Many apologies this is a day late due to very unexpected circumstances.
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 and photos from Scotland were taken by me, Allison Symes.
Had a lovely time in Scotland last week. Good to be back home again and Lady was thrilled to catch up with her two best friends early on in the week so she’s not sorry to be back home either. Looking forward to running an editing workshop on Zoom on Saturday and the ACW Flash Fiction Group next week. Did take PC with me while away. Enjoyed doing some writing but also enjoyed not doing as much as I normally would have done. It was good to slow down for a while.
Separately, it has not been a great start to my week back though. Burgled on Tuesday. Everyone, take care. It has been a very strange few days.
Facebook – General
A huge thank you for all the kind comments, caring emojis etc following my brief post yesterday. Glad to say after the Scene of Crime Officers finished here today, I was able to get on and start clearing up properly. Still got plenty to do but have made a good start and just that is making me feel much better, along with your lovely thoughts and comments.
It is also great to be back to the writing desk again. Especially in stressful times, writing is a creative release. I’ll be sharing my latest website round up a little later on and then I should be “caught up”, writing wise.
I’ll also be looking at Decisions for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday and that in turn will be followed by a superb two part interview with Jenny Sanders, whose new book, Polished Arrows, is now out.
Just occasionally I write “two handers” flash tales where two characters interact back and forth. Sometimes these are all dialogue stories but not always. One example of a non-dialogue one is The Pink Rose from Tripping the Flash Fantastic. Here I don’t even name the two characters but you do find out they are mother and daughter, the latter battling for the former for as long as she can.
This kind of tale can be moving and I like to write these kinds of tales in between my lighter humorous stories and my darker ones. I think it makes for a good balance.
21st May 2024
Apologies, folks, for the lack of a “proper” post tonight. Also for the lack of my usual website round up. Will be back to normal tomorrow, I hope. Have had to deal with family emergency (burglary). It has NOT been a good day. Take care, everyone, and will hopefully be back online properly tomorrow.
Lady was thrilled to see her two closest friends today, the Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback. Lovely time had by all. Just every now and then Lady will show affection by licking her friends on the top of their heads. (Neither of my other collies would have done this but then they both preferred just to focus on their humans – us). Lady did so today so I knew she was so glad to see her pals.
Nothing will ever beat the view I had last week when I was writing my Facebook posts but the view out of my office isn’t bad. Am surrounded by trees. Have had some noisy rooks arguing over the water in the bird bath. Goodness knows why. There is plenty in there.
Writing wise, this week will mainly be spent, I suspect, in catching up with blog posts, my newsletter etc. It was great to be away for a bit. It is good to be back too.
Writing Tip: When you’ve had a break from your normal writing routine, take the chance to look at what you missed doing, what you’re keen to get back to etc. Is there anything you didn’t miss? (Am glad to say not in my case).
If the latter gave you pause for thought, maybe it is time to re-evaluate whether that project is worth continuing with. You need enthusiasm to keep going with writing and while there will always be peaks and troughs, taking the time out to think again will help you establish whether you just need a longer break from the project or whether your heart really isn’t in it any more. (Nothing to stop you coming back to it at a later date either but be kind to yourself here).
Lovely to be back at home, church etc. Lady was glad to get back to “her” park too.
I’ll be looking at Decisions for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I’ll be looking at the topic from the viewpoints of character decisions, writing decisions, career decisions etc. Plenty to be thinking about then! Link up on Friday.
Was thrilled to discover I was an Editor’s Choice on Friday Flash Fiction with my most recent story, A Break Does You Good. If you missed it, do check out the link. Many thanks to all for the wonderful comments on this one so far too.
Am on my way home from a fabulous Scottish holiday. Glorious weather all week. Magnificent scenery.
Delighted to be back on Authors Electric with PowerPoint and Zoom Workshops. I discuss how I rediscovered the former thanks to running and going to the latter!
I also look at the benefits of both of these for where I attend webinars on topics of interest which I could never get to in person. I often register for these things even if I’m not sure if I can get to them at the time allocated as many of those running these will send you a link so you can play a recording back at a more convenient time to you. I’ve found that so useful.
Hope you find the post useful. There are many benefits to these things.
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again
Many thanks for all the kind responses to my post yesterday after my burglary experience. Very much appreciated and it is such a relief to get back to writing again.
Am looking forward also to the next Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting next week. Plus I’m running an editing workshop for another ACW group this coming Saturday. Good to be busy on something which is fun, writing related, and productive!
I’ve occasionally used a time as an opening line. I used 3 am in my creepy tale, Pressing the Flesh from From Light to Dark and Back Again. The time itself indicates this story is likely to be dark. If I’d set the time at midday, say, the mood of the story would have been entirely different. The darkness of night was needed for this one.
Now this is something you could use to great effect in your own tales. Time can almost be used as a setting in itself here.
It’s Monday. My first day back at home after a lovely holiday. Am feeling tired! Definitely time for a story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Going Out. (Not that I was today!).
One of the reasons I love opening lines as a writing exercise is they give me two ways in which to operate.
If a character is mentioned, I can then flesh them out more and work out what kind of situation they’re going to deal with.
If the situation is mentioned (but no character as such, often just a name and not always that), I can work out what kind of character would best suit the situation. Win-win either way here as far as I’m concerned. I regularly use both methods to create stories. What I do know is character and situation have to marry up well though.
Will be running an editing workshop for an Association of Christian Writers group on Saturday. Looking forward to that. Until I have the story down, no matter how I create it, the editing waits. I’ve got to know what I’m working with first.
Going home after a fabulous week away in the beautiful north-east of Scotland. What does going home mean to your characters? Is it something they look forward to doing or something they fear will never happen or something they dread?
There are so many connotations here. What could you use? What does the reaction show about your characters? Could their reaction get better if it is not a good one to start with and what/whom would make that better?
Will miss the marvellous view across to a huge hill (often with red deer on it, we’ve seen a fair few this week) from my temporary home but will take back happy memories and photos. What would your characters bring back with them when they go home?
Goodreads Author Blog – When A Story Fails
I’m glad to say a story doesn’t fail for me often. When it does, it is always due to me being unconvinced by the characterisation. Something about the characters doesn’t ring true for me or they manage to aggravate me (Miss Price of Mansfield Park is a prime example of this for me yet I love all of Jane Austen’s other heroines, including the supposedly unlikeable Emma).
There is a positive to this though. Knowing what I dislike in character portrayal means I make sure I don’t write this kind of thing for my own creations. I like to know my characters well enough to know what drives them and how they would act/react in any circumstance.
If I understand motivation, I am far more likely to read on to find out what the characters go on and do. It doesn’t mean I have to agree or like what they do but I do have to see where they are coming from.
For me, a story works when the character convinces me. The story is nothing without a convincing character as far as I am concerned.
WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK
AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsliked Allison Symes's blog post: When A Story Fails https://t.co/0tB4ZvJJAN via @goodreads I look at why characters make such a difference to the success or otherwise for my Goodreads post this week.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) May 18, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsAuthors Electric: PowerPoint and Zoom Workshops by Allison Symes https://t.co/i3PHyHVP4x My turn on AE again.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) May 18, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsIt’s Monday. My first day back at home after a lovely holiday. Am feeling tired! Definitely time for a story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Going Out. (Not that I was today!).https://t.co/bDiJdFNvGW
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) May 20, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsA bit of a #throwback today (I'm being so rebellious with my 'days'!), chatting to @AllisonSymes1 about A Novel Approach, and switching genres, back from 2020… https://t.co/QVzRg7Baymhttps://t.co/hvWxwFQS4H #amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity pic.twitter.com/HxPcUJLlzE
— Jennifer C. Wilson: Historical fiction with spirit (@inkjunkie1984) May 22, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsJoin us on the ‘Polished Arrows’ blog tour with a great crowd, starting Friday. @JAMarge @SeabrookRob @RevdJo @AllisonSymes1 @LizCarterWriter & more. #BlogTour #bookreviews #BookRecommendation #friday #faith #FaithJourney pic.twitter.com/e14mCCbZpZ
— DancingThroughChaos (@jennyhsanders) May 22, 2024