Tag: short stories

The Hayes Conference Centre, Derbyshire.

THE DANGERS OF REVIEWING MAGICAL BOOKS

Leave a comment

FAIRYTALES WITH BITE

There are some jobs that the sensible would avoid at all costs.  One of these is being a magical book reviewer.  Tonight’s FWB post looks how a magical book reviewer might set about their task – and yes, carefully is one answer!

THIS WORLD AND OTHERS

Spreading the Word discusses (briefly) the need that all authors have to do what they can in this regard.  I do take my own advice (!) and share news of the latest anthology my work appears in on my News page.  (The Best of Cafelit 5 published by Chapeltown Books and available in print and electronically.  There!   I’ve taken my own advice again – links on my website!).

From a fictional viewpoint, this post discusses how your characters might spread the word.  The post asks how technology has developed in your story worlds and, if it hasn’t, asks why not?  Is the media controlled in your settings?  Are stories still told in the oral tradition?  Answering these questions could trigger some really good stories.  (Orwell’s 1984 being the ultimate re the media control one I think).

CHANDLER’S FORD TODAY

I discuss what makes a good writing conference in tonight’s CFT post and share my thoughts based on my experience of attending the Winchester and Swanwick conferences.  I share some of my photos taken at Swanwick.  The conference there is held at The Hayes Conference Centre in Derbyshire.  The grounds are lovely and the accommodation very comfortable.  Only trouble?  I ate far too much when I was away there!   Still it is a nice trouble to have…and I certainly wasn’t the only one!

FACEBOOK PAGE

My FB author page tonight shares the link with my Chandler’s Ford Today post where I discuss good writing conferences.  I share what I have learned about what to look out for, based on my experience of the Winchester Writers’ Festival and, for the first time this year, the Swanwick Summer Writers’ School.  Hope the post helps those who are considering going to a conference for the first time.

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FAllison.Symes.FairytaleLady%2Fposts%2F795112463925068&width=500

One of the lakes at The Hayes Conference Centre, Derbyshire, which is home to the Swanwick Summer Writers' School. Image taken by me this year. Lovely place to walk around.

One of the lakes at The Hayes Conference Centre, Derbyshire, which is home to the Swanwick Summer Writers’ School. Image taken by me this year. Lovely place to walk around.

 

Hard at work. While writing should always be fun, the work of getting it fit for publication shouldn't be underestimated. Image via Pixabay.

FAVOURITE STORIES

Leave a comment

FAIRYTALES WITH BITE

A character’s favourite stories can tell you a great deal about the character so this can be useful in helping to portray them as fully rounded beings.  What makes the favourite stories so well loved by your characters?  What legends are they brought up on and which would be their sacred texts?  I ask these questions and others in tonight’s post.  There are stories to be had writing the story behind the story!

THIS WORLD AND OTHERS

What every character wants is the theme here tonight.  Are you giving your characters what they want?!  My short check list may be a useful place to start!

FACEBOOK PAGE

I talk about my methods of writing a short story, sending it off to a competition (usually) and then immediately starting another one.  Sometimes I write a story and later a suitable competition comes up so I send the piece off.  But this method of working means by the end of a year, I have written a reasonable number of stories.  I tend to write flash fiction in small batches.  I don’t know why but it seems to work for me.

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FAllison.Symes.FairytaleLady%2Fposts%2F793783714057943&width=500

Where stories used to start - P.G. Wodehouse and Agatha Christie, two of my favourite authors, must have produced billions of words between them on typewriters. Image via Pixabay.

Where stories used to start – P.G. Wodehouse and Agatha Christie, two of my favourite authors, must have produced billions of words between them on typewriters. Image via Pixabay.

 

 

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

Leave a comment

FAIRYTALES WITH BITE

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly are all found in classic fairytales, probably the best example is Beauty and the Beast.  The good is Beauty, the bad is the witch who cursed the prince and Beast is the ugly one, though I’ve always loved this tale for its message that what you look like should not be the be all and end all.  (A side message is be careful when offending someone who looks harmless as they might not be and turning someone else into a monstrous being is one of their specialities!).  How can you use these elements?  I have a look at that in this post.

THIS WORLD AND OTHERS

I look at rituals and habits in At the End of the Day and ask what do your characters do at the end of their day?  Do they follow their own habits or is everyone expected to follow a set routine?  (If the latter, you know the world you’ve created is run by a control freak!).  How your characters wind down for the night (or day as appropriate) can reveal much about them and how they differ from others in stories.

FACEBOOK PAGE

Today saw one of those lovely moments in the life of a writer:  that moment when you open a parcel of books you’ve ordered but your story is in them!  My flash fiction piece, Telling the Time, is in The Best of Cafelit 5 (available in print and electronically).   The link takes you to the Amazon page.  My story is one of my 100 word stories but there’s a lovely mix of very short stories like that and longer ones so there should be something to suit all tastes in short story length!

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FAllison.Symes.FairytaleLady%2Fposts%2F792342744202040&width=500

The old way of writing a story! Image via Pixabay

The old way of writing a story! Image via Pixabay

 

 

Writing the first drafts! Image via Pixabay.

GOING BACK IN TIME

Leave a comment

One of my heroes, Doctor Who, is of course renowned for this but my posts tonight are on the topic of the past and how this could affect your characters and plot.

FAIRYTALES WITH BITE

I talk about a magical education in tonight’s post and how that affects your characters.  Are they getting an education now to make up for lost time in their past?  What happened to make them need to do this?  How does the education they’ve had affect the decisions they’re making now?  After all someone who is illiterate would be very dependent on someone else for interpreting any written documents they come across.  Can they trust the ones helping them?

THIS WORLD AND OTHERS

Going Back is tonight’s post and looks at how revisiting places can affect your characters.  I love visiting places of historical interest and always come away from them having learned something new.  I also come away with a deeper appreciation I can read and write.  This has not always been universal, especially for women.  The past has a deep impact on now and at least in terms of general education in the developed world this has been a major improvement.  (And yes I wish this was true everywhere).

FACEBOOK PAGE

I talk about revisiting the past and education again here.  This topic came to mind as I reblogged a post (first time ever!) from Tales From the Notepad’s Sunday Sojourn series where their post was about Fotheringay Castle.  I would love to visit what remains here given it is the birthplace of Richard III (and I must try and get to Leicester at some point too).

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FAllison.Symes.FairytaleLady%2Fposts%2F791728314263483&width=500

OTHER NEWS

Have sent off a new fairytale for a writing competition.  I’m currently developing a flash fiction tale into a longer piece of work given the initial idea has sparked other ideas.  I love that when it happens and of course I can hopefully place the flash fiction piece in one place and the longer work somewhere else should it all work out okay.

Am also currently working my way through some fantastic interview questions put to me by short story author, Jacci Gooding, who I met at Winchester Writers’ Festival.  Will post details of when the interview will appear when I know more but am enjoying being on the other side of the fence.  I love carrying out writer interviews and indeed reading them, as I always learn something (one of the great joys of writing at all for me), but it has felt a bit odd having questions put to me!  It is a very good “odd” though!!

Blogging via diaries and tablets - ancient and modern technology! Image via Pixabay.

Blogging via diaries and tablets – ancient and modern technology! Image via Pixabay.

Writing in many forms. Image via Pixabay.

CALLING OCCUPANTS AND FAIRYTALE ETHICS

Leave a comment

FAIRYTALES WITH BITE

I look at Fairytale Ethics and Etiquette tonight where you can find out what I think about the intellectual capacities of cats wearing footwear and what that means for us humans. One thing I always liked about fairytales as a kid, and still do now, is they do have a very strict sense of fair play and justice.  Even as a kid I knew the world wasn’t like that.  Maybe that is part of the very strong appeal these stories have now.  We know fair play and justice should be a normal state of affairs (but sadly so often are not).

THIS WORLD AND OTHERS

Calling Occupants brings to mind a great Carpenters song but also makes me ponder if, in your fictional world, whether there is acceptance of other life forms and does your world try to make contact with those forms?  There are some story prompts here which I hope you find useful.  At the very least I can see some short stories coming out of these, maybe longer works of fiction too.

FACEBOOK PAGE

I share why I love short stories on my Facebook page tonight.  I love (and indeed write) quirky fiction and there are some wonderful online magazines which take these.  This is one of the lovely things about being a writer.  You hopefully get to submit work and see it accepted but you also get to indulge in being a fan and loving other writers’ work too.  You can’t write well without reading well after all.

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FAllison.Symes.FairytaleLady%2Fposts%2F780028958766752&width=500

Where all stories start regardless of technology. Image via Pixabay.

Where all stories start regardless of technology. Image via Pixabay.