Tag: The Natural Look by Allison Symes

Broadcast News, Writers’ Narrative, and Dates

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Image Credits:- All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you had a good weekend. It was lovely being back on Hannah Kate’s Bookshelf show on North Manchester FM on Saturday. Flash and radio/audio formats work so well together. And if you like horror, do check out the latest issue of Writers’ Narrative – link further down. Lady has had a good start to her week too, getting to play with her best girlfriends.

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Facebook – General

Another meeting this evening so another early post from me. Trust you have had a good day. I’m talking about Quizzing Your Characters for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Find out why I do this and why it has paid me to do it then. Will also be talking about Autumnal Writing for More than Writers (the Association of Christian Writers blog spot) on the same day. Plenty of tips in both blogs.

Why are blogs like London buses? None for a while and then two come along at once!

Looking forward to the Flash Fiction group meeting on Wednesday for the Association of Christian Writers. We’ll be looking at opening and closing lines, vital for any form of writing. For flash fiction, because of the form’s brevity, these lines carry even more weight. So well worth looking at what makes these work and practicing writing them then.

Often when I edit, I realise a better opening line than the one I first put down is a little further on in the text. That’s fine. I change the opening line accordingly. And, as ever, I am thinking about the impact on the reader here.

Easy to miss things editing on screen though there are things you can do to help mitigate that

Pleased to say the latest issue (the October 2023 edition) of Writers’ Narrative is out and given Halloween is not too far away, this magazine focuses on horror as a topic. There is a wealth of information and tips here plus author interviews.

I talk about The Telling Details here. I look at why it pays to work out what is going to be scary in your story and why. Also I discuss why your “star” here should be as fully thought out and rounded as the “good guys”. Horror takes many forms and it doesn’t have to be all guts and gore.

One of the scariest films I’ve watched is Duel which doesn’t show the “enemy”, there is a complete lack of guts and gore, but builds up the tension as the film goes on. It always keep me riveted to the edge of my seat and I know the film! There is a lot to learn from films for writers in any genre.

Hope you enjoy the magazine. Do check it out (and details of how to sign up for it – for free – are in the magazine itself – see Page 40).

Today would have been the 63rd wedding anniversary for my late parents and yesterday would have been the 94th birthday of my late mother-in-law so a strange weekend in some senses. All much missed, along with many others.

Occasionally a story idea will occur to me which is loosely based on truth. One of these is The Pink Rose in Tripping the Flash Fantastic. I do have artificial pink roses on my desk which had been originally given to my mother on behalf of various members of the family. They had been kept in her care home in a place she could see them.

Don’t forget symbolism can have a powerful impact in stories too. So if you have a character with a special fondness for roses, for example, why not explore why that is and what do other characters make of it? Could that special fondness be used to help the character or against them (and who would want to do the latter)? Food for thought there.

Roses remain one of my favourite flowers

Delighted to be taking part in the Autumn Equinox special on Hannah’s Bookshelf on North Manchester FM today. My story, The Natural Look, is on during Part 2 of the two hour show but do check out the whole programme. It is a joy for those who love the written word and stories work so well on radio/audio formats.

Part 1 – https://podcast.canstream.co.uk/manchesterfm/index.php?id=49866

Part 2 – https://podcast.canstream.co.uk/manchesterfm/index.php?id=49867

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Well, you can tell it is autumn here in the UK because my central heating came on over the weekend and, with it, comes that unmistakable aroma of hot dust! Thankfully that soon goes and you will gather from this I don’t like dusting.

I have every sympathy with the poem Dust If You Must by Rose Milligan. Do look it up. It’s a great read. (I totally get why you need to keep kitchen, bathroom clean etc. I even don’t mind hoovering but dusting…argh! Also Lady is scared of the cobweb brush I use. She runs away whenever I get that out. Mind you, she doesn’t like spiders much. My first dog ate them, my second one considered them beneath her notice, and Lady decides to take herself out of any room a spider happens to be in!).

What do your characters dislike so much they would go out of their way to avoid? What led them to develop that dislike? Do other characters mock them or are they sympathetic?

Now being the kindly soul I am I would be unable to resist the temptation here to ensure my character does have to face up to their dislike in the story I put them in, even if that’s not the main part of the tale. I’d use this as something they’d have to overcome on the way to their final goal. It would be fun finding out how they would manage.

You can then decide if your character overcomes that dislike so it doesn’t bother them again or they just cope with it for the story because they have no choice (naturally you would ensure that being the kindly soul you are!) but resume their dislike once the story is over. Here I would imply that is the case.

Oh and apologies for forgetting to do this yesterday. Despite it being Tuesday, we can still have a story, can we not? Hope you like my latest on YouTube – The Anniversary.

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Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to play with her two best girlfriends today. All three dogs went home tired but happy.

Will be talking about Quizzing Your Characters for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Yes, I do quiz my characters for my flash fiction. I have to know where my characters are coming from and why (and this is where knowing their major trait is useful because that reveals so much.

If I know someone is honest, I can put them into a situation where they have to face up to being dishonest – how would they cope with that?). I share thoughts and tips. It is a question of working out what you need to know before you write your stories up.

Given my focus on reading stories is always on the character, when it comes to writing tales, my focus is again on the characters. I have to care about them to want to read on to find out what they do.
Link up on Friday (and it will be a double blog post as well this week given I am also on More Than Writers, the Association of Christian Writers blog spot on the same day. For them, I will be talking about Autumnal Writing. Plenty of tips in both blogs. Looking forward to sharing them both).

I have interviewed characters before now

Do dates have any meaning for your characters? It doesn’t necessarily need to be an anniversary or a birthday. Such a date could be linked to a historical event they care about.

For many of us 22nd August 1485 has meaning given it is the date of the Battle of Bosworth where Richard III was killed, the last English monarch to be slain in battle. But in a fantasy or sci-fi story, does your setting have dates in the way we understand them and, if so (or your setting has something similar), what dates would have meaning there and why?

How do your characters respond to such dates and can it change the outcome of their stories?

The most important anniversary - 11th November

So pleased to be sharing the joys of flash fiction again on Hannah’s Bookshelf (hosted by Hannah Kate) on North Manchester FM. Links shared over on my Facebook author page

Flash works brilliantly on radio (and audio generally) because it is so short. As well as being an ideal bus stop read, it is a great quick listen as well. Flash is great as a discipline for a writer, not only because you learn to write tight and edit ruthlessly, but because you have to find ideas and keep on coming up with ideas. I will be sharing some tips on how I keep on finding ideas in my author newsletter (due out on 1st October). You can sign up to that at my website landing page. 

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Goodreads Author Blog – Young Adult Books

Just to show how old I am, Young Adult books weren’t really a thing as I grew up. Honest. There were children’s books. Then you went straight into adult fiction. I would’ve loved the YA category when I was growing up.

Mind you, I’ve made up for this since. I have read YA books and loved them. Some of the children’s books I read at the time (or could have read if I had got around to it then!) may well count as YA now. Where would you put Watership Down or The Hobbit for example?

So I think having this category is a great idea. It makes sense to have a natural progression from younger age range books to YA to adult and, as I say, I still like reading YA books now and again. Great books can always be re-read. The Tiffany Aching books from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld would count as YA. I’ve read them as part of the overall Discworld canon and while I will always prefer characters like Sam Vimes, I did enjoy these books too. Certainly wasn’t going to let my ripe age stop me reading them!

Screenshot 2023-09-23 at 18-01-45 Young Adult Books

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES
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Favourite Supporting Characters, Why I Write, and Secrets

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good week. Lady and I have spent a lot of time getting drenched. My gutters were giving an excellent impersonation of a decent waterfall on Wednesday! The good news here is Lady dries of quicker than I do and is never worried about having to be towelled down! She sees it as a chance to have a cuddle. My first two dogs hated the “faff” of being towelled down. Thrilled to be back on the radio again this weekend. Details below. Nice way to end the week.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

22nd September 2023 – CFT – second post

Second post today. I am glad to share Favourite Supporting Characters for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I name some of my favourite supporting characters and look at the vital roles such characters play.
Can you imagine a good novel or film without them? I know I can’t.

Even in the shorter forms of fiction they have a role to play even if they don’t appear in the story itself but are referred to by the lead character. There will be a reason why the lead character mentions them and it will be a good one. Hope you enjoy the post.

Who would you name as our top supporting character? Do send in your nominees via the (CFT) comments box.

Favourite Supporting Characters

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22nd September 2023 – First Post – Why I Write – Guest Appearance on Jo Fenton’s Blog

Double posting from me today. Am pleased to be on Jo Fenton’s blog today taking about Why I Write. I met Jo at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick and I can’t imagine a better subject for a writer to talk about. Many thanks to Jo for hosting me.

Why I Write – Allison Symes

 

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom next week We’ll be looking at opening and closing lines. These are so important in any form of writing but for flash fiction, they do a lot of heavy lifting because of the brief overall word count. So it is a question of learning how to make the most of these.

Am sharing Favourite Supporting Characters for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I’ll be looking at the vital roles of such characters. Well, can you imagine Holmes without Watson, for example? I know I can’t. Link up tomorrow. See above.

On a plus note, Lady and I have managed to avoid getting a soaking today!

Chandler's Ford Today post reminder picture(1)Always a joy to talk or write about flash fiction

Have spent a lot of the day getting wet again though it was delightful to see Lady and her best pal, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, have an absolute ball in the park this morning before the dreadful weather set in. Let’s just say Noah with his Ark would have felt right at home!

Am thrilled to say my story, The Natural Look, will be broadcast on Hannah Kate’s show on Saturday afternoon (23rd September). Will share a link when I have one. Hannah Kate put out a call for autumn themed stories for her Autumn Equinox edition of Hannah’s Bookshelf show on North Manchester FM. Was only too glad to write something and send it in.

I like autumn as a season (despite today’s weather!) so it was apt I wrote an autumn related tale.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Am pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale, Secrets. Find out if Mary Wentworth succeeded in keeping her secret to the very end and what baking like King Alfred (of burnt cakes fame) has to do with it. Hope you enjoy the story (and many thanks to those commenting already on this one).

Screenshot 2023-09-22 at 10-11-14 Secrets by Allison Symes

My Chandler’s Ford Today post this week (up tomorrow) is about Favourite Supporting Characters. See above.

For flash fiction, I find a lot of these are referred to by the main character but don’t appear. I have found a supporting character works better for the flash stories which are about 400 to 500 words or so. Mind you, whether the character is the lead of a support, I do have to know why I am writing about them. I have to care enough about them to want to write about them. I have to see their potential. This is why I plan my characters out and that will trigger ideas for stories to put them in.

Character Needs are everything

Am busy getting next author newsletter together. One thing about having these newsletters is they are an excellent reminder of how quickly the year is passing!

Am pleased to say I will be back on the radio on Saturday this week given my autumn related story has been picked by Hannah Kate for her Autumn Equinox special on North Manchester FM. My story is what I call a fairytale with bite so expect a twist and humour. That’s all I’m saying but link to come later.

I’ve also had a couple of rejections in the last few days – all part and parcel of the writing life – but I will revisit these tales and see if I can get them out somewhere else. Nobody wins them all!

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Fairytales With Bite – Magical Reading

I like to know my characters so plan them out rather than the story itself. When I know my character, I have a good idea of the kind of story which would suit then best.

One way of getting to know your character well enough to write them up is to work out what tastes they would have. What would your magical character like to read, for example? Do they like the fairytales or are they keen to read almost anything but those given this forms part of the “day job” reading?

Is reading encouraged in your magical world? Are there libraries? Are there restrictions on what characters can read and why are these in place? I would suspect that apprentices, for example, are definitely not allowed to read spell books given what happened in Fantasia (Walt Disney). Incidentally, I have never seen that film in full, just clips of it (the famous scenes where things are getting out of hand for poor old Mickey Mouse). The music for it is fantastic (Paul Dukas).

So what would your characters read? Would their reading material help them with their magical gifts of do they read just to switch off after a hard day waving the magic wand about?! Who writes the stories in your setting too and what inspires them? Story ideas here, folks!

(Also I must admit I find little details in a story, such as what a character would read, makes that character and story world more real for me so even if this isn’t part of your main plot, you might like to consider putting in relevant touches such as this to add depth to your story).

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This World and Others – Reference Libraries

What kind of records does your magical setting hold? What would they keep in their reference libraries? I must admit I love historical records and history books so those would be my first port of call in any reference library. What kind of history would your setting record? What would it deliberately not have as a record (and how would people find out about it – someone somewhere always keeps an inconvenient record!)? Have records been altered at a later date and, if so, who by and why?

Is history as a subject appreciated in your setting? What kind of archives would your archivists manage?I love the idea of not just written records but oral ones, film clips, sound clips etc. What would your setting have? How could a particular record make a difference to your character’s life/quest? Information makes a huge difference to the success of a quest (the right kind anyway) and it is not unreasonable to assume ti would have to be stored somewhere.

Are your characters allowed access to things like reference libraries or do they have to find alternative ways of getting to it? Can characters access information at home?

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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