Tag: Friday Flash Fiction

Questions and Answers In Writing

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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. Lovely to have the temperatures matching the spring weather at last. Posts will be out at different times next week but am looking forward to my Scottish break. Will do hubby, dog, and I the world of good, as it always does.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Delighted to share Questions and Answers in Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I look at the value of a simple but timeless structure for writing, which works just as well for non-fiction as it does for fiction. I also share specific examples of good questions to ask for use in fiction and non-fiction respectively. Hope you find the post useful.

Questions and Answers In Writing

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The spring sunshine has finally turned up with a lovely temperature to go with it. Lady and I are loving this.

Will be looking at Questions and Answers in Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. See above. Post will look at how these work for fiction and non-fiction. They do make a useful structure for your writing.

Writing Tip: Mix up how you find prompts for your writing. It keeps things interesting for you by keeping you on your creative toes. No bad thing that. I like to use a mixture of the random generators, story cubes, books of prompts, proverbs and phrases etc. I have written stories, many of which went on to be published, from all of these methods.

442385796_10161874238522053_2352573593092291139_nHope you have had a good day. Proper spring weather at last – Lady and I loved it.

I’ve mentioned before I use random generators of various types to help trigger ideas. They are the modern equivalent of story cubes (and I use those too!). I had a quick look at the random question generator tonight and came up with What is one of the great values that guides your life?

Now that could make an interesting blog post or non-fiction article but it would have uses in fiction too. You could use this as a theme, deciding on the value in advance and showing that being played out through your story. You could get your character to answer the question directly and then backing it up with their actions. You could also have fun here by showing them failing to live up to what they said. What would be the fallout there? There would be some.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest 100-worder, Artistic Inspiration. Talking of inspiration, this one is inspired by the old Tom and Jerry cartoons (which are always worth watching). Find out why via the link. Hope you enjoy the story.

Screenshot 2024-05-10 at 10-16-39 Artistic Inspiration by Allison Symes

Another great way to have fun with flash is to write what I call a “two-hander”. This is where one character is directly addressing another one who is reading what the first one has sent to them which is in the style of a letter, minus the usual greetings and yours sincerely bits etc.

My example of this is You Never Know from From Light to Dark and Back Again where my lead character is berating the unseen other character for envying them a luxurious life as a magical tour guide.

The story shows exactly why it is any thing but that. Would you fancy the Gollum special (the raw fish diet), for example, which my lead character has to have? Doesn’t matter if they get tired of it. Would you listen to Snow White’s advice to never eat anything red and glowing? (I can’t help but feel that is good advice outside of fiction as well!).

Fun to write but you need a strong lead character who has enough to say on the theme of the story and ideally does so with wit. (Nobody likes a whiner). You want your readers to end up sympathising with what the lead character is putting up with here. So think about who your two characters would be and how the second one would give the first one something to write to them about.

Allison Symes - Flash Fiction Collections

If you have a character with special powers or abilities, you do need to let readers know about this before any demonstration of those things.

In my Being Yourself (Tripping the Flash Fantastic), my character reveals what her special gift is, then demonstrates it, leading to a satisfying conclusion as she…. Well no spoilers here as ever but the point is I do set that special gift up ahead of showing it in action. To do anything else won’t ring true for a reader.

A reader will also need to understand why your character wants to use these gifts/powers. Doesn’t necessarily have to agree with the course of action being taken by the character but there has to be what I call good follow through in that a reader sees what is happening, understands why, and so the story will work for them.

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Fairytales With Bite – Travels

How do your characters get around in your setting? Do they rely on broomsticks or do they have more sophisticated forms of travel? Do your characters regularly travel or is it something they only do out of necessity (such as with the hobbits in The Lord of the Rings)?

Are certain species banned from travelling and how did that come about? Is travel easy for most or only the reserve of the privileged few? Is magic used to power transport or is that saved for other more important things? You could have a combination of machines as we would know them with magical power saved for what cannot be done mechanically.

Which characters can fly directly? Which need to use a broomstick or other device? Can animals fly in your setting and would that be restricted to those who would normally be renowned for running such as the horse? (You could argue their flying would equal their running on the ground, they would just be “running” in the sky effectively).

Are there places in your setting where everyone loves to go? Where would they avoid and why?

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This World and Others – Wonders

There are so many wonders on our planet, despite the ever grim news, it can be easy to miss them. From the glories of nature to the wonders of the universe above us (and getting to see even more of these thanks to the space telescopes) to the tiniest flower, there is much to wonder at and admire. But you do have to have an open mind and an appreciative heart to see this, I think.

So in your setting, do your characters see the wonders around them or do they take these for granted because they are always here? Would they suddenly realise how much these things mattered if they were taken away for some reason?

Wonders also span the scientific world in terms of discoveries in so many fields, including medicine. What would be the equivalent in your setting?

What is the view of your Joe Public here? Do they appreciate the wonders around them or do they need these pointing out? Who benefits the most from wonders where discoveries happen and new inventions occur? Do the benefits get down to the ordinary people?

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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What Is In Your Writing For A Reader?

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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 weekend. It was a Bank Holiday weekend in the UK and yes we got the rain – traditions continue to be upheld there! Looking forward to a Scottish holiday coming up soon but I hope to still post as am taking laptop with me. Writing is a joy. Where I do take a break is in getting to do more reading than I would usually do at home – love that aspect of holidays.

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Facebook – General

Lovely to see some spring sunshine today and Lady got to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback so we both count that as a win-win.

Every so often I write slice of life flash pieces, one of which is They Don’t Understand from From Light to Dark and Back Again. It also counts as a monologue where my character unveils more of his life – and you find out what a life it was. These kinds of stories work best when kept short. The emotional impact of them is more keenly felt by doing that. Besides one huge advantage of writing any kind of flash fiction is it teaches you fast to get rid of the waffle.

Looking forward to sharing Questions and Answers in Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. These make a useful structure and I use them a lot. There will be more author interviews coming up later in May and early part of June and I am hoping to conduct more after that.

I love talking with other authors here. Always something of interest to learn. You never known when it might become useful for you. What I love about writing is you are always learning – great brain exercise.

 

Am delighted to say the May edition of Writers’ Narrative is now out. The theme for this month is memoir. My piece is on Using Memoir Techniques for Character Creation and that can be found on Page 14 but do check the whole magazine out. There is an excellent range of pieces on why people should read memoir, 21 tips for writing memoir, and much else besides. Remember it is free to subscribe. There is a link to do so inside the magazine itself.

Screenshot 2024-05-06 at 17-13-52 Writers' Narrative eMagazine May 2024

Changeable day weather wise here. Not that Lady worries.

Will shortly be working on my Sunday flash fiction writing. Always look forward to this. I read a lot of flash fiction as well as write it and it is a good idea to read well in your chosen field as well as doing so outside of it. All good writing inspires and what writer doesn’t welcome an inspiration boost every now and then? Reading is the way to get said boost!

I love reading the flash pieces on Friday Flash Fiction and it is a great way to see what 100 word stories look like on screen as well as seeing just what range of tales emerge. It is seriously impressive. It also helps you see where your work could fit in. What’s not to like there?
Screenshot 2024-05-05 at 15-16-33 100-Word Stories

May 4th 2024 – Hope you have had a good day, especially if you’re a Star Wars fan! (Well, today is your day, is it not?).

Pleased to say I have had a a good response to my review of Waiting for Gateaux, my Chandler’s Ford Today post from yesterday. My next one on there will be all about Questions and Answers in Writing and how writers, fiction or non-fiction, can make use of these. Link up on Friday.

Writing Tip: Always ask yourself what is in your writing for your reader. It will help you focus. It also means you do know your intended audience (or likely one anyway) and it makes editing simpler in that you will cut out what doesn’t benefit the reader in some way.

Just doing the latter will improve your writing so much. I’ve forgotten who said it but there is a lovely quote about not writing the boring bits readers skip. It is useful to have that side of the coin in mind as well for those drafts. If it is useful to the reader in some way, it won’t be boring.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

As well as mixing up the kind of flash tales I write in terms of genre, I like to mix up the word counts I write to as well. For Friday Flash Fiction, it is nearly always the 100 word count I work to though I do occasionally send them in a longer piece.

But for my stories for my YouTube channel, I like to write across a range of about 50 words to 300 or so. And every so often I will come across a competition I like the look of so I stick to their word count requirements. It is good practice to regularly write across the word count range. It’s fun too.

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Following on from my post yesterday (see below), I DID do something with my haunted teapot story idea, which came about as a way of showing how you could use Kipling’s famous six honest serving men (and my What If additional question) to outline a story idea.

So then it’s a wet Bank Holiday Monday here in the UK and it is time for a story. Just what can I do with a haunted teapot? Find out here with my latest on YouTube – Time For Tea.

 

Kipling’s six honest serving men give all writers a classic outline, these being What, Why, When, How, Where, and Who. I’d also add in What If – now there’s a classic question for you. The nice thing with these is a brief one liner for each of these will spark possibilities for a story. For example:-

What – Author needs an idea.
Why – For her daily Facebook post to share something useful to other writers in particular.
When – Right now!
How – By using a well known writing tip from Kipling to show how that tip works in practice.
Where – To be shared on Facebook.
Who – By author.
What If – She adds in a question of her own and uses that to expand the outline.

Now apply that to a potential character and situation.

What – Haunted teapot.
Why – Previous owner renowned for drinking tea by the gallon, tea was her life, can’t quite let go.
When – New owner finds previous owner haunting that teapot when they move in.
How – New owner was going to use the teapot for making their own tea and discovers the ghost as she lifts the lid on it.
Where – In the kitchen.
Who – New owner and previous owner – new owner flees one way screaming, the previous one flees the other way, nobody else was ever meant to use that teapot.
What If – That teapot haunts anyone who ever uses it. Someone has to smash it to break the curse on it. New owner comes back and does so. Sets ghost of previous owner free and vanishes.

Get the idea? And I may well do something with that story outline. Watch this space. Will let you know if anything comes from it. I did do something with it – see my YouTube story above.

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One thing you can do with flash fiction is to write linked flashes where the same character(s) appear in more than one story. I’ve done this with my third flash collection (which has been given the nod by my publishers but I don’t have a publication date yet). It was fun to do and I would like to do more of this.

It means you can develop the character(s) a bit more over the course of two or more stories without exceeding your word count limit. You can also have Character A in one tale, Character B as the lead in the second one where Character A is either referred to or effectively plays a cameo role, and then have Character A lead again in a third story.

Linked flashes also lend themselves well to novellas in flash too where you have a 20,000 words + book where each chapter is it is own flash fiction tale but there is an overriding arc developing throughout the stories leading to a conclusion, as you would have in a novel. Not something I’ve tried. Is something I wouldn’t mind trying at a later date though.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Fiction Acrostic

F = Fantastic for the range of genres to choose from.
I = Imagination let loose in history, crime, fantasy, sci-fi, and so many more.
C = Characters whose journeys you follow, willing them on to succeed or fail, as appropriate.
T = Timeless truths are often conveyed in stories and books and are more easily remembered too.
I = Inspiration from so many fields of fiction to current writers and to those yet to come.
O = Opening up so many worlds, there will be at least one fiction genre to suit you.
N = Never ever be stuck for something to read – the world of fiction is an expanding and wonderful one.

Screenshot 2024-05-04 at 17-27-04 Fiction Acrostic

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Review: The Chameleon Theatre Group – Waiting For Gateaux

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
A huge thank you to The Chameleon Theatre Group for permission to use their splendid photos on my post for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Also thank you to Katrina Lush from my Slimming World group for permission to use her very funny photo as part of that post. See the post itself for more!
Hope you have had a good few days. Weather all over the place again with sunshine, rain, thunder, strong winds etc. Have enjoyed a lovely Zoom meeting this week. I am part of another Association of Christian Writers genre group which meets on Zoom and it is always great to get together and chat. Online meetings work so well.
Looking forward to a break away next week. I will post as and when possible and yes the dog is coming. Lady always has a fabulous time when we’re away – lots of lovely walking in glorious scenery. Looking forward to that.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Hope you have had a good day and you are all set for a nice Bank Holiday weekend (as it is for the UK).

Pleased to finally share my review of Waiting For Gateaux recently performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group. As ever it was a joy to see the show and it is another joy to write about the show for Chandler’s Ford Today. Hope you enjoy the post. Lots of local links on this one, which is lovely. Two of my worlds kind of collided here – find out which in the post, link below.

Review: The Chameleon Theatre Group – Waiting For Gateaux

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Lady had a bonus today – she got to see and play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback chum today. Both dogs happy to see each other unexpectedly like that.

Will be sharing my review of Waiting For Gateaux performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. Already looking forward to their next show in July which will be another comic one. If ever there was a time you could do with a laugh on stage, I suspect this is it given the news continues to be so grim.

I am part of another ACW genre group based around science fiction and fantasy and we were discussing on Zoom last night utopian works as opposed to dystopian ones amongst other things. I can see the point of dystopian fiction. I don’t read much of it. If I do want grim, I will tune into the news!

Generally I like my fiction to entertain and help me escape the world for a bit, regardless of the genre I’m reading. I definitely don’t want unremitting grim. Can get that for real elsewhere, thank you. I also don’t write grim fiction for the same reason. I want to finish my book, whether it is non-fiction or fiction, having had a pleasant time reading it!

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Hope you have had a good day. Hard to believe it’s May already. May is one of my favourite months. Lots of colours and better weather (fingers crossed for the latter!).

Author newsletter went out earlier today. See screenshot for a taster. If you would like to sign up do head over to https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Many thanks to all who have subscribed since the last edition and a huge hello to all of my subscribers. Many thanks for the support.

The theme for the May newsletter was writing exercises, something I adore and use a lot. I like to mix up the kinds I use too. Keeps me on my toes and I end up producing more stories than I might otherwise have done. Nothing to dislike about that!

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It’s the end of the working week for many and a Bank Holiday weekend for the UK. Time for a story then. Hope you like my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Hiding Place. My character wonders what could possibly go wrong after they come up with a good idea but are they right to think this? See for yourself via the link.

Screenshot 2024-05-03 at 10-03-34 Hiding Place by Allison Symes

Have drafted a poetic flash which I hope to look at over the weekend. Whenever I write these, I sort out what the story is first. Then I work out if it Is suitable for telling in poetic form. Then and only then do I worry about rhyme (I like rhyme in poetry. I also like free verse but I know what I prefer here).

Once I’ve got these basics sorted, I will record myself reading this out loud on Zoom and play it back so I can hear how it sounds. I often do this with prose fiction but I find it even more important to do when writing in a poetic form. I can hear what works and what doesn’t. Then out comes the editing pen again. Then I re-record and play it back again until I am happy with it. I have found doing this pays.

I do find this kind of flash works best when kept short. My current draft comes in about 200 words but I suspect it will end up at about the 150/175 words mark when done.

440791713_10161861104852053_5425516408687705655_nAmazon still has From Light to Dark and Back Again on offer as a paperback. See the link for more details. I don’t know how long they will hold the book at this price. Also do bear in mind you can contact me via my website if you’re interested in having signed copies of either of my flash collections or the anthologies I’ve contributed to over the years. Both of my flash collections are also available as ebooks.

When not working on flash fiction, I am writing various pieces for Writers’ Narrative, Chandler’s Ford Today and so on. My monthly blog pieces do tend to come in at the 500 words mark so would count as flash non-fiction. Most of my CFT and WN articles are 1000 words so are right at the upper limit here too. All good fun to do (and I hope useful to readers).

 

Fairytales with Bite – Changing

Often in fairytales an arrogant character is transformed into something else for a while to teach them a lesson and to learn the value of love. The best known example of that is The Beauty and the Beast, of course.

But in your stories do your magical characters go straight for that or do they try something else on a proud person first before using the transformation option. Also give some thought to your transformed characters. Could any of them prefer to stay in their new “look” and why would that be? Are they granted their wish to stay in the form they’ve become?

When it comes to being changed back again, how do your characters readjust? Do any remnants of their transformed self stay with them for a while? I would hope other characters in your stories realise it is best to change what is wrong (and indeed to recognise what is wrong in the first place) without having to become another creature altogether – it would be quicker and less traumatic I would have thought.

Even without transformation spells, characters do need to change during the course of your story. Something has happened. It changes them. They face a problem. They deal with it. They are changed by what they have had to do here. Most of the time that leads to a positive outcome but not always.

I admire the way it is acknowledged in The Lord of the Rings Frodo Baggins was so changed by what he went through he was not going to be able to stay in The Shire and it was best he went with the elves. It was absolutely the right outcome for him and his character portrayal backs that up.

So give some thought about what changing does to your characters – physically in the case of magical tales but even more importantly to their overall state of being. Are they happier/better off for the change or has the change, unavoidable as it was, left them with scars they have to find ways of living with?

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This World and Others – Making Things Happen

Who and/or what makes things happen in your setting? What would be the driving forces in your world? Would it be politics, as we know it here, or something like creative agencies driving this?

If you have a world dominated by engineers, scientists, inventors etc., that world is bound to be driven by what they come up with. Also does your world welcome their inventions? Are the inventions generally for the greater good? Have any of them gone horribly wrong?

Making things happen is often a good thing. I welcome discoveries in science (medicine especially) because I can see the potential for making lives better for people. But not everyone welcomes new discoveries. For one thing, it means old ones are superseded. Could someone resent that and try to stop the new invention/inventor? What would they be prepared to do here? Could easily see crime stories emerging from that. Making things happen could mean stopping other new things happening at all!

Who would make things happen in the various settings in your world – the political scene, the arts sector, the sports world etc? If your world doesn’t get on with other worlds around it, is there anyone prepared to try to make things happen to improve that? Do their efforts pay off?

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Faith In Stories

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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 weekend. Weather still chilly but sun is appearing more often. I’ll take that. Really enjoyed the play I went to see last week – review on that coming up on Friday on Chandler’s Ford Today. I have CFT to thank for introducing me to the joys of local theatre and National Theatre Live. Must try and catch some more of the latter again soon. I see theatre as enacted stories – another way of taking tales in.

BookBrushImage-2024-4-30-20-320Hope you have had a good day. Enjoyed a great swim this afternoon and caught up with friends there.

I’ll be reviewing Waiting For Gateaux, recently performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group, for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Looking forward to sharing that.

Author newsletter goes out again tomorrow. (1st May 2024). How come it is the end of April already? (Lovely to see all the bluebells out in my part of the world though).

Writing Tip: If you do have or are thinking of having an author newsletter, do have items you can always share which will be useful to people regardless of whether or not you have any news to share.It pays to plan out what you will do with your newsletter long before you set one up. I have done this with mine and find it pays off.

I often find I have lots of items of news at once and then none at all for a bit so I will share what I have when I have got it but also share advice and tips useful to writers. There is no use by date on those!

Think about what you could talk about here as well – for example your writing process, what you have found useful to you, favourite stories of yours and why you like them and so on. You’re engaging with your readers directly here so make it fun and useful. I try to go for a bright cheery style with mine. Okay if you write horror, that style might not be so apt (!) but there has to be something of value to your readers for them to keep reading what you send out.

Newsletter with envelope imagePleased to be back on More than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. This time I’m talking about Faith in Stories where I look at having belief in the process of creating your tales. I share what the biggest single thing any writer can do to help themselves (reading, no surprise there) and discuss why it helps. Hope you enjoy the post.

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Nice quiet day here. Lovely way to wrap up the weekend.

Don’t forget my next author newsletter is out on 1st May. If you’d like to subscribe head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

When I draft a new story, I start with the character(s) but have different ways of bringing them into being. I use a simple template a lot where I jot down a name, their species (where apt), their main trait, and anything else I think I might need to know.

Sometimes I write down something I just know they would say or think and then work out what it is that makes me feel this because that will indicate the underlying trait of this character I will want to bring out more in the story itself.

Sometimes I write down a line of dialogue or internal thought and then work out what kind of character would come up with this. All are fun ways to create characters.

When it comes to competitions, especially those with a set theme, I like to work out what kind of character would best serve that theme. When there is an opening line competition, again I would work out what character would come up with this line, or if it is a description, what character would be noting this and then work out why it is important to them.

But for all stories, regardless of who writes them, for me it is all about the character. I have got to get behind them to want to read on and I take the view most readers will take the same view with my creations.

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Hope you are having a good weekend so far. Nice quiet one here. Lady got to see an old pal, Miller, today. Dogs do get so much from being with their pals.

Am looking forward to reviewing Waiting for Gateaux for Chandler’s Ford Today next Friday. Will also be having a smashing author interview coming up on CFT towards the end of May which will continue into the early part of June.

Many thanks for the lovely comments coming in on my most recent Friday Flash Fiction tale, Deception. In case you missed it, please see the link.

Also the next issue of Writers’ Narrative will be out soon. Do look out for it if you subscribe.
Screenshot 2024-04-26 at 10-12-54 Deception by Allison Symes

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I’m fond of poetic justice stories and flash fiction suits these well. You set up the situation. You show the character who is either on the receiving end of said poetic justice or is the one to dish it out. You finish by delivering on that justice in the last line.

One example of this is my The Circle of Life from From Light to Dark and Back Again. This one is just under 100 words and I get my character to share their story in the first person where they show you what they want to do something about and why and then finish with how they are going to do it. Let’s just say those on the receiving end of the plans here deserve it.

It was a fun and satisfying story to write and I hope readers like it but the important point here is if you have set something up in your tale, you must deliver on it. Else there is no point. What I love about flash fiction is the restricted word count means you do have to ensure everything in your story is necessary. You haven’t the space for anything irrelevant. This does wonders for your story pacing too.

From Light to Dark and Back Again - by nightIt’s Monday. It’s been a long day. It’s time for a story. (Plus side it isn’t raining this week!). Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Something. The lead character may seem familiar to all fairytale lovers.

 

Am happily working my way through some of my own answers to exercises I set for the ACW Flash Fiction Group back in March for story ideas for my YouTube channel and Friday Flash Fiction. Am looking forward to tackling what I came up with for the April session in due course as well.

The March session involved possible opening and closing lines (two of my favourite writing exercises as my recent Chandler’s Ford Today post on the topic highlighted).

The April one saw the return of my character creation template and there are at least two possibles here I am keen to get to work on soon. When a character possibility grips you like that, it is a great feeling. Mind you, I feel the same way when I read a story by another author and I really “get” their character. Sam Vimes from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series is a classic example of that as are Jeeves and Wooster from P.G.Wodehouse’s fabulous works.

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I was looking at genres and flash fiction for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Wednesday night. As flash has to be character led (no room for lots of scene setting basically so you must lead with characters), you can set those characters wherever and whenever you want. Those characters don’t have to be human either.

I also use a simple template to help me create some potential characters. I put those ideas aside for a while and then come back to them later. If the ideas still grab me after that break, I will write them up. I know there are at least two from Wednesday’s session I drafted I will come back to at some point. Looking forward to doing that.

But it is the time away from your jotted down ideas which matters. You need objectivity and time away from your notes helps you get that. The positive thing for notes like this and for draft flashes that time away doesn’t have to be a long one. I usually find a few days is enough. What matters is your being able to come back to your work and be able to see it as if for the first time. It is that which will help you see the strengths and weaknesses of your ideas. You can then of course do something about the latter.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Holiday Reading

Am looking forward to a break away in May but I already know what my holiday reading will be. It will be whatever I am currently reading on my Kindle. The ebook comes into its own for this kind of thing, of course. No packing of heavy books. No limitation on what you can take to read either. All I must remember to do is pack my charger (especially since it does my phone as well!).

I don’t read what is normally known as holiday reading. Not really my genre though I can appreciate why the lighter reads are wanted for the summer season. (They’re even more important to cheer people up if the weather is a wash out as it can be in the UK).

For me, my light reads are the humorous books I love – Wodehouse and Pratchett works especially. I usually get to listen to some Pratchett audio books on the journey to and from my destination so get some extra stories in that way.

All counts as holiday reading in my book, some pun intended! I’m just listening to the tales rather than reading them but audio books are fantastic inventions. I get to take in even more stories and revisit old favourites -nothing to dislike about that.

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My Top Five Writing Exercises

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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. I’ve had a busy one with the ACW Flash Fiction Group and a lovely trip to see the latest production from my local excellent amateur theatre company. Review to follow on CFT in due course. All I will say is with the title being Waiting For Gateaux I was expecting some laughs. Lady got to see her friend Coco the other day for the first time in ages and both dogs were very happy to see each other. Dogs are lovely like that.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Had a lovely time at Ritchie Hall for Waiting For Gateaux last night. Review to follow for Chandler’s Ford Today in due course.

Meantime, I’m pleased to share My Top Five Writing Exercises as my CFT post this week. If you would like to try writing exercises to help with your story creations etc but don’t know where to start, why not try out the five I list here? I use them all regularly. There are many other exercises available but these are the ones I use most often.

My post also looks at how writing exercises encourage you to think in different ways (and therefore stretch your imagination). I also share further top tips for making the most of writing exercises. Hope you find the post useful.

My Top Five Writing Exercises

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Am off to see Waiting For Gateaux, the latest production to be staged by The Chameleon Theatre Group at Ritchie Hall tonight. Should be fun. Will be reviewing for Chandler’s Ford Today in due course. I also get to meet up with my lovely CFT editor at these productions so we do kind of consider these to be a CFT works outing!

Will be sharing My Top Five Writing Exercises for CFT tomorrow and evaluating what I find helpful about each of these. There are many more I could have mentioned as I use far more than five but I thought the ones I picked for this post would be useful for any writer to use. See above.

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Every so often I receive reviews directly rather than via Amazon etc. Delighted to say one came in for me today for Tripping the Flash Fantastic. A huge thank you to the reviewer concerned.

I like how Allison Symes managed to put together a book of short stories, flash fiction, and poetry that intrigued me here and there. Tripping the Flash Fantastic is also very easy to read through because the stories are short—before long, I found myself already having devoured more stories than I thought I could in a short amount of time. The stories are also creative and while not all stories resonate, it is inspiring and quite original. I like simple books like these. From KO.

I’ve mentioned before all authors appreciate reviews. They help make our books more visible and all writers welcome validation of their work (and we get that from reviews and other feedback from readers of course).

Reviews don’t have to be long either. Nor is there a use by date by which you need to get reviews in by. Yes, they are especially useful shortly after publication but I’ve reviewed books by other authors which I came to years after those books originally came out. You can’t know when someone is going to see your books.

But do review. It doesn’t take long. And it gives the author something to share as part of their marketing via posts like this one, mentions on their website etc.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to share my latest story on Friday Flash Fiction – Deception. The opening line for this one started life as an exercise I set for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group which I run once a month on Zoom.

I always have a go at the exercises (I don’t want to miss out on the fun of creating stories from them!) and knew this one had potential. This story, I think, will have resonance for many. Many thanks to those who have already commented on this.

Screenshot 2024-04-26 at 10-12-54 Deception by Allison Symes

One of the delights of going to see a live production, as I will be doing this evening, is watching for those lovely moments which add to the characterisation of the play in question. These will be those “flash moments” which help you understand a character better and can be funny, moving, tragic etc. Mind you I am off to see Waiting For Gateaux so I am expecting humour with a title like that!

Glad to say last night’s Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group on Zoom went well last night. I hope everyone gets something positive from the exercises I set. I have a go at these myself after the meeting and I think I can do something with at least two of what I drafted last night. Hope to start drafting something over the weekend when I have more time.

Sometimes for these meetings, I will prepare an answer to an exercise in advance to give an example but I do love joining in with live writing exercises myself. Does wonders for the old brain cells!

I often set and AM set writing exercisesLooking forward to tonight’s meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group. Always good to see everyone and we usually draft flash pieces in response to prompts (or have the starts of stories to finish off later) by the end of the evening.

I join in with these exercises and indeed, from the meeting in March, I’ve used a couple of opening lines I drafted then for YouTube and Friday Flash Fiction stories this month. That’s a result as far as I’m concerned.

Pleased to have received a review of Tripping the Flash Fantastic directly (see my author timeline on Facebook for more on that). See above. But I will sneak in another plea for reviews for all authors. Thanks.

I like to mix up how I open my flash tales but the one thing I try to do for all of them is to hit the ground running. I want to engage readers immediately. Sometimes I do that by setting up an interesting premise. Other times I’m showing a character in the middle of something and you have to read on to find what happens.

Sometimes I’m using thoughts, dialogue, or questions. But whatever I use, I always ask myself what is in this for the reader? That matters. Keeping your audience in mind all the time helps with focus. It makes editing easier too. With that question in mind, it is easier to spot what would be useful to a reader and what could be cut.

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Fairytales with Bite – Magical Equipment

In your setting, what exists in the way of magical equipment? Who makes it? Where do they get their “components” and do they have to meet safety standards?

(I’m married to an electronics engineer. Safety standards come into his world a lot and rightly so but I see no reason why they can’t come into a fictional world too. Indeed, a good story idea would be about someone trying to enforce safety standards for the greater good and the struggle they have to get everyone else in their society to accept that point. How many accidents would have to happen before the need for change is recognised and your character is the one to lead the way here?).

Can all of your characters access the magical equipment they need or are these reserved for certain species and/or for those at a certain level of magical ability? Your governing authority could of course control who can gain that magical ability to limit what powers can be used by whom that way but there would be an interesting story in why they are doing this.

Also does magical equipment go wrong? Can it be fixed? Who would carry out repairs and “servicing”? Is there the equivalent of an MOT for a witch’s broom? (If not, why not! Would love to see a queue of witches lining up to get their vehicles through statutory checks. What would happen to any unfortunate service engineer telling an annoyed witch her bristles need replacing? Could see some funny stories coming out here!). How can wands be checked to ensure they are doing what they’re supposed to do? Who cares enough to ensure magical equipment does work properly?

What controls do your governing authority have to ensure shoddy equipment doesn’t make it out into the open? Where has your world come from in terms of equipment development to get to where they are now?

Who has invented the equipment? What was done to improve the original models (almost inevitably improvements would either be necessary or become desirable when technology changes)?

Give some thought too as to how well or otherwise your characters use magical equipment available to them. That could make a huge difference as to whether they complete their “mission” successfully or not. Tools/equipment matter!

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This World and Others – Manufacturers

Linking in with Fairytales with Bite above, who are the manufacturers who make the products your characters will use? (The best known one of course is Ollivander the wand maker from the Harry Potter series but I liked that character. I liked the way it was realised someone had to make the things the main characters need to use).

How do the manufacturers access the ingredients and materials they need? What difficulties do they face here? Do they ever find materials they could always access before become rarer due to reasons of natural disasters/magical wars/other events in your setting or other manufacturers effectively buying up the lot?
Do magical manufacturers trade knowledge and materials with each other? Are there trade bodies? Do governments agree standards manufacturers have to meet and enforce that?

How did manufacturers get into the business? Is it a question of following the family business? How did those businesses begin? What made characters realise their talents lay in making equipment rather than using it directly?

How do they balance selling their equipment to those they would far rather not have these things with being able to survive? (Well, would you want to sell equipment to Sauron or Voldemort but what choice would you give your manufacturers for your own cast of villains here?).

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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History – Fact and Fiction/The Joy of Author Interviews

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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. Glad to be talking about history, something I adore, for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Lady has been out and about with her closest girlfriends and we’ve had more sunshine. (You make the most of that while you have it. Lady shares that view!).

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Delighted to share History – Fact and Fiction for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I’ve loved history from an early age in fiction and non-fiction forms.

I recently gave a PowerPoint talk on two women united by one king (Richard III – the women in question are Josephine Tey and Philippa Langley) and fiction as well as non-fiction can do so much to bring the past to life. My post looks at the advantages of both forms of writing when it comes to history and I also share how music can help enhance historical portrayals too.

I’m currently reading Double Cross by Ben Macintyre and loving that. If you have any suggestions for good historical reads, fictional or otherwise, do pop across to the CFT page (link below) and share in the comments box. Would be good to get a reading list going!

Hope you enjoy the post.

History – Fact and Fiction

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Pleased to be back on Authors Electric. This time I’m talking about The Joys of Author Interviews. I look at conducting them (I do this often for Chandler’s Ford Today) but also what I find fascinating about interviews I listen to/read which are conducted by others. Hope you enjoy the post.

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Sunshine again today! Lady and I made the most of that.

Looking forward to sharing History – Fact and Fiction on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above. I love history. Historical fiction can bring out truths which cannot be proved in the traditional sense but which could be said to be reasonable supposition based on what is known.

I use reasonable supposition for my historical flash pieces such as in My Girl (Tripping the Flash Fantastic) where the viewpoint is from Queen Anne Boleyn on the eve of her execution.

For fictional characters, having worked out their main trait, their attitudes and behaviours will be based on that. I like to think of that as “following through”. If a character’s main trait is slyness, then they will act in that way and their attitude reflect it.

Characters have to seem true to a reader to convince them to follow the character’s story.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

End of the working week means it’s time for another story. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction. This one is called Sharing Is A Mug’s Game. Find out why my character George comes to this thought – is he right?

Screenshot 2024-04-19 at 10-13-07 Sharing is a Mug's Game by Allison Symes

Flash fiction is ideal for Open Prose Mic Nights. Doesn’t take too long to read. You can mix up the mood of the stories you pick for this too. But I do practice what I read beforehand. Find it helps with the nerves (and there should be some good nerves here – some adrenaline is useful for a performance. I find it gives me a kick start!).

I like to mix up the mood for the stories I put in collections but you can pick a big enough topic to write about only. Dawn Kentish Knox did this with her excellent The Great War, which contains 100 tales of 100 words each. It also has to be a topic that is of huge interest to you. You need the commitment to that topic to be able to produce that number of stories.

For assortments of stories, which so far has been my route, it is a question of getting the balance of stories right – literally from light to dark and back again.

From Light to Dark and Back Again - by night

I’m a huge fan of outlining but I focus on ensuring I know my character(s) well enough. I work from their major traits and what attitudes/actions these would be likely to lead them to and that in turn helps ensure their motivation is understandable.

If a reader understands why a character is acting the way they are, the character will come across as more believable, regardless of how fantastic the setting might be. I see doing all of this as my bedrock for a story.

Once I know my character I can then see what kind of situations they are likely to end up in. A forthright character, for example, is likely to cause upset simply by being tactless. What is then fun is working out what that leads to – one of my stories with a character like that ending up cutting up someone in a car park who later on was revealed to be the judge for a story competition they’d entered. Oops!

Following through to ensure everything about your character makes sense pays dividends. You’re less likely to have plot holes for one thing because you have already figured out what Character A would be likely to do/feel in the situation you’ve set up.

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Fairytales with Bite – Breaking the Magical Rules

For your magical setting, it pays to let readers have some sense of the rules early on. For example, can all of your characters use magic? If there are limits, why have these been imposed and are they imposed fairly?

What are your characters allowed to do with their powers? What are they expressly forbidden to do and how are these rules enforced? What would happen to anyone who broke the rules accidentally? What would happen to someone who did this deliberately? I would hope there would be a difference here!

Give some thought as to who in your creation set the rules for magic. If these were imposed on your setting by a superior power, why was this done and by whom? Why are they not involved with your setting now? Are they likely to come back?

Most of us understand and accept most laws but there will always be some which niggle, which seem petty or bureaucratic. What would the equivalent of these be in your setting? Does someone breaking rules like that get away with it? Could it lead to petty laws being repealed? What would your character be seeking to change here and are they doing it for the greater good of their society?

Sometimes there could be a point to breaking the magical rules, especially if these were being misused. So who would challenge the status quo here and what has led them to do so?

Story ideas there!

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This World and Others – What is Normal Anyway? (Settings)

I think this is a good question to answer regardless of what your setting is! For your world, what would be considered normal behaviour? Would it equate with what we consider normal behaviour? What would your world make of humanity and the ways we organise our countries etc?

In an alien setting, where there are special powers/magic/greater scientific discoveries etc, what would be considered normal there? Would someone we consider to be a genius be seen in a different light in your setting because intellectual capacity is so much greater?

What would be the normal use of magic, special powers etc? What would be considered excessive?

Within your communities in your world, what is the range of expectations? If you have a magical community, what would be considered normal for elves to be able to do, dwarves to be able to do and so on? Do the different groups co-operate to make things better for all? (And yes we could do with more that here!).

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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A Creative Life Part 2 – Sophie Neville – Author Interview

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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 week. Weather has slowly improved as the week has gone on. Writing wise, am delighted to share Part 2 of a fabulous interview with actress/writer/scriptwriter/artist, Sophie Neville, on Chandler’s Ford Today. Do check it out. (Have had some wonderful comments in on Part 1 too).
Lady has had a good week, getting to see her friends for most of the past few days. She always gets a real buzz from being with her buddies which is lovely to see.

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Am thrilled to share Part 2 of a wonderful interview with Sophie Neville on Chandler’s Ford Today. This week, Sophie shares, amongst other things, how she came to write about chronic fatigue, her love of travelling (especially by horseback), and what she’d like to take to a desert island if I let her have the Bible, Shakespeare and, because I’m a fan, Jane Austen. Hope you enjoy the post. Many thanks for the lovely comments which have come in on Part 1 (especially on Facebook).

Author Interview – Sophie Neville – A Creative Life on Water, In Film, and In Writing – Part 2

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Lovely day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler this morning and I was at the top of the queue to pick up a prescription at the chemists, which for me is about as common a happening as a solar eclipse. I’ll take this as a win!

Part 2 of my interview with Sophie Neville is up on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow, don’t miss. See above. Both parts of the interview have been a joy to prepare and there is so much inspiration here for anyone interested in the creative life in whatever way (as Sophie is also a very talented artist and scriptwriter).

Writing Tip: It’s easy to forget your old notebooks from writing conferences, events etc, but every now and again dig them out and have a look through. I’ve found work in these I’ve gone on to polish up and have published on CafeLit etc.

Equally you may come across something you want to explore further and which you’d forgotten about so it is well worth having a flick through your books. It’s also cheering to look back at your earlier works and then see where you are now, writing wise. You will have made progress.

I can look back through my books and spot more easily whether something written back then could be developed or not. Just knowing that means I know now what could work and what absolutely won’t. It saves time! But unless you do look back through your books, you really won’t find that nugget where you could do something.

434052480_10161826408147053_6744102198749073238_nNice day today despite the weather. Lady got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback and I’ve had my hair done. (I know. There is a Murphy’s Law for Having Your Hair Cut – that will be when the wind gets up and the rain comes down but never mind).

Looking forward to sharing Part 2 of a great interview with the lovely Sophie Neville on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Again see above. So inspired by this interview – it is a fabulous celebration of creativity I think.

Meantime, if you’re looking for a fabulous read, do check out the latest issue of Writers’ Narrative. Plenty to enjoy here. The theme this time is editing, a subject dear to my heart of course, given I’m an editor (freelance) and copy editor (WN), as well as an author. If you don’t receive the magazine regularly, you can subscribe for free and the link is given in the magazine itself.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It’s lovely to start the working week with a story. It’s just as lovely to end the working week with a story! Am pleased to share my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Time For A Change. What will Maisy do when her household objects go on strike? Find out here. Hope you enjoy the story.

Screenshot 2024-04-12 at 10-07-07 Time For A Change by Allison Symes

Flash collections are joy to put together. I like to mix up the genres and the moods of my stories in mine. I like to think of this as giving a demonstration of what flash is and can be. I also don’t want to write or read “doom and gloom” tales all of the time, though they do have their place, which is why I like to ensure there is a good mix of humorous flashes, as well as darker ones in my books. Life is made up of humour and darker stuff so I think it apt my stories and books reflect that.

The one thing I have found I haven’t been able to write about at the time or now is the pandemic. I just wanted to escape all of that in my fiction, whether I was reading or writing it. That has remained the case. My publishers did bring out a couple of Covid related anthologies but I just couldn’t write anything on that. I suppose everyone has their blind spots.

If I have got to choose one overall favourite form of fiction, it is humorous writing, whether it is Austen, Pratchett, or Wodehouse (and there’s a trio to conjure with!). Never fails to cheer me up and I will always prefer that kind of fiction rather than the “more worthy” kind. Nothing wrong with humorous writing. Phenomenally difficult to get right.

I do have fun with my titles. I like to keep them as open as possible so readers have to find out which way I’ve taken them and that can only be done by reading the story. But I especially love “innocent” sounding titles like my Time for Tea in From Light to Dark and Back Again. My lead character in this thinks they’re being clever, but are they right to think it? Do check it out via my Amazon Author Central Page.

Give some thought as to what you want your titles to convey to a reader. Proverbs/sayings can make for excellent titles, as well as themes, and I’ve sometimes changed one word in these to “subvert” them for my own purposes. (Punish the Innocent from FLTDBA is an example of this).

Every so often, I do jot down potential title ideas and come back to them later. If they still seem good, I’ll get a draft done. But time away from possible ideas is just as important as time away from the first draft of a stale. You need that break to judge them objectively.

Screenshot 2024-04-11 at 20-09-53 Allison Symes books biography latest update

Fairytales with Bite – Openings Don’t Have to Be All Once Upon A Time

Many of my flash fiction tales are what I call fairytales with bite. They involve a magical character (fairy godmother, witch etc) and I dump them in a situation they have to get out of quickly. Sometimes they call on their powers. Sometimes doing that would make things worse and they have to find another way of resolving their issues. Often there is a humorous twist to my fairytales with bite and I love writing them.

The classic opening for fairytales from childhood stories of course remains as Once upon a time and I remember just hearing those four words meant it was time to settle back and enjoy having another fairytale read to me as a child. Many happy memories there! (And when I could read the books for myself as an older child, I still appreciated that opening. I knew what was to come by then but it didn’t spoil the story, far from it in fact. It was time to eagerly anticipate enjoying a favourite tale).

For my own stories though, I like to show a character in action (and this can include showing their thoughts indicating the attitude of the character immediately) or their setting.

I like to establish it is a magical environment quickly so readers know what to expect. Sometimes I do that by just revealing the character is a dragon, fairy godmother, so if magic is then used to help resolve the problem, readers aren’t surprised by it and it doesn’t seem coincidental. That matters. Coincidences never ring true in any kind of fiction.

So think about what you want your opening to convey to your readers. What do they need to know quickly? How will you show your setting is a magical one?

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This World and Others – The Stories Your World Treasures or Fears

Every culture has its stories. Some will be stories they treasure. There will also be those that “are buried” and there can be various reasons for that. For example, there are some violent stories in most countries’ histories. Some of those will be remembered (at events like Armistice/Veterans’ Day). Others will be “not talked about”, often because they’re frankly embarrassing and, rightly, the countries concerned have moved on – rightly so too.

So when it comes to your stories and your sci-fi/fantasy/fairytale settings, which stories would be recognised and acknowledged by your characters and those who rule over them? Which stories would be ignored or deliberately suppressed and why? What would happen to anyone uncovering those tales (and it is inevitable someone would! When there is a secret in fiction, someone is bound to reveal it!).

Think about who told those stories. Did they know what the consequences would be? Did they suffer for their art? Or were those stories not approved of at the time of your setting looked on very differently going further back into your setting’s past?

Attitudes can change over time and that can also apply to stories. What would have been approved of years ago may well be condemned now (and vice versa).

Are there stories your world fears because they could so do much damage if these were more widely known? What do the authorities do to keep those stories restricted to limit the risk of that damage ever happening and are they right to take this action?

Stories can convey truth. Not everyone welcomes that. So definite ideas for your own tales could emerge from that thought.

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Marketing On The Move and A Commendation

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes, as was the photo of Lady posing on our last holiday.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Have been on the tail end of Storm Kathleen here. Writing wise, I’m looking forward to sharing Part 2 of a fabulous interview with actress/writer, Sophie Neville, on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Be sure not to miss. It is an inspiring interview with someone who is so immersed in the creative life it is an encouragement to all.
In other news, Lady had some fun spotting some pals at a local fun dog show over the weekend, one of whom came second in their category. If ever there was a category “dog who is the best at being daft”, Lady would be a shoe-in for that, or should that be a paw in?

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Facebook – General

Lady had a great start to her Tuesday by playing with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals.

Did get my story sent off to Friday Flash Fiction yesterday – they opened up to submissions again yesterday evening. Sent in a 100 worder. Good to get back to those again.

Managed to do some marketing “on the move” today. I was giving blood and part of the process is to confirm who you are, address etc. Usually you’re asked what you do too. Gets a nice chat going before you donate. So I mentioned I’m a writer, with two flash collections out and another in the pipeline, to which the NHS Blood lady made a note of my name and said she’d look me up online. Marketing doesn’t have to be scary! Some of the best marketing can come from conversations.

Has been a nice day today with lovely comments in on my recent interview with Sophie Neville on Chandler’s Ford Today. See screenshot and Part 2 of a fabulous conversation will be up on site on Friday.

Screenshot 2024-04-09 at 10-12-58 Association of Christian Writers (Group) ACW's Allison Symes asked such great questions that this author interview brought out more than any other - ever Facebook

Chandler's Ford Today post reminder picture(1)Hope you have had a good start to your week. Not bad here but blustery again as I write this.

Am busy preparing blog posts and articles at the moment. Have a story I want to submit to Friday Flash Fiction when they reopen to submissions so hope to do that later this week but ahead of Friday of course!

Looking forward to taking part in a history group Zoom session this evening. I do write some historical flash but have always loved the subject of history since school days long before I took up creative writing.

Finding out what happens is a key component to writing in itself. It is what draws the readers in. It comes into history (and science) but I love things which shed light on the past. Sometimes a spark of inspiration for a story can come from that. I’ve found that to be the case for my historical flashes.

I totally understand the point of historical fiction though I only dabble in it myself. And I want the historical non-fiction I read to be gripping, entertaining, as well as informative. History should never be boring. It wasn’t for real for those going through it. It shouldn’t be in book form either!

Do I hope to write more historical pieces? Yes. As with my other flash work, I focus on the character and look at what I could say through them in my tale. I hope my portrayal of them shows a side to them which encourages empathy. Understanding what motivates people, real of fictional, is a powerful and good thing when it encourages that empathy (and a deeper appreciation for what we do have now).

BB - Flash with a Dash for TTFFHope you have had a good weekend. Blustery but dry here. Think we’re getting the tail end of Storm Kathleen.

Looking forward to sharing Part 2 of a fabulous interview with Sophie Neville (of Swallows and Amazons fame, though she has done and continues to do so much in the creative spheres), for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Do look out for that.

A huge thank you for the congratulations coming in on my story Doing Right being Commended in the Friday Flash Fiction competition. Nice way to end the week.

Writing Tip: You’ve got to your desk, eager to write. Nothing comes to you. Don’t panic. Free write literally anything for a few minutes and/or brain storm title ideas, opening line/closing line ideas etc.

I’ve found that once I’ve started writing something other ideas, better ideas, come to me, but you do just need something to start with. The idea of just writing anything, no matter how rubbish it may seem to you, is just to warm your creative “muscles” up so those other better ideas come through. You’ve nothing to lose by trying this either.

Another good tip here is to go back through your notebooks etc where you have previously jotted down ideas. Now is the time you might put one or two these to use. The idea here is you have already jotted this idea down, now flesh it out and see what you can do with it. Again, it is to get you started on something.

Good luck and happy drafting.

433964776_10161819122772053_2492553790739286847_nLovely surprise today (6th April 2024). Discovered my 100 word story, Doing Right, was commended in the Andrew Siderius competition recently held by Friday Flash Fiction. Many thanks to Dawn Knox for flagging that, congratulations to her too, and well done to the winners and all who where shortlisted as I mentioned yesterday over on my Facebook book page.

First time I have had a commendation here. Feeling chuffed!

Link to story here. All pet owners will get this one.

Screenshot 2024-04-06 at 14-13-48 Doing Right by Allison Symes

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Busy day today so am later posting than normal but good to be back at the desk and writing. Need to give some thought to the Bridport Prize soon. (Closing date is end of May). Do have a story ready I feel would be suitable so I will try and take a look at that again this weekend. I will want to submit anything by early to mid May at the latest.

I don’t believe in leaving it to the last minute for one excellent reason. You’re more likely to make mistakes in your entry if you do.

Second reason – technology can go wrong so if there is an internet “blip” you want it to “not matter”. You will want to be able to try later or next day once things are fixed. If you have something like that right at the last minute to submit your story, there’s no time to have another go at submitting the same. I do believe in a safety net here.

436968787_10161823048807053_1350110096695660263_nIt’s Monday. It’s time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube, which has an apt title for Mondays – One of Those Days. Hope you enjoy it.

 

If you have a flash fiction story which revolves around a secret, do play fair with your readers and ensure the secret is revealed by the end of the tale. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a “big reveal”.

In my The Past – Ready or Not? (Tripping the Flash Fantastic), I reveal my character’s secret in three words towards the end of the story (which is a sub 150 worder).

I see this as akin to Chekov’s Gun rule in that if you have a gun in the story, at some point it must go off. If you have set up any kind of expectation in your tale, you do need to follow through on it. But that follow through is huge fun to write and can create some tremendous closing lines.

Have fun with this, I do!

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I enjoyed writing The Writers’ Wish List for the recently published Spring 2024 edition of Christian Writer, the journal of the Association of Christian Writers (and only available to paid up members of ACW).

One element I applied directly to flash fiction and short story writers is that, every now and again, I will come across someone who is “stuffy” about the shorter forms of fiction. Naturally my wish was people wouldn’t be like that!

I have never understood this attitude. Yes, novels are difficult to write and obviously take far more time but the short forms still need drafting, editing, crafting, and a lot of time and care still goes into doing that. Also, why restrict what you read and/or write? I love reading novels and short stories/flash fiction. Plenty of room in the world for both forms!

When I’m reading I will deliberately read a novel or work of non-fiction, then a short story or flash collection, then back to a longer form of writing again. Why restrict yourself?!

When I’m writing, my main work is in the short form but I do have longer projects on the go. Why restrict yourself here either? Yes, you will over time find what is your natural “home” but it doesn’t mean you can’t give something else a try writing wise. I find it’s fun.

Sometimes, just sometimes, a short story or flash fiction piece will pack a powerful emotional punch in ways the longer forms wouldn’t do because everything that needs to be said is said in, say, 500 words.

The great novels show you a whole world and you need the time and space to show that. That’s something the short forms can’t do.

But this is why we need all of the writing forms!

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Goodreads Author Blog – What Reading Teaches You

As a writer, I’ve learned so much from what I’ve read over the years. You take in how stories work by reading loads of them.

I picked up on the Rule of Three from reading the classic fairytales, for example. I came to realise something would happen, then happen again, but on the third time there would be a different outcome.

You also get to see how stories are laid out (paragraphs, dialogue, how scene breaks work etc) just by reading how others have done this before you.

I’ve long thought writers effectively have two great joys here – their own writing and reading. The love of reading triggers the desire to write. It is also why it pays writers to read widely – classic and contemporary, fiction and non-fiction.

Ideas for your own stories are often triggered by something else you’ve read so it pays to have an “imagination pool” to fish from which is as wide and deep as possible. Reading widely, and in varied forms, does that for you.

I’ve found the Kindle has encouraged further reading in that I use it to try out books by authors new to me. I will take a “punt” on a £2.99 ebook. If I like the author’s work, I often go on to buy further paperbacks from them later. But this is all because the Kindle makes it easy to read even more works. I like that. I make a point of reading both ebooks and paperbacks in my main reading session. Love them all.

Books are wonderful things.

Screenshot 2024-04-06 at 16-52-23 What Reading Teaches You

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Author Interview: Sophie Neville – A Creative Life Part 1

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Hope you have had a good few days since the last post. Weather still all over the place but Lady running all over the place with her closest chums so they’re happy at least!
Am so thrilled to welcome Sophie Neville to Chandler’s Ford Today – she is a very talented actress (best known for Swallows and Amazons), has written many books, and is an award winning scriptwriter as well. This interview is a two parter, with the next stage coming out on 12th April. Don’t miss either parts – there is so much to inspire here.

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Hope you have had a good Friday. Lady and her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal rounded off their “working week” with a superb playing, good zoomies (you stand out of the way!), and who then went home tired and happy. I was happy to dodge the rain. That counts as a win this week.

For Chandler’s Ford Today this week, I am delighted to share Part 1 of a wonderful interview with actress and writer (and much else besides), Sophie Neville, who is best known for her role as Titty in Swallows and Amazons, a classic children’s film. She went on to do much more in front of and behind the camera plus her writing, especially her scripts, has won her awards too.

This week we look at how the different aspects of Sophie’s work have fed into each other, her thoughts on preparing for talks (useful tips shared too), and her involvement with the Wild Otter Trust and much more.

Do enjoy! Part 2 this time next week. Don’t miss!

Author Interview: Sophie Neville – A Creative Life on Water, in Film, and in Writing – Part 1

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Lady has had a super duper week in that she has got to see her friends for most of it! Had a lovely time again earlier today with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal. It is quite something to see the pair of them running.

Don’t miss tomorrow’s Chandler’s Ford Today post. I will be sharing Part 1 of a splendid two part interview with the hugely creative and talented Sophie Neville of Swallows and Amazons fame and much else besides. The whole interview is so inspiring to anyone with any interest in the creative life so do look out for it. More tomorrow on this. See above.

Writing Tip: When writing flash fiction, don’t worry about the word count. I know that seems an odd thing to say but focus on getting the story right first. Once you’ve got that sorted, then figure out what the word count should be.

If my draft ends up coming in at, say, 120 words, I will then and only then see if I can genuinely get it down to a 100 word count. Sometimes I can. That’s great. Sometimes I can’t (because it would spoil the story in some way) so in that case I leave it alone and I send it in to a category which is over 100 words instead.

How can I judge what would spoil the story in some way? Simply by asking myself would cuts take away from the characterisation I am trying to show. If it does, I don’t do it.

The star of any flash fiction story is the character. The reader needs to know who they are (in some cases in my stories, what they are too!) so if my cutting takes something away from their enjoyment of the character, that’s when I leave the story alone.

But if I can genuinely cut something to tighten up pace, give my characters a sharper focus, then I will do that.

 

Hope you have had a good day. Strange weather though thankfully Lady did get to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals again today. Came home tired but happy. She always gets a buzz from being with her chums.

I was talking earlier today about non-fiction books via a Facebook group I am part of and I mentioned I’m currently reading Double Cross by Ben Macintyre, the true stories of the double agents used to fool Hitler. Fascinating reading. Highly recommend. I love the development of non-fiction told in narrative style, as this book is, as it almost seems like a novel (and a page turning one at that). Great way to take in history, I think.

I do sometimes write historical flash fiction though I do use standard modern English for my characters here. Why? Old English is not that easy to read so my one conceit is to allow past characters to talk in a way we would understand now. My historical flash pieces are all based on fact and/or reasonable supposition on the basis of known facts. Fun to do.

By using the flash format for this, I do have to hone in on what really matters to my characters. (And that applies to every other flash piece I write too, regardless of genre. Flash is a great writing discipline for this).

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No story on Friday Flash Fiction this week as they’re closed to submissions at the moment after the Andrew Siderius competition. Many congratulations to the winners and all who where shortlisted. It was great fun to take part. I submitted a story in the 100 words category and then a longer flash (151 to 500 words) over the two weeks the competition was running.

If you need to look at what 100 word stories look like on screen (or the longer up to 500 words category), do check out the website. I’ve found doing this useful in the past because it gives me a visual aid for what to “aim for” when drafting my story.

If I know a 100 word story could be three short paragraphs, I’ve already got a kind of structure in place. First paragraph – set up, meet character, know problem. Second paragraph – things worsen, character has to do something. Third paragraph – Character has done something and this is the resolution. Visual aids like that can be handy at times.

Also check out the wide range of stories on here. You’ll be in for a great read. The link takes you to a page full of useful tips for writing flash fiction. Do check them out.
Screenshot 2024-04-05 at 17-07-46 Writing Good Flash Fiction

One great thing about the opening line writing exercise is it challenges you to come up with excellent prose to follow on from it. I find I want to deliver on that cracking opening line and not let it down. So I need a strong character, one I know well and whose reactions and actions make sense based on my portrayal of them.

Do I like all of my own characters? Not necessarily! I can think of some of mine who make my skin crawl but the way I’ve portrayed them, their actions and attitudes would make sense if only to them. I don’t write too many of this kind of character because they’re not my favourite type but sometimes I have an idea for a plot where that kind of character has to be the one to “star” in it for it to make sense.

I do love my witty characters though and have a very soft spot for them. I especially love the ones who come up with wonderful one liners. What I need to watch there is to ensure I don’t write those lines just for the sake of it. Any and every line does need to move the character and the story on.

Any and every line has to earn its place in my stories. If there’s any doubt, then that tells me this line isn’t strong enough. Equally it tells me it doesn’t stand out enough to justify staying in the tale so out it comes.

433949985_862760885863774_6838487424595193097_nSometimes I’m inspired by films I like and take the viewpoint of another character for my flash piece. In my Where The Wild Wind Blows (Tripping the Flash Fantastic) I take the viewpoint of the witch from The Wizard of Oz who was unfortunate enough to have a farmhouse land on her. Just what are the odds of that happening, even in a magical world, I wonder! Good fun to do as it is interesting to explore what another character would make of the situation that has happened to them.

When Cinders got married, not all considered this to be good news – the stepmother and her daughters for a start. You can have fun playing with that kind of idea (and indeed I did with my A Helping Hand from Alternative Renditions (Bridge House Publishing), which was my first story in print back in 2009).

I’ve mentioned about using proverbs and sayings for inspiration (and they are fabulous sources) but why not the fairytales too? Whose story hasn’t been told? Who thinks they’ve been treated unfairly? A lot of fun stories could be told here (and I love the way the Shrek films covers this idea too).

Fairytales with Bite – Magical Studying

The best known magical school is, of course, J.K. Rowling’s Hogwarts. (Love those books and films). But when it comes to your own stories and settings, how would your characters be educated? Would there be formal education such as Hogwarts or would there something akin to learning from the “elders” of the people in a more traditional, oral manner? Would your characters have access to any education at all? If not, why not?

You can show a great deal about your society by showing who is allowed to be educated and who is not. Equally for your stories where education doesn’t come directly into the plot lines, your characters would still have needed to learn some skills in a magical world so they could survive. Do they ever talk about what they learned and how?

Good teachers have a positive influence on you for life. I recall with great fondness my English teacher, Miss Mackenzie, who introduced me to Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice). I learned irony was a thing in fiction from that one book!

After that, we went on to The Day of the Triffids (John Wyndham), a book I was sure I would hate given it was science fiction. I was wrong. I was pleased to be wrong. Miss Mackenzie gave me an invaluable lesson here in mixing up your reading and not being afraid to try genres new to you, something that remains with me (and I am sure has had a positive influence on my own fiction writing).

So what teachers would have had an influence, good or bad, on your characters and how does that play out in your story? How does your characters’ magical studying, no matter how they did this, affect what they can do in your plot line? When they are in trouble, as all characters will be at some point (!), do the lessons they studied earlier in their lives come to their aid now?

Studying has a life long impact. So it would make sense for that to apply to characters too. It could make a huge difference to whether they survive or not. Story ideas a plenty there, I think!

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This World and Others – Discoveries

I’m always pleased to hear of discoveries which will be useful to mankind (medicine perhaps being the obvious one here). I also love to hear of discoveries which are simply amazing. I love seeing the photos from the various space telescopes, for example. The images are amazing (and that in turn gives me a renewed appreciation for the wonders of the human eye, for colour, and for photography).

So think about your characters. Which discoveries do they value and why? Do any of these come to their aid in the course of the story? Development in transport, for example, could make a huge difference as to whether your characters succeed in their quest or not.

What does your fictional world think about science or do they equate their magic with our science? In terms of the ruling powers, do they encourage new discoveries or try to suppress them? Not all would welcome people being able to find out more because that, in turn, could well lead to said people questioning how they are governed, especially if their discoveries are in things like finding out other places have democracy and they themselves do not.

Discoveries can take many forms. Which would your world/characters appreciate? Which would they not want and why? Who is behind making the discoveries and are they on their own here or do they have support?

If the ruling powers support discoveries, is that only for specialized fields such as military applications?
Give some thought too as to which discoveries would turn your fictional world upside down and is that a good thing or a bad one? Not all would see it as good. Not all would see it as bad. What could that split in opinion lead to?

Which discoveries could your fictional world/characters really do with having? Is your setting anywhere near obtaining these?

One single discovery could change so much too. Think about the discovery of pencillin for us. How many lives has that saved? So what would your world’s equivalent of the “game changer” be?

Again, plenty of story ideas there, I think.

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Questions and Answers For Characters

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Hope you have had a good few days. Unbelievable weather here – heavy rain, gale force winds etc. March is supposed to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb. No sign of the lamb yet! (I also know parts of the country have had snow too). Am always grateful writing is something to be done indoors! Writing wise, will have a very special interview coming up on Chandler’s Ford Today in early April. Looking forward to sharing more about that a bit nearer the time.

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29th March 2024 – CFT
Second blog from me today and it is my usual weekly post for Chandler’s Ford Today. This time I talk about Questions and Answers for Characters. This ties in nicely with my More than Writers post for ACW (see further down) too given I look at how little details can make a story seem more believable to readers.

Well, getting little details right about your characters will help make them more believable to readers too. For this post, I share what I think are five useful questions to ask of your characters which would, I’m sure, inspire story ideas for them to “serve in”. I’ve long found outlining my characters does then trigger story ideas and I think is well worth doing. Hope you find the same.

Questions and Answers for Characters

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29th March 2024 – MTW
It’s double blog day for me today. First up is my post for More than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. (Well, it was first up when I put my posts on Facebook!). This time I talk about Easter Stories and Little Details. I share how the little details in the biblical accounts make them more real for me.

I also go on to discuss how getting the little details right in your stories will help make your characters and tales seem more believable to readers too. This ties in nicely with my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. More on that in a moment. (See above). Hope you enjoy the MTW post.

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Can’t believe the weather today – heavy rain and gale force winds! I was walking Lady earlier when another local commented it feels more like November. It does too. For those of you who have had snow, I’m sorry!!

On to happier matters. I’ll be looking at Questions and Answers for Characters for Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. Some of what I share in here could make a useful template if you’re not sure where to start in finding out what you need to know about your potential creations.

It will be a double post from me tomorrow as I’ll also be sharing my More than Writers post tomorrow for the Association of Christian Writers where I’ll discuss Easter Stories and Little Details. Again see above! Blogs can be like buses – none for ages then two or three at once!

I often find little details make a character/story for me because it helps to make them seem more real and believable, no matter how fantastical or otherwise the setting is.

Also had a lovely time at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting last night. Lots of great ideas were shared. I take part in the writing exercises I set on the night of the meeting. I love live writing exercises. They fire up the old imagination and I now have some promising opening and closing lines to investigate further in due course. That will be fun!

 

Strange weather again today though Lady did see her Hungarian Vizler chum and we managed to get damp rather than have a thorough soaking. I guess that counts as a win.

Looking forward to tonight’s Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom. Will be looking at Endings and Beginnings. Apt as we head into Easter.

Will be looking at Questions and Answers for Characters on Chandler’s Ford Today on Good Friday. See above. I’ll be sharing tips on what I’ve found useful in getting to know characters before I write their stories up. Hope it will prove useful. Also pleased my copy of Christian Writer arrived yesterday. I have a humorous piece in there this time which I hope ACW members will enjoy.

And don’t forget the April issue of Writers’ Narrative is already out in good time for a fantastic Easter read! Check it out at the link.

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Pleased to say my second entry for the Andrew Siderius competition for Friday Flash Fiction is now up on site. This one, Memories, has the theme of manipulation and is in the 151-500 words category. Hope you enjoy the story. Let’s say my sympathy here is for my alien character and there is none at all for Mrs Evans. See what you think. Link here.

Screenshot 2024-03-29 at 09-29-35 Memories by Allison SymesFlash fiction is great for sharing different moods of story. I’ve written funny tales, scary ones, and the poignant kind, just to name a few examples.

One of my latter type is Judgement Day from Tripping the Flash Fantastic. It is a story I often read out at Open Prose Mic Nights and the last line has a “punch to the gut” ending appropriate for the character and their situation. With this tale, I did know the ending first and worked out what would lead to that ending.

If you’d like to find out more, do check out my Amazon Author Central page.

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A useful writing exercise, which I’ve used to kick start flash fiction ideas, is to just jot down ideas for titles and then one or two lines working out which direction you could take those titles.

For example, if I used a title such as The Open Door, I would then write a line or two indicating what kind of mood I would want the story to be, what kind of character would best serve that mood, and then I’d jot down some notes for a potential character. All of that would be about a paragraph, similar to this.

But it is enough of an outline to get me started and I find that in itself is enough to fire up other ideas. I often find it is the starting of a piece which can prove tricky. Once I have a way in, I can then get on with the first draft.

I can then judge the piece as a whole later and make suitable amendments (and there always are some!). But you have to have something down in the first place to be able to do that. Getting over a blank page/screen, for me, is vital.

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Fairytales with Bite – The Biter Bit

One of the things I’ve always loved about fairytales from an early age is that justice will be done. Sometimes that justice can be on the rough side – a case of the biter bit. But for those characters who are kind and honourable, you know somehow things will work out for them in the end. (If only that was always true in life!).

The phrase The Biter Bit would make a great theme for many stories. Who would deserve to be bitten like that? What have they done to deserve it? And where does magic come into it? Is it a case of an annoyed magical being doling out the punishment here (as is often the case with the fairytales) or would they be on the receiving end? Who would be powerful enough to do this?

Thinking about your setting as a whole, how would the justice system operate? Who would make sure any kind of poetic justice, especially if a magical kind, wasn’t overdone?

Story ideas there too I think!

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This World and Others – Sayings

Proverbs and sayings are so useful for giving theme ideas for stories. I’ve sometimes used them directly as titles too. But for your alien setting, what kind of proverbs and sayings would they have? Would they be similar to ours or something totally unknown?

Many of our proverbs and sayings come from the Bible, Shakespeare etc. Where would your setting’s sayings come from? What would be the texts your characters would treasure and how have these influenced their culture/outlook/treatment of aliens (including humans)?

There is no reason either why you couldn’t use our sayings to influence how you portray your alien characters and/or settings.

For example, take the saying Truth Will Out. If your character is an honest one in a setting which isn’t, how would that play out? What led to your character becoming counter culture here? If the setting is based on truthfulness, what would it do to characters who were not (and again what led them to being counter culture here? I think it would take more than just greed here too. To go so against your own culture would take strong motivation given the risks involved, especially if your setting has the death penalty. So the drive behind this would have to be more than material, I think).

Again, interesting story idea potential here.

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