Tag: Goodreads Author Blog

What Makes A Character Work

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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 Jennifer C Wilson for taking the image of me about to run a workshop at Swanwick in 2022. Looking forward to catching up with you, Jen, at Swanwick 2023! Many thanks to Richard Hardie for taking the image of me at the Book Fair.
Hope you have had a good weekend. I’m off to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick this coming weekend for a few days. I am planning to post but times will be different. Am looking forward to catching up with friends (the rest of the year I meet them online only) and attending the excellent workshops.

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Someone hasn’t told the weather it’s August, have they? Oh well. On the plus side, the grass in my local park does now look and feel like grass as opposed to the straw it had resembled during that period of hot weather we did have.

My latest author newsletter went out earlier today – many thanks to all who have signed up. Hope you enjoy the latest one.

I came to author newsletters fairly late though I enjoy reading several and it is something I should’ve done sooner than I did. It is a useful way of keeping in touch. I aim to put in mine what I know I’d like to receive myself. I think that helps (and shows). It is a great joy putting these together – marketing can be fun, honest!

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Allison Symes - August 2023 - Out and (Flashing) About

Had to have a chuckle. Had an email in from Amazon today suggesting I might be interested in The Best of CafeLit 12. Credit where it’s due and all that – they’re not wrong.

Someone might have noticed though I asked Amazon to add it to my Author Central page, which they’ve done – speedily too – within minutes of my asking, and that’s because I’m one of the authors in here! Mind you, I have had this kind of email for From Light to Dark and Back Again and Tripping the Flash Fantastic as well. Joined up thinking? Possibly not here.

In other news, have started packing for The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. Told you I was looking forward to it.

Bit of a strange day today. I’m standing down form a voluntary role I’ve carried out for some years. Absolutely right time to go. Things are developing for me in my church life and my writing one too, which means I no longer have the time for the voluntary role as well. Am still a member of the organisation concerned. I am looking forward to “just” being an ordinary member again though but when you have carried out a role for a long time, it does seem odd to be moving on.

Am so looking forward to sharing my review of Lilies on the Land, the latest production from The Chameleon Theatre Group, for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Such a moving play and it brought back memories of stories I was told by my parents/grandparents. More in the post. I suspect the play has and will continue to bring back memories for others too.

Don’t forget my next author newsletter goes out on Tuesday. Still time to sign up at my landling page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

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It’s my turn once again on More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. This time I talk about What Makes a Character Work. Hope you find the post useful and you can find out why the Sheriff of Nottingham as played by the late great Alan Rickman puts in an appearance here too.

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Hope you have had a good day. Busy one as ever. Am currently working on a flash piece I hope to bet submitted probably just after I get back from Swanwick.

I want to get it to the “resting” stage before I go away. When I come back – well, that will be enough of a break to give me the chance to judge the tale objectively before sending it anywhere. It’s amazing how many things I can pick up when I’ve given a story proper rest period like that and it can make all the difference to whether a tale is accepted or not.

This is why I build in time for this to happen so I still submit well ahead of any deadline. It is a tip which works and has worked repeatedly for me which is why I am happy to recommend it. I like tried and tested tips a lot!

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It’s Monday. It’s the Monday before I go to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick! Still time for a story though. My latest on YouTube is called Welcome to Earth. Hope you enjoy it.

Damp and drizzly here today. And the month we’re in is what exactly?! Having said that, I do not envy the poor souls with the heatwaves. I know I couldn’t cope with it, I can cope with the rain.

Heads up for those who send in stories to Friday Flash Fiction. For the next couple of weeks, they are only accepting the classic 75 to 100 word flash tales. See link for more information. Their contest ties in with the Edinburgh International Book Festival though, of course, the FFF one is purely online. Usual rule of one story a week applies. Good luck if you’re having a go at this.

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Hope you have had a good day. Changeable weather again here. This time next week I’ll be at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick and am so looking forward to it. Naturally I shall be spreading the word about flash fiction. Will report back for Chandler’s Ford Today in due course.

Talking of which, there is an offer on for the paperback version of From Light to Dark and Back Again on Amazon at the moment. You can check it out at the direct link below.

Goodreads Author Blog – Biographies

I’m currently reading London by Peter Ackroyd, a biography of the city which is an interesting way to approach writing history. Enjoying it immensely so far. But it led me to wonder about biographies, I have read some (mainly autobiographies) of figures I’m interested in. Agatha Christie’s autobiography is a fascinating read but unless the subject interests me, I don’t read much in this genre. No celebrity biographies for me!

Are there biographies you would recommend and what appeals about them? I do think the subject has to have led some kind of interesting life. With Agatha Christie, I am a huge fan of her books so am naturally interested in what she had to say about herself. I love history so the idea of London appealed to me too. (It helps I’m a Londoner by birth I suspect – another reason to be interested in the subject).

I suppose one reason I do like some of these is I am at that stage of life myself where I am interested in what others at this stage of life or beyond it have got to with theirs! This is another reason why I’m not interested in the younger celebrity books here.

I do wonder well what experience of life have you got other than that which made you famous? For me that isn’t enough, I like to read of how people struggled, made the breakthrough, made mistakes, picked themselves up again etc. Those are stories worth telling.

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Publication News – Writers’ Narrative – and Writing to Unwind

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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. Images for Writers’ Narrative magazine used in the Chandler’s Ford Today post and on my Facebook posts were kindly supplied by Wendy H Jones, Editor in Chief. The Feature Image is based on an image supplied by Wendy too. Many thanks also to Richard Hardie for taking the picture of me at the recent Book Fair.
Hope you had a lovely weekend. Had a family to to celebrate my other half’s significant birthday – good time had by all, despite the weather. Lady loved it all. And it was lovely to be able to share more publication news just before the weekend too.

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Am thrilled to say the first issue of Writers’ Narrative magazine is now out there. It’s a fabulous read for any writer (and written by writers who understand what people are seeking in this kind of magazine). I talk about Boosting Your Writing with Flash Fiction but there is an astounding range of articles in here. And the magazine has already hit the No. 1 spot in the US on Amazon. It was a real pleasure to receive the magazine in my inbox this morning – and you can receive it this way too. Just see the link.

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Hope you have had a good start to the week. Mondays are always hectic but it is nice to get to that point of the day where I can write for a while. Bliss and I find it invigorating and a great way to unwind at the same time, strange as that may sound. Writing satisfies a need to be creative. This is especially great after a day of doing more mundane things.

Looking forward to catching up with everyone at the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction group meeting on Wednesday. I am glad to say several have had pieces on Friday Flash Fiction which is fabulous. Flash fiction writing, I find, comes into its own when I don’t have as much time as I would like to write. I still can get something down!

May be an image of text that says "Learning to go with the flow takes time but you will be happier for doing so."As well as sharing the wonderful news The Best of CafeLit 12 is now out (with my story Jubilee on page 110 – guess who looked!), I get to do some authorial housekeeping. I’ve updated my Amazon Author Central Page – I will give Amazon their due here. I put the request in and literally minutes later the book was up on my page. Can’t fault that.

Updating books on Goodreads is more tricky though – I’ve sent a request in but don’t know when I’ll hear on that. Am less impressed. I’ve never found updating anything on that site easy.

I’ve updated the books page on my website (see link – I’ve got the books page as my home page – I think there is something apt about that. Books always make me think of home and the lovely volumes I have here!).

Oh and I’ve got the book listed with ALCS (Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society). As a member of the Society of Authors, I get to be part of ALCS for free but it doesn’t cost much to join and your membership fee is taken from your first payment. Just the once too. You pay once and that’s it.

Adding my books on to my ALCS list means I will get something from my contribution to this book in due course from them. It is worth adding on your books (but they can’t do ebooks). Well worth investigating if you’ve got books out (or contributions to print anthologies etc).

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Had a family do today. Great time had by all. Lady loves it when we have guests around. They all make a huge fuss of her and treats are involved too so what’s not to like?

Am so looking forward to sharing next week’s Chandler’s Ford Today post – Welcome to Writers’ Narrative Magazine. I’m talking with Editor in Chief, Wendy H Jones, for this one. Amongst other topics will be how you can subscribe to this free magazine and how to submit articles for consideration.

The first (August) edition is out during next week (25th July, just ahead of my post). See above. Trust me, there is plenty of good reading here. I am privileged to be part of the editorial team here. Naturally I am also contributing articles! If you would like to sign up now, to ensure you don’t miss a single thing, you can do so at the link here.

Writers' Narrative

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Delighted to be talking about how writing flash fiction can boost your writing overall for the first issue of Writers’ Narrative, which came out today.

I will also be focusing on flash fiction for tomorrow’s meeting of the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction group on Zoom.

This is a good example of why it is important to love what you write. All writers need to market their work (else how else will people know about it?) so it is vital you enjoy what you do to (a) help you keep going with this and (b) talk about your writing love with conviction. It does show.

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The good old notebook is still useful for Zoom workshop attendees

It’s Monday. It’s been wet, dark at times, more like an autumn day than a summer one, wet, and it is still Monday. Time for another YouTube story from me then. Hope you enjoy my latest called Celebrating though my character Sheila is celebrating alone. Find out why here.

 

Sunday afternoon is flash fiction writing time for me and is something I look forward to immensely. I’m also looking forward to the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group on Wednesday evening.

My story, Jubilee, in the recently released The Best of CafeLit 12 is a piece of flash work. Yes, it is about the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. So much seems to have happened since then, yes?

Events like this can act as time markers for fiction – most people remember where they were/what they were doing at these things so that can save you a lot of description and gives a setting immediately. (And nobody, who saw it, is going to forget the marvellous sketch with Paddington either!).

CafeLit12 MediumHad a lovely time at the family do held earlier today. We don’t let the weather get in our way! Just as well too given it poured down all day….

The first edition of Writers’ Narrative magazine is out online next week and I’ll be taking about flash fiction in that. See above. Am excited about this as the magazine really is fabulous.

Talking of which, I am thrilled to have a flash fiction piece of mine, Jubilee, out in the recently released The Best of CafeLit 12. Many congratulations to all of the other writers in this lovely collection. Great mix of stories and authors here. Do check it out. Good read guaranteed!

 

Goodreads Author Blog – Publication News and Being Read

Am thrilled to have another story out, Jubilee, in the recently released The Best of CafeLit 12. The buzz of being published never dies! It’s a continuing joy to know your work is being read.

I regularly mix up what I read. I will read novels, non-fiction, fiction across most genres, but I also make sure I include the short form (short stories and flash fiction). Okay, I’m biased because I write short stories and flash fiction, but they are just as every bit a valid an art form as the novel. You cherish all of these things, I think.

The advantage of the short forms of fiction is they are perfect for those without much time to read or who do not have the confidence to read bigger works.

The shorter forms are ways of showing there is something out there for all reading needs. Not everyone wants to read a huge novel, at least to begin with, Maybe they’ll get to that later once they‘ve had confidence in reading built up (and the short forms can help a lot there). Sometimes a story is best told in fewer words and it genuinely works better at 10,000 words, say, rather than standard novel length of about 100,000.

What I love is there is plenty of choice out there and I will always wave the flag for the shorter forms of reading. They can be a great way into reading altogether.

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES
As well as selling my books, I was selling books I've contributed to - those went well too

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Must admit I do not like the new X symbol for Twitter. I liked the bird! Is staying here for the time being at least.

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Books Which Work and Those Which Don’t

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Not bad here. Glad to spread good news about the forthcoming monthly online magazine, Writers’ Narrative. This is written by writers for writers and the first issue will be out soon. More details below. Am very pleased to be part of this. (Images kindly provided for Writers’ Narrative by Wendy H Jones, Editor in Chief).

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Am pleased to be back on Authors Electric once more. This month I talk about Books Which Work and Those Which Don’t. I do love titles which get to the heart of the matter! Hope you enjoy the post.

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Back to the changeable weather today but Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler friend so was very happy with that.

Will be looking at Websites – Why A Writer Needs One for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up on Friday. Looking forward to the next Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Group meeting next week too.

The countdown to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick starts about now. Well, at least it does for me! So looking forward to catching up with friends and making new ones and the workshops are always an inspiration.

I’m chatting about Books Which Work and Those That Don’t for Authors Electric – link up tomorrow. See above.

May be a graphic of 1 person and text that says "The writing life is addictive but fun. The support of other writers makes a huge difference."Better day weather wise today though was thankful to avoid most of the rain yesterday. Still our park is looking much better than it had done. The grass is looking like grass as opposed to straw.

Many thanks for the comments coming in on my post yesterday about Writers’ Narrative. Much appreciated. I’ll be sharing a fabulous interview with editor in chief, Wendy H Jones, about the new writing magazine, in a couple of weeks time on Chandler’s Ford Today.

Meantime I’ll be looking at websites and useful material for them for the post coming up on CFT this coming week. Hope you will find both posts useful. More on each nearer the time.

15th July – Val Penny blog tour
So pleased to be part of Val Penny’s book blog tour to link in with the re-release of Hunter’s Blood. The tour is organised by Lynsey Adams but do check the tour out. And good luck, Val.
Screenshot 2023-07-18 at 20-42-30 Reading Between the Lines Online Book PR15th July – second post
Am pleased to share more news about Writers’ Narrative, the forthcoming new online writing magazine. Written by writers for writers. The first issue will be out soon and the best way to ensure you don’t miss an edition is to subscribe to it. Best news of all – this is free – do see the link (and meet the team as well while there). The magazine will be a monthly one and packed full of advice and aspects of the writing world you will not want to miss. Oh and check out the cover on the first one – it’s fabulous.

Writers' Narrative

 

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Many thanks for the great comments coming in on The Neighbours, my most recent tale on Friday Flash Fiction. This is the only tale I’ve written which is inspired by Shakespeare, Terry Pratchett, and the female characters from long running sitcom, The Last of the Summer Wine. It’s a good mix though! If you missed it, do check out the link.

(Oh and many congratulations to other members of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction group for having work on here this week as well. Always good to see that).

Screenshot 2023-07-14 at 10-10-17 The Neighbours by Allison Symes

It’s Monday. I just about rescued my washing in time from a heavy downpour when the forecast said there would be no rain. (Have always felt the forecast is more like an intelligent bet – and sometimes it does not pay off!). Time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Porridge.

 

I’ve mentioned before that telling details, which includes having a hook-them-in title, are crucial components for flash stories. With no room for much in the way of description, you do have to show only what your readers what they need to know and leave it there. The rest can be implied.

This is where using the senses can come in handy. Rather than get my character to wear a drab coat, I would get them to wear a beige one. It is specific. Beige is considered a drab colour. Job done there.

Sometimes for locations you can use sound to imply where a character has to be. If they’re listening to a wide variety of bird song, they’re unlikely to be in the middle of a big city. Other little details can then flesh this out such as the character relishing the sound of walking through crunchy leaves etc (and that gives you the season too without you having to say so).

Naming a street, say, would imply the character has to be in at least a village.

It pays then to work out what your reader has to know and then work out how you can show that through your character’s actions and thoughts.

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As promised, more news about Writers’ Narrative. I am one of the team behind the magazine (the editor in chief is Wendy H Jones) and the magazine is packed full of wonderful information and advice no writer is going to want to miss and much more besides. Good news! You can subscribe to the free magazine here. The first issue will be out soon. It is a pleasure and privilege to be working on this. (Oh and naturally I’m talking about flash fiction in the first issue). You can subscribe for free here.

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Goodreads Author Blog – All The Fun of the Book Fair

I was thrilled to take part in a Book Fair local to me last weekend. It was the first one in the venue chosen (and the venue was excellent). It was fantastic to see a wide range of authors covering so many different tastes in books and age ranges too.

Non-fiction (travel journeys) was well represented too. The organisers counted well over 100 people in attendance and there was a constant footfall flow all afternoon. This is highly encouraging. There is hope this event will become an annual one. For obvious reasons, I hope it does too.

But I also saw it as encouraging that people still love books. They want to see what their local authors are coming out with. If you have an event like this coming up near you, do go if you can. You may well be pleasantly surprised at the wealth of reading material on offer. I was – and I was taking part!

Also great to see these events back again. The last one I took part in was before the pandemic – that seems like a world away now – though I have run workshops, gone to conferences etc since. Good to see the book fairs back too now! This was something I was especially pleased about as our bookshops are now several miles away so having the books come to the locality will always be a fantastic idea.

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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This tweet came as a nice surprise! Thank you. Jacci Gooding! Also have been very busy on the Twitter front this week – that bird has been tweeting a lot from my end!

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Characters Who Surprise and Unexpected Reviews

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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.
Fabulous weekend with the flash fiction workshop on the Friday and the Book Fair on the Saturday. More about the latter to come in my CFT post this week. Hope you have had a good weekend too. Lady has been busy catching up with her girlfriends so she has had a nice time too.

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As well as selling my books, I was selling books I've contributed to - those went well too

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Changeable weather today – managed to avoid the rain. I got wet instead thanks to a swim! Much more fun.

Reading wise, I’m now back on the non-fiction after reading a hugely enjoyable crime novel. (And there were good examples of both kinds of book at last weekend’s Book Fair too).

Writing Tip: Never expect perfection from a first draft. It’s not what the first draft is for. I is just where you get the story down. Then you can work on improving it. It will need improving. All stories do. But unless you get that draft down, you won’t see where to improve it. And take comfort from the thought that every fiction author is in the same position here!

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Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to see her two favourite girlfriends today – good time had by all. Busy day after a lovely weekend but then Mondays are always like that.

Can you remember the first character (or an early one) that took you by surprise? Mine was The Little Mermaid from Hans Christen Andersen. (Definitely not the Disney version!). Why? It was news to me that fairytales did not always have a happy ending. Okay, be fair, I was a kid at the time but that was a useful lesson, even if you don’t realise it is one at the time.

Another story which captivated me early on was The Snow Queen. The girl is the hero in this one! I loved that (and still do). Bearing in mind I grew up a long time ago and that kind of thing was a novelty, trust me. (It’s why I always have had a soft spot for Lady Penelope from Thunderbirds as well).

To this day, I have an even softer spot for the feisty female lead in a story who knows her own mind and acts on it, whether she gets it right or not.

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Met a fellow dog walker in the Recreation Ground today. No surprises there but she bought From Light to Dark and Back Again from me at the Book Fair yesterday. She came over and said, with a big grin on her face, she’d read the book this morning and she felt I had a “wicked sense of humour”! As I replied, that is a review! (Oh and guilty as charged here by the way. Not at all sorry!).

Looking forward to sharing a write up of how things went at the inaugural Book Fair here for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Will be an especial pleasure to share that one!

Oh and a huge thanks for the great comments coming in on Flaky, my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction. Much appreciated. If you didn’t get chance to spot this one, do check out the link (and check out the other stories too. You’ll be in for a good read).

 

Had a fantastic time at the book fair at The Hilt today. It was lovely to meet fellow authors, some I knew, others I didn’t, but we all got chatting to each other and to the many people who came. I’ll be writing more about this for my Chandler’s Ford Today post next Friday but it was a great event and I hope this does become a regular thing. Many thanks to the organisers, to those who kept the writers well supplied with tea and coffee etc., and to all who supported the event.

It was nice to finish my day with a meal out with family. Much appreciated. I never mind not having to cook!

Writing Tip: Never worry about your first draft being rubbish, They are kind of meant to be. It’s the editing which will polish the work and make it better. Do see the writing and the editing as two separate creative tasks. They each have their challenges and I find if far easier to keep the two tasks separate. I need to know what my story is and what really matters before I can do any editing work on it. (Oh and this ties up with the writing tip given above but I can’t stress this point enough. Write first, edit later. It really does pay.).

May be a graphic of text that says "The writing is the obvious fun side to do but editing has its creative side too."

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Many thanks for the lovely comments in on my post yesterday regarding Counting which is my latest tale on YouTube. Much appreciated. These videos are great fun to do and are another way of highlighting what flash fiction can be. Who says marketing can’t be fun?

Was at an interesting Zoom talk last night and it flagged up another source of research. For me, non-fiction has often sparked ideas for stories.

Why? Because you often come across intriguing characters and events in non-fiction. You can ask yourself what would your character do if they faced something similar. If in real life a personage did Action X, you could explore alternative history stories here by getting your character to do Y instead and work out what the consequences would be.

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It’s Monday. The weather’s changeable. It’s still Monday. It’s time for a new story from me on YouTube. Counting is a result of a random number generator prompt where I generated three numbers in sequence. Thought I’d put them all into a tale and mix them up, apt for this story especially.

 

So nice to see authors I knew and those I met for the first time yesterday. Plenty of networking went on at the Book Fair (which is how it should be too).

One aspect to flash which might be overlooked is, if you’re not sure where to start with writing, the short form is a great place to begin.

Why? Well, for one thing, you’re not overwhelmed by the thought of having to come up with 80,000 to 1000,000 words for a novel. Also, with work, practice, and persistence, you can get stories submitted and hopefully build up publication credits which you could then list in a query letter to a publisher/agent when you are ready to submit a longer piece of work somewhere.

I mentioned a few times yesterday that writing flash has helped with my other forms of writing. You don’t just tighten up your editing in one form only here! The skills you learn writing the short form come in useful for the longer works too! Win-win.

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It was a fantastic opportunity to spread the word about flash fiction at the book fair at The Hilt today. I was pleased to meet others who write flash too. Also great to see many authors who write a wide range of books here. More about this in my Chandler’s Ford Today post on Friday. So good doing live events like this though.

Glad to say the flash fiction workshop went well yesterday and it was lovely meeting everyone in the writing group online. It has been a lovely end to the week.

May be an image of text that says "deas Zoom workshops are useful for the exchange of ideas especially when not possible to do this in person."

Goodreads Author Blog – Book Fairs and Events

I was at a Book Fair local to me recently and it was great fun. As well as celebrating books, it was fantastic to meet other authors and readers. There was a good range of books on offer too covering a wide range of tastes which is exactly what you want from an event like this. (The organisers also kept the writers well supplied with tea and coffee, which was also appreciated!).

Going to events like this is a fabulous way of supporting authors you know, as well as discovering writers new to you. It’s a way of bringing books to you, especially if your nearest bookshop is some distance away.

I hope the organisers of this event do it again. It would be lovely if it became a regular event.
If you get the chance to go to such things near you, do go. You may well be surprised at the range of books on offer. Every book event I’ve been to has been seriously impressive here.

 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Book Fair and Cake Story

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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 Vie Portland for the Book Fair poster.
Hope you have had a good few days. Am looking forward to the Book Fair in my area later this week. Will be nice doing events like this again. Also running another flash workshop on Zoom before that so will be a busy end to this week but a fun one. And it all advertises the joys of books and flash fiction so win-win there!

 

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Hope you have had a good day. Rain welcome. Will clear the air. The grass over the park should look less like straw too! One lovely thing about the Book Fair on Saturday is it is an indoors event – always a wise move, that!

Writing Tip: Think about what you need to know before you write your story. I have to know who the character is and their major trait. Other writers may need to be able to work out the setting first and then figure out who would be in it. What works best for you? You can play to your strengths here. There is no one right way to “do” an outline. It is a question of working out what suits you and then going with that.

May be an image of glasses and text that says "I see an outline as a road map. can veer off it if| want to. I've got it to return to when needed."

Many thanks to Francesca Tyer for sharing the recent two part interview I conducted with her on Chandler’s Ford Today on her own website – you can check things out at the link. Also there are links to other interviews with her and Richard Hardie on the Authors Reach website – see separate link for that.
Lady had a fabulous time with her her best girlfriends in the park today. So nice to have cooler air. The dogs appreciate it. I find it easier for concentrating on my writing too!

Now for my monthly blog spots, I draft these in advance and, as with story competitions, I take time off from when these should be in by and use that as my personal deadline instead. It pays. It means I don’t miss a deadline and being able to schedule blogs is so useful.

 

Hope you have had a pleasant weekend. Was putting wood preservative on one of my fence panels yesterday (a big one – took some time). Back to writing today. The glamorous life has passed me by I think!

I’ll be writing a little bit more about the Book Fair for Friday’s Chandler’s Ford Today post. I do hope this becomes the annual event the organisers hope for. Our nearest bookshops are in two cities a few miles either side of where I am. I think it is lovely having an event which brings books to the doorstep so to speak.

I also hope to be writing more about Writers’ Narrative, the new online magazine for writers, which will be out in August. Do watch this space.

Am looking forward to running a flash fiction workshop on Friday afternoon. Zoom has proven so beneficial.

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Unusually, I have a second post from Chandler’s Ford Today to share with you. This one is a mini post all about the forthcoming Book Fair on Saturday 8th July. If you can get to the event, every author there would love to see you. It is great to be back doing events like this once again. So looking forward to this.

And if you’re outside the area, do support your own local book events. Authors and organisers appreciate the support and you can find many a great discovery amongst local authors you might not have found about about another way.

Event News: The Book Fair, The Hilt, Chandler’s Ford

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Many thanks for the wonderful comments coming in on Your Time Your Cake, my most recent tale on Friday Flash Fiction. The feedback (so apt for this story!) is much appreciated. I do enjoy coming up with older characters, especially, who know their own mind and are not afraid to show that is so. Think you’ll like my Gran character here. Do check out the story – hope you enjoy it.

Screenshot 2023-06-30 at 09-58-56 Your Time Your Cake by Allison Symes

3rd July
It’s Monday. The weather has been changeable (though the rain has been welcome -well, it was the moment I got my washing in anyway!). It’s time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube -New Holiday. This story was written in response to a challenge prompt I was set recently. Hope you enjoy it.

 

Sometimes in my flash fiction, I can get across something which I feel strongly about via my characters. For example, I am anti-bullying. Most people are. But in Enough is Enough from Tripping the Flash Fantastic I get my character to reveal “she was not going to be mistaken for a giant tomato on legs again by anyone”. I don’t need to say she’s been bullied for her weight here, do I? I’ve shown you this via that character.

This kind of thing has helped me to grasp what show, don’t tell really means. (Just one of the many benefits of writing flash fiction). Sometimes showing does take up more words than straight telling but it has so much more impact on a reader. They will see what your character does. They will feel what your character does.

You can’t get any of that just by telling them things. Readers are more likely to stick with your story if they are “feeling” what your character does (or at least have empathy) and readers are more likely to do this if they can see for themselves what your character is.

May be a graphic of text that says "H Character needs are everything."

Looking forward to spreading the word about flash fiction at the Book Fair at The Hilt on 8th July. Good to be back doing this kind of event again. Newsletter went out this morning. Always a joy to put those together and a big hello to those who have signed up since last time and just as big a hello to those who have been signed up for longer. All welcome!

So looking forward to The Writers’ Summer School in August. Not so long to go now. I’m running a short course on editing (a one hour workshop) and will also be running an early morning session as part of their Lift Up Your Pens sessions. These are great fun and a fabulous way to get some writing done before breakfast (which is not something I can usually manage!).

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Goodreads Author Blog – Light Reading

I have a soft spot for what could be considered “light” reading. By this I mean humorous fiction (Wodehouse, Pratchett), short story and flash fiction collections (though I should add some of those can be dark in tone though they are not especially my cup of tea), and the kind of non-fiction which entertains me and helps me learn something new at the same time.

I definitely don’t want academic works. My experience of those is they don’t read well, at least to me, and there is often far too much jargon in them.

Novel wise, I’m not after the dark, grim ones. Am not a huge fan of dystopian fiction. (Especially since you could argue we are seeing so much of those themes on our news bulletins!). I do love crime fiction (and the ones that can combine humour tick a second box for me).

I like feel good literature. For me. It is one major point to reading. Books and stories should take you into their worlds. They don’t necessarily have to be dark ones.

Screenshot 2023-07-01 at 20-34-41 Light Reading

 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Windsor Castle and Cake Glorious Cake

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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. Many thanks to Penny Blackburn for taking the image of me reading at the Swanwick Open Prose Mic Night back in 2019. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes, as were the photos from Windsor Castle.
Had a lovely day out with my younger sister over the weekend. It was a trip down Memory Lane in some ways. While we’d not been to the Castle itself before, we have been to Legoland and, prior to that on that site, the old Windsor Safari Park. (That was very much of its time). In both cases we remembered the magnificent views of the Castle from those places. This time, it was nice to see the views FROM the Castle!

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Posting early as have a busy evening ahead. Have another one again tomorrow with the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction group meeting on Zoom. Talking about flash fiction is always fun and it has been great to see people with this group have works published on Friday Flash Fiction etc. The proof of the pudding etc etc. Writing exercises (and I set these regularly) do spur creativity and are worth having a go at for that reason alone. If you can then go on to get the works published, even better.

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Today would’ve been my father’s 86th birthday. He would have heartily approved of my kid sister and I having a trip to Windsor Castle over the weekend. The last time we were in the area at all, we were kids and he was driving. Yes, I am going a long way back. I have a long way TO go back!

Lady had a good time with her two closest pals, the Rhodesian Ridgeback and the Hungarian Vizler. It has been cooler today – nobody in my acquaintance, human or otherwise, has been sorry about that!

Looking forward to welcoming Gail Aldwin back to Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. (Many thanks again to Francesca Tyer for her two part interview – it was great).

Have submitted a short historical piece as an entry for an article competition. So enjoyed writing the piece too. Am pondering whether to have a crack at a flash fiction competition – deadline end August.

May be a graphic of text that says "Entering writing competitions is also good practice for writing to deadlines. DEADLINE 5 60"

Another hot day (though cooler than yesterday). Lady and I are not sorry about that.
Many thanks for the great comments coming in on Deserved Desserts, my most recent tale on Friday Flash Fiction. The opening line here is an odd one even by my standards but huge fun! Hope you enjoy it if you missed the link on my book Facebook page on Friday (From Light to Dark and Back Again).

Sometimes I will start an idea from a quirky opening line I’ve jotted down (usually during one of my brainstorming sessions). I then work out what I could do with that line and I usually find something. Don’t forget you can use random generators to come up with opening lines (quirky or otherwise). This makes for a good writing challenge. There are competitions which are based on opening lines set by the competition organisers so this is well worth having a go at on a regular basis.

Screenshot 2023-06-23 at 09-56-26 Deserved Desserts by Allison Symes

Had a fabulous day out at Windsor Castle with my kid sister. Lovely time had by us both. So hot though. What is nice is we’ve been able to convert our tickets so we can visit again during the next year during the times the Castle is open to the public. We hope to get to do that. No extra money for this either. Also very impressed with how well organised they are for those with mobility issues.

Looking forward to sharing a fabulous interview with Gail Aldwin whose The Secret Life of Carolyn Russell is out soon. Link up on Friday. And then I’ll be sharing more news about the Book Fair I’m going to be part of in July.

I’ve occasionally written a flash piece based on a work of art. Gill James set this as a challenge ages ago and it was fun to do. Will I do it again? At some point, yes. I was impressed with the Van Dycks and other masterpieces I’ve seen today at the Castle so plenty of inspiration to be found there! Am not short of potential material at least…

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I mix up the pieces I use for reading at Open Prose Mic Nights etc – in terms of mood, word count as well as by using different tales. I rehearse reading these (and yes I do often record them on Zoom to play back) but the important thing is to have a good read through (ideally several) as it is too easy to assume you know the material, you can wing it. Err… no.

What I do find the rehearsals do is help calm my nerves because I know I have rehearsed. It helps. The tricky bit is working out how much to drink (non-alcoholic as alcohol can dry the throat aside from any other side effects!) ahead of an event because you don’t want to have a dry throat when reading (it can lead to coughing) nor do you want to be caught short! I find about an hour before hand works well.

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It’s Monday. It has cooled down a bit! Still time for a new story. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Cake Glorious Cake. Is on the dark side, probably like the chocolate involved in the cake. Hope you enjoy it.

 

Internal thoughts are a great way to show character attitude (and usual practice is to have these in italics. It distinguishes them from “speech” and flags up the the reader this is a character thinking). I use this a lot as I often want to get across attitude and don’t we all think things we don’t then go on to say? Characters can do the same thing! What the thoughts will do is influence their behaviour and show the reader directly why your character is acting the way they are, both useful things.

May be a graphic of text that says "Thoughts are effectively internal dialogue but should still suit the character you portray and the genre of the story."


Looking forward to running the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction group meeting on Zoom next week. Always good fun and it is an enjoyable challenge for me to find a useful topic to set exercises on. I like setting (and then doing) writing exercises. I’ve had several stories go on to be published which started life this way.

Now I must admit I find the hot humid weather not the easiest of conditions to cope with but it led me to wonder if you could get a character to find the same thing. How would that change their attitudes and behaviour? How would that change the course of your story? And are other characters tolerant of their struggles to cope with the conditions?

Goodreads Author Blog – Classic -v- Contemporary Reading

Now for me there is no debate when it comes to whether you should read classic or contemporary works of fiction and non-fiction. You do both of course. For non-fiction you need to be aware some information is likely to be out of date but there is still inspiration to be had from what people thought at the time of publication. That could even lead to fictional story ideas.

I often mix up my reading so I’ll read a novel, before going on to a story or flash collection and then I’ll move on to some non-fiction but it is a good idea to mix up between classic and contemporary as well. You don’t want to miss out on the classic works and you want to see what is out and about now. I see this as having a good reading diet (which I find helps inspire my writing too).

It’s also encouraging to know great writers have always been inspired by others’ stories. So I should be too! But it is interesting that ideas for stories often come when I’m reading non-fiction. And I can be as taken away by fabulous tale whether it is a classic or contemporary one.

Screenshot 2023-06-24 at 20-52-27 Classic -v- Contemporary Reading

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES
Allison Symes - Flash Fiction Collections

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Holiday Writing and Quizzing Characters

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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.
Am looking forward to a trip out with family to Windsor Castle later this week. I suspect there will opportunities for people watching. Whenever I go out anywhere, there usually is! Sometimes a snatch of dialogue will inspire a story. Sometimes a striking hat or other clothing item will make me think of a character of mine who might wear something similar and what situation they’re in. As ever, I just need something to get me started and getting out and about can help with that!

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Nice, cooler day today – Lady and I appreciated that.

Part 2 of my interview with YA fantasy author, Francesca Tyer, will be up on Chandler’s Ford Today later this week. Cracking interview. Link up on Friday. Be sure not to miss.

Now if you were temporarily allowed to bring one of your characters to life to ask them one question, who would you choose and what would you ask? Could be great material for a story or two here. Hmmm… something I too need to check out I think!

Am looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction Group meeting next week. These are always great fun. I do set exercises here. I find writing exercises a great way to put into practise a tip or two you’ve picked up. The nice thing with writing exercises? There is sure to be at least one or two which really suit the way you write. Practising writing to them helps build up your writing skills so worth a go for that alone.

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Wasn’t sorry for the rain yesterday evening. Has cooled things down though the grass is still like straw over the Recreation Ground. Not that it stopped Lady having a good time with her Rhodesian Ridgeback bestie today.

Writing Tip: Quiz your characters. Find out what makes them tick. What wouldn’t they do in any circumstances? Your job here – put them in those circumstances and then see what they do. They will have to find a way of coping with it. Doesn’t necessarily have to be something “overly” dramatic.

For example, let’s say you have a character who doesn’t like the water. A friend is ill and someone is organising a charity swim to raise funds to help this friend. What would your character do? Sure, they could just donate but where’s the story in that?

What they would do so there is a story is learn to swim, take part in the event (though they probably wouldn’t do many lengths given the lack of experience here) but everyone is thrilled they’ve done this. That would make a nice human interest story. Your character has faced up to something they don’t like here. They are putting themselves out for someone else. It’s that which readers will like.

So think about something which would make your characters do something they wouldn’t ordinarily do. This can be taken in many directions. Have fun!

May be an image of text that says "How well do you know your characters? need to know their major trait(s) before writing their stories."

I’m talking about Holiday Writing for Authors Electric this month. Do you do any and/or do you send your characters on holiday? Take your characters out of their normal environment and what could happen? I discuss this and more in this post. Hope you enjoy it.

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Bit of an odd day. Have gone from doing the ironing to painting a wood preservative on another fence panel. Oh the joys! So it is with great relief I am now back at the writing desk.

It was great to share Part 1 of the interview with Francesca Tyer on Chandler’s Ford Today yesterday. Am looking forward to sharing Part 2 on Friday.

Many thanks for the great comments coming in on Anniversary, my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction. This one has a dark twist – if you missed it, check out the link. I very much appreciate the feedback on this great site and if you want to see what flash fiction can be, this is a very good place to start.

Screenshot 2023-06-16 at 18-35-04 Anniversary by Allison Symes

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Flash fiction collections are a great way to show off what flash can do and be. Mine have a wide range of characters and situations in them. Equally The Great War by Dawn Kentish Knox is a wonderful book (100 x 100 word stories) all based on World War One. So flash works well for characterisation and themes then. Then there are the flash-in-novella books too.

There is more flexibility in flash than at first might appear to be the case. It is the top word count only you have to watch for but there is much you can do within that

I regularly share tips on flash writing via my author newsletter. Next one is due out on 1st July. If you’d like to sign up, please head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

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It’s Monday once more. It’s still hot (in my case not helped by having an afternoon in the kitchen batch cooking though it will pay off later in the week!). Time for a story then. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Editor Edited.

 

One of the joys of flash (and there are many) is that it is a great format for turning the tables. In my The Terrified Dragon I do exactly that. Firstly, the expectation normally is the dragon would be terrifying. Not in this story from Tripping the Flash Fantastic. Secondly, I then go on to show good reasons why it is terrified instead and have another character come to its aid. Great fun to write. Best kept as a very short story, anything else would be padding, and so flash is perfect for it.

Sometimes you just know when an idea comes to you that it works best in the shorter formats and with flash we have the ideal vehicle for the very short form. A single idea executed in the right amount of words works so well. Gauging whether an idea has “legs” for a longer format is not easy to get right. My gut instinct is to keep an idea tight – stick to the point of it and don’t elaborate further. Turning the table kind of stories tend to focus on one central action so this is why it works brilliantly when kept short.

May be an image of text that says "Flash with a Dash of History, Crime, Fantasy, and Dragons Tripping the Flash Fantastic by Allison Symes carefully crafted collection story worlds"

I’ve sometimes used proverbs as title ideas (and often they end up being the theme as well). One of these is A Stitch In Time from Tripping the Flash Fantastic. I used a humorous slant on this one.

The great thing with using proverbs for fiction is the proverbs have a timeless quality to them. People will always identify with the point they’re making and that is something invaluable to use for your stories. People will always get the point you’re showing in your tales as a result. So don’t throw out that book of proverbs – you can make good use of it here.

May be an image of text that says "Sayings and proverbs used as themes can show us timeless truths and get a point across in an entertaining way. Lie Truth"

Goodreads Author Blog – Book Fairs

Do you go to book fairs? I hope so. I’m taking part in one in my area in July and am looking forward to that. It gives local authors a chance to show what they do and these things are especially useful in areas which have a lost a lot of their bookshops. We had a fantastic local one but that had to close due to the owners’ retirement. Much missed.

All of us as readers appreciate the works of authors. We wouldn’t be on Goodreads otherwise but authors do appreciate support from readers. Going to book fairs is just another way of showing that support. So if you have such an event coming up near you, try and get along. You may well be surprised at the range of works your local authors produce. I know I’m impressed with what is available in my area.

Besides which, these events are fun!

Screenshot 2023-06-17 at 19-54-49 Book Fairs

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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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

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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!
Screenshot 2023-06-13 at 20-47-54 (1) Facebook

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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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Anniversaries, Attitudes, and Interviews

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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 had a lovely weekend. Pleased to say poppies from seed I planted last year are now flowering. Am especially pleased as I’m not the world’s greatest gardener by any means. Lovely splashes of colour and it occurs to me that with the right telling details in our stories, we can add splashes of “colour” to the portrayal of our characters, making them seem more real to readers. The use of the senses can help a lot here. I can picture a character in a red coat, say, rather than one in a dull coat. Dull isn’t a strong enough image for me.

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Today would have been my maternal grandfather’s birthday. It is also, of course, the anniversary of D-Day. (I’ve only seen mention of that on social media incidentally. Am surprised not to have seen at least a mention of it elsewhere). He was in a reserved occupation for the war. Other members of the family were in the forces and then went into the ARP and fire watched.

Anniversaries can be tricky subjects to write about given so many emotions are tied up with them. On those grounds, I tend not to write about them directly but where stories can help, I think, is where you have a character showing the reader what something, including anniversaries, means to them. The action of the story should show why they feel this way.

The nearest I’ve got to this is in my They Don’t Understand from From Light to Dark and Back Again where my character shares a poignant snapshot of his life. He references events many would identify with and certainly I just felt for my poor character in this tale. I hope other readers have done too. Sympathy and understanding are much to be encouraged and stories do have an important role here.

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Lady got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler girlfriends today. All had a nice time. Mind you, Lady couldn’t believe the Ridgeback’s human mum really did not have any treats in her bag. Lady had to stick her nose right in said bag to make sure. Why can you never get a camera out quickly enough for things like that?! Lady looked so comical.

Good laugh had by all and Lady no doubt wondered what the fuss was about. All dogs can do a very good impersonation they are not fed enough, they desperately need more food/treats etc. Don’t believe a word of it, well at least as far as Lady is concerned anyway!

Writing wise, am busy working on another interview for Chandler’s Ford Today, as well as looking forward to sharing the one with Val Penny this coming Friday.

Also looking ahead a little will be preparing material soon for the next Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting at the end of the month. These presentations are always great fun to do and I set plenty of exercises. I do write up the exercises myself and on the night of the meeting too. Live writing like this is a good challenge.

The great advantage to it is nobody expects perfection. You simply can’t do it in the time scale (often only minutes) you’ve been given. The idea is just to get something down. The polishing and editing can happen later.

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Another lovely day in my part of the world. Am almost at the end of reading 1000 Years of Annoying the French. Good read, humorous, and an interesting look at history. Highly recommend.

I’ve developed a love for non-fiction in recent years and often find ideas for stories spark from something I’ve read in non-fiction. Think about the spouses of past inventors who were never appreciated in their life time. How did they handle that? Did they appreciate what their spouses were trying to do? Story ideas there for a start!

I like to mix up my reading so the next on my list is a crime novel I’ve been looking forward to reading so that will be fun. Your reading as well as your writing should be fun (at least most of the time).

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I’ll be interviewing Scottish crime writer, Val Penny, for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Looking forward to sharing a bit more about that nearer the time. The interview itself will be up on Friday.

Talking of interviews, I do sometimes quiz my characters as I’m coming up with an outline of a possible story. I need to know my character is the right one to be the “lead”. I do see it a bit like casting the right actor for the right part.

I need to know their main trait (and that will often show me likely attitudes to spring out of that). I also need to know what would they not do if they could at all avoid it and then put them in a situation where they do have to face this.

Dumping your characters right in it is a fabulous way of finding out what they’re made of – it’s also great fun. Okay not for them but it is for you, the writer. It will also keep your readers gripped as they will want to find out what your character does to get out of the situation (or If they do at all of course).

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Many thanks for the wonderful comments coming in on Telling It As It Is, my most recent story on Friday Flash Fiction. All much appreciated. The views on my lead character’s behaviour is pretty much unanimous!

Screenshot 2023-06-02 at 09-42-22 Telling It As It Is by Allison Symes

Mondays are especially busy for me so by the time I get to my desk, I’m already feeling tired. But the good thing is I am aware of this so I use Mondays for “little bits and pieces”. It makes me feel better I’ve got something done. Being creative at all helps me unwind which is just what I need after a busy day.

And one of my “little bits and pieces” is to share my latest YouTube video with you. Hope you enjoy Walking Away.

 

Sometimes I use an attitude as the basis of a story. One I’ve used is the idea of having to make the best of things. My story, Decisions, from Tripping the Flash Fantastic is an example of this.

So think about attitudes you love/loathe and think about how your character(s) could “act” that out. You are not telling the attitude here. You are getting your character to show it and readers will pick it up and run with it. I like to go with positive attitudes (it’s not a bad idea for life!) and as with Decisions, these can often lend themselves well to humorous pieces.

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I love writing humorous flash stories. The mini story form is ideal for funny tales and to end with a punchline is a delight. I try to ensure the humour arises naturally from the characters and their situation. This means it is is less likely to date. Some things we will always find amusing and it is that kind of humour I try to tap into with these stories.

So think about what you find funny and why that is. One important thing to remember is normally in a comic story, the character themselves does not find their situation funny. It is for the reader to do so. A character can think their situation tragic (and with cause) while we, the readers, fall about laughing. If you look at the classic TV (and radio) comedies, watch (and listen) out for this.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Book “Flops”

What do you consider makes a book “flop” for you? Thankfully, I’ve not had too much experience of this but if a character doesn’t grip me quickly, I’m unlikely to read much further. I have to care about the character. I have to care about what happens to them and what they do or don’t do to help themselves. There has to be the hook to draw me into reading more and then more etc.

For non-fiction, firstly the topic has to grip me. Secondly, the narrative has to be interesting. I don’t want a list of dates. I want a good read which helps me take in useful information as I go. (This is where I welcome creative non-fiction which uses techniques in fiction writing to great effect in presenting non-fiction material in a more engaging manner. I’ve mentioned before I love the works of Ben Mcintyre. His books read as novels though they are all non-fiction. Case in point here I think).

The biggest killer of a book is dullness. Dull presentation. Dull characters. Funnily enough, you can learn from books you didn’t enjoy and work out what it was that failed for you to help you avoid doing the same in your own work.

Screenshot 2023-06-03 at 20-34-17 Book Flops

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Planning, Deadlines, and Research in Flash Fiction

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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. Really nice to be into spring/early summer weather now. Lady has loved it. Not too hot either. Putting finishing touches to my author newsletter, which will be out on Thursday, 1st June. I do enjoy compiling these. I try to make my newsletter something I would like to receive if someone else had written it. I try to take the same view with my stories and blogs too. It means I’m keeping the reader in mind, always.

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Another glorious day. Lady got to show off in front of her Hungarian Vizler “mum” . Well, Lady treats heras a mum-like figure and always shows off in front of her! Quite sweet to see.

Posting early as out tonight but don’t forget my author newsletter is due out again on Thursday. If you would like news, tips, useful links etc (and especially around flash fiction), do sign up at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

A big hello to those who signed up since last time and just as big a hello for those who have been with me for longer.

Delighted that Bridge House Publishing will be having a celebration event at the end of the year. Am planning on going. These events are always great fun and it is lovely to catch up with old friends and make new ones. Also looking forward to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick in August. I hope we get glorious weather for that. Am not expecting it for the BHP event given it is in December!

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I’m back on More Than Writers, the blog spot of the Association of Christian Writers. I talk about Planning this time (and it does kind of tie in with my Chandler’s Ford Today post on outlining which I’ll share on Friday). Meantime, I hope you enjoy the MTW post and do decide if I need to be apologetic to Shakespeare or not!

Screenshot 2023-05-29 at 09-53-32 Planning by Allison Symes

I’ll be discussing To Outline or Not to Outline for Chandler’s Ford Today and will be looking at the advantages of doing so, plus acknowledging the disadvantages. I also share some thoughts on my approach to outlining and what I’ve found works for me. Link up on Friday.

I’ll be back on the More than Writers blog tomorrow (see above) and sending out my next author newsletter on Thursday. Can’t believe we’re almost at June.

Writing Tip: when you’ve read a book you love, why not jot down a couple of thoughts as to what especially gripped you about it? Almost certainly there will be pointers here you can then apply to your own writing. Oh and don’t forget about leaving a review in the usual places for the author, it all helps!

Hope you have had a good day. More glorious weather here. Lady has spent a lot time in the garden so I doubt we’ll see the deer back tonight. Lady’s scent will be everywhere!

Don’t forget if you want to go in for The Bridport Prize you’ve only got a couple of days left in which to do so – deadline is 31st May. There is a flash fiction category. Good luck if you are entering that or other writing competitions.

Writing for competitions does help you get used to writing to a deadline and a story of mine which didn’t get placed I’ve gone on to rework and have published elsewhere. Nothing is wasted. I’ve also found writing for competitions helps you develop the skill of looking at your story objectively during the editing process.

During that process, I ask myself what would the judge make of this? Are my characters making as much of an impact as I think they are? A break away – a decent one of at least a week – means you can come back to your work with fresh eyes. You’re more likely to spot weaknesses in the story doing that. If you think why did I write that, I could’ve expressed it much better, don’t despair. You’ve spotted what needs to be fixed.

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Can research come into flash fiction given its brevity? Yes, it can and does.

If I’m writing a historical piece, I need to know what could be expected to be found in the setting, the level of education my character is likely to have, and so on. None of that appears in the story itself but it does mean I will portray the character accurately.

I do “allow” my characters to speak in relatively modern English as reading old English, even in small quantities, can be taxing. The idea here is we as readers have been given a way to understand them but everything my character comes up with is plausible for who they are and their times. That is the important bit.

An example of this is Not Knowing from Tripping the Flash Fantastic where Elizabeth of York shares her feelings about her future now Bosworth has happened. All of it is reasonable especially her realisation she has to focus on “now,” the now being 1485, just after the defeat of Richard III.

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Many thanks for the comments coming in on Purple Haze, my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction. Do check it out here if you’ve missed it. (No teddy bears were harmed in the making of this story – now you have got to check it out, right?!).

Screenshot 2023-05-26 at 10-02-16 Purple Haze by Allison Symes

Bonus Post – 29th May
Nearly forgot to do it – oops! I blame the Bank Holiday sunny weather getting to my brain but nonetheless it IS Monday, It is time for another story. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Reap What You Sew.

 

Hope you have had a good day. Am looking forward to taking part in a book fair near me in July. Great way to spread the word about flash fiction locally!

I often start my flash tales by working out the character I want to write about and which traits they have which have intrigued me enough to want to write their story up. I aim to justify every word I put in my fiction but I also want the characters to show me they’re worthy of being written up. I have to be intrigued by them first.

For me, character is the great driver here. A strong character can make all the difference to how successful a plot is. And when I think back to my favourite books and stories, it is nearly always the characters I remember so it pays to get them right.

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With both of my collections, I wanted to mix up the mood and the genre of the stories in them. I wanted humorous, poignant, crime, fantasy etc. I love reading anthologies and collections and appreciate a good mix. I think a mixture adds to the strength of the book. Makes them perfect for dipping into as well. I also wanted characters in a good range of situations and that would have to mean those couldn’t always be funny or tragic ones either.

I also find after writing, say, a couple of funny pieces, I want a change of mood in which to write. But once I’ve written some sad or serious ones, I want to switch right back to writing the lighter stories again. Mind you, mixing up like this keeps me on my toes and that’s never a bad thing.

Goodreads Author Blog – Do You Change Your Favourite Book List?

I suspect you may well have a favourite book list. I do. But do you ever change what is on it?
I do so every now and then but it is mainly to add things to it! The nice thing about favourites is nobody has the right to specify you can only have so many. Even if they did, I’d ignore them!

What is nice is trying to keep a balance on my list of funny books, crime books, fiction, and non-fiction, and it is always a joy to discover a new favourite. Doesn’t mean you cherish the old favourites any the less either.

What is nice is having favourites to pick in the first place.

Of course if you read ebooks as well, you could have two favourite book lists – one for the Kindle as well as your print versions!

Screenshot 2023-05-27 at 20-35-44 Do You Change Your Favourite Book List

 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

Allison Symes - Flash Fiction Collections


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