Tag: Seasonal Magic

Short Story Collections

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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 all is well. How can it be almost December already? Lady has had a good time this week with her two closest chums and we’ve managed to avoid some of the wet weather. (Nobody avoids it all!). Writing is going well and I have just sent in a piece for the Hannah Kate Three Minute Santas show coming up soon. Whether it’s picked or not, I know Christmas has begun when I send that in and also at church when we light the first Advent candle.

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Am pleased to share Short Story Collections on Chandler’s Ford Today this week.

I look at the advantages of these from the viewpoints of both readers and writers plus share tips on writing to set themes. Most anthologies I’ve come across do set themes and writing to these is also useful competition for story competitions anyway.

I also (naturally) take the chance to flag up Magi, the latest anthology from Bridge House Publishing. My story, The Family Legend, is in there. Hope you find the post useful.

Short Story Collections

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Despite it being a grey, drizzly day today, Lady had a lovely time in the park with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals.

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Short Story Collections for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. As well as discussing the many advantages to reading such things, I share tips on making the most of set themes as most anthologies do set themes. Link up tomorrow. See above.

Bridge House Publishing always set one in keeping for the time of the year their annual anthology comes out (now basically!). Am looking forward to their annual celebration event which is coming up in early December.

Talking of stories, I’ve just had a turn down so will have another look at that story and see if I can work on it and send it somewhere else. I’ve also picked two stories for another competition (where I can send in two pieces for one fee, these are worth looking out for as you get two bites of the cherry) and have started editing those. Am looking to submit these in a week or so I think.

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Hope today has gone well. Pretty cold here – the frost was crisp and deep and even! (No sign of King Wenceslas yet though). Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today – nice time had by both.

Writing wise, am looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting later tonight. Am also hoping to go over my draft story as well so I’m ready to submit that by the end of this week, sooner if possible. Done!

Plus I’m looking forward to having a go at today’s Flash NANO challenge. Am also working on a super author interview I’m looking forward to sharing on Chandler’s Ford Today soon.

Character Tip: You know all of those little niggles we all have and which are far more annoying than they ought to be? Why not write them out of your system and get your characters to have them! How would your characters handle them – like you do, better than you, worse than you? Whatever you go for here, there will be story ideas.


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I finish the week with a light, delicious story on Friday Flash Fiction – Cakes. Hope you enjoy it. Many thanks for the comments coming in on this one already. I think folk like my choices of cakes in this story! See what you think.

What does every published author want other than people to buy and read their books? Why, reviews of course! I treasure mine and a lovely quote from a review of Tripping The Flash Fantastic reads:-

The storytelling was beautiful in so few words which takes the talent and skill of a practiced author.

Many thanks to my reviewer there but I mention this because with Christmas coming up and most of us are going to have some book related presents (we are, aren’t we?), then another present you can give the author is to put a review up. They don’t have to be long but help us all a lot. So please do consider doing this.

I should add I read reviews myself regularly and not just for books so they do make an impact.

Meantime if you want to find a copy of Tripping the Flash Fantastic (and why wouldn’t you!), do check out the link below.


Flash fiction is wonderful for those moments which are complete stories in themselves but too short to be part of anything else. So if you have scenes that cannot form part of your longer work but which you are reluctant to discard, can you turn them into short, sharp flash pieces instead?

The challenge of flash is always to still have a complete story in and of itself within a restricted word count. I love that challenge. I often start with my ending and then work out where the pivot point has to be and from where what at the start would lead to that pivot point. It means I have a structure in place and it makes it far more likely my story will “work”.

I also like the challenge of writing to different word counts within flash. It’s also good practice for entering flash competitions given these come in at different word counts.

I think what you get better at, over time, is working out this story would work best at 100 words while another needs 500 or more.

Fairytales with Bite – Seasonal Magic

Every season, I think, has a kind of magic of its own. For spring, it is the new growth. For summer it is the lovely weather (usually!) and seeing the trees in full bloom. For autumn it is the changing colour of the leaves. For winter, I do enjoy seeing the silhouettes of the trees against the sunset. This often looks magnificent.

But I suppose if we were to pick one season and associate something special with it, it is now in the run up to Christmas and the end of the year. For me, as a Christian, Christmas obviously has a lot of significance but I do appreciate the other side of the festivities too. I love the Christmas films for example (and The Muppet Christmas Carol is the best retelling of Dickens’ classic in my view).

When it comes to your magical setting, what would count as magic, seasonal or otherwise, for them? What would stand out as special for your characters? Also is certain types of magic only used at certain times of year and, if so, what is it and why the restriction on its use? There will be stories behind those thoughts.

Would your setting’s natural world encourage the use (or disuse) of certain types of magic? Would geography/geology directly impact on what kind of magic could be used and when (and possibly how much as well)?

How do your characters adjust to being able to use certain powers only at certain times of the year (or other time period you use)? Does anyone try to cheat this and, if so, what would the consequences be? There are always consequences!

This World and Others – Waters

I love waters in all their varieties – peaceful streams, lakes and rivers, as well as the sea. I think there is a sense of eternity to be felt when I walk along a beach and look at the sea. I guess there is a sense of timelessness here. Is there anything like this in your magical setting?

What kinds of waters would your world have? Would they be anything like we have here? If not, what would your characters drink (I can’t imagine any character not needing to at some point)? Are the waters or equivalent in your world treasured or have they become polluted (perhaps by too much magic entering it)?

Is water supply an issue? If it is, how does your setting overcome this? Has climate change (or the equivalent in your setting) been responsible for this and can it be reversed? Or is water treasured so much its uses are protected and nobody dares goes against this?

Who would manage the waters on behalf of the overall population? Would this be a government managed resource or otherwise? Could your characters be “held to ransom” by whoever does control the waters? Could that be used to restrict the use of magic against whoever does the controlling?

Good story thoughts there, I think.

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Thoughts on Editing

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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 so far. Mixed bag weather wise but the train is welcome (grass has been looking sorry for itself). Writing wise, lots going on and I hope to share some very exciting news on this soon.

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Pleased to be back on Chandler’s Ford Today with my latest post, Thoughts on Editing. Naturally I am biased on this topic given I am an editor but I share useful thoughts and tips on editing anything (yes, really). Hope you find the post informative and practical.

Am off to The Chameleons Open Evening tomorrow (7th June) as they are holding this to celebrate their 60th anniversary this year. Congratulations to them all. They put on some wonderful plays so if you have a chance to get to one or more, do go.

The Open Evening is on from 6 pm to 9 pm and will be at the Ritchie Hall in Chandler’s Ford. All welcome to go and find out more about what it takes to put on a performance. Volunteers always wanted for roles on and off the stage. 

Thoughts on Editing

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Hope today has been okay. Another soggy one but Lady got to play in front of her Hungarian Vizler chum again so all is well with their worlds! Not sorry about the rain. Grass needs it. Relieved it’s not coming down as a torrential downpour which just floods everywhere. Rain coming down at a steady rate means the ground is more likely to make better use of it. Also Lady and I get damp rather than soaked so there is that as well!

Don’t forget I’ll be sharing Thoughts on Editing for Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above.

Will be off to visit The Chameleons as they hold their Open Evening to celebrate their 60th anniversary on Saturday evening. Hope to catch up with my lovely editor at Chandler’s Ford Today there as well.

Character Tip: What draws you (or repels you) to the character you’re writing about? There has to be a strong reason why you want to write their story up whether they’re going to be the hero of the villain. This all ties in with character motivation of course but I do think this is a huge driver for any story to be a success, regardless of its length.

Hope today has been a good Wednesday for you. Lady showed off in front of her Hungarian Vizler pal again today. The latter looks on Lady playing, almost as if she was being an indulgent granny watching her favourite grandchild! Lady just has a fabulous time (but I am sure she is aware she is showing off!).

Writing wise, am looking forward to going to an online sci-fi and fantasy group (run by the Association of Christian Writers) later this evening. Always good fun. Am making good progress on a longer short story too. Group was great fun. Longer short story on the back burner for the moment. Things have cropped up but I hope to share news of this soon.

I’ll be sharing Thoughts on Editing for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday – it is always a timely topic especially given I am editing away at the moment and loving it. See above.

 

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Delighted to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest drabble (100 worder), Starting Over. Find out what role the “umbrella from hell” has to play in Mary’s life here.

I mentioned yesterday about using flash to play with genre (see below) but inevitably my favourite genres come through in my flash fiction stories.

For me, these are what I call fairytales with bite (humorous fantasy, sometimes grimmer fantasy!), historical fiction, crime and many more but I would say these are my main three.

There is often a strong element of justice being done in many of my stories too which crosses the genres but I know for me is inspired by my love of the classic fairytales. The rotters rarely get away with it in those tales. You know the comeuppance is coming. The great thing with flash tales is that comeuppance comes very quickly, sometimes in only 100 words!

One of the things I enjoy most about writing flash fiction is the opportunity it gives me to play with character and, therefore, genre. I can and do set my characters, some of whom are definitely not human, in all kinds of settings and back and forwards in time as well.

What I focus on is making my character believable as I mentioned the other day. Their world may be fantastic. But their actions and attitudes should always be relatable. (Not necessarily agreeable though!).

Fairytales with Bite – Seasonal Magic

In your magical setting, do the seasons, whether they’re the same as ours or not, play havoc with a character’s magical abilities? Does the availability of natural light, or its lack, change what your characters can do or limit their powers in some other way? If it does, can this be overcome by what they would consider artificial means?

Can enemies take advantage of when powers are “down” due to seasonal fluctuations? What would your world do to protect itself against that?

Equally when there is an abundance of natural energy (not necessarily light though this is an obvious one to think about), does that boost your character’s magical powers and how can they make the most of this while this lasts? Can your world take advantage of this against their enemies?

Certainly I wouldn’t think it unreasonable for lack of light or other energy source to have a direct ability on someone’s magical capacity in stories. It an also limit the powers of magic forcing your characters to find other ways to resolve their problems. There will be interesting story ideas to emerge from that.

This World and Others – Times

Time is a major factor in all of our lives and that goes for our characters too. Even the superheroes need their down time. So what kind of down time would your characters need (other than the obvious ones of food, drink, rest) and how would they get this time off?

How is time measured in your setting? Are the lengths of days and nights the same as ours, or are they wildly different and, if the latter why is that the case? This has a direct impact on what could be grown in your setting too and what your characters are likely to be able to eat. It would then in turn have an impact on the kinds of employment in your setting too. If only certain items of food can be grown, your setting would need workers for that, others to process it for the general market and so on.

The way time works in your setting will have an impact on what you characters could get done in a typical “day”. That will have an impact on how long they will need to fulfil their quest or whatever task you’ve set them to do. Of course if they have more time in a day than we do, that could help them a lot!

But it pays to plan out how time will work in your setting.

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Pinch, Punch, The First of The Month and Trying Hard

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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. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Many thanks to Fiona Park for the fab photo of my signing copies of Tripping the Flash Fantastic at Swanwick 2021.
Hope you have had a good week. Not bad here. New story out and a new More than Writers blog post which has attracted a fair few comments but then I did ask about people’s Writing Niggles. It seems to have hit a spot!

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It’s that time of the week again and time for my Chandler’s Ford Today post. This week’s one is called Pinch, Punch, The First of the Month. I look at what the first of the month means for me, writing wise. I also look at the origin of the saying and ask why white rabbits are considered lucky. Any thoughts on that? If so pop a comment over on the CFT page. This post will tie in nicely with next week’s one where I’ll be taking a look at sayings and their uses in creative writing.

Pinch, Punch, The First of the Month

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A huge thanks for the wonderful comments coming in on my More Than Writers blog spot yesterday. See further down. My post about Writing Niggles obviously hit a sore spot or several! Mind you, the one comfort here is we all have writing niggles. It is working out a way of (a) managing them and (b) limiting the irritation they can cause you that are the tricky bits to get right.

My post tomorrow for Chandler’s Ford Today is all about Pinch, Punch The First of the Month. I look at what the first of the month means for me now (author newsletter send out day!). I also look at the origin of this strange phase (which will also tie in with my post on the 8th October as I will be talking about sayings and their uses in fiction and non-fiction).

Oh and is it just me or have the light levels in the evening just plummeted into complete darkness so far this autumn? There has been no gradual fading of the light. It looks as if someone has gone in and taken the bulb out! Dark by 7.30 pm… I wasn’t expecting that until much later into October.

It’s my turn on the More Than Writers blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. This month I talk about Writing Niggles and it is a rare writer indeed that doesn’t have at least one. I share some of mine (yes, some!) and solutions I have found that have helped me. A huge thanks to everyone for the wonderful comments on this subject which have come in already.

 

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Pleased to share my latest story on #FridayFlashFiction. Will my hapless Sarah finally make things right with her neighbour in Trying Hard?

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

One of the biggest things flash fiction has done for me as a writer is to help me understand what “show, don’t tell” means in practice. It took me ages to get my head around that.

Because I have to write to a tight word count, I have no room for “extras” and showing a scene rather than telling it can take up a fair bit of said word count. I’ve found it helpful to focus on one thing I have to show a reader for a story that is 500 words or less. I’ll show two for 500 to 1000 words. So I have to work out what is the most important thing to show a reader and focus on that alone. That in turn does help me keep my word count down.

I’ve mentioned before my “she wears a red coat” and “she wears a moth-eaten red coat” as these are great examples of tight writing and how one word can change perspective. I don’t need to tell you my character is poor in the second example. I’ve shown you (and hyphenated words, since they count as one word for flash fiction, are the flash writer’s best friend). So think of ways in which you could show something.

Anger – character slamming something.

Sadness – character being asked by another character something along the lines of “what’s up with you?” and then getting the first character to sob.

Happiness – Showing your character walking jauntily, whistling a cheery tune etc.

So you can show a mood quickly. Setting can be done with the selective use of detail. A poor house can be shown as characters moaning about the roof leaking again etc. Think about what you want to show and then what words you can use to do that. Always pick the strongest. A roof leaking is far more powerful than characters moaning about how poor they are. Readers do pick things up on context (I love doing this). We just need to give them the right clues so they can.

BookBrushImage-2021-9-30-20-354Just to flag up the paperback of Tripping the Flash Fantastic is currently on offer on Amazon. See link for more.

Will also be sending out my author newsletter on 1st October. I share tips, prompts, flash stories here (and these are often exclusive to newsletter readers) as well as my news. Do head over to my website (the landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com where the landing page takes you straight through to the sign-up. There is a giveaway too.

Fairytales with Bite – Seasonal Magic

Do your magical characters use their powers more at certain times of year or spread the use evenly throughout the twelve months? In your fictional setting, do certain seasons encourage the use of magic or, conversely, limit it? In the darker times of year, is magic more difficult? Is there any link to available light levels and when there is light, is it easier for a character to “produce the goods” when it comes to using their powers?

Do physical weaknesses limit magical use? After all, we are prone to colds, the flu etc more in the winter months and that affects how we “perform” so could your characters be affected by something similar?
Also, can your characters adapt their spells to match the time of year? For example, when it is dark and gloomy, are they on call for “lift me up” charms to help get people through these times? (For me a cup of hot chocolate, a cosy home, classical music, and a good book would do this for me nicely!).

Are your people expected to produce more magic at certain times of year? If magic can be equated to energy, are they on call to produce more of this at certain times of year to help keep their environment “going”? (Think Monsters Inc where the monsters need energy from children’s screams and then run into problems when they find youngsters aren’t so easily scared any more).

How do the seasons affect your people? In good ways or negatively and how could that change the outcome of your stories (or do your people “compensate” and, if so, how? What matters here is that you know how things work here even if you don’t need to share all of that with your readers.

You inevitably won’t share it all but you could have a character exploiting weaknesses here to their advantage. You would need to know what they are exploiting, how, and what would be the outcome? Also could the exploited hit back by using your natural world against whoever is trying to pull this trick off?).

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This World and Others – Seasons

I love the seasons. See some of the above pics for proof! The last one with the summer house is from my garden earlier this year. There is beauty to be found in each, even in winter (and there I also have the delicious compensations of hot chocolate, a cosy home etc to enjoy). Okay, so we have the four, but what does your created world have? More or less? Same as ours or totally different?

How do the seasons work in your created world? Especially if you have magical characters, is there anything they can do to influence how the seasons work and, if so, how? What would they gain from this?

Seasons tie in with celebrations too so what seasonal events would your world hold? Why are these things special to them?

As for the climate, can it compare with ours or is yours worse or better? How do your characters manage the ups and downs of the seasons and the climate?

There are seasons in life too. How do your stories reflect this in your characters, especially as they age? Have they learned anything useful from their younger years (especially what not to do) that benefits them now? Do they appreciate the season of “maturity” or do they resent not being young any more?

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