Tag: New YouTube video by Allison Symes

Facebook, Flash Fiction, and Foreshadowing

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Image Credit:
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated.
Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing.
Hope you have had a good few days. Managed to work in some alliteration for this post (but have no plans to work my way through the alphabet!).

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Facebook – General

4th and 5th October
Given Facebook was down for a lot of 4th October (UK), I thought I would just share one extended post today covering 4th and 5th. Am glad all is now back up and running properly though.

4th October
Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to play her best buddie, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, today. Their other pal, Coco, a lovely Labradoodle, also turned up so it ended up being a real “puppy party”. A lovely time was had by all but you don’t want to get in the way when the dogs are running! It was nicely timed too as it poured down for most of the afternoon.

As I prepare this post, Facebook is down so I have no idea when I’ll be posting this. Hope everything is sorted out soon.

Also glad to say the October issue of Mom’s Favorite Reads is now out. I talk about light and dark for my flash fiction column this time and there are some wonderful stories in on the theme. Do check it out. (Also glad to see my two flash collections are in under the section of books by MFR Authors – and there’s a whole range here so if you’re looking for somewhere to start to check new books out, do try here!).

 

5th October
I guess outages such as the one that happened to Facebook etc yesterday remind us of how dependent we can be on these things. I do like the social aspect to social media. I don’t like the negative sides which turn up but where social media is at its best is where it can encourage, share good news stories, and yes help with writing tips and advice and that kind of thing. Anything which helps encourage creativity basically.

And I do like Facebook and Twitter as both can be useful for sharing flash fiction stories. Twitter is a great place for me to share my Youtube videos as I don’t tend to put much commentary with these. Far better to let the video speak for itself! But I suppose one thing to come from last night is it probably pays to have two social media platforms you are comfortable with using. Okay, there is nothing you can do when both are hit by an event but where, in a lot of cases, it is only one that has been “taken out”, you can at least still use the other.

 

Well, at least the weather was better today! We all seemed to spend most of last night drying out, dog included.

Looking forward to going to the Association of Christian Writers’ writing event on Saturday. So that will be two trips on the train within three months! (And I’ve already saved what I paid out on my railcard for the two trips had so far – the other one was for Swanwick of course).

I hope to write about the benefits of one day events for Chandler’s Ford Today in due course. Watch this space as they say. (This week’s post will be the use of sayings in creative writing. I’ve had several stories published which either use a well known saying as a title or a theme or sometimes both).

 

All of us were soaked to the skin at differing points today, including the dog, though she fluffs up beautifully when she dries out! Not a good day in Hampshire, that’s for sure.

Delighted to see lovely comments coming in for my Trying Hard on #FridayFlashFiction. Will Sarah finally make things up to her neighbour? Follow the link to find out. It is great fun writing these drabbles again. The 100-worders were how I discovered flash fiction thanks to CafeLit issuing their 100-word challenge.

Looking forward to sharing my next Chandler’s Ford Today post too. I’ll be looking at sayings and their use in creative writing. This is a topic I should’ve written about before really as I use sayings a fair bit for my flash fiction work. Link to come on Friday.

Screenshot 2021-10-01 at 18-59-48 Trying Hard, by Allison Symes

Using sayings can boost your creativity

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

4th and 5th October
Given the Facebook outage on 4th October (UK), I thought I’d share two posts in one here for 4th and 5th October respectively.

4th October
Facebook is out as I write this so will post as soon as I can. Am glad to share my latest YouTube short story video. Hope you enjoy this one – Satisfying. Does Miskrelda come out tops in the village magical championships or does the old witch still have plenty of tricks to play?

5th October
It does feel unnerving to be offline when you don’t want to be! Glad everything now up and running again on Facebook etc. I know there can be down sides to social media but there are up sides too, especially bringing people together and hopefully sharing a little entertainment too. Hope you enjoy my latest story video, Satisfying.

Flash fiction works well on social media given its limited word count, of course. And sharing stories like this I hope will draw people into my website (https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com) to find out more what I do writing wise and where. Social media is meant to be sociable after all. And sharing stories and books and that kind of thing is one of the most lovely social activities there is. As well as being a writer I am of course a reader and love it when authors share extracts and a little about their writing process. I always learn from this – and it is fun to read.

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Can foreshadowing happen in a tight word count as is the requirement for flash fiction? Oh yes. I tend to plant “clues” in the opening line or two so that by the end of the story (often a paragraph or two later), a reader can see how that “clue” mattered. Sometimes foreshadowing can be done by a word or two.

In my Vegetables are Good For You, I use the words “garlic” and “Transylvanian” in the first line. If you’re wondering if vampires come into this somewhere, you’re going to have to read the story to find out (!) but I’ve definitely foreshadowed something here!

As is so often the case for the very short form of fiction, it is a question of picking out the right detail you need a reader to know. You can then work out how to foreshadow this. It is a case of setting things up nicely and ensures your readers don’t feel cheated.

(And it is even more fun when you can foreshadow but still put in a twist at the end, I love doing that. Readers might guess where you’re heading but can’t know until they read the story and you can still surprise them. But when they look back at the story again, they should then see the foreshadowing given does lead logically to the point where you’ve taken them at the end).

 

Characters learning from their mistakes and going on to do better makes a great theme for stories. I’ve used it for flash tales – Judgement Day and The Past – Ready or Not? from Tripping the Flash Fantastic to name a couple. I tend to show the mistake early on and the rest of the story shows how the character has moved on. And change is what all stories are about.

We read to find out what happens so something must happen! A character who doesn’t learn will only make the same mistakes (and worse) and these can be frustrating to read about. You want to scream at the character “come on, learn from this” so I try to ensure nobody can say that about the characters I come up with.

 

Goodreads Author Blog – Books on Your Wish List

Do you have a Book Wish List? I have two a year – one for the period leading up to my birthday and the other leading up to Christmas. Family and friends of book lovers should appreciate us really. We are so easy to buy for. Just follow our list(s)!

I try to get a list together for Christmas in November. That’s early enough. I’ve got some thoughts already for books I’d like to be on that list – not that I am surprised by this. I tend to make a mental note throughout the year of “possibles”! (I also refuse to believe I’m the only one who does that). And I like an annual, yes even at my age. (The Friendship Book before you ask).

Ebooks I tend to buy as I want them (and I do use this format for trying out authors new to me). Audio books are something I tend to give as presents to others.

But however you like your books, I hope you have plenty of them on your Wish List. And, best of all, books are so easy to wrap. Okay, you can’t hide what they are (not unless you really go overboard with the wrapping) but seeing a book-shaped present under the Christmas tree is always a great joy for me and has been for more years than I care to recall.

Now, hands up time. I buy books for others. Who has a quick peek before wrapping said gifts up, ensuring that the recipient would never guess of course? Yes, me too, and it usually leads me to adding another book or several to my own Wish List!

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Triggers and Descriptions

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Image Credit:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Some images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.
Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Image of me signing at the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School was kindly taken by Fiona Park while the photo of Lady and I examining my books was taken by Adrian Symes. I took the photo of my two flash collections for sale at Swanwick in August 2021.
Hope you have had a good few days. Writing going well. Weather less so right now!

Facebook – General

I swear it was almost time to call Noah out again given the amount of rain that has fallen in my part of Hampshire today! Hope it is not too bad where you are.

Have booked my train tickets for the Brechin/Angus Book Festival in November. I always get tickets posted so hopefully these will be with me in a few days.

Have got my train tickets for the first Association of Christian Writers in-person to be held since before lockdown – that will be on 9th October. Looking forward to that and seeing everyone again. I will make use of my railcard this year! (And it will be nice to hopefully sell a few books in person again too!).

My lovely editor at Chandler’s Ford Today and I are planning to be at the next production by The Chameleon Theatre Group in October (which will be Murder With Ghosts – sounds fun!). Definitely time for another CFT “works outing” I feel. Not the same when I go on my own!

Hope you have had a good Monday. Was pleased to get a significant amount of editing done over the weekend on what I hope will end up being my third flash fiction collection. And I managed to draft some future blogs so those will come in handy in due course.

Am enjoying the new series of Just a Minute. It is odd not having Nicholas Parsons in the chair but Sue Perkins is doing a grand job. One of the reasons I love this show is there is some wonderful word play and I always have a lot of time for that! It also shows how difficult it is not to repeat. Every word has to count – and I guess that would always prove popular with a flash fiction writer.

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Many thanks for the comments coming in on An Undesirable Property, my latest story on #FridayFlashFiction. Much appreciated. Am currently working on another story for this week’s submission and hope to get that polished and sent off later this evening.

I’ll be looking at Pinch, Punch, The First of the Month as my topic for Chandler’s Ford Today this week given Friday will be 1st October. I’ll also look at how we can use sayings in our fiction and non-fiction. I’ve used several sayings as titles and/or themes for my flash fiction stories, for example. So don’t throw out your books of proverbs and well known sayings. Mine them for ideas!

Talking of the first of the month, my author newsletter will go out on Friday as well. I share tips, news, writing prompts, and stories here. If you’d like to sign up head over to my website (landing page).

 

Hope you have had a good Saturday. Nice to catch up with friends and family today. Lady loved seeing everyone. She loves people (and the food they drop of course). Autumn evenings drawing in – getting dark here before 8 pm.

I don’t use a lot of description, mainly because in flash room for this is limited. What I look for is the telling detail, something that will show a reader setting, character age/class (often done via the name I give them – names can date people – mine does as I mentioned the other day), or story mood.

It is a case of working out what a reader has to know and what can be left for them to pick up on inference/context. I ask myself when editing a story, does the tale make sense without it? Does the tale lose anything if I take this out?

I am more interested in character than description anyway. I want to know what a character is like. Finding out where they live is, for me, something I will pick up as I keep reading. What I don’t want is to be switched off by long descriptions.

I want the dialogue, the character’s thoughts etc and description slipped in every now and then. I will “assimilate” that. I don’t want a great big block of description (and I am wary that kind of thing is likely to switch a lot of readers off. They want to know what is happening as opposed to what something looks like).

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Triggers for story ideas can come from anywhere – and at unexpected times. (Not always convenient times either). I’ve never used the keep a notebook and pen by your bed so if you wake up with a great idea you can jot it down quickly. Why? Because when I’m asleep, that is it.

I don’t tend to dream story ideas. They come to me as I’m getting on with other things, which is fine if I can pause to jot things down, but that is not always possible. I have had odd ideas come to me when in the shower, when I’ve just parked, when on the loo etc. What I will do here is grab my phone and use Evernote to jot things down as quickly as I can after the idea has occurred. Best endeavours and all that).

But I worry less now about “missing an idea” because I know now in a way I didn’t when starting out that ideas will crop up. It’s not as if you have one “go” at getting ideas, far from it.

The best trigger I know and often make use of is to ask the old “what if” question? For Being Yourself in Tripping the Flash Fantastic, I knew my character was going to be accused by a love rival of being cold. So I asked myself what if my character could become cold? What would that make her capable of and how could she use this against her rival?

And random generators can be a good way of triggering words to put into a story. I’ve done this recently and I came up with promising words and then asked the what if question. That showed me how to use this words well and two of my more recent videos on my YouTube channel came about because I did this.

 


Delighted to share my latest YouTube video called Housework. Even dragons tidy up when they have a strong enough motivation to do so. Hope you enjoy.

F = Fun to Write – and you can write across genres too.
L = Less is More – what are the telling details your reader must know?
A = Always axe anything that does not move your story along in some way.
S = Story, story, story. What happens? How does your character change? What is the important thing we need to know about your character in this tale?
H = Has an upper limit of 1000 words but you can write across the spectrum. There are different categories including the dribble (50 words) and drabble (100 words – and my favourite). You can pack a lot into a tiny tale whether or not you go to the upper word limit.

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I was talking over on my author page about not wanting a lot of description. There isn’t room for it in flash anyway. I chatted about telling details and working out what a reader has to know. Some examples from my published stories include:-

Making the Grade – one word, “magical” ahead of the word “exams” shows my reader the character is not in any ordinary school and they have talents we do not.

Pen Portrait – “brushed her hair once a day” shows you my character, whatever else she is, isn’t vain.

It Has to be Me – the words “you break customs at your peril” shows you my character lives in a repressive world.

There is an indication of setting in two of these as well.

Also, given we live in a TV and film era, the days of long descriptions are behind us, I think. Someone like Dickens had to spell out what London looked like for readers who would probably never go there. We, on the other hand, can take shortcuts here as we can set a story in London and most people will have their own ideas as to what that looks like.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Book Shopping

Book shopping is an absolute pleasure, of course, and I like to mix up how I do this. I do shop online but mix up the retailers I use (and I like to also support those who support independent bookshops. I have used You Know Who and I have found them helpful with out of print books in the past. I also believe in not putting all my eggs in one basket here but that goes for You Know Who as well as the other retailers here).

I also love going into a “proper” bookshop and browsing. Have not done the latter yet since the pandemic restrictions were lifted but hope it will be something I get back to before too long.
And the nice thing here is that book shopping is easy enough for family and friends to do for you for Christmas etc. Just give them a list of the books you want and send them to Waterstones!

I also like to mix up asking for paperbacks and ebooks (though usually I’ll sort out the latter myself). And I like to have non-fiction as well as fiction on my Wish List. The downside of all of this?

I know I need to sort out my book shelves. Adding more books is not going to help! But it is a nice problem to have!

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Exciting News: Creativity Matters

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Image Credits:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated.

Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing.

Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing book covers supplied by #WendyHJones.

Some images created in Book Brush by me, Allison Symes, for the Creativity Matters book and with Pixabay images for other posts.

It has been a fabulous start to the week with very exciting publication news. More details below. (Image below, which I LOVE as you can imagine, provided by #WendyHJones, as is the one further down showing all of the authors taking part in the Creativity Matters book).

Allison Symes and Creativity Matters

Facebook – General

Nice to take Lady out on a big walk this afternoon after I resumed swimming again. Nice to get back to that too.

Swanwick feels like an age away now! I’m pleased to say I’ll be taking part in another writing event later in the year. More details nearer the time but am looking forward to it as I will be running a workshop and giving an author talk.

Just a quick reminder I send out my author newsletter on the first of the month. I share writing tips, stories, news etc in this and sometimes share an exclusive YouTube video of a mini flash tale. When I thought about what I should put in a newsletter, I put my reader’s hat on and went for features I knew I would enjoy if I was receiving the newsletter myself. To me, that seemed a sensible starting point.

If you would like to sign up for (and a big hello to those who already have), please head to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

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Hope you have had a good start to the working week. Delighted to say that, despite only being on pre-order at the moment (until 1st September so not long to wait for actual availability) Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing is doing extremely well on Amazon. Lovely start to the week for all of us involved with this book and well done to #WendyHJones, the mastermind behind this book.

Am also thrilled to say the book has reached No.1 in the Hot New Releases category (see screenshot) and the paperback is now available on pre-order. So lots going on! It was a joy to write a chapter on Why Write Flash Fiction and Short Stories.

Creativity Matters - Number 1 Hot New Releases


Hope you have had a good Sunday. Many thanks for the wonderful response to the pre-order news about Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing yesterday. See below. I now have the Amazon link for this – see below for that.

This week on Chandler’s Ford Today, I will be talking about how special the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School is and looking at the benefits of going to it. I can say those of us who went are suffering withdrawal symptoms but it was so good to meet up in person again with friends I’ve not seen for such a long time. I am grateful for Facebook and Zoom keeping communications going in the meantime. Both of these things have been a lifeline for me this last year or so.

Am working on non-fiction in another capacity too at the moment as I am preparing presentations for future use. I used to use PowerPoint years ago but then it fell out of fashion. Zoom has effectively brought it back as it is an excellent tool to use when screen sharing. Again not something I was doing a year ago but prove again, if needed, the writing journey is not static and you do keep learning. That in turn is good for the old brain and your creativity overall I find.

Chandler's Ford Today post reminder picture(1)

PUBLICATION NEWS

Am thrilled to announce Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing is now available for pre-order. It comes out on 1st September. Currently in ebook only but it will be available in paperback as well soon. Will share details on that as and when I can but watch this space as they say.

My chapter in this book is Why Write Flash Fiction and Short Stories and it was a joy to write. This will be my first non-fiction work in print and I hope there will be more to come in this area for me over time.

Later, on 3rd September, I will be posting on Chandler’s Ford Today my interview with #WendyHJones as publishing other authors is a new venture for her. I look forward to sharing a great in depth talk with her about why she went this route on her own writing journey, the new skills she had to learn to do this, and she shares three fabulous tips for writers for getting the best out of working with their editor and publisher. All very useful material and I can’t wait to share that soon.

Creativity Matters-2

 

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Despite technology, it still pays to keep a notebook and pen to hand. Why?

If I’m feeling ground down and uninspired (and it happens to us all, usually a case of life getting in the way), I turn to said notebook and flick through it looking for ideas that give me a “spark”. I usually find something and once I’m drafting the story, I feel much happier.

I jot down in said notebook ideas for stories but also things like interesting titles. For those, I work out what I could do (often using a spider diagram to work out different lines of approach). It is also reassuring to have that notebook to hand so I know I’ve got something to refer to – and while I still like pen and paper, I do also use Evernote for this kind of thing. Who ever said you had to only have one notebook?

It is perhaps appropriate for a flash fiction writer to have brief notes for later use. I’m well under the 1000 words limit when I’m jotting ideas down.

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It’s not every day I hit No.1 in the Amazon Hot New Releases category but Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing has done that today. (23rd August 2021). Well done to all of the other authors involved and to #WendyHJones. (You can now pre-order ebook and paperback – hooray!). So a great start to the week.

In other news, as they say, I am delighted to share my latest YouTube video. Hope you enjoy Decisions.

 

I now have an Amazon link for Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing. See below for that. It was a great pleasure to write a chapter praising the merits of flash fiction and short story writing.

Talking of flash pieces, may I say a huge thanks to all who have already given feedback on my latest #FridayFlashFiction story, Discretion. The feedback is much appreciated. And congratulations to all of the writers who were listed in their recent competition, which was designed to blend in with the Edinburgh Festival competition.

Am also looking forward to taking part in an online flash group meeting (Association of Christian Writers) next week. Flash fiction is great to share on Zoom as well as in Open Prose Mic Nights.

Screenshot 2021-08-20 at 19-19-31 Discretion by Allison Symes

The big news is the release in ebook of Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing. I contributed a chapter called Why Write Flash Fiction and Short Stories and it was a delight to answer that question in said chapter! The book is compiled and edited by #WendyHJones and will be out in paperback as well soon. I am delighted to be “between the covers” with excellent writers for company and thrilled this is my first non-fiction work out in print (as opposed to online).

I am always happy to write and talk about flash fiction and short stories!

Always a joy to talk or write about flash fiction

Goodreads Author Blogs – “Real” Books

What do I mean by “real” books? I have no time for the “proper” book -v- ebook debate. Both have their merits and disadvantages. I also hope ebooks have encouraged more reading by bringing books to a screen very near you – that is one in your own pocket! I also want people to discover the joy of paperbacks from reading ebooks if books in general have been a closed chapter to them prior to reading on screen.

For me a “real” book is a novel that has characters who gripped me all the way through and wouldn’t let go until I did find out what had happened to them.

For short story and flash collections, I want to be gripped by the characters, but also by wanting to find out what the next story is about, the one after that and so on.

For non-fiction, I want to be gripped by the way the author is putting the information across so I have to find out what the conclusions were or, in the case of say a Ben Macintyre book, what happened to the real life character he is writing about.

The ultimate test for a “real” book is whether you can bear to put it down to do other things such as go to sleep. If you do so reluctantly, it is a great and “real” book all right!

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