Tag: Flash fiction and marketing

Key Story Elements

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good weekend. It was back to creosoting the fence here but I was thankful for cooler weather in which to do that. Have had some lovely comments in on my recent Chandler’s Ford Today post about Swanwick. I was deeply touched by those. Thank you, folks.

Facebook – General

Hope you have had a good day. Not bad here.

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again soon. To sign up for tips, news, story links, and more do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Newsletter tip: I find having a monthly theme helps because I can share tips related to the theme, writing prompts related to it and so on. It gives the newsletter a focus. It also means I can prepare the newsletter during the month so there isn’t one mad rush to finish it and get it out on time.

Mind you, I am a big fan of scheduling and do this all the time for my Chandler’s Ford Today posts so it makes sense to me to prepare as much as I can in advance here too.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.


Despite it being a bank holiday in my part of the world (the next one is a certain day in December, folks – argh!), Lady did get to see her Hungarian Vizler pal. A good time was had by both dogs. Bank holidays always seem a little odd to me as for most of them I am doing mostly the sane stuff as I would do on any other Monday but there you go. Certainly the writing continues as normal.

The next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group is on Wednesday so am looking forward to that. We’ll be looking at prompts, useful for any form of writing, I think.

Writing Tip: Never worry about how much time you have for writing. As long as you write regularly, what you do write will mount up over time. I’ve found this to be the case and you end up getting more done than you might think, especially if you look at your writing over the course of a week or so (rather than daily).

24th August – Bonus Post – CafeLit Serialisation – Seeing The Other Side

Bonus post. As I posted my other posts earlier than normal, I forgot to share the latest part of my serialisation of Seeing The Other Side on CafeLit.

The posts don’t appear there until 4pm each day as the idea here is you get to read stories at this time with tea/coffee, cake etc. Lovely idea (just wish I had more time for the cake and didn’t put on what seems like half a stone just by looking at cake but there you go!).

Anyway, here is the latest installment. I do hope you enjoy the stories.
Hope today has been a lovely peaceful Sunday for you. It has been here. Lady is currently happily curled up having had a couple of lovely walks and play times. Hopes to catch up with her pals during the week.

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Stand Alone Books for Chandler’s Ford Today this coming week. Link up on Friday.

Have started work on editing a story I’ve drafted for a competition. Will probably aim to have this sent out in the next couple of weeks.

Looking forward to reading Christian Writer, the quarterly journal of the Association of Christian Writers. Copy landed on my mat yesterday. Also looking forward to going to their in person event in Egham in October. My railcard is getting good usage so far this year! The good news from Lady’s viewpoint is I will be back in time for dinner so she won’t be too unhappy about Mum going off somewhere for this one.

Hope today has gone well. Quiet one here – back out creosoting the fence. Am making good steady progress. Sometimes you come across descriptions which are perfect. Well, our fence was described as being made from rough cut timber. They were right about the rough bit!

The next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group is next week so am looking forward to that. I hope to resume preparing work for competitions from next week too. I have set it as a goal to enter more competitions this year. I have already fulfilled that compared with how many I went in for in 2024 but I would like to do more before the end of the year.

I’ve got a story in draft for a competition (due in towards the latter end of September) so will focus on that one first. Always good to have something to work on like this. Makes me up my game and certainly I have produced more stories than I would have done otherwise.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Flash fiction is a great thing to share if you have an author newsletter. It gives something hopefully entertaining to your followers, doesn’t take up too much room, and who doesn’t love a free story to read? Win, win, win there. All part of my marketing too.

No author newsletter? Well, how about writing a short story to share on your website for your followers there. It is a lovely way to give back for the joys writing gives us, I find.

And talking of flash fiction, hope you enjoy this one.

The Party by Allison Symes – 26th August 2025
Out of the thirteen guests who were dressed as ghosts for the party, only one could walk through the walls, leaving the remaining twelve screaming.
Ends

It’s a Bank Holiday Monday where I am. It’s been a hot one too. But it does mean it is time for a beginning of the week story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Liberating Luck.

A witch cannot believe her luck on managing to escape a magic lamp nor on whom she managed to get to take her place in it. Find out who that was here. Is the witch right to celebrate her luck?

 

About to crack on with flash fiction Sunday, which is something I always look forward to – it’s a great way to end the week and I get more stories drafted. I can polish them and find a home for them later.

Congratulations to the winner, the runners up and the short listed for the recent Friday Flash Fiction competition.

The 100 words (drabble) category for flash fiction is a popular one for competitions so it is worth practicing writing to this word count. I’ve found the form to be addictive and hope you do too! They’re also great for sharing on your author newsletter etc as they don’t take up too much space and give people a quick, entertaining read.

One element to flash fiction which can be overlooked is that it gives you skills you can use for any form of writing. I’ve found this to be the case. You tighten up your editing skills, for one thing.

You learn to look for phrases which convey the meaning you want but do so in fewer words. You focus on specific images rather than risk anything which could come across as vague.

No room for wordy description here. I have to show you a character and/or a setting quickly so must focus on the telling details which will bring those to life for you. This means I have to be able to picture it first. Anything getting in the way of that is cut.

Goodreads Author Blog – Key Story Elements

I lost count years ago of how many books and/or stories I’ve read.

I include flash and short story collections here deliberately, partly because I write them, have featured in them but, in any case, they are still as much of a book as a novel or novella. They’re just a different format, that’s all, and I’ve found them useful for another reason.

If I like an author’s short work, it’s a good bet I will like their longer works too. So sometimes I have tried out an author’s short form work before buying any of their novels.

But regardless of story type, every work of fiction has to have key story elements. For me, these include characters I can relate to, an interesting plot, and an ending which fulfils the promise of the book.

I have to feel that the ending was right. If there was a twist (and I love these), I need to be able to look back at the story on a second reading and see how it could only be this twist and it had to be the way the writer portrayed it.

No matter what the setting, the characters have to be believable too. There has to be something in their portrayal I can relate to and naturally this acts as a wonderful challenge for me to do the same with my own creations.

Reading encourages writing. Writing encourages reading. Behind it all is a love of story and the key story elements are what readers crave and what writers long to create.


MailerLite – Allison Symes – Newsletter Sign Up

WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

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

Locations and Author Interviews

Leave a comment

SOA_Member_rgb

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 (and photos from wonderful Northumberland) taken by me, Allison Symes.
My post this week comes from glorious Northumberland where my other half, the dog, and I are enjoying an autumn break. Gorgeous scenery. Lots of walking. Cosy cottage to stay in. Bliss! Oh and I get to write as well. Lovely!

BookBrushImage-2023-10-10-20-147

Facebook – General

Glorious day spent at Seahouses and Bamburgh. Wonderful beaches, great walks, and fabulous views of Bamburgh Castle. One tired and happy dog again – result! Also am enjoying catching up with Terry Pratchett audio books while we are touring. Today, we managed to get most of the way through Thud and should finish that tomorrow.

Will be interviewing Val Penny for Chandler’s Ford Today later this week. She’ll be sharing news of her new book, Hunter’s Secret, and sharing good advice on blog tours. Link up on Friday.

I was writing postcards earlier this evening and it reminded me that one of the many names for flash fiction is postcard fiction, the idea being you can only write what you can fit on the back of a postcard. Now I have tiny writing so I can get 150 words on there (yes, really). Others in my family have huge writing. They’d get 50 on!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Had a wonderful day in and around the Kielder Forest today. Gorgeous woodland walks, superb lake views (Kielder Water). Again one tired and happy pup in Lady! Looking forward to another day on the coast tomorrow. We like to mix up beach play and forest walks. Weather has been good too.

Writing Tip: Little touches can add great depth to a story. Near where I’m staying at the moment is a lovely bench which reads “Sit and Chat Bench”. Anyone sitting there is open to having a chat. I thought it a lovely idea but there are stories here too.

Fictionally, and in a setting of my own, I could invent someone who set up that bench and explore why they did it. Which characters would sit on a bench like that? Who would they talk to? What would the conversation lead to (because it would lead to something)? Conversations can change a great deal!

20231009_150740_HDR

Lovely day out and about at Druridge Bay Country Park. Great beach. Useful visitor centre. Great walk around the huge lake on the other side of that centre. A perfect day out for dog walkers! Lady has come back shattered but oh so happy.

Will I be using some of the locations I visit this week in future stories? Don’t know right now but I will have them in mind if I want to describe a certain setting. I often find though that the odd telling detail is enough. For example, I could mention my character walking along a lonely, sandy beach and you may well conjure up in your own minds where that beach could be. (I can think of several in Scotland as well as in Northumberland which would come to mind for me if I read that).

What matters to me is having a picture in my mind. I usually focus on character but sometimes that will show me their setting as well. I then work out what I need to share in the story so it makes sense to a reader. Still I am going to have some cracking ideas for future settings during my time in Northumberland and it is great to be back here.

20231008_125758

Am staying in glorious Northumberland for a break with other half and Lady. Looking forward to lots of lovely walking.

Will be sharing a fab interview with Scottish crime writer, Val Penny, for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. She will be sharing news of her new book, Hunter’s Secret, and wonderful advice on blog tours, something which is a major part of marketing for many writers.

What do I look for in any author interview, whether I conduct it or not? I like to have the sense the interview is a proper conversation as useful tips and information comes out of that. I like to see how the author’s experience is helping them now when it comes to marketing. We all try different things. Some work. Some don’t work so well. All of that can save time, money, and effort for other writers.

I do know I am grateful for all I’ve learned from author interviews over the years. And they’re fun.

Author Interviews coming up on CFT

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Many thanks for the great responses coming for Being Engrossed, my most recent tale on Friday Flash Fiction. In case you missed it, see the link below. Would you do what my character, Stephen, is planning to do here?

Screenshot 2023-10-06 at 09-28-46 Being Engrossed by Allison SymesIt’s Monday. It’s time for a story. Hope you enjoy Thirteen Hours, my latest on YouTube.

Flash fiction is great for use in various marketing ways. Firstly, I can (and do) create mini videos via Book Brush and YouTube to share on my social media timelines. Secondly, I can add these to my website. I sometimes create exclusive stories (video and plain text) for my author newsletter. I see all of that as advertising what I do.

When out and about at book signings, it is easy enough to share an example of flash fiction to people by reading out one or two. Doesn’t take long. Shows what flash is and what it can be capable of quickly. My experience has been people love being read to and I have made sales as a direct result of doing that!

And flash has helped me no end with my own editing. I am not afraid to cut where it is needed. I remember, years ago, being tentative over that. After all, who really wants to kill their darlings? They’re your darlings for a reason, right?

Hmm… writing flash sorted all of that out. If it doesn’t move the story on, out it goes and that’s that.

387768494_747065354099995_1595877413844693050_n

Flash focuses on moments but these can take many forms. An event is an obvious moment but so can be that moment of realisation when a character switches direction. What triggers that moment of realisation?
Also something a character says to another can be the spark for the changing moment. But the changing moment really does have to be important enough to trigger the required change. All stories show change.

385877328_746433724163158_5558772571780275759_n

Goodreads Author Blog – Writing Guides

Most writers, including me, have a number of writing guides collected over many years. The need for guides changes through a writer’s career. I started with the beginner guides and, much later, went to marketing and publishing books.

What I was after (and still am) is clear information presented in an entertaining way. I find I recall things better if I like what I’ve read. Also guides should be encouraging, otherwise why read on?

My favourite writing guide is On Writing by Stephen King. I am also fond of the Wannabe Writer guides written by the much missed Jane Wenham-Jones.

A good test of a guide is its readability (and re-readability). Which guides have you found useful?

Screenshot 2023-10-07 at 19-51-29 Writing Guides

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Screenshot 2023-09-25 at 12-14-31 Writers' Narrative eMagazine October 2023

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES
Allison Symes - advertising books and services resized 640

Twitter Corner with hashtag, Scrabble tiles, and the blue bird

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

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

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Thank You!

Leave a comment

Image Credit: All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Image of Lady and I taken by Adrian Symes.

Facebook – General

Final prize winner and runner-up prizes hand delivered locally today. Many thanks to everyone who has tweeted/sent messages to say they’ve got their “prize bundles”. Always nice to get something nice in the post/through the door instead of the usual bills etc.  (See tweets at the end of tonight’s post). This is one of the nicest aspects of being a writer!).

Writing wise, I’m working my way back into my “normal” writing life with my CFT post already scheduled for this week. Am hoping to get back to my long term non-fiction project sometime this week and want to start submitting new work to Cafelit etc before long. There are other marketing things I want to do for Tripping The Flash Fantastic. So definitely not going to be short of things to do!

It can be tricky getting the balance right for writing new work, editing work so you can get on and submit it somewhere, and marketing for work you’ve already done.

My overall view is to try and get something done on every aspect in allocated time slots for them several times during the week.

Okay some weeks I will get more done than others but it is making the space available that helps so much here. Tuesday, I’m drafting blogs, Thursday, I’m marketing books etc etc. It is not set in stone and allows room for overlap but does make sure I cover as much as I can over a seven day period.

If I see an invite on a book related blog or FB group to share details of my new book, then I’ll drop things to do precisely that and resume what I was doing afterwards. But you get the idea.

I don’t think there is a perfect system for this kind of thing (and I think I’d be distrustful of anyone who said there was. What works for one person may not work for another) but what I do love about the writing community as a whole is the willingness to share ideas.

I’ve lost count of how many tips I’ve picked up over the years which have all increased my productivity/time management so I get more work done overall. (Scrivener is by the far the best tip I’ve taken advantage of here!).

Photo by Markus Winkler on Pexels.com
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com


Hope your Monday has been a reasonable one. I do feel a little like I’ve crashed back to earth again after the cyberlaunch for Tripping The Flash Fantastic on Saturday but I was expecting that.

Mind you, with a day spent washing, rescuing said washing from heavy rainfall, cooking and shopping, well it is definitely life as it is lived once again. Nobody said it had to be glamorous! (Just as well really! 😊😊😊).

Things to come this week. I will be appearing on #ValPenny’s blog later this week and am looking forward to sharing the link for that.

Quick heads-up to the winners and runners-up in the various little games I set on Saturday – your prizes are winging their way to you via Royal Mail so should be with you later this week. Hope you enjoy. It was a great joy to get those off at the post office today (and yes I did tell them what was in the packets!).

There are a couple of you lucky people who live near enough for me to deliver your prizes so I hope to do that tomorrow.

And before I forget, a big thanks for all the entries to the photo caption competition. All of them made me laugh and it was a hard task deciding on the winner and runner-up. This is something I will look to do again. It was great fun. (Photo I used is below. This just had “caption competition” all over it – well it did to me! Image taken by my better half, Adrian Symes).

LADY DISCUSSES TTFF WITH ME

My Chandler’s Ford Today post is going to be different this week too. It’s the first post I’ve written which is a non-fiction one (as usual) but which also incorporates a new flash fiction story from yours truly. The tale is funny but also gets a good point across. I look forward to sharing the link for that on Friday.

I can’t really say more without giving things away BUT can add I am hoping people will join in with the challenge I set in this post. Oh and the challenge is definitely “do-able” so more later in the week.

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

A HUGE thank you to all who supported my cyberlaunch in any way on Saturday night.

It was great fun to “chat” with so many of you and I had a whale of a time. Hope you did too.

Glad to see that the old Youtube clip of Monster Mash went down so well with everyone. It was great having a trip down that particular Memory Lane!

I’ve always loved the track and see it as a kind of a salute to Bewitched, The Munsters, The Addams Family etc. And given many of my flash fiction tales are on the quirky side, it is such an apt track to pick!

Have happily spent today getting the prizes ready to send to those lucky people who won or were runners-up in my raffle, quiz, and photo caption competition. Am looking forward to telling the good people in my local Post Office what is in the packets before posting them off! Subtle advertising or showing off – YOU decide!😂😂

And the icing on the cake today?

I’m absolutely thrilled to share that Tripping the Flash Fantastic broke into the Top 1000 on Kindle for Single Author Story Collections on Amazon earlier today. This is a first for me and am feeling seriously chuffed, as you do.🙂😉

Thank you, everyone!

PS I do offer signed copies of the paperback and am happy to post them off to you especially if you’re in the UK.  Just DM me and we can take things from there. For anyone outside of the UK, I can post the book but will need to allow extra postage costs. Having said that, I do have an Amazon page in various countries so it would be worth checking those out.

Screenshot_2020-10-11 Tripping the Flash Fantastic eBook Symes, Allison Amazon co uk Kindle Store

Now this was a time related post on Saturday night of course! But I am leaving the link to the discussion page for my event here. Do check out the posts – and the links. I will put in shortly a couple of my videos sharing extracts from my new book.

About 20 minutes to go to my cyberlaunch for Tripping the Flash Fantastic. Hope to see you there. Have got a great pic for a photo caption competition so get your thinking caps on – oh and keep them clean! More to come on the launch page which is at https://www.facebook.com/events/1246876649024453/?active_tab=discussion

And do see http://mybook.to/TrippingFlashFantastic for more!

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I’ve mentioned the use of random generators before and I used one on Saturday night for my cyberlaunch for Tripping The Flash Fantastic. I used a number generator to give all visitors to my launch a unique number. I then used it again later to “draw” the numbers for the winner and runners-up for my online raffle.
 
Now another way to use the random number generator is to use it to set the word count for your next flash tale. I’ve just used it and generated “25”. So let’s see then… (oh and I am counting the title in the word count).
 
Twenty-Five
It was my favourite number until I got soaked through thanks to the bus driver speeding his wretched double decker through a massive puddle.
Allison Symes – 13th October 2020
 
Hope you enjoy!
 
sunny-luck-ipad-business.jpg

Photo by Skitterphoto on Pexels.comI found a random generator to be more useful than a pair of dice for the raffle but it is hard to find a picture of a random number generator!


A new flash fiction story from me, which is funny yet still manages to get a good point across, will form part of my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. I look forward to sharing the link on Friday.

When I started drafting my post, I hadn’t planned to put fiction into it. After all my CFT posts are strictly non-fiction but I quickly realised that what I was trying to say would work better as a flash tale in the overall post so that it is what I have done. I am also setting a challenge in this post but it is a fun one so I hope you join in!

I sometimes use flash fiction directly in marketing. (After all I include a flash tale in both of my book trailers for FLTDBA and now Tripping the Flash Fantastic. It is a great way to show people what flash fiction is as well as being a very useful “taster”).

This is where the advantage of a short form comes in useful. I can share a whole story and it doesn’t take too much in download time etc.


What a weekend! Many thanks to everyone for your support for my cyberlaunch on Saturday night.

Marketing for a book is, of course, an ongoing thing, and should always be seen as long term. Last week, for me, was the big push ahead of the cyberlaunch naturally.

Plans now are to continue to find different ways to market the book, get back to flash fiction writing (well, that third collection won’t write itself!), and I am itching to resume work on a non-fiction book too. So no danger of me becoming bored any time soon and that is how I like it!

Now on my original FB post. I did say the following!

I will just finish tonight by sharing the trailer for TTFF again. I share a story, Time For Some Peace, here, and it makes a good place to start if you’re new to flash fiction.

However, I’ve already shared this above so will share here a recording of me reading a very short piece called The Back of Beyond from TTFF. Hope you enjoy.

Am looking forward to sharing some of my flash tales from Tripping The Flash Fantastic at my launch in about 20 minutes time as I type this. Hope to see you at https://www.facebook.com/events/124687664902445/?active_tab=discussion

Note:  videos included above but do check out the event posts as they were great fun. The whole Facebook post is far too long to reproduce here and it is simpler to share the link but also check out the music clips here. It was such fun and everyone seemed to enjoy it which I am so pleased about! I had such fun playing with Canva with various things for my FB posts in the run up to the launch – see in the pictures below. Will happily use Canva again.

Goodreads Author Blog – What Is It About Books You Love Most?

Difficult question to answer isn’t it? So much depends on the genre chosen too.

Overall, it has to be the characters who grip me. I’ve got to want to find out what happens to them. I’ve got to care about the outcome. It does have to matter to the character and therefore to me as the reader.

For historical fiction, I’m always keen to find out how a writer shares the information we need to know about the period without giving us “information overload”. That is they don’t give a whole wealth of information so you end up forgetting what the story actually is.

I like to see information drip fed to me in an entertaining way. One of my favourite books ever is The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey and that is a great example of how information is shared while keeping the story going and the pace up.

For crime fiction, I want to see how the author gives clues without giving the whole game away and that is not an easy balancing act.

For fantasy, I want to see characters I can identify with in terms of their needs and longings even if their species is totally alien in every sense of that phrase!

For me, a good read of whatever kind is getting the readers hooked to the characters. For non-fiction, that character is the voice of the narrator.

Happy reading!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

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