Tag: Story ideas

Author Interview – Introducing Heather Beveridge/Hetty Waite – Evolve

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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. Many thanks to Heather Beveridge (who writes as Hetty Waite) and Lynsey Adams of Reading Between The Lines Book Vlog for supplying author, book cover and other photos. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have a good week. Mixed bag weather wise though Lady has seen all of her chums this week, including a couple we haven’t seen for a while. Have sent in my final competition entries for the year so glad to have that done. Other writing going well. Am so looking forward to the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event on Saturday, 6th December too.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Had a lovely day out with other half to celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary. Lady loved the trip out too. And that was despite the weather. We had a lovely lunch in the aptly named Windy Corner Cafe, where dogs are welcome, and Lady loved it. As well as being spoiled rotten, she also enjoyed looking around at the other diners, probably hopeful for titibits, but she does love people in general and loves being nosy. Can’t think where she gets that from!

Writing wise, I’m delighted to welcome fellow Swanwicker Heather Beveridge, who writes as Hetty Waite, to discuss her new book, Evolve. This is book two in her The Chromosone Trilogy, a YA dystopian series.
Plenty to enjoy here.

Heather/Hetty discussed what led her to write her trilogy, the joys and challenges of doing that, plus she looks at the usefulness of writing events, especially The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick.

Hope you enjoy the interview.

Author Interview – Introducing Heather Beveridge/Hetty Waite – Evolve

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Hope the day has gone well. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals again and all three had a lovely time.

In writing news, I was sorry to hear of the death of Jonathan Telfer, former editor of Writing Magazine. This was announced in the current issue, which reached me yesterday.

In other writing news, I’m sharing a fabulous in-depth interview with fellow Swanwicker, Heather Beveridge, who writes as Hetty Waite, about her new novel, Evolve. This is Book 2 in her The Chromosone Trilogy and follows her first book, Mutate.

Heather/Hetty shares her writing journey to date, the role The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick has played in this so far, writing and marketing thoughts/tips, and discusses what she loves about dystopian fiction. There’s much more in the interview too. Link up tomorrow. Looking forward to sharing that. See above.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Hope you have had a good day. Cold but dry and bright here. Lady had a fabulous puppy party this morning with her Hungarian Vizler, Rhodesian Ridgeback and Labradoodle pals (the ever lovely Coco there). Also got to see the sweetest Jack Russell around, a lovely dog called Willow, whom we haven’t seen for a while. All of the dogs love her. Lady came home tired and happy. Dogs do get something positive out of socialising with each other. It always seems to give Lady a good buzz.

Mind you, I’m like that when I get together with other writers which I’m looking forward to doing again at the weekend! So I expect to be “buzzing” on my way home!

Busy editing and writing. Looking forward to going to an ACW genre group tonight. Always good chat and a lovely way to unwind. Have got my final stories in for competitions. Will probably look out other competitions to have a crack at early in the New Year, hopefully, but glad to get these ones sent in. As ever I took time off the official deadline to give me the time to check all is as it should be and to still send my stories in good time. It is amazingly (and horrifyingly) easy to miss something on a submission. Have made that mistake and I do my utmost not to do it again.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Friday Flash Fiction are currently running their Christmas competition so you will see no names or comments on the stories. I have sent in a story and hope to do so again next week as you can submit one story a week for two weeks for this.

Do check the wonderful range of stories already in. Have had a good read already.

Festive flash is great fun to write. I alway go for the lighthearted angle – well, we need plenty of lightheartedness in winter, I think. It is about the only seasonal writing I do but always look forward to getting around to it for another year. Occasionally I have had great ideas for this in mid-summer so yes, I write them then. At other times, it is closer to October/November. But all great fun.

In my time, I’ve had Santa pulled over for speeding and, in a separate story, Santa facing disaster as the elves go on strike.

Do you think that would put me on the naughty list?

Have just sent in final flash fiction competition entries for this year. At the beginning of 2025, I did want to enter more competitions than in 2024 and I have done that. I’ve written more overall too so am very happy about that. Okay, I would have liked better results but you do have to be in it to even stand a chance of winning it so I am pleased I’ve given myself more chances this year at least.

Hopefully in the New Year, Writing Magazine will be issuing their competitions guide. I have found that useful, as ever, this year. I think as well as trying more competitions in 2026 than I have this year, I would like to try more competitions with different word count requirements. I would see that as a good challenge.

Fairytales With Bite – Wishing On a Star

I remember the old Rose Royce hit of Wishing On A Star and When You Wish Upon a Star from Disney’s Pinocchio. Don’t mind the songs but have always felt the concept of wishing on a star to be somewhat wishy-washy. I’d far rather admire the beauty of the stars in the night sky.

But what about our characters? If they could wish on a star (or other astronomical object), what would they wish for and why?

If they are magical characters, why are they not granting their own wishes or getting others to do it for them? I can understand there being rules to stop folk abusing their own magical powers but how effective are these and can your characters find a way around them? What would the consequences be? As I’ve said before, there are always consequences but that is where our stories take off.

If your characters aren’t magical but their world setting is, who could they turn to for magical assistance when they need it? What would they need to be able to do or prove to show what they are after isn’t unreasonable and magical assistance would be justified? Rather than wishing on a star, to quote Ghostbusters, “who are they gonna call?”

Also are your characters of a practical nature and how would they handle things when they do need to turn to magic to help them, rather than rely on their own skills? Not everybody would handle this well but whatever they’re facing has to be dire enough for them to turn to this avenue of help.

Good story thoughts there, I think.

This World and Others – Astronomy

Now I admit I love the stars. They look stunning against the night sky. But my knowledge about them is limited. I can just about recognise The Plough!

In your setting, what stars or other astronomical bodies would your characters regularly see? Would they study astronomy as we know it? Would it be compulsory for them to study it? Would they get to travel to other stars/worlds and how would this be done? Could they possibly come into our universe and Milky Way?

What technology would they have to be able to study the stars “properly”? Would they have anything like our space telescopes or would they have something far beyond that? Who would be behind the technology? How did they develop it?

Also your setting’s literature about its own universe – what are the theories behind it? Do they believe in a Creator? What do they think is behind the creation of the stars? Do they treat the stars and their own environment with respect?

Am sure there are story ideas to develop further here.

MailerLite – Allison Symes – Newsletter Sign Up

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The Love of Books and Why It Matters

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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 had a good weekend. Busy one here in that I took in a murder mystery play, cleared a load of leaves, and got on with plenty of writing. Lady hasn’t appreciated the fireworks at all but thankfully they didn’t go on for too long.

Facebook – General

Hope you have had a good Tuesday. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals again today and all three of them had a great time in the park.

Writing wise, I’m looking forward to welcoming Penny Rogers to Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday.

My Flash NANO campaign is going well so far. Looking forward to having a go at today’s prompt later on this evening.

Character Tip: What is the most important thing about your character for you? Is it how they look? Is it their attitudes? Is it something specific they’ve done (or not done) which makes life better for someone else? Bound to be story ideas there!

Hope today has gone well. Another busy Monday here though Lady did get to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today. Good time had by all.

Have begun my Flash NANO campaign for a final year. This is the last one ever (boo hoo!) but I have used one of the stories I’ve drafted so far this year as my YouTube video for this week. Will share in separate post shortly. See further down under From Light to Dark and Back Again. It is great fun to take part in the challenge again though.

Writing Tip: I’ve found it useful, when responding to any prompt, to just get a draft down as quickly as I can. I then hone and polish it later after a break away from it but there is something about quick writing which I find helps make the ideas flow fast too. I like to try to capitalize on that.

Hope you have had a good weekend. The weather has been a mixed bag. Nice to see all of the autumn leaves around though. Am having to take the dog out earlier due to the clocks going back an hour recently. Fireworks season has also started. Lady isn’t keen on these, as you can imagine, but we have a good routine to help her though I wish folk would switch to the silent fireworks. You can get them more easily now.

Writing wise, I’ll be on to flash fiction Sunday afternoon/evening shortly and am looking forward to sharing a fabulous interview with Penny Rogers (aka Penny Dale), a fellow Bridge House Publishing author, on Chandler’s Ford Today next week.

Am also busy preparing two reviews. I like writing these though the challenge is in ensuring you give enough away to show what a good show was performed without giving away too much of the story line.

For the very famous plays, this isn’t so much of an issue because the story line is already famous. But for lesser known plays, I don’t want to spoil the story in case people can get to see it elsewhere.

Busy day. Author newsletter out again. (1st November 2025). Cant believe where the time goes.

Had a fabulous time watching a murder mystery play at the Dovetail Centre in Chandler’s Ford today. Will review in due course but firstly on Chandler’s Ford Today, there will be a fab interview with Penny Rogers (also known as Penny Dale). Link up on Friday.

Then I’ll be reviewing Ghost Train recently performed by The Chameleons. Then I’ll review the murder mystery play I saw today. This was wonderfully called The Business of Murder (written by Mike Standing – great story line).

So there’s a lot going on and all of it fun I’m glad to say!

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope today has gone well. Mixed bag weather wise.

Our characters are mixed bags too. Nobody is fully perfect or evil (in most kinds of fiction). So think about what you like and dislike in your characters? What can you get from that to give you ideas for some flash pieces?

It’s Monday, a hectic, dark and damp one! Time for a story then and this week’s YouTube video from me is the result of a Flash NANO prompt for this year. This is pretty good going from me as Flash NANO only started on Saturday (1st November)! Hope you enjoy my story Back In Time.


Flash is wonderful for putting a different spin on fairytales.Indeed, it is my favourite kind of flash story to write (and read). I tend to focus on a “side” character to the main story and show something of them and have found this works best when kept short. There is no time for it to be gimmicky but it can pack a punch when it needs to do so. Fairytale flash is often wonderful for humour too and I do love short sharp tales which end with a laugh.

November is a month full of memories. I know every month is to an extent but I particularly feel this for November because of Remembrance Sunday.

So how can we use memories in our flash fiction pieces when the word count is limited? Memories often take up a lot of words when written down after all.

I’ve found the best way of managing this is to focus on one particular memory for one particular character and that is their story. Sometimes that will result in a flash piece of under 500 words but more often I’ve found I have needed 750 to 1000 words here.

Having said that, these stories can be incredibly touching and are moving to write (and I hope to read too).

Goodreads Author Blog – The Love of Books and Why It Matters

One of my most frustrating moments as a writer and reader came at a Book Fair I had a table at some years ago. The Book Fair was wonderful, I loved being with fellow writers and joy of joys, I sold books. So what was frustrating?

Simply it was when I overhead someone go past by my table and saying very loudly “I don’t like books”. I had to bite my tongue because the obvious retort to that was “why are you here then” but I figured that retort wouldn’t help.

The comment saddened me too,. What was behind the dislike? Problems with reading? Or simply they hadn’t found a genre (ore more) of books which appealed to them? Or did they simply think reading wasn’t for them?

One challenge all writers face now is having to compete with other forms of entertainment. Now I love books, I love music, I love films, and have no problem in enjoying all of these things but is it me or do people these days feel they have to stick to one creative thing they like and no more?

I am also conscious all writers owe a huge debt to those writing for children of all ages. If you can get a child hooked on to books early in life, they are likely to keep the habit of reading for pleasure going and that is what the love of books matters.

No love of books and you miss out on so many wonderful stories because they’re not all made into films! Even when they are, why not check out the original book anyway?

I do hope the forthcoming festive season will lead to more books being bought for all ages and this Christmas someone will get to discover the love of reading for the first time.

I do think that is such a special moment.

MailerLite – Allison Symes – Newsletter Sign Up

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Growing The Seed and Comfort Books

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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, as was one photo from an Association of Christian Writers in person event.
Hope you had a good weekend. Great, family party orientated one here. Fabulous time had by all. Lots of laughs. Lady loves these things and is also shattered. Writing wise, it’s back to the desk and I am looking forward especially to sharing the October issue of Writers’ Narrative. See below for more.

Facebook – General

Hope you have had a good day. Lady has – she got to see and play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback buddy today.

Looking forward to the October issue of Writers’ Narrative due out at any moment. I always look forward to the magazine coming out but this one is special because its theme is Short Form Fiction, a topic which is close to my writing heart of course.

I am the Featured Author this time and enjoyed a fabulous interview by Wendy H Jones, the magazine’s Editor in Chief. I also wrote a separate article breaking down how one of my published flash pieces works and looking at the influences behind it.

So can’t wait to share this with you. Coming soon, as they say!

Oh and my author newsletter is out again tomorrow too. Busy busy.

It’s a delight to be back on More than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers, with my latest post, Growing The Seed May Take Longer than Thought.

The idea for this one came from looking at the dates in my hymn book. There is often a considerable gap between the words being written and the music for the hymn being composed. Naturally, as writers, we too can wait for longer than we would care for to see our work be accepted etc.

Hope you find the post encouraging. This phenomenon is nothing new. I find it helpful to know I’m not alone here. And, especially if you are starting out, I hope it helps to know this. I can’t think of any writer I know who has not had setbacks, rejections etc (I’ve had loads) but you press on and learn and improve and keep going. 

 

Had a fabulous time yesterday. Plenty of good company, good food, good drinks, and loads of laughs! But now back to the writing desk.

Will be getting on with flash fiction Sunday afternoon shortly. Hope to put finishing touches to my next author newsletter either today or tomorrow, ready for it to go out again on Wednesday. Having an author newsletter and/or running a monthly workshop really does show up how quickly the year flies by, or so I’ve found.

Hope to get around to looking at competition material next weekend (as do have some ready already ) but also want to draft some fresh material too. (Keeps me on my toes and I always like to have a “stock” in ready for me to look at when suitable competitions come up). There is at least one more competition I want to have an entry in for this year.

I also hope, before too long, to be drafting my festive flash fiction again (and yes it is almost time to be thinking of that again. I sometimes draft such stories in the summer but more often in the early to mid autumn so I have plenty of time to polish work up before sending it anywhere).

Hosted a family event today so posting at a different time. Am shattered thanks to having a wonderful time but then that’s how a good event should be.

Writing wise, I’ll be getting on with flash fiction Sunday tomorrow and I plan to share Things I Wish I’d Known Earlier for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. To stop that post from being far too long (!), I’ll be focusing on writing here.

Flash Fiction Tip: Always focus on the story rather than the word count. I know that sounds odd for me to say but it does matter to get the story right. I’ve sometimes written what I thought would be a 100 words story only to find it works better at 300 words, say. So I save that story for another market.

For flash, it helps to focus on one character and one important moment for them. It is more direct and can save a lot on your word count.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Good day, less hectic than yesterday, and now time to settle in for an evening’s writing, one of my favourite times of the day.

Flash Fiction Tip: If you’re planning to write a piece which has a twist ending or a humorous punchline, jot that down first and then work out what could lead to it. I find doing this means the twist or humorous punchline comes across more naturally and is more believable to a reader.

I often have ideas for this kind of ending to a story so have found “planning backwards” works a treat here. I have my ending, I know what has immediately led to it, I work out what has led to that and before I know it I am back at the beginning of the story.


It’s another hectic Monday (after a fabulous party weekend). Time to take a little time out and enjoy a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – True Friendship.

Beth feels Mary is a true friend after Beth’s break up with her ex but is Beth being honourable here?

 

I’m delighted to share the latest – and the last – installment of Seeing The Other Side, which is being serialised on CafeLit. I hope you’ve enjoyed the stories serlalised here. Plenty more to come when the book comes out next May. This will be my my biggest flash fiction collection to date and I am so looking forward to seeing it out there. Meantime, do enjoy the last crop of stories for now.

Have hosted a family party today. Great fun. Now, have you given thought to using parties as a backdrop to your flash fiction stories? Is your character at a party for themselves or someone else? How do they feel about being there? Can the party be a moment of change for your character?

Story ideas there, I’d say. Also open to mood here. This kind of tale could be funny or tragic. Or anything in between simply due to how your character feels about being at that party.

Goodreads Author Blog – Comfort Books

Often when the weather is gloomy, or the news is grim (and right now both of those things apply), I will turn to what I consider to be my comfort books. It’s when I will often turn to Wodehouse, Pratchett, Austen, knowing I’m going to need something to make me smile.

Ironically, something to make me smile doesn’t preclude serious issues. Pratchett was a master of tackling these with humour in his Discworld series. (Do check out his Raising Steam. It has a strong take on terrorism especially that done in the name of faith).

One of the purposes of reading, for me, is to escape. I’ve never seen any harm in books written for “just entertainment”. Indeed, I feel there is a snobbery about books like this, which would include my own, and naturally I am against that. The important thing is people read. Some of my special memories are associated with books too so there is comfort in them too.

Sometimes that is just what you need.

MailerLite – Allison Symes – Newsletter Sign Up

WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Being Interviewed

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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. One image in my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week was kindly supplied by Wendy H Jones but added to by me thanks to the wonder that is Book Brush! Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good few days. Has turned cold and bright here but Lady and I love autumn days like this. Writing going well. Had a lovely time at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group where we looked at linked flash. I’ve written more of that for my Seeing The Other Side. Good fun to do.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Pleased to be back on Chandler’s Ford Today with my latest post, Being Interviewed. This has come about because I am about to be interviewed for Writers’ Narrative in the forthcoming October edition about Short Form Fiction. More news on that next week.

Meantime, this post shares hints and tips about preparing for interviews, even if you are not published yet, or if this kind of thing seems a long way off. There is much to learn from author interviews right now.

I also look at what I think makes for a good interview and discuss prep work needed by interviewer and interviewee alike.

Hope you find the post useful.

Being Interviewed

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Another lovely autumn day at the park for Lady and I. We hope to catch up with her best buddy tomorrow.

Writing wise, don’t forget my post on Being Interviewed, which is full of useful tips, will be out on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above.

It’s also not long before the next issue of Writers’ Narrative is due out but, meantime, why not check out the current issue, which is full of useful information about publishing. 

 

Hope today has gone well. An odd one for me as today would have been my late parents’ wedding anniversary. Lovely autumn day, another one of the kind Lady and I love though, so a joy to get to the park though we didn’t see any doggy chums today. Also looking forward to ACW Flash Fiction Group meeting tonight. It was good!

Will be sharing Being Interviewed on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I share tips and thoughts on handling interviews which will be useful, even if you have not been published yet and this kind of thing seems a long way off. (It may well come around sooner than you think!). See above – and I was glad I prepared for interviews ahead of actually having them. It paid. See CFT for more.

Writing Tip: You know your character. You know what drives them. Do you know what kind of vocabulary they would use? Would they have any pet phrases which could reveal something about them? Do they have any pet phrases which others could use “at them”? I can think of some my late parents did use with me. Am not saying what! But you could use this kind of thing to give even greater depth to your characters and make them seem more real to your readers.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Friday Flash Fiction is taking a short break from submissions and won’t take any until after 3rd October. Do see the screenshot and I hope all at FFF enjoy a well earned break.

But if you want a great read do check out the link as there is plenty to enjoy here.

In other news, I’ve booked my ticket for the Bridge House Publishing celebration event in December. It will be great to catch up with fellow flash fiction and short story writers here. Looking forward to this already. 

Don’t forget my next author newsletter will be out next week. I share tips, flash fiction story links, news, and much more. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

A huge thank you to all of my subscribers – the support is much appreciated.

There is another flash fiction competition I want to make sure I have a go at before the end of the year so hope to start work on a piece for this over the weekend.

Also delighted the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group yesterday on the theme of linked flash went well. People had plenty of cracking ideas here and I hope they go on to write the stories up.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

What makes your character’s irritable, other than things like tiredness, not feeling well, overwork etc? What would happen if they had to face something which would trigger their irritable mood but they couldn’t react in the normal way they would do? Perhaps they are trying to impress someone so know they have to rein the irritability in somehow.

How do they do it? Does it pay off? If they can’t keep the irritability in, how would the other character react? Would they prefer your lead character to just be honest in the first place?

Definite story ideas there.

Fairytales with Bite – Celebrations

Shortly, I’ll be hosting a family celebration – everyone is looking forward to it – but what would this kind of thing look like in your setting, especially if magic is involved or could be involved? I must admit I love the opening of The Lord of The Rings with Gandalf’s fireworks. Rightly these are spectacular.

So how would your magical characters celebrate anything? How would the governing powers arrange state celebrations (or commemorations for that matter. Sometimes a commemoration can involve an element of celebration especially if you are recalling a moment of deliverance, say).

Would your characters use magic or any other form of power they have to help with their celebrations? Are certain powers only used for this kind of thing and who developed these things and the rules for their usage?

How long do the celebrations go on for and does everyone have a good time (I personally would hope they would!)?

This World and Others – Official Events

Linking with Fairytales with Bite above, how would official events be run? Are these all sombre occasions or is there a mixture of celebratory and commemorative events? What would be the history behind these things? Is magic involved in running these events of would that be deemed inappropriate if, say, one event involved remembering the misuse of magic and the consequences of that?

Are all of your characters pleased to take part or witness these commemorative/official ceremonies or do any of them see it all as a waste of time/public money/both? Do any of your characters protest/otherwise try to disrupt these things and, if so, what are the consequences? Would the “general public” (in whatever forms they are!) be against for for them?

Are there events your characters feel should be commemorated officially but are not and, if so, why was that decision taken and by whom and can it be changed?

Story ideas there!

MailerLite – Allison Symes – Newsletter Sign Up

WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

As I shared the September 2025 issue above, I thought I’d pick out a back issue for this spot. All great reading.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Review – The Chameleons – Sudden Death at Thornbury Manor

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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. A huge thank you to those lovely people at The Chameleons (especially Daisy Wilkins) for their kind permission to use their wonderful photos in my CFT post this week. Also thanks to various Swanwick friends for taking various photos of me book signing etc at that wonderful place!
Hope you have had a good week. Has been a good one here weather and writing wise. New issue of Writers’ Narrative is out, I have writing news, and am relieved my first author newsletter went out okay on the new service provider. Always a bit of a nerve wracking moment this! Think it looks good too as I took the opportunity to freshen up the newsletter look. See screenshot below.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am delighted to share my review of Sudden Death at Thornbury Manor, which was recently performed by my local excellent amateur theatre company, The Chameleons. Hope you enjoy the post. It was a joy to see the show and to write about it.

The Chameleons are also celebrating their 60th anniversary this year so will be having an open evening later in the year for locals to find out more. I hope to get along to that in due course.

Review – The Chameleons – Sudden Death at Thornbury Manor

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Delighted to share the May 2025 issue of Writers’ Narrative which has the theme of Worldbuilding. My article in here is on Worldbuilding and the Shorter Fiction Forms. Do check out the excellent range of articles and interviews here. Have a great read (and remember it is free to subscribe as well. What’s not to like there?).

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Another glorious day and Lady got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals so it was just perfect for her. I also enjoyed a fantastic swim today – perfect conditions for it. I can’t always say that!

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group later this evening. It was a good session!

Author newsletter out again tomorrow (how can it be almost May already?).

Have a story I want to get out for a competition at the weekend and am working on edits for another one. Managed to get the edits done and sent the story back to the publisher.

Last but definitely not least, look out for the next issue of Writers’ Narrative, It is due out very soon. I wasn’t wrong, was I?  See above! I will share the link when I have it. 

Meantime do check out the back issues which you can find via the publisher’s link. Plenty of great and useful reading here.
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my The Camera Never Lies. This is a good example of my writing to a well known phrase and seeing what I can do with it. Hope you like this one.

Lady had a lovely time in the park with her Hungarian Vizler pal. I had another fantastic swim today too.

Had a good session at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group last night on Zoom.

Writing News: In other news, I’m pleased to announce I am now the ACW Flash Fiction Adviser. Paid up ACW members (and those who buy the quarterly magazine, Christian Writer) will see details of all of the advisers, including me in there. Looking forward to sitting down with Christian Writer which came through my letter box today. (1st May 2025).

Lovely day today. I don’t always use the weather and the mood it can generate to help me with my stories though occasionally I have. More often, I’ve written darker pieces on beautiful spring days and lighter hearted tales on dark wintry ones. That of course may just be me being quirky and writing “against” the prevailing mood from the weather!

I focus much more on the mood of my characters and why they are in that state in the first place. There is always something! Great stories can result from exploring that, especially if the cause turns out to be other characters, as it so often is!

Fairytales with Bite – Wishes

I suspect Cinderella might have one specific wish when her fairy godmother deigned to turn up. She would have wished said godmother had turned up a lot earlier than she did. A lot of upset would have been avoided to put it mildly! I’ve wondered if good old Cinders, prior to her wedding, could look at her rats, lizards etc in quite the same way again when they were returned to their normal forms. (You could also wonder if the animals saw her in the same light too!).

If you have characters doling out the wishes are they able/allowed to grant their own? If not (and I would hope not as you can see the corruption possibilities immediately!), when they do need a wish granted, who would they turn to and why? Is this official or does your character have to go the “back streets” route here and are they found out?

Are there rules about what characters can wish for? Is anything banned outright?

If your world setting is able to survey what other worlds do, can they copy the other worlds’ “sciences” and adapt them to their own magical world? It could look like magic there and be ordinary “run of the mill” stuff on the world they’ve copied it from. Could anything go wrong with this? Or does the magical world get new material they can genuinely use? Is there anyone who wishes they’d found this sooner?!

Also ask what would be the downside to wishes being granted or withheld? There could be some interesting story thoughts here. Would be bound to generate reactions and therefore actions in your characters.

This World and Others – Work and Recreation for the Magically Inclined

What would work look like for your magical characters? For example, do they create the spells they use or are they reliant on the work of others long before them to give them the material they need here? If they develop spells themselves, how do they do this? Are they reliant on natural materials in their world to create these things (think witches and eye of newt! Have always felt sorry for the newts here)?

Or do they use things like metalwork, woodwork etc to create their implements and other things they need to work with and use them to make anything else needed?

When it comes to time off, what do your magical characters do? After a long day working, granting wishes, what would your average fairy godmother like to do when she can hang up the old wand for the evening?

Are there “clubs” for the magically inclined to relax and recuperate or would your characters just prefer to be at home? Would they use magic to help them with domestic chores ore are they only too glad to leave the magic behind after a hard working day?

MailerLite – Allison Symes – Newsletter Sign Up

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Story Ideas and Identifying with Characters

Leave 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. Hope you have had a good weekend. Lovely family do. We all had a fantastic time and Lady was spoiled rotten so she had a great time too. Looking forward to a short break next week (am still hoping to post but will have to play things by ear here. A lot will depend on my internet connection!).

BookBrushImage-2022-10-4-20-4619

Facebook – General

When I’m thinking of potential story ideas, I ask immediately what kind of character would “serve” that potential tale well. I then look at what makes the character stand out for me in this role (because if they stand out for me, they’ll stand out for a reader too). This is why knowing what makes my character tick is so important for me. It helps me to get into their head, work out how they would think and speak and so on.

I also know what are the kinds of things my character would not say. Funnily enough that can be useful because I might get them to start saying it if they are under so much stress they come out with something they usually wouldn’t. Readers would identify with that given this is something most of us would do. But the stress has to come out of the character’s situation. It should be the kind of thing that would stress us out too.

May be an image of text that says "01, Understanding what makes US tick is crucial for understanding what makes your characters tick."

Hope the week has got off to a good start for you. Not bad here – recovering a from family do at the weekend. Much fun had by all.

I’m looking at Breaks for Chandler’s Ford Today this coming Friday. Aptly since I’ll be heading off for an autumn break with my other half soon. I will also look at breaks for characters in fiction and ask whether there is any such thing as a lucky break for writers. Link up on Friday.

Later this month, I’ll be interviewing the fantastically funny #Ruth Leigh and if you have read her Isabella M Smugge books, you’ll know why using a hashtag is so appropriate. If you haven’t, go on, what are you waiting for? Looking forward to sharing more on that interview nearer the time.

Chandler's Ford Today post reminder picture(1)

Pleased to say the October issue of Mom’s Favorite Reads is now out and, as ever, it is free to download. I talk about Character Profiles in Flash Fiction this time and share how I use random generators to create such things.

The random question one is especially useful here and my flash fiction challenge this time was to have a character answer a randomly generated question (which was about wishes). I also invited people to generate a random name for their character if they wanted to and I did so with my own tale for this piece.

Hope you enjoy and do check out the whole magazine. It is a fabulous read. I have two links for you this time. One takes you to Issu and the other takes you to Amazon.

 

Hope you have had a good day. A bit later than usual with my posts tonight given I’ve had a family “do” today. It was lovely to see everyone, the weather held (and I am grateful to God for that – tomorrow’s forecast is grim and timings are not in my hands!), and Lady has a fabulous time with Lily, another family dog. Both dogs got spoiled rotten too so they have had an excellent afternoon!

Managed to get my author newsletter out this morning ahead of “kick off” so pleased about that. It was also lovely to catch up with my lovely editor at Chandler’s Ford Today and her other half at today’s do and am looking forward to joining them for the next Chameleon Theatre Group play later this month.

Many thanks for the lovely comments coming in on Coming Home, my new tale on Friday Flash Fiction. In case you missed it, please see the link below.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

How much do you need to know about characters before you start writing a flash tale? I need to know major trait. I can then look at the virtues (and otherwise) from that trait. There is always a flip side! Often story ideas begin to emerge just from doing that.

When I have a twist ending or a humorous punchline “good to go”, I then work out the kind of character who could deliver that twist or punchline. A sombre character is highly unlikely to come out with a laugh out loud line. A Jack the Lad type of character is unlikely to come out with something which stuns people with its philosophical genius.

Yes, there are always exceptions to the rule but you would probably need a longer length of story to establish why these characters are the exceptions. Flash relies on “shortcuts” so if you have got a Jack the Lad character, readers will have a good idea of what to expect from them without you having to spell it all out. Does that mean the character has to be a cliche? Far from it!

Your Jack the Lad character will bring something unique to them to your story. It’s why you’re writing about this character. There still has to be something special about them. Readers will pick up on this and understand why you have to write their tale up rather than than that of another character.

Flash Fiction focuses on THE important aspect of a character's life

It’s Monday. It’s getting dark. It’s getting cold. And it is still Monday. Time for a story then.
Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – All In The Timing. It so often is too!

 

I often read out some flash tales when giving a workshop as it is the single best way I think to demonstrate what flash fiction is and can do in ways of impact on a reader. (I know it has helped increase book sales at signing events!).

This is added reason to keep your story moving and to cut out the old purple prose. You want something that is easy to read, conveys a lot of information quickly, and is a joy for the listener to listen to and it should give you joy to read out too!

I practice reading through ahead of an event but I also do so when I think I’ve got a story, not yet published (note the optimistic use of the word yet there!), which I think would make a good one to read out. Best way I know of picking up on phrases which are a little clunky or where dialogue doesn’t quite so flow as well as I thought it did. Still, that is what the editing pen is for.

May be an image of text

Wow, doesn’t the year just speed by? Could be said to go in a flash!

I’ve sometimes used dates in my flash tales (see Losing Myself In Tripping the Flash Fantastic) and used a time period as a framework for my story. In this case I used a diary format but only covered so many entries for a certain period of time as that was where the action of the story took place. It was up to the upper end of the flash limit.

It was fun to do but I did have to select the amount of time I was going to use here. I did this by using selected entries over a time span of two years. Each entry followed on from each other and I left a lot to inference but that is one of the great strengths of flash. You can leave your readers to work things out and I know I love this when other writers do this for me (especially in crime fiction. I do want to have a crack at trying to work out who the murderer is).

It also made huge sense for there to be gaps in the diary entries given what my characters are revealing here but this was all carefully planned out.

So time can be a useful element in a story then but, as with life itself I guess, we have to decide how we’re going to use it best.

BB - Flash with a Dash for TTFF

Goodreads Author Blog – Identifying with Characters

Do you identify with characters? I always have had a soft spot for Hans Christen Andersen’s The Ugly Duckling (and have always loathed bullying of any kind so that feeds in to my sympathy for the character here).

I also like justice to be seen to be done so I am always rooting for the detective in crime fiction unless they are the baddie.

What you value will feed into the kind of characters you root for and I have an especial soft spot for the underdog. I’m on the lookout for seemingly undervalued characters in a story because I am watching for them to turn out to have a major role to play in that story later on – and most of the time I’d be right to do so.

The characters I dislike the most are ones almost inevitably where I don’t share their values (and most of the time rightly so there too!). I’ve still got to be able to understand why they take the view they do though I don’t have to agree with it. That helps me create my own characters – the ones I like and love – and yes I have created characters I really can’t stand! The challenge there is to get into their heads sufficiently well enough to see why they are the way they are.

Screenshot 2022-10-01 at 21-36-48 Identifying with Characters

Twitter icon

 

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

May Memories

Leave a comment

Image Credit:  As ever, Pixabay and Pexels supplied the images unless stated otherwise. I am glad to say I’ve contributed some pictures to the CFT post this week!

 

Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

May is one of my favourite months of the year for many reasons. My CFT post, May Memories, takes a look at that and I also share memories of my grandmother who was also called May. I also share what is likely to remain the strangest deep memory recall I’ve had.

I give a round-up of my writing news as well this month and take great pleasure in sharing some gorgeous pics from Pixabay celebrating May (photos of roses always do that for me!). Some of the photos are from my garden too.

Hope you enjoy.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I always enjoy writing my CFT posts but May Memories this week is one with personal recollections in it. I have very fond memories of my grandmother May and I’ve always liked it as both a name and a month. I also liked the old TV comedy series From May to December starring Anton Rodgers. Anyone remember that?

TV funnily enough has not yet sparked a story idea off in me. I tend to get my ideas from writing exercise prompts, proverbs (which give me a theme and often a title), thoughts about characters I could give a life to and so on and what would I do with them if I did write them up etc.

Fab end to a day I think. Pixabay.
Books take you into other worlds.
Photo by Plush Design Studio on Pexels.com

 

I’ll be sharing May Memories in my CFT post this week. It is one of my favourite months of the year for many reasons. (THE favourite is March, my birthday month so there!)😀

I share some personal recollections, a spooky (to me at least) deep memory recall experience – both of which are connected with my grandmother May – and a round up of my writing news for the month. We’re just coming up to the halfway point and it has been quite a busy month already!

But that is an encouragement to (a) keep going and (b) see what else I can get out there/get published etc. I’ve found that whenever I have anything published, it spurs me on to see what else I can do. When I have things rejected (or just not placed in a competition), that spurs me on to look at the story again and see what I can do to improve its chances when I sent it out into the big, bad world again. As I do.

Link up for CFT tomorrow.

PS As you will no doubt tell from the picture below, I can’t wait until I can get to the hairdressers again!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Yesterday, I got to make my first video. It’s in connection with the Waterloo Arts Festival and I hope to be able to share it (or the link) later on after the Zoom WAF this year.

It was good fun to do and got me out of my comfort zone for a bit. Later, I also hope to put this up on my website and maybe do a couple of others where I narrate some of my flash fiction. Flash is great for this kind of thing. Doesn’t take long. Makes for good download times too!

I prepared notes. There was no way I could do something like this off the top of my head. Even if I could, I don’t think it would be a good idea anyway. I’ve long found preparation is key for so much in writing, even if you don’t always use all of the material you’ve drafted. (Some of it may come in handy as website material later).

Now on to my CFT post and this week I’ll be sharing some May Memories including writing news from me. Link up on Friday.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring writing wise!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Flash fiction is a great vehicle for reading out loud precisely because it cannot take too long to do! Having made a video for the Waterloo Arts Festival event, I hope at some point to do more to put on my website as it occurred to me this would be another way of sharing stories online.

And I must admit I still love being read TO in the form of audio books. Much as I love reading to myself, there is something special about someone else telling you a story. So if you’re wondering what to read next, maybe it should be a case of what you’re going to listen to next?

Oh and a big thanks to Ana Coelho for the pic of me reading from my The Professional at last year’s Waterloo Arts Festival. (And also to Paula Readman for the Cafelit 8/Nativity shot, which is one of my favourite photos. Hey, I’m not going to pretend to be unbiased here!).

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Does classical music influence what I write at all?

No! What it does do is relax me and when I’m relaxed, I’m more productive so win-win here.

I have found in the past other types of music can alter my mood and therefore what I write and that can be used knowingly and deliberately but you do have to be aware of it happening. I once tried to write a murder scene in a longer short story when a cute love song came on. Threw me completely!

So classical it is and will remain!

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I chose Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saens as the music for the FLTDBA book trailer. I’ve always loved the piece (I got to know it through the Jonathan Creek detective series which used it as the theme) and I wanted quirky music to go with my quirky fiction!

The music also reflected the theme of From Light to Dark and Back Again pretty well too. The lovely thing is I am a great fan of classical music and I’m sure I can think of something suitable for Tripping the Flash Fantastic in due course. It’s not as if I’m going to run out of composers or anything…!

 

Fairytales with Bite – Three Words

For fiction writing, you could look at catchphrases for your characters.

Catchphrases have to be memorable to work, also you need not to get tired of them (and that’s even more true for your reader!), and so are best kept short to help achieve those points. I would opt for a three-worder here.

If your characters were limited to three words as their pet phrase, what would they be and why? (I suspect the most famous one here would be I’ll Be Back from The Terminator). But what would you choose for your creations?

Would your pet phrase match your character? That is, if they’re a feisty character, would their phrase reflect that? Or would they downplay that side of things a bit (especially if they wanted to put off an enemy)? Would they be sarcastic or would their phrase be a cover for what they are really like?

Food for thought, I hope. The important point is to know who your characters are, how they would speak and sound (to a reader) and, if a catchphrase would be appropriate for your characters, to choose one that fits them well.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com
Photo by Skitterphoto on Pexels.com
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Photo by Min An on Pexels.com
Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com
Photo by Ivan Samkov on Pexels.com
Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com
Photo by Ivan Samkov on Pexels.com
Photo by Andrew Neel on Pexels.com
Photo by Miesha Moriniere on Pexels.com

 

This World and Others –

Questions to Ask your Characters

This is by no means a definitive list. I’m sure you’ll think of other questions to ask!

One great thing about this topic is that it is a timeless one! (Bear in mind also if you’re writing non-fiction, if you are using a narrative voice, you can treat that voice as a character, so some of these questions at least may also be worth trying).

So what to ask then as part of your outline?

What do you really want and why?

What stops you getting what you really want?

Why would your life be complete if you achieve what you want?

How are you going to achieve your objectives?

Have you got other characters to support you and, if so, how reliable are they?

Are you making your life unnecessarily complicated? (Worth asking this one – any complications getting in the way of your character achieving what they want should be those that arise naturally out of the plot. There should be nothing that seems “faked” to increase the tension in the story. The tension should be genuine, the obstacles real and so on. For a non-fictional narrator, a good question to ask instead of this one is are you communicating as clearly as possible (i.e. go for clarity, not gobbledegook, don’t make your narration unnecessarily complicated? Are you conveying the facts reasonably? Are you backing the facts up with evidence? What are your sources?).

What has driven you to decide this is what you really want?

What if you’re wrong? (How would your character handle that? That could make for a really interesting story).

Are there limits you won’t cross (and if so what are these? What is your thinking behind this?).

Are there rules you are prepared to break? What would the consequences be? How are you going to limit your risk (or are you not worried about that? Some characters aren’t!).

Does fear of or respect for others hold you back from achieving your objectives? How do you feel about this?

What are you like under pressure?
Now if answering those questions doesn’t generate story ideas, I’d be very surprised!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

 

 

 

 

STORY IDEAS AND PUBLICATION NEWS

Leave a comment

Facebook – General

How do you develop your story ideas? I sometimes use spider diagrams to help me here. I come up with what will often go on to be the opening line and work out different scenarios and then write up the one I like the most. It does help to visualise a story sometimes.

With some stories I can hear the character talking and I’ve then got to work out where that dialogue would lead that character. Sometimes the story can be WHERE that dialogue has come from and the talk itself is actually the end of the story. In my They Don’t Understand, I had the finishing line very early on and then worked the story out backwards from there.

So I’d say be open to what approaches you take here. I’ve found one size/one way of doing things is not necessarily the best. You can constrict yourself too much. I also think it is a good thing to mix things up when creating a story anyway. It’s fun too!

Indeed! Pixabay image.
Let one creative idea spark another. Pixabay image.
No matter what your setting, your characters need to resonate with readers. Pixabay image.
My latest CFT post. Pixabay image.
I’ve never read a book in these conditions, have you? Pixabay image.
Stories can take you to fantastic places. Pixabay image.
Something I’ve yet to see happen! Pixabay image.
This made me smile! Pixabay image.

Do you find that when you have a closer look at your favourite books and stories there is a common theme? I’ve often found this to be the case.

I love The Lord of the Rings and practically all of the classic fairytales. The common link there? No matter what the struggle or how long it takes, good will defeat evil in the end. A positive theme (and yes I guess that is how you can tell it is fantasy, sadly!).

So what are your favourite themes in stories? I do like themes that speak of justice prevailing, evil being given the boot, or, in the case of historical fiction, shows me something about a past world I had not known before. I loved Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall for that though must confess I’ve not read Bring Up the Bodies as I am an Anne Boleyn fan and know how that story ends!

I try NOT to chain down my creativity! Pexels image.
Notes about your characters can help you portray them more accurately. Not every note has to make it into the story itself. Pixabay image.
Very old school writing. Pixabay image.
Lovely books. Pexels image.
Stories can take you to fantastic places. Pixabay image.
So true. Pixabay image.
Plugging in for new ideas? Pixabay image
I recall using a manual typewriter and manually copying and pasting. Pixabay image.
Something I’ve yet to see happen! Pixabay image.

Great fiction, regardless of genre, will resonate with readers and the key to that resonance is the lead character, who would have been excellently portrayed.

There will be flaws, there will be virtues, there will be plenty that any of us could identify with, knowing our own flaws and virtues, and we absolutely have to find out whether our hero/heroine succeeds in their quest or not.

The lead character is memorable for all the right reasons then – and this still applies even if that character is the villain. They’ve got to have good reasons for acting the way they are (“because they’re evil” isn’t strong enough) and readers should understand why the villain is acting the way they are. Nobody has to like it though!

I suppose we’ve got to have someone to cheer on as we read the latest flash fiction, short story, or novel. And that someone has to appeal to us so how can writers do that? Characters with a great sense of humour come across well, as do characters willing to make sacrifices for their cause. That too can apply to villains (and I bet I wasn’t the only one who almost wanted to root for the late Alan Rickman’s Sherriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves!).

Make your characters distinctive then and easy to “fall for”. It almost goes without saying the first one to love your characters must be you!

Online writing -v- on a line writing! Image via Pixabay
A gorgeous pen. Image via Pexels
A typical stationery collection. Image via Pexels.
Beautiful books. Pexels image.
Reach for those ideas. Pixabay image.
What wonderful worlds we can creat! Image via Pixabay.
Reading should be a joy always. Pixabay image.
The world is shrinking thanks to technology. Image via Pixabay.

Am delighted to say three stories of mine will be appearing on Cafelit over the next few days. Will share the links obviously but one of the tales is a direct result of an exercise set by Simon Hall in his A-Z of Novel Writing at Swanwick Writers’ Summer School. I turned one of the exercises set into a flash fiction piece.

I am always happy to recommend a good read on Cafelit given the site has a wealth of stories and styles of storytelling on there – and not just because I’m on it sometimes but you will just have to take me at my word on that one.

Preparing a talk or a flash fiction story perhaps. Image via Pixabay.
Flash fiction for impact. Image via Pixabay
Books invite you into their world. Image via Pixabay
I read three stories from From Light to Dark and Back Again. Many thanks to Dawn Kentish Knox for the picture!
Stories are magical and inspire other stories. Image via Pixabay.
Is the truth welcome in your fictional world? How does your community react to it?. Image via Pixabay.
What impact do your stories have on your readers? Image via Pixabay
Connections to what you read and what you write. What are yours? Image via Pixabay.
Grow as a writer? Grow your reading! Image via Pixabay
The basic necessities of the writer’s life!

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I set the scene in the opening line or two of my flash stories, though sometimes that scene is the lead character’s thoughts and attitude! In those cases, you are entering their world as they see it. You don’t have to agree with them though (and I often don’t!).

Writing flash really does force you to focus on only those points without which the story makes no sense. It is the best way I know of learning how to write tight.

Scenes don’t have to be convoluted, far from it. You want the reader to get into your world as quickly as possible (especially since it’s not going to be a long ride!). Your job, as writer, is to open the door for the reader to be able to get in and out of the story at the appropriate points.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The flash fiction stories that mean the most to me are ones which make the most impact on me. Sometimes that will be to make me laugh out loud, other times to recoil in horror, and occasionally make me feel I’m really glad NOT to be the character in the tale I’ve just read!

A good test for a story you have written is to see, after a period away from it, what impact it has on you. Did it make you laugh as you were meant to when you first read it? Is it still making you laugh when you re-read it a week or so later?

I’m looking then for the emotional impact of the story. A story is a moment in time for a character. A flash fiction piece is a fraction of a period of time, so the writer has to make that impact quickly and through the lead character.

For me, a good way in for this is to show the lead character’s attitude. Attitude is indeed everything and is quick, effective way to show what your people are like. Their attitude can also convey how other people are likely to react to them too and then hopefully that will make readers want to read on to see if they are right on that. Usually they will be but that’s fine. It means the writer has delivered.

Bad tempered character annoys everyone else in the story? Yes. Ticks all the boxes. The fun bit here is HOW did they annoy everyone and did they get their comeuppance? Bad tempered character is out done by someone more bad tempered still? Yes. There’s a story there too with the prospect of someone being taught an overdue lesson.

Plenty to enjoy here! Image via Pixabay
The classic start to a fairytale. Image via Pixabay.
I prefer to sit and read rather than stand! Pexels image.
Your blog, your topic, your theme – just be sensible on copyright and libel issues. Image via Pixabay.
Writing is rewriting. Image via Pixabay.
Assemble your characters, assemble your world. Image via Pixabay
Plugging in for new ideas? Pixabay image
Let the words flow! Image via Pixabay.
A great new idea makes me smile, as does this image. Pixabay image.
Write your piece, leave it for a while before editing. Pixabay image.

An interesting flash fiction challenge could be to start every sentence with the same word – and nominate a word for this. “The”, “A”, “An” etc will not be allowed. So let’s see what I can start with – I’ll have a go with “Habitat”.

Incidentally I usually prepare these posts as I type them! Very much on the fly writing (though I love the challenge of that). I only schedule posts in advance for holidays etc. Basically, I haven’t prepared this in advance, honest ‘guv’!

HABITAT
Habitat varies from creature to creature, and must include man.
Habitat isn’t put at risk by most, spot the difference if you can!
Habitat is what we all need to survive
Habitat is where our characters thrive.
Habitat is where I will place my heroes.
Habitat is where I will put my no-goes.
Habitat is the world of my story.
Habitat can be blissful or gory.

Allison Symes – 17th September 2018

I think the format of the flash fiction here will depend on the word you choose to use as your opener. Some words will lend themselves more obviously to a “straight story” rather than a flash poem so to speak but there is fun to be had exploring ideas here!

Just what is your story then? Image via Pixabay
Doesn’t look comfortable to me. Pexels image.
Books have their own sense of time and space. Image via Pixabay.
Planning your characters. Image via Pixabay.
A good reading pile! Pexels image.
Let the ideas flow and let journeys encourage that! Image via Pixabay
Beautiful pens. Pexels image.
Online writing -v- on a line writing! Image via Pixabay
My latest CFT post. Pixabay image.
Generating the writing ideas. Image via Pixabay.

Delighted to have three new stories due to appear on Cafelit over the next few days. Will share links as and when. But back to the idea of using the same word to start the sentences of a flash piece with. My word for tonight is Restless and I will ‘fess up and admit I have given this one more thought though I did like the environmental theme that came through with Habitat yesterday.

RESTLESS
‘Restless, you are, Wilma, that’s what you are – always have been, always will be.‘
‘Restless, surely not, I just can’t get comfortable, that’s all’.
‘Restless, I said, and restless I meant.’
‘Restless, that’s the last thing I should be in here, George; I always thought I’d have peace HERE.’
‘Restless spirit, restless grave – I did think I’d have a break from your fidgeting when I joined you in here!’

ENDS.

Allison Symes – 18th September 2018

Hope you enjoy.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Goodreads Author Programme – Blog – Opening Lines

What is it about an opening line that makes you want to read on?

For me, that opening line has to intrigue me, show me something of the fictional world to come, or show me something about the lead character. The very best opening lines combine at least two of these.

I’m thinking especially of Orwell’s 1984 “It was a bright, cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.”. I’m immediately intrigued by the thirteen and I want to know about what kind of world it could be to have clocks capable of doing this. The opening line has definitely fulfilled its role there!

The challenge then for the writer is to make sure that everything which follows lives up to the promise of that opening line and delivers on it! And some people think writing is easy…hmm… I learned a long time ago that when someone makes something look easy, that same someone has almost certainly worked their socks off for years to get to that point.

So what are your favourite lines and why?

I also love the opening to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities. Very different in style but they intrigue and set the tone for what is to come.

Happy reading, and writing!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REVIEWS, FAIRYTALE RELATIONSHIPS, AND STORY IDEAS

Leave a comment

Facebook General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

My CFT post tonight is the penultimate one in my 101 Things to Put into Room 101 series. I have had no trouble whatsoever in coming up with 101 things! This probably says a lot about me but never mind…

As well as the horror of ripped jeans, I consign “easy to open packets” and the ability to lose scissors into the vault of doom. The latter of course is a real pain when wanting something to cut open the supposedly easy to open packets…

Part 6 - How many of the packets in a supermarket are that easy to open

How many easy to open packets are here, I wonder, and how many REALLY are easy to open? Image via Pixabay.

Part 6 - We'll be with you between 9 am and 6 pm with your parcel, argh

“We’ll be with you between 9 am and 6 pm”. Hmm… not exactly helpful is it? Image via Pixabay.

Part 6 - A ban on trumpet playing wasn't my first thought on bad manners but here things are different

A ban on trumpet playing? Image via Pixabay

Part 6 - End of the world predicted

I can predict there will be more end of the world predictions! Image via Pixabay

Facebook – General

What are the signs of a really good story for you? My top five would be:-

1. Not wanting the story to end.
2. Wondering how the characters would have carried on with their lives after the story ended.
3. Re-reading the story several times. (In flash especially a second or third reading will often reveal meanings and inferences you didn’t pick up the first time. You then really get to appreciate the depth of the story in such a tight word count).
4. Wishing you had written it!
5. The ending is so apt for the story, you can’t imagine it ending in any other way.

Comments welcome!

Beautiful pens. Pexels image.
A good reading pile! Pexels image.
The delights of the open page. Pexels image.
I don’t always write directly to screen. Image via Pixabay
Escape with a good book. Image via Pixabay.
Aiming for more “magic” from my stories this year! Image via Pixabay.
What fictional world have you created? What ways and rules have you set for your characters? Image via Pixabay.
One of my favourite book images. They really are magical. Transportation into other worlds and around this one in a few hundred pages. Brilliant! Image via Pixabay.

Facebook – General

Where do story ideas come from? Mine come from a wide range of sources including proverbs and other sayings, books or films that I’ve loved, to objects on my desk that have particular meaning for me.

I’ve learned, over time, to be “open” to ideas and not instantly dismiss them as being “too silly” or what have you. I will explore the idea to see if I can do anything with it and nine times out of ten I can.

I’ve only abandoned an idea once or twice in all my years of writing and I know now that was due to my not having outlined enough. By outlining (and spider diagrams can be useful here), you can work out whether an idea has “legs” or not or whether it needs something else to bring it to life.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Facebook – General

It’s funny how often in writing we remember the bad reviews but not the good ones etc. However, there is a flip side to this. I remember my first acceptance (hello, Bridge House Publishing, for my A Helping Hand in their Alternative Renditions anthology). That will always be a special writing moment.

I can’t recall my first rejection though. Nor do I wish to! I do wish I could recall my LAST rejection but that would mean stopping writing and I’m one of those people where the pen would have to be wrested away from me. And that is the way it should be!

Hard at work. Pexels image.
Books are the keys to knowledge. Image via Pixabay
Ebooks and print – both have their own frustrations when it comes to publishing. Image via Pixabay
Let the creative process flow! Image via Pixabay
Many thanks to all who’ve reviewed FLTDBA so far.
Libraries are fabulous places. Go and explore! Image via Pixabay.
Simply stunning… image via Pixabay

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Does mood affect what you write? The jury is out on this one as far as I’m concerned.

I’ve written funny stories when feeling sad (it was therapeutic doing that). I’ve written dark stories when feeling cheerful. (Not entirely sure what to make of that one).

What matters most, I think, is you have to decide what is going to be the mood of your story and then write accordingly. Deciding on the mood will then lead you to think about why you’ve chosen that and what character or type of character would be best for your tale. Sometimes I think putting a story together is exactly like putting a jigsaw together. The pieces are interconnected but you need a starting point and using mood of story can be a useful way to “kick off”.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

What influences your writing? Books and stories you’ve admired by other authors? A cracking film that kept you on the edge of your seat for over two hours? A special symphony?

I expect that your influences come from all over the place. What is lovely is when a couple of them combine and you can create a new story from that combination. For example, your lead character loves gothic novels and classic railway engines. How could you use that in a story? (Could be fun finding out. Indeed, SHOULD be fun finding out!).

What is great here is that by reading/watching films/listening to music etc, you can ensure you never get stuck for an idea again. The “trick” is to read widely/watch films across many genres/listen to several types of music etc. Think of it as casting your net really widely!

The building blocks of putting a story together. Pixabay image.
The writer’s basic toolkit – image via Pixabay
Good advice – and it applies to our characters too. Image via Pixabay
Use personal reviews to help you generate character and story outlines. Image via Pixabay.
Says it all really but reading your work to yourself will show up where dialogue is weak. Image via Pixabay.
One of the best ways to escape is with a good book. Image via Pixabay.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It is only when you are putting a collection together, you realise sometimes just (a) how much you have written and (b) that more work is going to be needed to get that volume right.

Where themes emerge, you will want to group them together (so you’ll need to get your contents page right for one thing and that will keep changing as you move things around).

The importance of VERY accurate proof reading will dawn on you in a way it may not have done before! (You want “your baby” to be perfect, yes?). Also, you will soon realise you cannot rush the proof reading stage to be sure of accuracy.

But enjoy the process. This is a very special part of the writing life – you are that bit nearer to publication.

Books should show you other worlds. Image via Pixabay.
Books are a fantastic form of escapism. Image via Pixabay
What a beautiful home for books. Image via Pixabay
Ah! I do love a good memory stick! Image via Pixabay.
Enjoy what you write and read! Image by Allison Symes
What ever writer needs. Image via Pixabay
Images from the magical world… Image via Pixabay

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Busy preparing a couple of flash fiction pieces for a competition. Been a while since I submitted competition entries (not deliberately, you know how it is. You become engrossed with other writing work etc). Want to do better on this front so am starting to make diary notes to remind me to do it.

Really pleased that my last competition entry, for the Waterloo Festival anthology, did well and will be included in that ebook when it comes out. Naturally I shall post about it nearer the time!

I’ve been making greater use of my writing diary since earlier this year for sending in work to Cafelit and that has worked well. Why is it that almost making an appointment with yourself to do something like this can and does make all the difference to whether you actually do it or not?

I suppose it is because seeing it in the diary makes me block out time to actually get the job done. I need to block out more time!

Fairytales with Bite – Relationships in the Fairytale World

I write this post on the eve of the Royal Wedding in the UK between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.  So there will be a lot of talk about “fairytales” as in “fairytale weddings” tomorrow.  And yes, the happy ever after fairytale ending is a classic one.  But if you take a deeper look into fairytales as a whole, you will find that most relationships in a fairytale world are fraught ones!

1.  Cinderella.  Didn’t exactly have the happiest relationships with her stepmother and stepsisters.

2.  Snow White.  Having a stepmother actively trying to kill you puts Cinderella’s woes in the shade!

3.  Hansel and Gretel.  Could sympathise with Snow White.  Would feel, at best, disappointed their father ever agreed to the stepmother’s scheming at all, even if it was reluctantly.

4.  The Emperor in the Emperor’s New Clothes.  Couldn’t rely on his courtiers to be honest with him.  Quite sad really.  Makes me wonder if his vanity was an insecurity issue. How did he react, later, after his foolishness was soundly mocked?  He really needed someone to tell him he was being an idiot (and be honest enough to admit he needed that, as I think we all do).

So jealousy, hatred, and insecurity are huge themes here.  Hmm… fairytale relationships?  Perhaps not quite so happy ever after then!

Preparing a talk or a flash fiction story perhaps. Image via Pixabay.
Stories reflect all sorts of moods. There is a story to suit everyone out there! Image via Pixabay.
Books are wonderful – whether in print or electronic, whether as audio stories or told by a storyteller. Image via Pixabay.
Well, what is it then? Image via Pixabay.
Listening to an inspiring talk. Image via Pixabay.
Escape into another world. Image via Pixabay
A typical writing conference room. Image via Pixabay.

This World and Others – Advice to My Much Younger Self

I wrote a Chandler’s Ford Today piece on this a while ago where I discussed what I’d tell my 20-year-old self.  I thoYouught I’d revisit the theme and list some things I would tell myself when I was starting out as a writer that I know now but didn’t then.

1.  Expect rejection but don’t be fazed by it.  Use it to improve what you do.

2.  Submit to honest competitions as often as you can.  It is all useful experience in submitting work for outside criticism and in meeting deadlines.  If you do well and win or are shortlisted, you can add that to your writing CV.  And always check out the background of the competition so you know you are submitting work to a reputable one.  It’s not you, there ARE charlatans out there.

3.  Be open to trying different forms of writing.  Had I done this when younger, I would’ve discovered the joys of flash fiction that much sooner!

4.  You can never have too much A4 printer paper or toner cartridges or pens.  Stock up.  Take advantage of special offers when possible.

5.  Submit work to honourable online sites as well as for print anthologies etc.  Your body of work will soon build up doing this and you cover both audiences – those who only read online, those who read “proper” books and most people go for both anyway.

6.  Don’t underestimate how long it will take you to be published.  It always does take far longer than you dream of!

7.  Before entering any contract, get it checked by the Society of Authors (UK) or other reputable equivalent body.  You can save yourself a lot of heartache and money doing this.

8.  Expect to be addicted to (a) notebooks, (b) nice pens, (c) going to good writing conferences, and (d) tea/coffee etc to keep you going as you write.  Save up accordingly!  Start now…

9.  Read as much as you can, contemporary and classic, fiction and non-fiction.  You may think you’re already doing this but writing has made me read much more than I ever did before, sometimes for review purposes, sometimes not.  You need to know what’s out there now.  It can help you find your own niche for one thing.  You can then play to your strengths here which will give you a greater chance of success when approaching publishers.

10.  Remember practically everybody struggles to find an agent, it isn’t just you.  Rejection is never personal either.  It can be easy to forget these things.  Keep going.  There is a lot of truth in the saying the professional writer is the amateur who didn’t give up.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BRAINSTORMING AND IDEAS

Leave a comment

Facebook – General

How do you know your ideas are strong enough for a story?

1. When the ideas haunt you and you are almost literally itching to get back to your desk to get on with the writing. (These days I use Evernote on my phone so I can at least make a head start! Great way to make the most of “dead” time. Last time I had to wait while my car was being serviced, I’d drafted three pieces of flash fiction on my phone!).

2. When you can’t wait to find out how the story ends!

3. When the characters seem so real to you, you feel a bit disappointed you know you can’t meet them in “life”.

4. When that initial idea, the spark, triggers other ideas and you can suddenly see the story opening up before you.

Of course, you can’t beat the nitty-gritty of getting on with the writing itself. If the ideas are really strong, the writing will flow. It has been my experience that when I’ve not thought out the ideas enough, that is when I can get stuck. I’ve only ever abandoned two stories in my time due to that (which I don’t think is a bad return rate) but I want to make sure there are no other incidents of that!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Facebook – General

Am happily brainstorming opening lines I hope to use for flash fiction pieces. I love doing that and then I love the challenge of writing to that line. Am also getting back into writing standard length short stories. (Have just submitted one and am outlining another). I would like to write more flash and more short stories than I did last year so I think that would be my goal for 2018.

I’d also like to try to write more of my blog posts ahead of time and schedule them as appropriate. I do this sometimes but last year for some reason didn’t. I wrote the blog post in the week that I knew it would appear. So I am planning to block time out more to do specific tasks and see if, overall, I achieve more. I think I will.

Meantime, back to the stories!

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Facebook – General

When does a character really catch my attention?

When I find I’m looking forward to the next scene they’re in and am rooting for them to succeed. (This is awkward if the one you’re rooting for is the villain! Go on, who half wanted Alan Rickman’s Sheriff of Nottingham to somehow get away with it in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves simply because the portrayal was so good? It wasn’t just me, was it?).

So when I am developing my characters, I am looking for that special something about them, which will catch my readers’ attention. The real trick is to then ensure your characters HOLD your readers’ attention! So your characters have plenty of work to do then (as indeed do you!).

I have found a trait that most people will sympathise with or at least understand is a good way in to developing that special something in a character. Courage, for example, is a good trait to use as you can ask where did that come from in your character? Has it ever been tested etc? You’ll get some great stories out of answering those two questions alone on that one trait.

 

You can’t beat notebooks for jotting down ideas. Image via Pixabay.
Let the creative process flow! Image via Pixabay
Could this picture inspire stories? Good fiction will take you out of the world for a while. Image via Pixabay.
Aiming for more “magic” from my stories this year! Image via Pixabay.
Escape with a good book. Image via Pixabay.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

What would you like your stories to achieve?

I’d like mine to entertain, whether it is to make people laugh or shudder (so much depends on the mood of the tale here!). I’d like books to be seen as valid forms of entertainment (I think it would help encourage people to read more, which is never a bad thing). I want people to remember my characters.

One sign of a great story is when it is easy to recall your favourite line(s) from it. Another is when you look forward to re-reading it, perhaps for the umpteenth time, but you still have as much joy in this reading of it as you did on the second or third, say.

There are certain stories I do re-read at specific times of the year. I try to re-read Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather in the run-up to Christmas and usually Reaper Man in the run-up to Harvest. Sometimes I don’t get to read the books but listen to the audio versions instead but that’s okay. I get to spend time with some wonderful tales again.

So what do you re-read during the year and why?

 

A neat desk. It isn’t mine! Image via Pixabay
Where good ideas start… but good ideas need refining and editing, Image via Pixabay
Well, what is it then? Image via Pixabay.
Escape into another world. Image via Pixabay
I write fairytales with bite. Image via Pixabay
Books are the gateway to other worlds – image via Pixabay

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I do like my opening lines in a flash fiction piece to tell you as much as possible in as few words as possible. For example, from You Never Know, I start with “So you think I live a luxurious life as a tour guide?”

So what does that tell you? I’ve established the character is employed and in what capacity. They are clearly at odds with someone – the tone of the line tells you that. It is also clear the character is about to try and justify themselves. But why does that matter and to whom? Of course, reading the story tells you that but in 12 words, I’ve managed to convey quite a bit of information.

I like to think of this kind of opening to a story as “hitting the ground running”. The trick then is to keep running so the story fulfils its opening promise. Game on, then!

Now here’s a statue that I like! Image via Pixabay
My library is not so huge or grand but precious all the same. Love this image though. It is the library at Leeds Castle. Image via Pixabay.
The ultimate Book Circle perhaps? Image via Pixabay
Heavenly books. Image via Pixabay
The way to the magical realm perhaps? Image via Pixabay
The classic beginning for all stories… Image via Pixabay

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

What aspect of book promoting have you liked the most? I’ve enjoyed going to book fairs and having my own signing events (but one thing I learned is I needed to do more of them! Having said that, personal circumstances at the time last year did get in the way somewhat. However, this is something to correct for future occasions!).

The main thing I’ve disliked has been getting the balance between promoting the current book and writing the next one right. I didn’t manage that as well as I could have done with the result being the second book was submitted later than I would’ve liked. Lesson learned: block out time for specific writing tasks and stick to those. That will increase the amount of actual writing achieved. (One thing about writing for Chandler’s Ford Today is it means I have a deadline to work to on that so blocking out time to work on my pieces there is easier to do. I need to set myself deadlines for my fiction and block out time to make sure I meet them).

I have, however, learned to use “dead” time better (especially when on train journeys) thanks to finally getting a smartphone and using Evernote to write and save my drafts. That has helped a lot and I’m sure will continue to do so.

From diving board to keyboard via Pixabay

The keyboard beckons…

Writing first, editing later but both needed - image via Pixabay

Preparing a talk or a flash fiction story perhaps. Image via Pixabay.

Classic Books - image via Pixabay

Classic Books. New Books. Love them all!

book-2134779_640

Grow as a writer? Grow your reading! Image via Pixabay

Stunning place in which to read and review - image via Pixabay

Simply stunning… image via Pixabay

Goodreads Author Programme – Blog

What makes you recommend a book to a friend?

For me, it has to be the great characters in the book. If I think they’re great, my writing and other friends are likely to think so too.

I’ve never understood the character -v- plot debate. Characters drive the plot. Their actions and reactions are pivotal to the entire story.

Characters have to be well enough portrayed to make the plot work. A plot will fail if the characters are not up to it. A strong character can and does make all the difference to whether a story succeeds or not.

So I’ll happily recommend books with great characters. I won’t recommend books with convoluted plots but where the characters, for whatever reason, don’t make me sit up and take notice.

How about you? What are your thoughts here?

The writer’s desk. What do you hope will emerge from yours this coming year? Image via Pixabay.
Reviews can have global reach. Most impact I think can often be local to the writer.
Plenty of books to be getting on with. Image via Pixabay.
What great books and stories will emerge from your laptop this year? Image via Pixabay.
Some of the strongest ideas have a simple theme. See A Christmas Carol as a classic example. Image via Pixabay.
This, for me, would be a magical place to be. Image via Pixabay