Flash Fiction On Radio

April 10, 2026April 10, 2026Leave a comment

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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. Lovely weather. Lady and I have enjoyed being out and about in that. Writing and editing going well. Steadily making progress.

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Delighted to share Flash Fiction On Radio for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I include in this a link to the Mixcloud recording of Hannah Kate’s Spring Equinox show on North Manchester FM. I was thrilled to have my Out With The Old included in this.

Also in the post are hints and tips on preparing stories for broadcast which I hope you will find useful. I also share tips on preparing the story itself. Thinking about the impact you want to have is especially useful here (and do bear in mind you are so reliant on how something sounds here).

I look at the importance of rehearsals and believe flash fiction and radio are a great match. There are opportunities out there for short form writers – community and internet stations help a lot here and are well worth supporting and listening to.

Hope you enjoy the post.

Flash Fiction on Radio

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Not as warm as yesterday but pleasant enough. Lady enjoyed seeing her Hungarian Vizler friend again.

The Society of Authors have launched a Human Authored campaign in conjunction with their American counterparts, The Authors Guild. To find out more do click on the link here.

I’ve applied for it for my Tripping The Flash Fantastic and will add future books of mine to this labelling scheme. The scheme is open to books published from 2020 onwards (which is why I can’t list From Light to Dark and Back Again as that came out in 2017). There are logos you can use on your website and I hope to put them on mine over the weekend at some point. If you’re not already a member of The Society of Authors, you can apply to do so via the link below too.

I think this is a great idea to differentiate from AI produced books and wish the scheme well.

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Gorgeous day today and Lady enjoyed catching up with her Hungarian Vizler pal. I squeezed in a short swim and a hairdressing appointment so a nice but full day and am glad to now be at my desk to write.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Flash Fiction On Radio for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I will be including in this the link to the recent Hannah Kate Spring Equinox show on North Manchester FM where my story, Out With The Old, was broadcast. I’ll also be sharing hints and tips when it comes to writing short pieces for radio. Hope you’ll find it useful. See above.

Am happily editing a short story for a competition at the moment. Am also equally happily editing someone else too. Editing others is interesting because it can show up so much about your own writing which you can take and learn from.

Editing Tip: If you prefer to edit on screen, do change the font, the font size, the colour of the text etc to make the document look new to you. That will help you pick up more errors and there will be some. There always is, for everyone. You also know you won’t be sending the manuscript out in this form but it is amazing how enlightening a “new” looking piece can be to your brain for spotting things you would otherwise have missed. It is worth doing. Also it helps to be aware the brain will fill in the words you meant to put in but which aren’t there in fact. Having a new looking document makes that kind of thing easier to spot too.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope today has been a good one. Lady had a lovely puppy party in the park with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals. We also saw Daisy the gentle spaniel. Great time had by all.

I look at Flash Fiction On Radio for my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week (see my author page here for the link to that – also see above). I’ve mentioned before reading work aloud ahead of sending it anywhere is a useful editing technique. For broadcast and Open Prose Mic Nights, I would say it is essential.

I know I find it helps calm my nerves a bit precisely because I know I’ve rehearsed, I’ve played my recordings back to check how the story is coming across and so on. Good prep work helps all kinds of writing including flash.

As well as seeing my own work come out, it is a privilege and joy to see books I’ve edited for others come out. Another one of those has come out recently.

Now one of the lovely things about the writing community is it is supportive and you quickly make friends. Of all the writer friends I am privileged to know (hello, all!), I can’t think of one of them who enjoys writing their blurb. They’ve come up with thousands of words of fabulous prose and then that short bit on the back cover…

I also can’t think of any writer (and this goes for me too) who doesn’t spend considerable time on getting that short bit on the back cover right or as right as possible!

Blurb Tip: I’ve found it helpful to try to treat this as a piece of flash non-fiction writing. I will often start by working out what I know I want the blurb to end with. From there I can figure out what must come immediately before it and then that will open up ideas for how I open the piece.

Still hard work. Still plenty of crafting and editing to be done but I’ve found thinking of it in these terms has helped and I hope it helps you too.

I was talking about editing on my author page here and it is just as vital to get it right for flash fiction, as for any other kind of writing. I would also say it is easier with flash to make the classic error of leaving words out.

Why? Partly because you do have the word count limit in your mind and partly you may well be writing quickly to get that first draft down. Depending on the word count, I can draft a flash piece in fifteen minutes. It’s not going anywhere in that rough state, mind you! I easily spend several times longer than that honing and crafting the piece before it does go anywhere.

And it’s easy to think you’ve got to the required word count when you spot those dratted missing words, put them in and then need to go through the piece again to get it to what you need word count wise.

Flash may be short but there are still no short cuts with crafting it and rightly so.

Fairytales With Bite – Light Bearers

Who are the positive souls in your setting? Who could be considered to be light bearers for others who need that? The obvious one here to me is Sam Gamgee acting in this manner towards Frodo in The Lord of the Rings. Sam’s presence and actions made a huge difference and your light bearers should do the same. Their motivations for doing this should be strong enough to withstand pretty much anything because this should come from a genuine wish to help someone else. No fair weather friends here.

Even outside of quest stories, there will be times your characters may feel as if they’re stumbling in the dark, figuratively or literally. So who would be their light bearer to help them get out of this? How would the light bearer achieve this? Is magic involved at all?

What struggles would your light bearers have with their role? Many will play second fiddle to the lead character. Could they come to resent this or are they relieved about it? Sam never sort to take over from Frodo as such, neither did Sam envy him. This is just one reason why I think Sam is more heroic than might at first appear to be the case – and maybe that could be true for your characters too.

Also, what darkness is there which needs to be overcome by light? How did that come into being making light bearers needed at all?

This World and Others – Sources of Light

What sources of light does your world have? How many of these are natural for your setting? How many have been invented to suit the purposes of your setting? There could be interesting stories in working out who developed these things, their problems doing so, and how those were overcome. Also, what materials would they have needed and how easy or otherwise was it to get these things? Would your setting experience environmental damage similar to what we have had here?

Assuming sources of light have been well established, what kinds are used for what purpose? Could magic be used to produce these light sources or are they powered by magic? What would be the downside to that? Would there be a risk of running out of magical energy to keep these things going?

Who controls the sources of light and do they so fairly? Would certain magical species have access to only some kinds of light but not others (and could that be because they’ve shown they can’t be trusted with these when allowed access before?).

Story ideas there, I’m sure!

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ALLISON SYMES ON SUBSTACK

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Flash Fiction on Radio https://t.co/GxlEcZcjsp
Glad to share this on CFT. I include the Mixcloud link to Hannah Kate’s Spring Equinox show on North Manchester FM. My Out With The Old was on this. I share tips on preparing stories for broadcast as well as for the story itself.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) April 10, 2026

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What Makes A Story Work

April 4, 2025Leave a comment

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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. Image of me at a local book fair taken by my lovely editor at Chandler’s Ford Today, Janet Williams. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.

Hope you have had a good week. Continuing to enjoy the lovely weather, as is the dog. My camellia (a pretty pink) is now beginning to come out. Looks great. Writing wise again have been busy on Zoom but also doing plenty of “bits and pieces” around this. Has been a good writing week to date.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Hope you have had a good day. Gorgeous weather here.

Delighted to share What Makes A Story Work for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I look at the role of dialogue and description, what you take in from stories you read, understanding the characters, and much more besides. Hope you find the post useful.

What Makes A Story Work

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3rd April 2025 – 1st post – META protest

Two posts from me tonight.

First up, a protest against outright theft by META. I am standing with #TheSocietyofAuthors against the theft of authors’ books to train AI #dothewritething.

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3rd April – Second post

Just to say I’ll be sharing What Makes A Story Work on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above.

Am looking forward to sharing my next CFT post on 11th April too as it is on a topic every writer will identify with. More details nearer the time.

Have had a good week on Zoom again and an looking forward to another webinar on Storytelling next week. I do think Zoom with its ability to allow people to join in with various writing and other events online has been one of the few positive things to come out of the pandemic. I’d not used it at all prior to that. And it’s thanks to Zoom I’ve rediscovered the joys of PowerPoint, which I use for my Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meetings.

Writing Tip: Do your characters have catchphrases? These can be useful but I’ve found it best to use them sparingly, especially in short form writing. What you don’t want is for readers to get sick of the things. Even the famous comedy characters didn’t use their best known sayings all of the time.

Hope you had a lovely day. Lady had a fabulous “puppy party” with Her Hungarian Vizler friend and Coco, the lovely Labradoodle, though it was more a case of Lady and Coco doing the running around.

Will be sharing What Makes A Story Work on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above. You do pick up so much about this topic simply by reading lots of lovely fiction!

Glad to say my author newsletter went out yesterday. Definitely not an April’s Fool!

Writing Tip: I like to build up a “stock” of flash fiction and blog pieces for later use. I find this pays off a lot during those frantic times when I know I haven’t got much writing time. So when I haven’t a particular writing task to do, I will spend some time writing these because I know it will come in useful later.

So if you are “stuck” for something to write, why not try this? Use a writing exercise or a random generator prompt to start you off (it’s amazing how many of those can also be used for non-fiction).

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Am back on Friday Flash Fiction but this time with a story, It Was There, which comes in at just over the 300 words mark. It is my second entry for the Andrew Siderius competition FFF are running. You could have one story on one theme for the 100 words category and then use the other theme (two are always set for this) for the longer word count category which is what I have done. Hope you enjoy the story.

Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal again today. Good time had by both.

This doesn’t just apply to flash fiction, of course, but do ensure you keep to the right word count for competitions you enter. (This may not apply to novel competitions so much though most would be expecting a word count there of 80K to 100K words). What you don’t want is for a good story to not make the cut because of a rule infringement like that.

But I have found it pays to get the story right first and then worry about the word count. Sometimes I’ve had to put a story which is right but cannot make the word count requirement aside and save it for another competition with a higher “allowance”. It happens sometimes. But I usually do get to use that story in another place later on.

Another lovely sunny day. So nice to be out and about with the dog at the moment. She appreciates it too.

Now getting out and about in the fresh air does us good but how could you apply this to a flash fiction story? Could you get your character going out on their normal walk but with something different happening during it? How would they react to this? What would trigger the “something different”?

Equally if your character goes a different way to their normal walking route, why do they choose to do this? Are they trying to avoid something or someone? What do they notice which they might not have done had they stuck to their normal route and how would this impact them? Does it make them change their thoughts about something or someone?

Story ideas there I hope!

Fairytales with Bite – The Natural World in a Magical Setting

When your setting is a magical one, what would the “natural” world look like? Would this be considered to be any form of life which wasn’t magical in some way? Or would it be the natural backdrops against which your stories are set?

What would your magical characters make of the natural world around them? Do they care for it or treat it with contempt (and is there a natural backlash from that attitude)? Would some of your magical characters care for the natural world – I.e. they would be our equivalent of environmentalists, naturalists etc?

Would your younger characters in the equivalent of schools study their natural world or it is of little interest because it isn’t magical in itself?

Now I would say the natural world is magical in itself when you think about how beautiful it is but would your stars of your setting take the same view?

This World and Others – Environments

What kind of environments does your setting have? Are they similar to what we have? If not, how do they differ? What kind of atmosphere does your setting have? Do your characters need oxygen, water etc? If not, what do they require instead and how are these produced? Are these things produced naturally or do they have to be manufactured and if the latter how is that done?

Do your characters live in what we would consider to be a pleasant environment or is that the privilege of a few? Is your setting’s overall environment better or worse than what we have here, especially in terms of things like pollution? Has your setting been better in the past and, if so, what changed?

What would your world consider to be “science”? It is approved of by those who are magical or do they see this as being too like humanity for comfort? Could there be snobbery against science here? How would the working environment be in your setting if this is the case?

Those who are scientists as we understand the term could have a hard time indeed here in terms of being “socially acceptable” and being able to get anything they do accepted by those around them.

Environments don’t have to be comfortable!

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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I protest against outright theft by META. I am standing with #TheSocietyofAuthors against the theft of authors’ books to train AI #dothewritething. pic.twitter.com/USbGDdnlPO
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) April 3, 2025

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Am back on Friday Flash Fiction but this time with a story which comes in at just over the 300 words mark. It is my second entry for the Andrew Siderius competition FFF are running. Hope you enjoy the story.https://t.co/FHZNNhpF0k pic.twitter.com/Eq6X4EpAUy
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) April 4, 2025

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What Makes A Story Work https://t.co/Rac3056hKK
Delighted to share What Makes A Story Work for Chandler’s Ford Today. I look at the role of dialogue & description, what you take in from stories you read, understanding the characters, and much more. Hope you find the post useful.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) April 4, 2025

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Creating Characters, Famous First Lines, and Writing Tips/Exercises

January 28, 2025Leave a comment

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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 the weekend was okay. Stormy weather here – thunder, hail, the works. Perfect weather for staying inside and getting on with the writing though. Even Lady hasn’t been sorry to get back home from her walks the last couple of days or so. Am seeing more signs of spring emerging though which always cheers me.

Facebook – General

Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today. I had a great swim but now it’s more than time to be back at the desk again.

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out on Saturday. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Looking forward to sharing my blog post, Getting There, on More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers tomorrow.

Writing Tip: Flash fiction comes in a great range of word counts and formats up to the 1000 limit. Why not have a go at a one line story? It can be done! Here is one of mine.

Glenda, not having wish granters encroaching on her patch, thank you, and having sealed the genie back in his lamp, grinned as she kicked the wretched object into the sea.
Allison Symes – 28th January 2025

Have fun drafting one-liners like this. Sometimes you could extend them for a longer story. Equally leave them as one-liners and share on posts or via your website as extra reading for your audience (but just bear in mind they will count as being published. I only share here or via my website what I am happy not to share elsewhere).

Hope Monday hasn’t been too bad. Weather frightful. Caught in hail though thankfully it didn’t last long. Lady did manage to play with her pal Coco, the lovely Labradoodle, so that made the world all right for both of those two.

Very pleased with writing done over the weekend. Have sent a story off for consideration. Picked a story I wrote a while ago which I know could suit a competition. And I did manage to get plenty of blogging done too (to appear at future dates). Also enjoyed Flash Fiction Sunday. Will share my new piece for YouTube shortly over on my book page. See further down.

Today I’ve completed a survey for the Society of Authors regarding my thoughts over AI. I don’t fill in every writing survey I am sent but this one definitely warranted my attention. They’re emailing all members about this so if your belong to the Society it might pay to look out for this. I saw it as a chance to have my say.

Stormy again here. Took Lady around the park in record time today and even she wasn’t sorry to get back home again. This is about as common as gold dust in these parts – I.e. not at all. Keep safe, everyone.

Looking forward to starting flash fiction Sunday soon. Plus one of my two story competition drafts I have now edited and I hope to submit this later on before turning my attention to the other one. And, yes the gap away did help me spot something which could be strengthened. The break away from a piece of work does pay off.

Busy week coming up but I am looking forward to seeing my local theatre group, The Chameleon Theatre Group, perform Cinderella later this week. That will be fun.

Hope the weekend is going okay.

Writing wise, I’ll be talking about Adaptations for Chandler’s Ford Today next week, ahead of my going to see an adaptation of Cinderella performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group. A review for that will follow. Am looking forward to doing that as the show, I know, will be such fun and I’ll enjoy writing the review because I try to convey something of that fun in the write up.

Don’t forget my next author newsletter will be out again soon. I discuss all things related to flash fiction and short stories, share tips, story links and more. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I need to create characters continually for my flash and short stories, though I do sometimes re-use some in linked tales. This is why I find a simple template useful for this. I can then add or take away from that template as I see fit which in itself helps me create characters who are not formulaic.

For example, for one template, I might “ask” my character what would they never want to do (and then almost certainly I would make them face having to do that thing in a story. Great drama).

For another one, I might “ask” what they find funny and what they don’t and again set them in a situation where this comes out and moves the story on. There will be consequences from what they find funny or not. I will make sure of that.

But in writing down the question to “ask” I find I have to answer it and I also get to start hearing my character’s voice in “their” response.

It’s Monday. It’s stormy. There has been hail. There has been a soggy dog walker (me!). Definitely time for a story then Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube -Being Careful Enough.

When you go to so much trouble to make a new life for yourself on your new world, you know you can’t be careful enough. You know there are portals out there designed to drag you straight back to what you consider to be hell. Find out here how Shiraz, who decided to name herself after a grape, fights back against all attempts to drag her “home”.

Writing Thought/Exercise: Why not have something unexpected arrive in the post, yes good old snail mail, to your character? What is it? Why is it unexpected? Is the delivery a welcome one or not?

Earlier this week I had a pleasant surprise arrive on my mat – a certificate from the National Blood people enclosing my “I’m a 75 donor” certificate and badge. Will happily plug them too – if you can give blood, why not do so? Lives are changed by it (and there are story ideas here too. You could tell a tale about the donor or recipient or both.).

Sometimes with a flash piece, I start with a title (often having picked one to work up from my notes. I use pockets of time to brainstorm ideas for titles, opening lines etc. It pays. It also means I know I can always find something I am likely to want to write up). The title often gives me clues as to the kind of character needed to fit it.

Sometimes I start with a drafted opening line which then usually inspires ideas for the title and the character to fit it.

It’s not a bad thing I mix things up like this. It is good practice for competitions given some of those give you a set opening line to work with, for one thing. For another, it keeps me on my toes and it means I have more than one way into crafting a new story.

Goodreads Author Blog – Famous First Lines

Famous first lines (such as It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife – Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice) are often used to show writers how to hook your readers from the start. I like to think of it as hitting the ground running. And it I something I try to do with my flash fiction and short stories.

I know when I’m reading I want that first line to draw me in either by setting up an intriguing setting or a character whom I simply have to know more about. Only one way to do that of course – read on.

Naturally that sets a challenge to me to make sure I’m doing something similar when I’m writing. But then this is why writers do have to be good readers too. You do learn from what you read. Gives us the perfect excuse to get our heads in a book as often as possible – I like this!

Of course the best first line in the world cannot support the whole of the following story on its own – the rest has to be pretty good too – but as a way of drawing readers in, you can’t beat it. People look at book covers, the blurb, and the first line. If they like all of that, they are more likely to buy the book.

And from a reader’s viewpoint, great first lines stay with you.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Next issue due out any moment. Hope to share in next post.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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liked Allison Symes's blog post: Famous First Lines https://t.co/ZyW0yctK5h via @goodreads I look at why first lines matter for readers and writers alike in my Goodreads post this week. pic.twitter.com/THoAGsPxLb
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 25, 2025

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It’s Monday. Story time! My latest on YouTube is Being Careful Enough. When you make a new life, you can't be careful enough. There are portals to drag you back to what you call hell. Find out how Shiraz fights off all efforts to drag her "home".https://t.co/VnhRFoeKP3
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 27, 2025

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Light Writing and Leaping Into Writing

March 1, 2024Leave a comment

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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 few days and also you made the most of having an extra day on 29th February. I used the theme of Leap Years for the ACW Flash Fiction Group this month – odd topics can encourage lateral thinking and a great deal of wonderful creativity came out of our session, especially on the 29 words flash fiction exercise I set. Lady is still waiting for spring. So am I.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Author newsletter out this morning. I look at Seasonal Writing and share a prompt I hope you have fun with!

And, as it is Friday, it is time for my Chandler’s Ford Today post. This week I look at Light Writing. I celebrate the works of P.G. Wodehouse and Sir Terry Pratchett and discuss why light writing may look easy but is anything but when it comes to writing it.

I also think it shouldn’t be looked down on as any less worthy as literary fiction, say. I also look at reading being a form of communication between writer and reader and light reading can encourage that communication in a way the “heavier” tomes simply cannot. See what you think – link below.

(Also glad to say there will be more author interviews coming for CFT in due course).

Light Writing

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Two posts from me on my author Facebook page today (29th February 2024). First up, I am delighted to be back on More than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. This one is a rare beast as I only get to do a post here once every four years given my day here is the 29th of each month! Normally there isn’t a 29th February!

This post is all about Leaping into Writing and I hope you find it an encouragement. Many thanks to all who have commented so far on this one. Sometimes a topic can set off resonances with other writers and this one seems to have done so, especially when I discuss small wins. For more see the link.

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29th February – Second Post – more on March WN

Second post from me today. I mentioned briefly yesterday the March issue of Writers’ Narrative is now out. (See further down).

My piece on Writing for Children is on Page 16 and my Writing for Anthologies is on Page 38. Do check out the whole magazine, it is free, and I strongly recommend subscribing so you don’t miss out on excellent writing advice for writers at all levels.

To mention just some of the articles in this edition, you will find:-

How to Develop a Children’s Book Series (Jennifer Navarre)
Publishing an Anthology (Wendy H Jones)
Writing For Children – What a Privilege (Jenny Sanders)
The Power of Writing Collaboratives (Morna Milton-Webber)

And there are many more besides. Time to put your feet up and have a good read? That’s a good idea if ever I heard one!

Delighted to discover via my copy of The Author (the quarterly journal from the Society of Authors), I can set up a member’s profile page. Have had a pleasant time this afternoon doing just that. Can’t share the link (you have to be a member to access) but it was nice being able to set up a gallery of useful pictures. I have shared below the screenshot from that.

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting later this evening.
And am thrilled to say the March edition of Writers’ Narrative is now out. See above. Will talk more on this tomorrow (I did, see further up!) but meantime do have a fabulous read. Theme this time is on Writing For Children and I have a piece in the magazine on that and also on Writing for Anthologies.

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Glad to say my author newsletter went out earlier today. I do share links to my stories on Friday Flash Fiction and on my YouTube channel as part of this. It makes a handy “one stop shop” so to speak.

Talking of Friday Flash Fiction, I am thrilled so many lovely comments have come in already on my latest one here. I hope you enjoy Visitor Expected too.
Delighted to say the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction Group meeting went well on Zoom last night (meeting held on 28th February 2024). My topic was Leap Year Flash and it produced some wonderful creativity.

One of the exercises I set was to write a 29 word story (with one other word to be used for the title – Flash NANO set a 30 word exercise only last year). I loved the 29 word stories folk came up with. Good fun to do. It’s an excellent writing exercise and links into the topic of Leap Year and our extra day on 29th February nicely too.

Do give it a go. See this as having a line where you set up a story and another line or two at most to resolve the story. One of my examples from last night’s meeting is below.

Unfair
Jenny seethed. How like her mother to swan off to a do in a silk gown and leave her to do the chores. Had she not heard of Cinderella?
Ends
Allison Symes – 28th February 2024

Hope you have had a good day. Lady had a fabulous time with her best buddy, the lovely Rhodesian Ridgeback.

Looking forward to talking flash at the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction Group meeting later this evening.

Had a great time over the weekend drafting stories (one of which is a flash tale) for submissions (and I have ideas on where to submit these pieces). Will be looking again at these tales over this coming weekend, having had a few days away from them. It is the only way I know to be able to judge my work more objectively and see what needs fixing. There always is something but that is fine – I just get on and do it!

Oh and I had a nice surprise too – lovely comment on my books page on my website today.
Newsletter will be out again on Friday. To sign up do head over to said website at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Screenshot 2024-03-01 at 19-12-03 Allison Symes - March 2024 - Seasonal Writing

Fairytales with Bite – Why I Love Fairytales

I’ve loved fairytales since I was a small child. My late father bought me The Reader’s Digest Collection of Fairy Tales, a wonderful huge two volume set with fabulous colour illustrations. I still have those books. One of them has the spine bound up with tape! I used to love hearing the stories read to me and, later, loved being able to read them for myself.

I also like the fact that in most fairytales kindness is rewarded and justice is done. The arrogant are brought down several pegs and the ill-treated end up living a full and proper life well away from those behind the ill treatment. (Usually something horrid happens to them!).

I knew even as a kid real life isn’t always like this. Fairytales can be escapist but there is nothing wrong with wanting kindness to prevail, even though, so often, the real world has other ideas.

I also like the way those who underestimate older people are brought down because said older people are normally powerful magical beings in disguise. The disguise is a test. Those being arrogant fail said test and are then made to see the error of their ways. (See Beauty and the Beast especially on this one).

Fairytales confirmed to me love and kindness are important, they are vital, and that message is as relevant as it ever was.

This World and Others – Fantasy Settings – Advantages and Disadvantages

I love fantasy, especially the humorous type, and the best of the lot is Discworld by the much missed Sir Terry Pratchett. Fantasy settings have their advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages include the writer can’t get it wrong because they make it up and they decide on the rules. I like this – a lot.

You can also bring in magic or other powers into your setting and use these to create things we don’t have here but which could be echoes. For example, you could use magical transport and in some ways that transport will resemble what we have here, it will just be powered differently.

You could also show the disadvantages of magic (and compare that to the misuse of power which goes on here. Fantasy is great for making points and reflecting on what we do know here).

The disadvantages are people can be derisory of fantasy simply because it is made up and nothing like we have here. My answer to that is fantasy is not meant to be a documentary. I think the rise of steampunk is interesting given it takes inventions from the Industrial Revolution and puts a twist on them. Jules Verne’s Around the World In 80 Days could only happen with the invention of the hot air balloon. Some would see that as steampunk.

You also do need to think about how your world would work and be consistent with whatever rules you decide need to be in place to make it work.

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More than Writers: Leaping Into Writing by Allison Symes https://t.co/LauMIF2Bm7 Delighted to be on MTW, the Association of Christian Writers' blog. I post here once every four years given my day is the 29th of each month! I hope you find Leaping into Writing helpful. pic.twitter.com/3C2YvjY4ta
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) February 29, 2024

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The March Writers’ Narrative is out. My piece on Writing for Children is on Page 16 and my Writing for Anthologies is on Page 38. The magazine is free, and I strongly recommend subscribing so you don’t miss out on excellent writing advice for all writers.https://t.co/r9BXBD62cX pic.twitter.com/KqxKYmPVMd
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) February 29, 2024

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I am thrilled so many lovely comments have come in already on my latest story on Friday Flash Fiction. I hope you enjoy Visitor Expected too.https://t.co/Rk4VbyTV5M pic.twitter.com/8w8BgPcQ2B
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) March 1, 2024

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Light Writing https://t.co/7YIP1YkDMC This week I look at Light Writing for CFT. I celebrate P.G. Wodehouse and Sir Terry Pratchett and discuss why light writing may look easy but is anything but when it comes to writing it. See what you think. https://t.co/7YIP1YkDMC
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) March 1, 2024

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Publication News – Writers’ Narrative – and Writing to Unwind

July 25, 2023Leave a comment

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 for Writers’ Narrative magazine used in the Chandler’s Ford Today post and on my Facebook posts were kindly supplied by Wendy H Jones, Editor in Chief. The Feature Image is based on an image supplied by Wendy too. Many thanks also to Richard Hardie for taking the picture of me at the recent Book Fair.

Hope you had a lovely weekend. Had a family to to celebrate my other half’s significant birthday – good time had by all, despite the weather. Lady loved it all. And it was lovely to be able to share more publication news just before the weekend too.

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Am thrilled to say the first issue of Writers’ Narrative magazine is now out there. It’s a fabulous read for any writer (and written by writers who understand what people are seeking in this kind of magazine). I talk about Boosting Your Writing with Flash Fiction but there is an astounding range of articles in here. And the magazine has already hit the No. 1 spot in the US on Amazon. It was a real pleasure to receive the magazine in my inbox this morning – and you can receive it this way too. Just see the link.

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Hope you have had a good start to the week. Mondays are always hectic but it is nice to get to that point of the day where I can write for a while. Bliss and I find it invigorating and a great way to unwind at the same time, strange as that may sound. Writing satisfies a need to be creative. This is especially great after a day of doing more mundane things.

Looking forward to catching up with everyone at the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction group meeting on Wednesday. I am glad to say several have had pieces on Friday Flash Fiction which is fabulous. Flash fiction writing, I find, comes into its own when I don’t have as much time as I would like to write. I still can get something down!

As well as sharing the wonderful news The Best of CafeLit 12 is now out (with my story Jubilee on page 110 – guess who looked!), I get to do some authorial housekeeping. I’ve updated my Amazon Author Central Page – I will give Amazon their due here. I put the request in and literally minutes later the book was up on my page. Can’t fault that.

Updating books on Goodreads is more tricky though – I’ve sent a request in but don’t know when I’ll hear on that. Am less impressed. I’ve never found updating anything on that site easy.

I’ve updated the books page on my website (see link – I’ve got the books page as my home page – I think there is something apt about that. Books always make me think of home and the lovely volumes I have here!).

Oh and I’ve got the book listed with ALCS (Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society). As a member of the Society of Authors, I get to be part of ALCS for free but it doesn’t cost much to join and your membership fee is taken from your first payment. Just the once too. You pay once and that’s it.

Adding my books on to my ALCS list means I will get something from my contribution to this book in due course from them. It is worth adding on your books (but they can’t do ebooks). Well worth investigating if you’ve got books out (or contributions to print anthologies etc).

Had a family do today. Great time had by all. Lady loves it when we have guests around. They all make a huge fuss of her and treats are involved too so what’s not to like?

Am so looking forward to sharing next week’s Chandler’s Ford Today post – Welcome to Writers’ Narrative Magazine. I’m talking with Editor in Chief, Wendy H Jones, for this one. Amongst other topics will be how you can subscribe to this free magazine and how to submit articles for consideration.

The first (August) edition is out during next week (25th July, just ahead of my post). See above. Trust me, there is plenty of good reading here. I am privileged to be part of the editorial team here. Naturally I am also contributing articles! If you would like to sign up now, to ensure you don’t miss a single thing, you can do so at the link here.

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Delighted to be talking about how writing flash fiction can boost your writing overall for the first issue of Writers’ Narrative, which came out today.

I will also be focusing on flash fiction for tomorrow’s meeting of the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction group on Zoom.

This is a good example of why it is important to love what you write. All writers need to market their work (else how else will people know about it?) so it is vital you enjoy what you do to (a) help you keep going with this and (b) talk about your writing love with conviction. It does show.

It’s Monday. It’s been wet, dark at times, more like an autumn day than a summer one, wet, and it is still Monday. Time for another YouTube story from me then. Hope you enjoy my latest called Celebrating though my character Sheila is celebrating alone. Find out why here.

Sunday afternoon is flash fiction writing time for me and is something I look forward to immensely. I’m also looking forward to the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group on Wednesday evening.

My story, Jubilee, in the recently released The Best of CafeLit 12 is a piece of flash work. Yes, it is about the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. So much seems to have happened since then, yes?

Events like this can act as time markers for fiction – most people remember where they were/what they were doing at these things so that can save you a lot of description and gives a setting immediately. (And nobody, who saw it, is going to forget the marvellous sketch with Paddington either!).

Had a lovely time at the family do held earlier today. We don’t let the weather get in our way! Just as well too given it poured down all day….

The first edition of Writers’ Narrative magazine is out online next week and I’ll be taking about flash fiction in that. See above. Am excited about this as the magazine really is fabulous.

Talking of which, I am thrilled to have a flash fiction piece of mine, Jubilee, out in the recently released The Best of CafeLit 12. Many congratulations to all of the other writers in this lovely collection. Great mix of stories and authors here. Do check it out. Good read guaranteed!

Goodreads Author Blog – Publication News and Being Read

Am thrilled to have another story out, Jubilee, in the recently released The Best of CafeLit 12. The buzz of being published never dies! It’s a continuing joy to know your work is being read.

I regularly mix up what I read. I will read novels, non-fiction, fiction across most genres, but I also make sure I include the short form (short stories and flash fiction). Okay, I’m biased because I write short stories and flash fiction, but they are just as every bit a valid an art form as the novel. You cherish all of these things, I think.

The advantage of the short forms of fiction is they are perfect for those without much time to read or who do not have the confidence to read bigger works.

The shorter forms are ways of showing there is something out there for all reading needs. Not everyone wants to read a huge novel, at least to begin with, Maybe they’ll get to that later once they‘ve had confidence in reading built up (and the short forms can help a lot there). Sometimes a story is best told in fewer words and it genuinely works better at 10,000 words, say, rather than standard novel length of about 100,000.

What I love is there is plenty of choice out there and I will always wave the flag for the shorter forms of reading. They can be a great way into reading altogether.

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Must admit I do not like the new X symbol for Twitter. I liked the bird! Is staying here for the time being at least.

liked Allison Symes's blog post: Publication News and Being Read https://t.co/4GWQWghAEZ via @goodreads I celebrate publication news of mine this week but also take the chance to share the virtues of short form reading (short story anthologies and flash fiction collections). pic.twitter.com/Rv3DUvkntr
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) July 22, 2023

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It’s Monday. It’s been wet, dark at times, more like an autumn day than a summer one, wet, and it is still Monday. Time for another YouTube story from me. Hope you enjoy my latest called Celebrating. My character Sheila celebrates alone. Find out why here.https://t.co/tj6EPpJrFs
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) July 24, 2023

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Thrilled the first issue of Writers’ Narrative is out. I talk about Boosting Your Writing with Flash Fiction but there is a great range of articles. The magazine has already hit No. 1 in the US on Amazon. See the link if you would like to sign up.
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— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) July 25, 2023

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Purposes of Reading

March 24, 2023Leave a comment

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. Pleased to receive my ALCS money (more on that below, if you’re a writer you really should check them out) and Lady has had a superb week in the park seeing so many of her friends. Better weather too. Yay!

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Pleased to share my latest Chandler’s Ford Today post about the Purposes of Reading. This is the other side of the writing “coin” in that to write well, it helps enormously if you read well too. See the post for why and I hope you enjoy it.

Purposes of Reading

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Delighted to receive my payment form ALCS yesterday (especially nice given it was my birthday! Lovely timing, ALCS!). If you want to know more about ALCS and how they help authors, do check out the website. I get my membership of ALCS as part of my membership of the Society of Authors. I like that – a lot!

One reason for networking being important for writers is you find out about organisations like this through other writers. It is always good to have somewhere to turn to when in need of advice and what ALCS does for authors is a wonderful addition.

Many thanks for the wonderful birthday messages on my timeline today. All much appreciated! I am now officially a “Heinz” – of the 57 varieties fame! (Very famous advert which ran for many years saw Heinz boast about having 57 varieties. Well remembered in my part of the world).

Will be sharing Purposes of Reading for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above. Loved writing that one. (In fairness I love writing all my posts but anything to do with books, reading, writing etc will always be especially pleasurable to write!).

Writing Tip: When reading, note down what it is you love or loathe about the characters in the story. Work out why you feel the way you do about them. Use that to work out what you would like/loathe to see in your own characters. Are there character aspects in common (you really discover you loathe a certain type of character because…)?

As well as being an interesting study, you may well discover themes you really want to write to/avoid writing about doing this. I don’t particularly like grifter stories where the grifter gets away with it so am unlikely to write any. I know that’s partly due to having to deal with scams for real so that colours my view but I am aware of that. If I wrote a grifter story, you could be sure I would make sure they didn’t get away with it!

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Hope you enjoy my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction called Getting One’s Wings. Fun to write, I hope you find it fun to read.

I’m talking about Purposes of Reading for Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. And I would add here it is important to read widely in your field as well as outside of it. I love reading flash fiction collections (and short story anthologies). I find them inspiring and encouraging and they remind me of why I love both of these fabulous forms of fiction.

If you’re not sure where to start, why not try The Bridgetown Cafe Bookshop? See link. (Oh and if you’re wondering if it is a coincidence I’ve flagged up my own two flash collections, it’s not!).

Many thanks for the happy birthday wishes. Much appreciated. Had nice day having hair done as well.

Now what would your characters consider to be a nice day? Can you set them against one another here? A criminal would see it as a good day if they’ve got away with their crime. Someone on the right side of the law would take a different view. And there can be poignant pieces to be written here. A character has a specially nice day and we discover it is going to be their last one etc.

Flash fiction is very good for those moments you want to “capture” for your character. This time meant something to them because… and that is the story. The impact here is how will it make your reader feel. A story should generate a reaction. And especial moments as stories work best when kept short.

Fairytales with Bite – Birthdays

Topical subject this week given I’ve just had my own birthday! So in your fictional setting how much importance is given to birthdays? Do people celebrate them or is it just another date on the calendar? Is there a birthday “industry” (cakes, cards etc)? Or are only the birthdays of important figures commemorated? If so, who would these be and why have they been chosen? Would these be celebrations everyone is expected to join in with, regardless of how they feel about it?

Now birthdays can be public gatherings so how would the powers that be in your world look on these? Are such gatherings forbidden or limited to a set number? How are birthdays counted? Is the calendar year the same as ours or much longer/shorter?

Another use for birthdays in fiction is to have them as the point where your character realises something has to change. They’re another year older. Life is passing them by. What do they do to change things? How can the birthday be used as a trigger here?

This World and Others – Celebrations

Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and you cry alone. There is a lot of truth in that. But when it comes to celebrations, for birthdays or anything else, what are your characters’ attitudes here? Do they love to celebrate or do they dread that kind of gathering?

What would your characters celebrate? Do they stick to traditional forms of celebrating or come up with their own thing? If your setting is divided into different settings, are there common celebratory forms or does each “segment” have their own style?

If your character is a more morose type what would they do if forced to take part in celebrations and what or whom could get them to agree to such a thing in the first place? Think about the hold someone might have over them and can your character escape this? Do they use the celebration as a cover for a get-away? (Yes, do think The Lord of the Rings here but what would your character want to get away from? How could the celebration be useful to them?).

If your world is an oppressive one, do the powers that be allow official celebrations or is everyone kept down all the time?
Celebrations have meaning and impact on people which is something your could explore for story ideas. Think about what celebrations have meant for you. What would make your character feel the same way? Could that lead to your character developing empathy?

ALLISON SYMES – BOOK BRUSH READER HUB

MOM’S FAVORITE READS LINK – CHECK OUT THE MAGAZINE INCLUDING MY FLASH FICTION COLUMN HERE –

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It is important to read widely IN your field and out of it. I love flash collections/anthologies. They remind me of why I love these fabulous fiction forms. Where to start? Try The Bridgetown Cafe Bookshop. It's NOT a coincidence I’ve flagged my books!https://t.co/6Cz7pAaAmi
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) March 23, 2023

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Getting One's Wings, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/015TPyDq1h Hope you enjoy my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction called Getting One’s Wings. Fun to write, I hope you find it fun to read. pic.twitter.com/tyHHSUFw4h
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) March 24, 2023

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Purposes of Reading https://t.co/pWTKAbsDRo Pleased to share my new Chandler’s Ford Today post about the Purposes of Reading. This is the other side of the writing “coin” in that to write well, it helps enormously if you read well too. See the post for why. I hope you enjoy it.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) March 24, 2023

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Hooks, Simple Ideas, and Character Attitudes

April 5, 2022Leave a comment

Image Credits:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.

What does snow, ice-cream chimes, and simple ideas have in common? They all appear in this post – and I discuss character attitudes too.

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Hope you have had a good Tuesday. Glad to report there is an offer on Amazon on both of my flash fiction collections – see link for more. Go on, pick up a bargain!

I see there is a film about to come out called Operation Mincemeat based on the book of the same name by Ben Macintyre. Loved the book. Film looks promising – hoping they’re faithful to said book.

Looking forward to sharing Laughter in Fiction for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I love writing all of my posts but there are some which are sheer fun and this is one of them. Mind you, the topic helps!

Screenshot 2022-04-05 at 20-18-21 Allison Symes

I forgot to mention this last month but I am so pleased to be a member of the Authors’ Licensing and Collection Society. I have free membership of this thanks to being a member of the Society of Authors. I was really pleased with my pay-out from ALCS last month, which was up from last year. Definitely worth looking into to if you have books out there. And updating the online form when you have new works out is easy too.

I joined the Society of Authors years ago after receiving invaluable advice from them over a publishing contact I’d been offered. It was from a vanity publisher. I turned the contract down, got my manuscript back, and joined the Society. Never regretted any of that!

Cold but no snow today so I count that as a win! See post further down for why I say this! Hope you have had a good Sunday. Much as I dislike the clock changes twice a year, I must admit it is nice having the lighter evenings. It means Lady gets a longer evening walk for one thing and she is happy about that.

Regardless of the length of story I write, I do like a good hook in the opening line. I am a great believer in the “hit the ground running” approach.

Sometimes I do this by getting a character to do something. Sometimes I will open with an intriguing line of dialogue. I also open with a set up that has to be followed through in some way and the only way a reader is going to find out is by reading the story through.

And yes I deliberately mix up the approach I take here. It keeps things interesting for me and I hope that comes through to readers too.

Bizarre weather again today. I was doing some gardening, (”doing” being the operative word as I am no expert!), when snow fell again and at the same time I heard the charming chimes of an ice cream van! (I passed on that).

Many thanks for the wonderful comments coming in on The Way Time Smells, my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction. Using the senses is encouraged in fiction as they all help readers “picture” things, they also make characters seem more real to me, and I was glad to get in a scent I have fond memories of as a child into this story.

I’m looking at Laughter in Fiction for my Chandler’s Ford Today post next week and look forward to sharing that in due course.

One positive thing about the cold weather is it makes it even more easy to stay indoors and get on with the writing!

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I was talking yesterday about how I came up with the idea for my latest YouTube video, Away. Link below. It was based on a simple premise and, especially for such a short form as flash fiction, it pays off to keep the idea simple. Flash is not the place for the convoluted idea and again this is another example of the form of flash ensuring you do have to stick to the point.

I’ve also found, naturally, a simple idea is easier to deliver on (and stick to the word count with). There’s an old saying about not “over-egging the pudding” and that comes into play with flash fiction writing too. Just because an idea is simple, it doesn’t mean the story is simple. You can still show a wealth of emotion via the simple tale of one character telling another just what a hellish time they’ve had of it lately. Basic plot right there.

And the other character’s reaction whether it is sympathetic or not can show a reader just how caring or not that other character is and, to an extent, whether the first character deserves that sympathy or not. Yet that all stems from a simple idea.

It has been another hectic Monday. Time to slow down and enjoy a story then. Hope you enjoy Away, my latest tale on my YouTube channel. I used a random picture generator to come up with the idea for a story based around chairs in a park and thought about who might have put them there.

I’ve talked before about how I sometimes write a punchline or a twist ending first and then use spider diagrams to help me work out how I could get to that closing line. The other advantage of this is this approach usually gives me a good idea of how long my story is likely to be.

If my spider diagram produces a result where I am likely to need more than one character in the story (as opposed to one or more being referred to – a kind of “being offstage” scenario), then I know my tale is likely to be between the 500 and 1000 words mark for flash. For short stories, I’m definitely looking at 1500 to 2000. That then gives me a good idea of where I’m likely to find a home for the finished tale.

What I don’t do is decide on the word count and then work out the story from there. I always go for the spider diagram option that resonates the most with me because it will do the same for a reader. The one that resonates most with me is one I’m going to love writing up because already that idea has triggered me and I will be itching to write it up.

The only times the word count is almost (!) the most important factor for me is when I am writing to a market which calls for a specific word count such as Paragraph Planet or Friday Flash Fiction. And even there I jot down ideas and still go for the one that makes the most impact on me. I am putting myself in my readers’ shoes here and asking myself what would they like from this idea. Then I go for it!

Having your reader in mind from the start is a good idea. It helps you keep on track too.

Every now and then I write a story where the sentences open with the same words. In my The Wish List from Tripping the Flash Fantastic, all but the last sentence starts with the words I wish.

The advantage of doing this is that it creates a kind of rhythm to my story and, in this case, the “I wish”in each and every sentence ratchets up the tension and that in turn builds up to a conclusion.

It is not something I would wish to do all the time (the I wish being a deliberate choice of phrase there!) because I wouldn’t want it to come across as gimmicky and I fear frequent use of something like this would do precisely that. It does make a refreshing change every now and then though.

Goodreads Author Blog – Character Attitudes

What hooks you into following a character’s story though to those magic words The End? Something about the character has to draw you in and, for me, it is usually to do with their attitudes towards other characters, themselves, and life in general.

One of my favourite characters is Sam Vimes from Terry Pratchett’s wonderful Discworld series. Not only do I like following Sam through one novel I have loved watching that character develop over the series of Discworld novels he stars in – and boy does he develop. That is a sign of a truly great character. They’re never static! And his attitude varies depending on who is dealing with but there’s never any doubt about him wanting to see justice done. (And doing his level best to ensure it is).

I also like characters who acknowledge their own shortcomings but overcome them. (Pride and Prejudice, anyone?). A character who isn’t willing to change when it is clear change would bring them (a) happiness and (b) make them an all round better person is not a character that’s going to hold my interest for long.

Characters reflect us and what we know about life so a character’s attitude generally is something we will need to have understanding of, even if we don’t entirely agree with it.

liked Allison Symes's blog post: Character Attitudes https://t.co/nHX3aCyjae via @goodreads I chat about character attitudes for Goodreads this week and share a little about what I like about one character in particular, Sam Vimes, from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. pic.twitter.com/swqmjrKG4j
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) April 2, 2022

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Time to slow down and enjoy a story. Hope you enjoy Away, my latest tale on my YouTube channel. I used a random picture generator to come up with the idea for a story based around chairs in a park and thought about who might have put them there. https://t.co/OuNf6By5To
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) April 4, 2022

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Anti-Scammers and the Three C’s

March 8, 2022Leave a comment

Image Credits:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.

With the awful news going on right now, I think it is more important than ever to appreciate all of the creative arts – and avoid those who would scam you as a result of your trying to follow your dreams here.

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Many thanks for the wonderful responses to my anti-scammers post yesterday. See below. And do bear in mind there are plenty of sharks who try to lure in the unwary writer too. Never be afraid to check things out and organisations such as The Society of Authors and Alliance of Independent Authors should be your first ports of call for advice. This is also another advantage to joining in with writing groups, whether these are online or in person, because writers share what they learn from one another and that includes warnings about which so-called “services” to avoid etc.

It’s also a good idea to regularly read the writing magazines too as you learn so much from these too and check out websites like Writer Beware! This is an American site but the principles of what they expose for rogue publishers etc applies the world over and you will at least know what to look out for.

It was only when I had been a writer for a while I realised how much there was I didn’t know and needed to know but recognising that and then doing something about it like joining writing groups etc is a good first step into being more savvy about the do’s and don’ts of the writing life. Don’t be conned!

I’ll be talking about Imagery In Fiction for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I look at writers using words to “paint” images with and the importance of book covers. One way or another, imagery comes into fiction a lot, even if it is not always obvious.

Will be giving a talk soon on historical flash fiction soon – looking forward to that and, of course, next week, I’ll be heading off to Scotland once again. I’m at the Scottish Association of Writers Conference from 18th to 20th March and will be running a flash fiction workshop there. Plenty going on then and I will report back from Scotland for Chandler’s Ford Today in due course.

Oh and a word to the wise – I am getting emails in from those who say they have a proposal for me. I bet they have too – how to check my email address is a genuine one and use it for phishing at best. Stay well clear of these things, folks. I delete immediately and then clear my delete folder immediately too. Never click on the links they send you.

Not sure whether this one is targeted at me because I’m a writer or whether it’s a huge mailshot and they only need a few people to respond to make money (and that is what they’re after – your money). Hmm… maybe there’s a flash fiction story or several in which scammers like that get scammed themselves. Something to think about!

Screenshot 2022-02-11 at 19-39-37 Scottish Association of Writers Everyone has a story to tell

Screenshot 2022-02-18 at 20-54-40 Writing Workshops Conference 2020 Scottish Association of Writers

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Where do my ideas for stories come from? All over the place which I know is not exactly helpful. The point though is to be open enough to recognise something as a potential idea. My ideas come from things I have read, fiction and non-fiction, and from triggers such as the random generators I often use. Also overheard snippets of conversation can be the starting point for a story.

But what matters is recognising what I call the “aha moment” when I come across something and think yes, I could do something with that. And the more you read, the bigger the pool you have to fish in for ideas of your own. We all build on what has gone before.

What we do is bring our unique take to an idea or a theme and make it our own. Prompt books are always useful too. What I find matters is finding a way in to writing a story. And you have to love reading stories to know that you yourself want to write them.

Fiction has a variety of purposes as I’m currently exploring in my In Fiction series for Chandler’s Ford Today. Escaping from worries via a variety of genres or exploring the human condition or confronting evil head on via what our characters go through is all fine.

What matters is that fiction is truthful. It has to be to have any meaning. And for fiction to be truthful, the characters have to be true to themselves, whether they’re the best hero of all time or the worst villain.
This is why I need to know the major trait for my characters before I write their stories up. I can look at how and why they’ve developed that trait (and this is so often a springboard for further story ideas).

Major traits can tell me so much about the characters in themselves. If my character’s major trait is they like a good laugh, I can look at what has driven that. Is their life sad and they want to escape sadness at any cost so put on a jolly persona to cover that up? Is it their way of being accepted by others and what drives the need for that acceptance?

Also, I can take things another way and show how their good laugh helps another character or causes problems. All sorts of story ideas can come from just knowing my Character A will do almost anything to have a good laugh. And that is just one example of how knowing a major trait can trigger ideas. For me, that’s more important than knowing what the character looks like.

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In any story regardless of its length, there has to be conflict, character, and change – the three C’s! Without a character experiencing conflict, even if it is internal only, there is no story. There should be change. Did the character overcome or succumb to the conflict? Either way that is a change though one is obviously more positive than the other!

One of the lovely things about flash is I can have, as a story, a self-contained moment of change for my character which simply isn’t long enough to even be a short story yet is still insightful.

How your characters react to things tells you so much about them. How you react to the character’s reaction may well shed insights about yourself – fiction can be illuminating like that. Flash does it more intensively than any other form though so be warned!

You know I’ve written from the viewpoint of a mother dragon before, yes? (See my book trailer for Tripping the Flash Fantastic). Well, I think I’ve upped my game a bit here. See my latest YouTube video and see what you think. Hope you enjoy it.

Writing a short story, such as flash fiction, is not easier than writing longer work. Nor is longer work easier than writing shorter items. You need the idea. You need to get that first draft down. You need to edit it. And edit it again. You need to rest it for a while. You look at the story again, spot the errors you missed first go around (and we all do that!), correct those, and once happy submit the piece or save it for a collection. And you do this over and over again because you love the challenge of it.

As I’ve mentioned, I find I can get a first draft down quickly. It is the editing and crafting of the story, even my 100-worders, that takes the time. Rightly so too. I want to get every word right. Where I can find a better choice of word that gives more “oomph” to my writing, I will change to that word. And if I am writing to a specific word count, as I so often am, I then have to check I haven’t gone over that and adjust things where I have.

The one thing I have learned over the years is I’ve got to give myself enough time to follow things through thoroughly enough. But that’s fine. I’m drafting more pieces while resting others so I always have something to work on. No chance of getting bored and I love that too.

Just to flag up Amazon have an offer on the paperback of Tripping the Flash Fantastic. See link for more.
I like the variety flash offers me. I can write across a number of genres, write my stories as acrostics, all-dialogue pieces, monologues etc., and I can choose my word count up to 1000 words.

My hopes for flash is that it will encourage the reluctant reader to dip their “toes” into the wonderful world of books and encourage people to write their own stories. Creative writing is good for you. And writers read so book sales go up! There’s nothing to dislike about that scenario!

But I hope flash brings characters to life for people. Those brief glimpses of a character’s life, I hope, will intrigue people to want to read longer stories, novellas, novels etc. Characters are the draw for readers. We need to know what is going on in a character’s life. You don’t necessarily need to write an epic to give that fascination to a reader.

Goodreads Author Blog – Realistic Characters

I’ve never been fond of characters who seem too good to be true. I love the characters with flaws and who change for the better. For any fiction, regardless of genre or length, I’ve got to be able to “get” where the character is coming from and why. I don’t necessarily have to agree with them though!

For my own writing, I like to work out my character’s major trait as all sorts of things can come from that. If a character is brave, are they reckless with it? If they like a laugh, what will they do to get that laugh from others? Plenty of story ideas there – and you can explore the idea of when things go wrong too.

So I like characters to resonate with me in some way. While I will always root for the hero/heroine to win, I want to see that the villain does have reasons to behave the way they are. Their objective has got to make sense. There is never any room for the pointless character. I suppose writing flash fiction with its restricted word count of 1000 words maximum has made me more aware of that.

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liked Allison Symes's blog post: Realistic Characters https://t.co/rW35r6UfCZ via @goodreads I look at why I like realistic characters and what makes them so for me. I look at why flash fiction writing, my genre, has made me more aware of this. pic.twitter.com/1xgz8KAPjX
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) March 5, 2022

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Many thanks, @valeriepenny – my books are below – available in paperback too. If you like a mixed assortment of stories, try these out! https://t.co/ffOf8jcpso pic.twitter.com/3R8JXWR8Jw
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) March 7, 2022

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Bridge House Celebration, ALCS, and the What If question

December 8, 2020Leave a comment

Image Credit:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated.

Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Image of me with wild hair and Tripping The Flash Fantastic taken by Adrian Symes.

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Great to see Amazon have updated my Author Central page quickly so Mulling It Over and Transformations are now both on there. (Lovely to see a good collection building up here!). And that has reminded me to add these books to ALCS too. What is ALCS?

As I’m a member of the Society of Authors, I have free membership to ALCS (the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society). ALCS collects money from copyright licences etc and distributes said monies to authors. There is no way any one writer could possibly keep tabs on X making photocopies of their work here, Y doing it there and so on.

If you’re not a member of the Society of Authors, you can still join ALCS. It costs £36.00 and this is lifetime membership, not per year. See https://www.alcs.co.uk/how-to-join for more.

I had my first modest pay-out from ALCS back in March and most welcome it was too. Do check out their website for more information. The main thing to remember is to update your details when you have new works out. And this includes, for me, not just my two flash fiction collections, but all of the paperback anthologies I have been in and continue to have work appear in.

(The reasons for the emphasis on paperback is ALCS need you to tell them the ISBN number and ebooks don’t have that. They have an ASIN which ALCS do not work with but given most anthologies come out in ebook and paperback, you can at least register the latter!).

Very well worth doing. (And another little task ticked off my writing admin list today!).

Even colder than yesterday here in Hampshire though Lady did get to have a fab time with her busy buddy, a lovely Rhodesian Ridgeback today. No chance of them getting cold with all that running around.

I’m going to be having a look at Continuing Professional Development and how it can apply to writers in my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. Have also put in my book order for copies of Mulling It Over and Transformations and have also asked Amazon to add these two to my Author Central page in due course. Hopefully they’ll appear on there later this week. I’ve usually found Amazon answer such requests quickly.

It is nice to see a good collection of books appearing on my page now. This is not something I anticipated when starting out but it does show the value, I think, of persistence, keeping going, and learning over time to get better at targeting my work to the appropriate market. And yes, it does take time. But this is true for everybody and I found that quite encouraging when I was starting out. It is good to know it is not just you!

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Brrr… so cold today. Even Lady wasn’t sorry to get in from her evening walk. Enjoyed watching The Polar Express tonight. One of my favourite Christmas films along with A Muppet Christmas Carol. Better half put the decorations up yesterday so the old homestead is looking festive. Am very thankful Lady leaves the tree alone.

Making good progress on my non-fiction project. Am on track to finish the first draft by the end of the year. Whenever I write anything, I always feel a certain relief on getting that first draft down. I love the creative side but I also enjoy the editing and getting the work into good shape ready for submitting somewhere. I swear I can almost feel the draft getting better as I take out my usual wasted words and sharpen up what remains. I like that feeling.

I’ve also got a third flash collection on the go. I plan to resume work on that once I’ve got the first draft of the non-fiction project done as I know I’ll need to rest that for a while so I can look at it with fresh eyes when I get back to it.

Writing is the gift that keeps on giving in many ways.

Firstly, boredom is a thing of the past as I’ve always got something to work on!

Secondly, writing stretches me. I want to keep trying to get better at what I do.

Thirdly, to write well you need to read well so you get two activities in one here. But best of all?

Making friends thanks to a shared love of writing!

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It was great seeing everyone at the Bridge House Publishing celebration event this afternoon. It was lovely to see friends and meet new people and the turnout was wonderful. There was plenty to celebrate too, despite the obvious problems affecting everyone this year.

There were plenty of new books out via Bridge House, including the recently released Mulling It Over and Transformations. Plus there were new single author collections out too, including my own Tripping The Flash Fantastic.

There was a cryptic clue quiz. I was hopeless at it but I always am at cryptic clues. It was something of a relief that I did get my book title in amongst the mix, plus the two I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of editing for Bridge House this year. (And that really was about my lot!).

There was lovely mix of stories read too and I read Progressing. This was my first winning story for the Waterloo Arts Festival Writing Competition (and is in the new Transformations book too).

All great fun and we are all looking forward to next year’s events! Pics for this one are the Cafelit (BB) mock up, the tunnel one, my anthologies one, and the phone one plus the “sky” one for FLTDBA and TTFF.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Delighted to share my latest story video on Youtube. This is one of my acrostic flash tales called Autumn. Let’s just say the video is apt for the tale and that no spades were harmed in the making of this story! Hope you enjoy.

As well as my own flash collections, I often contribute flash pieces to CafeLit. My Humourless in The Best of CafeLit 9 is one of my most recent and is on the darker side for me. The idea for this piece came to me when I asked one of my favourite writing questions – the old classic “what if”? What if someone had lost their sense of humour due to their job? What could that job be?

Finding a starting point for your stories is crucial and asking the “what if” question is an invaluable place to begin because it should trigger other questions and you will find yourself wanting to know what the answers are. If you can be hooked into finding out the answers, then hopefully a reader will be too.

Other useful starting points include using Kipling’s famous serving men – What, Where, How, Why, When, and Who? Anything that makes you ask questions to find out more about the character and what they’re facing is going to help you plot out the story in more depth.

The tricky bit is in working out what the most relevant points are and focusing only on those. This is why I find flash’s restricted word count useful. It makes me focus and that’s no bad thing.

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It was especially nice to talk to a fellow flash fiction writer, Dawn Knox, for Chandler’s Ford Today last week. Always good to advertise the form and to show what can be done with it.

Flash is a great vehicle for character studies. I find those work best when kept short (as is the case with monologues) and flash fiction is ideal – a match made in writing heaven perhaps.

When I’ve drafted a flash story I ask myself certain questions about it.

Does the story make the impact I thought it would before I wrote it?
How does the character make me react/feel? (No reaction = character not strong enough = no story).
Have I marked up my usual suspects of wasted words ready to take out for the second draft?
What phrases have I used that could be fine tuned into creating stronger images for the reader?

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Delighted to see another review come in for Tripping The Flash Fantastic. Many thanks! Reviews really do help authors. Neither do reviews have to be lengthy. I use reviews myself when checking out potential books to read or when I’m wondering whether to try a new grocery product!

Had a fab time at the Bridge House Publishing event this afternoon. It is one of the highlights of my writing year. It was great to see a good turnout too. I did miss the actual getting together (and the splendid authors’ lunch that precedes it!) but I am sure we will make up for that next year!

But the biggest thing about Zoom is making events accessible and it was wonderful to see some of Bridge House’s more far flung authors able to take part in today’s event. When the nightmare of Covid is over, I want to see Zoom continuing. It has been one of the more positive things about this whole year.

Goodreads Author Blog – New For Old?

New for old is a catchphrase from Aladdin of course but is this something that is appropriate for book lovers?

After all I love old books. I love new books. I just love books!

I think it is good to have a balance of old favourites. These are my comfort reads when I need that.

I also like to read new books, especially from contemporary writers. It is good to know what is being put out there now.

One handy side benefit to making writer friends is this does help ensure you do get plenty of contemporary reading in. I take great pleasure from the fact I have shelves which are packed full of fab books written by people I’ve come to know and count as friends. I always look forward to adding to my shelves in that regard. I can’t wait to get back to book events so I can pick up those books signed by said friends in person.

Naturally I’m looking forward to being able to hold some book events of my own in due course.

So have I got books on my Christmas list?

What do you think?!

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Twitter Corner

Had a fab time at Bridge House Publishing celebration event on Zoom. Good to see so many. Nice mix of stories read too. Plenty to celebrate with new books out. Most recent: Mulling It Over, Cafelit 9, Transformations, and single author books including Tripping The Flash Fantastic pic.twitter.com/aV2Zl59tGA
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 5, 2020

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Delighted to share my latest story video on Youtube. This is one of my acrostic flash tales called Autumn.

Let’s just say the video is apt for the tale and that no spades were harmed in the making of this story! Hope you enjoy. https://t.co/M5eKkcjxqT
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 8, 2020

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My Writing Journey

September 3, 20192 Comments

Image Credit: If not otherwise stated, the images are from the marvellous Pixabay!

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I can’t say a particular story made me decide to write creatively. My journey into writing was a long one. I had always loved composition as it was known at school but I didn’t start writing seriously until I was 30.

It was one of those moments, having always loved books, that made me feel if I am going to have a go at storytelling myself, I had better get on with it then. So I did!

My only regret is not starting sooner as it takes far longer than you can anticipate to find your voice, develop confidence in submitting work, learning how to deal with the inevitable rejections etc. Then there’s the time needed for further development as you work out how to improve your work and so on (usually by trial and error and feedback), until that magical day when the first acceptance arrives. Well worth it though!

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One of the joys of writing my Chandler’s Ford Today posts is sourcing the pictures (take a bow, Pixabay).

But the funny thing is themes that seem to be open can often prove to be the most difficult to find suitable images for. I have no idea why that is but it is happening again this week with my topic of favourites. Yes, I know. You’d think I’d find loads for that.

The great thing is I have learned to think laterally in looking for suitable pictures so know I will find images that can fit the post. And I suppose it is a good thing to make yourself think laterally too. (It can be annoying at times though!).

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Where do you find the most fun is in writing a story? For me, it’s when I go into a character’s head and show a reader their thoughts and attitudes.

Why? Because If I show you a character who’s irritated, you will conjure up your own mental image of what such an irritated person could look like. I don’t need to spell that out and it saves a lot on the word count, which for flash fiction is crucial.

It also means I get into what makes that character tick so much more quickly and I really love that. I then know what I can do with them, what triggers will really wind them up and that’s when the creative sparks really fly.

Also, it’s at that point when I know what the character’s major trait is (often shown through their thoughts and attitudes), I know whether I’m going to love this character or love to loathe them.

Either reaction is fine as long it is the reaction I want to generate from that character. A character that makes you react is one you want to read about, even if it is just to find out if they get their comeuppance or not. (Confession time: I have been known to cheer to myself when a character who deserves that comeuppance gets it! I had a hard time NOT cheering out loud when Molly Weasley “deals with” Bellatrix in the Harry Potter story. Doing so with the book was fine but I didn’t want to embarrass myself in the cinema!😃😃).

I would far rather read (and write) about a character who I dislike but has purpose and I can kind of understand why they are the way they are than read or write about a character who does nothing for me whatsoever. I have got to react to the characters in some way. It doesn’t always have to be positive.

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The writing journey is not without its ups and downs, but (a) this is true for everyone, and (b) if you can get something out of the downs, great.

In my case, many years ago, I was almost caught out by a vanity publisher. What good came out of that?

Well, firstly I wasn’t caught out! Secondly I joined the Society of Authors as a result of the very helpful advice they gave me when I wasn’t a member. To begin with I joined as an Associate but became a Full Member later once I had enough short stories published.

If you’re ever in doubt about an agent or a publisher, don’t hesitate to check them out.

If you are going to spend money on self publishing, get all the advice you can first, and ensure your money is genuinely spent on self publishing! That does NOT include selling you your own books (which is effectively what vanity publishers do).

There are reputable service companies for self publishers out there. Never be afraid to ask pertinent questions. The decent ones won’t mind answering them (and will be expecting them). If you’re not sure what to ask, go to the Society of Authors or Alliance of Independent Authors for advice on what to look for and what to avoid.

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When I started writing, I was unaware of flash fiction as a form. Am very glad I discovered it though! Mind, I don’t think I would’ve tried the form even if I had been aware of its existence then. Why?

Partly because I really didn’t know what I wanted to write. I wrote a novel. I wrote short stories. I have written the odd script or two as well. All great fun. The short stories were published eventually after many a rewrite and edit! The novel I’m working on again now and I hope to do something with the scripts at some point.

The important thing is to enjoy your writing journey wherever it takes you and not to worry about experimenting with different forms of storytelling. You will find the one(s) that really suit you and which you love writing. The fun bit is finding all of this out!

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Most helpful tips I’ve used for flash fiction writing (and still do) include:-

1. Don’t have too many characters. One to two is best (especially for the 500 words or under type of story).

2. If a word adds impact, leave it in. Word count is important, obviously, but it is not the only thing that matters.

3. If a word does nothing for the story, take it out.

4. Be aware of what your wasted words are and cut them out on your first edit. You may not be able to stop yourself writing them (I can’t with mine) but they don’t have to go anywhere further than the first draft.

5. Always get your story down first and then edit.

6. Outline your character in as much detail or otherwise as you want before writing the story. You need to know enough about them to be able to write “their” tale convincingly. Only you can decide what is “enough”. For me, I have to know the major characteristic. Is the character brave, a wimp, humorous, as miserable as sin etc?

7. For open themed competitions, I’ve found it useful to set my own theme in advance and work to that. I find it helpful to set my own parameters here. It stops me going off at tangents that do nothing for the story or which could stop the story altogether.

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Do I always know in advance what will work best as an opening or closing line for a flash fiction story? The really good lines can be used for either and I have sometimes deliberately written two very different stories, using the same line like this.

I outline my character and often as I do that it will become apparent where the line is likely to work best.

Take, for example, the line is something like:-

She was a clumsy clot.

I would almost certainly put that at the start of a story and then shows what happens to my unfortunate character. It is, if you like, the obvious way to write that particular line into a story. I would also think of it as a negative way to finish a tale. (It sums up the character but there’s no space left to show any redeeming features, which is why I would consider this a negative ending). Sometimes you want that, of course.

But my gut feel here would be to write a humorous tale that ends on a positive note, such as something useful coming out of my character’s mishaps which helps another character.

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Writing exercise time… how about some lines to work on? But unlike the ones you might have been set at school, these should be fun, honest!

It’s up to you whether you use them as opening or closing lines. You could see if you can manage both. Good luck and have fun with these.

1. He would be extinguished if he didn’t get out before the candle burned out.

2. There were rats everywhere.

3. The temptation to go through the portal was just too much.

4. Less is more, she fumed, well I’ll show them.

5. The glittering gold couldn’t tempt him away from the mission but there was something that would.

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Goodreads Author Programme Blog – The TBR Pile

How large is your To Be Read pile?

Mine hasn’t quite got to the point where I need scaffolding to keep the TBR pile upright but give me time…

I also have a considerable reading list waiting for me on my Kindle too.

The positives with this are:-

(a) I’m never going to be short of things to read;
(b) I have different things to read to suit my moods;
(c) It doesn’t matter if I want to catch up with reading at home or away – the Kindle takes care of the latter nicely enough.

The negatives with this are:-

(a) Being only too aware of the finiteness of time! There will never be enough time to read every book I want to!
(b) Having to get the scaffolding out in due course to prop up my TBR pile!
(c) It’s going to take me a while to update what I’ve read here on Goodreads!

I read most just before settling to sleep or, on a long train journey and I’ve finished what writing I want to do, I then switch to reading.

However large your TBR pile is, happy reading! Whittle it down gradually and then you’ll have room for more lovely books…!

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