Tag: Getting the Point by Allison Symes

Book Fair News and Writing Challenges

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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.
Still humid and hot here. Lady fine and is a good water drinker. Not all dogs are – my first two weren’t! Writing wise, I’ve the first part of a great interview with YA fantasy author, Francesca Tyer coming up this week. Plus there will be more wonderful interviews to come later in the month too. Meanwhile I’m taking part in a 30 day writing challenge which is great fun – details below.

Dreams of the writing life can become reality - use for Part 2

Facebook – General

Again, very hot. Again, Lady and I keeping cool. Hope you are too. Now a little while ago, I mentioned I would be taking part in a Book Fair. Am glad to now share more details.

The event will be at The Hilt, Chandler’s Ford on Saturday 8th July from 1.00 pm to 5.00 pm. Entry is free but if you book a ticket, you will be entered in to a raffle. The prize is £10 which you can use to buy a book from any of the authors at the event (who no doubt will be pleased to sign it for you too. I know I would be!). I’ll be posting more about this nearer the time (and will do a future Chandler’s Ford Today post on it as well).

So if you are planning to come, do book a ticket and good luck with the raffle. This event is a great opportunity to find out what the local authors do – there are a fair few of us and the range of what we write is incredible. There is bound to be something you like! Do come along and check things out.

Best of all? The event is being held at a good time for you to top up your holiday reading list!

Book Fair image

Another hot and humid day here. Lady all okay. She drinks well and is sensible about heading for the shade. We’re sensible about taking her out at apt times. It all helps. The latter is vital. I’ve got a nice spot here where I can do a pavement test – it gets the sun directly so is a good place to monitor about whether walking Lady is okay or not.

I have already cancelled one walk with her where the air was far too hot (last Saturday) and have seen pictures of dogs with burned pads on Facebook. It is just not worth it. Be careful with your furry friends, folks.

Can’t stress that point enough. And talking of getting the point, do check out my most recent tale on Friday Flash Fiction called, you guessed it, Getting The Point!
Screenshot 2023-06-09 at 11-45-24 Getting The Point by Allison Symes

Cooler day, even had some rain, air much nicer. Was nice to take Lady out earlier. She appreciated it too. (Was she sorry she stayed put yesterday? Not a bit of it. Had a great day in the shade and/or indoors and was much happier for it too, as indeed was I!).

I’ll be talking to YA fantasy author, Francesca Tyer, in the first part of a two part interview on Chandler’s Ford Today later this week. It’s a great interview. Do look out for it. More details mid-week or so.

I’ve mentioned before I’ve interviewed my own characters prior to writing their stories up. I find this a useful technique. It means I get a real “feel” for their likes and dislikes and the kind of character they are. I can then write their story up with confidence. I don’t need to know every single thing about them. I just need to know enough to know I’ve “got” them and know why they would act the way they are in my tale.

The Scrivener short story function has a template for both character and setting but there is no reason why you can’t create you own. It is a question of working out what you need to know. Elements of that will differ from author to author. I don’t need to know physical appearance. I do know other authors find that knowledge crucial.

A very hot day today. Lady had her exercise at appropriate times and spent the rest of the day resting. She wasn’t sorry. Neither were we. On the plus side, my washing was dry in under two hours. It is always the simple pleasures in life which give the most joy!

Many thanks to Val Penny for a fabulous interview on Chandler’s Ford Today yesterday. More author interviews coming soon. And starting this coming week as I begin a two part interview with Francesca Tyer. What I love about author interviews is there is always something useful to learn from them. Hope you find the same.

Am enjoying taking part in a 30 day writing challenge issued by Auscot Publishing and Retreats. Some of the pieces I’ve drafted so far I know I can turn into flash fiction pieces and get out to competitions, markets etc. Others – hmm… the jury’s out there. I may be able to do something with them later but at least I will have the option of having something to try and work with. Equally if I discard these at a later date that’s fine. I gave the exercise a go. Didn’t quite work out for me but at least I know.

If you get the chance to take part in a challenge like this, do so. It encourages you to be more productive. And it is just good fun to give these things a go and see what you can do. That, after all, is how I discovered the joys of flash fiction – I gave it a go!
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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Am looking forward to waving the flag for flash fiction at The Hilt, Chandler’s Ford for a Book Fair being held on Saturday 8th July between 1.00 pm and 5.00 pm. The organisers hope this will become an annual event. I hope so too. We have lost a lot of bookshops over the last few years though I am glad there are still some in the area (which covers Southampton and Winchester too). Will be posting more about the fair nearer the time.

I often demonstrate what flash is by reading some and I hope to get to do that again. It is good fun and always results in sales!

 

It’s Monday. It’s a very hot Monday. Time for a story though I can’t promise it will cool you down. Hope you enjoy Recall, my latest on YouTube. Is loosely based on a true story which happened to my late father and I.

 

As flash fiction is so short, it has to be character led. Readers need to care about the characters to read on and there isn’t the room for much description anyway. What you want for that is the odd telling detail which will set enough of the scene to help readers visualise it.

But clues can be given to character status through the use of names. People will have different expectations from a Charlotte than they would from a Karen (and I am not saying whether that is a good or bad thing, I just know people will!). Of course whether your story lives up to those expectations will, I hope, be the hook that makes people read on to find out if they were right or not.

But another thing you can use to show something of a character is their nickname. I just went on to a random question generator I often use and the first question which came up was What is your nickname? You could apply that to a character and the story could be about how they got it. It could also reveal something more about them. If Charlotte prefers to be known as Lotte or Charlie for example, there will be a story about why that is the case.

May be a doodle of glasses and text that says "You want your books and stories to get your readers right into your characters heads. They need the characters to show them the stories, how they feel etc. Telling readers will switch them off Welike to work things out."

One of my longer flash fiction pieces is Rewards which is in From Light to Dark and Back Again. It takes up pretty much the whole 1000 words maximum for flash.

My lead character, Becky, reveals a lot about herself through her thoughts , including how she is haunted by another woman. The story reveals how she deals with said woman.

What I like about this piece is I reveal more and more about Becky as the story goes on but I am drip feeding this in to the plot. I also like Becky’s attitude. Doesn’t mean I agree with what she does though! But it is always a lovely moment when you know you have just “got” your character. The story spark is in that moment.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Books To Dip Into

I love books you can dip into but what do I mean by that? Well, short story anthologies and flash fiction collections are ideal for this, of course. I will admit to being biased here given I have work in anthologies and two flash collections of my own out there. But I also love the reference books to dip into as and when.

A great one for this is Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable which goes into the origins of well known fables and phrases. Fascinating book to dip into. It’s a massive one as well – another one to avoid dropping on your foot.

I also love books like the Agatha Christie short story collections. Her novels I will read from cover to cover, naturally, but for the collections I can pick a story at random and then come back to another at random later if I wish. I find this to be a refreshing way to read from time to time.

I have a number of writing advice books on my shelves and I can dip into those to refer to specific topics now I know what it is I need to know. When you start out as a writer, you generally don’t know. You find out what you do need to know about the writing world as you go along. But I am at that point now where I can just refer back to selected chapters as and when I need it. (This frees up more time to read other things so win-win there and proves there is value to dipping into books at times).

Books - ideas exchange here

Screenshot 2023-06-10 at 20-48-19 Books To Dip Into

 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Val Penny – Author Interview and News Update

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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. Many thanks to a kind colleague from Swanwick for taking the picture of me book signing there on my phone. Always tricky to do that kind of thing yourself!
Gorgeous, sunny week and Lady has seen many of her pals so a good week for her. Following on from my last round-up, am pleased to report more poppies emerging in my garden. I love those splashes of red. Writing wise, it is lovely to share a wonderful interview with Scottish crime writer, Val Penny, for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. See below for more. And a huge thank you to Val for supplying author and book pics and some great shots of Edinburgh.
There will be further author interviews to come soon too. I love sharing these as I always learn from them and I find it endlessly fascinating finding out what other writers are getting up to! Mind you, it does add to my To Be Read pile considerably…

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am delighted to welcome Scottish crime writer, Val Penny, back to Chandler’s Ford Today.

We discuss The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick, Val’s two series of wonderful crime fiction, scheduling your work, and much more besides. I hope you enjoy a fabulous in depth interview with her as much as I enjoyed conducting it. (Am also looking forward to when Val brings out her collection of short stories – we talk about that too).

Val Penny – Author Interview and News Update

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Lady got to see a couple of pals unexpectedly while out on walks today and she loved that. Mind you, she loves seeing people. Most affectionate dog. Delighted more poppies coming out in my garden – love those splashes of red.

Talking of colour, I do use it sometimes to add to my flash pieces and short stories. It can make something easier to visualise. But I try not to just use vision when adding senses to a story. It is the obvious one to go for but I must admit I find it difficult at times to add in taste.

Well, for one thing, my flash pieces can be so short, my characters are in and out of the story again before they’ve had chance to eat or drink anything!

I never add anything in for the sake of it. I will bring senses in to a story, regardless of length, when it is apt to do so. But I must admit I do tend to fall back on vision and sound as the two basic building blocks here. I think many writers do.

Mind you, maybe my characters would be grateful for the chance to hear music, grab a bite or two to eat etc. I came across a lovely story in The Oxford Book of Humorous Prose compiled by the much missed Frank Muir where an author’s characters come to life and berate him for giving them such a hard time. Hmm… something to think about then!

May be an image of text that says "Creative writing is fun and good for the brain τσσ."

Another lovely day in the park for Lady and her girlfriends. Three happy but tired dogs went home (and long before it got hot in my part of the world too).

Looking forward to sharing a smashing interview with Scottish crime writer, Val Penny, this week on Chandler’s Ford Today. Val shares her latest news, why she is now a member of the Committee for The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick, and looks ahead to her forthcoming collection of short stories. Plus there’s more. Link up on Friday. See above (and a great photo below of the two of us taken at Swanwick on my phone by a kind colleague!).

Reading/listening to author interviews is a useful tool for other writers because not only can you learn from them, you can use the questions to work out how you would answer them if an interviewer put them to you.

This in turn gives you the chance to really think about what your book/stories are about. That’s a good thing. Being able to talk concisely about your work stands you in good stead for pitching to publishers/agents (and for chatting to other writers at events).

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Amazon made me laugh today. You know they send you emails recommending what they think you’ll like. Well, I had one of those today and what did they think I would like? A copy of From Light to Dark and Back Again! Can’t have noticed the name on the cover! Okay they’re not wrong but…

Pleased to say Getting the Point is now up on Friday Flash Fiction. Hope you enjoy it.

Screenshot 2023-06-09 at 11-45-24 Getting The Point by Allison Symes

Pleased to have got my story submitted for a competition last night (closing date is the end of this month, 800 words maximum word count so perfect flash territory). Have another story to work on for another competition later in the year plus interviews to get ready for Chandler’s Ford Today. It’s a lovely mix of writing work.

So looking forward to being at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick again in August. I’ll be running my one hour editing workshop there. I have another workshop to run on flash fiction in July. So busy, busy, busy which is how I like it but it is also why I need to plan out what I’m doing when. Having said that, it means I get more done including entering more flash and story competitions.

May be an image of diary and text that says "Planning out your writing does not have to kill spontaneity, far from it. don't plan to the "nth" degree. I plan enough to get me started and to ensure I get done in a week what I'd like to get done. TOBER NOVEMBER YEARLYPLANNER DECEMBER LANNER TUE MON ONS"

A writing exercise I’ve sometimes used is to take an old story of mine and see if I can cut it in half. I’ll take a 1500 words story, say, and see if I can get it down to 750/800 words without losing anything important.

Sometimes I really can’t but I will get the story down to, say, 1000 words. Sometimes I can though and it is an eye opener as to what can be discarded and how the story tightens up considerably. Asking yourself the old question does this story/character really need this is an amazing aid to editing!

Just give yourself time for this exercise. It does take longer than you think but the results can be amazing.

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Fairytales with Bite – Fairytales and Proverbs

Don’t discard your old book of proverbs. They are so useful in providing themes for your stories and fairytales use these a lot. For example, the saying Don’t judge by appearances would apply to Puss In Boots who is far smarter than his master. It can also apply to any tale where a wizened old man or woman turns out to be a powerful magical being in disguise (Beauty and the Beast).

There is a strong sense of right/wrong/justice in the classic fairytales and that will often be based on proverbs, well known sayings, Biblical quotes etc.

I have sometimes used a proverb or well known saying to provide a title for my story and I do use these as themes a lot. Part of the reason for that is these things are timeless. There will always be room for stories based on, for example, truth will out. You could take that in many directions and show the consequences – for good or bad – here.

Also if your setting is a strange one, having a basic theme which people will identify with will help “anchor” your setting. People will take to it because, even if they can’t identify with your setting, they can do so with the theme. Your setting can of course have its own proverbs (but it will help if they are loosely based on what we have).

Another favourite of mine is beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Think about The Ugly Duckling. Didn’t consider themselves a “looker” at all. Thinks about what your characters believe about themselves. Are they right? If not, who or what can make them see themselves for who they really are?

Many wonderful stories can come from having themes based on the proverbs.

IDEA GENERATING - Proverbs are wonderful to source ideas but are not the only way

This World and Others – Wise Words

What would your fictional world consider to be wisdom? What would be their wise words? Is the constitution of your world based on these? Are there wise words nobody argues with (and is that because they don’t want to argue or they dare not?).

Who gives your fictional world their wise words? What great teachers/philosophers have your setting had? Have their words been proven to be true?

Now characters (as indeed we will) can argue about what defines wise words. What can seem like wise words to one can seem like foolishness to another. What could that lead to in your setting? War? (People have fought over far less a motive than words after all). How would your characters resolve it?

Think about whether you have a character who is especially wise (the Gandalf motif if you like). How could they share their wisdom with others without being too dominating?

And do wise words “win out” in the end ?Can the right wise words said at the right time (or discovered written down) change the course of the characters/story?

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

Always love signing my books for people at Swanwick

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