Tag: flash fiction

What You Need to Know About Character Creation and Shorter Fiction Forms

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All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good week. Have had some writing admin to tackle again but now sorted. Lady has had a lovely time with her pals. Looking forward to the Easter celebrations and a long weekend. Have a good Easter break yourself, whether you celebrate or not.

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Double Blog Time!

18th April 2025 – Good Friday – Chandler’s Ford Today

Second blog post from me today. First one below! This time it is my latest for Chandler’s Ford Today. This time I look at What You Need to Know About Character Creation. (Combines well with my Authors Electric post too! It does too. See below).

I look at the positives and negatives of using certain traits (which is something you can expand further depending on which trait you use for your characters). I also look at attitudes, situations, and dialogue, so I hope you will find plenty of useful information here.

Do have fun creating your characters. I think it is the best aspect to storytelling.

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18th April 2025 – Good Friday – Authors Electric
Double blog post today. First up is my latest on Authors Electric. This month I discuss Shorter Fiction Forms.  Second blog above.

One huge advantage to the shorter forms of fiction is they do make you focus on what does matter for your characters, you don’t have the word count room to do otherwise. But that in turn is a good discipline to get used to for writing any fiction. Hope you find it useful.

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Hope the day has gone well. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler friend again so all is well there.

My Chandler’s Ford Today post on What You Need to Know for Character Creation will be up tomorrow. See top post.

It is double blog day for me tomorrow given my Authors Electric post will also be up. That will be on the topic of Short Fiction Forms. See second post!

Looking forward to sharing both of those tomorrow so expect two posts. Has been lovely and busy on the non-fiction front!

 

Hope you have had a good day. Squally weather this morning, better this afternoon. Lady did get to see and have a fabulous time with her Hungarian Vizler friend and Coco, the lovely Labradoodle.

Writing wise, I will be sharing What You Need to Know For Character Creation on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See top post.

Following my scam warning post yesterday, I have since heard a few other writers I know have had similar experiences so clearly there is a spate of these things going on at the moment.

Newsletter coming along nicely. To sign up for this do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

You should see what appears on the screenshot below.

Theme this time will be on playing with genre in flash fiction, which I‘ll be discussing in further depth later this month for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group.

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Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest 100 words tale, Appearances. Trying to keep up appearances doesn’t always work out. Find out why here.

Hope today has been a good one.

I sometimes decide on what my next flash fiction story will be by picking a topic to write about. This is good practice for competitions with a set theme too. I then look at the kind of characters which could serve that topic well and then start to flesh them out.

The topic has got to grip me (and that goes for the set theme for competitions too) for me to want to write to it, of course. Not every topic does.

But there are plenty of topics (and set theme competitions) to go around to this never worries me. I think you do have to have a keen interest in the topic of theme to be able to do it any justice at all.

Hope the day has been a good one. Just to flag up the submissions window for Friday Flash Fiction is now open again. Have sent in something this afternoon.

Flash fiction is a lovely thing to share on your website, social media etc to flag up the kind of writing you do. It’s a good way to share something of interest to your subscribers for your author newsletter. It’s fun to do too especially if you love creating characters, which has always been my favourite aspect to storytelling.

Create my “people” (not that I always choose humans!), put them in a situation and find out what happens! And although I outline so I know roughly what is going to happen, I deliberately don’t plan out everything. I like to give my characters room to surprise me and they often do. I love that too.

Fairytales with Bite – Endings which Could Be Beginnings

I write this in the run up to Easter 2025 and it led me to think that, as a Christian, I see Good Friday as an ending (the crucifixion of Jesus) which became a new beginning (the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday).

But it also led me to think we can have endings which could be beginnings for our stories too in any genre but I’m focusing on one of my favourite kinds – the fairytale. How?

Simply by remembering there are two sides to every story. What is one character’s happy ever after ending will bring about a change of circumstances for other characters in the story (which they may or may not welcome of course) and those can be interesting avenues to explore further.

The musical Wicked is based on an alternative look at The Wizard of Oz story and people seem to like this!

My first story in print, A Helping Hand (in Alternative Renditions, Bridge House Publishing, 2009) looks at the Cinderella story from the viewpoint of the youngest stepsister. That character had a distinct view on Cinders as you can imagine. The story was great fun to write and I was thrilled for it to be my breakthrough in print.

There is nothing to stop you from (a) taking a character of yours and exploring their story further (it is where prequels can come in for one thing) and/or (b) taking another character from your story and doing something creative with them.

Why not give it a go? Having endings which could be beginnings for new stories is great fun to do. I think it works especially well with fairytales.

This World and Others – Upheavals

Our world is always full of upheavals and is especially this way as I write this in April 2025. But it led me to wonder about the kinds of upheavals your settings might see. Do they make ours look pathetic by comparison or are their upheavals “ a piece of cake” compared with what we have going on here?

What triggers your setting’s overall upheaval? Usually these things start with something small which then build and build. What would be your characters’ involvement in this? Are they the trigger point themselves or do they get caught up in the momentum of events as things build up and then find they can’t escape?

What are the consequences of the upheavals? Does it lead to political or other change or does the upheaval fail and governments crack down harder than ever on any kind of dissent? (This does sound depressingly familiar doesn’t it? The one positive is taking this idea and using it for a story where at least you can decide what the ending will be!).

Also, something positive can come out of things like this. For example, communities torn apart by previous events can come together to fight against a common foe (not necessarily literally though that too is a possibility). Things which needed to be changed are changed and for the better for most. The great thing here is you get to decide what these will be.

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Zooming Around and Author Anniversaries

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good few days. Had a fabulous birthday weekend. Lovely to see folks. A huge thanks too for all of the online birthday wishes. Lady had a great time too. Now back to the writing work…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good luck if you are sending in any stories shortly.

22nd March 2025 –

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

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

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

Bound to be some story ideas there.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Writing Competition Tips

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All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good few days. Weather becoming cold again but generally dry. Pleased to have finally submitted a long term project this week – if I don’t hear within a certain time frame, it’s a no. Continuing to get stories and blog posts done. All enjoyable, to write, which is how I like it.

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

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

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

Writing Competition Tips

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good outline right there – have fun!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This World and Others – Languages and Usages

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

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

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

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

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

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

Story ideas there I think.

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Story Endings and Why I Love Creative Writing

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Hope you had a good weekend. Wet and stormy again here though crocuses are emerging in my garden. Plenty done writing wise which I’m very pleased about. Hope the rest of the week continues to be productive.

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You know I said yesterday Writers’ Narrative was due out soon (see below!), well I was right. It’s out now! Do check out the magazine below.

The theme this time is historical fiction. Plenty of wonderful articles in here sharing useful insights. Time for a good drink and a great read I say. You can find my piece on pages 16 and 17 where I look at how historical fiction can be written for the shorter forms of writing too.

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Hope you have had a good start to the week. Park so muddy this morning. Lady didn’t worry thought (she never does!) and focused on having a nice time with her Hungarian Vizler pal. Quite right too.

Writing wise, I had a lovely weekend, submitting stories and picking others to edit for competition entries later. Also drafted articles and got on with my longer term project (well, one of them anyway).

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again on Saturday. Yes, it is almost March already! To receive news, tips, story links, prompts etc do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Also Writers’ Narrative will be out again soon. I was right – see above!

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Hope your Sunday has gone well. Nice quiet one here though the wind is getting stronger. Storm due later.

Why do I love creative writing, fiction or otherwise? There is no one answer to that but my love of reading made me want to write stories of my own. Basically, I wanted to see if I could do it and I soon discovered writing is addictive (albeit in a good way).

My love of reading non-fiction has led to me wanting to and then going on to write non-fiction articles and posts. And, of course writing is a creative outlet. I suspect most people have at least one way of being creative and I soon found that writing was the one for me.

Best of all has been getting to make so many writing friends. All of us understand the need to create stories and articles without having to explain why. When we get together in person or online, that is lovely. We do pick up from where we left off!

It will be a little while before I go to my next writing event though, as well as running the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group this coming week, I’m going to attend an event ACW are putting on in early April, which I’m sure will be encouraging and useful.

Hope your weekend has got off to a good start. Had some sun today which is lovely and have potted the first crocus emerging in my garden.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing The Writers’ Wish List for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. (Well, it will be this writer’s wish list but there will be plenty to agree with and maybe add to via the CFT comments box on Friday!).

Delighted to be Editor’s Choice on Friday Flash Fiction this week with my Best Advice tale. Link here in case you missed it yesterday and a huge thank you for all the lovely comments coming in on this so far.

Looking forward to flash fiction Sunday afternoon tomorrow too. I have been submitting a number of stories recently which is great. I need to take some time out to look for other possible competitions and I hope to do this tomorrow too. I make a point of checking out the competition background just to reassure myself all it as it should be before I send anything anywhere.

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Hope today has been good for you. Lovely to see some sunshine. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal and an old friend, Daisy, whom we haven’t seen for a while.

Writing Tip: You can show something of your characters’ general attitude to life by showing how they react to minor annoyances, you know the kind we all have.

Do they swear like the proverbial trooper when they stub their toes or do they express their annoyance in a less fortnight manner?

How do they react in certain weather conditions? What brings out the worse of them here (and bear in mind in a fantasy story you could have another magical character deliberately make them face this situation knowing it will cause them to react badly).

It’s Monday. It’s been stormy (overnight) and so muddy in the park. Definitely time for a story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – People Watching.

Just another woman working away in a cafe over a chocolate brownie and tea or is there something more sinister in her work? Find out here.

 

Finding topics for my flash fiction and short stories varies. I use the random generators. I use books of prompts (some have been published by Bridge House Publishing. I’ve contributed to those and there is now a Big Book of Prompts available – see link below).

I also use story cubes. Sometimes a topic is set by the competition I want to have a crack at and sometimes I use a competition theme even if I don’t enter it. (This is usually due to my having discovered the competition a bit too late to enter it but I can still use the topic and get a story out of it. I can find another home for it later).

I like having a variety of methods to “get into” a story (though my all time favourite is working out who my lead character will be and then finding a lovely situation to dump them in – great fun!).


Flash can be punchy, moving, funny, and anything in between those things. You can set your characters anywhere and everywhere including in time, in this world and others you make up. The word count can vary from a few words to a few hundred but as long as you don’t go over 1000 at a time, it’s fine.

You can bring out flash collections, share individual pieces on websites like Friday Flash Fiction, and there are competitions specifically for the form. And you wonder why I love flash fiction! (The fact it is responsible for me finally having books to my name has a great deal to do with it too!).

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Goodreads Author Blog – Story Endings

A story doesn’t keep its implied promise of a good read until a reader reaches the end of it and then even the magic words The End are no guarantee it was a satisfying read.

A great story ending ties up loose ends and has an appropriate conclusion for the characters involved. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a happy ending but it does have to be “right” for what we have come to know of the characters and the plot line. It has to “fit”. Otherwise a reader will feel “jarred” by that ending and will wonder whether the book or story was worth their time reading it after all, something no author wants to encourage.

Sometimes when I write my short stories and flash fiction, I have the closing line immediately. I have sometimes entered competitions where they give you the closing line and you then work out what must have come before that.

I enjoy this exercise. It makes me think from B to A rather than A to B. I deliberately make myself start stories this way first every so often to encourage my own creative thinking. The huge advantage of course is I know what the ending is going to be. I have an outline (a very rough one) from that alone.

I like to read books and stories where I feel the ending couldn’t have been different from the ones which have been given. To me that is a successful story.

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As the March issue is hot off the press (see above), so to speak, I thought I would share the February issue again here. Double bubble here, folks. Hope you enjoy both magazines. Do subscribe. Link above and in the magazine itself.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Making The Most of An Author Interview

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Hope you have had a good week so far. Lady has seen plenty of her friends so she definitely has! Writing wise, I enjoyed an online book launch for a Bridge House Publishing colleague and am happily busy editing and writing. Have also spotted first crocuses out and that has cheered me up immensely. Spring is on its way, honestly! Oh and to finish the working week nicely my story on Friday Flash Fiction this week is the Editor’s Choice. More below on that.

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Lady had a fabulous start to her Friday by getting to play with Coco, the lovely Labradoodle, and her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal. All three went home tired and happy and well managed to beat the rain.

Delighted to share Making The Most of An Author Interview for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Hope you find it useful. I share thoughts and tips on preparing for text interviews and appearing on podcasts/radio. I also look at how preparation is key and sharing your story amongst other things here.

Making the Most of an Author Interview

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Damp and murky day again today but it didn’t stop Lady from having a good run around this morning and a good long walk this afternoon.

Writing wise, I’m sharing Making the Most of an Author Interview on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. I share thoughts and tips and hope you will find it useful. Link up tomorrow. See above.

Received some lovely writing news which I can’t say too much about now but hope to do so later in the year. Cheered up a wet Thursday for me I can tell you.

When you get moments like this (and note I say when!), cherish them. They help a lot. Doesn’t matter if they seem “small”, they’re not to you! And these things can mount up over time. It is often the case one thing will lead to another. I found flash fiction thanks to writing short stories. And a lot has come from just that discovery!

 
Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler pal and, separately, got to play with Coco, the lovely Labradoodle. Lady is having a smashing week so far!

Looking forward to supporting a Bridge House Publishing online book launch later. Also next week will be when the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meets again.

Will be discussing Making the Most of an Author Interview for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up on Friday. And I hope there will be more author interviews here before too long. Plenty going on.

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Delighted to be on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest story, Best Advice. Also thrilled to be the Editors’ Choice this week. Nice way to end the working week! Find out what happens when Kate asks Mel for advice and is Kate pleased with the outcome?
I’ve used objects before as prompts for flash fiction. Sometimes I’ve used a random object generator to come out with those.

The great thing about using that is I have no idea what can come up until I’ve actually generated it and then there’s the challenge of well, what can I do with this?

I find this a great way to challenge myself and highly recommend it. You can change the parameters on generators like this so there’s nothing to stop you having two or more objects to put into a story.

The advantage of using objects like that is (a) you’re not going to run out of things to choose to use here and (b) you can then think about who owns/has owned the object and great stories can just come from answering that.

When I enter competitions, I assume if I haven’t heard back within two months, its a no. I will then review the story, see if I can make any improvements, and, often sent it back out somewhere else. I’ve had work published that way.

I must admit this is where I find joining in with Flash NANO especially helpful as I know by the end of November each year, I will have thirty new draft flash stories to look through and polish up. I hope to get at least some of them out into the open market.

Fairytales with Bite – Over the Rainbow

Naturally in coming up with this topic my first thoughts turned to The Wizard of Oz but how would it be if you had characters who were so “over the rainbow” when it came to magical powers etc? 

Could any of them willingly give these up to make a new life for themselves elsewhere without magic and, if so, how would they get on? Would they be tempted to resume using magic to make their new lives easier to cope with and could there be consequences from that? Potential for humour here I think.

As for those who live “over the rainbow” what are their lives and settings like? Would we want to visit or be only too keen to stay away? Story ideas there too I think, especially if you take the views rainbows are lovely to look at (as they indeed are) but what is behind them?

Could there be something less pleasant lurking and the residents of beyond the rainbow know this only too well? Could they even envy humans because we do not face the things they do?

This World and Others – What is Fantastical Anyway?

Just how would you define fantastical? If we look back in time it is not too hard a stretch of the imagination to visualise our ancestors seeing the things we do and have (especially in technological terms) as fantastical.

When we look at what we know the word could do with and doesn’t yet have which would benefit humanity (and indeed the whole of creation ideally as well), we could consider inventions to sort these things out as fantastical precisely because we don’t have them now.

A magical world would not consider magic to be particularly special unless there are new developments in the field, so to speak. A scientifically based one would take the same vie on science. And when you have visitors to other worlds, what would they consider to be fantastical but the residents do not?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Popular Themes – Is There Anything New To Say?

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Hope you had a good weekend. Lady did – she got to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback again. I managed to get plenty of writing done, which always pleases me. Full steam ahead for the week to come, I hope!

Facebook – General

Delighted to be back on Authors Electric. My post this month is called Popular Themes – Is There Anything New to Say?

I thought it would be an apt topic given a certain saint has just had his renowned saint’s day and there are more than a few love stories around at the moment!

I share my thoughts on the importance of bringing something new to the mix and share how my way in to this is via the character(s).

Hope you find the post useful.

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Hope your Monday has been reasonable. It’s not my favourite day of the week by any means but what was lovely this morning was Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler and her Rhodesian Ridgeback pals. A great time was had by all.

It seems the scammers were especially busy earlier today as I spotted a couple within the space of a few minutes. Tiresome, tedious and a reminder, I suppose, we all have to be careful. The golden rule of if it seems too good to be true is right here.

Writing wise, had a smashing weekend getting plenty done with story and article submissions achieved. Hope the rest of this week follows a similar pattern!

Lovely church service this morning. Enjoyed that. Lady also got to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal unexpectedly after that and both dogs were so pleased to see each. Very sweet to see.

Sent off a story for a competition. Have picked another one to try (and have got a rough edit of a potential story for it too). Had a good evening writing yesterday!

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again before too long. I share news, tips, story links etc. To sign up head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

I’ve found adding bits and pieces to my newsletter throughout the month is the best way to write it. I also allow a few days before it is due to go out to check it and to make sure there is nothing missing. I usually pick a theme for the month. The one for March will be titles, a great form of advertising for your stories if you get them right.

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Hope the weekend is going well so far. Still grim, weather wise.

Writing wise, I’ll be discussing Making the Most of an Author Interview for Chandler’s Ford Today next week and plan to share tips I’ve found useful. Hope you will do so too. I also hope to have further author interviews (more news as I get it) and hope you enjoyed the great one with Gill James, which I shared yesterday.

Character Thought: What would a character of yours usually see as nothing out of the ordinary but another character shows them otherwise? What has brought about the chance of perspective and is the second character right in bringing it to attention of the first character or not? What is the impact of the change of perspective on the first character? Do they handle it well or not?

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Lady hit the jackpot this morning in that she firstly got to play with Coco, the lovely Labradoodle, and then, separately, with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal. Lovely time had by all. Lady tired but happy. Definitely a good day in her books.

Talking of which, what would be a good day for your characters and could you get some stories from that? A day in the life of can make an interesting take for a story. Works best when kept short so what better format than flash fiction for that?

It’s Monday. It’s cold BUT the sun came out today, hooray! Note to anyone not in the UK – most of us have had several days of grey, murky weather. Okay not unusual for February but it is so nice seeing the sun again! Still time for a story though. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Listening to Reason.

What do you do when you are fed up with some jerk being incredibly rude to you and in a crowded shopping centre where people are laughing? Well, when you’re in my character’s shoes, you have options you know will silence the jerk and the laughter. Find out what these are here.

 

Will be working on another flash story for a competition which isn’t advertising itself as a flash one but is because it wants a maximum word count of under 1000 words. It pays to look out for these. There are more of this kind of competition than you might think. Also several of the short story competitions have a minimum word count of 1000 words so flash fiction writers could go in for these too if they wished.

It pays to practice reading flash fiction (and indeed other stories) aloud. It is so easy to stumble over something you know well (and even easier on material you don’t!). I use Zoom to record myself when I’m preparing for an Open Prose Mic session or anything like that. It means I go into the event more relaxed than I might otherwise have been simply because I do know I have prepared all I can.

Separately I’ve found reading work out loud, even if not an event, to be useful because it means I can hear how my dialogue comes across and so on. You can hear where the prose seems “heavy” or too complicated and I can then edit accordingly.

Goodreads Author Blog – Flash Fiction

My main writing work is in the field of flash fiction where the longest any story can be is 1000 words. You can pack a lot of characterisation and drama into that limit. As well as having individual pieces published online and in print anthologies, I have two collections of flash fiction books out with a third in the pipeline. The advantage of flash fiction is you get a short sharp read and it can have a huge impact on you because it is so short. It is undiluted fiction, if you like.

Probably the best known of all flash fiction stories is Ernest Hemingway’s famous For sale: baby shoes, never worn. There is a world world behind those few words. Very much punch to the gut storytelling there.

I make a point of reading flash fiction and short story collections in between reading longer works. I want to read from as wide a field as possible and I will always put in a huge plug for the shorter forms of fiction, just as I am doing here! It isn’t just because I’m published in these forms, honest.

Do check out the collections. There are so many fabulous stories to find out there and word count shouldn’t come into your reading choices, I think.

I also think reading long and short forms of writing makes for an interesting reading “diet” for you. I know I love mine!

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Author Interview – Gill James – Natascha’s Story

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Hope you have had a good few days. Still no sign of any sunshine here, I’m afraid. Writing wise, am busy preparing blogs and a presentation as well as my usual fiction work. So glad to be able to do that indoors!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

I’m delighted to welcome back author, editor and publisher, Gill James, to Chandler’s Ford Today for an in-depth interview about her latest book, Natascha’s Story. This is aimed at the younger end of the children’s market and Gill wrote this book with her daughter, Ashleigh James, illustrating the book.

There is plenty of interest for all writers here with useful thoughts and tips we can all use, especially on marketing and writing.

Oh and do discover what domestic object Gill uses as a portal in this story. It’s not something I would have thought of!

Hope you enjoy the post.

Author Interview – Gill James – Natascha’s Story

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Another cold and murky day but Lady did get to play with Coco, the lovely Labradoodle, today and both dogs had a riotous time running around the park, which was great to see.

Don’t forget I’ll be sharing a wonderful interview with Gill James about her latest book, Natascha’s Story, on Chandler’s Ford Today. Link up tomorrow and there will be plenty for all writers to enjoy from this. See above.

Writing Thought: A question all writers need to be able to answer, regardless of what form you write in, is the classic What is your story (book) all about? The ideal is to be able to reply in one line. This is worth practicing as a writing exercise.

I usually say I write flash fiction and short stories, with flash being up to 100 words. If I’m asked about a specific story, I will share something about the character “star” of that tale.

Hope today has gone well for you. Still grey and murky here though Lady did get to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today which cheered both dogs.

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting later this month. Am also working on articles for Chandler’s Ford Today and Writers’ Narrative, as well as the flash fiction and short stories.

I love the mixture of fiction and non-fiction. Am never short of things to work on either. Over the course of a week, I end up spending about the same amount of time on each. My reading reflects my love of both types of writing too. Always keep it interesting!

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It’s good to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with another story. It’s a great way to finish the standard working week. Hope you like my latest here – Judging It Right. You can find out if my character, Beth, did judge it right after all (and many thanks for the comments in on this one so far).
When asked about what I write, the next question I often face is just what is flash fiction. I say it is any story which is 1000 words or fewer. I also then share the advantages of writing it.

It has to be character led but you can set those characters anywhere and at any time you want, so this means you can have a great deal of fun with genre here, including setting tales back in time. I also set them forward in time so I can have some fun with science fiction and fantasy here too.

What can often start off as a writing exercise (because you never get time in a lot of workshops to write more than a couple of hundred words or so at the time) can be polished up to become published stories. Nothing to dislike there!

A huge advantage to flash fiction writing is because it tends to be character led, you can not only put them where and when you want, but you can change their moods too!

I’ve written grumpy characters, sad ones, ghost ones, and characters who will put a smile on your face, amongst many others. All fun to do.

But taking one character and changing their mood in the course of a story could make a good structure for a tale or several. Why do they change? Is the change a positive one? Can they change back again? You get to decide but I know as a reader I am always fascinated by what makes a character change. I have to find out how and why and whether this is for the best or not so I keep reading.

So think about what would cause your character to change their mood – you will often a theme emerging from this too.

Fairytales with Bite – Love Is In the Air but Is It Magical or For Real?

I write this with St. Valentine’s Day fast approaching. With regard to your magical setting, do your characters have an equivalent day for celebrating all things love related or is something which simply isn’t done there and they would find us a bit odd for doing this?

Is magic allowed to be used to get characters to fall in love or is this banned? Where it has been allowed, what have been the consequences (and could there be funny ones here?).

Equally where magic is banned from this, how would your characters meet and form attachments with others? Are some things like love meant to be kept “real” with no suspicion of magic having been used to compel people?

Also, whichever way the rules work in your setting, could you write about characters who defy the rules? Again think of the consequences here because there could be some great stories resulting from that idea.

This World and Others – Relationships

Romance may not be uppermost in your mind as your write your fantasy stories, (I write this with 14th February almost with us once again), but could it form an interesting back drop to your main storyline? Even if not, what kinds of relationship do exist in your setting and between which characters?

Do any of your characters defy conventional expectations here and, if so, how and why? It’s always easiest to go with the flow rather than against it, especially if it isn’t just the immediate people around you who are against you. Why would anyone be prepared to defy what their whole society expects?

What other kinds of relationship exist in your setting? Are there families as we know them or are the makeup of these things literally alien from what we know?

When the relationship is a friendship rather than a blood relationship, how did the friendship come about? How is it going to be tested to the limit in your stories? (Should be too. Good example set here by Sam Gamgee and Frodo in The Lord of the Rings!).

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Making the Most of Your Writing Time

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Hope you have had a good few days. Lady has been catching up with her pals and I’ve been catching up with my writing. Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom next week too. Smashing author interview coming up on Chandler’s Ford Today next week as well – looking forward to sharing that.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Delighted to share Making the Most of Your Writing Time for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. It’s always a useful topic!

I look at the positives of planning out your writing time and discuss the negative side to it. I share what one piece of advice P.G. Wodehouse gave to a writer (which has a considerable impact on my way of thinking here) and look at mixing things up to make the best use of the writing time available.

Hope you find the post useful.

Making the Most of Your Writing Time

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Hope today has been okay for you. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler friend today. Lady has had a good week in catching up with her pals.

Looking forward to sharing Making the Most of Your Writing Time on Chandler’s Ford Today – link up tomorrow. Hope it will prove useful. See above.

Planning, over the weekend, to have a look at the two short story competition entries I drafted a few days ago and see what needs to be done to make them better. There will be something, there always is, but I love this stage of writing. To see what needs to be fixed and then to do it and know your work has taken a good step forward – well, all of that pleases me a lot. Also increases my chances a lot too!

I’ve always taken some consolation from the knowledge I can’t think of any writer who has ever written a first draft. It’s okay I don’t do so either then but what matters is seeing it for what it is – a first draft only I’m ever going to see.

 

Hope Wednesday has been a good day for you. Lady got to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals today – a lovely time was had by all in the park.

Now I hope you received lots of lovely book presents for Christmas. Am working my way through mine but I thought this would be a good point to say a lovely present for any author would be to receive reviews on Amazon etc. Other than buying the books themselves, leaving thoughtful reviews is the next best thing you an do to support authors.

Reviews don’t have to be long. One of mine for From Light to Dark and Back Again is a sentence long – An eclectic mix of flash fiction, from an author with a great imagination.

Many thanks to the author of that review. Much appreciated by me, obviously. Reviews like this can be useful for marketing purposes but also the feedback is so useful for writers.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It’s lovely to be back on Friday Flash Fiction once again after a fabulous and enjoyable Christmas break. Hope you enjoy my A Different New Year though I know for sure one of my characters in this one certainly won’t.

Flash fiction is, of course, short, but you still need to give yourself plenty of time to edit and to polish your stories. It doesn’t matter what word count you write to, the editing does take time, but it is so worth it when you have a polished as good as you can make it piece of work to send out.

Crafting your work to make it as good as you can does make all the difference to whether a piece is published or not, or gets a placing (or a win) in a competition or not.

Some of you will know I discovered flash fiction by accident. It remains the happiest writing accident I’ve had. CafeLit issued a 100 word challenge and I went for it. Haven’t looked back since.

But I mention this as I think it shows the importance of being open to writing possibilities and not to be afraid to try something new.

I’d been writing the longer short stories prior to that (and still do but flash has given me another string to my bow and a way into having books with my name on the front covers. Really love that).

It has pleased me a lot to see increasing opportunities for flash with online story markets and flash being added to competition categories. All good, that!

Fairytales with Bite – Pantomimes

In the UK pantomimes are along standing tradition and usually run from December through to about February. They are often the first introduction to theatre for many and most of the stories for them do come from the traditional fairytales. I will be off to see a production of Cinderella later this month which will be staged by my excellent local amateur theatre company.

Pantomimes are funny, colourful, and jokes are aimed at all levels. It is deliberate adults will get some jokes when the children will not. You have the pantomime Dame, always played by a man, wearing the most garish costume and makeup. The Principal Boy is always played by a girl. Certain phrases are always used (he/she is behind you etc) and the audience is always encouraged to join in. There is often music too.

Another tradition here is some of the jokes will poke fun at those in authority while other gags will refer to local issues/events/places. All great fun. Chaos is expected.

Fairytales work brilliantly for this as they have a good three act structure which translates well to the stage. There are obvious baddies and goodies too and magic is involved somewhere. It helps the audience know the story because they know when they can join in.

But it led me to wonder for this post what kind of theatre or pantomime would your setting have? Would they have anything like the pantomime? What fairytales do they have they might base their own version on? Could you invent something here for your stories?

This World and Others – Behind The Scenes

Linking with Fairytales with Bite, I know my excellent local amateur theatre company create their own sets and what they come up with here is amazing. They have, I’m sure, great fun with the pantomime sets they create – lots of bright colours etc. But without this, there is no show. Without their lighting and sound crews, the shows wouldn’t be so good. It’s amazing how the well placed light or sound effect makes a difference to the impact on the audience of the story being acted out.

Naturally it won’t just be in the entertainment industry, there will be those elsewhere whose work behind the scenes (a) makes things happen at all and (b) without whom what does get done isn’t as good.

So for your stories whose work behind the scenes is crucial to the success of what your lead characters are doing/plan to do? Equally who could unintentionally or otherwise scupper your characters’ plans by their work behind the scenes which has an impact later on?

You could also have characters who are behind the scenes but don’t want to be and what impact any resentful attitude on their part plays in your story.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Why I Write – Guest Blog Appearance – and Characters

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Many thanks to Janet Williams for the photo of me signing books – always good to share those photos! Image from the Autumn Gathering in October 2024 (an Association of Christian Writers event) was taken by me, Allison Symes, as were all screenshots taken by me.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Ghastly weather all over the UK. Very wet with some flooding here. I hope all clears up soon. Writing wise, it was good to get back to my usual flash fiction Sunday afternoon, the first of the New Year. Am also looking forward to sharing author interviews on Chandler’s Ford Today in due course. And I’m delighted to say I was on Val Penny’s blog as a guest writer looking at Why I Write. Link below.

BookBrushImage-2025-1-7-20-3148
Facebook – General

Sorry running very late today (7th January 2025). Have had one of those days – good but busy. Lady was delighted to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal again today and I was delighted later, to have my first swim of 2025. The water seemed warm compared to the cold outside!

What one thing about creative writing do you enjoy the most?

My answer is creating characters who come to life as I flesh them out more. I love that process. It means I know I’ve got a character who has a story to share.

Okay, what other thing about creative writing do you enjoy the most?

My answer is getting the story finished, submitted, and accepted!

Best get on with things then!

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Hope the first Monday of the New Year hasn’t gone too badly. Lady got off to a good start by seeing her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals again. Avoided part of the park (think muddy ski slope and you have a good idea as to why my doing this was a good idea!).

Glad to see Writing Magazine have issued their competitions guide again. Will have a good look through at at some point soon and mark up some possibles. I find doing that is a good inventive to then get something in for said possibles!

Character Tip: Give some thought as to what you most love about your character and also what you loathe about them. Think about why you come up with the answers you do here. It will give you further insight as to what your character is made of and you are bound to find that useful as you tell your story (sorry, their story!).

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Hope you are having a good weekend. No snow here, thankfully, but it is very wet and there is flooding in the usual places around here.

Will be looking at a topic close to my heart for Chandler’s Ford Today this coming week. I’ll be discussing The Joys of Fairytales. It’s apt too as later in the month I will be going to see Cinderella, as staged by my excellent local theatre company, The Chameleon Theatre Group. Looking forward to seeing that and sharing something about my love of a classic story form on Friday.

Also glad to report there will be more author interview coming on CFT too. More details nearer the time.

4th January 2025
Many thanks to Val Penny for inviting me on to her blog today. It was a joy to talk about Why I Write. It is a great topic!

It makes you think about why you put yourself through producing work you don’t know will see the light of the day. (It’s why acceptances mean so much when you get them). You do need a thick skin and the love of story I think to be able to keep going despite setbacks (which every writer faces).

I also share something of my writing journey as that has a huge impact on why I write at all. See link.

Screenshot 2025-01-07 at 20-40-45 Why I Write by Allison Symes

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I usually submit stories for Friday Flash Fiction over the weekend so will look forward to doing so again this coming one. It will keep me on track (though they are open for submissions again from today, 7th January).

I like to mix up my story moods for all flash I write and go from a mixture of light and dark (which directly inspired the title of my first collection, From Light to Dark and Back Again. Sums the book up well, I think).

Given fiction reflects the human condition – with all our failures and vices – I think a mixture of light and dark is appropriate for that reason too!

Escape with a Good Book - FLTDBA.jpg
6th January 2025

It’s the first Monday of the New Year. It’s dark, the weather’s ghastly, and it is still a Monday. Definitely time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Making the Best of Things. Perhaps an apt title!

 

I get my inspiration for my flash fiction and short stories from many different sources. I like this a lot. I’ve found it pays to keep the ways you’re inspired varied as it keeps things more interesting for me too and encourages me to “raise my game”.

Naturally I’m inspired by books and stories I love written by other authors. The various prompts are a huge source of inspiration, especially if I tweak them a bit to suit my purposes better.

The proverbs and well known sayings are often great for use as themes for your stories. And ideas do occur as I’m out walking the dog. (I note them down as soon as I can on getting home again). Reading comes into all of this a lot. I’ve been inspired for stories by interesting non-fiction articles or books as I wonder what my character might make of what is in that article or book.

Ideas are all around but it is a question, I think, of expecting there to be ideas and thus to be open to spotting them. Reading does expand the mind. It can expand your own imagination too. I like that a lot too.

The one thing I consistently find is if I’m especially tired, that is when ideas can be harder to spot. So I aim to be kind to myself, get some rest, and read. I know that will fire up my own imagination again in no time, spurred on by that rest.

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Hope you have had a good day. No snow here but did have a very heavy frost. Am so thankful writing is something I get to do in the warm!

Looking forward to resuming my flash fiction Sunday afternoons tomorrow. I’ve also got a couple of short story competitions I want to enter so will try to start fleshing out ideas for those as well. Plan to send in a story for Friday Flash Fiction when they re-open next week.

Good to have my copy of Writing Magazine come through the letter box. Pleased to see Debz Hobbs-Wyatt’s piece in there. I recently interviewed her for Chandler’s Ford Today re her novel, If Crows Could Talk. I always see it as a good month when I know (or have heard of) at least four or five authors in the magazine. It is a good month this time!

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Goodreads Author Blog – Influences

Isaac Newton claimed “If I have seen further it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants”, rightly meaning he was building on what had gone before. But every single writer does this, regardless of what we write. Every reader will experience it, regardless of what you read. Why?

Simply because every author has their influences – the writers who have gone before. I have too many to mention but I especially love Pratchett, Austen, and Wodehouse (what a trio!). Every writer is inspired by what they read and readers get the benefit of that though they won’t know it directly.

Austen showed me the wonderful use of irony in fiction. Pratchett showed me fantasy and humour were a superb mix. As for Wodehouse, his mastery of the English language is sublime and his creations live on long after him. Nobody will forget Jeeves and Wooster.

Any time I enjoy a book, I am indirectly taking in what and whom the writers of those books were influenced by. I think this is a lovely thing.

Screenshot 2025-01-04 at 18-00-53 Allison Symes's Blog - Influences - January 04 2025 10 00 Goodreads

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Story Tips

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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 New Year! Am slowly resuming my usual writing routine and it is good to get back to it. Having said that, I did enjoy the Christmas break and I hope you did too. This week, the first full week “back” for many (bar New Year’s Day of course), is going to be the tough one, I think, but I hope reading and writing help a lot – I know they do for me. Both take you away from it all for a bit!

BookBrushImage-2025-1-3-19-624Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today so she was happy.

Am pleased to share my first Chandler’s Ford Today post of the New Year. I look at Story Tips and this, I hope, will be useful whether you write flash fiction, short stories, or anything longer, fiction wise. As well as sharing tips I’ve found useful, I look at taking in stories via song and film as well as books, and share what I think the story writing challenge is to all writers. Hope you enjoy the post.

Story Tips

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It was a much pleasanter but colder day for walking Lady today and she got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals this morning so she has a good but tiring day, the kind she loves. Enjoyed listening to Classic FM at the Movies for a lot of New Year’s Day. Glad it finished with the Wallace and Gromit tune – the best thing on TV over Christmas we felt. Loved all the film references.

Also appreciated Classic FM playing one of my favourite movie film tunes – the only one I can think of which inspired a cartoon series. What can it be? Nothing else but The Pink Panther of course. Those of you of a certain age will now have had your first earworm of the year but it is a great theme!

Does music ever influence what I write? I find not at all with classical on in the background. What the music does for me is help me relax. When I’m relaxed I’m happy to write and keep writing.

Character Tip: What would your characters like musically and why? What does this say about their personalities? How could you use that to flesh them out more for your readers? Could their choice of music have a direct effect on the plot?

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1st January 2025

Happy New Year! Started 2025 by going for a long, wet, and muddy walk with other half and Lady though the weather here wasn’t as stormy as had been predicted. We got home again less wet than expected and Lady had a fabulous time.

Will be sharing Story Tips on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above. Glad to say there will be an author interview coming up later this month and I’ll be reviewing a pantomime by my local amateur theatre company as well. It’s good to be back in business!

Writing Tip: It’s natural for us to think of new beginnings at this time of year so think about what new start your characters would like to have and why. There will be great story ideas to come exploring that thought. Have fun!

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

No Friday Flash Fiction story from me today but they are open for submissions again from next week – see screenshot. Am hoping to be getting back to sending tales in to them regularly from then onwards. Did like the break though and I am sure they would’ve done too! If you’d like to check out some of my stories on here do follow the link.
Screenshot 2025-01-03 at 10-02-13 Holiday - Friday Flash FictionWill be sharing Story Tips on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. Useful for flash fiction and writers of any length of story. Link up tomorrow. See above.

Plan to be submitting work to Friday Flash Fiction again from next week. Haven’t yet chosen my first flash competition of the year yet to have a crack at but I’m keeping my eyes open. I do already have a couple of standard length short story competitions on my To Do list though and hope to start work on those in the next week or so.

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1st January 2025

Happy New Year!

Hope you enjoy reading and writing more flash fiction over the next twelve months. I plan to!
Later in the month there will be another session of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group, which I’m looking forward to very much. I expect by then January will have felt as if it has gone on for ever. Do check out Brian Bilston’s wonderful poem Mnemonic for the definitive thoughts on that!

Less is More is the theme for flash fiction writers

Fairytales with Bite – Beginnings

At the start of our New Year, it is natural to think about beginnings. In your setting, how is time marked out and what day/month would your characters know to be the beginning of a new passage of time for them? (Doesn’t necessarily have to be in the form of a year of course).

Do your characters welcome new beginnings as set by the passage of time or is it something they dread? Are there communal celebrations as we know?

What beginnings would your characters like to have? What is getting in their way to achieving these? Which would they fear and why? What would happen if they have to face up to those fears?

Beginnings are a chance to start again, to do better, and the marking of time is one way to set a new beginning. How would you characters make the most of this? Or what would they do to get out of having to face up to a new beginning?

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This World and Others – Changes

A New Year is a change to make changes to normal life. I don’t bother with New Year Resolutions. They tend to be broken by the end of January (at best!). But I often take the chance at New Year to look at where my writing is at and consider where I would like it be by the end of this coming twelve months. I make changes as I need to so I have my best chance of achieving what I would like to see done. Same as most people, right?

But what about your characters? Do they welcome changes or fear them? Do they have to be dragged/forced in to making any changes at all? Which changes should they make and why? Who is pushing them to do this and what are their motives for pushing your characters to change? Those motives don’t have to be great, naturally! How do your characters react to the ones trying to make them change? As ever, what are the consequences?

If there was to ever be an ingredients list for a great story, I would list characters, conflict, action, consequences. Wharever your word count, having those things in a tale (and ensuring all are delivered on) will help your story be well on its way to being a great one.

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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