Tag: Friday Flash Fiction

The Writing Community

Leave a comment

SOA_Member_rgb

Image Credits:- All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope all is well with you. About to head off for a break in gorgeous Northumberland. Will be taking laptop with me. Have laptop, will travel, will write, and I suspect I’ll get some done via good old Evernote on the phone on the journey up there. I’ve taken to the idea of using pockets of time for writing, whether it is to brainstorm or draft a story or blog post. Those pockets mount up. Amazing what you can get done.

BookBrushImage-2023-10-6-19-2637

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am delighted to be sharing The Writing Community on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. This is something so worth celebrating and something I deeply appreciate. It has added richness to my writing life and I have learned so much useful information too. It’s lovely being able to share some of that information back again. There are always new writers glad of this.

I share some useful website links (Society of Authors, Alliance of Independent Authors, Writer Beware, and Hampshire Writers’ Society). I also look at the usefulness of writing magazines which can help you feel part of a wider writing world and a few thoughts on online communities.

I do follow some on Facebook but deliberately don’t follow them all. (Not enough time basically but being selective about what you would like to give to a group as well as receive from it is a good idea anyway). Hope you enjoy the post and find it useful.

The Writing Community

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

When did I realise I wanted to write? It has been in the background of my life for a long time. I always did love composition lessons at school but it didn’t occur to me for decades I might do something with this. It took a significant birthday and the birth of my son to make me realise if I wanted to see a book out there with my name on the front cover, it would be a great idea if I sat down and got on with it!

In all seriousness, my only regret, writing wise, is not starting sooner than I did because I had no idea how long it would take for me to find my feet, learn my craft, learn to come to terms with rejections, improve my craft more, get better at submitting the right story to the right place to increase my chances of acceptance etc.

And it does take time. I think though there is a good side to this. I appreciate my acceptances more than if they had come to me “easily” I think. I now have a great deal more appreciation of how hard writers work to bring out works for us to enjoy. I also appreciate the editor’s craft more too. Mind you, I ought to, being one myself! I also appreciate more why every writer needs a good editor!

370051565_745095310963666_2820144343510089716_nHope you have had a good day. Definitely feeling the autumn chill now. Am celebrating The Writing Community in my Chandler’s Ford Today post on Friday. That’s something which is always worth celebrating! See above.

Writing Tip: I find three to five word titles ideal for most of my stories. There are always exceptions to any rule (bear in mind my first book, From Light to Dark and Back Again, has seven, count them, seven words in it!) but most of the time the shorter the title, the easier it is to remember and to share on social media, especially where there is a limited character count.

I will use pockets of time to jot down ideas for future potential titles. I come back to these later and any that still grab me, well those are the ones I flesh out characters for and then go on to write my first draft. The time away from my initial ideas is a good test to see if something is likely to work. If I find myself thinking why did I come up with that, it is highly unlikely I’m taking things any further!

385078587_744513057688558_5885311456850627697_n

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction. My latest story here is called Being Engrossed. Find out what kind of trouble that leads my character, Stephen, into! Glad to say there are some smashing comments coming in on this one already. I do appreciate the feedback I get from FFF (and this ties in nicely with my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week which celebrates The Writing Community!).

Screenshot 2023-10-06 at 09-28-46 Being Engrossed by Allison Symes

There are many things I love about flash fiction. I like the way I can put characters anywhere I want in terms of genre, time period etc. I love coming up with lines which I know will make great twist endings or humorous punchlines. I love working out how I could get to those closing lines literally so, yes, it is like putting a puzzle together.

This may well be one of the joys of crime writing for the author as well. They know what’s happening so it is a question of working out how to put it together so it hooks the reader. And that’s the challenge for every writer, regardless of what form we write in – how do we hook the reader?

For me, it’s always about intriguing characters and interesting situations to dump them in. I so enjoy putting my characters through the mill and finding out how they manage.

385773827_745096554296875_202221957929432612_nRemorse and regrets can make for an interesting character study story. I do this with My Girl in Tripping the Flash Fantastic, where my take on Queen Anne Boleyn is sharing her thoughts on the eve of her execution. All I came up with for her in this story is based on plausibility.

It would not be unreasonable, for example, to be thinking of her young daughter and what would happen to her. We also know Queen Anne did pray a lot (and she would’ve done then).

But this kind of story gives you an opportunity to have your character reflect on their life (whether you use a historical character or make one up) and this can have huge resonance with a reader. Also works best when kept short so flash is ideal for this.

BB - Flash with a Dash for TTFF

Fairytales with Bite – Away Trips

In your magical setting, do your characters get sent on “away trips”? If so, are these missions to spy on other worlds and why would this be done? For example, would a magical world send their spies to Earth to keep an eye on what we are doing with what we call science? Would they be looking to steal our best ideas and use them for their own purposes on their own world?

Equally do your magical characters get to have “jollies” where they can just go away and enjoy themselves? What would they have done to serve their world to justify getting something like that? Where would your average fairy godmother go when she wanted a holiday? Can all beings in your world have these trips or are they just for the select few?

What would the benefits be to your characters of having these trips? If they are allowed to visit other worlds, such as ours, does that trip away change their attitudes towards (a) their own lives at home and (b) their previous views on other worlds? What could the consequences be? If you are told that Species X is evil and you discover that they’re not, what would you then do on your return to the place where you have been lied to?

BookBrushImage-2023-10-6-19-5951

This World and Others – To Boldly Go or to Stay Right at Home?

Sorry couldn’t resist the nod to Star Trek here (and is that the most famous split infinitive in history – I think it may well be!). Does your setting encourage its characters to explore and, if so, are there limits as to where they can go and what they can do?

If your world encourages exploring other worlds, do they like what they find out? Do they adapt useful ideas for their own use? Or does finding out about other worlds fuel hostility if they (a) disapprove of what what other world is doing or (b) that other world is doing better than they are.

“Simple” motivations such as jealousy can be put to good use here to set characters on a course of action which will have consequences and increase drama in your story. If you knew your world was going to be resentful, would you give them a watered down account of what you found out when you went exploring? Do you get found out and, if so, what would the consequences be?

I mention consequences a lot. All stories are based on cause and consequence and change. Having characters explore outside of their normal boundaries has great potential for stories as those characters bring new ideas home. Not everyone welcomes new ideas!

BookBrushImage-2023-10-6-20-456

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

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

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES
Allison Symes - advertising books and services resized 640Twitter Corner with hashtag, Scrabble tiles, and the blue bird

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

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

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Favourite Aspects of Writing

Leave a comment

SOA_Member_rgb

Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you had a good weekend. Had a lovely time with family for a family birthday. Lady had a smashing time. Lots of cuddles, extra food, and she just adores being with people. One shattered but happy dog at the end of the evening! Writing going well and will have another workshop to do in November which I’m looking forward to doing. Not that far away now. I can hardly believe we’re into October already.

BookBrushImage-2023-10-3-19-571

Facebook – General

It’s hard to say what is my favourite thing about writing.

For fiction, I love coming up with characters. Always did like the idea of inventing my own people/other beings of choice. This is from a woman who has written from the viewpoint of a mother dragon, mind you!

For non-fiction, I love it when an idea for a blog post sparks other ideas and I know the post will end up being useful and I hope entertaining too. I am so glad the days of dull but worthy non-fiction works has finally bitten the dust. Not before time. I recall going to libraries as a child and the non-fiction section contained rows of huge encylopedias and the like. Wasn’t going to encourage me to read there – and I loved reading back then just as much as I do now.

I think most people have creative skill. It’s a question of working out what it is and then deciding if you want to develop it or not. I can’t draw. I can sing. I can’t dance. I can write. There has to be a creative outlet somewhere – or at least there has to be for me and writing is it.

386590241_743851241088073_2752918283376386460_n

Lady got to play with her two special girlfriends, the Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler, today. Great time had by all. Missed the thunder and heavy rain thankfully – that came in later. Lady thankfully isn’t frightened of storms but she doesn’t like them either. Her policy is to get up and move to what she considers to be the safest room in the house. Once she’s done that, she’s happy again!

Many thanks for the comments coming in on The Old Days, my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction. Have you been to a school reunion? See what my characters make of their one in this story.
Screenshot 2023-09-29 at 10-11-20 The Old Days by Allison Symes

Wow! October already. Author newsletter out earlier today. I share some thoughts on finding ideas this time along with the usual news and story links. Hope you enjoy.

Will be celebrating the joys of The Writing Community for Chandler’s Ford Today later this week. Looking forward to sharing that post on Friday.

It was fantastic to catch up with my lovely editor here, Janet Williams, in person yesterday. Great to have a good chat and I am looking forward to seeing Wyrd Sisters with her to be performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group towards the end of the month.

It will be the first time I’ve seen a Discworld play and given the story is such a strong one, I just know the play will be something special. Plan to review in due course for CFT.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Posting at a different time today as have a family birthday do. Lady loves these events. Everyone makes a good fuss of her and she usually gets more snacks than usual. It isn’t even her birthday! See photo above! Fab time doesn’t begin to cover it…

What events would your characters want to celebrate? If your story is in a fantasy/sci-fi setting, are birthdays celebrated as we know them or is the date of birth considered irrelevant? Could they consider the day someone graduates to be more important, for example? What events would characters be compelled to honour in some way, whether that compulsion is imposed by family, friends, the wider society, or the government?

There needs to be a sense your characters have a life away from your story. You can imagine Character X going to school even if that is not part of the tale. Characters will have memories so what would they consider important enough to recall?

385705475_741985904607940_5931032812627563790_n

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope you have had a good day. One of my favourite writing exercises is to jot down promising opening lines I will flesh out at a later date. I often use odd pockets of time for this and the great thing is when I have more time at my desk I’ve already got ideas to think about.

If an opening line still grips me a couple of weeks or so after I drafted it, I then run with it. I outline my character and work out how that opening line would apply to them. That nearly always sparks the kind of story they would have to be in for this to happen. Basic story structure in place and away I go with my first draft.

My opening line from Seeing Is Believing (Tripping The Flash Fantastic) reads When Ben was unwell, strange signs appeared in the sky above his house. That was fun to flesh out! I worked out who Ben was (not all of this is in the story. Only I needed to know it). I also worked out from that why strange signs would be associated with him. Then I was away on my first draft.

As I am writing flash and short stories a lot, I am always looking for ways into character creation. I also like mixing up the kinds of writing exercise I use. It keeps me on my toes and they all generate ideas.

TTFF with social media icons
It’s Monday. Autumn is really coming in now with the dark evenings starting in my part of the world as early as 7 pm. It’s still Monday. There has been heavy rain. Dog really wished it hadn’t thundered, though not scared of it. (She just moves to what she thinks is the safest part of the world and treats it as an inconvenience!). Definitely time for a story then. Hope you enjoy Escape, my latest on YouTube. One of my darker tales, this one.

 

Amazon have an offer on the paperback of From Light to Dark and Back Again. Details in the link below. A fantastic review here refers to FLTDBA as “An eclectic mix of flash fiction, from an author with a great imagination.” I always appreciate reviews received and it is a great way to give some feedback to an author.

So please do consider leaving reviews. My example above proves it doesn’t have to be long. As well as being an obvious morale boost, reviews can help authors with their marketing. I review too – and not just on books.

I do a fair amount of online shopping and I always check the reviews out on products new to me. I find them a useful guide. And yes I am a great believer in reviewing and being reviewed – to me it is only right to be on both sides of the coin here!


Posting outside usual times due to family commitments (nice ones!). Flash has to focus on moments. Events are often held around a specific moment such as a birthday in a character’s life or an event considered to be important if it is some sort of ceremony. Can you use this as a backdrop to your tale?

If it is meant to be central, your flash tale will focus on why an event is important to your character but you can’t go on at length. So hone down your event to a specific thing your character is focussed on – an outline for your story will come from that.

If the event is a birthday, your character may wish to focus on the cake. Maybe they never had one before? Maybe their attempts at baking have gone wrong and someone has come to their rescue meaning for once they’re looking forward to eating their birthday cake?

You get the idea. I’ve found figuring out what really matters to my character helps me to write them and their tale up more efficiently.

385703649_741987574607773_7232189468993214913_n

Goodreads Author Blog – Books as Presents

I’ve long loved receiving books as presents. Next best thing is receiving book tokens so I can go out and buy my own books later. And I love giving books too. If I’ve loved a book, I can think of nothing more lovely than sharing that experience with a friend by getting them to read the book too.

Paperbacks and audio books are by far the easiest formats to go for and I must admit I love seeing book shaped presents under the Christmas tree. Okay, you can’t really disguise them but why would you want to? The anticipation of discovering what book has been bought for you is great. Don’t want anything spoiling that.

Matching up books with friends is a fun game too (and a nice one). Putting potential book lists together is also a pleasurable task and I will be starting mine soon for the Christmas season. Readers and writers are the easiest people in the world to buy presents for – we always want books. Well done, us!

As for books I’ve received, all are treasured. People have chosen well for me and I appreciate that.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Screenshot 2023-09-25 at 12-14-31 Writers' Narrative eMagazine October 2023Screenshot 2023-09-25 at 12-11-11 Writers' Narrative eMagazine October 2023

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES
Allison Symes - advertising books and services resized 640Twitter Corner with hashtag, Scrabble tiles, and the blue bird

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

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

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Quizzing Your Characters and Autumnal Writing

Leave a comment

SOA_Member_rgb

Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good week. Was horrified to hear someone chopped down the sycamore known as Robin Hood’s tree (it was featured in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves). I love trees and have some in my garden. To chop something down for no reason is madness and heartless. Really can’t believe people at times.
What I do have to believe though is in how I portray my characters and one way I use to get this right is to quiz them. I talk more about this in my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. See below.

BookBrushImage-2023-9-29-19-3228

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today/More than Writers

29th September 2023 – Second Post – CFT
Second blog post from me today and I am back on Chandler’s Ford Today with Quizzing Your Characters. I discuss working out what you need to know and give some pointers as to what you could ask your characters to help you picture them well (and write their stories up with more conviction as a result because you do know them well enough).

If you’re writing in forms where you need to invent characters a lot (as you do with flash fiction/short stories), having a way in to creating characters which works is obviously handy. I have found doing this so useful (and a great time saver when it comes to editing later).

Quizzing Your Characters

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

29th September 2023 – First Post – More than Writers

It’s double blog Friday from me this week. First up is Autumnal Writing, my post for More Than Writers (the Association of Christian Writers blog spot). I also share an autumnal story in this which I hope you enjoy. I discuss specific images, the use of the old game of word association, and set you a challenge too. Many thanks also to those who have commented on this one already.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.


Two blogs coming up from me tomorrow – Quizzing Your Characters for Chandler’s Ford Today and Autumnal Writing for More than Writers. See above. Have put them in the same order as I shared them on Facebook but hope you find both blogs useful.

Had lovely evening at the Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom last night. Good to see everyone and I hope you all get a good deal from the tips and exercises I set around the topics of opening and closing lines.

I’ve come up with a couple of further ideas myself here which I look forward to working up into drafts in due course. I deliberately set ideas for exercises for these meetings but then have a crack at them myself during the group session. I love live writing exercises like that and I get some drafts done! Win-win.

Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler girlfriend today so she has had a good week catching up with her pals. If ever there is a species to make the most of living in the moment, it is dogs!

385058050_740952548044609_2731687702981249942_n

Pleased to say I now have an “all in one go” link for Hannah Kate’s Hannah’s Bookshelf show on North Manchester FM last weekend. My story, The Natural Look, is on there. Link via Mixcloud below.

Lady thrilled to be with her best mate, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, this morning. Lovely time had by all.

Will be on the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction group meeting on Zoom later this evening. This particular group works well online given the members of it live several hundreds of miles apart so could never get together in person. The development of Zoom and online meetings like this have been at least one positive thing to come out of the pandemic. (There have to be some positives, right?).

Writing Tip: Read your dialogue out loud and ideally record it and play it back. Ideally, you would do this for the whole story, but if time is short do focus on the dialogue. I have often found what looks good written down doesn’t always read well and hearing your dialogue played back is as close as you will get to a reader’s experience of your writing as they take it in.

Dialogue needs to mimic what we’d do in life but not be an exact copy so we cut out the vast majority of the hesitations, repetitions etc. The latter is real speech but is tiresome to read so you just put in a tiny amount of it – it gives the idea and that is all which is needed here.

 

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale, The Old Days. Hope you enjoy it. Find out here what my two characters made of their Silver Jubilee school reunion.
Screenshot 2023-09-29 at 10-11-20 The Old Days by Allison Symes

Next author newsletter coming out on Sunday. How can it be almost October already? As ever I’ll share news, tips, and links to stories of mine so a good all round read I think! To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Looking forward to sharing a cracking author interview for Chandler’s Ford Today again soon. I enjoy getting guest authors on here as I’ve always found I learn a great deal from the hints and tips they share. And, of course, it helps with marketing for them and for me/CFT so win-win there.

What I look for in a good interview is a two-way conversation and I always ask questions that have to lead to an “open” response. So there will be no yes/no answers in this neck of the woods, thank you!

 

Hope you have had a good day. Beginning to get blustery here. So glad writing is generally an indoors job!

Many thanks for the comments coming in on Secrets, my most recent tale on Friday Flash Fiction. Prior to the one I put up on Friday 29th September! On the plus side you get two stories in one post this time and if you check my MTW post out, a third one there!

This one is timely because I’ve been cake baking myself this afternoon ahead of a family do. I promise I have not done what my character, Mary Wentworth, does here!

Screenshot 2023-09-22 at 10-11-14 Secrets by Allison Symes

Fairytales With Bite – Storytime Acrostic

S = Select your characters – think about why you want to write these into a story.

T = Time spent outlining your characters (working out what YOU need to know about them) will save time and grief and editing later.

O = Outlining doesn’t have to be rigid; I know I need to know my characters so I outline them rather than the story.

R = Regulate the use of magic in your tales – if everything can be resolved with a wave of the wand, where’s the tension and drama?

Y = Your world, your setting, your characters, your rules but be consistent.

T = Time – how does this work in your magical setting and how does it affect your characters? Can they manipulate it, for example?

I = Imagine what you need to know about your setting and how it works before you write your story. You need enough to get started.

M = Managing your characters can be like herding cats so think about who has to be in your story, why, and what their role is.

E = Endings need to deliver on the promise of your opening lines. Dilemmas need to be resolved, questions answered etc.

BookBrushImage-2023-9-29-20-19

This World and Others – Puzzles Acrostic

P = Physics – how would this work in your setting? Physical geography – what would your reader need to know to make sense of the tale?

U = Understanding what characters can and cannot do. There is no story if one character can do everything. Also it’s unbelievable as we all have weaknesses.

Z = Zed time! Is there anything in your story which you find dull or boring? Worth looking out for this. Your readers will react the same.

Z = Zestful writing will keep the reader turning the pages and the best kind comes from having gripping characters readers care about.

L = Limit your descriptions to what readers must know and drip-feed in information as much as possible. Blocks of description are a turn-off.

E = Envisage your characters and then think of the best way of sharing that with your readers. You want readers to “see” your characters in action.

S = Story, story, story – what is the story? Does it deliver on its premise? If someone else had written this story, would you want to read it? Answer there should be yes.

BookBrushImage-2023-9-29-20-630

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Alternative Twitter image

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

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

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Favourite Supporting Characters, Why I Write, and Secrets

Leave a comment

SOA_Member_rgb

Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good week. Lady and I have spent a lot of time getting drenched. My gutters were giving an excellent impersonation of a decent waterfall on Wednesday! The good news here is Lady dries of quicker than I do and is never worried about having to be towelled down! She sees it as a chance to have a cuddle. My first two dogs hated the “faff” of being towelled down. Thrilled to be back on the radio again this weekend. Details below. Nice way to end the week.

BookBrushImage-2023-9-22-19-4258

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

22nd September 2023 – CFT – second post

Second post today. I am glad to share Favourite Supporting Characters for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I name some of my favourite supporting characters and look at the vital roles such characters play.
Can you imagine a good novel or film without them? I know I can’t.

Even in the shorter forms of fiction they have a role to play even if they don’t appear in the story itself but are referred to by the lead character. There will be a reason why the lead character mentions them and it will be a good one. Hope you enjoy the post.

Who would you name as our top supporting character? Do send in your nominees via the (CFT) comments box.

Favourite Supporting Characters

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

22nd September 2023 – First Post – Why I Write – Guest Appearance on Jo Fenton’s Blog

Double posting from me today. Am pleased to be on Jo Fenton’s blog today taking about Why I Write. I met Jo at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick and I can’t imagine a better subject for a writer to talk about. Many thanks to Jo for hosting me.

Why I Write – Allison Symes

 

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom next week We’ll be looking at opening and closing lines. These are so important in any form of writing but for flash fiction, they do a lot of heavy lifting because of the brief overall word count. So it is a question of learning how to make the most of these.

Am sharing Favourite Supporting Characters for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I’ll be looking at the vital roles of such characters. Well, can you imagine Holmes without Watson, for example? I know I can’t. Link up tomorrow. See above.

On a plus note, Lady and I have managed to avoid getting a soaking today!

Chandler's Ford Today post reminder picture(1)Always a joy to talk or write about flash fiction

Have spent a lot of the day getting wet again though it was delightful to see Lady and her best pal, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, have an absolute ball in the park this morning before the dreadful weather set in. Let’s just say Noah with his Ark would have felt right at home!

Am thrilled to say my story, The Natural Look, will be broadcast on Hannah Kate’s show on Saturday afternoon (23rd September). Will share a link when I have one. Hannah Kate put out a call for autumn themed stories for her Autumn Equinox edition of Hannah’s Bookshelf show on North Manchester FM. Was only too glad to write something and send it in.

I like autumn as a season (despite today’s weather!) so it was apt I wrote an autumn related tale.

380533744_735579228581941_3288891798467797930_n

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Am pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale, Secrets. Find out if Mary Wentworth succeeded in keeping her secret to the very end and what baking like King Alfred (of burnt cakes fame) has to do with it. Hope you enjoy the story (and many thanks to those commenting already on this one).

Screenshot 2023-09-22 at 10-11-14 Secrets by Allison Symes

My Chandler’s Ford Today post this week (up tomorrow) is about Favourite Supporting Characters. See above.

For flash fiction, I find a lot of these are referred to by the main character but don’t appear. I have found a supporting character works better for the flash stories which are about 400 to 500 words or so. Mind you, whether the character is the lead of a support, I do have to know why I am writing about them. I have to care enough about them to want to write about them. I have to see their potential. This is why I plan my characters out and that will trigger ideas for stories to put them in.

Character Needs are everything

Am busy getting next author newsletter together. One thing about having these newsletters is they are an excellent reminder of how quickly the year is passing!

Am pleased to say I will be back on the radio on Saturday this week given my autumn related story has been picked by Hannah Kate for her Autumn Equinox special on North Manchester FM. My story is what I call a fairytale with bite so expect a twist and humour. That’s all I’m saying but link to come later.

I’ve also had a couple of rejections in the last few days – all part and parcel of the writing life – but I will revisit these tales and see if I can get them out somewhere else. Nobody wins them all!

380527523_735580868581777_4198308900889221121_n

Fairytales With Bite – Magical Reading

I like to know my characters so plan them out rather than the story itself. When I know my character, I have a good idea of the kind of story which would suit then best.

One way of getting to know your character well enough to write them up is to work out what tastes they would have. What would your magical character like to read, for example? Do they like the fairytales or are they keen to read almost anything but those given this forms part of the “day job” reading?

Is reading encouraged in your magical world? Are there libraries? Are there restrictions on what characters can read and why are these in place? I would suspect that apprentices, for example, are definitely not allowed to read spell books given what happened in Fantasia (Walt Disney). Incidentally, I have never seen that film in full, just clips of it (the famous scenes where things are getting out of hand for poor old Mickey Mouse). The music for it is fantastic (Paul Dukas).

So what would your characters read? Would their reading material help them with their magical gifts of do they read just to switch off after a hard day waving the magic wand about?! Who writes the stories in your setting too and what inspires them? Story ideas here, folks!

(Also I must admit I find little details in a story, such as what a character would read, makes that character and story world more real for me so even if this isn’t part of your main plot, you might like to consider putting in relevant touches such as this to add depth to your story).

BookBrushImage-2023-9-22-20-952

This World and Others – Reference Libraries

What kind of records does your magical setting hold? What would they keep in their reference libraries? I must admit I love historical records and history books so those would be my first port of call in any reference library. What kind of history would your setting record? What would it deliberately not have as a record (and how would people find out about it – someone somewhere always keeps an inconvenient record!)? Have records been altered at a later date and, if so, who by and why?

Is history as a subject appreciated in your setting? What kind of archives would your archivists manage?I love the idea of not just written records but oral ones, film clips, sound clips etc. What would your setting have? How could a particular record make a difference to your character’s life/quest? Information makes a huge difference to the success of a quest (the right kind anyway) and it is not unreasonable to assume ti would have to be stored somewhere.

Are your characters allowed access to things like reference libraries or do they have to find alternative ways of getting to it? Can characters access information at home?

BookBrushImage-2023-9-22-20-2343

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

Twitter - phone and blue bird image

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

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

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Reading and Writing Seasons

Leave a comment

SOA_Member_rgb

Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Many thanks to Janet Williams (my lovely CFT editor) for the image of me at the Book Fair in July. It is a great marketing shot!
Hope you have had a good weekend. It was a mixture of Zoom (running a workshop and having lovely chats with writer friends and family), painting a fence with wood treatment, sunshine, heavy rain, taking the dog out and, of course, writing. Busy but that’s how I like it. Here’s to a good week ahead of us.

BookBrushImage-2023-9-18-20-4919

Facebook – General

Posting earlier than usual due to a meeting later. Hope you have had a good day. Have spent a lot of the day getting wet. Only one time was fun – when I was in the swimming pool!

Will be looking at Favourite Supporting Characters for Chandler’s Ford Today later this week. Put your thinking caps on and see if you can name some of your favourite supporting “cast” from books and stories as comments are always welcome on the CFT page. Link up on Friday. My problem with this post? Making myself limit the numbers of favourites I could submit! I could have gone on for some time. Best not, I think, but am looking forward to sharing the post.

Writing Tip for Bloggers: Don’t forget you can make use of the random generators (especially those on theme and questions) to trigger thoughts for blog post ideas. I have used pictures randomly generated to trigger ideas for a post as well.

Am pleased to be back on Authors Electric with my latest post, Reading and Writing Seasons. I look at what I mean by this and discuss how the writing season in particular has its dips but it helps to be aware of these. Hope you enjoy the post.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Lady and I had a soaking on our trip out today. Boy, did it bucket down. She dries off quicker than I do though!

Many thanks for the lovely comments coming in on Time Travel, my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction. If you missed it, do check out the link. Sometimes an image just puts a story idea into my head and that was the case here. The image here was of a photo album. See what I made of that in the story.

I do sometimes use my own photos for this kind of prompt but also the random picture generators. Those are to an extent better as I don’t know what will come up from those.
Screenshot 2023-09-15 at 19-00-56 Time Travel by Allison Symes

Many thanks to the lovely people at the Spiderplant writing group for making me so welcome via Zoom this morning (Saturday, 16th September 2023). It was a pleasure to share my flash fiction workshop with you. I hope you find the hints and tips (which can be applied to almost every form of writing) will prove useful. 

I’ll be looking at Favourite Supporting Characters for Chandler’s Ford Today next week and am pleased to say there will be further author interviews in the next couple of months. Plenty to look out for then. I love conducting as well as reading/listening to author interviews.

Always plenty to learn (which I think is one of the great strengths of creative writing. It stretches your brain and you always seek to improve on what what you do).

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Have to post a bit earlier than usual today. Next couple of weeks or so are going to be especially busy but this is where planning out my writing time is helpful. I use this to help me work out what time I do have and then I can deduce how I can make the best use of these “slots”.

Drafting flash fiction pieces will come into it. I often use small pockets of time to jot down ideas for those pieces or even the first draft of one, based on say a title idea I’ve already jotted down in a previous pocket of time I had to hand. Overall, I get more written. Like that a lot.

When out and about I tend to use Evernote on my phone for this. At home, it’s back to old school ways with the good old notebook and pen. But however you do it, it is the use of those small pockets of time which can help you (and do help me) to end up with more written than you would otherwise have done.

BookBrushImage-2023-9-18-21-126

It’s Monday. It has been bucketing down. The darker evenings are drawing in. Have had to dig out my boots so I can walk the dog. And it is still Monday. Time for another story from me then. Hope you enjoy my thoughtful piece, A New Life, on YouTube.

One thing I watch out for in my stories (flash and standard short ones) is not to put anything into the story which could date it, unless I am specifically writing a historical fiction piece. Sometimes a story can become a historical fiction piece when real life events overtake it.

My story, Jubilee, in The Best of CafeLit 12 is like that given the background to it was the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations and at the time I wrote it, I was looking forward to seeing what those celebrations would be like.

Her Majesty’s sad passing has now made that tale a historical piece but these things happen. What I try to do with stories where this is a possibility is to make the theme a universal one. In this case it was the theme of someone beginning to make new friends after a difficult time in their life. There is never a time when that theme won’t be relevant.

What I won’t do is put products into a story unless I want to use them to convey a certain era. For example, I would not refer to Betamax video or CDs unless I wanted those to reflect what my character owns and give a time setting that way.

CafeLit12 3D

It was wonderful sharing something of the joy of flash fiction writing with the Spiderplant writing group this morning.

Flash has certainly taught me never to fear editing or being edited again, which is handy to say the least. It has also shown up my wasted words and repeated phrases, which are always useful to know as these are the first things I cut on my first edit.

Okay, I wish I could stop myself from writing the things in the first place but the next best thing is to be aware of them so you can remove them later. I take some comfort in knowing every writer has their own pet phrases and words here!

378140059_733017648838099_5226114727334171672_n

Goodreads Author Blog – Early Books

Do you recall the early books which were used to introduce you to the joys of reading? I have some memories of the Janet and John books but I was much happier when I was able to choose books of my own to read. I am pleased that now there is far more variety with books designed to encourage the reluctant readers. In my school days, there wasn’t much at all. There was less sympathy too for those who found reading difficult. Some things have got much better.

What amuses me somewhat is when I was bringing up my own child the Spot the dog books were popular. I am sure they still are and we liked them too along with books such as the fabulous The Gruffalo and We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. These things will be timeless. These days, said child as an adult loves reading political history. It is hard to imagine a greater contrast in types of book enjoyed!

What matters then is encouraging that love of reading as early as possible, to have help where reading is difficult (there is a book type out there for everyone to love and enjoy, honest, and there is help available for the difficulties), and to nourish the love of stories.

Early books matter. I couldn’t write one myself but I admire those who can. Those writers are building the foundations for a lifetime of happy reading which is such a worthwhile thing to do.

Screenshot 2023-09-16 at 17-55-31 Early Books

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Twitter - phone and blue bird image

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

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

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Getting Lines Right

Leave a comment
SOA_Member_rgb
Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good week. Had a lovely trip out with other half and the dog on Friday. Did us all the world of good. Looking forward to running a flash fiction workshop for a writing group on Saturday. Plenty of editing work done too so a good week here.

BookBrushImage-2023-9-15-19-5138

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Pleased to share Getting Lines Right for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I look at opening lines and suggest ways to create memorable ones. Hope you find it useful.

Getting Lines Right

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Must admit the temperatures have come back to the level the dog and I prefer – early 20s. Starting to see the autumn leaf colour change. There is a fair amount of Virgina Creeper in my part of the world and it is lovely seeing that turn to red at this time of year. Mind you, the wildflower meadow in our park is still in full bloom so summer hasn’t quite had its last hurrah.

Am looking at Getting Lines Right on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow (see above) and will run a flash fiction workshop on Saturday morning on Zoom.

Writers’ Narrative will be out again before too long. Written by writers for writers it is packed full of information. If you want to sign up to make sure you get the forthcoming October issue (and future ones of course) do sign up at http://subscribepage.io/WritersNarrative

 

Lady got to play with the lovely Coco, Kyaha, and Kitima today. Fabulous “puppy” party had by all. Three happy but tired dogs went home. It is lovely watching them being so pleased to see each other.

Looking forward to sharing Getting Lines Right for Chandler’s Ford Today later this week. Will be looking at opening lines especially. Hope it will prove useful to people. Opening lines are crucial hooks for any form of writing but for the short forms especially flash, they really do have to punch their weight. I’ll be sharing some thoughts and tips in my post on Friday. See above.

When I am writing my first draft, I jot down what I think will be a good opening line but I inevitably end up changing parts of it later when I realise with the character in mind, a better opening line would be this rather than what I started with. That’s fine. I just need something to kick me off and I expect to change things. What matters for me always is getting started. The fine tuning happens later.

378138010_731149095691621_570903264711071827_n

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

My latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction is Time Travel. Hope you find it moving. My sympathies here are with both characters.

Screenshot 2023-09-15 at 19-00-56 Time Travel by Allison Symes

I sometimes start a flash fiction piece (and indeed a longer short story) by asking a question or getting my character to do so. It is an excellent hook to lure the reader in because that question has to be answered in some way by the end of the work. So story structure is set up as well here – win-win as far as I’m concerned.

The question has to intrigue in some way (and I look more at this in my Chandler’s Ford Today post on Getting Lines Right which will be live tomorrow – see above). But this can be a simple intrigue.

In my The Recruit (from Tripping the Flash Fantastic), I get my character to ask Can Jim do this? The story then takes off from there given the intrigue is what the answer to that question is, who is Jim, and why does this matter.

BB - Flash with a Dash for TTFF
I often read some examples of my published flash fiction work when I run a workshop on flash. I do this and then break down how I wrote these pieces. When I’ve read author interviews where they do this, I found I learned so much from it.

Understanding why someone has done something with their writing is a great way of working out whether that would work for you or whether with slight adjustments to the technique, you can get something which would suit what you do. I know I have learned so much this way. It’s a fun way to learn too as you get to listen to or read stories too!

376839550_731150075691523_7713292002935799558_n

Fairytales with Bite – Magical Malpractice

In your setting, what would count as magical malpractice? If you had a world run by old style evil witches, would they consider any magic used to help others or overturn evil to be magical malpractice?

In a world where there is a balance between evil and good magical powers, what rules does each side stick to (mainly to prevent their world falling apart altogether. For me, that would be the only reason the evil side would agree to any such rules. If their own survival depended on doing so, you would think twice about wrecking that, wouldn’t you?).

How would each side govern its own? What would a fairy godmother, say, have to do to be seriously out of step with her colleagues and her ultimate boss? What would her punishment be? Losing one’s wings could take on a whole new meaning here.

Likewise on the evil side, what punishment would there be for someone who stepped out of line there? It is mind boggling to think what would count as being out of line but there would be something – mainly challenging the boss for power I would have thought.

But there would be a great story in working out how that could happen, what happened to be the being trying it, and if they were being what we would know as a stalking horse for someone else.

BookBrushImage-2023-9-15-20-1422

This World and Others – Accountability

Who is accountable for what in your magical setting? Ultimately there will be some “head of state” but what about lower down? How is your world governed? Do “ordinary” beings get to have any say in how this is done?

When things need to change, as inevitably they do from time to time, how is this done? Peacefully or by violent overthrow? Would this mirror what we know here (given we have both types of change of government on our planet)?

In more “ordinary” settings, such as in towns and villages, is there a system of local government? How are things done? Who is responsible for ensuring these things get done? This can take in everything from ensuring people/beings get to eat (and therefore dealing with supplies) to managing the local Council budget. If money isn’t used, what would be?

Where folks have got power, is there a way of ensuring they use these things properly? Even the smallest of villages will have some sort of pecking order. In a magical setting, does the magic help things run more smoothly or make things more difficult? If magic goes wrong, how would that change the running of things? Who would be held responsible for things going wrong?

BookBrushImage-2023-9-15-20-2044

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES


Twitter - phone and blue bird image

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

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

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

The Point of Fiction

Leave a comment


Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Many thanks to Janet Williams for taking the image of me at the Book Fair.
Glad to say it has cooled down a bit since last week. Lady isn’t sorry about that either. Pleased to say I’m running a flash fiction workshop again on Saturday courtesy of Zoom. Looking forward to that.

BookBrushImage-2023-9-12-20-1750

Facebook – General

Lady got to show off in front of her Hungarian Vizler friend today. The latter doesn’t mind. Lady loves it of course. It is a bit like showing off to Mum given the Vizler is older than Lady. But both went home feeling all had been put right with their worlds at least!

There is an Amazon offer on From Light to Dark and Back Again at the moment. See the link for more details.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover recently my short stories have appeared in almost 20 different anthologies (and when the Bridge House Publishing anthology comes out later this year it will be 20!). Yes, they are on my ALCS listing. I add new books to which I’ve contributed to this listing as soon as I can. It’s easy to do and it helps boost the money I receive from ALCS every March. Win-win there and if you are a published writer not on the ALCS system, do look into it.

11th September 2023
To all who mourn those killed or injured in the dreadful events of twenty-two years ago, my deepest sympathies. We will remember them.

Memories, of whatever kind, can make a wonderful theme for stories, whether these are thoughtful pieces or more humorous ones. Think about why your character remembers what they do (or who of course). Why are they recalling this (or them) now? Is it something they have learned to come to terms with, as best as anyone can? Are their memories reliable? What do other characters in the story think?

Memories are something any reader can identify with – we all have our own so will identify with a character recalling theirs. Great empathy can come from stories like this. The world needs much more empathy. Maybe in a way story writers can play their part here.

376421779_729663272506870_1348986309517840487_n

Cooler today. Have had some rain so the air is a little fresher. Lady and I are not sorry about that.
I’ll be looking at Getting Lines Right for Chandler’s Ford Today next Friday. I will take a close look at opening lines especially. Looking forward to sharing that. Will be running a workshop next Saturday morning too. All good fun!

Many thanks for the comments coming in on Heaven Sent, my most recent story on Friday Flash Fiction. See link in case you missed it.

The 100 word story (also known as a drabble) was my introduction to flash fiction many moons ago and it is lovely returning to writing them regularly for Friday Flash Fiction. Am so enjoying doing this. Screenshot 2023-09-08 at 10-04-53 Heaven Sent by Allison Symes

Another hot day here. This was on 9th September. Weather changed the next day! We’re all staying as cool as possible. Lady got to see her best friend, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, when it was cooler. Both dogs happy about that. Friends matter!

Looking forward to sharing a workshop next Saturday morning. The beauty of Zoom? No travel on hot sticky days! One blessing for the Bridge House Publishing celebration event being in December is that hot sticky days will not be an issue!

I know now my story for a literal festival competition didn’t make the cut but I will take another look at this tale at some point and see what else can be done with it before submitting it elsewhere. Sometimes I find I need to make amendments. Sometimes I don’t.

Having been a competition judge, I know how difficult it can be to produce a short list. So take heart if your story doesn’t do anything in a competition. See it as another opportunity to refresh it and re-submit it. A turn down doesn’t necessarily mean there was anything wrong with your story but taking the chance to have a second look at it may well help you see where you could strengthen it here, strengthen it there. That has been my experience.

Writing Advice

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

My favourite sort of flash fiction is the drabble – the 100-worder – and it has been fantastic getting back to these for Friday Flash Fiction in particular. But I am also very fond of the sub-500 words kind. It is worth practicing writing to this kind of word count as it is a common format for competitions.

Also easy to share (if you wish) on your website, newsletter etc as they don’t up too much space and are quick and easy to read. I save some of mine for this but also put others towards a future collection. Marketing and a first draft for another book in one go here!

376752049_730419705764560_7395750465883601835_n

It has been a hectic Monday (though thankfully cooler than last week. Given I’ve been batch cooking today, I appreciated that!). Definitely time for a story then. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – One Day My Spell Will Come.

 

One of the things I look for in an opening line (which is something I’ll talk more about for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday) is whether it hooks me enough to make me want to read on. It has to provoke the “have got to find out what happens next” moment.

This can be done via something intriguing about the character, setting up a dilemma which has to be resolved, or even setting a question the story would have to answer by the end. In Being Yourself from Tripping the Flash Fantastic, I start with Jane Stephens suppressed the urge to scream. I would hope that would make people want to read on to find out why!

I do know if I’m not intrigued by an opening line of mine, others won’t be either. It is a great motivator to come up with something good!

 

Occasionally I write a flash piece which could be termed as horror. For me, the best horror isn’t all guts and gore but implied menace. The reader can then imagine what that menace looks like etc and does a grand job of this. I do it too when I watch a suspense film. Sometimes at least what I imagine is going to happen next is more scary than what does happen in the movie!

In my story Pressing the Flesh in From Light to Dark and Back Again, I imply references to Burke and Hare (bodysnatchers) and my character being inspired by that. Yet I do not use anything gory here. To my character their actions make sense and maybe that is the scariest thing of all. Maybe that is where true horror does lie. Certainly we can learn from our own history here when someone believes themselves to be so right they can do anything so go on to do so. You could argue we are seeing it again.

The point of fiction, including horror, is to entertain, helps us escape our cares for a while, but it can also show us something of our human nature. Horror can be brutally honest here. But it doesn’t need to be guts and gore to make us think about what we as a species can be capable of.

After all there are some horrific moments, when you stop and think about it, in the nursery rhymes and fairytales most of us would have grown up with, which most consider would and should act as warnings.
Would still like to know though why Little Red Riding Hood didn’t spot that wasn’t her granny in the dress and cap. Did she honestly think her granny was that hairy? Maybe LRH should have gone and got her eyesight checked at Specsavers! (Other opticians are available, as they say! Probably best known ones here in the UK though).

Advantage to flash is setting characters anywhere

Goodreads Author Blog –

Writing and Reading – The Inseparable Joys

I have long felt writers have two joys in life – writing and reading. Most writers are inspired to write because of the books they have loved reading. Ideas for stories have sparked from what we have read and you develop this urge to write your own. Sometimes that urge can come from reading a “duff” book and wanting to do better. Better though is when an inspried story encourages you to write.

My first venture into print was with a reworked fairytale told from the viewpoint of Cinderella’s youngest step-sister. That came out in Alternative Renditions (Bridge House Publishing) in 2009 – my story in there is A Helping Hand.

But without the original faurytale I loved (and still do), I couldn’t have written my tale. We do stand on the shoulders of giants here. We build on what has gone before. And that means we have to read more. Don’t have a problem with that!

What I have found in recent years is that inspiration for stories can come from something I’ve read in non-fiction too. I have welcomed that development as I love reading fiction and non-fiction.

 

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES
Allison Symes - advertising books and services resized 640At the Book Fair

 

Twitter - phone and blue bird image

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

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

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Benefits of Creativity

Leave a comment

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.
Wow! What a hot week in my part of the world. September has gone barmy AND balmy! Some time ago I bought a laptop stand with its own in-built fan to keep the computer cool. It has proved to be a wise purchase. I just wish I came with an in-built fan. Could do with one right now.

BookBrushImage-2023-9-8-19-042

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Hope you have had a good day. Another hot one here. Hard to believe it is a year today since we lost Queen Elizabeth, a very much missed lady.

Am pleased to share the Benefits of Creativity, my latest post for Chandler’s Ford Today. I celebrate the joys of creativity in any form and share some of the benefits of any kind of creative activity. I couldn’t share them all but using more of your brain and keeping your brain active are just two major health benefits to being creative.

With many of the creative arts, there can be opportunities to get your work out there to a wider public too. I have made many friends thanks to being interested in creative writing and I treasure them all. Hope you enjoy the post and whatever form of creativity you enjoy. It is good for you!

The Benefits of Creativity

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

I wasn’t sorry I had a swimming session in my diary today. It was lovely in the pool. I was only sorry to have to get out. This was especially nice after an afternoon spent putting wood preservative on a huge fence panel yesterday. Both were good workouts. One was much more fun than the other though!

Time for a rantette (and that should be a proper word): I sometimes get inappropriate comments on my posts. Every writer I know gets them. My specialism seems to be US Generals who all seem to be tragically widowed. Stay well clear, folks. At best this is a phishing exercise. At worse, it is an outright scam designed to trick you, hack your social media accounts etc.

To those who have been putting these things on my timeline, don’t. I delete and block. Where I don’t want to take a post down, I will put out a warning comment to others to advise to stay well clear. You are merely being a pain. I am here as a writer/editor, nothing else.

And those who claim to have tried to friend me in the normal way or don’t want to do that because it seems rude – you are lying. I know you are lying. Go away. You are being rude in putting comments like that on my timeline.

And it would not at all surprise me if I have someone put an inappropriate comment on this post but I thought I would put the word out anyway.

This did happen. I had someone query about the security of my account. Had absolutely nothing to do with this post as I pointed out. I urged them to re-read what I had actually said and pointed out this was a kind of public service announcement against scammers. Do be careful out there, folks. Oh and someone has tried to hack my Facebook account tonight (8th September 2023). Failed because I reported to Facebook I had NOT requested an account change reset. I suspect that someone might have been upset by this post but it is a warning to be vigiliant, always.

I had to deal with a nasty scam case which almost cleared my late father out. All sorted thankfully and Dad was recompensed too. But it has left me with a very loud alarm bell ringing in my head at anything that seems like a scam. I have a zero tolerance threshold for any kind of scam.

Mind you, it was very satisfying when those scammers tired to trick Dad again later. The second time they spoke to me. I was crystal clear in my opinions of them. You can imagine the rest! Dad had no further problems after that. Result!

Every so often I will write stories about scammers. No surprises to hear I always make sure they get their comeuppance. What is fun here is working out how (and I hope readers find that too). But I must admit they are such as joy to write. Well, they do say write what you know, don’t they?

Screenshot 2023-09-08 at 19-09-27 Facebook

Hope today has been okay. Another hot one in my part of the world. Managed to get another fence panel painted with wood preservative. Dried within minutes. Fortunately I am under good cover as there are huge trees near by so that was pleasant. Lady stays in – she is sensible with the heat and, more importantly, so are we with her – and I can’t trust her not to try to stick her head in the preservative tin! It is all glamour here – not!

I’ll be talking about the Benefits of Creativity for Chandler’s Ford Today later this week. Link up on Friday.
Will be running another flash fiction workshop on Zoom soon. Looking forward to that.

Writing Tip: Don’t worry about not having as much time as you would like to write. That is true for most of us. And you can still jot down ideas, start a draft in short pockets of time. I do this. Then when I have longer at my desk I have something to work on immediately. I like that. On the busy days, I still feel as if I have written something, which I have. I like that too.

376266501_726625982810599_9027887291029362914_n
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Am pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest 100-word tale, Heaven Sent. See if my character thinks what the new new vicar has done is heavenly inspired or not! Hope you enjoy the story.

Screenshot 2023-09-08 at 10-04-53 Heaven Sent by Allison Symes

It is hard to believe that tomorrow (8th September 2023) will be the first anniversary of the late Queen’s passing. She is much missed.

But it led me to think that there are plenty of story ideas to be had/written on the theme of anniversaries. Anniversaries can be happy or sad. They can be something your character wants to remember or not. Maybe an anniversary makes them face up to something and they then take a different path in life. But there are story ideas here.

I used an anniversary of some adult children’s visit to their elderly father in Time for Tea in From Light to Dark and Back Again. Was all as it appeared to be?

Well, naturally I am not revealing that here but I liked the idea of using an anniversary in this way. It doesn’t have to be an “obvious” anniversary either, which gives even more leeway for a story to be created.

From Light to Dark and Back Again - by night

I often use random generators to help me get started on a new piece of flash. What I especially like is when one prompt generated this way gives me two ideas for stories. I just send the resulting tales to different places.

I have found it pays to set parameters for what I generate. I have found limiting myself to say two or three things generated at a time is effective. Stops me feeling swamped too.

It is an odd thing but I have found limits like word count etc encourage creativity rather than stifle it. I guess it is because these things make you focus.

370371006_726627022810495_3091678325376544033_n

Fairytales with Bite – The Changing Seasons

In your magical setting, does the changing seasons have an effect on how well your characters can do magic? Is magical power less in the winter, for example, for does the colder time of year (or other way of marking time span) fuel magic? Do your characters on a personal level have times when they know they will do well magically and other times they won’t and this is due to their own biology? What problems could this cause them?

Does your magical setting have changes of season as we know them? Or do they have their own? Or is a question of both? I would have thought there would need to be a planting season and a harvesting season to say the least. Everyone needs to eat. But how would this affect how magic is used? Is it used in the production of food at all? Can climatic seasons override magical seasons?

How do your characters respond to changes in season? How well or otherwise would this affect the outcome of their stories? Could other characters use this against them?

BookBrushImage-2023-9-8-19-3248

This World and Others – The Natural World versus the Magical One

Following on from Fairytales With Bite, is your world setting more of a naturally based one or a magical one? What happens when these come into conflict? What is valued the most?

Does the magical element need the natural side to help it exist at all or it is a case the magical side brought the natural one into being in the first place and there is now co-dependency?

Can the natural world overcome the magical one? Earthquakes etc are not great news or anyone. Would magic be able to stop these things? Is your world reliant on magic stopping things like that and could someone exploit this to hold your world to ransom?

Story possibilities there, I think!

BookBrushImage-2023-9-8-19-4043

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

Allison Symes - advertising books and services resized 640

Twitter - phone and blue bird image

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

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

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Autumnal Joys

Leave a comment
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 were some of the photos in my CFT post.
It has been a right mixed bag weather wise this week. Autumn definitely coming in a bit early but that makes my Chandler’s Ford Today post timely. I’m sharing about Autumnal Joys this time.

BookBrushImage-2023-9-1-20-3941

 

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Author newsletter out today. Getting these ready monthly is a great way to discover how quickly the year is going! Many thanks and a huge welcome to those who signed up at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. Good to have you aboard. A big hello to all of my longer term subscribers too and many thanks for your continued support. Much appreciated.

Am pleased to share Autumnal Joys, my latest post for Chandler’s Ford Today. I share an autumnal story in this too which I hope you enjoy. I chat about the joys of the season and have a brief look ahead to writing “things” coming up over the next couple of months or so. Hope you enjoy the post.

Autumnal Joys

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Glad to say I’ll be running a workshop on editing later in the year. Am looking forward to doing that. Flash fiction has helped me so much with editing as I have learned to spot my wasted words and cut them out. That in turn helps with other forms of writing I do.

Am chatting about Autumnal Joys for Chandler’s Ford Today this week – link up tomorrow. See above.
Author newsletter is also out again tomorrow.

Pleased to see reviews coming in for The Best of CafeLit 12. Book reviews do help authors so please consider leaving one. They don’t have to be long either. Other than buying the books themselves, leaving reviews is one of the best things you can do to support writers.

Hope you have had a good day. I was delighted The Lord of the Rings soundtrack did make it to the number one spot on the Classic FM chart on Bank Holiday Monday. Love the book(s) – I have the trilogy in one huge paperback so I guess that counts as one for me! Love the films, love the music, fantastic casting.

Writing Tip: Give some thought as to what makes your character a hero. What makes them care about the outcome of a situation? Is it a life or death one or do they simply not want evil to prosper, even if they could stay out of the situation? What beliefs drive them? How did they develop these?

I’ve long thought Sam Gamgee is a classic modest, understated hero in The Lord of the Rings. He has a strong sense of right and wrong. His friendship with Frodo drives him on. But you can see all of that in the portrayal and we want our characters’ positive attributes to be clear to a reader without spelling everything out.

370399835_722606759879188_5659612868942222760_n

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Two lovely bits of news to share. Firstly, I will be on the Hannah Kate show on North Manchester FM tomorrow (2nd September 2023). I’m taking part in her What Am I Reading slot and share some thoughts on books I’ve recently read. Fun thing to do!

The link below enables you to listen online regardless of where you are. Will be handy for me as I often have to listen later than the scheduled time but that’s fine (and it is so useful being able to do that).

North Manchester FM: Hannah’s Bookshelf, Saturday 2 September, 2-4pm

 

Secondly, I’m back on Friday Flash Fiction with my tale A New Leaf. Hope you like it. Am so pleased it has been made Editor‘s Choice this week too. Lovely way to end the working week.

I’ve chatted before about reading your work out loud because it is a great way to pick up on things that look good written down but which do not necessarily “read well”. This technique is something I’ve developed due to taking part in Open Prose Mic Nights. Naturally I want to rehearse what I plan to read and I have picked up things to improve in those rehearsals.

Another reason I’ve developed this is because sometimes I submit stories for broadcast so I need to know how long they are in terms of time. I read them out and record them on Zoom to give me the time but in playing that recording back, again I get to hear what works and what may need a rewrite because it didn’t flow as well as I thought originally.

371858468_723117366494794_1995778043819982131_nDon’t forget that, despite the September date on the cover, that issue of Writers’ Narrative is now out. Written by writers for writers, it is a great read. Do check it out. Given this issue is about marketing, it will benefit you, no matter what you write.

I must admit flash fiction is an asset to marketing. How? Because it is easy for me to share a story (often via my YouTube channel) which acts as a marker for what else I do. It also advertises flash in general and I hope gives readers/viewers an entertaining short tale. Win-win there.

 

Fairytales with Bite – Magical History

In your magical world setting, what role does history play in how your characters interact with each other or what the ruling government allows in terms of magic or not? Are witches strictly forbidden from trying to stick kids in an oven, for example?

Also, does your world have the same fairytale knowledge we h ave or are their tales different? What would these be if so and is there any similarity with the tales we know here? I believe there are various versions of Cinderella, for example, across different cultures and histories here so something like that could be the case in your setting.

What lessons have been learned from history in your setting? Have people learned the hard way what you could do with magic which you really should not have found out? What were the consequences? Has it affected the physical geography of your setting? (Am thinking along the lines of climate change here. Has there been a magical equivalent in your world?).

Are your characters trying to learn from history and, if so, are they successful? Are they better at what they do than their forebears would have been precisely because they have learned from prior mistakes? Are there lessons they should have learned but have not and what are the consequences there? Plenty of story thoughts here.

BookBrushImage-2023-9-1-19-5947

This World and Others – Settings

One of the things I love most about fantasy is the setting. The Lord of the Rings, to my mind, can’t be beaten here. I so wanted to live in Rivendell!

The advantage of the films is you could see a re-creation of that. The advantage of the books is you get to picture it for yourself (and yes I think the films got it right).

What I also love about the books is the descriptions came in at the right time and broke up the drama. I found I did need something to break up the pace and of course the setting description literally set the scene for the next drama. Neither did the description go on for too long. There’s much to learn from that.

The other thing to note is not having everything all at once. Information is drip fed into the story. We didn’t need to know about Rivendell until the hobbits got there.

So think about what a reader would need to know about your setting. What makes it stand out? What do your characters love about it? What would they change if they could and why? I love outlines. Even for my shortest flash fiction tales (100 words usually, sometimes 50), I jot down a line or two about what I think I need to know about the character and where they are likely to be to make the story work.

For longer pieces, it would pay to work out how your setting will work. You don’t want to box yourself in later when you find you said characters rely on machines for transport in a world where machines are not known. That’s an extreme example but I have come across oddities where characteristics, even names change, when I’ve judged stories. It’s even easier to do that with a setting if you forget a pertinent detail.

I find an outline helps me approach my first draft with more confidence too because I know roughly where I am going. Having a setting outline means you know your world. That will help you to picture it and your characters in it more effectively.

BookBrushImage-2023-9-1-20-736

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

Twitter Corner

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Member of the Society of Authors Link

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

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Writing Exercises

Leave a comment
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 from a local wildflower meadow.
Hope you have had a good couple of days since we last met here. Newsletter will be out again next week. How can it almost be September already? Not that Lady worries. She’s been having a fabulous times with her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals for a lot of this week so it has been a good few days for her.

BookBrushImage-2023-8-25-17-1939

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am pleased to share Writing Exercises on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I discuss my nervousness when I was first set them, thinking help, I can’t do this. But I did draft something and later realised that was the idea. Just get something down. You can work on it again later if you wish. I usually do with my writing exercises and some of them have gone on to be published.

I also set a couple of exercises in this post for you to have a go at as well. Hope you have fun with them and find the post useful as I also share why writing exercises are so useful for any writer.

Writing Exercises

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

In my Writing Exercises post for Chandler’s Ford Today this week, I will be looking at some of the most popular types I’ve come across. I’ll also have a look at the benefits of practicing writing to these.

Glad to say the writing exercises I set at last night’s Association of Christian Writers Flash Group meeting went well too. And if I get set exercises, as I so often am at things like Swanwick, I am only too glad to give them a go. I get a draft out of it! Sometimes I go on to do more with that draft. Sometimes I don’t but I find it fun just having a go at these things. More in my post tomorrow.

Am so looking forward to the next production from The Chameleon Theatre Group in October. They’re staging Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett (adapted by Stephen Briggs). Will be a real treat. Great story. Will be the first time I’ve seen a Discworld play.

What's your story - writing exercises can help you find out

Lady had a lovely time with her two best girlfriends in the park today. Good time had by all.
I’ll be looking at the usefulness of Writing Exercises for Chandler’s Ford Today this week – link up on Friday. See above.

I’ll be setting some writing exercises for the flash fiction group I’ll be leading later today.

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again on 1st September. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Looking forward to sharing further publication news soon too.

Ideas are triggered by writing exercises and the more you do, the more you trigger said ideas

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Am pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale, Puzzled Out. Hope you enjoy it – this is a story where I knew the ending first. And then worked backwards to get to a logical start. Definitely one for puzzle fans.

Screenshot 2023-08-25 at 10-16-23 Puzzled Out by Allison Symes

Have signed up to take part in Flash NANO again in November. This is where you are given a flash fiction prompt for the thirty days of November and you write them up as flash pieces. Last year, I managed to complete the challenge – that’s thirty new pieces to edit and submit somewhere and/or put towards a new collection. I hope to do the same again this year.

I found it great fun to do. I found it useful to write the prompt each day but found with some I had to “carry over” to another day but that was fine. I had something to work with, which is the whole point, The person behind Flash NANO is Nancy Stolhman. More details below.

 

Hope you have had a good day. As well as mixing up the kinds of flash fiction I write in terms of mood and setting, I also mix up the word count length. My overall favourite is the drabble, the 100-worder, but I am fond of the whole range of flash. My next most common category to write in is the 250 to 500 words bracket. I do write some at 750-1000 words but not nearly so often. I usually find if I’m going for a longer work, I will turn it into a standard short story instead (and it ends up at 1500 or so).

For my blogs, all of them are between 500-1000 words or so. For Chandler’s Ford Today I can and do sometimes go up to 1500/1750 depending on what kind of article I am writing. It isn’t always apt to split an author interview in two, for example.

You do end up getting a feel for what kind of word count works best for which item of writing. Practice helps which is why regular writing comes in handy as you get to develop your style of writing and which word count works best for you for certain pieces of work. At least that has been my experience.

369752262_718492530290611_6160448793837510177_n

Fairytales with Bite – Once Upon A Time – Acrostic

O = Original characters in an original setting – your magical world won’t be exactly the same as anyone else’s while it will have elements in common.

N = Never mind how your characters feel – drop them right in it and see how they fare.

C = Create characters we will care about in some way – we all love to boo a “good” villain but need to understand why they are being the way they are.

E = Experience will tell – it is not unreasonable for your main character to have a magical mentor of some sort.

 

U = Undertaking – there will be something special for your character to do here and there will be high stakes.

P = Persistence and perseverance – two qualities every hero will need. (Funnily enough the villain needs them to a certain extent too but naturally they usually don’t have enough of these qualities. There has to be a difference between them and your lead).

O = Once upon a time is a classic way to start a tale but you could mix it up by bringing us straight into the action. We will have to read on to find out what happens.

N = Never leave loose ends – there has to be a resolution.

 

A = Always care about your own characters – you are the first to believe in them. You don’t want to be the last!

 

T = Truthfulness in character portrayal pays off – people will believe in your characters if they feel they are or could be true. Knowledge of human nature and what we’re capable of and why can be useful here.

I = Imagination, Imagination, Imagination – why do we read? To find out what the author has imagined for us to enjoy.

M = Memory can be unreliable. If you’re writing series stories, it would pay you to note somewhere what you need to recall about your characters. It’s too easy to change colour of eyes, say, from one story to the next.

E = Enjoy the writing – creativity is fun. Bear in mind editing can be creative too as you seek to strength your story. But do see the writing and editing as two separate tasks. I find that helps a lot.

BookBrushImage-2023-8-25-19-204

This World and Others – History and How It is Told

So much depends here on what value your world setting puts on history and who controls the narrative. That seems a familiar tale does it not?! But when history is told, how is it done?

Is it just via books or are there plays, reenactments, and so on? I once went to a historical reenactment in Tewkesbury – good fun but what was interesting was you got a real sense of the smells, the sounds etc which you would not have got had you just read a historical account.

So in your setting, who writes the history? Is it performed? Who would do that? Do they have to stick to the official version of the history or can they put their own interpretation on it?

In your setting, are new historical discoveries ever found? Are these welcome? Not all might be! If something were to put a different spin on a genuinely accepted event, people (as well as their government) are not likely to react well to it.

BookBrushImage-2023-8-25-19-2823
WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

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

Twitter with icon and hashtag symbol

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

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

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.