Image Credits:- All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Very hot here and will be for next few days so Lady won’t be out so much. Writing continuing to go well. More news on Seeing The Other Side soon.
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Even hotter than yesterday (with more to come) and Lady continues to chill out at home. We’re taking her out early and then she spends the rest of the day pottering around our well shaded garden. She is being so good and (unusually for her!) sensible!
Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Using Dates in Fiction for Chandler’s Ford Today. The link will be up on Friday. I will be sharing various ways of using dates this way, all of which I hope will trigger story ideas.
It won’t be long before my next author newsletter will be out. I know, I know. Where is the year going? Anyway, for flash tips, news, story links and more do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com
A very hot and sticky Monday. Lady was out earlier than normal. Managed to see her Hungarian Vizler pal but the rest of the day has been spent quietly in and out of our sheltered garden. It will be enough for her for the next few days.
As it’s Monday, it’s story time of course. I shared this one on Substack yesterday but it is time to share it here too. Hope you like my latest on this platform – I Got Away.
Busy and hot weekend. Lady’s not going out so much, as you can imagine. Next couple of days will be especially tricky but I’m grateful she readily drinks water. It helps (my last two dogs didn’t).
Am also very pleased I have one of those boards with a fan in it for my laptop. It comes into its own when the weather is hot and helps me also have the right angle to write to. The board is tipped at an angle so air can also get in underneath it. Highly recommend. Have had mine for years.
Writing wise, I hope to crack on with flash fiction Sunday shortly. Hope to use some of my drafts from the meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group earlier this week to get me off to a good start.
Hope your weekend has got off to a good start. Will need to be careful with Lady over the next few days as the temperatures will be rocketing again.
Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Using Dates in Fiction for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. I’ll be sharing various ways in which you could do this and why dates can be such a useful telling detail in and of themselves. Link up on Friday.
Don’t forget it won’t be too long before my next author newsletter will be out. For tips, news, story links etc., do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com
One nice job I’m looking forward to doing when Seeing The Other Side comes out is to update my books page on my website. I’ll take the chance to have a bit of a “tidy up” while doing this. It’s not something I feel the need to do often but the occasional refresh is always useful.
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I hope over the weekend to review some of my notes I jotted down during last week’s meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group. I know there are some story ideas to come from these so hope to make a start on some of these then.
I like to mix up the kinds of random generator I use too when I’m seeking ideas. My two stories on Substack and YouTube earlier this week (see above AND below!) were inspired by a random picture generator.
There are loads of these things out there. There is bound to be at least one which will suit you and by putting your own spin on what comes up, you create even further ideas.
Have fun with these, I do!
So glad writing is something I can do in the (relative) cool. Well, almost anything is cooler than the pavements etc at the moment. And as it is Monday, a hot and sticky one at that, it’s time for another story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Best Left.
Both this one and I Got Away on my Substack platform were inspired by a random picture generator. I then put my own spin on the image and have got two stories from the one image. I like this!
She loved her old home. She really didn’t want to leave it but it was best left now. Find out why here.
Another hot day here in Hampshire but am keeping nice and cool where I write. Dog is happy in the cool too.
Thought I’d share five tips for flash I continue to find useful. Hope you’ll find them helpful too.
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Work out what the story is first and then worry about the word count.
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If your character portrayal is great and the story works, then don’t try to cut the story down for the sake of making it fit the “right” word count. I’ve often had to leave stories at 150 words, say, and accept I need to write something else for, say, a 100 word story competition.
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Think tight turns of phrases so no “he ran quickly”. It isn’t specific enough. “He raced” is specific and I believe is easier to visualise because people’s definitions of “quickly” can vary.
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Have a concrete detail In the story readers can picture. This can vary from being the colour of something to a named place or historical setting. What you want readers to pick up from this is a clear idea of where your character is in time and, from that, what they are likely to be wearing. For example, if you show me your story is set in the Tudor era, I will expect a high born character to be wearing a ruff.
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Think about what you want the impact of the story to be on your reader. Do you want to make them laugh or cry? Do you want them to feel empathy for your character? You can then look at ways to do this and my way in here is always to work out what I need a character to do and be to achieve the objective. Most of my characters I want readers to feel empathy for will be on the “goodie” side as a rule.
Hope you find that useful.
I’ve sometimes used the letter format for flash fiction and short stories. It’s fun to do but you need a strong character voice to make it work. For me, this is another great reason to get to know your character ahead of writing their stories up. I need to know the kinds of things they would say and/or write and/or think and what’s behind that.
Motives are usually simple ones – greed, jealousy and, on the more positive side of life, love, wanting to help someone etc. Motives will colour what a character says, does and thinks but get to the bottom of that and what your character comes up with is more likely to be believable. It will “ring true”.
Goodreads Author Blog – What Attracts You to a New Book/New Author?
I think the top thing which attracts me to a new book and/or new author (new to me anyway) is a good recommendation by friends, especially other writing ones. We love good stories. We aim to write themselves, of course. We’re inspired by what has come before (and continue to be). So when a writing friend recommends a book or author, I will sit up and take notice.
Sometimes seeing or listening to an excellent adaptation will make me read the book and find out more works from the author. That was the case for me with Dickens, funnily enough. Watching Shakespeare has introduced me to many of his wonderful works but I remain convinced, other than his sonnets, he is meant to be watched rather than read as such. Ironically, I have the pandemic to thank here because it was thanks to the National Theatre Live productions which were put on at that time which drew me to the Bard.
Sometimes browsing in a book shop will introduce me to a new author. I discovered Terry Pratchett that way. It was the Josh Kirby covers on the Discworld series which drew me in but once I’d read my first Pratchett, which was Jingo, I knew I had to read the rest.
What I remain glad about is there are so many ways to discover new books and authors. There will always be plenty to read out there (and authored by humans too!).
That’s how it should be too.
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