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.

It is shaping up to be a good week in that I will be running the Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom for the Association of Christian Writers on Wednesday, which is always fun. The exchange of news is useful to us all too. No one writer can know it all which is why it is important to network, whether it is in person or online or both. I’ve been very grateful for lots of useful information I’ve picked up this way over the years.

Facebook – General

Looking forward to the Flash Fiction Group meeting (Association of Christian Writers) tomorrow. Always great fun. Will be looking at marketing flash fiction, always a handy topic. Also looking forward to chatting to Swanwick friends on Zoom at the weekend. That’s always great fun too. Ah, the joys of Zoom!

For non-fiction, what draws you in? For me, the topic has to grip immediately and my go-to here is history based. I then pick a book based on the period it is covering. If it is one of my favourite periods (World War Two, the Wars of the Roses, the Elizabethan era (the first one!), then I’ll check out the blurb and if I still like it, it gets bought. Most of my non-fiction books are on Kindle and there can be some great offers here.

For fiction, I turn to crime (make of that what you will!), historical fiction, fantasy and I like a mix of novels and short story and flash collections. I make a point of ensuring I enjoy 99.9% of what I read. Life’s too short to do otherwise!

When writing my own fiction, I focus on getting my characters right (as that, I find, also helps get the plot right) and I want there to be something intriguing about them that will make readers want to find out more.

Lady had a great start to her week as she got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals. Temperature is up and down at the moment. Have just got used to “layering up” as it had turned cold only to find the temperature has shot up again.

Writing Tip: Editing always takes longer than you think so try to allow for that. This is why I take time off any official competition deadline and set my own date by which I have to send something in. It means I have a safety net here should I need it.

My personal deadline date is set at least a week before the official one. I plan when I will have my first draft done by. I also then plan when I will edit said first draft so by the time I reach my deadline all editing is done and it is then a case of having a final check for typos, have I followed the rules to the letter and so on.

I use the good old fashioned A4 diaries you can get from the Post Office for my planning and it works for me. I have found in writing my plans down I am much more likely to get them done. I also journal a little bit in my diary too – makes things more interesting for me too.

Weather calmer today, even seeing some autumn sun. Seasons can usefully be indicated in stories simply by what you get your characters to wear. You can also bring in colour to describe the clothing. It is unlikely a story set in my part of the world would have a character wearing a thick orange jumper in the height of summer. (If they are, there will be a reason for it and that will be explained by the story).

This can be an excellent short cut for descriptive passages and you can take it further. If that orange jumper is coupled with, say, a purple pair of trousers, I would want to know why a character would wear such a combination. Are they doing it for a laugh? Are they just outgoing and they show it through their clothing? Only one way I can find out and that’s to read the story. I would also want to know if these items had any bearing on the outcome of the story. (Would you turn up for a blind date wearing that combo? I know I wouldn’t!).

If I had a character wearing shorts, I would assume automatically the story has to be set in the summer. I would need the story to show why that wasn’t the case. But again I would then want to know why the character has chosen to wear shorts in a colder time of year – there will be a reason for it.

Hope everyone is okay – weather ghastly.

Will be talking about Scene Setting for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Many thanks for the comments on Facebook about my interview with Jennifer C Wilson re The Joy of Writing Groups and Workshops.

Author newsletter will be out again soon. To sign up for tips, news, story links etc., do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Working out what to read next on my Kindle given I’ve finished Churchill’s Wizards. Sometimes you can have too much choice! It’s a nice dilemma to have though.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Delighted to see some fabulous reviews coming in for The Best of CafeLit 12. My story, Jubilee, is in there. Do check out the reviews and the book at the link below.

It’s Monday. It’s getting darker earlier in the evenings and the UK hasn’t put the clocks back yet. Weather can’t make up its mind whether to be cold or mild. It’s still Monday. Time for a story then. My latest on YouTube is Away on Cloud Nine. Hope you enjoy it.

When I’m taking part in Open Prose Mic Nights and the like, I try to mix up the moods of the stories I’m reading. It’s a great way to showcase what flash can do and be. You usually have three to five minutes for your slot which is more than enough time to read a couple of stories.

I also practice what I’m going to read and good old Zoom helps me ensure I get my timings right. The record yourself and convert the file to an mp4 function is a great tool. Whenever I want to send something in which might be broadcast, I always use that facility. It’s the audio equivalent of not going over a set word count!

As you know, I sometimes use random generators to help trigger story ideas. A great use for the random question one is to get your character to answer the question. It will show you more about them.

What makes you cry? I generated this question for this post and thought there are a few ideas here.

1. Get the character to answer the question directly.

2. Think about whether the character resolutely will not cry, whatever the circumstances, and what led to that. There will be a significant story there.

3. If something makes you cry, but would not do so for your character, give some thought as to why this is the case.Not quite the same thing as 2 above given some folk just won’t cry for good reasons. It is not their way to “vent”.

Cruelty, for example, can easily make me cry but if my character isn’t moved by it, I want to know why and what would trigger them being upset instead. There has to be something that would trigger tears, surely? If so, what would that be and why aren’t they upset by an “obvious” thing?

It could well be the character is so used to cruelty they have become blinded to it (which is tragic in itself). It would change how they react and interact with other characters too.

4. What makes someone cry (or refuse to do so) will shed some light on what motivates them and this will be useful for you as the writer to know.

Goodreads Author Blog – Favourite Character Types

Stories are all about the characters for me. I like a good plot but if the characters don’t do anything for me, I won’t read on. I need to understand where the characters are coming from, even if I disagree with them. But if they don’t make me feel something, for me there is no point to the story.

Going on from that led me to think about favourite character types. I have some and these are:-

1. The underdog fighting back against the odds. Ranges from Cinderella to action heroes, this type!

2. Righters of wrongs. It’s why I am fond of crime novels. Favourite Poirot for me is Murder on the Orient Express. Favourite Marple for me is Nemesis. There is no question with either of these two that the murderer will get away with it. I like this a lot. I would also argue Elizabeth Bennet counts in this category when she puts down Lady Catherine de Bourgh!

3. The surprise character. This is where someone shows unexpected qualities or without whom the lead character could not succeed in their task. Sam Gamgee from The Lord of the Rings is a great example of this given he shows unexpected courage.

4. The rough diamond character. Sam Vimes from the Discworld series is a prime example of this kind. Despite being a Duke, he’s never going to speak politely, he will fight crime and win. He is the type you want on your side in a fight! Sam Vimes is a cross between a righter of wrong and a rough diamond. Many characters can be more than one type.

Whatever the character type though, I do know I have to be gripped by them and I have to understand them for that to be able to happen.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

Do you use locations in your stories? What details do you share so readers picture your setting? I sometimes hint at a location – for example, I refer to a village green and then reveal a spacecraft landed on it. Easy to conjure up an image of that. pic.twitter.com/lpeh2nzJvK

— ACW (@ACW1971) October 21, 2023

liked Allison Symes's blog post: Favourite Character Types https://t.co/16I4b38BHx via @goodreads I look at favourite characters types including the underdog, the surprise character, the righter of wrongs, and the rough diamond for Goodreads. Do you have a favourite type? pic.twitter.com/WyHfjwUawl

— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) October 21, 2023

One reason I outline is so I can work out what I need to know myself and from that what I need to share with readers. The two never marry up. I always need to know what drives my characters. What they look like is well down on my need to know list. pic.twitter.com/avGdzi3bk9

— ACW (@ACW1971) October 22, 2023

Sometimes I use standard settings – for example, one of my characters is setting out tea things (so must be at home). I then show what items they’re sharing. This gives a good indication of character age/social status. I love telling details. They show so much about character. pic.twitter.com/nPq5hJO5dn

— ACW (@ACW1971) October 23, 2023

It’s Monday. It’s getting darker earlier in the evenings and the UK hasn’t put the clocks back yet. Weather can’t decide whether to be cold or mild. It’s still Monday. Time for a story then. My latest on YouTube is Away on Cloud Nine. Hope you enjoy it.https://t.co/VgmqKTfftc

— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) October 23, 2023