Tag: Friday Flash Fiction

Employing Kipling’s Serving Men

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All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good few days. Summer weather continuing at a nice temperature for Lady and me. Swimming sessions have been especially nice this week! Delighted to discover a useful notes program on my new smartphone. Am sure I will make good use of this when out and about. Writing wise, am keeping busy with blogs, flash fiction, and editing work – loving it all!

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Pleased to share Employing Kipling’s Serving Men on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I look at what these serving men are and why they are so useful to any form of writing. I also add in a “serving man” of my own – I use this particular one a lot in my own writing.

I share an example of a non-fiction and fictional use of the serving men and discuss frameworks, which is essentially what the serving men give you. Hope you find the post and the serving men useful for your own work.

Employing Kipling’s Serving Men

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Hope the day has been good. Lady accompanied me at the polling booth this morning. Only one in there who didn’t need photo ID.

Will be sharing Employing Kipling’s Serving Men on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. Just who are these serving men and why can every writer benefit from them? Details in the CFT post tomorrow. See above.

Have had to change smartphone recently. Delighted to find it comes with its own useful note program. Have used it for both of my Facebook posts today (4th July 2024). Am sure I will be making good use of this. I did use another but have not liked them wanting everyone to have a paid subscription. Not worth it for me.

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Hope the day has been a good one. Lady got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal and a lovely Nova Scotia Tolling Retriever called Charlie. Fantastic time had by all. Three tired dogs went home.

Will be looking at Employing Kipling’s Serving Men on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Said serving men make for an excellent structure for any piece of writing. More later in the week. See above. There will be more author interviews to come on CFT too plus a review to come for the next Chameleon Theatre Group show, Bleak Expectations, so plenty happening.

I see in this month’s Writing Magazine there is a feature about The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. Will look forward to reading that soon. Can’t wait to be at Swanwick again – it is a major highlight of my writing year. Also hoping to get to a day writing event in the autumn and a book fair but I hope say more on both of those nearer the time.

Writing Tip: Always give yourself more time than you think for editing and polishing stories especially those for competitions. You get one shot at these things so taking that bit of extra time and care gives you the best chance. (Will be talking more on that in the editing course I’m running at Swanwick this year too but I’ve found it pays off).

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Am delighted to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest drabble (100 worder), Blockage Removed. The word “bar” came up as a prompt I set for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group recently and this is how I put the word to work for me. Hope you enjoy the tale.
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Ideas for stories can pop up anywhere. I’ve sometimes used overheard snippets of conversation, colourful hats etc I’ve spotted when out and about, and other observations for character portrayal. All out of original contexts too so nobody would recognise themselves.

I’ve heard it said writers have magpie minds – they collect this and that and it ends up in a story. Still I take comfort from the thought this has gone on from the dawn of time. Most storytellers want their audience to relate to their tales and that is done by crafted observations.

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Just a quick reminder to say I do take direct sales of my books via my website as well as at events of course. I am always happy to sign copies of From Light to Dark and Back Again and Tripping the Flash Fantastic for people. Just contact me via my website – link below. I can also supply copies of the various anthologies I’ve had work in – just contact me for more details.

Flash Writing Tip: Get the story down first and then worry about the word count. Once I’ve got a first draft down, I rest it for a while and then come back and look at it again. It’s at that point I spot things I can strengthen and/or cut. If the story works well at 150 words, I leave it there and find a suitable home for it at a later date. The story does have to suit the word count rather than the other way around.

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Fairytales with Bite – A Letter From a Fairy Godmother to a Novice

Hope you enjoy the following. I suspect a letter of this type could be sent out to all magical beings about to graduate.

Learning The Ropes

Dear Novice

As a senior fairy godmother of many decades’ standing, and I am still standing, do take heed of the following. I was grateful for these tips when I was about to complete my final exams and continue to be. They are literally life savers.

Keep your wand fully charged. There is never a convenient time for it to lose power. It may be boring but get into a routine of looking after your equipment properly. Then when you need it, it will look after you.

Make sure your books are fully legible. Some of the ancient ones are easy to misread. You don’t want to find out what the consequences of a misreading will be. (It is still not clear, after all these centuries, what did happen to Fairy Mexatonia. All that was left of her were her smoking boots and a spell book with steam coming off its pages. No chance of reading anything on that now).

Dragons are best avoided. Left to themselves, they are seldom any trouble. They only cause trouble when they feel under threat so don’t go there. Yes, you get the odd rogue one who decides it wants to dine out on roasted fairy godmother but then you discover the joys of having a fully charged wand and zap the thing, right?

Treat all with respect. Many of our more powerful colleagues do look as if a strong gust of wind might blow them over. Not a bit of it. They’re the ones who’ve turned arrogant humans into hairy creatures. You don’t want that happening to you.

If something seems too good to be true, it is. Run away fast. This is a universal principle for all beings.

Best of luck with the practical and theory exams.

Senior Fairy Godmother Artexia

Allison Symes – 3rd July 2024

BookBrushImage-2024-7-5-19-455This World and Others – Getting Through

I would hope that any novice fairy, on receipt of the letter, Learning the Ropes, outlined in Fairytales with Bite, would realise they’ve got to take this seriously. Getting through to others though isn’t always easy though. Prejudices, pride, arrogance etc can all get in the way of someone learning something invaluable. That applies to our characters as well to ourselves!

So you have a story where an older character needs to get information through to a younger colleague, whom they know won’t want to listen. How do they get around this and get the vital information through to the one needing it? Give some thought as to why the younger one won’t listen – it is just youthful impatience or has the younger character got good reasons to be wary of taking seriously anything their older colleague tells them?

There would be some interesting conflicts there. Also does the younger character have to learn their lesson the hard way? Does the older character need to learn how to get things across in a better way so people will listen?

What worked back in the day may not be so effective now given times and technologies change. A younger character could be unwilling to study old magical text books when they could access material via whatever their equivalent of a computer would be. The older one to know perhaps there is information in these old books which shouldn’t be lost and not everything transfers to technology well.

Generational cross-purposes form the basis of many stories in different genres, but especially sagas. There is no reason why this couldn’t come into fantasy stories too. The same issues of being willing or unwilling to listen occur regardless of where your world setting might be.

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The magazine is back in 2025 after a hiatus but in the meantime do check out the back issues. This time I share the March 2024 edition with its theme of Writing For Children. Plenty of wonderful articles here. I had two pieces in here – Writing for Children and, separately, Writing for Anthologies.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Author Interview: Maressa Mortimer – Going Downsteam

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good few days. Lady and I are not sorry it has cooled down a bit – much easier to manage! It is a delight to welcome Maressa Mortimer back to Chandler’s Ford Today to discuss her new book, Downstream. She also shares wonderful advice about world building and much more. Do check out the interview. Link below.

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I’m delighted to welcome back Maressa Mortimer to Chandler’s Ford Today this week to discuss her fabulous new book, Downstream. Maressa is the author of The Elabi Chronicles and Downstream is book three in that series, (the other two being Walled City and Beyond the Hills).

Maressa shares wonderful tips about world building and writing series books and also discusses the importance of supportive writing groups amongst other topics. Hope you enjoy the interview. Much to enjoy here and good luck with Downstream, Maressa.

Author Interview: Maressa Mortimer – Going Downstream

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Do check out my interview with Maressa Mortimer about her gripping novel, Downstream, which will be on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. See above.

As well as sharing details about the book, Maressa and I discuss writing series books (including sharing useful tips on this), having a writing routine, favourite characters, world building and so much more. Looking forward to sharing this. Oh and I know writers aren’t supposed to have favourite characters from their own works but I suspect we all do.

Writing Tip: If you have an author newsletter, plan out when you want to have your draft for the month finished by. I do this and usually have a draft completed by the 20th or thereabouts. I find this useful because it still gives me time to add things in (especially news which can come in at any time) and I have then time to review it all well ahead of when I press send.

When I have ten minutes or so to write with, I will sometimes use that to add something in to the newsletter. I like to build up the content as the month progesses so there is no last minute rush.

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Today would have been my father’s 87th birthday. I can’t believe it’s eight years since we lost him.
Lady and I are focused on keeping as cool as possible. Am thankful she likes water. At least I know I can rely on Lady to drink plenty. (She has been too. Is keeping well and is being sensible. When it is hot is about the only time she is sensible!).

Am so grateful writing is something to be done wherever I like and right now I like cool!

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting tonight. We’ll be looking at writing 50 and 100 word stories. If you ever want an interesting challenge, have a go at these. The 100 worders were my first introduction to flash fiction. Have never regretted discovering it!

FLASH - Flash fiction encourages focus but you can apply that to other forms of writing

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It’s Friday. It’s time for a story. And I’m delighted to be Lisa’s Choice on Friday Flash Fiction this week. Hope you enjoy my latest here – I Remember You.

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Don’t forget my author newsletter is out again soon. I especially focus on flash fiction so if this sounds of interest do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

This time I will also have news relating to The Best of CafeLit 13 so do look out for that if you already subscribe.

Had a lovely time at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group last night. We were looking at writing to 50 and 100 words. Have got a couple of drafts from that. Will be looking at these in a few days (I like to think of this as my cooling off period!) but think I know what I will end up doing with these stories.

Back to flash fiction writing over the weekend. Catching up with some blogs in the meantime. All wonderful things to write! (Oh and Lady and I are not sorry it has cooled down a bit. Is helping us both a lot!).

 

I’ve mentioned using questions in stories before. The reason I love them is they give you an instant structure to your piece because you and the reader know there will have to be some sort of answer before the end of said tale.

In my What the Neighbours Think (Tripping the Flash Fantastic), I use a question to make a character reflect on themselves as something odd happens and another one towards the end of the story to show a resolution to the tale. Nobody says you have to ask just one question but no matter how many you have there has to be an answer somewhere in the story to each and every one.

Metaphorical questions are fine by the way. It should be clear from context that a question is of that type and therefore no direct answer may be appropriate though in the case of this story of mine, even that one is answered by the way the story plays out.

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Fairytales with Bite – Accidents

No prizes for guessing what inspired this little tale.

A = A crafty but lazy apprentice
C = Conceited and sure of himself
C = Concocted a plan to get out of cleaning.
I = Imagination was wonderful, he thought.
D = Daring him to go further still.
E = Except things went wrong.
N = Now he had no control over the broomsticks and buckets.
T = Terrible things awaited him, he felt, when his boss got home.
S = Sadly, he was right, and he never meddled with spell books again.

Ends
Allison Symes – 26th June 2024

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This World and Others – Upholding the Law

How is the law upheld in your setting? Do most characters find this easy enough to do? Are the laws fair?
If your lead character could bring in one law, what would they choose and why? What does this reveal about them to you? If there was one law they could abolish, what would they choose and why? Again what does that choice reveal about their personality?

Who is responsible for bringing laws in? Can they or the laws be challenged? How far back in time do the laws go? Is the government a democracy or a dictatorship? The answer to that would reveal the kind of laws your society will have and how they are upheld. In the case of the latter, I would suspect with brutality where needed, given what happens here.

If you could think of a funny law, which is apt for your characters, what would you bring in and why? Story thoughts there, I hope.

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

 

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Author Interview: Jennifer C Wilson – 31 Days of 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 few days. Dare I say it but summer does finally seem to have turned up in the UK. There have been some gloriously sunny days and Lady has been making the most of them with “puppy parties” with her friends. Writing wise, it’s a delight to welcome back Jennifer C Wilson to Chandler’s Ford Today to discuss her hot-off-the-presses book, 31 Days of Writing. If you like writing prompts, do check this one out.

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It is with great pleasure I welcome back Jennifer C Wilson to Chandler’s Ford Today on what, for her, is publication day, Her latest book, 31 Days of Writing, is out today (21st June 2024).

We discuss what inspired her to write the book, aspects of publishing (including via Amazon), favourite forms of writing prompt, and the joys of writing groups (in her case the North Tyneside Writers’ Circle which launched its first anthology last year and is planning to bring out a follow up volume).

So much to enjoy here and plenty of useful information for writers at all stages. Do enjoy and good luck with the book, Jennifer.

Author Interview: Jennifer C Wilson – 31 Days of Writing

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Hope you have had a good day. Gorgeous weather today. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler chum this morning before it became significantly hotter this afternoon. But it is good that summer seems to have turned up!

Do check out my interview with Jennifer C Wilson on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. As well as discussing her new book, 31 Days of Writing, she’ll be sharing many useful tips and thoughts on publishing. Well worth checking out. Link up tomorrow.

Writing Tip: Check out author interviews. They’re fun. You learn a lot from them. Sometimes you can learn what not to do – that can be more useful than you might think. But do look at how the authors have approached answering the questions they’ve been set.

Where relevant to your work, figure out how you would answer these questions had they been put to you. Draft some notes. See it as practice material for working out just what you will say about your books and stories. I’ve found this so useful.

 

Glorious sunshine today. Lady had a fabulous puppy party with her Hungarian Vizler, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Labradoodle pals and with a lovely Toller (Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever) called Charlie. Wonderful time had by all. Lady has a lovely habit of looking up at me as we walk home with her “happy shiny eyes” expression. She was beaming today!

Don’t forget I’ll be talking with Jennifer C Wilson, author of the Kindred Spirits series and much more besides, on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday.  We’ll be discussing her latest book, 31 Days of Writing, which is sure to prove useful to many writers. Looking forward to sharing that. (More author interviews to come too, more nearer the time). See above.

I use a mixture of writing prompts because they all make for interesting challenges. I use books of prompts (and have contributed to some) and will be interested to find out what Jennifer has come up with in her latest.

I also use story cubes, the various random generators, picture prompts (and sometimes use my own photos here) and all sorts. I like to think all of this keeps me on my writing toes. That’s never a bad thing! Up the game and all that…!

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It’s Friday. It’s time for flash fiction. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Break The Ice. We all know families like this one who won’t let a loved one live something down – check out what this is here.

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How about a flash fiction story in four lines plus title tonight? Up for that? Good. Here goes then..

Cookie Crisis
The mystery of how the cookie jar was now empty when, less than an hour ago, it had been full was only resolved at midnight.
Fiona heard the sounds coming from her kitchen and crept downstairs to see the culprit raiding the restocked jar.
It was news to Fiona the Tooth Fairy fancied biscuits on her nightly rounds.
It came as a shock to Fiona the Tooth Fairy was capable of vanishing quicker than her cookies.

Ends
Allison Symes – 20th June 2024

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Although my main flash fiction work is at the 100 words mark, I do regularly write at lower and higher word counts than that. Some of these I save for presentations, future collections, possible competition entries etc.

I like to write across the range because I get the benefits of writing tightly (especially at 50 words or fewer) but for the 500+ word categories, I can give more detail, show more of the character(s), all still without having anything irrelevant to the story in it.

There are many flash competitions out there and from observation I would say the 100, 300 and 500 words or fewer categories are the ones I come across most often. So if you wanted to focus on any of the flash categories, I would go for those.

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Fairytales with Bite – Magical History

What value/importance does your setting place on its history, magical or otherwise? Are what we see as classic fairytales seen as real history to the characters in your setting or have they been subverted in any way (see Shrek for more on that!)?

When it comes to the history of magic in your setting, who wrote the records? Are they accurate? Do they show how magic has developed as a power source in your setting and who wields it, past and present? Was magic always present in your world (literally in the atmosphere) or has it only come to your setting by the folk who settled there? You could also think about what drew them to your setting in the first place.

Are there historical places people visit? Is history treasured or ignored? What history in your setting has been repeated over the years and could those repetitions have been avoided? What impact does your world’s history have on your characters and their stories?

We know how we can be shaped by our personal histories, our nations’ histories etc so why not take that thought and apply it to your creations? What does history mean to them and why? What would happen if someone came along to challenge their long held views? Now that would be a good source of conflict for a story or two.

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This World and Others – The Past Influencing the Future

Henry Ford is supposed to have said “history is more or less bunk”. No, Mr Ford, your view on history is more or less bunk.

While true, history is written by the winners, there is usually at least some evidence to back that history up. You normally can see why the history has been written down the way it has been.

I’m a fan of Richard III and believe he is a much maligned man. There is some (and increasing evidence) on that point. But you can see why and how Richard III has been cast as the everlasting villain. Shakespeare had a role in that!

Everyone is influenced by their own histories then, the histories of their families, their countries etc. There is no getting away from the fact the past does influence the future. For one thing, it definitely influences politics!

Now how can you make use of that thought for your characters? What from their past has influenced them? Are they trying to escape their past and are they successful?

If you have time travelling characters, what in their past is fixed and they can’t change it no matter how much they might want to do so? What would be the consequences for anyone who did try to change fixed points in time? (I think there would have to be some fixed points, otherwise your characters would get to change everything, nothing would be fixed, chaos would result).

On a more general scale, how has your setting progressed? Has it learned from its past and are things improving for your characters as a result? Or are the powers that be trying to keep things always the same, everyone in their places etc because that is how things have always been done?

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Having A Superpower

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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 back to being all over the place though – sun, strong winds, rain etc. Looking forward to sharing further author interviews soon on Chandler’s Ford Today so do keep an eye out for these. Meantime, I reveal in this week’s CFT post what I would choose if I could have a superpower. Well, what would you choose? Comments are welcome on the CFT page.

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Hope you have had a good day.

Glad to share Having a Superpower for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I share what I would pick and why. I also discuss why it pays, even in fantasy, not to allow your characters to have unlimited powers. If everything could be solved by the wave of a magic wand, where is the story? I also look at the problems of superpowers. Hope you enjoy the post.

Having a Superpower

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You can find out what I would choose as a superpower in my Having a Superpower post for Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. The idea for this post came from a prompt I set as an exercise for the recent Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting. Lovely to get a non-fiction post from the idea.

Writing Tip: The random generators (words, numbers, pictures, themes etc) are great fun to use to trigger ideas but do bear in mind (a) these things are a starting point and (b) there’s nothing to stop you taking what has been generated and you then put your own twist on it. I’ve done this a lot.

It’s also a good idea to make yourself write to the prompts that emerge because they will come up with things you would not otherwise have thought of and I’ve found it great fun to find out just what can I do with this idea. They are great ways to encourage you to think outside of your usual creative thinking box.

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady got to see her two best girlfriends again today – three days in a row. All three dogs very happy about this.

As well as my author newsletter, I do have a YouTube channel where I post flash fiction videos. (I usually post here once a week). New subscribers are always welcome.

Just go to https://www.youtube.com/@allisonsymes

I use BookBrush to help me create the videos and then I upload them to my channel. Easy and fun to do and I am grateful Dawn Kentish Knox flagged up to me how to add audio to these. Nice selection of tracks available, some of which you have to give accreditation to, but you are given the form of words to use for this when you’re putting a description of what your video is about in the relevant box. You just copy and paste this form of words in – easy peasy. I’ve only used the odd one or two of these. I mainly stick to the ones I can just use without that.

But it is lovely being able to have a form of story sharing which is both visual and audio. I like this a lot. Works well for flash tales.

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It’s Friday. It’s the end of the working week (for many if not all). It’s time for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Regrets. Billy may be a bestselling author but he has regrets too – find out what and why here.

Screenshot 2024-06-14 at 09-57-05 Regrets by Allison Symes - Friday Flash Fiction

Good to see the first review has come in for The Best of CafeLit 13. If you’ve read the book, please do leave reviews. They help all of the authors in the anthology. Thank you.

I do review books myself. I try to keep my reviews short (writing flash fiction a lot helps with that!). They don’t take long to do and, other than buying the book itself, reviewing is one of the other most important things someone can do to support authors.

When I review I like to give an idea of what I liked without revealing spoilers. I’m always intrigued by characters so if they grip me in a story (as they should do), I will mention that and why they did this.


Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting in a couple of weeks. Am working on a presentation for it. I like to work to a theme (same as with my newsletters funnily enough) as these make useful “pegs” to hang relevant material from. It also means we cover different aspects of flash fiction writing.

A writing exercise in three stages for you to try:-

1. Using a random name generator, pick the fifth name which comes up and write a character outline up for that name.

2. Using a random theme generator, pick the fifth theme which comes up and then get your named character to meet that theme in some way.

3. Using a random sentence generator, pick the fifth sentence which comes up and use it to either start or finish your story with.

Have fun!

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Fairytales with Bite – How Characters Handle the Unexpected

How characters handle the unexpected reveals a great deal about them no matter what the story genre might be. In a fantasy setting though you can have even more fun here because just what would count as unexpected in a magical world, for example?

Would that be something like a sudden shortage of magical powers (the equivalent of us having major power cuts basically)? Could a character find they can no longer perform certain magical tasks they always used to be able to do (and could this be related to their aging process perhaps)?

Can the unexpected situation be reversed or dealt with in other ways? Or do your characters have to find new ways of handling matters and how easy or otherwise do they find this? How do they cope with the stress of having to find new ways of handling things, especially if they are under any kind of time pressure? (Good way of raising the drama that one!).

What could the unexpected lead to? Does your world setting have to change its ways? Has the unexpected shown them something of themselves that really should be put right? (You need the equivalent of the kid in The Emperor’s New Clothes here to call out what is wrong here, I think).

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This World and Others – How Things Get Done

How do things get done in your setting? Does your world have the equivalent of engineers, inventors, scientists etc? When they come up with useful ideas for your world, how do they get these out into the public domain so all can benefit from them? Are there safety procedures in place, proper testing done first etc before anything new does get unleashed more widely?

When things go wrong, as does happen when anything new is being developed, how is that handled? Does this have an impact on the general population or is it contained because nothing gets unleashed until this kind of testing is done and done thoroughly enough?

Who controls the way things are done? I’ve often mentioned in this blog the powers that be. This matters. Nothing exists in a vacuum. So your characters will be in a world setting. There will be governments, politicians, and so on. Someone has to over see things. For the inventive side of things, there has to be some organisation which will test things, ensure they are safe for general use etc. So how would this work out in your world?

Could you tell stories about the characters who do this kind of thing and show the problems and stresses they face?

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Author Interview: Jenny Sanders Part 2 and Remembering D-Day 80 Years On

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Hope you have had a good week so far. Have had some lovely weather, hope it continues. Pleased to share Part 2 of a fabulous interview with Jenny Sanders for Chandler’s Ford Today – this time we’re looking at launches, marketing etc. Plenty of tips and useful thoughts. Lady’s thoughts this week, however, have revolved around how much of a good time can she have with her chums. Useful to her but nobody else!

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Am delighted to welcome Jenny Sanders back to Chandler’s Ford Today for the second part of her interview which forms part of her blog tour for Polished Arrows, her latest devotional book, which is now out.

This week we discuss marketing, launches, tips on reaching potential readers, the value of supportive writing groups (Jenny and I are both members of the Association of Christian Writers), and much else besides.

Hope you enjoy the interview – plenty of tips and useful thoughts for all writers here. Good luck, Jenny, with Polished Arrows.

Author Interview: Jenny Sanders – The Polished Arrows of Non-Fiction Writing – Part 2

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6th June 2024 – 80 Years Ago…

Today of course is the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Will be listening to a special programme Classic FM are putting on later this evening featuring suitable music, clips from veterans etc. (It was wonderful). Am sure it will be so moving. (It really was).

I tend to think back to my grandfathers for D-Day and Remembrance in November. One fought. One was in a reserved occupation (and was forever being bombed out).

It is a sobering thought to consider I am only two generations away from this history and only one if you count my parents, both of whom were evacuated from London as children. My father was too young to go for the first batch of evacuees but did go later on in the war when the threat of the V1 and V2 occurred.

We have much to be thankful for including the freedom to have an education, to read, and to write. Too easy to take those things for granted.

Have read Double Cross by Ben Macintyre recently. It is the true story of the D-Day spies who made such a difference. Highly recommend along with his Operation Mincemeat. Stories are so important in preserving what happened for others to learn from, including us.

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Hope you have had a good day. Lady has had an excellent one in that she saw her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback chums again today. Lady and the latter had a good zoomie session too. It is a sight worth seeing but you stand well back! Both of them can put in a terrific pace. You don’t want to be mown down by a combined weight of 58 kilos of dogs!

I’ve mentioned before I interview my characters to find out more about them before I decide if they’re worth writing up or not. I try to ask in depth questions because, as in a “real” interview, such as the one I’ll be conducting with Jenny Sanders on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday, you want the one answering the questions to open up. You don’t want the simple yes/no answers. That kind of response doesn’t tell you much.

But questions such as what do you fear most and why can trigger some interesting responses. I have to think about what my characters would fear and then figure out what they would do if they had to face up to that fear. The fear doesn’t have to be a complicated one either. Looking at the reason why can be fascinating too.

If my character feared black curtains, I would then be delving into their past history to come up with a reasonable explanation for that. This means I have to flesh them out more and it is that process which helps me to get to know them well enough to create situations I can put them in.

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Hope you enjoy my latest story on Friday Flash Fiction – Litter. What will Rosie do when confronted by litter louts? Who gets the upper hand and how? Find out here!
Screenshot 2024-06-07 at 10-00-24 Litter by Allison Symes

6th June 2024 – 80 Years Ago…

To all who fought on the beaches 80 years ago on D-Day, thank you.
To all who worked behind the scenes to make D-Day a reality, thank you.
To those who came back, thank you.
To those who did not, thank you.
The least we can do is remember.
Allison Symes
6th June 2024

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Writing flash fiction has led to me writing more in the first person and it does have its advantages. It is immediate. I take you straight into my characters’ heads. You literally see their world through their eyes.

But I do like a good balance so when I’m thinking of stories, one of the first questions I ask myself is whether this would work best in first or third person. When I’ve got more than one character in a story, then I’m going straight for third person (though I may get one of the characters to show you some of their thoughts if it is appropriate to do so).

For individual characters, first person is inevitable though I often get them to refer to other characters who mean something to them. Doesn’t necessarily need to be a good meaning either!

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Fairytales with Bite – The Establishment

Who or what makes up the establishment in your setting? How did it become the establishment? Is it based on long standing traditions, rights of inheritance, or have your characters had to fight their way to the top? Or is it a mixture?

What do the”ordinary” characters make of the establishment? Are they generally in support or are they oppressed by it? Does magic underpin the way the establishment works and could that be broken by anyone?

Give some thought as to how your establishment issues laws. Is it rule by diktat or is there some semblance of democracy? What did your current establishment replace? Is the replacement an improvement or not? Are all species in your world setting represented in this body or are some deliberately excluded?

What role has the history of your setting placed in getting an establishment established in the first place?
Does it have any role to play in the lives of most of your characters or is a remote establishment in that local governments etc do the day-to-day running of things and most characters are more affected by what they do instead?

Every society has an establishment of some sort though the make up of these differs. You could use what we have here – monarchies, republics (democratic or otherwise) – to give interesting backdrops to your stories.

Also could your establishments hinder your characters in what they are trying to achieve in your stories? If so, how? Hiw do your characters overcome that, assuming they do?

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This World and Others – The Hospitality Industry

One of the sectors to be affected the worst by Covid was the hospitality industry. It didn’t matter what country you were in – this applied worldwide. In your setting, what does the hospitality industry comprise of and what disaster could hit them badly? How is that disaster resolved?

Every so often I like to go out for a pub meal with family but have noticed, though the pubs are recovering from the pandemic, they are still not fully back to how they had been. Hopefully time will rectify that. But in the event of a disaster in your setting, how long would it take your hospitality industry to recover? What support would they have?

Separately, think about who works in this industry. They meet people all the time. They probably get to hear and see interesting things while serving drinks, meals etc. This was certainly true of The Prancing Pony in The Lord of the Rings!

So who could you get to be in a pub like environment? What would they say which might be of interest to someone else (and why is it of interest)? What pivotal role could your hospitality settings play here?

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Publication News and The Perfect Ending

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Hope you have had a good weekend. Week has got off to a great start with the news The Best of CafeLit 13 is now out. I have three stories in there. More below on that. Also the June issue of Writers’ Narrative is out now too. Can’t believe we’re in June already but at least the weather is stating to play along with the idea we’re due some sunshine now!

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Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today. Three very happy dogs went home again after a lovely time in the park. Dogs know what matters!

Writing wise, I’m talking to Jenny Sanders again for Part 2 of a fabulous interview on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Her devotional book, Polished Arrows, was published recently and this week we’ll be talking about marketing, launches, the value of good supportive writing groups, and much more besides. Don’t miss! Lots of tips and useful thoughts here.

Now to give Amazon their due. I contacted them on Sunday to ask them to add The Best of CafeLit 13 to my Amazon Author Central page. I’ve found, from past experience, I need to give them the details and they add anthologies (because I’m not the publisher but am a contributing author). Anyway, it was done yesterday, well within 24 hours.

Have just added the book to my ALCS records too. I’ve found it pays to add new publications (books or articles where there is an ISSN number) as soon as I can to make sure I get it done. Will make a difference to my ALCS payment next year, which is the best incentive to get it done!

 

My three stories in The Best of CafeLit 13 are Cinnamon Comforts, Untaken, and Sweet Dreams. It’s good to be back between the covers with old friends in this anthology and I’m looking forward to catching up with their works here, as well as checking out those authors new to me. I often do read anthologies as you might expect and find them to be a fabulous way to try out works by authors new to me. If I like their work, I will often then try their longer works. This is a great way to discover new writers.

I also like to read collections of short form works in between reading novels. I like to ensure I have a good reading diet of longer works and shorter ones. Anthologies make it so much more convenient to catch up with the latter!

Also if you are writing in the short form, reading books like this can count as part of your market research. It is always good to know what is already out there and from that you can work out where you would fit in. A publisher needs to know where you’d fit in with their lists and you need to be able to show them that you can.

Publication News (as you may have gathered from the above!)

Thrilled to say The Best of CafeLit 13 is now out. I have three stories in here. Will say more about this during the next few days but just wanted to (a) share the news and (b) congratulate the other authors with work in here. Nice to see names and old friends here. Well done, all. (What is especially nice here is the stories are voted for by other CafeLit people so nobody can know their story is going to make the cut).

Will be sharing Part 2 of an in-depth conversation with Jenny Sanders for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Next time we’ll be looking at launches, marketing, and more. Link up on Friday.

Many thanks for the comments coming in on my Unwelcome News, my latest Friday Flash Fiction tale. Just who is the worst here – Melissa or Stefan? Read the tale and see what you think. Link here. (Great fun to write).

 

Delighted to say the June edition of Writers’ Narrative is now out. The theme is poetry this time and my article looks at The Links Between Flash Fiction and Poetry. There are more than you might think. I also include a flash fiction piece told in poetic form as I sometimes write stories this way and it can work well. I share some tips for doing this too.

My article is on Pages 14/15 but do check out the excellent pieces throughout. For one thing, you can find out if you know who your padawan is! Go on, you know you want to find out!

 

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Hope you have had a good day.

Something I mention to members of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group is to look out for the short story competitions. Many of them either have a lower word count limit of 1000 words (making it the top end of the range for flash fiction writers but still do-able) or have a range of word counts for you to write to.

The Bridport Prize, for example, has a flash fiction category but also has a short story one. No reason why you couldn’t enter both with different tales should you wish.

Another one is the HISSAC Annual Open Short Story competition where they want short stories up to 2000 words and flash fiction up to 500. There will be other competitions out there who will do something similar. Worth watching for.

Competitions are great for making up face up to working to a deadline and if you get listed or win, even better!

447551831_10161932010872053_7782713995846695559_nIt’s Monday. It has been a sunny one too. Still Monday though. Still time for a YouTube story from me. Hope you like my Life Changing Moments. Those who came to the recent Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting will recognise this as my response to a prompt I set.

Usually when I put my YouTube videos here, they are inserted into the page  and you click and play. Not happening tonight. Please use the link above. Screenshot to just give you an idea but there is more to this story so do check the link out! Thanks.

Screenshot 2024-06-04 at 20-27-49 Life Changing Moments - YouTube

The buzz of being in print never diminishes! The Best of CafeLit 13 is now out and I have three stories included. I also enjoy getting to update my records over on the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) and on Amazon. This will be a lovely job to do later this week! Done. See above but most enjoyable tasks to do!

Will be getting on with some flash fiction writing today. Nice way to spend Sunday afternoons! I do more later in the week too but there is something about Sunday afternoons which helps with focus. Well, I know it helps me.

Favourite thing about creating a character? I think it is that moment when I think “yes, I know you, I’ve got where you’re coming from” because then I know I can write from their viewpoint effectively. I understand what drives them and what mistakes they’re likely to make. Once I’ve “got” this, I can’t wait to write their stories up and that is always a good sign.

 

It’s that time of the month again – time for the author newsletter. A huge hello to those who have subscribed since last time and an enormous thanks to all who support me here. All much appreciated. The theme this time is questioning your characters, something I do all the time. It pays especially when you’re writing a lot of stories and need ways into coming up with characters all the time.

Screenshot 2024-06-01 at 11-39-23 Allison Symes - June 2024 - Questioning Your Characters

Goodreads Author Blog – The Perfect Ending

Is there such a thing as the perfect ending to any story? The only reason I’m not sure about this is because all writers are human and we’re all fallible. No perfect writer = no perfect writing.

I know, looking back on my older stories, I can see ways of improving them thanks to things I’ve learned about writing craft and technique since that time. BUT you can improve on what you do. I can look back at those stories and know they were the best I could do at that time. So am reasonably pleased with them but am more pleased with improvements I have made since that time. Writing is always a case of developing your craft, I think.

For stories by other writers, what I look for is an appropriate ending for their characters’ stories. Yes, sometimes that ending can be ambiguous. (After all, tomorrow is another day from Gone With The Wind is a good example of that kind of ending). But it should be appropriate to all that has come before and as long as it has done that, I’m happy.

Screenshot 2024-06-01 at 20-03-53 The Perfect Ending

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Author Interview: Jenny Sanders Part 1- The Polished Arrows of Non-Fiction

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Hope you have had a good week. Weather all over the place again here. Lady not worried as she has been seeing her pals most of the week. Glad to share Part 1 of a fabulous two part interview with Jenny Sanders for Chandler’s Ford Today. Jenny discusses her new devotional book, Polished Arrows. Devotional works are in themselves a specialised (almost technical) form of writing so it is lovely to have it represented on CFT.

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Second post from me today and it’s time to share Part 1 of a fabulous two-part interview with Jenny Sanders for Chandler’s Ford Today.

She discusses her new devotional book, Polished Arrows, with me and shares how she faced the challenge of switching from her children’s story work to what is a specialised form of non-fiction writing. She also shares how she went into devotional writing in the first place and how Robben Island, South Africa (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for so long) played a major part in this work.

Part 2 will be up next week. Meantime do enjoy Part 1 and good luck to Jenny on both her launch and book blog tour (this interview and next week’s forms part of that tour).

Author Interview: Jenny Sanders The Polished Arrows of Non-Fiction Writing – Part 1

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31st May 2024 – More than Writers
Double blog post from me today. First blog post is due to me forgetting I should’ve shared something a couple of days ago! Apologies, folks, but my latest post for More than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers, should have been shared by yours truly on the 29th. Oops! Still better late than never!

This month I talked about Flash Fiction – Advantages for All Writers. Well, they do say write about what you know! Hope you enjoy the post and a huge thank you to all who have already commented on it (bar the one who is doing an advert for something not writing related at all. Grrr…).

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Will be so pleased to welcome Jenny Sanders back to Chandler’s Ford Today for the first part of a wonderful in-depth interview concerning her new devotional book, Polished Arrows.

Amongst other things, we will be discussing the joys and challenges of this kind of specialist writing and how Jenny began writing devotionals in the first place. Her other work is in short stories for children. So quite a contrast there. Link up tomorrow. See above.

Good luck to Jenny too for the launch of her new book. It is always exciting to have a new publication out there.

Many thanks to Jenny Sanders for the author shot below.
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Lady had a lovely time with her Rhodesian Ridgeback friend today so all is right in her world.

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting tonight on Zoom. Always good fun. Theme is questions and answers this time. (They are an excellent structure for all forms of writing for one thing).

A question for you though. Have you thought about making your characters answer questions they would rather not face in the course of your story? There could be some interesting ideas emerging from what it is they don’t want to face here and from what happens when they do have to face those questions and deal with them in some way.

Have fun (though I concede your characters almost certainly won’t but then isn’t that one of the joys of writing – to dump your characters right in it and see how they manage? I refuse to believe that is just me).

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Facebook – From LIght to Dark and Back Again

It’s the end of the working week. It’s time for a story. Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my Unwelcome News. Just how will Melissa take her “Dear John” letter from Stefan, who has cleared out her bank account, and which of them has the biggest secret? Find out here!
Screenshot 2024-05-31 at 10-15-31 Unwelcome News by Allison Symes


Had a lovely time at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting last night on Zoom. The questions and answers topic generated plenty of ideas for stories for all of us and I am looking forward to working on some of my ideas from this session in due course. That’s the joy of joining in with the exercises on the night – I too get ideas triggered for me to work on later.

The Bridport Prize competition deadline is 31st May, so you just have time to submit something. Having said that, I would call this last minute.com submitting given I’m writing this on 30th May! There are other competitions out there though.

If you have got a copy of the competition guide Writing Magazine issued earlier this year, it would pay you to have a look through that and mark up the competitions which catch your eye. If you haven’t do check out their website though bear in mind some of their competitions are for subscribers only. Still worth taking a look though especially if you are a subscriber.

Screenshot 2024-05-30 at 19-45-27 Writing Competitions - Writers Online
Hope you have had a good day. Am running the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting tonight. Will be nice to see everyone. I do set exercises for these meetings and often I will join in with these on the night myself. I love live writing exercises. I’ve recently used some of the ideas I came up with for a previous session here to then write stories which have since ended up on Friday Flash Fiction and on my YouTube channel. Win-win I think there!

I do sometimes prepare an answer in advance for an exercise I’ve set to give an example and I know I’ve learned a great deal from workshops I’ve attended as a delegate where that has happened. But I do love the adrenalin rush when you’re set an exercise and you think now what can I do with this? I’ve learned to not worry about how rough the result is – this is only going to be a first draft and only I will see it – but the thrill of knowing I’ve got something down in answer to the brief is wonderful.

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Fairytales with Bite – Nasty Surprises

Thought this was an apt topic given I had a nasty surprise recently, having been burgled. Give some thought as to the kind of surprises your characters could well do without. Think about how they would handle these (with or without help) when forced to face up to them. Just what would count as a nasty surprise in a magical setting? Could magical powers fail at a crucial moment (and what would trigger that failure)?

Who would be behind the nasty surprises and why are they doing this? What are they hoping to gain (as there has to be something here to make it worthwhile for them to go to the bother of doing this)? Can those nasty surprises be overturned or softened (as in Sleeping Beauty)?

One nasty surprise, of course, could be a formerly reliable character turning to evil ways. What would be behind that? Are they motivated by money, power, or fear of what would happen if they don’t “turn”? Do they end up regretting changing ways here or is it something they wished they’d done years ago? Are there any indications a character like this might turn bad to the other characters in your story? Could early intervention prevent what could be a very nasty surprise indeed?

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This World and Others – Crime and Punishment

In any society in any setting, there will be those who break the accepted rules. There will have to be ways of dealing with that so society doesn’t break down. (Well, not unless that is the point of your story and you are showing how it breaks down etc but even then think about how you would end your story. No resolution to the problem would, to me, seem depressing. There is a place for dystopian fiction but must admit it isn’t my reading choice).

So how would your fantasy settings handle the idea of crime and punishment? Would these be akin to what we have here or something only your world could do because….?

Does your society have the equivalent of a police force (or the wonderful Watch from the Discworld novels)? How effective are they? Are they held in regard by the rest of your society?

What would be considered reasonable punishment for crimes? Indeed, what would be recognized as crimes? Is there a crime, say, of misusing magical power and how could that be proven and what would be done here (especially if the idea is to stop others doing this?).

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Decisions

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Hope you have had a good week. Mine has got better as we slowly recover from the burglary. There is much to be said for keeping the drama strictly to the pages of fiction!
But Lady has seen her best friends this week and, especially on Wednesday, you could see she was being cheered up considerably by her Rhodesian Ridgeback bestie. It was sweet to watch. Tuesday was so stressful.
It has been a relief to get back to writing. It has helped enormously in terms of feeling things are almost normal again and just being creative in and of itself, I’ve always found is its own reward especially in stressful times. I guess it is because it is an outlet.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Pleased to share Decisions, my latest post for Chandler’s Ford Today. I look at the topic from the viewpoints of writing decisions (including the choices characters have to make), career decisions, and the value of going to writing events and chatting with other writers, as you can often find out so much from this.

That in turn can lead you into writing paths you might not otherwise have found (more decisions to be made there!) and I can vouch for this. I met my publisher many years ago long before I wrote anything for them. Neither of us at the time could have known how things would pan out here. More details in the post.

https://chandlersfordtoday.co.uk/decisions/

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Things are slowly returning to normal here. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler friend today.

My Decisions post is up on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow (see above) and my next author newsletter will be out on 1st June.

To sign up do head over to my website at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

I set a monthly theme for the newsletters, as well as sharing news, as it gives me a “peg” to hang tips and short posts on which I hope prove useful. I try to think of what I would look for in this newsletter if I was the one receiving it. I find this a useful technique here and for writing my fiction because it helps me to focus on what really matters here – giving something of value to readers (potential or actual).

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Everything stops for tea, including changing the world apparently, as my character, George, testifies in my latest tale for Friday Flash Fiction called Tea Break. Hope you enjoy the story.
Screenshot 2024-05-24 at 11-56-13 Tea Break by Allison Symes

I like to hit the ground running with all of my stories so try to ensure my opening line intrigues in some way. Sometimes I use dialogue for this. Sometimes I set up an odd situation. Sometimes I show a character’s thoughts and ensure they’re thinking something interesting!

Sometimes I use questions as an opening line because you then know the story has to answer said question. All are fun to do and if you would like to check out more of what I do, the link takes you to my Amazon Author Central page.

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Fairytales With Bite – “Normal” Routines

I’d decided on this topic before discovering I’d been burgled earlier this week so I guess it is a timely topic! What would your magical characters consider to be their normal routines? Which do they like? Which do they tolerate (on the grounds they probably don’t have much say in the matter?

Can they ever get back to their normal routines after their adventures or do they have to make new ones and, if so, how easy or otherwise do they find that process? Are others around them, especially those who did not go on the adventures with them, understanding of this or not?

If you have more than one kind of magical character, where are there similarities in normal routines for the different types of being? Which would be radically different? Can this lead to conflict? Are there bridge builders who try to improve relationships between the species?

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This World and Others – Dealing with the Unexpected

Again, I came up with this topic before my burglary this week. I have indeed been dealing with the unexpected!

How do your characters cope with the unexpected? As with us, some will inevitably handle it badly, especially if they are routine dependent. Others won’t be fazed by the unexpected at all. Could you put the two types here together in a story?

What impact does the unexpected and how it is handled have on them both? Would the more confident one help the other one to cope with future unexpected events because of the way they show them how they handle this one right now?

Where does the unexpected come from incidentally? Is it something that could reasonably be expected at some point or is it truly coming out of nowhere? If your world is facing something unexpected, who takes charge to deal with it? Are they successful?

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Tea Break, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction <a href=”https://t.co/Lf2Am2VCkA”>https://t.co/Lf2Am2VCkA</a&gt; Everything stops for tea, including changing the world apparently, as my character, George, testifies in my latest tale for Friday Flash Fiction called Tea Break. Hope you enjoy the story. <a href=”https://t.co/SThc7EAYKq”>pic.twitter.com/SThc7EAYKq</a></p>&mdash; Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) <a href=”https://twitter.com/AllisonSymes1/status/1794067934945464514?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>May 24, 2024</a></blockquote> https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Decisions <a href=”https://t.co/JxpGU14jqa”>https://t.co/JxpGU14jqa</a&gt; Pleased to share Decisions, my latest post for CFT. I look at the topic from the viewpoints of writing decisions (including choices characters make), career decisions, and the value of going to writing events and chatting with other writers.</p>&mdash; Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) <a href=”https://twitter.com/AllisonSymes1/status/1794069007454077312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>May 24, 2024</a></blockquote> https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

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A Strange Few Days…

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Many apologies this is a day late due to very unexpected circumstances.

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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 and photos from Scotland were taken by me, Allison Symes.
Had a lovely time in Scotland last week. Good to be back home again and Lady was thrilled to catch up with her two best friends early on in the week so she’s not sorry to be back home either. Looking forward to running an editing workshop on Zoom on Saturday and the ACW Flash Fiction Group next week. Did take PC with me while away. Enjoyed doing some writing but also enjoyed not doing as much as I normally would have done. It was good to slow down for a while.
Separately, it has not been a great start to my week back though. Burgled on Tuesday. Everyone, take care. It has been a very strange few days.

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Facebook – General

A huge thank you for all the kind comments, caring emojis etc following my brief post yesterday. Glad to say after the Scene of Crime Officers finished here today, I was able to get on and start clearing up properly. Still got plenty to do but have made a good start and just that is making me feel much better, along with your lovely thoughts and comments.

It is also great to be back to the writing desk again. Especially in stressful times, writing is a creative release. I’ll be sharing my latest website round up a little later on and then I should be “caught up”, writing wise.

I’ll also be looking at Decisions for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday and that in turn will be followed by a superb two part interview with Jenny Sanders, whose new book, Polished Arrows, is now out.

Just occasionally I write “two handers” flash tales where two characters interact back and forth. Sometimes these are all dialogue stories but not always. One example of a non-dialogue one is The Pink Rose from Tripping the Flash Fantastic. Here I don’t even name the two characters but you do find out they are mother and daughter, the latter battling for the former for as long as she can.

This kind of tale can be moving and I like to write these kinds of tales in between my lighter humorous stories and my darker ones. I think it makes for a good balance.

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21st May 2024

Apologies, folks, for the lack of a “proper” post tonight. Also for the lack of my usual website round up. Will be back to normal tomorrow, I hope. Have had to deal with family emergency (burglary). It has NOT been a good day. Take care, everyone, and will hopefully be back online properly tomorrow.

Lady was thrilled to see her two closest friends today, the Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback. Lovely time had by all. Just every now and then Lady will show affection by licking her friends on the top of their heads. (Neither of my other collies would have done this but then they both preferred just to focus on their humans – us). Lady did so today so I knew she was so glad to see her pals.

Nothing will ever beat the view I had last week when I was writing my Facebook posts but the view out of my office isn’t bad. Am surrounded by trees. Have had some noisy rooks arguing over the water in the bird bath. Goodness knows why. There is plenty in there.

Writing wise, this week will mainly be spent, I suspect, in catching up with blog posts, my newsletter etc. It was great to be away for a bit. It is good to be back too.

Writing Tip: When you’ve had a break from your normal writing routine, take the chance to look at what you missed doing, what you’re keen to get back to etc. Is there anything you didn’t miss? (Am glad to say not in my case).

If the latter gave you pause for thought, maybe it is time to re-evaluate whether that project is worth continuing with. You need enthusiasm to keep going with writing and while there will always be peaks and troughs, taking the time out to think again will help you establish whether you just need a longer break from the project or whether your heart really isn’t in it any more. (Nothing to stop you coming back to it at a later date either but be kind to yourself here).

Writing Advice

Lovely to be back at home, church etc. Lady was glad to get back to “her” park too.

I’ll be looking at Decisions for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I’ll be looking at the topic from the viewpoints of character decisions, writing decisions, career decisions etc. Plenty to be thinking about then! Link up on Friday.

Was thrilled to discover I was an Editor’s Choice on Friday Flash Fiction with my most recent story, A Break Does You Good. If you missed it, do check out the link. Many thanks to all for the wonderful comments on this one so far too.

Screenshot 2024-05-19 at 17-16-04 A Break Does You Good by Allison Symes

Am on my way home from a fabulous Scottish holiday. Glorious weather all week. Magnificent scenery.

Delighted to be back on Authors Electric with PowerPoint and Zoom Workshops. I discuss how I rediscovered the former thanks to running and going to the latter!

I also look at the benefits of both of these for where I attend webinars on topics of interest which I could never get to in person. I often register for these things even if I’m not sure if I can get to them at the time allocated as many of those running these will send you a link so you can play a recording back at a more convenient time to you. I’ve found that so useful.

Hope you find the post useful. There are many benefits to these things.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Many thanks for all the kind responses to my post yesterday after my burglary experience. Very much appreciated and it is such a relief to get back to writing again.

Am looking forward also to the next Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting next week. Plus I’m running an editing workshop for another ACW group this coming Saturday. Good to be busy on something which is fun, writing related, and productive!

I’ve occasionally used a time as an opening line. I used 3 am in my creepy tale, Pressing the Flesh from From Light to Dark and Back Again. The time itself indicates this story is likely to be dark. If I’d set the time at midday, say, the mood of the story would have been entirely different. The darkness of night was needed for this one.

Now this is something you could use to great effect in your own tales. Time can almost be used as a setting in itself here.

Allison Symes - Flash Fiction CollectionsIt’s Monday. My first day back at home after a lovely holiday. Am feeling tired! Definitely time for a story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Going Out. (Not that I was today!).

 

One of the reasons I love opening lines as a writing exercise is they give me two ways in which to operate.

If a character is mentioned, I can then flesh them out more and work out what kind of situation they’re going to deal with.

If the situation is mentioned (but no character as such, often just a name and not always that), I can work out what kind of character would best suit the situation. Win-win either way here as far as I’m concerned. I regularly use both methods to create stories. What I do know is character and situation have to marry up well though.

Will be running an editing workshop for an Association of Christian Writers group on Saturday. Looking forward to that. Until I have the story down, no matter how I create it, the editing waits. I’ve got to know what I’m working with first.

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Going home after a fabulous week away in the beautiful north-east of Scotland. What does going home mean to your characters? Is it something they look forward to doing or something they fear will never happen or something they dread?

There are so many connotations here. What could you use? What does the reaction show about your characters? Could their reaction get better if it is not a good one to start with and what/whom would make that better?

Will miss the marvellous view across to a huge hill (often with red deer on it, we’ve seen a fair few this week) from my temporary home but will take back happy memories and photos. What would your characters bring back with them when they go home?

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Goodreads Author Blog – When A Story Fails

I’m glad to say a story doesn’t fail for me often. When it does, it is always due to me being unconvinced by the characterisation. Something about the characters doesn’t ring true for me or they manage to aggravate me (Miss Price of Mansfield Park is a prime example of this for me yet I love all of Jane Austen’s other heroines, including the supposedly unlikeable Emma).

There is a positive to this though. Knowing what I dislike in character portrayal means I make sure I don’t write this kind of thing for my own creations. I like to know my characters well enough to know what drives them and how they would act/react in any circumstance.

If I understand motivation, I am far more likely to read on to find out what the characters go on and do. It doesn’t mean I have to agree or like what they do but I do have to see where they are coming from.
For me, a story works when the character convinces me. The story is nothing without a convincing character as far as I am concerned.
Screenshot 2024-05-22 at 20-59-18 When A Story Fails

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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

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Journeys

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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 and Scottish photos were taken by me, Allison Symes.
Have had a fabulous Scottish break. Couldn’t have asked for better weather either. Lady has had a wonderful time too. I’ll be back at my normal writing desk for my next post here.
Will be looking forward to running an editing workshop not long after my return and the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction group meeting not long after that so back to normal in every sense but it is great when you enjoy a break but also don’t mind getting back to normal life again. Well as normal as it gets for a writer anyway.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Delighted to share Journeys on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Appropriate too as I prepare to return home from a fabulous break in the gorgeous north-east of Scotland.

In my post, I look at how journeys work in fiction and non-fiction, as well as discuss how every story, regardless of its genre, has to be a journey in and of itself. Well, it does have to have a beginning, a middle, and an end, and the character(s) have to resolve some sort of dilemma enroute, yes? I call that a journey! Hope you enjoy the post.

Journeys

 

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Have no idea where the time goes when away on holiday. Revisited my favourite northern beach – Dunnet – today. Right up at the top end of the country along the coast from John O’Groats with stunning views.

We walk for miles here and Lady has finally got to do something which was a tradition for our previous dogs, Gracie and Mabel, which is to lick out our icecream pots! See pic.

The drive up to Dunnet on the A9 is stunning too. The views are incredible and I have a deeper appreciation for the old map makers who had nothing but paper, pencils and pens, and a ruler to draw up those original maps. They’re incredibly accurate too.

Am enjoying what remains of my break listening to Classic FM played through Alexa at the cottage here. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find Lady, rather than being spooked by it, has taken no notice of it whatsoever! Have been impressed by the sound quality via Alexa too. Useful to have in a remote cottage (we’re truly off grid where we are at the moment).

My Journeys post is up on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow and I will be sharing a two part interview with Jenny Sanders here in the not too distant future. Am working on other articles for Writers’ Narrative, which I hope to finish on my return home.

Am making good progress on a potential fourth flash fiction collection though I do want to add more stories to it to get the word count up to about 60,000 words or thereabouts. Next week will be spent mainly in catching up with various bits and bobs I suspect. It usually is spent that way after a break.

Lady having her first icecream at Dunnet

Lovely day though it started with a lingering mist. Once it did clear, we were blessed with glorious sunshine. Revisited Helmsdale, Dunbeath, and Brora today. Lady had a fabulous time on the beach at Brora. It is a mixture of sand and seriously impressive rocks and is home to a seal colony too, not that we saw any of them today. (I’ve captioned the picture below as Lady, Queen of the Rocks. She loved walking on them, through them etc).

When we’ve travelled in previous years on the train up to Wick (which is like a tour of Scotland in one hit as you see coast, mountains, moors, farmland etc on the one trip), the railway line goes right by the beach at Brora and you usually do see the seals out. Can’t get a better view of them in fact.

Writing wise, my post on Journeys for Chandler’s Ford Today is up on Friday. I look at the topic from the point of view of how journeys are used in fiction and non-fiction. I look at character journeys too.

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

Lady at Brora, Queen of the Rocks

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I wrote my story for Friday Flash Fiction this week overlooking a lovely view from a remote holiday cottage on the north-east coast of Scotland. Am not going to get a better view than the one I had! Back to usual desk for my next tale! Meantime I hope you enjoy A Break Does You Good but what kind of break is my magical character really after? Find out here. (And am thrilled to be one of the two Editor’s Choices this week too).

Screenshot 2024-05-17 at 19-35-08 A Break Does You Good by Allison Symes

Back to Dunnet again today as it is one of my favourite beaches – see the pic as to why. This is just a short section of the beach too.

One lovely discovery at the holiday cottage was a welcome hamper with chocolates, shortbread etc in it. Other half and I have made short work of those this week!

But the thought of a lovely welcome like that led me to think about characters. If they went away somewhere, would they be made welcome at their destination (or stopping points along the way come to that)? Is the purpose of their journey known and welcomed or feared? Did the characters leave willingly or did they have no choice? Is it likely they’ll come back and, if so, how will their return be handled?

The returning hobbits in The Lord of the Rings were changed by their experiences and rightly so. Therefore their experience of The Shire on their return was different from how they’d known it before their adventures started.

(If you read the book, you’ll find out more about why things were different, the films didn’t cover this, which has always struck me as an odd omission. The films were long as it was so to me it would have made sense to have filmed this final section of the story as Tolkien told it).

Return visit to Dunnet saw even more glorious weather and a better view of the headland

Spent today visiting old haunts in this wonderful part of Scotland today (North-East coast). Image below is of some seriously impressive rocks at Dunbeath which is a lovely village just off the A9.

Give some thought as to what old haunts your characters might have. Also are there places they would never go to again even if they were paid to go? What does this reveal about them to you? How would they handle things if they were forced to go back to somewhere they swore they’d never go again?

Another angle to this is whether the ones left behind in the old haunts would welcome your character(s) back or not. People don’t always welcome back the prodigal son/daughter/alien being etc and there could be some interesting story ideas here too.

The rocks at Dunbeath are seriously impressive

Fairytales with Bite – Holidays

By the time this post goes out, I’ll be about to return from a much needed and wonderful break in the Scottish Highlands. Holidays of any kind can give a much needed break away from routine and refreshment.

So where would your magical characters go when they needed to put down the old magic wand for a while to get right away from it all? Which places in your setting would be known as “resorts”? Are there specific places for people to go to of a certain magical ability and higher? Where would the “lower” magical characters be expected to holiday?

Thinking about the government of your setting, most here on Earth do have a kind of summer break while the business of government continues albeit at a lower level. How would this work in your setting? Who would ensure the day-to-day matters were still done?

There is, of course, a holiday industry ranging from self catering to the poshest hotels, from camping to exotic cruises etc. So many work behind the scenes here. In your magical setting, who would be the equivalent of the travel agents, the hoteliers, the companies who offer self catering properties etc?

Thinking about your characters, who decides where to go when wanting a break? Also, are there any kind of public holidays when most would have some time off?

What would your characters do on holiday? Would seeing somewhere different change their life for better or worse on their return home again and what could that lead to? Travel broadens the mind. What would that do to your magical characters and are any allowed to explore outside of their own world?

Image below:  Beautiful Brora

Beautiful Brora

This World and Others – Getting Away

Linking with Fairytales with Bite above just how would your characters get away from it all and is this option available to all or just a select few? For those without magical transport of their own, are there public services they could buy “into”?

If exploration is allowed out of the character’s own world, where would they go, how would they get there, and are they expected to blend in with the locals? What might happen if they didn’t do the latter? Would the other world welcome alien visitors? (How would you react if a fairy godmother, armed with wands and spell books, turned up in your vicinity? Not everyone would take that well).

Does your character’s home world welcome visitors from other planets? Could humans accidentally or deliberately locate your magical world and how well would that go down? Would those humans be allowed to go home again?

If worried about humanity’s impact, which would not be unreasonable given what we’ve done to our own planet, what would happen to the ones who did make it to your setting? Would they be allowed to settle down in the magical world or would they be magically disposed of?

Also give some thought as to other reasons why your characters might want to get away. What would they be trying to get away from and do they succeed?

Image below:  The long and winding road – north-east Scotland (just one of many here but all with stunning views and plenty of wildlife to watch out for).

The long and winding road outside Glen Cottage

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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