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- A very special book in my memory! My first printed story, A Helping Hand, was in here!
Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good few days. Gorgeous spring weather here. Lady and I are making the most of it. Writing and editing going well too. Not short of things to do right now!
Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today
Am delighted to share Writing Wishes on Chandler’s Ford Today this week.
As I take a brief look at AI and the Human Authored campaign, I also look at other writing wishes, many of which are achievable! Others need working at but that is true for us all, if it is any comfort. Still others are “no-brainers” such as writers always wanting lots of nice stationery. Well, there is always room for one more notebook and pen set, isn’t there?
I also share two useful links for those seeking writing advice (and we all need that).
Hope you enjoy the post.
Writing Wishes
Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler pal today. Lovely time in the park.
Today it is St. George’s Day and also Shakespeare’s birth/death days. I can only think of one other who died on their birthday, Elizabeth of York, Henry VII’s queen.
It took me ages to “get” Shakespeare at all, though like many of us I’ve used phrases I hadn’t known he invented. It took the pandemic and watching National Theatre Live, along with going to some of those productions in a local school after we were allowed out again, which changed my opinion. I do remain convinced though Shakespeare, generally, is best watched than read (with the exception of the sonnets, obviously). I saw Hamlet via NTL, both the Benedict Cumberbatch and David Tennant ones. Loved them. My late mother loved him and I’m sure she’d be pleased I’ve finally “got” Shakespeare.
Writing wise, I’m sharing Writing Wishes on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow (see above) and am ploughing on with the editing. Nice to do this with the windows open though and letting some sunshine in. It’s been months since I was last able to do that!
It has been another lovely spring day today, which Lady and I appreciated. The park was quiet and lovely. Talking of which, how about this for a prompt?
Prompt Thought: Quietness can seem wonderful or threatening, depending on circumstance and character mood. It can also seem oppressive, leading to the threatening feeling. Why not write two stories based on quietness being a wonderful thing for your character and then another tale where it is anything but that? You could also keep the word count for the two stories the same. Am sure you could get two interesting and contrasting stories here and, yes, you could use the same character but in different situations.
Happy drafting! (May well do this one myself at some point. As ever, watch this space).
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again
Hope the day has been a good one. Lovely weather again and Lady so enjoyed seeing her Hungarian Vizler pal. Later, she met a lovely cockapoo called Roscoe. Lady has had a good day on “the socials”. She is easily the most sociable pet we’ve had (and yes she loves it when we hold parties here so you could call her a party animal too).
Flash fiction wise, I am happily going through my third book and hope to have that done in the next few days. Then it’s back to the publisher. Exciting times.
Plus this weekend I want to dig out an old story of mine and have a look at it for a future competition. I always keep a supply of stories in stock, so to speak, for this purpose. It pays. If a theme is set, I often have a story already written in draft and I can then examine it to see if it could be submitted. Often it can be with some more work done to it, which is fine. I’ve never had a problem with editing!
I suspect by now there is a National Day of Something for every day of the year. As well as it being St. George’s Day and Shakespeare’s birth/death days, it appears it is also National Picnic Day (has anyone told the wasps?), World Book and Copyright Day (am naturally all for that), and Allergy Awareness Week. I should imagine though if you have any allergies (I do – asthma and hayfever), you are aware of that all year!
Having said that, there’s nothing to stop you weaving ideas from these days into your flash fiction stories.
For example, a character with an allergy – how does it get in their way? What do they do to overcome it as much as possible?
A character wants to set up a picnic and makes a right mess of it – could be potential for humour here. Do they give up on the idea or are they able to salvage something from the mess? Does anyone else help here?
So story ideas are there, including for flash. It’s a question, I think, of keeping an open mind to possibilities. I like to see these National Days as potential prompt ideas because you can take them that way.
I like to mix up the mood of my flash (and short) stories because I think this reflects life. Much as I’d love to find things funny all of the time, that isn’t possible. There is the darker side of life and I think it is honest to have stories which reflect both sides of life here. Certainly I believe having a mixture of the two types in a collection makes the stories, and the characters, more believable.
I do like to keep a balance in my collections though and this will also apply to Seeing The Other Side in due course.
There are times when I just know from my character outline what mood the story is likely to take. If, for example, I have a character dealing with a sad situation, there will be elements within the story which will show the character being influenced by that. I would then hope to write them going on to rise about things as much as is possible (and probably with help) but I can’t have them immune to what is going on around them. Else they would be a cardboard cut out character.
Characters make or break a story for me and even the most fantastical of creatures still has to be believable in some way. Motivation is key here. I might not understand what a great big dragon’s life is like,not having had experience of being a great big dragon (!), but I can imagine why they may want to terrorise a village. If they’re hungry, say, where would they go to look for food? Something has to drive them and basic needs can be a great way into working out what a character’s motivation would be.
Fairytales With Bite – Journeys
I like journeys. Journeys have purpose. (Okay I loathe traffic jams, cancellations on the trains etc but journeys themselves are generally fine). They are also great things to write stories around. For a magical setting, you’ve got more range as to what kind of transport your characters have to use. The sky could indeed be the limit here!
Journeys can also be enlightening. Why does your character have to go on one? What does it achieve for them? When using magic, how does that help or hinder them? Are there disadvantages to magical transport? How could it compare with what we have here? I’m thinking along the lines of energy usage here. Could your magical setting have issues with “clean” and “unclean” magical energy usage? Journeys would be likely to use up a lot of this.
What does your character think about having to go on a journey, especially if it is not something they would usually do and/or it is to somewhere they would far rather not go? Be fair, would you go to Mordor if you didn’t have to?!
This World and Others – Taking The Long Way
I remember as a kid my Dad taking the family out for day trips and, especially if we weren’t in a hurry, we’d take the long way around to get home after a great day out. It was all part of the trip and we enjoyed it. Would your characters ever choose to do that? Where would they choose to go and why? What would be their long way home?
Where characters have to take the long way out of necessity, what is behind that? How do they manage it? What help do they have along their way? Frodo from The Lord of the Rings needed others to help him. He’d have never have made it to Mordor on his own.
What kind of roads would your setting have? Is the thought of any kind of journey, long or short, something your characters might dread because of the state of the roads and/or transport networks? Would have every sympathy there!
If a character has a choice of a short or long way to achieve their objective, what would make them choose the longer, more complicated way? I would expect there to be good reasons behind that. For example, the short route could have hazards the longer one doesn’t. The longer route is safer but just longer.
Whatever journey your character is going on, what would they face along the way?
Story ideas there!
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— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) April 24, 2026
Delighted to share Writing Wishes on CFT. I take a brief look at AI & the Human Authored campaign & other writing wishes including always having plenty of ideas and nice stationery. Every writer can get behind those two! pic.twitter.com/ygzkX6rCSi
Hope you have had a good Wednesday. Lady had a fabulous time in the park with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals. Came home tired but happy.
Have come across another flash competition I may have a go at which specifies a character count rather than a word one (and yes it is linked to X or Twitter as I still prefer to think of it as).
Hope you have had a good day. Proper spring weather at last – Lady and I loved it.
