magic?

What are your characters expected to comply with? What does everyone have to know?

Rules and regulations will cover all aspects of life too so think about transport rules, government regulations etc. How do these all impact on your characters? Are there rules and regulations which should be abolished (no longer needed, times have changed etc) and is anyone trying to get these things removed?

If your setting has contact with other worlds (especially in trade), what are the differences between them? Are there odd rules one setting has to stick to and the others do not?

Are there rules your characters wished did exist and, if so, why? Also why haven’t these things come into being? (I would suspect a vested interest somewhere especially if the wished for rule would benefit the majority but that may be being a tad cynical!).

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The Joys of Writing Dialogue

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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. A huge thank you to fellow author friends for taking various publicity shots of me last year. Much appreciated and said shots are being put to good use!
Well, the New Year in the UK has got off to a very stormy start. Hope you are all okay. Plenty of flooding and high winds in my part of the world. Have well and truly christened the new boots received for Christmas!

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My first Chandler’s Ford Today post for the New Year is all about The Joys of Writing Dialogue. I love getting my characters to talk but I do have to ensure what I get them to say is relevant to their story and moves the tale on in some way. Otherwise there is a risk of conversational ping-pong which gets in the way of a good, pacy story.

I share thoughts and tips on what I’ve found useful in writing dialogue. I also share why knowing your character types helps with this aspect of writing too. Hope you enjoy the post and find it helpful.

The Joys of Writing Dialogue

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Hope you are all okay. Stormy weather today. Enjoyed my swim but that was the only occasion today when I welcomed getting wet. Even Lady didn’t like the heavy rain and it was very heavy. Did our walk in record time this afternoon!

Another reason to love creative writing – it is something you can do in the dry! Talking of which, I will be sharing The Joys of Writing Dialogue for Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above.

My interview with Val Penny will be Friday week so plenty of good things to look forward to (and I hope you enjoy reading them in the dry!).

Will be having a busy weekend looking at some drafts for competitions. Deadlines are in February but I follow my own advice to get my entries in at least ten days before said deadline, having gone through my scripts several times. Yes, even for flash. It’s amazing how typos can get through several edits.

The one consolation here is this happens to every writer but I know to look out for this and my final edit on anything is to specifically look for these. So I set myself dates where I will have an edit to check the story works done by a set date, then I will have another edit a few days later to ensure I am still happy with the plot and go through for errors. Then a few days later still I do my final edit for typos and get the story submitted. Then off to the next story!

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The weather was a complete contrast with yesterday. Lady and I didn’t get wet at all. She did get to see her best pal, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, and a riotous time was had by both of them.

Am looking forward to interviewing Val Penny for Chandler’s Ford Today again soon on her book of short stories. More details nearer the time but did I want to quiz a novelist about switching to the short form? You bet I did! All sorts of questions arose from that which I look forward to sharing later, along with Val’s answers.

Writing Tip: Never worry about rubbish first drafts. That’s the point of a first draft. You just get the story down and tidy up later. Nobody ever writes a perfect first draft. Shakespeare didn’t either. There is some consolation in that thought, I think!

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It’s great to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my first story for 2024 called, aptly, A New Start. Find out if Gemma does actually have her own new start this time. Hope you enjoy the tale (and many thanks to those of you who have already commented on this one).
Screenshot 2024-01-05 at 10-03-40 A New Start by Allison Symes

Sometimes I use a theme as a title. One example of this is The Power of Suggestion in Tripping The Flash Fantastic. I get my character to show how the power of suggestion changed their life and whether it was for the good or not. Themes are fantastic hooks for stories and I like the thought of having a double whammy here by using them as titles as well.

Writing Thought: Why not write down a list of your favourite themes (and this can include proverbs and sayings too) and pick one or two to write stories up for? Think about your favourite films, TV shows, books etc – is there a common theme or two behind what you like most?

I’m attracted to the thought of people not always being what they seem (this is a classic idea in fairytales) so the moment I came across Strider in The Lord of the Rings, I did guess correctly there was more to this character than was apparent. I also thought this was true for Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series.

So do I write stories where characters are not all they seem to be? Oh yes! Simply because it is a theme I care about and working out what those are for you can be a great place to start when looking for new story ideas.

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There are several good reasons to have a try at the flash fiction and short story competitions.

Firstly, these are excellent ways to practice writing to deadlines.

Secondly, following the submission rules (and these do vary) gets you some useful practice in following any future guidelines on submissions of longer work.

Thirdly, if you are long or short listed or win or get a runner’s up spot, all of this makes for excellent material to put on your writing CV. This is especially true when you are submitting longer work. It will show a publisher/agent someone else judged your material to be of a standard to get any of those placings.

Fourthly, you get in useful practice in sticking to word counts. This is especially true of the flash fiction competitions where there are those who want you to write to an exact word count. Not one word more. Not one word less. It is a good idea, when you’re drafting flash for future use, to draft some which come in at the 250, 300, and 500 word counts as these are some of the most popular categories I’ve come across for competitions.

Flash Fiction focuses on THE important aspect of a character's life

Fairytales With Bite –

New Year Acrostic – Tips for Visitors to the Magical World

N = Never underestimate a fairy waving a wand.

E = Expect the worst if you come across a witch with a cauldron as she is highly unlikely to worry about your health and safety.

W = When visiting a magical world, expect strange creatures but the good thing is they’ll think you’re odd too.


Y = Your three wishes, if you are fortunate enough to get any, cannot be extended or transferred.

E = Expect high moral standards here, even with strange creatures about – greed is generally looked down on, for example.

A = Always treat anyone you meet with respect – you never know what powers they’ve got and prudence is a good thing here.

R = Restrict yourself to following the proper tour with guide and don’t go wandering off – it won’t end well for you if you do.

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This World and Others – Beginnings

At the start of a new year, it is natural to think about beginnings. For fiction, we can look at beginnings for characters but also for settings.

How did your magical world begin? How did it get to where it is now in terms of development? Has the use of magic enhanced your setting or weakened it? Have there been magical wars? Has power had to be controlled to stop chaos erupting?

For example, if magic polluted your world, was there a point when the “bosses” said enough was enough and limited the use of magic to prevent further damage? How did your setting and characters then cope with a new beginning of limited magical use? How difficult was it to adjust?

For your characters, what beginnings have they had to face up to and were these welcome or not? What are they leaving behind so they have their new beginning? Do they have regrets or are they only too glad to have a new start (and what could lead them to feeling that way)?

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Characters Who Surprise and Unexpected Reviews

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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.
Fabulous weekend with the flash fiction workshop on the Friday and the Book Fair on the Saturday. More about the latter to come in my CFT post this week. Hope you have had a good weekend too. Lady has been busy catching up with her girlfriends so she has had a nice time too.

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As well as selling my books, I was selling books I've contributed to - those went well too

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Changeable weather today – managed to avoid the rain. I got wet instead thanks to a swim! Much more fun.

Reading wise, I’m now back on the non-fiction after reading a hugely enjoyable crime novel. (And there were good examples of both kinds of book at last weekend’s Book Fair too).

Writing Tip: Never expect perfection from a first draft. It’s not what the first draft is for. I is just where you get the story down. Then you can work on improving it. It will need improving. All stories do. But unless you get that draft down, you won’t see where to improve it. And take comfort from the thought that every fiction author is in the same position here!

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Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to see her two favourite girlfriends today – good time had by all. Busy day after a lovely weekend but then Mondays are always like that.

Can you remember the first character (or an early one) that took you by surprise? Mine was The Little Mermaid from Hans Christen Andersen. (Definitely not the Disney version!). Why? It was news to me that fairytales did not always have a happy ending. Okay, be fair, I was a kid at the time but that was a useful lesson, even if you don’t realise it is one at the time.

Another story which captivated me early on was The Snow Queen. The girl is the hero in this one! I loved that (and still do). Bearing in mind I grew up a long time ago and that kind of thing was a novelty, trust me. (It’s why I always have had a soft spot for Lady Penelope from Thunderbirds as well).

To this day, I have an even softer spot for the feisty female lead in a story who knows her own mind and acts on it, whether she gets it right or not.

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Met a fellow dog walker in the Recreation Ground today. No surprises there but she bought From Light to Dark and Back Again from me at the Book Fair yesterday. She came over and said, with a big grin on her face, she’d read the book this morning and she felt I had a “wicked sense of humour”! As I replied, that is a review! (Oh and guilty as charged here by the way. Not at all sorry!).

Looking forward to sharing a write up of how things went at the inaugural Book Fair here for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Will be an especial pleasure to share that one!

Oh and a huge thanks for the great comments coming in on Flaky, my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction. Much appreciated. If you didn’t get chance to spot this one, do check out the link (and check out the other stories too. You’ll be in for a good read).

 

Had a fantastic time at the book fair at The Hilt today. It was lovely to meet fellow authors, some I knew, others I didn’t, but we all got chatting to each other and to the many people who came. I’ll be writing more about this for my Chandler’s Ford Today post next Friday but it was a great event and I hope this does become a regular thing. Many thanks to the organisers, to those who kept the writers well supplied with tea and coffee etc., and to all who supported the event.

It was nice to finish my day with a meal out with family. Much appreciated. I never mind not having to cook!

Writing Tip: Never worry about your first draft being rubbish, They are kind of meant to be. It’s the editing which will polish the work and make it better. Do see the writing and the editing as two separate creative tasks. They each have their challenges and I find if far easier to keep the two tasks separate. I need to know what my story is and what really matters before I can do any editing work on it. (Oh and this ties up with the writing tip given above but I can’t stress this point enough. Write first, edit later. It really does pay.).

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Many thanks for the lovely comments in on my post yesterday regarding Counting which is my latest tale on YouTube. Much appreciated. These videos are great fun to do and are another way of highlighting what flash fiction can be. Who says marketing can’t be fun?

Was at an interesting Zoom talk last night and it flagged up another source of research. For me, non-fiction has often sparked ideas for stories.

Why? Because you often come across intriguing characters and events in non-fiction. You can ask yourself what would your character do if they faced something similar. If in real life a personage did Action X, you could explore alternative history stories here by getting your character to do Y instead and work out what the consequences would be.

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It’s Monday. The weather’s changeable. It’s still Monday. It’s time for a new story from me on YouTube. Counting is a result of a random number generator prompt where I generated three numbers in sequence. Thought I’d put them all into a tale and mix them up, apt for this story especially.

 

So nice to see authors I knew and those I met for the first time yesterday. Plenty of networking went on at the Book Fair (which is how it should be too).

One aspect to flash which might be overlooked is, if you’re not sure where to start with writing, the short form is a great place to begin.

Why? Well, for one thing, you’re not overwhelmed by the thought of having to come up with 80,000 to 1000,000 words for a novel. Also, with work, practice, and persistence, you can get stories submitted and hopefully build up publication credits which you could then list in a query letter to a publisher/agent when you are ready to submit a longer piece of work somewhere.

I mentioned a few times yesterday that writing flash has helped with my other forms of writing. You don’t just tighten up your editing in one form only here! The skills you learn writing the short form come in useful for the longer works too! Win-win.

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It was a fantastic opportunity to spread the word about flash fiction at the book fair at The Hilt today. I was pleased to meet others who write flash too. Also great to see many authors who write a wide range of books here. More about this in my Chandler’s Ford Today post on Friday. So good doing live events like this though.

Glad to say the flash fiction workshop went well yesterday and it was lovely meeting everyone in the writing group online. It has been a lovely end to the week.

May be an image of text that says "deas Zoom workshops are useful for the exchange of ideas especially when not possible to do this in person."

Goodreads Author Blog – Book Fairs and Events

I was at a Book Fair local to me recently and it was great fun. As well as celebrating books, it was fantastic to meet other authors and readers. There was a good range of books on offer too covering a wide range of tastes which is exactly what you want from an event like this. (The organisers also kept the writers well supplied with tea and coffee, which was also appreciated!).

Going to events like this is a fabulous way of supporting authors you know, as well as discovering writers new to you. It’s a way of bringing books to you, especially if your nearest bookshop is some distance away.

I hope the organisers of this event do it again. It would be lovely if it became a regular event.
If you get the chance to go to such things near you, do go. You may well be surprised at the range of books on offer. Every book event I’ve been to has been seriously impressive here.

 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Drafts and Depth of Characterisation

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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.
Happy Valentine’s Day to those who celebrate. (Lady has had big hugs today. Mind you, she often gets big hugs!). And it is always a great idea to celebrate our love of books and stories, regardless of what date it is on the calendar.

BookBrushImage-2023-2-14-20-4438

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Hope today has been lovely, whether you celebrate St. Valentine’s Day or not. Lady had a lovely time playing with her Aussie Shepherd friend. As ever, both dogs went home shattered but happy.

Writing Tip: Somewhere Near Infinity or Thereabouts – Never worry about a first draft being rubbish. It is part of the point of a first draft. Just get something down and then worry about editing. Terry Pratchett has a great quote on this – “the first draft is you telling yourself the story.”.

So true. You have to work out what it is before you can work out what to improve.

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Another busy Monday has sped by – hope your one hasn’t been too bad. Lady got to play with her best buddy, the lovely Rhodesian Ridgeback, so two dogs in my area were happy today!

Looking forward to being interviewed for a “catch up” session with Hannah Kate for North Manchester FM soon. More details nearer the time. A lot has happened since I was last on the show.

Later this week I’ll have another story up on CafeLit. Will be lovely to be back on there again.

Am busy getting my author newsletter up together ready for issue on 1st March. I like being able to add bits and pieces to this as I go through the month. It’s especially useful when something crops up, say, halfway through the month and it gives me a nice news item for the next edition. Mind you, the newsletter is also a good measure of how quickly the year flies by as the time for the next one comes round etc etc!

May be an image of text that says "WHAT'S NEXT Good question! One thing I've learned 1S the writing journey is a continual one."

Brrr… it’s turned cold again though glad to see my snowdrops are now out.

Will be looking at Character Creation for Chandler’s Ford Today next time. I’ll be sharing some thoughts on what I’ve found useful here. Link up on Friday.

Looking forward to the next Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction group again soon. These meetings are always great fun.

Glad to say I’ll be having another story up on CafeLit soon and it is one that started life as a Flash NANO piece too, More details later this week.

May be an image of text that says "a new Flash NANO was challenge for me late ast year. Made me stretch my writing- loved doing it."

Hope you have had a good start to your weekend. Many thanks for the comments coming in on How Nice, my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction. See link if you missed it. Hope you enjoy it. The title – well, you could give it marks out of ten for irony!

Screenshot 2023-02-10 at 09-38-30 How Nice! by Allison Symes

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Flash fiction is to the point though that doesn’t mean it can’t offer depth of characterisation. Far from it in fact. I’ve found because I have to choose what I show a reader, I think more carefully about what I absolutely need to show. And it is in defining what absolute is here, the depth to a portrayal comes in.

For example, if I need to show a reader a character has issues of trust (for whatever reason) I can show this via action. The character continually checks if a door is locked. They never allow people to be alone in a room etc. I can show those as two different actions in my story and readers will get the point. Definitely a lack of trust here! Dialogue/character thoughts could then show what is behind this.

May be an image of 1 person and text that says "What do you, the writer, ter, think about your character and why?"
 

Monday is with us again and it’s time for another YouTube tale from me. Hope you enjoy Hidden.

 

Can you use repetition in flash fiction given its limited word count? Yes, you can. It can sometimes be useful for emphasis. I’ve used the odd word repeated as part of the same phrase in stories like Bringing Up Baby, from Tripping the Flash Fantastic. I used this to give a “rhythm” to the sentence and it worked well. But it was a case of deliberate and thought out placement here which is why it worked. Sometimes I will repeat an odd word from the title and place that in the story to give a kind of “mirror” effect but again only when I can justify it and place it well.

Screenshot 2023-02-12 at 16-11-30 The Bridgetown Café Bookshop
Many of you will know I’m the flash fiction editor for Mom’s Favorite Reads. As well as the joy of writing my column (with a story to illustrate the theme), it is an absolute joy to read the stories that come in, to give them a light edit, and then see them in the next issue. What is especially nice is seeing where authors have used the telling details that really brings their stories to life.
One or two powerful pertinent details – always better than a wad of description which sends the reader to sleep!

When I’m writing my stories, I am always thinking what does the reader need to know here? If it’s not something essential out it comes. I look for telling details which make an impact too. Sometimes that can be a visual thing. Other times it is a phrase my character comes up with which is memorable but also shows something about them (such as how well or otherwise they were educated etc).

May be an image of text that says "If you are creating your own world for a story, you will need to give some details to help your readers visualise it. IfI want to write a story set in London, I do not need those details. You know what London looks like."

Goodreads Author Blog – Re-Reading

Do you make a habit of re-reading books or is it something you only do occasionally? I can sympathise with the school of thought that says life is so short, read new books, then read more new books etc. But I must admit I do re-read.

There are certain books I simply have to re-read (or in some cases re-listen to) at different times of the year. For example, I have to take in Hogfather by Terry Pratchett in the run up to Christmas. In that case I nearly always re-watch the excellent film adaptation.

The nice thing here is, as well as enjoying old favourites again, I nearly always pick up something new from the repeat reading – a bit of wonderful characterisation that I somehow hadn’t quite picked up on before. A great book can always stand being re-read.

You should be able to get more enjoyment from it each time. Here it is not a case of familiarity breeding contempt, more like familiarity breeding anticipation of more things to enjoy from a well-loved story. What is there not to like about that?!

Screenshot 2023-02-11 at 20-56-33 Re-Reading

 

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ALLISON SYMES – BOOK BRUSH READER HUB

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MOM’S FAVORITE READS LINK – CHECK OUT THE MAGAZINE INCLUDING MY FLASH FICTION COLUMN HERE –

Cyberlaunches, The End, and Flash Fiction

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Image Credit:  As ever, Pixabay, unless otherwise stated. (Images of The Hayes, Swanwick were taken by Allison Symes)

It has been a fun few days as I was one of the co-hosts for Patricia M Osborne’s cyberlaunch of her second novel, The Coal Miner’s Son. What follows is a kind of a report on that. Many thanks to Patricia for inviting me to take part. It was great fun – as a good launch should be!

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I’m looking forward to taking part in #PatriciaMOsborne‘s cyberlaunch for her second novel, The Coal Miner’s Son, tomorrow evening. (I interviewed Patricia as part of my CFT series on What Books Mean To Me a while back and I have guested on her website as part of her blog and her 100 word challenge. We are both also huge fans of Swanwick Writers’ Summer School, not least because we met there).

This is the follow up to her debut book, House of Grace. Obviously more on that tomorrow but very best of luck, Patricia, and hope you have an absolute ball with your launch.

I had a great deal of fun with mine for From Light to Dark and Back Again. Cyberlaunches are a fab opportunity to celebrate books and support writer friends. Always worth dropping by!

One of the loveliest things about the writing community is it is so supportive and launches, cyber or otherwise, bring that out. And best of all they are fun!

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Many thanks to #PatriciaMOsborne for inviting me to take part in her launch of her second novel, The Coal Miner’s Son. This follows her debut novel, The House of Grace.

A very good time was had by all at the launch and the lovely thing about online launches is that the calories in the cakes and drinks provided simply don’t count!😆

I am planning to hold a cyberlaunch for my second flash fiction collection, Tripping the Flash Fantastic, when that is out later this year. Preparation is crucial for you as the writer to get the most out of it I think. It helped me to relax into the event and get a real party feel going.

(And it WAS a wonderful party at Patricia’s launch tonight too!).

Launches are important for the obvious reason of getting the news of our books out there, but they also help a writer to have fun with their book after all their hard work in writing and editing it.

Cheers to that!

And congratulations, #PatriciaMOsborne, for a wonderful launch for The Coal Miner’s Son. (I love that cover! Do check out the link to Patricia’s Amazon page, given above, to find out why I love it!).

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I always feel a sense of relief when I write The End for a flash fiction or short story. (I should imagine the sense of relief for a novelist is proportionately larger depending on their text length!).

I do know the hard work is shortly going to begin with the editing but there is that moment when you know you’ve got something to work with and that’s nice. It shouldn’t be unappreciated either. You have finished the first draft.

The great thing is nobody but you has to ever see that first draft. I know from mine what a good thing that is!

For competition entries, I always take at least a week (and usually a fortnight) off the official deadline to ensure I have time for any final tweaks and still get the piece off in good time.

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Hope to draft some flash pieces on my train trip to Birmingham today for an Association of Christian Writers’ event. It is a great form to draft on a smartphone!

The only thing I make sure of is to put plenty of story prompts on Evernote before I travel so I have more than enough to write up.

If I ever forget to do that, I brainstorm opening lines and then write them up. Of course sometimes what I think will be opening lines make far better closing ones, but it’s fun to find that out!

Image from Chapeltown Books
Always a good idea this!
A first draft is not meant to be perfect.
Books take you into other worlds.
Again, well?! Pixabay
Tools of the trade. Pixabay
Our stock in trade… Pixabay

When I started writing short stories, I nearly always used the third person. For flash fiction, I still use that, but I’ve developed a great love for using first person. I love its immediacy. I can tak you right into a character’s head and I have my narrator for the story literally to hand.

Flash, due to its brevity, means you can’t have too many characters as you’d quickly fall foul of word count requirements.

For example, if you want three characters in the story, you’ve got to have at least one good reason for all three to be in there. How many words will you use to get those good reasons in?! And even if you manage that well enough, what room have you got left for the actual story after all of that?

So using the first person is a handy technique but that is all it should be. I make myself mix up first and third person usage to avoid falling into the trap of all of my stories sounding the same.

Not exactly a selfier but… Pixabay
What questions do you put to your readers via your characters? Pixabay
What writing can give you over time. Pixabay.
Books are so special. Pixabay
Books take you into other worlds.
What worlds can you explore in flash fiction? Pixabay

Good reasons to get a writing event if you can and that includes online events (so travel is not a problem!):-

1. You will make writing friends who will totally understand your addiction to writing (and it IS an addiction). They also celebrate your successes and commiserate with your woes and that is vital. The writing community is precisely that, a community. We take the “no man is an island” bit seriously!

2. Said writing pals will tell you about competitions and markets you had not heard of as no one person can know everything that’s out there. You will also share useful news on similar lines to them.

3. You will get a lot from the courses and talks you go to as well!

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Book trailers were completely new to me until Chapeltown Books produced the excellent one for From Light to Dark and Back Again. Yes, I know I’m biased… (am not sorry, so there!).

Flash is a great vehicle for book trailers since as a form it can fit into a trailer beautifully and give a useful free sample to potential readers. I prefer using the 100 words or under for this.

A sample of my flash fiction work. Job Satisfaction was first published in From Light to Dark and Back Again by Chapeltown Books in 2017.

 

Goodreads Author Blog – Book Stalls at Writing Events

I love writing events anyway but I particularly enjoy having a good nose around book stalls/book rooms at these things. Wild horses wouldn’t keep me away and all that…

It’s always a joy to see works by friends, as well as my own, on these stalls too. But they also prove to be good opportunities to have a look at works and authors new to you.

So go on, at the next event you go to as a writer, put your reader’s hat on too and see what you can find. Explore reading avenues new to you as well as enjoying favourite genres.

And for non-writers, one of the best ways to support author friends is to go to their events. The great thing is you are likely to come back with your next good read too! And that is always a good thing!😊

Books on display at The Framing Shop in Hiltingbury. Image by Allison Symes
My favourite pic of the year! Image by Paula Readman

 

Panto, Numbers, and Publication News

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A real mixed bag tonight but hope you enjoy!

Image Credits:-

Firstly, a huge thank you to the lovely people at The Chameleon Theatre Group for kind permission to use their photos as part of my review for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I’ve included a couple of photos I’ve taken but the majority are from them.

Secondly, all thanks to Pixabay as usual for the other images used. Thirdly, thank you to Penny Blackburn for the picture of me taking part in the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School Open Prose Mic Night last year. Great fun! Now down to business…

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Delighted to share my review of the excellently performed show, Atlantis – The Panto. Well done to all at The Chameleon Theatre Group. Also I look at why an eclectic mix of music and a decent villain are vital to a good pantomime. Both are as important ingredients to a successful show as having a convincing Dame is.

I was intrigued by this story as it is not one I knew. How does an underwater adventure work as a pantomime? Well I had to find out…  Captions as ever for the Chameleon photos over on the CFT link.

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I loved going to the panto by The Chameleon Theatre Group last week. (Oh no you didn’t, oh yes I did, oh no…etc etc!). I had no idea what Atlantis – The Panto would be given it is not one of the classic fairytales pantomimes are usually based on. All I knew was it would have to have an underwater setting and I was interested to find out how that would be conveyed. (Good use of suitable music, the right costumes, props etc is the simple answer to that).

For stories, especially flash fiction, inference and implication play a big part in scene setting. If I told you someone was wearing a red coat, that would conjure up possible images for you. (For me, it would conjure up memories of a favourite red coat I had as a kid). If I then add one hyphenated word “moth-eaten”, that image will change, as will the mood of the story. The person wearing said moth-eaten coat is going to be poor, possibly homeless, and that will set the tone of the story too.

What questions do you put to your readers via your characters? Pixabay
Well… again! Pixabay
Our stock in trade… Pixabay
Ideas, ideas, ideas! Pixabay.

Facebook – General – and Publication News – Cafelit

Glad to say I’m Bored by yours truly is now up on Cafelit. If you ever wanted to know the true story of what happened to Humpty Dumpty, now’s your chance! Hope you enjoy it.

The writing life. Pixabay
A familiar sight! Pixabay.
Love reading in both formats! Pixabay image.
Warning: Writer at Work. Pixabay
Writing regularly, even in short bursts, encourages your imaginative side to flourish. Pixabay.
Glad to see the Little Library idea is speading.
Fab end to a day I think. Pixabay.
I know I have lots of stories and books in my head but I didn’t mean it literally! Pixabay
Read widely to inspire these. Pixabay
Is your reading journey a bright one? Pixabay image.

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I’ll be reviewing Atlantis – The Panto as my CFT post this week. Definitely a new story for me but that’s one of the joys of going to see the productions put on by The Chameleon Theatre Group. There is such a variety of work staged by them and it always makes for a fantastic evening out. I’m a big fan of taking in stories using various formats and going to see a good show is just another and very enjoyable way to do that.

Link up tomorrow. I’ll be looking at the signs of a good panto, why music matters for shows like this, and why there has to be a decent villain for the audience to boo at! It IS as vital to get the villain right as it is for the Dame to be what audiences expect. I’ll also have a look at why the panto, in my view, is vital for theatre going overall.

All good fun…

 

Checking spelling and grammar isn’t fun but so necessary. Pixabay image.
Image by Allison Symes

Facebook – General – Association of Christian Writers – More than Writers – Numbers and Creative Writing

There are more links between numbers and fiction than you might think. Hope you enjoy my latest blog for the Association of Christian Writers’ More Than Writers blog spot, which discusses numbers and creative writing and there are plenty of links between the two. Mind you, my first love will always be words, glorious words!

I also share some thoughts on how to manage word counts and competition deadlines.

 

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Can one word make a difference to a story? Oh yes. I talked about this over on my author page tonight (Allison Symes Fairytale Lady – https://www.facebook.com/Allison.Symes.FairytaleLady/).

One word can turn a mood. One word can change how a story ends. I’ve long thought of flash fiction as precision writing and this is why. It’s also why if you’ve got a powerful story that works really well at, say, 250 words, leave it there! Don’t try and edit it down to get it into a 100 word competition or market. Impact on the reader is the most important thing, then the word count, and not the other way round.

Transforming Being. Image by Bridge House Publishing.
Image taken by Adrian Symes
Image from Chapeltown Books
Image from Bridge House Publishing
Many thanks to Penny Blackburn for taking this shot of me at the Swanwick Prose Open Mic night.
It is a great joy to be published by Cafelit online and in print. Picture taken by Allison Symes
Another of my stories made it into this collection. Image taken by Allison Symes
I was in this Bridge House anthology. Picture taken by Allison Symes
My first story appeared here. Photo taken by Allison Symes
Another flash fiction piece of mine is in here. Pixabay image.
Reading can make it seem as if you are in your own bubble! Pixabay image
No matter how strange your characters or setting, there must still be identifiable elements for a reader. Pixabay image
A good writing group will help you discover this. Pixabay image.
Edit, edit, edit! Pixabay image.

Story matters. The format less so. I like to take in my stories via:-

Books, obviously.
Kindle.
Seeing them performed as plays, pantomimes etc. (I love the whole concept of National Theatre Live. Brilliant idea).
Audio books
Magazines
The vinyl version of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds as produced by Jeff Wayne (which is just brilliant. Richard Burton was a wonderful narrator).
Hearing them on radio. (You can count TV drama obviously though I admit I’m watching less TV and I wasn’t impressed with what was on offer over Christmas).
Via film.

For flash fiction the top two have been the main outlets for me. It is a hope of mine that flash fiction can draw in the reluctant reader and if that has to be via electronic means, so be it. Get hooked on books. You know it makes sense!

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I’ve mentioned before I always feel a certain amount of relief when I get a first draft done of any writing. I feel like I’ve “nailed something down” to the screen or paper (I still occasionally write in longhand) and from there onwards the draft is going to get better. It is precisely what editing is all about!

I also like to have more than one project on the go as while I’m working on one, my subsconsious can mull over any issues I’m having with something else. It is almost inevitable an idea to resolve those issues WILL occur when I’m working on something else.

I’ve learned not to fight that and just go with it. It’s what a notebook and pen besides the laptop is for after all so those ideas that suddenly come to me don’t disappear into the author’s hell-hole called Lost Ideas That Were Brilliant But You Will Never Know Will You Because You Did Not Write Them Down At The Time! (Most of us HAVE been there and often more than once!).

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Fairytales With Bite – Keeping Fairytales Alive

As shown above, the pantomime is one great way to keep fairytales alive given most of them are based on the classic stories. Long may that fantastic tradition continue.

I am, of course, very fond of fairytales told from the viewpoints of different characters as my first published story, A Helping Hand, in Bridge House Publishing’s Alternative Renditions anthology, comes into that category. It is a popular theme and I’ve seen it used in other competitions and rightly so too. There are a wealth of stories (and therefore characters) you could do this for.

The Disney adaptations also play a part in keeping fairytales alive though I would always recommend going back to the original stories to compare and contrast what Disney kept in and, often, what they had to keep out to retain a Universal certificate for the cinema.

I also can’t see good old-fashioned reading fairytales to children stopping either. Children know what they like in stories and fairytales do tick the right boxes there. Then the likes of Roald Dahl and David Walliams could be considered to be modern fairytale tellers too.

Long live the fairytale!

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This World and Others – How the Other Half Lives…

While readers don’t need to know the ins and outs of your creative world, they have to be convinced that in some dimension somewhere, your world is realistically enough portrayed to have a chance of existing!

Basically this means your characters need to have shelter, be able to eat, drink and so on and therefore a society has to spring up around them so these needs are met. Some of those societies will be close to what we know here. Others will be different but readers will be able to pick up on how it works. (Can’t say I’d like living in Mordor – it’s the ultimate in grim!).

One of my favourite quotes on this topic is from the much missed Terry Pratchett, who referred to building his Discworld “from the bottom up”. That is, he worked out how waste was disposed of, how water was supplied etc.

You need to decide what you need to know here so you can write with conviction about your setting and the characters in it. I’ve focused on system of government for a longer project I’m working on. Whatever way you go in for this, it does have to be something readers can identify with. Good luck!

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What Writing Means To Me

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Image Credit:  Unless otherwise stated, the images come from Pixabay.

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What does writing mean to you? For me it’s:-

1. Escapism. (Always welcome that!).

2. Writing stretches and challenges me. I came up with blog posts or stories yesterday, can I do the same today? (The discipline of daily writing is very good for developing your imagination and stamina and is also brilliant for keeping the brain active).

3. Writing has given me a creative art form I can take part in and love. I’m useless at art (my kid sister was much better there – and still is) but I can use words. I believe most of us have a creative streak somewhere and it’s a question of finding the one that suits us best. Being creative does something positive for my soul/mental well being/self-esteem etc and that is a good thing for my sake obviously but also for those around me.

4. Writing has led me to doing things I would never have dreamt of doing (such as reading publicly from my own work).

5. Writing has given me wonderful friends who understand the joys and frustrations of writing and that wonderful buzz when your books arrive with your stories in them!

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So what does the coming writing week hold in store for you?

I’m currently preparing a review of the play My Husband’s Nuts performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group for Chandler’s Ford Today. Yes, it really is called that. Reviews can sometimes be tricky. How much do you reveal about the plot? My approach is to give enough of the “flavour” of the play without giving away spoilers. And yes, this one is a farce. Well with a title like that, it kind of had to be really.

I’ve just submitted work to a competition and I plan to work on my big projects throughout the week. Am making good progress on one in particular. I also want to get another flash fiction collection together at some point.

Delighted that the Best of Cafelit 8 with its lovely green cover goes beautifully with the cover of my From Light to Dark and Back Again. They’ll look good together on a book stall! The Cafelit series always has the same cover image, just the colour of the cover changes, and the Chapeltown flash fiction collections always have a frame around a differing central image. Branding, folks, branding – it does matter but it doesn’t have to be complicated. Simple ideas here can work wonders.

I have two stories in this volume of excellent short fiction.
My flash fiction collection. Image taken by Allison Symes.
FLTDBA for sale in the Swanwick Book Room. Image by Allison Symes
Image by Adrian Symes

Publication News

Delighted to share my latest story on Cafelit called Humourless. Hope you enjoy. Definitely not something that could be applied to me, I’m glad to say.

Warning: Writer at Work. Pixabay
Good questions for writers to ask themselves.
Sometimes the books come to you! Pixabay
Feedback can vary in scale! Pixabay image.
So many lovely forms of writing… Pixabay
Nothing like getting down to some writing… Pixabay
All great ideas for writing but you still need to “apply the seat of your pants to the seat of the chair” (P.G.Wodehouse). Pixabay image.
Something writers know only too well…
What writing can give you. Pixabay

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When something unexpected happens, how do you react? Okay, okay, I know. It depends on whether the unexpected happening is nice or not. (I was nominated for Miss Slinky in my Slimming World group tonight – very nice surprise and it brightened up my Tuesday considerably!).

Okay, next question. How would your characters react? Same response from you? Yes, and rightly so too. But it pays you to know how your characters are likely to react, no matter what turns up in their lives.

Also think about why they would react the way you think they will. If someone reacts badly to a balloon bursting, is that because their link that sound to a bad memory? There should be a reason for their reaction, especially if other characters seems to consider it an over-reaction. You can ask yourself if it IS your character over reacting and then think about why your character might do that. Trying to get sympathy perhaps?

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I occasionally write a piece of flash fiction where the first letter of each line spells out a word. Let’s give that a go again now and appropriately I think I’ll go for Autumn. (Now this is where I could cheat and go for the American word of Fall here to make my life easier but I won’t!).

AUTUMN

A = Allison finished digging in the garden not a moment too soon as the rain started pelting down.
U = Urgent requirement for a hot cup of a tea and a Hi-fi bar made her put her spade away in record time.
T = Turning away from the garden shed, she ran indoors, put the kettle on, and grabbed her bar from the larder.
U = Unaware her actions had been witnessed.
M = Missy, next door’s dog, got through the gap in the fence and went to where Allison had been digging.
N = Never had a body been uncovered again so quickly; never had Allison shooed a dog off so quickly before as she rushed to cover up her work.

Allison Symes – 26th October 2019

Not based on a true story, honestly!

 

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Reasons to engage with other writers positively:-

1. It’s fun – best reason of all.

2. You will learn useful information – I’ve found out about competitions etc thanks to chatting with other writers. Some of it I’ve used, some of it I may use in the future, some I may never get to use at all.

3. When you can share useful information, see it as paying your dues. I know I’m grateful for the good advice from other writers that has helped me so pass it on.

4. Ultimately, we all want to write good material, whether it’s flash fiction, or an epic saga. There are things on our writing journeys that we will share in common. You don’t have to cope with these things on your own!

5. You can be warned about scams. No industry is exempt from these so why should publishing be?

6. Linking with 5, other writers can tell you where to go for good advice and what has helped them.

7. I was told about Cafelit and from there found out about flash fiction and I’ve been very grateful for finding out about those!!😀

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Pleased to have another story up on Cafelit – Humourless. More to come too.

http://cafelitcreativecafe.blogspot.com/…/10/humourless.html

For Cafelit, you need to assign a drink to your story and I try to match the mood of the tale with an appropriate beverage. I sometimes find that harder to do than write the story and I’ve often searched cafe menus for inspiration!

It is a great way to discreetly flag up the mood of the tale though. This, and finding pictures for my CFT posts, are probably the main ways where I’m “forced” to think laterally sometimes. But it is worth persisting with doing that. Other story ideas have come to me that way.

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I always feel a certain amount of relief when I’ve got the first draft of a story written. I never worry about making each line or paragraph “perfect” before moving on because I know if I took that approach, I would get very little written. Also, there’s no such thing as “perfect” writing anyway.

I like to get a first draft written, move on to another piece I’m editing or submitting somewhere, then come back to that draft to give myself enough distance from it to be able to judge it as objectively as I can.

There are two reactions made by a writer to something they’ve written.

1. This is genius. Not true, sadly.

2. This is awful. Whatever made me think I could write. Not true either and that’s better news!

It is inevitable as you read through a piece, ideas for better ways of phrasing things occur to you so go with that and don’t worry about it.

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Association of Christian Writers – More Than Writers – A Season For Everything

Do you find the seasons affect your writing? I can’t say they do with me. One good thing about the evenings drawing in earlier is the lure of a cosy room, my desk, hot drinks on the go, and an evening’s writing is even more appealing than it normally is!

I don’t write much about the seasons. Flash fiction with its word count limits means I have little room for description. If I want to show it’s cold, I’ll get my character to put on their big coat, having established they usually wear shorts or something daft like that.

Sorry to all shorts fans out there but I’ve never liked them. I’d also consign flip-flops to history’s dustbin. If I ever come up with a character I really can’t stand, I could make them wear shorts and flip-flops in freezing weather and make them suffer! I guess that could be fun…

Is there any writer who doesn’t get some enjoyment out of putting their characters through the mill, especially when those characters have it coming? I refuse to believe that is just me.

If I have seasons to writing, it is not in the quantity of what I do but in the tasks themselves. I will have weeks where I’m submitting work all over the place. (I finished drafting this after sending three stories off to Cafelit).

There will be other weeks where I’m editing work I’d deliberately put aside to look at again with fresh eyes prior to submission. It does pay to give yourself that time so you return to your story afresh. It’s the only way I know that works where you do come back and read your work as a reader would.

Without a time break, I’ve found you can be too close to your own work to be objective about it. This is why when there’s a competition deadline, I take off at least a week from the official end date and that will be the date I aim to submit the piece by. If life gets in the way as it does sometimes, I still have a few days in hand to still submit that piece.

I am so grateful for email submissions! I did start writing seriously when everything went in by snail mail (it was just after the last T Rex left this world). Some things have definitely got better. (I don’t miss typewriters, carbon paper or Tippex either. I did use to cut and paste literally).

I’ve found it pays to have periods when I’m creating new work. While I’m working on the second story, the first one is having its “time break” for me to edit effectively later.

There is always something on the go  writing wise and that’s how I like it. I have a very low boredom threshold and the lovely thing with creative writing is that threshold is never tested. There is always something to do.

Happy writing, editing etc etc!

Goodreads Author Blog –

What Do I Want Books To Do For Me?

I look for different things from books, depending on which genre I’m reading, but there are things in common across the spectrum. A good book for me must:-

1. Entertain me. (I want to be gripped by its pace and narrative. I don’t want to be sent to sleep by it!).

2. I want to learn something from it and this applies to fiction as much as non-fiction.

From the former, I can learn something about behaviour and choices depending on what the characters do.

Learning from non-fiction books is obvious but it is a good idea to read outside the subjects you might usually choose (and this is something I need to do more often).

I love history and that is my “go to” for non-fiction reading but I always used to like geography so maybe I should try some travel writing books etc. Hmm… might look up some ideas to put on my Christmas present wish list then!).

3. I want to want to read the book again in due course. Good books call for repeated reading (and I find I pick up more details on a second or third read). I also wouldn’t undermine the comfort of reading a familiar book. There is much to be said for that.

So what do YOU look for in a good book?

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