Tag: guest blog appearance

Favourite Kinds of 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. Images of me with books taken by Adrian Symes. Handy having that facility!
Hope you have had a good weekend. Weather continues to be lovely here. Good writing weekend. Will have news soon of a change. More to come later.

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Hope you have had a nice day. Gorgeous weather again and Lady got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal. Lovely time had by both dogs (and their owners, as we appreciate the lovely walking weather as opposed to getting soaked during the winter months!).

Will be looking at Writers and Stationery – A Match Made in Heaven for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Looking forward to sharing that. (I could’ve titled this one Stationery Addicts Anonymous!).

Looking forward to going to a storytelling webinar tomorrow night. Plus I have an editing forum meeting during the day. Another busy week on Zoom!

7th April – Guest Blog Appearance

Hope you’ve had a good day. Lovely weather here and Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today so had a lovely time at the park with her chum.

Delighted to say my Tripping the Flash Fantastic is part of a feature over on Sandra’s Book Club today. Check out the details on the link. Nice start to the week (and don’t forget you can buy copies of both of my flash fiction collections from me via my website and also via The Bridgetown Cafe Bookshop, which is Bridge House Publishing’s online book shop. Naturally you can get them from Amazon too).

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Hope your Sunday has been a lovely, restful one. Not bad here. Lovely church service and lunch, now an afternoon of writing – all very much what this doctor orders! Will be getting on with flash fiction Sunday shortly. Incidentally even when I have some down time words still come into it – have a lovely couple of word games on my phone!

Character Creation Tip: I like to know main traits when thinking up characters because behaviours and attitudes come from those things but I do use both the negative and positive aspects of these traits. There is always a flip side to a trait regardless of which way around you start!

For example, if you have a character who is honest, are they honest to the point of being brusque? Who could they upset that way? Definitely story ideas there.

So take a trait and “flip it”. See what you can get from these things by taking both the positive and negative views of it. It mixes things up, is a better balance (given nobody is perfect) and you can get your other characters to react to whichever aspect of that trait you show.

Hope your weekend has got off to a good start. Lovely weather again here. So nice being out in the garden today.

Writing wise, I am looking forward to sharing next week’s Chandler’s Ford Today post especially as it is on a topic I really should have written about before! And what could that possibly be?

Simple! I’ll be talking about Writers and Stationery – A Match Made In Heaven – and it so is! I can’t think of any writer I know who could tell me exactly how many books they have or how many notebooks and pens etc they have. I know I can’t do that either! Fun piece to write. Link up next Friday.

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Plan to explore how we can use genres in flash fiction for the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group later this month.

Especially if you lead with characters, as I do, you can set those characters anywhere. I’ve written crime flash, historical flash, fantasy flash and much more.

It is one of the joys of the shorter fiction forms that it is easier to do this, plus you have different places to submit to, including competitions so you can have a great deal of fun playing with genres like this. Yes, you do have to “obey the rules” for each genre bit it is do-able.

It’s Monday but it is a lovely sunny one so that’s good. Still Monday though and time for another YouTube story from me. Hope you like my latest on here – Wake Up Call.

When you know you’ve messed up, you know why you messed up, and it doesn’t help at all you’re a fairy godmother.

 

I’ve mentioned before because I write a lot of flash fiction, I need to have various ways by which I can create characters and trigger story ideas. It’s not a bad idea to mix up the way you do things here because I find it keeps my fiction writing life interesting for me and, I hope, readers.

There are a huge variety of random generators to choose from, plus well known proverbs and phrases, but how about this for another way into creating stories?

There seems to be a National day for almost anything. Today, 6th April, is the day for, amongst other things, National Carbonara Day, (which sounds wonderful), National Teflon day (will that stick, I ask myself), and, in the UK, today is the start of the new taxation year. It isn’t widely celebrated that one!

But how about using these things in stories? Could your character be creating a carbonara for someone special or doing to to cheer themselves up after a horrendous day? Could romance bloom in amongst the tax ledgers! You could also set stories using the national day event as a backdrop. Could it complicate things for your characters in some way or make life easier? Your call but story ideas for sure here.

Congratulations to all who won or were listed in the Andrew Siderius competitions recently run by Friday Flash Fiction. Enjoyed reading these.

Looking forward to my usual flash fiction Sunday afternoon tomorrow. I find it a lovely way to create after church, walking the dog, and lunch. Should be getting back to the 100-worders tomorrow too. I sent in a longer flash for the above competition which was fun to do but anything over 100 words wise now story wise seems ever so long to me! Flash fiction does do this to a writer.

Having said that, I have written at the other end of the spectrum too. The one category I’ve not yet had a go at is the “mid-range”, the novella. Wouldn’t rule it out though. And it is possible to have novellas told via flash fiction with each story (acting as its own chapter) up to 1000 words, each story standing alone, but there also being an overriding arc you can follow through to the end, just as you would for a longer work.

Goodreads Author Blog – Favourite Kinds of Story

I love a whole range of stories and books so it is hard to pick just one overall favourite but we all have those we turn to time and again, especially if life is grim. Right now I know I can’t bring myself to read dystopian fiction. If I want dystopian I’ll watch the news!

I’m a great believer in books being a wonderful source of entertainment. This doesn’t stop them from being thought provoking as well, far from it, but at the end of the day, I want a rattling good yarn I know I can enjoy again and again if I so wish. So where do I turn to for these?

My picks are the classic fairytales, anything from Discworld by the much missed Sir Terry Pratchett, anything by Agatha Christie and P.G. Wodehouse. Always worth re-reading! Then there are the classic works of Jane Austen, crime novels generally, historical fiction geenrally, and The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey.

What I look for and find in all of these and many others are stories which take me away from my troubles for a while. Books shouldn’t be underrated for their capacity for this. I do think right now they can be wonderful escape for so many of us.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Why I Write – Guest Blog Appearance – and 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. Many thanks to Janet Williams for the photo of me signing books – always good to share those photos! Image from the Autumn Gathering in October 2024 (an Association of Christian Writers event) was taken by me, Allison Symes, as were all screenshots taken by me.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Ghastly weather all over the UK. Very wet with some flooding here. I hope all clears up soon. Writing wise, it was good to get back to my usual flash fiction Sunday afternoon, the first of the New Year. Am also looking forward to sharing author interviews on Chandler’s Ford Today in due course. And I’m delighted to say I was on Val Penny’s blog as a guest writer looking at Why I Write. Link below.

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Sorry running very late today (7th January 2025). Have had one of those days – good but busy. Lady was delighted to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal again today and I was delighted later, to have my first swim of 2025. The water seemed warm compared to the cold outside!

What one thing about creative writing do you enjoy the most?

My answer is creating characters who come to life as I flesh them out more. I love that process. It means I know I’ve got a character who has a story to share.

Okay, what other thing about creative writing do you enjoy the most?

My answer is getting the story finished, submitted, and accepted!

Best get on with things then!

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Hope the first Monday of the New Year hasn’t gone too badly. Lady got off to a good start by seeing her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals again. Avoided part of the park (think muddy ski slope and you have a good idea as to why my doing this was a good idea!).

Glad to see Writing Magazine have issued their competitions guide again. Will have a good look through at at some point soon and mark up some possibles. I find doing that is a good inventive to then get something in for said possibles!

Character Tip: Give some thought as to what you most love about your character and also what you loathe about them. Think about why you come up with the answers you do here. It will give you further insight as to what your character is made of and you are bound to find that useful as you tell your story (sorry, their story!).

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Hope you are having a good weekend. No snow here, thankfully, but it is very wet and there is flooding in the usual places around here.

Will be looking at a topic close to my heart for Chandler’s Ford Today this coming week. I’ll be discussing The Joys of Fairytales. It’s apt too as later in the month I will be going to see Cinderella, as staged by my excellent local theatre company, The Chameleon Theatre Group. Looking forward to seeing that and sharing something about my love of a classic story form on Friday.

Also glad to report there will be more author interview coming on CFT too. More details nearer the time.

4th January 2025
Many thanks to Val Penny for inviting me on to her blog today. It was a joy to talk about Why I Write. It is a great topic!

It makes you think about why you put yourself through producing work you don’t know will see the light of the day. (It’s why acceptances mean so much when you get them). You do need a thick skin and the love of story I think to be able to keep going despite setbacks (which every writer faces).

I also share something of my writing journey as that has a huge impact on why I write at all. See link.

Screenshot 2025-01-07 at 20-40-45 Why I Write by Allison Symes

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I usually submit stories for Friday Flash Fiction over the weekend so will look forward to doing so again this coming one. It will keep me on track (though they are open for submissions again from today, 7th January).

I like to mix up my story moods for all flash I write and go from a mixture of light and dark (which directly inspired the title of my first collection, From Light to Dark and Back Again. Sums the book up well, I think).

Given fiction reflects the human condition – with all our failures and vices – I think a mixture of light and dark is appropriate for that reason too!

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6th January 2025

It’s the first Monday of the New Year. It’s dark, the weather’s ghastly, and it is still a Monday. Definitely time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Making the Best of Things. Perhaps an apt title!

 

I get my inspiration for my flash fiction and short stories from many different sources. I like this a lot. I’ve found it pays to keep the ways you’re inspired varied as it keeps things more interesting for me too and encourages me to “raise my game”.

Naturally I’m inspired by books and stories I love written by other authors. The various prompts are a huge source of inspiration, especially if I tweak them a bit to suit my purposes better.

The proverbs and well known sayings are often great for use as themes for your stories. And ideas do occur as I’m out walking the dog. (I note them down as soon as I can on getting home again). Reading comes into all of this a lot. I’ve been inspired for stories by interesting non-fiction articles or books as I wonder what my character might make of what is in that article or book.

Ideas are all around but it is a question, I think, of expecting there to be ideas and thus to be open to spotting them. Reading does expand the mind. It can expand your own imagination too. I like that a lot too.

The one thing I consistently find is if I’m especially tired, that is when ideas can be harder to spot. So I aim to be kind to myself, get some rest, and read. I know that will fire up my own imagination again in no time, spurred on by that rest.

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Hope you have had a good day. No snow here but did have a very heavy frost. Am so thankful writing is something I get to do in the warm!

Looking forward to resuming my flash fiction Sunday afternoons tomorrow. I’ve also got a couple of short story competitions I want to enter so will try to start fleshing out ideas for those as well. Plan to send in a story for Friday Flash Fiction when they re-open next week.

Good to have my copy of Writing Magazine come through the letter box. Pleased to see Debz Hobbs-Wyatt’s piece in there. I recently interviewed her for Chandler’s Ford Today re her novel, If Crows Could Talk. I always see it as a good month when I know (or have heard of) at least four or five authors in the magazine. It is a good month this time!

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Goodreads Author Blog – Influences

Isaac Newton claimed “If I have seen further it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants”, rightly meaning he was building on what had gone before. But every single writer does this, regardless of what we write. Every reader will experience it, regardless of what you read. Why?

Simply because every author has their influences – the writers who have gone before. I have too many to mention but I especially love Pratchett, Austen, and Wodehouse (what a trio!). Every writer is inspired by what they read and readers get the benefit of that though they won’t know it directly.

Austen showed me the wonderful use of irony in fiction. Pratchett showed me fantasy and humour were a superb mix. As for Wodehouse, his mastery of the English language is sublime and his creations live on long after him. Nobody will forget Jeeves and Wooster.

Any time I enjoy a book, I am indirectly taking in what and whom the writers of those books were influenced by. I think this is a lovely thing.

Screenshot 2025-01-04 at 18-00-53 Allison Symes's Blog - Influences - January 04 2025 10 00 Goodreads

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Triggering Writing Ideas

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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 Julia Pattison for taking the image of me at an editing workshop for The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick.
Hope you have had a good week. Lady has got to play with pals, get a soaking with yours truly, play with pals again, get another soaking – yes, one of those weeks. Pleased to say the editing workshop for the lovely people at Medway Mermaids went very well. Always enjoy running these workshops and it is good to know they are useful.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Post 2 of 2 from me tonight. Post 1 below. It’s a fact of life you can have days where there is lots going on and other days where there is nothing! Having said that, it is always fabulous to have plenty of news and posts to share.

Am pleased to share Triggering Writing Ideas for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. It’s proved to be an apt topic given I talk on Gill James’ blog this week (see below for more) about how I took her theme of gifted for the Bridge House Publishing anthology of the same name and used it for my story in there. An idea was definitely triggered by someone else setting the theme. (This is another advantage to taking part in Flash NANO too).

Hope you enjoy the CFT post and find it useful.

Triggering Writing Ideas

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Bonus Post

Post 1 of 2 from me tonight. Many thanks to Gill James for hosting me on her blog to talk about my contribution, Desperately Seeking Talent, in the Bridge House Publishing anthology, Gifted, which is out and would make a great present for someone. Find out what I love about the short story form as well and why I took the theme of gifted the way I did with my tale. Link to blog here.

Screenshot 2023-11-17 at 10-06-01 Allison Symes talks to me today about her involvement in our Gifted anthology

My sport of choice is swimming. I go regularly and you get to spot other regulars there and start chatting usually as you come out of the pool. (One good thing about it being cold today was it did encourage me to get something of a move on in said pool!). Anyway, one of those regulars complimented me about being consistent and disciplined about my swimming. I find I have to be otherwise it would be too easy not to go, especially during the winter months.

But it occurred to me the need to be consistent is a good thing for writers too. It doesn’t matter what your routine is – writing daily, writing every other day or what have you. It is the regular turning up at your desk to get on and write which matters. It is the regularity of writing which will build up your stories, novels etc. I’ve found this to be the case and know I have submitted far more pieces than I might otherwise have done simply by being consistent. It’s an underrated quality I think.

And if you want some inspiration, I’ll be talking about Triggering Writing Ideas for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. See above.

 

Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal. Great run around by both of them and a massive zoomies session to finish with. Lady came over and “flumped” down in front of me as if to say, ‘Mum, I’m done!’. Takes a lot to do that to a collie!

I’ll be looking at Triggering Writing Ideas for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I’ll be looking at some of the methods I use here and hope the post will prove to be useful. See above.

Don’t forget the November issue of Writers’ Narrative is out. The theme is on Writing Novels this time and you can find the magazine at the link below. A perfect free read packed full of fabulous advice and interviews.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Glad to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale, Maisie. Does Maisie the dog know better than her owner as the world falls apart around them? Find out here. I hope you enjoy the tale and a big thank you for the comments already coming in on this one.
Screenshot 2023-11-17 at 10-04-57 Maisie by Allison SymesGlad to report Hannah Kate is having her Three Minute Santas show on North Manchester FM again this year. Full details via link here. Do give it a go. It’s great fun.

Top Tip: When you’ve got your story ready, do record yourself on Zoom and play it back to yourself. You will pick up on things like characters stumbling over dialogue etc but also get your timing right. The stories need to be a maximum of three minutes long and I’ve found it so useful to use Zoom here as that will give you an exact timing.

Good luck! Yes, I’ll be having a go again at this myself this year and am looking forward to tackling Day 16 of Flash NANO later today.

Screenshot 2023-11-16 at 16-59-30 🎅 3 Minute Santas 2023 is Open for Submissions! 🎅

Looking forward to having a crack at today’s Flash NANO challenge later on. I have to cut something already drafted in half. I’ve done this kind of exercise before. It’s a great discipline and takes longer than you think too. This time I have to add a specified object in. That will be fun. The object in question, well let’s just say I’m going to have to find a legitimate way of working it in! It wasn’t an “obvious” object but I did work the thing into my story legitimately.

I have used objects in stories before as one kind of exercise and cut a story in half as another but this will be the first time I’ve combined these two.

If I had to nominate a favourite writing exercise, it is the opening line one. Why? Because I can work out what possibilities could come from what has been set and a character to suit it.

I then go for what I like best. It is always the one that has the most impact on me whether it makes me laugh or cry or what have you. I figure if I react like that, readers will too. It is always a good sign when you remember the impact a story has on you.

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Fairytales with Bite – Laughter

In your magical world, is there much in the way of laughter? Do magical students give their teachers many a laugh when getting things wrong as they develop their skills? And that’s just to name one example. I can easily visualise this happening. (The Harry Potter series touches on this too, especially with Ron Weasley and his wand held together with Spellotape).

Does your setting encourage its inhabitants to laugh? Are communities made up of a wide mix of species type or do the different magical types not mix at all? Where folk really don’t get on, the latter is probably the best solution, but a better one is where they do mix and they live and laugh together.

Equally is this something your characters do get on with even though the powers that be may not entirely approve?

Laughter can be a great bridge builder and comedy the source of that laughter so how does this play out in your setting? Laughter can bring about understanding.

Is there one species type that is better at producing laughter than the others? Is this a talent or is it a case everyone else laughs at them and how do they handle that? Laughter makers can also be bridge builders. How could this be put to good effect in your stories?

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This World and Others – Sources of Information

We live in an age where sources of information have never been so readily available. If you don’t know where to find something of this nature, a quick search of the internet is likely to throw up ideas as to where you can find out what you need to know. Plus there are always the reference libraries and museums often have their own libraries. I’ve spent time at a lovely steam railway exhibition looking at their displays and then having a good read in their archives.

So in your world setting, what sources of information exist? Is there an equivalent of the web? Are there papers, media etc and do these operate freely or are they limited in what they can share with the general populace?

Also how well educated are your characters because that will make a huge difference to what they can access even if there are no other restrictions? Who publishes papers and periodicals and where do they get their information from?

Think back to the history of your setting as well. What does everyone “know” (or more accurately think they know) about it? What information in archives backs this up or challenges the accepted view (hence it was archived and kept out of sight!)?

What information would your characters need to make to fulfil their stories?

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

WN publicity shot - November 23 mag

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Favourite Supporting Characters, Why I Write, and Secrets

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

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

22nd September 2023 – CFT – second post

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

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

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

Favourite Supporting Characters

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

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

Why I Write – Allison Symes

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

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

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

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

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

Character Needs are everything

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

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

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

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Fairytales With Bite – Magical Reading

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

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

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

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

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

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This World and Others – Reference Libraries

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

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

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

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Writing Believable Characters and Writers’ Narrative Magazine

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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 from Writers’ Narrative magazine kindly supplied by Editor in Chief, Wendy H Jones.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Back to the kind of sunny weather you expect from August. Thrilled to say the September issue of Writers’ Narrative is now out – full details below. Don’t miss it. It truly is a great read and the theme is marketing. Is there any writer for whom that topic is not appropriate? I think not.

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Facebook – General

Hope you’ve had a good day. Lovely to be back swimming today. The downside to writing is it can encourage the development of Writer’s Spreading Bottom, which is never a pretty sight. Walking the dog and going swimming helps!

Writing Tip: having regular time set aside for writing will help you produce more. I can never do 9 to 5 but there are hours I can do so I do them! I also see it as confirming to myself writing is important so book time for it. I think the regularity trains my brain into realising this is writing time (as opposed to editing time, say) so it encourages me to get on with it.

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Delighted to say the September issue of Writers’ Narrative magazine is now out. The theme this time is marketing and the magazine is packed full of useful information. Pleased to say I have two articles in here – Marketing Your Books and Writing for Online Magazines.

Link to the actual magazine is below.

 

To ensure you don’t miss a copy you need to subscribe (for free) here – http://subscribepage.io/WritersNarrative

Oh and it is a fabulous read but don’t just take my word for it – do check it out.

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Sorry the Lionesses lost but well done to them for doing so much for women’s football and congratulations to Spain too. Am not a huge football fan I admit but I do love a good story. No surprises there. And it is a cracking story that two teams got to the Women’s World Cup final for the first time.

Favourite sporting moment for me was when Andy Murray won Wimbledon for the first time. As well as enjoying tennis, this was special because I rang Dad the moment Murray won. Dad was an avid tennis fan and he was so overjoyed the 70 year duck had been broken here. (I suspect the Duke of Kent who was then President of the Lawn Tennis Association felt similarly!).

It was a lovely moment because we’d not long had to put Mum into care as her dementia had taken a real hold by now and there was no way that could be managed at home. This moment – a shared joy over the phone with Dad was special to us both especially after such a difficult time. Yes, we were delighted when Murray did it again!

Talking of stories and how to create them, I will be looking at Writing Exercises for Chandler’s Ford Today later on next week. Labour of love writing this one! Link up on Friday.

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Many thanks to Val Penny for inviting me on to her blog today. I’m talking about Writing Believable Characters. I create characters a lot for my flash fiction and short stories. I’ve alway believed the story is driven by characters readers can get behind. So it was lovely to talk about this topic with Val. Hope you find the post useful.

Screenshot 2023-08-22 at 20-12-42 Creating Believable Characters by Allison SymesVal Penny at Swanwick - photo by Allison Symes

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Sometimes a phrase will pop into my head and I get with that an inkling of the kind of character who would say it. Instant outline right there. Often I will use that phrase as my opening line as it is always something to intrigue. Would like this to happen more often, it’s useful.

Dialogue is a great way to open a story. You get a couple of characters immediately (unless you have someone talking to themselves. That can intrigue. I would want to know why they’re doing it.). You also get a sense of character attitude and likely premise coming up. They are likely to discuss what has just happened as the story opens or what they think might be about to happen.

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Bonus post tonight. Not going to forget it’s Monday. It’s time for a new story. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Getting the Message.

 

As part of the flash fiction group I lead, we share competition/market news we come across. The good news is there are loads of flash fiction competitions, certainly many more than when I discovered flash as a format. Indeed I don’t think it is possible for one writer to know them all but this is where writers help one another. Others have told me about sites like Friday Flash Fiction and CafeLit for example. Have been very glad of that information!

I must admit this is where I find a writing magazine helpful as it flags up competitions and markets to me. I also follow some writing groups on social media and these can be great sources of information. I see it as part of my marketing keeping up together (as much as I can) with this information.

Talking of marketing, the latest issue (September) of Writers’ Narrative is now out and the theme this month is on that topic so do check it out. Link to the actual magazine here (but do subscribe – it’s free and in the magazine itself is information showing you how to do this. Check the box on Page 33 entitled Subscriber News).

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Sometimes it can be fun to put something unexpected in a story title. One of my favourites from Tripping the Flash Fantastic is called The Terrified Dragon. Well, you have got to read on and find out what on earth (or other realm) could make a dragon terrified? That’s the idea of course. The hook is right there in the title.

I have judged competitions where writers have not used a title even though the title was not part of the word count. Please don’t do this. A title is your first hook for a reader and you can use it to set mood and genre. It’s a golden opportunity for writers without using up your previous word count in a restricted form like flash fiction. Don’t waste that opportunity.

I find I have to have a working title as I write my first draft. Sometimes a better title idea comes along, I make a note of it and decide which is better later on. I also find having a title is a great way to get me started. I guess it is because deep down I know a story has to have a title so let’s start with that then!

Tripping The Flash Fantastic - by night

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom next week. Always good to talk about and write flash fiction And I am sure we will get some useful writing done in this session. We usually do and I am so pleased some have gone on to have their work published online and broadcast too. Keep it up, folks! I get to do more writing too. Will be looking at seasonal writing this time.

When is the best time to write anything? Depends on the writer. For me, it is in the afternoon and evenings. Mornings are pretty much out for me. What matters though is getting into a regular habit of writing.

I find that regularity spurs me on. You decide on the regularity of course. Once a week stuck to is far better than every day for a week and then you don’t write again, say. I’ve learned not to overlook those odd pockets of time we all get. They’re perfect for drafting down ideas I can return to when I’ve got more time at my desk. It also means I hit the ground running when I am back at my desk. I like that aspect.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Favourite Short Stories

Confession time, I don’t have an overall favourite short story. I love too many of them to pick an outright favourite. But the classic fairy tales are amongst them. I also love the short stories of Agatha Christie and P.G. Wodehouse, as well as being a fan of their longer works. Sometimes a story is better told in the short form – I admire those writers who can do both.

I make a point of mixing up what I read in terms of genre but I also do so for word count. I deliberately read short story collections and flash fiction anthologies in amongst my novels and long form non-fiction books. I think a mix is good for you!

I will often use a short story or flash collection to decide what genre of novel I will be reading next. I don’t strictly read to order on my To Be Read pile. Does anyone? I go with what I fancy reading and work my way through! But the short story and flash collections can help me work out what I do fancy reading next!

Screenshot 2023-08-19 at 19-57-43 Favourite Short Stories

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Purposes of Creative Writing

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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.
It has been an odd week. I started it being ill, got better, appeared on a blog, and am now looking forward to catching up with friends and family shortly. Proof I suppose it is better to end well rather than worry about a rotten start. Having that said, writers need to start well, do the middle well, and end well. It is a good challenge!

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Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

Pleased to share Purposes of Creative Writing, my Chandler’s Ford Today post for this week. There are many benefits to any kind of creative activity but I look at these from the writing viewpoint. I hope this proves to be an encouraging post! I also look at finding your creativity in this one. I believe everyone has at least one form of creative activity which would suit them. It can be a question of finding it. I also feel creative writers actually have two – we need to be active readers too. Hope you find much of cheer here and do keep on with the writing.

Whether you stay in the same direction or not is another matter. I changed direction to flash fiction and have never regretted that! Whether you seek to be published or not, writing can stretch you, make you come up with pieces you never thought you could produce, and is huge fun.

Yes, there are those days when you would rather throw your laptop out of the nearest window but even there is some comfort. Every writer has felt like that at some point. I find it helps to know I’m not alone when I feel like that. We get days when we still do but you also get those days when you are in the zone, the words fly out of you, stories get produced and published etc.

Purposes of Creative Writing by Allison Symes

 

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Hope you have had a good day. Looking forward to sharing my Purposes of Creative Writing post for Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. Has been a struggle to get back to writing after a very dodgy weekend but have got there in the end. Have run late all week but not just on my writing it should be said. The writing has been a solace all week (unlike so much else!).

I hope everyone who goes to the Scottish Association of Writers Conference has a fabulous time. I did when I went last year. I ran a flash fiction workshop there and judged one of their competitions for them. It was a delight to meet friends old and new. Weather this year is a bit different, mind you! Keep warm, folks.

One of the joys of conferences is learning more about the wonderful world of writing. I love the fact there is always something you can learn to improve on what you do and to get more from it. No wonder writing is good for the brain, something I cover in my CFT post tomorrow. (Nice to come full circle on a post as well!).

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Am thrilled to be back on Val Penny’s blog today. Many thanks for hosting me once more, Val.
Val put some pertinent questions to me which I loved answering. I talk about flash fiction (of course!), discuss characters, and writing routines. Last but not least I share some advice which I’ve found helpful. Hope you do too.

Screenshot 2023-03-15 at 10-12-50 Conversation with Allison Symes

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

You know the saying beauty is in the eye of the beholder? Well, for my story for Friday Flash Fiction this week, I apply that principle to magic. Hope you enjoy Spotting the Magic.

Screenshot 2023-03-17 at 09-40-48 Spotting the Magic by Allison Symes

Am at that stage where I’ve got a couple of possibles for a certain well known competition I enter – now it’s make up my mind time. I could enter both so I may decide on that eventually. Am resting the pieces so I can look at them with a fresh eye. I’ve got a couple of months in hand here but that soon whizzes by and I want to have my submissions in well ahead of the deadline, as I usually do. What is pleasing here is I have earmarked some of my draft Flash NANO pieces for competitions so that’s another reason for taking part in this again. I found it a great way to get a stock of stories together to work on for future use.

May be an image of text that says "Flash fiction illuminates briefly it is a great form for a lighthearted piece. These often work best when kept short."

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction group meeting on Zoom later this month. Ideas and news (competitions etc) are shared. This is handy as no one writer can know everything and we can all help each other here.

Don’t forget I share tips and news on a regular basis via my newsletter. Next one due out on 1st April. That may be April Fools Day but I’m not fooling, honest. To sign up head over to (my landing page) at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

 

Fairytales with Bite – Using Prompts for Fairytales

I often use a wide range of writing prompt. I often use random generators, have recently used story cubes, and I’ve contributed to, as well as used, books of prompts in my time.

But have I used any of these for writing what I call my fairytales with bite? Oh yes. Not all the time. Some prompts work better for certain types of story but things like the random question generator are useful for giving you a direct theme and/or title for your piece. Then you can work out how to get a fantasy/fairytale story out of it!

One such question I’ve used was What’s something you learned in the last week? You can apply that to a magical character easily enough and there is good potential for a humorous piece here.

The random word ones are even easier here given what you usually do with those is put them into a story (of any genre so the sky’s the limit here).

Well worth having a go at – I’ve had a few pieces published this way. I often use these to submit stories once a week to Friday Flash Fiction and to create stories for my YouTube channel. You just want a way in to get started and the prompts are useful here.

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This World and Others – Exploring Your World

How do your characters get around in your setting? Is exploration encouraged or firmly discouraged? Is there a drive to explore at all? Or does that drive come about as a result of urgent need? The hobbits in The Lord of the Rings are the ultimate example of that I think, given they were usually more concerned with second breakfast and/or beer!

You could get stories from transport systems here (and who uses them and, perhaps more pertinently, who doesn’t. What would be the reasons behind that? Does anyone defy the rules? What would be the consequences (there always would be something)?

Where the world has been explored, who did this? Who were they doing it on behalf of? What do your characters think is the most important thing about their world? Are they worried about location or do they prefer to explore the world metaphorically via challenges to standard ideas etc? There is always someone who will want to find out just how far they can go!

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ALLISON SYMES – BOOK BRUSH READER HUB

Screenshot 2023-02-24 at 21-11-57 Reader Hub Book BrushMOM’S FAVORITE READS LINK – CHECK OUT THE MAGAZINE INCLUDING MY FLASH FICTION COLUMN HERE
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Screenshot 2023-02-17 at 20-49-13 Allison Symes

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Wishing, Reluctant Readers, and Talks

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Image Credit:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated.

Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Images from the Share Your Story Writing Summit supplied by the organisers, Creative U. I was on Day 2 of the summit, see below.

Screenshots from North Manchester FM taken by me, Allison Symes, but based on their website. (And Hannah Kate asks wonderful questions! Really enjoyed being interviewed by her).

Fabulous pics of me at Swanwick Writers Summer School taken by #JenWilson and sent to me via my Facebook timeline for my birthday (22nd March). Many thanks, Jen. It was fab to see these pics again.

Screenshot from Tim Taylor’s blog, where I was a guest this week, taken by me from his blog. And there’s a new flash fiction piece from me here. A huge thanks, Tim, for hosting me.

Screenshot_2021-03-18 Creative U

Facebook – General


Have loved being part of the Share Your Story Writing Summit which finishes at the end of today. Good news though – you can still register and download the talks. There is a fee of $97 USD (from 24th March onwards) but you do get 23 workshops for that. I do earn an affiliate fee (as indeed do all of the presenters).

Link is at https://www.creativeu.ca/a/46030/yLSebqrq

Good news is you are very quick, you will get the talks for $67 USD but you do need to act fast to get the cheaper rate.

Delighted to report the Covid jabs went well for my better half and I yesterday. We had the Astra Zeneca and I was amazed at how painless it was. I have literally had more pain taking a plaster off! No side effects so far though I did feel more tired than I thought I would be last night.

Hope that stays the case as I know some people have had effects a day or so later. But relieved it has been done and better half and I will enjoy another jaunt to Salisbury in June. (I would far rather feel a bit tired etc than have the dreaded Covid. I know people who have been so ill with it).

Many thanks also for the positive responses to my interview with #HannahKate.

Now writing wise I’m working on a book proposal for a non-fiction project. Am also starting to get material together for a third flash fiction collection. These two projects will easily keep me out of mischief for this year. Am hoping to submit the proposal later in the summer and maybe the flash collection by the end of the year. I know better now than to set definite dates. Life can and does get in the way at times but I have found setting a goal incredibly useful. It helps me focus and I am much more likely to achieve something concrete doing this.

The great thing is though you get to choose to set the goals. For a bigger project it may well help to break it down in sections. Those goals will seem more achievable then and should encourage you to get the next one!

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22nd March – my birthday and covid jab

Firstly, a huge thank you for the wonderful birthday wishes received today. Much appreciated and I was particularly pleased to see some wonderful pics from #JenWilson from previous years at the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School. See below!

Secondly, glad to report the Covid jab went well for my better half and I. We were impressed with how well organised everything was. It’s an unusual birthday gift perhaps but one that is much appreciated by us. We know people who have been ill with Covid so having the vaccine was a no-brainer for us.

Thirdly, my CFT post this week will be about Talking About Writing, which is a quick look back at how recent events have gone as I have talked about writing a lot lately! This was not something I anticipated doing when I first started writing but it is something worth “getting ready for”. Link up on Friday.

Can you describe what you write to a stranger? Can you share what it is you love about writing what you do? I also share a few thoughts on the prep work I carried out for the radio interview, the summit, and the WI talk. One thing I did learn reasonably early on is that prep work always pays off. And it is not too soon to think about how you will share what you write with others and getting yourself ready to talk about that.

Radio Interview Link

Thrilled to share the link to my interview on North Manchester FM yesterday. A huge thanks to #HannahKate for interviewing me on Hannah’s Bookshelf. Hope you enjoy! It was great fun to do this but agony to only get to choose three books for the Apocalypse Books section of the show. Every writer would want to smuggle in far more than that!

https://www.mixcloud.com/Hannahs_Bookshelf/hannahs-bookshelf-with-special-guest-allison-symes-20032021/

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com



It was a real pleasure to chat to #HannahKate for her Hannah’s Bookshelf show on North Manchester FM. My interview was broadcast this afternoon but I hope to be able to share the link soon. I chat about flash fiction, blogging, and share some tips that have stood me in good stead amongst the wonderful questions Hannah set me.

Am enjoying watching the talks on the Share Your Story Writing summit. It’s not too late to sign up and if you do it before the summit ends on the 23rd March, you can (a) access the remaining talks for FREE for a limited period and/or (b) get a cheaper rate if you decide you want to purchase the 23 workshops and watch them at a time that suits you.

This is $67 USD until the summit ends. After the summit the price goes up to $97 USD. There is an affiliate link so if you do decide to go for the paid for option I will earn some money from it.

It has been a blast taking part in the summit and being interviewed by Hannah. The writing journey is an interesting one as you can’t know exactly what will happen next. You can make plans, but they may not come off. Or circumstances force plans to change (and haven’t we known all about that over the last year?!).

Am I looking forward to what comes next? Oh yes!

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again


A huge thanks for the great response to my story video, Wishing. It was great fun to write. I do love exploring the Youtube free to use audio library. There are some great tracks in there.

I mentioned on my author page I’m starting to get together material for a third flash fiction collection. I estimate it takes about a year to 18 months to have a collection ready for submission. Well, it takes me that long!

The editing on a collection is an interesting task. As well as looking at the individual stories, I’m looking for emerging themes, appropriate grouping of stories and so on. My overall aim is a sensible, logical, and enjoyable “flow” of stories for the reader. The lovely thing with that is for my first book, this “flow” directly inspired the title – it really was a case of From Light to Dark and Back Again.

The idea for the title Tripping The Flash Fantastic came from one of the stories in the book. I changed the word “light” from the story to “flash” for the title as I thought it would make a great flag for the book’s genre. And the word “flash” in turn inspired ideas for what could be on the book cover.


My latest story video on Youtube is called Wishing. Hope you enjoy it. There’s a lot of truth behind it!

 

Guest Blog Appearance

A big thanks to #TimTaylor for hosting me on his blog today. Tim set a theme of writing about the pandemic and asked for flash pieces as well as blog posts about it. Now I hadn’t anticipated writing about Covid but the thought of producing a flash story based on it did bring out the “go on, give it a go instinct” in me – and here is the result!
Screenshot_2021-03-23 Welcome, Allison

And to see the rest of the story, do go to the link!


Plenty of marketing for the flash fiction going on this week with my interview on North Manchester FM by #HannahKate today. I hope to be able to share the link for that soon. Also the Share Your Story Writing Summit is currently on and I have been so pleased to receive positive feedback on my presentation, Flash Fiction – Why I Love It and Why I Think Every Writer Should Try It.

Now to resume writing flash fiction! It is always a tricky balancing act for any writer working out just how much marketing to do in relation to creating new material. I don’t think there is any one simple answer to this either. My approach is to look at the week as a whole and try to have a 50/50 split. It doesn’t always work out. This week it will be 80% marketing for example but there will be other weeks when it will be 80% new writing/editing material etc.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Coaxing in Reluctant Readers

I’m a flash fiction writer and one of my hopes for the form is that it may prove to be an excellent way to coax in the reluctant reader. For one thing, with flash fiction stories coming in at a maximum of 1000 words (and often considerably less than that), I’m not asking a reader to commit to too much in one go!

I’ve loved stories and books all of my life (thanks to my lovely much missed mum encouraging and developing that love) but not everyone “gets” stories and books. So how do you reach them and persuade them books can be “their bag” too?

No easy answer to that but I hope films might draw people in to read the books the movies are based on. I also hope audio can be a way in. You can listen to a great story as well as read one. And as I say I hope flash fiction, which reads well on screens, would also help here.

I do know that the love of reading should be encouraged. I think it is a question of convincing people there really are books out there which would suit them.

Photo by Ricardo Esquivel on Pexels.com

 

Twitter Corner

 

 

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THE PHONE CONVERSATION

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Image Credit:

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated.

Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing.


Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today
Double post from me tonight. A busy end to a busy week!

First up tonight is the link to my Chandler’s Ford Today post for this week. The Phone Conversation is a bit different from the kind of post I usually write here as (a) I set a writing challenge in it and (b) I include a new piece of flash fiction too.

My challenge is where I invite you to name one person (existing forwards or backwards in time) who you would love to speak to by phone. You only get the ONE phone call. Remember the old cop shows that always had that as a plot device? Well, I’ve taken the idea and run with it here.

Whichever direction in time you choose, the recipient would be enabled to use the phone. (Nor, if you go back in time, would they be burnt for witchcraft in being able to use such a strange device!).

Rules: Keep it short, keep it funny (and that rules out politics given that is anything BUT funny).

Now naturally I answered my own challenge and came up with a new flash fiction story as it was the best way for me to answer it! See The Biter Bit which I hope both amuses you and acts as a kind of heads-up to be wary of the scammers out there.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with – comments over on the CFT page please. (Oh and I had great fun with the captions for some of the images below but do check these out over on the CFT page! You can probably guess which ones I had the fun with!).

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SECOND POST!
A big thank you to #BarryLillie for hosting me on his blog today. The questions were challenging but great fun to answer! Hope you enjoy.

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Delighted to share another lovely review for Tripping The Flash Fantastic. Many thanks!

Screenshot_2020-10-15 Truly delightful
Now as we head rapidly towards the end of the year, and with book events mainly going to online versions only, writers, I know, are going to be even more appreciative of support than we normally are. (And generally we ARE an appreciative lot, honest!).

The nice thing is there are two big things you can do to support the writer friends in your life and they cost nothing, merely take a little time.

These are:-
1. Support their event by “going” to it even if only for a short while.
2. Give an honest review of their book on Amazon and Goodreads in particular.

Many thanks, folks, on behalf of EVERY writer!😊😍

thank you signage

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cup of aromatic cappuccino with thank you words on foam

Photo by wewe yang on Pexels.com

Many thanks to #ValPenny for hosting me on her blog today. This is the final part of my mini blog tour, all involving splendid people from Swanwick Writers’ Summer School. (Last week I was guest on #PatriciaMOsborne‘s and #JenWilson‘s blogs – thank you, ladies!).

Tonight’s post with Val is an in-depth article. Naturally I talk about Tripping The Flash Fantastic, what I love about flash fiction writing, and discuss what I can of my internet search history! 😂😂😂 Best leave it there I think.

I also share a little about my writing routine and what I think is the best thing about being a writer.

Thanks again, Val. It was fab to chat!

Swanwick Writers’ Summer School buddies.
Val and I at Swanwick Writers’ Summer School.

From Light to Dark and Back Again

I’ve written a new flash story, The Biter Bit, as part of my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week (and that’s a first). Hope you enjoy!

I found writing a story was the best way to answer the challenge I set in this post (and naturally I was going to meet said challenge myself). Stories are fabulous vehicles for getting points across without preaching or switching people off.

(Oh and a quick update on Tripping The Flash Fantastic. It is available on the Waterstones website too).

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Hope the week has been a good one. Now I usually share news about my Chandler’s Ford Today post over on my Facebook Author page. But this week’s post is different!

Called The Phone Conversation, I issue a fun challenge and share a new flash fiction story in my response to the challenge I set! Can’t really say more than that without giving the game away but link up tomorrow. (See above!).

I don’t usually combine my fiction with non-fiction writing but for the challenge I set, I realised using a flash story was the best way to meet it! More tomorrow. It is the first flash tale I’ve written for a couple of weeks given the cyberlaunch for TTFF etc and it was good to get back to that again.

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A huge thanks to #ValPenny for hosting me on her blog today. It’s always a joy to chat about flash fiction. Naturally, Tripping The Flash Fantastic was mentioned too!

(Link to go on my website shortly on my interviews page and later in the week on my next blog post. I have shared this on my author page on Facebook tonight though so do pop across to that if you would like to read this now. Val knows how to set good questions!).

I do have an interview page on my website (which I will be updating shortly to include the mini blog tour I’ve been on with Val today, and #PatriciaMOsborne and #JenWilson last week). If you want to know more about my work and/or flash fiction, the interview page is a good place to start.

(And I will be updating the page again probably over the weekend to include my appearance on #BarryLillie’s blog this week too).

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Fairytales With Bite – Is Magic All That Wonderful in Stories?

One thing I don’t think is stressed enough is that magic is not the be all and end all in a story. Nor should it be. If a character can just solve all of their problems with the wave of the old magic wand, well that’s going to make for a very boring story. Wave wand, conflict and story over. Hmm.,, I don’t know about you but I would feel a bit cheated with that.

There should be limitations as to how magic can be used (and I also believe it would have to drain the user of it physically and mentally too). I felt the Harry Potter series covered this aspect well.

Also Lord Vetinari in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series also makes pointed comments about how dangerous magic is especially when countering Moist Von Lipwig’s plea to use the stuff in Raising Steam and call the wizards in to help with a major and urgent problem he’s facing.

So, for me, a good story does show the down side of magic. I also like to see characters call on their own non-magical resources to solve problems. I also like to seem them overcome issues which are caused by magic. And when magic is used, it should be where there is no other option and should be for the good of more than one character.

Also there’s the whole aspect of abuse of magical power to be explored too. How that is tackled or not is to me far more interesting than the magical element itself.

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This World and Others – What Readers Need to Know

The writer will always need to know far more about their fictional world than the reader does. You will need to know what drives your characters and some of their back story but that doesn’t mean it has to appear on the page the reader enjoys.

What should come through is a sense that the writer really knows their characters and it is that I think readers pick up on.

I love discovering more about the fictional world as the story goes along. I don’t need to know it all at once. And having characters reveal things is also intriguing. What is obvious to one character isn’t to another and that character discovers something new at the same time as the reader does. Always like that.

So it is a question then of working out what it is your reader does need to know and how best to “plant it” in the story. You don’t want a huge block of info all in one hit as that risks sending the reader to sleep (especially if their reading is done at bedtime as mine is!).

But by drip feeding information, that goes a long way to keeping the reader turning the pages to find out more.

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