Tag: Themes

Key Story Elements

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 have had a good weekend. It was back to creosoting the fence here but I was thankful for cooler weather in which to do that. Have had some lovely comments in on my recent Chandler’s Ford Today post about Swanwick. I was deeply touched by those. Thank you, folks.

Facebook – General

Hope you have had a good day. Not bad here.

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again soon. To sign up for tips, news, story links, and more do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Newsletter tip: I find having a monthly theme helps because I can share tips related to the theme, writing prompts related to it and so on. It gives the newsletter a focus. It also means I can prepare the newsletter during the month so there isn’t one mad rush to finish it and get it out on time.

Mind you, I am a big fan of scheduling and do this all the time for my Chandler’s Ford Today posts so it makes sense to me to prepare as much as I can in advance here too.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.


Despite it being a bank holiday in my part of the world (the next one is a certain day in December, folks – argh!), Lady did get to see her Hungarian Vizler pal. A good time was had by both dogs. Bank holidays always seem a little odd to me as for most of them I am doing mostly the sane stuff as I would do on any other Monday but there you go. Certainly the writing continues as normal.

The next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group is on Wednesday so am looking forward to that. We’ll be looking at prompts, useful for any form of writing, I think.

Writing Tip: Never worry about how much time you have for writing. As long as you write regularly, what you do write will mount up over time. I’ve found this to be the case and you end up getting more done than you might think, especially if you look at your writing over the course of a week or so (rather than daily).

24th August – Bonus Post – CafeLit Serialisation – Seeing The Other Side

Bonus post. As I posted my other posts earlier than normal, I forgot to share the latest part of my serialisation of Seeing The Other Side on CafeLit.

The posts don’t appear there until 4pm each day as the idea here is you get to read stories at this time with tea/coffee, cake etc. Lovely idea (just wish I had more time for the cake and didn’t put on what seems like half a stone just by looking at cake but there you go!).

Anyway, here is the latest installment. I do hope you enjoy the stories.
Hope today has been a lovely peaceful Sunday for you. It has been here. Lady is currently happily curled up having had a couple of lovely walks and play times. Hopes to catch up with her pals during the week.

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Stand Alone Books for Chandler’s Ford Today this coming week. Link up on Friday.

Have started work on editing a story I’ve drafted for a competition. Will probably aim to have this sent out in the next couple of weeks.

Looking forward to reading Christian Writer, the quarterly journal of the Association of Christian Writers. Copy landed on my mat yesterday. Also looking forward to going to their in person event in Egham in October. My railcard is getting good usage so far this year! The good news from Lady’s viewpoint is I will be back in time for dinner so she won’t be too unhappy about Mum going off somewhere for this one.

Hope today has gone well. Quiet one here – back out creosoting the fence. Am making good steady progress. Sometimes you come across descriptions which are perfect. Well, our fence was described as being made from rough cut timber. They were right about the rough bit!

The next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group is next week so am looking forward to that. I hope to resume preparing work for competitions from next week too. I have set it as a goal to enter more competitions this year. I have already fulfilled that compared with how many I went in for in 2024 but I would like to do more before the end of the year.

I’ve got a story in draft for a competition (due in towards the latter end of September) so will focus on that one first. Always good to have something to work on like this. Makes me up my game and certainly I have produced more stories than I would have done otherwise.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Flash fiction is a great thing to share if you have an author newsletter. It gives something hopefully entertaining to your followers, doesn’t take up too much room, and who doesn’t love a free story to read? Win, win, win there. All part of my marketing too.

No author newsletter? Well, how about writing a short story to share on your website for your followers there. It is a lovely way to give back for the joys writing gives us, I find.

And talking of flash fiction, hope you enjoy this one.

The Party by Allison Symes – 26th August 2025
Out of the thirteen guests who were dressed as ghosts for the party, only one could walk through the walls, leaving the remaining twelve screaming.
Ends

It’s a Bank Holiday Monday where I am. It’s been a hot one too. But it does mean it is time for a beginning of the week story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Liberating Luck.

A witch cannot believe her luck on managing to escape a magic lamp nor on whom she managed to get to take her place in it. Find out who that was here. Is the witch right to celebrate her luck?

 

About to crack on with flash fiction Sunday, which is something I always look forward to – it’s a great way to end the week and I get more stories drafted. I can polish them and find a home for them later.

Congratulations to the winner, the runners up and the short listed for the recent Friday Flash Fiction competition.

The 100 words (drabble) category for flash fiction is a popular one for competitions so it is worth practicing writing to this word count. I’ve found the form to be addictive and hope you do too! They’re also great for sharing on your author newsletter etc as they don’t take up too much space and give people a quick, entertaining read.

One element to flash fiction which can be overlooked is that it gives you skills you can use for any form of writing. I’ve found this to be the case. You tighten up your editing skills, for one thing.

You learn to look for phrases which convey the meaning you want but do so in fewer words. You focus on specific images rather than risk anything which could come across as vague.

No room for wordy description here. I have to show you a character and/or a setting quickly so must focus on the telling details which will bring those to life for you. This means I have to be able to picture it first. Anything getting in the way of that is cut.

Goodreads Author Blog – Key Story Elements

I lost count years ago of how many books and/or stories I’ve read.

I include flash and short story collections here deliberately, partly because I write them, have featured in them but, in any case, they are still as much of a book as a novel or novella. They’re just a different format, that’s all, and I’ve found them useful for another reason.

If I like an author’s short work, it’s a good bet I will like their longer works too. So sometimes I have tried out an author’s short form work before buying any of their novels.

But regardless of story type, every work of fiction has to have key story elements. For me, these include characters I can relate to, an interesting plot, and an ending which fulfils the promise of the book.

I have to feel that the ending was right. If there was a twist (and I love these), I need to be able to look back at the story on a second reading and see how it could only be this twist and it had to be the way the writer portrayed it.

No matter what the setting, the characters have to be believable too. There has to be something in their portrayal I can relate to and naturally this acts as a wonderful challenge for me to do the same with my own creations.

Reading encourages writing. Writing encourages reading. Behind it all is a love of story and the key story elements are what readers crave and what writers long to create.


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

Celebrating 60 Years of Drama with The Chameleons – A Look Back at the Open Evening

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. The Creativity Matters image was kindly supplied by Wendy H Jones. One image of me with books taken by Adrian Symes. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good week so far. Has become hot here so Lady has had to miss some of her walks (getting too hot in the afternoons basically). Writing continues to go well. Glad I can do that in the cool at least!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Hope you have had a good day. Another hot one here but thankfully the morning was much cooler and Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals before it became too hot. No outings this afternoon!

Delighted to share Celebrating 60 Years of Drama with The Chameleons – A Look Back at The Open Evening for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. It was a joy to go to the Open Evening and I even found a Symes family link and odd visitors to the Ritchie Hall where The Chameleons are based. Full report in the post.

Hope you enjoy it and many congratulations to The Chameleons for reaching such a wonderful milestone.

Celebrating 60 Years of Drama with The Chameleons – A Look Back at the Open Evening

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Hope you’ve had a good day and managed to stay cool. Lady had a lovely time in the park while it was cool enough this morning but a quiet afternoon as it heated up considerably after about 2 pm where I am. I took the chance to have a good swim and felt much refreshed for that!

Don’t forget I’ll be sharing Celebrating 60 Years of Drama with The Chameleons – A Look Back at the Open Evening for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up on that tomorrow. See above.

Writing wise, I am busy editing, preparing blogs and flash fiction, and putting the finishing touches to my presentation for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group next week. Best of all, I keep cool while doing all of that.

Writing Thought: One positive thing about the hot weather where I am at the moment is I need to get up and take drinks more often and later on answer the call of nature. So I guess the hot weather is giving me additional screen breaks! These are important.

I have found I work better (and for longer overall) if I build these mini breaks into my writing sessions. Else you can find yourself getting bogged down and too tired simply due to things like dehydration and eye strain from being at the screen for too long in one “hit”.

All I know from that is it doesn’t help your writing at all.

Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady got to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals this morning before it became too hot. I didn’t take her out this afternoon. She and I were not sorry about that.

Delighted to be back on Authors Electric talking about Themes. I look at how I use these for creating characters and stories and why I find them useful for workshops I run and my monthly newsletter.

I also share a theme I used recently and on which I based an exercise, which I share again here.

Hope you give it a go and find the post useful. 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my Trifling Around. This one is a fun, summer related piece. Doesn’t even matter if, like me, you loathe trifle (sorry, I never have liked the custard, all the other ingredients would be okay though!). Hope you enjoy it.
One question all writers need to be prepared to answer is the inevitable one – what do you write? I was asked this earlier this week at a group I go to when I mentioned my third book is due out next year. So I told them!

But that meant I know what to say, having given this prior thought. I also know to keep it short. I can always take further questions from people later but a brief summary of what you write is always handy for a writer to have to hand. It’s good practice in flash fiction writing too as you do basically want a one line summary.

An exercise I set for a recent Association of Christian Writers Flash Group Meeting was based on the theme of Tens. The exercise was to write a story in exactly ten words. Nothing more. Nothing less. Why not give it a go?

The point of this exercise, funnily enough, is to give practice in writing straplines for longer works later on. Ten words works well for this.

My From Light to Dark and Back Again has the strapline of A collection of very short stories to suit every mood. Ten words to the full stop! Did I get that done in one go? Oh no.

Also ten word stories are fun and easy to share on social media etc. This is one of those I came up with for that exercise. Hope you enjoy it.

The aliens diverted past Earth, as they’d heard about humans.

Allison Symes – June 2025

Well, you couldn’t blame them, could you?

 

Fairytales with Bite – Good News

I’ve recently had the excellent news my third flash fiction collection, Seeing The Other Side, will be out in May 2026 with a partial serialisation of the book coming this July. Naturally I reacted pretty well to this news! I also want to say a huge thanks to all who sent congratulations etc via my Facebook page, all much appreciated. 

But my good news led me to wonder what would your characters see as good news and why? What situations could you have where one character sees something as good news and another as anything but? Who would be right?

How would your characters receive any kind of news? Is their technology the same as ours or significantly better or worse? Could the problems with their technology lead to your characters doing something which would usually be frowned upon in their world but where they honestly feel they have no choice?

What news is so important to them they have to “cheat” to get it through? Do they get away with it? What happens when the news does get through? There is bound to be a reaction of some kind which in turn is likely to drive further drama/tension and actions with consequences. (All great for storytelling though!)

This World and Others – Handling The News

There can never be any one great way to handle news, bad or otherwise. It all depends on the individual, of course, but you might like to look at that aspect for finding out more about your characters, which could prove useful for whatever story you put them in.

Do your characters take things calmly or do they make the biggest fuss imaginable over even the slightest bit of bad news? What drives your characters to react this way? Is your character wary of “drama” and so they make themselves react calmly, no matter what? How do they do this? What led them to decide this was the best way to be? There will be stories behind all of that.

As for news via media, who does get to handle it before the public can know about it? Is there government interference here or are the broadcasters genuinely independent? Who does get to decide what news the public gets to find out about?

Even if there is no official “interference” who gets to make the editorial decisions and can they be “bought” at all? What would happen if they broke a story the government would not/did not want to go public?

Handling the news can be tricky indeed.

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

The Benefits of Writing Exercises

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 have had a good week. Lady has – lots of puppy parties. Not been bad for me either – lots of writing done, which is how I like it. Will be having a smashing author interview coming up in the next couple of weeks on Chandler’s Ford Today. More details nearer the time.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Drizzly today but Lady did get to see her Hungarian Vizler pal and a lovely spaniel called Daisy whom we see from time to time. Not a bad way to end Lady’s “working” week!

Delighted to share The Benefits of Writing Exercises on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I look at some of the different types available, the advantages of using any at all, and set one for you to try.

I also share some ways you can set your own writing exercises as well as examine how these things give your imagination a good old work out.

Hope you find the post useful.

The Benefits of Writing Exercises

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Lady is on a roll this week – fourth day in a row with nice weather and puppy partying with her best pals. They’re all living their best lives!

Look out for my Chandler’s Ford Today post tomorrow on The Benefits of Writing Exercises. See above. This is a classic case of talk about what you know as I use these things all the time. I set them a lot too for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group and when I run workshop elsewhere. Many of my stories on Friday Flash Fiction started life as writing exercises I set myself, often using different kinds of prompt.

Themes come in to my writing a lot, especially for non-fiction such as my blog posts and articles. I also use them for my author newsletter. I’ve found that useful as it gives me a “peg” to write the newsletter around and I can target the hints and tips I share here in a better way.

 

Another lovely sunny day and another puppy party though only with the Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback this time Again lovely time had by all.

Will be sharing The Benefits of Writing Exercises on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I regularly use many different kinds of writing exercises and always managed to get stories from them. More later in the week. See above.

Character Tip: Names can reflect a good deal about a character, including likely social background and age.

But bear in mind names can come in and out of fashion. You can, however, use that to your advantage. The only thing you would need to watch for is to ensure if you use the name Ethel, for example, make sure there is something else in your story to indicate the era in which she is set. Mind you, I’m not sure Gertrude is coming back any time soon! So you could use that to good effect. It would indicate her likely era.

My name gives a good indication of my likely range of birth dates. So you can play with things like this too to give an indication of your character’s age without necessarily spelling it out.

Facebook – from Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale, Sock It To Them. Every so often I will use a phrase or proverb as a title and then see what I can do with it as a story. Also thought it might be good to have a lighthearted piece this week given what is going on elsewhere.

The alert will notice I’ve used socks as a theme this week given my YouTube story on Monday is called Socks. So I haven’t just used a well known phrase for story ideas this week, I’ve used clothes too, making this an object prompted piece writing too.
I write some seasonal flash fiction (especially at Christmas time) but could, I know, do more with this. The problem is remembering to do it! I have written some more lighthearted pieces recently for Friday Flash Fiction and my YouTube channel.

I thought this was apt given the grim state of the news but also because we are going into lighter times seasonally, at least in my part of the world. It has been lovely seeing the lighter evenings so I thought lighter tales would go with these nicely enough!

I do look out for certain competitions or invites to send stories in for potential broadcast which work around the seasons. But do bear in mind you can use this as a theme anyway. Perhaps once a quarter pick a a story to reflect on the season you are in. Equally you can write a story say in winter but use it to look ahead to the more hopeful times of spring to come.

I love finding those moments which show a great deal about a character without my having to spell everything out. I can use names here (as I discuss over on my Facebook author page – see above). But you can also use things like style of dress, whether women were expected to wear hats or not (and if so you could indicate class by what kind they wore), and much else besides.

I refer to these things as the telling details. Next time you read a novel or a short story look out for the telling details you think the author used to show something about their character. Agatha Christie does this brilliantly with Poirot. All the little details showing his fastidiousness confirm this trait and add “layers” to his character portrayal. Doesn’t necessarily take a lot of words either.

For flash fiction, if you write linked flash, you could do this over the course of two or three flash pieces.

Fairytales with Bite- Spells and Their Usage

In your setting, are there limits to what spells can be used when? Also are there limitations as to who can use them? Does training have to be carried out? Now there are renowned fictional magical schools of course, but thinking beyond that, where could your characters go to develop their skills and spells further? Are there codes of conduct? Who drew them up and why and what would happen to anyone breaking this? Plenty of scope for stories there.

Also give some thought as to what the spells can do? Is there anyone trying to extend or modify what they can do here and is this for good or sinister purposes?

Now I’ve always imagined that any magical being would drain their powers every time they use a spell, the amount depending on how powerful/important the spell was. I think this is reasonable given anyone using any kind of power is likely to find themselves drained after using said power a lot. Even if they’re not drained as such, the equipment used to carry out the spells will be – the equivalent I suppose of us needing to recharge our mobile phones, computers etc after heavy battery usage.

But having some kind of limitation will be a means of giving non-magical or less powerful magical characters a chance to survive in the world in which you’ve set them. It would also be good if spells didn’t do everything. What about characters who invent things to complement magic or do something magic alone cannot? Would they see this as the equivalent of our science?

This World and Others – Science and Magic

Following on from Fairytales with Bite, do science and magic co-exist in your setting or are they in conflict with each other? Can the conflict be resolved? Who would do so and why? What are the strengths and weaknesses of both in your setting? Sure to be story ideas there.

Give some thought too as to what developed first. Did science spring from magic to resolve those things magic cannot do? Or did science, as we understand it, come first and magic developed either as a sideline or in opposition to it?

Have you got characters who love both and happily use both? Do they use their skills in either or both to help their home world or are they just interested in any form of power and what do they intend to do with these things?

Also can good come from both to benefit the setting and characters? Can they feed into each other, for good or ill?

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

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.

The Writing Life and The First Day

2 Comments
Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated, many created via Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Another wet week of “walkie” sessions with the dog since I last posted. She dries off quicker than I do! Starting to spot spring bulbs sending shoots up though, which is lovely.

BookBrushImage-2023-1-10-20-586

Facebook – General

Last Tuesday, Lady and I, by the end of the day, looked like bedraggled rats. This Tuesday we’re looking more like mildly moist mice! I guess we’re heading the right way.

Have booked my train ticket for the workshop I’m going to be running later this month. Really looking forward to doing that. I love going to workshops too and alway learn so much from them. Looking forward to booking my train tickets for The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick later on in the year too.

Part of my reading “diet” includes the writing magazines because, as well as competitions I might enter, I find out more about the industry and that is always worth doing. And you never know when a bit of advice which isn’t useful to you right now proves to be very helpful indeed later on in your writing journey. It happens. It has happened to me a number of times.

May be an image of text that says "WHAT'S NEXT Good question! One thing I've learned 1S the writing journey is a continual one."

Hope you had a good day. Lady got to play with her two best girlfriends today and we didn’t get soaked so both of us considered that to be a win! Looking forward to running a flash workshop later this month. I do set exercises as part of my workshops and the advantage of these is they help illustrate the points being made. Also later you can finish these off at home and I hope go on to submit them somewhere.

People do take different approaches to the same theme. I discovered how true this was when I was one of the winners three years in a row for the Waterloo Arts Festival Writing Competition. We all had to write to the same theme and word count yet 15 different winning authors took very different approaches to the topic set. That was enlightening for me! It was also encouraging because a good theme, open to interpretation, should spark off plenty of ideas.

May be an image of ‎text that says "‎زایS I've found writing exercises incredibly useful for recharging my stock of story ideas.‎"‎

Lady and I got a bit of a soaking earlier – she dries quicker than I do! I’ll be looking at some Writing Pitfalls for my next Chandler’s Ford Today post – link up on Friday. Am also looking forward to taking part in another author’s blog – more details nearer the time as it is not until March but it is good to be in early!

Have also got a smashing interview lined up with a writer friend of mine showing publication can happen at any age. Really looking forward to sharing that. I do think it is one of the lovely things about writing – there is no retirement age. You can start writing at whatever age and publication can and does happen at any age. More on that nearer the time as well. Have been catching up with some blogging posts to appear later in the month as well.

Chandler's Ford Today post reminder picture(1)

Today has been more hectic than I’d have liked but I appreciate my time at the writing desk even more on days like these. Writing gives me time to be creative, to forget the other worries, and to invent characters and situations. On tiring days. I particularly like to get lots of “little bits” done such as finishing off a blog post, finding suitable pics for it and so on. On days when I’ve got more time, that’s when I get the word count up significantly.

I find you do have to go with the flow and everyone has days when the flow is slow or has been temporarily dammed. It helps to focus on the word “temporarily” here. There will be better writing days. Sticking with writing and accepting some days are worse than others in terms of what you get done is an underrated attribute but one I think all writers need to develop.

BookBrushImage-2023-1-7-20-3628

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Looking forward to running my first flash fiction workshop of the year later on this month and to meeting up again with the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group not long after that. I often prepare PowerPoint presentations for the latter. It’s funny how I hadn’t used PowerPoint in years but with the growth in the use of Zoom, it has come into its own again. Good fun to do and easy to share if you want to do so.

I believe the growth in flash fiction has come about as a result of people reading more on screens – the very short form of writing is ideal for this. Flash may be short but it needs as much crafting and editing as any other form of writing – loads in other words! This is why I’ll get a story down, rest it, go and write some more tales, then come back to the first one.

Then and only then can I see how I can make it better and there is always room for improving a tale. What can be tricky sometimes is working out when enough is enough on the editing. At some point you have to let your story “out there” and see how it does. This is where deadlines are handy. They make you do this!

BookBrushImage-2023-1-10-20-5043It’s Monday. It’s still dark far too early out there. It’s cold. It’s been a tough, busy day. It’s Monday. And it’s time for my YouTube story. My latest is called Friends. Hope you enjoy it. (Short and sweet this one).

 

Hope you have had a good day. How easy do you find coming up with titles for your flash pieces? I use a variety of ways for this. I use random generators as those can often spark title ideas. I use proverbs sometimes directly as a title, sometimes as inspiration for a title (especially if I want to “subvert” a common phrase as I did with my story Punish The Innocent). I like to keep my titles relatively short (though there are always exceptions to any rule. It is just that most of the time shorter titles are easier to recall).

May be an image of text that says "Jotting down ideas for future stories, blog posts etc., is a great thing to do when you're short on time. Latr tired and uninspired, you can come back to those ideas and find something you like the look ofto to write up."

Many thanks, everyone, for the lovely comments coming in on my first story for 2023 for Friday Flash Fiction, The First Day. It was nice to start with New Year with a feel good tale. Looking forward to my “flash fiction Sunday” tomorrow which is when I get a lot of flash written.
Screenshot 2023-01-06 at 09-18-42 The First Day by Allison Symes

Goodreads Author Blog – Book Blurbs

I must admit it is the book cover which draws me to a book (whether it is online or via a bookshop unless I know of the author. Know I like their work, can’t wait to snap up the next they bring out etc). But after that it is the book blurb which draws me into buying the book or leaving it on the shelf. I like something crisp and snappy to lure me in but they’re not the easiest things to write. You can be sure what you see on the book is the result of several drafts!

But the end result is usually well worth it. Every writer needs to be able to sum up their book in a line (as it gives you something to tell people without going on for too long – and that is an art still).

Sometimes I’ve come across quizzes and the like where you have to guess the book from the blurb that’s been given to you and that can be fun.

As a flash fiction writer having to stick to a tight word count, I guess I may have an advantage here. Writing tight can help you produce those blurbs or at least be less nervous of coming up with something short and snappy.

Screenshot 2023-01-07 at 20-42-44 Book Blurbs

Alternative Twitter image

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

ALLISON SYMES – BOOK BRUSH READER HUB

Screenshot 2023-01-10 at 21-14-15 Reader Hub Book Brush

When Is A Story Finished?

Leave a comment
Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated (with many created in Book Brush). Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Happy New Year to you all! Hope you had a lovely Christmas. And now back on with the writing… it is always a pleasure to come back to it too.

BookBrushImage-2023-1-3-20-4643

Facebook – General

Lady and I spent a lot of today getting wet – not great weather here today. Am looking forward to going to The Chameleon Theatre Group’s next production, Pinocchio, later this month. Oh yes I am!

When is a story finished? When the writer is happy with it?

Possibly but for me a more important consideration is to ask myself if my characters have fulfilled the premise of the story so there really is nothing left for them to do or say. Does the ending deliver on the promise of the beginning?

Would I enjoy this story if someone else had written it instead of me? (That’s a good question to ask because you put yourself in the head of your Ideal Reader doing that and so you ask yourself does the twist work? Am I gripped so I have to read to the end?).

Then and only then am I likely to be happy with the tale and consider it ready to go out there, having of course rested my story, edited it, and got rid of the inevitable typo that has somehow escaped my attention until now! There always is one… writer usually sighs heavily at this point!

BookBrushImage-2023-1-3-20-2734

Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler friend today so that made her happy. She was less impressed with the fireworks though given the weather was dreadful last night, we had fewer of them this time.

I’ll be looking at Diaries and Letters for my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. Looking forward to sharing that on Friday as it’s a topic I’ve wanted to write about for a while.

It was nice getting back to my “flash fiction Sunday afternoon” writing slot yesterday. Will be sharing my latest YouTube video shortly over on my book page – https://www.facebook.com/fairytaleladyallisonsymes/

 

1st January – New Year’s Day

Happy New Year! I caught a little bit of the London celebrations on social media and loved the tribute to the Queen and the coins changing from the Queen to the King. Thought that was nicely done.

Lady loved the Pet Classics show on Classic FM yesterday. Found it very soothing – as did I. Nice way to end the old year as was getting to catch up with a couple of Swanwick friends on Zoom.

Slowly getting back into my writing routine again though I know it will be a day or two before I am fully up to speed. Mind you, it would help to remember what day of the week it is. I find it comforting to know it isn’t just me for that during this time just after Christmas and now. I did remember to get my author newsletter out today though so that counts as a win!

May be an image of text that says "E-MAIL out my NEWSLETTER I send author newsletter ơη the 1st of each month and share news, tips, story links newsletter EMAIL etc. talk about flash fiction and share thoughts ση writing it here tσơ."

31st December 2022 – New Year’s Eve

Happy New Year! I hope 2023 proves to be a blessing and you enjoy lots of good books and stories, old and new. The lovely thing with stories is the vast majority of them are timeless. I look forward to re-readings and finding books new to me.

Author newsletter out tomorrow though I can promise it won’t be on the stroke of midnight. I take the view the New Year can see itself in without me!

Have a lovely time if you’re off celebrating. Lady and I will be listening to Pet Classics on Classic FM. Nice soothing music – just the ticket for us!

May be an image of text that says "Almost there! Happy New Year to you all!"
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I did manage to get a story in for a flash competition ahead of the end of the old year.

In between competitions, as well as writing for Friday Flash Fiction and my YouTube channel, I will draft stories with a reasonably open theme or a topic I know is bound to come up at some point. These drafts are never wasted. I will find a home for them during the next twelve months at some point. It is good to have a stock of stories for this kind of use.

I can and do often go through past stories which didn’t make it to see if there is anything further I can do with them. Sometimes I can then get these out again and find a home for them on a second attempt.

BookBrushImage-2023-1-3-20-3358Glad to be back to writing flash fiction again after the Christmas break. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Another Job. Proof I think delivery people are always needed.

1st January – New Year’s Day

Happy New Year! Hope you managed to get some reading in over Christmas. I’m just getting back into writing again and am looking forward to resuming writing flash later today. Will be good to get tales in for submission again.

Sometimes I know what theme I’m writing to immediately for a story (it’s usually a competition with a set theme). Many times, I don’t and that’s when I’ll use the random generators to help me trigger a theme of interest to me. Hope I can find some new generators to use this year – there are loads out there. (And do remember even with your favourite ones, you can adjust the parameters on many of them so just doing that will trigger even more ideas for you).

Hope you have a fantastic writing year.

May be an image of one or more people and text that says "Hope you have a great writing year!"

31st December 2022 – New Year’s Eve

Happy New Year! Time often crops up in my flash tales, sometimes as a character too. Given flash is all about a specific moment in time for a character, it is apt time often features as a theme.

What do your characters make of time? Do they adjust to the passing of time well? Definitely story ideas there!

May be an image of wrist watch and text
Goodreads Author Blog – New Books for a New Year

My New Year reading will begin with the books I received at Christmas. I have got off to a good start already but am glad to say I have plenty of reading to do!

In the next year I hope to discover books and authors new to me, as well as enjoy old favourites. It will be fun!

I will continue my reading policy of novels, novellas, ebooks, short story and flash fiction collections, and magazines. Also to enjoy audio books and stories via films. This is the nearest I get to a New Year’s resolution, folks!

Happy New Year!

Screenshot 2022-12-31 at 19-58-04 New Books For A New Year


Alternative Twitter image

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.

 ALLISON SYMES – BOOK BRUSH READER HUB

Screenshot 2023-01-03 at 21-04-18 Reader Hub Book Brush

Snow, Anthologies, and Broadcast News

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. Many thanks to Hannah Kate for kind permission to use her photo regarding Three Minute Santas. Very cold this week and have seen first lot of snow for the winter. Writers often talk about having “layers” to their characterisation. Right now, the one having layers around here is me!

BookBrushImage-2022-12-13-20-5822

Facebook – General

Busy day. Bitterly cold one too. Lady had a great day though playing with her “boyfriend”, a lovely tri-coloured Aussie Shepherd. He had the perfect coat for this weather. I did go swimming today. How can you tell when it is really cold outside? When the pool water feels like you’re swimming in a warm bath. Trust me. The water isn’t like that!

Looking forward to sharing my post on Chandler’s Ford Today about the recent Bridge House Publishing celebration event. Such fun to go to that – and lovely to have it again after the turmoil of recent years cancelling it.

Chandler's Ford Today post reminder picture(1)

Have you made any writing plans for the New Year? I’m hoping to resume work on another long term project I’ve got in draft now I’ve submitted my third flash fiction collection to Chapeltown Books. Oh and I’ve booked for The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick taking advantage of the Early Bird rate (which means I’ve paid the same as for this year’s event).

In the run up to 2023 though, I plan to continue to submit flash tales and blog posts but will slowly wind down as we reach Christmas Day. I’m looking forward to doing a lot of reading over the Christmas holidays too. And if the weather stays this cold, staying indoors to write and read seems like an even better idea than it already is!

Hope you have had a good Monday. Lady got to play with her best buddy, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, who looked very smart in her coat. I was wrapped up like the old Michelin Man. (It is not a good look!). Then their other friend joined us, the Hungarian Vizler, also looking very smart in her coat. Am so grateful writing is generally done indoors!

Broadcast News: Looking forward to sharing the link for Three Minute Santas on Hannah Kate’s show on North Manchester FM when I get the link. The show goes out on Saturday 17th December from 2pm and it is great fun listening to the variety of festive flashes here.

North Manchester FM: Hannah’s Bookshelf, Saturday 17 December, 2-4pm

Screenshot 2022-12-11 at 20-43-39 North Manchester FM Hannah's Bookshelf Saturday 17 December 2-4pm - Hannah Kate

3 Minute Santas

Had our first lot of snow today. Laid briefly too. Lady not too understanding about the fact Mum wanted to keep moving when we were out on our walks today. She wasn’t fazed at all. Mum on the other hand just wanted to keep as warm as possible. (Mind you I was doing a great impersonation of the old Michelin man – readers of a certain age will remember that one well. Let’s just say it isn’t a flattering look on anyone. I lost count of how many layers I had on!). The highest temperature reached in my part of the world was +1 and that was at midday.

Have put in my book request list for Christmas. (I don’t think I’m on Santa’s naughty list – well, I wasn’t the last time I checked – so am looking forward to book shaped presents under the tree in due course!). Have submitted my annual flash piece for a national competition so fingers crossed time again.

Don’t forget my latest story, Numbers, is up on Friday Flash Fiction.

Screenshot 2022-12-09 at 16-48-49 Numbers by Allison Symes

Hope you’ve had a good day. One benefit of raking up the leaves in front of my place is it does keep your warm! No snow in my part of the world but the frost is deep, crisp, and even.

Will be taking a look back at the recent Bridge House Publishing celebration event for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Link up on Friday. After that I hope to write up my usual festive flash piece for CFT where I’ll also take a look back at my writing year. (I hope by then I’ll be able to share the link to the Hannah Kate Three Minute Santas show on North Manchester FM. That show goes out on Saturday 17th December).

Writing tip: I’ve mentioned having a stock of stories before. Certain themes always crop up in competitions – love, justice, crime, and so many more. So you could prepare stories on those themes knowing you are very likely to find a home for them. Also prepare other stories because there are a lot of “open” competitions around too. I often batch cook – it saves time overall. You can batch write too – same result in terms of time!

Also it pays to have another look at stories you haven’t placed. You’re likely to have had enough time away from these to be able to judge them objectively. Is there something you can now do with them that you weren’t able to see before? Always worth another look. I’ve gone on to have work published doing this.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I often use major traits to get into a character’s mindset. Someone who is honest – well I can then put them in situations where it would pay them to lie and see how they manage it.

Knowing the trait means I can then work out the situations they would find easy to handle and, far more interestingly, the ones they wouldn’t.

Minor traits feeding off the main one can also be great areas to explore. An honest person could be tactless as well. Why? Simply because they’re so honest they can’t tell even white lies when it would be kinder to do so. What kind of trouble could that land them in?

May be an image of text that says "Knowing my character's outlying traits means I can write about them more convincingly too."

Pleased to share my new YouTube story, Travelling Light. It is time for the Christmas puns to start! Hope you enjoy.


Hope you have had a good day (and kept warm – you can see why mulled wine is such a big hit at this time of year! Mind you, I prefer hot chocolate).

Got a flash piece off a for a competition and am looking forward to listening to Hannah Kate’s Three Minute Santas on 17th December. Her festive show on North Manchester FM is great fun and it is a joy to have a piece included in it again this year.

I like being able to set my characters anywhere and everywhere in flash and, of course, with festive flash, you can have great fun playing with the traditions in it. After all, Santa is known to have elves as assistants but what it they’re disgruntled with their lot etc? There is fun to be had in writing that kind of story up but you need to give thought as to what would make your elves feel this way and to how the problem here is resolved. It is what you bring to the mix here that makes your story stand out.

May be an image of sky and text that says "One advantage to flash fiction writing is I can set my characters anywhere. I do too!"

Themes for flash pieces (and often things like blog posts too) can be found via books of proverbs, random generators, and many other sources. Think of themes that would appeal to you and ask yourself why this is and can you do something with that topic for your own writing?

You can also think of themes which would appeal to your characters but not necessarily to you! Again have a look at why this might be and put yourself in your characters’ shoes. They will have good reasons for feeling the way they do about this theme.

This is where interviewing your characters is a great technique for getting to the bottom of why they feel the way they do. You do have to understand your characters. You don’t need to like them, just know where they’re coming from.

Goodreads Author Blog – Anthologies

I’ve been fortunate to be published in many anthologies including the most recent from Bridge House Publishing (Evergreen – an Anthology). It is great fun to write for these and it’s a privilege and pleasure when your story is selected.

I read anthologies too, regardless of whether my work is included or not, because I’m a firm believer in supporting the market I want to be in! Also, I want to mix up the kind of things I read. I read novels, novellas, flash, short stories, collections of the latter two categories, as well as magazines and the like. I want a good and varied reading “diet”.

Anthologies are a great way to find authors new to you and many either support charities or are produced by independent publishers who give more authors a voice. For many it is their way into being published at all. It was for me.

I also like varied moods in my stories (whether I read or write them) and in anthologies, you get this in one book so that’s another reason to love them. You can also work out the kind of writing style and mood you prefer by reading these. I tend to like a lighter touch. I’ve described my own collections as “mixed assortments” and this can apply to most anthologies too.

Even when on a single theme, you can be amazed at what the contributing authors have come up with for it. I’ve done this myself. For the Waterloo Arts Festival Writing Competition a while back, I had to write to a set word count on a set theme. Fifteen winners (including me) wrote to those stipulations but the way all of the authors took the topic was amazing.

I often use anthologies to read in between reading novels to make sure I do mix up my reading and to help me make up my mind which genre of novel I will read next.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Twitter icon

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

Allison Symes – Book Brush Reader Hub

Screenshot 2022-12-06 at 21-14-32 Reader Hub Book Brush

Finding Ideas, Themes and Judging a Book by its Cover Part 3

Leave a comment

Image Credit:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Some images created in Book Brush using Pixabay pictures.

Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing.

Many thanks to my guests for Part 3 of my Judging a Book by its Cover series for Chandler’s Ford Today. Author and book cover pics were supplied by Amanda Huggins, Dawn Knox (with Colin Payn), Gail Aldwin, Alyson Rhodes (who writes as Alyson Faye), Jim Bates, and Paula R.C. Readman.

A huge thanks to all of my guests over the last three weeks. It has been a joy to discuss and share book cover thoughts! Hope you have all had a good week. Looking forward to giving another talk about flash fiction via Zoom next week.

Oh and my author newsletter goes out tomorrow, 1st May. Do sign up at my landing page – https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com – for more details.


Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

Pleased to share the final part of my Judging a Book by its Cover series for Chandler’s Ford Today. Many thanks to all of my guests over the last three weeks for their fabulous contributions. For this post, I chat to guests from Bridge House Publishing, CafeLit, and Chapeltown Books.

Also a shout out goes to #WendyHJones as a comment from her gave me the spark for the idea for this series. As I mentioned for the More Than Writers blog spot I shared yesterday about Finding Ideas (see below), ideas are there. The trick is to spot them and yes they can come from comments from other writers or things you overhear. The clever bit is gathering those ideas up and running with them! (It is also why it is a good idea to keep a notebook on you as we slowly go out and about in the world once again. Never rely on your memory to record a good idea. You do forget!).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Bonus Post – My Interview by Francesca Tyer for the Authors Reach website

A little while ago I was interviewed by Francesca Tyer for the Authors Reach website. Francesca has been a guest on Chandler’s Ford Today too.

Delighted to now be able to share the link to that interview. Hope you enjoy it and a huge thank you to Francesca and Authors Reach for hosting me.

Allison Symes and some early works.
CafelLit is a wonderful online writing community and very supportive. Image created by Allison Symes using Book Brush.

Facebook – General – and Association of Christian Writers – More than Writers blog spot

Pleased to share my latest blog on More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. I discuss Finding Ideas and hope you find it useful. I share a few thoughts on how I find ideas.

Earlier this week I came up with another useful method which was to use a random word generator to come up with a random word and then use that as a topic for the picture site, Pixabay. I then used a random picture from them based on that topic to inspire me to write a story to fit the theme. Good fun and I hope to use that method again.

For my MTW blog, I also take a quick peek at how I find ideas for blogs. Well, that is useful to find ON a blog, yes?!

Hope you enjoy.

Hope you have had a good day. (Lady went bonkers, in a good way, with her girlfriends, Khaya and Coco, in the park today. Wish I had half their energy but there you go).

Have a new ACW blog post to share tomorrow and the final part of my Judging a Book By Its Cover series for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday.

Submitted my flash piece to the Bridport Prize. Glad to get that done well ahead of the deadline (end of May so there is still time to enter if you’re interested. There are other categories too including short stories and poetry).

I chatted over on #Val’sBookBundle earlier about whether poor proofreading would put you off reading the story afflicted by it. It wouldn’t necessarily put me off. It hasn’t put me off the book I’ve just read which had so many poor word end splits. But I was itching to get my red pen out. And that is never a good sign.

What is important to remember though is, while books do get out there with this kind of thing happening, we still need to get our books and stories out there and ensure they are at the highest standards possible. We owe it to our wonderful stories to make them the best we can make them so they have the best chance of attracting readers. So take your time over your own proofreading.

For short stories and flash fiction, check them several times before you submit them everywhere.

For a novel, you do need an independent editor here.

The big problem every writer has is we are far too close to our own work to always spot things that need correcting. So it is a question of accepting that and being prepared to invest in our work.

The dream ticket here is having a writer who has got their work polished as much as possible before it goes to an editor. That editor will see what the writer has done, will understand the story, but will pick up the things and ask questions the writer may not have thought of but which, when answered, will strengthen that book and give it a better chance out there.

Photo by LED Supermarket on Pexels.com
Would bad proofreading put you off a story?
Warning: Writer at Work. Pixabay
Preparing a talk or a flash fiction story perhaps. Image via Pixabay.

 

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again


Will be sharing my author newsletter tomorrow. I issue this once a month on the 1st and I share exclusive flash fiction tales here. I hope later on to gather some of those into a further collection but you do get to have the first read! For more do go to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

It is hard to say what I love most about flash fiction. Yes, I am always going to have a very soft spot for the form given it was my way in to having books published with my name on them (and on the front cover too!). But I’ve always loved inventing people. That, to me, has been the big thing about stories so getting to do this all the time for various flash fiction tales is a win-win for me.

I suppose the foundation of all storytelling (and this can apply to non-fiction too) is to have a curiosity about what makes others tick. There has to be a certain amount of curiosity to make you want to find out what happens to the characters or what the writer of the non-fiction piece comes up with as a conclusion.

So my job as a writer is to try to make my characters as intriguing as possible so others will want to read about what happens to them. If I’m intrigued by the characters, others will be too.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.


Do you have favourite themes for stories? I’m fond of the “underdog” winning through kind of tale (and you can set those in any environment. A lot of fairytales are based on this). I also like to see justice being done stories (again fairytales often have this as a theme, though not always. You could argue there wasn’t any for The Little Match Girl by Hans Christen Andersen).

I also like characters who are not all they appear to be and the great thing with that is you can take this in two directions. Make the character turn out to be a villain or a hero. You can have great fun going with either of those options. Though I would add there should be some indication early on this character is not all they’re cracked up to be otherwise a reader may feel cheated.

I love it when I read a story like this as I look back at it to see where it was the author planted the first clue to flag up to me as reader I really should look out for what this character is going to do and be. I can learn from that for my own writing and I love that too.


A huge thank you to the wonderful response to my story, Hidden Gems, yesterday. This story came about as a result of using the sixth random word to come up on a random generator. That gave me a topic. I then put that topic into the Pixabay search bar and used the sixth image that came up. I then based the story around that image.

I will certainly use the random word and random image idea again. It made me think outside the box and that is always a good thing.

Am looking forward to sending out my next author newsletter (1st May) and I often share exclusive flash fiction stories here as well as useful tips. If you would like to know more please sign up at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com and you will receive a welcome email with a link to a giveaway too.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Fairytales With Bite – Defining Happy Ever After

Do your characters have a happy ever after or just a happy for now? And how do you define what happy is anyway? So much depends on what your characters want and whether they achieve that (or something better).

Also does one character’s happy ever after mean ruin for others?

That usually is the case with fairytales. Cinderella is a classic case in point but there is no question that the wicked stepmother and the Ugly Sisters had that ruin “coming”. But you are not told that. You see the “coming to ruin” play out as the story goes on and the attitudes and actions of the characters show you whether or not said characters deserve to be brought down.

So we need to set up our characters so a happy ever after or happy for now is seen to be merited. You want the reader to root for their success. (Wishy-washy characters simply don’t do that for me which is why I dislike Miss Price from Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park).

Likewise the characters deserving to be brought down – they too need to be fully rounded individuals, who by their actions and attitudes, show the reader they’re not going to be redeemed. And again you get the reader rooting for these folk to get their well deserved comeuppance.

All stories focus on actions and consequences, conflicts and resolutions so a happy ever after or happy for now has to be the logical resolution to what comes before.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This World and Others – Making Your Characters Stand Out

How do your characters stand out? What is special about them? I feel it is vital for the author to be totally committed to their characters to be able to write their stories up effectively. Therefore something about the character has to grab the author. That same something is likely to be the element which grips a reader.

So ask yourself what is it about characters you yourself love to read about? Can you apply that to your own characters? If you like characters who are feisty but with hearts of gold, those are the kind of characters you want to write because you will write from the heart because you yourself love these.

It may help to list qualities you want to find in a character (and don’t forget the villains here. You need to give plenty of thought to them too. Your hero/heroine has to have an opponent who will test them, bring out the best in them and so on). Then work out ways in which you can show those qualities.

For example, if you love honesty in a character, then you can use that honesty to land that character in trouble. (This could make a great comic piece). They are bound to say things that, with hindsight, might have been better expressed and with less bluntness, for example. That will have consequences.

It will also imply they have got to come up against another character who doesn’t appreciate that honesty. And the second character has to have good reasons not to appreciate it so work out what those reasons could be. Perhaps they dislike being spoken to like that because it reminds them of a family member who used to do so and it caused great upset. Perhaps they don’t like the main character speaking out because the second one is up to no good and they’re concerned they’ll be found out.

Have fun playing with ideas here. But think about the one thing that will make each of your characters stand out. What is it they are best known for? How does that play out in your story? What makes your characters deserve to be written up?

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 



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

Competitions, Reading, and Publication News

Leave a comment

Image Credit:  As ever, unless otherwise stated, the images are from Pixabay or Pexels.

Facebook – General

Every so often, I go through my list of potential competitions and whittle them down. I inevitably don’t get to enter all of them (time!) but I like to have a shortlist of contenders to pick from and I always go for the themes that appeal to me most. I do go in for open theme competitions too but actually prefer the set themes. I like to have a framework to work towards.

I wish I could say tidying the paperwork up immediately triggered inspiration for the Best Writing Idea Ever but I think I’d need the Writing Fairy to make a special appearance for that one to happen! 😆😆 I’ll let you know if she ever shows up….

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Have been slowly getting back into reading again via the Kindle.

I talked about how I’ve not read that much since the lockdown began in my CFT post last week so I am pleased the drought is beginning to clear.

I have had patches of not reading much before, mainly at times of great upset/stress etc., but also know that those patches pass so it is a relief to be slowly coming out of this one. (The last time was around the time I lost my dad, just over three years ago and I didn’t start reading properly again until a week after the funeral).

And yes I’m reading humour. It is always what I turn to first to kickstart my reading “diet” again.

And if you find you’re not writing or reading so much (or both), go easy on yourself. See this as a temporary stage only. It is!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Managed to do a fair bit of editing over the weekend so am pleased with that. My CFT post this week will be looking at books on the radio and will feature YA author, Richard Hardie, as well as yours truly. More on that later in the week.

I must admit one advantage of writing mainly in the evenings is not having the heat browbeat me down! (I never work that well in very hot weather. Mind you, does anyone apart from the ice cream sellers?!😆).

I’ve long found creative writing to be therapeutic. I suppose it is because finding a form of artistic expression that suits me is so relaxing. I see writing as my wind-down time. I like to feel at the end of a session I used the time productively even if I “only” produced two flash fiction stories, say. I want to feel happy with what I’ve written even at first draft stage (because I know the work will only get better after that).

For longer term projects, I want to feel as I’ve made progress and I can see where I’ve got to go next.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Facebook – General – and Publication News

Bonus post tonight. My story Breaking Out is now on Cafelit. Hope you enjoy.

The opening line comes from a prompt I contributed to the Prompts book produced by Gill James (see picture below). Do check it out in the usual places. You won’t run out of writing prompts!

 

Prompts 2020 by [Gill James]

Facebook – General

As you know, when I’m planning out a character I focus on their major trait(s) and there usually is more than one. After all, someone isn’t just brave, say. They may well be honest, charitable, compassionate and so on as well. It is the combination of traits that sparks a character (and therefore the story).

A character who is generally honest but is forced to lie to protect people they love is going to be a character I want to read about. I will want to find out what happens as a result of that lie but also how the character deals with their internal conflict here. While they’ll be happy to protect loved ones, they won’t be happy to have had to lie so how do they handle that?

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Facebook –

From Light to Dark and Back Again – Story Time!

Story time again. Random question generator time again. Hope you enjoy.

The question was what are the two things you would do if you woke up to find you were invisible? My answers? Panic and wonder whether I’d ever “come back”! But I thought it would be fun to write a story on this.

IN TIME

I knew something was up the moment the alarm woke me. Oh it was set for the usual time – 5.40 am – but when I realised I couldn’t see my hand as I went to switch the wretched thing off, I began to panic. I thought at first I’d lost my sight but then realised I was looking at where my hand should be and I could see my wardrobe in one corner of my room. Opposite was my chair.

I got up and went towards the full length mirror which was something I’d inherited from my gran. There was nothing in the mirror. Now I know I’m not a vampire and you’ll just have to take my word for it on that. This is when my panic settings went from mild to through the roof and up into the stratosphere territory. Well, you just would panic, wouldn’t you?

And then I remembered. I was rushing home from work and bumped into a scatter brained old lady who stepped in front of me in such a way I had no time to stop. I shouted at her to look where she was going, was she blind or something, and yes I know I was bloody rude and I am sorry about that. I’d had a horrendous day at work and I just wanted to get home. I know – no excuses but I want you to know I’m not normally rude.

Anyway she called out that she would teach me to look and I just laughed at that and thought nothing of it. I laughed even more when she got a big stick from her handbag and waved it in my direction. Who did she think she was – a fairy godmother or something?

I don’t know what to do. Will this wear off? She did call out I’d have to come and grovel to her soon. I laughed at that too.
Trouble is, it doesn’t seem so damned funny now.

I’ll be off. I’ll get my coat. If I’ve got to grovel, I’d rather get it over and done with.

Ends

Allison Symes – 23rd May 2020

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Hope you enjoyed my story, In Time, yesterday. This is the first time I’ve used the random question generator as the theme of the story, rather than as the title, opening or closing line. So yet another use for the generators then!

I’ve sometimes come across writing prompts that I would like to have a go at but I’m not happy with the ideas I come up with so I will bear using the prompt as a theme instead. I think that will give more flexibility.

What I would be inclined to do here is save such stories generated this way for open competitions where you set the theme anyway.

It means an idea could well produce something for you that you might otherwise have written off if you weren’t happy with something you’ve prepared with a specific theme-set competition in mind.

I’ve always found it best to submit the very best stories I can produce. Anything I’m not happy with for any reason doesn’t get binned. Neither does it get submitted. I save it and see if I can salvage something from it later and usually I can. Okay it can’t go in for that competition but that’s fine. If the author’s not happy with the story, the competition judge won’t be either!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

What would you say are your favourite kinds of stories and why?

I love:-

Humorous prose, especially fantasy, as I enjoy a good laugh.

Crime(though not the very violent type) as I enjoy the puzzle and seeing justice being done.

History – fiction and non-fiction. I learn from both. A well told historical fiction story does seem to transport me back to the era it is set in. (Music can do this too. I love Ralph Vaughan-Williams Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis for that reason). A good non-fiction book will show me aspects of a historical character I’d not considered before.

Fairytales –first love, storywise. Always enjoy seeing the deserving get what they deserve (and this is even more true for the villains!).

And what I love most about flash fiction is the form is open enough for you to write in those genres and many more. All you need worry about is the word count and even there you have flexibility from the very short to the right on the 1,000 words limit. There are competitions and markets to suit the entire range too.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I mix up how I approach writing flash fiction in terms of word count. There are times I know I want to write to a specific count (usually 75 or 100 words) for a chosen market and/or competition.

At other times, having outlined my story and character(s), I write it and then work out what word count it works best at. I then keep that story one side until a suitable market/competitiion comes up.

If a story works best at 250 words, I keep it there and won’t try and edit it down to get to a sub-200 word competition.

And how do I judge where a story works best?

It’s always about the impact of the character for me. The next thing I ask myself is whether there is anything I could add to or take out of the story which would improve the tale and its impact. When the answer is no, I’m there!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Goodreads Author Blog – Book Events

One of the things I miss most as a writer at the moment is the ability to go to book events.

Much as I do deeply appreciate what is available online, and it is a lifeline, I miss going into libraries and bookshops.

I also miss going to author events and I look forward to being able to do all of these things again in due course.

The Waterloo Arts Festival is going to be online this year. I’ll be taking part in that as one of the winners of their writing competition and I made a video for this.

It was good fun to do but oh I shall miss meeting up in person with my fellow writers. (We will all miss the pub lunch beforehand too!).

But the good news is books can still be celebrated and they should be. Of all the times to need books for escapism, it is now, isn’t it?

Whatever you’re reading, I hope you have a wonderful time “between the covers” and, whoever it is you’re reading, do consider leaving a review in the usual places including here. It really does help.

At a previous Bridge House Publishing event. Image by Debz Brown
Very happy Cafelit and BHP writers. Image by Paula Readman
Reading work aloud is always a joy. Image by Dawn Knox
My table at the Hursley Park Book Fair. Image by Allison Symes
Happy Waterloo Arts Festival writers. Image by Ana Coelho

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Numbers Into Writing Will Go

Leave a comment

Image Credit:  As ever all images, unless otherwise stated, are from Pixabay.

Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

I look at the links between numbers and creative writing this week for CFT. There are more links than you might think. I’m not just talking about word counts either (though naturally that is a priority for my flash fiction writing).

The inspiration for the title comes from when I was taught to do division at school many, many moons ago. Three will go into six (twice), three will go into seven (twice with one left over) etc.

I also look at how numbers come into my online writing and I share some tips for managing word counts.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

My CFT post this week is Numbers into Writing Will Go, a title inspired by how I was taught division many moons (and then some!) ago. (That is 2 will go into 4 twice, 2 will go into 5 with 1 left over – anyone else remember that style of teaching?).

There are many links between numbers and creative writing funnily enough and my post will be looking at some of these. Link up on Friday.

Talking of numbers, it has been lovely to see more followers recently for my website. Welcome to you and thank you to those who have been following the site for some time.

I hope to continue to add to this site throughout the year and will post latest pages etc. One of my most recent additions was the Book Trailers page where all the book trailers for anthologies I’ve had work in, as well as the one From Light to Dark and Back Again, are included. (A big thank you to Chapeltown Books – they make some great trailers. Yes, I know, I’d be bound to say that, wouldn’t I, but go on. Check the page out!).

It was a relief NOT to get a soaking while out with the dog today. Plenty of tree debris around but at least things are calming down here a bit. Mind you, our local park will continue to be a mud pit for some time to come!

Back to unhelpful writing advice that I was talking about in my last round-up on Tuesday.

1. Of course you can edit on screen… ahem. You do miss things this way. Print your work out and edit on paper. (It can help to change the font or the character size to make your work seem different when looking at it on screen BUT I still recommend printing it out. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve picked something up this way that I missed on screen).

2. It won’t matter if you get a competition entry in JUST after the deadline. Oh yes it will. It’s called being late and a judge would have to turn down late works as it is not fair on those who did get their entries in on time. My top tip here is to take a week to ten days off the official deadline and make that your OWN one. It gives you a few days in hand for final tweaks should you need it and you’ll then still submit the piece in good time.

3. If I send my work (especially if it’s a book) with fancy ribbon on it, it will make it stand out. Yes, it will but for all the wrong reasons. I’ve heard many agents and publishers at writing conferences say basically how irritating this kind of thing is – all you need to do is follow their guidelines to the letter and leave it at that.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

What do I enjoy writing the most in a flash fiction tale?

When I come up with a “killer line” whether it is a punchline to end a humorous story or a twist to conclude the tale. I love that feeling you get when you know what you’ve come up with is absolutely right for that story. Gives me a very good buzz.

I also love that moment when writing the first draft and you know you have got the idea and characters spot on. It’s then a question of fine tuning the story and cutting out what doesn’t add to the tale but you know at this point that you’ve got something to work with and your editing will improve the story.

I almost always find I’m about halfway to two-thirds of the way through a first draft when I know yes this is going to work or it will work if I end the story this way instead. It’s a relief to get to that point too!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I think it helps to have a fascination with what makes people tick when it comes to character creation. This is especially true for flash fiction writing where I’m coming up with so many different characters for my stories (though I am beginning to link a few stories. This is where I either use the same character in another story or Character A in Story 1 is referred to by Character B in Story 2. Good fun to do and this is something I hope to do more of in future).

I do find the Scrivener character templates enomously helpful for outlining “my people”. They make me think about why I’m creating the character the way that I am and that will add “oomph” to my story. When reading, a character gels with me far more if I sense there is depth to them, even if I don’t discover those depths for a while. With flash, I need to give hints as to how deep my characters can be and then show a reader what they need to know to make those connections to hidden depths for themselves.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Themes I love in my stories include:-

1. Poetic justice. I do love giving a character who deserves it what they’ve got coming. It’s fun!

2. An underdog winning out in the end. (This is a huge theme in fairytales of course and I’ve always loved that idea).

3. Alternative character stories (my Getting It Right gives the wicked stepmother’s viewpoint on the Snow White tale).

4. Types of character I love – feisty ones (especially older female characters who can still show those far younger than them a thing or two about how to tackle problems); magical ones (especially those who’ve discovered the downside to magic and are fighting back against that).

5. Historical themes I love (and these will turn up in Tripping the Flash Fantastic too).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Fairytales With Bite – Going Back in Time

Fairytales are some of the oldest stories in literature, of course. This is another reason why I don’t understand why some dismiss them as “twee tales for kids”. If they read the original stories, they’d know fairytales are anything but twee and their intended audiences were definitely not children!

I associate fairytales with many happy memories of enjoying The Reader’s Digest Complete Fairytales (two volumes, both beautifully illustrated), which was a childhood present. I still have those books though their spines are taped up to give them extra support. I read those books a lot when I was younger!

When I read I want to escape to another world for a while and fairytales for me have always been a great outlet for that. A really good story will make you feel as if you’ve escaped time for a while.

I’ve always found it fascinating that there are countless versions of our classic fairytales in different cultures (Cinderella especially). The themes are timeless and will remain so. Fairytales often do reflect on aspects of human nature and they don’t always present a pretty picture either.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This World and Others – Your Historical World

Whatever your setting, it has to have a past. It may not play a major role in the story you’re telling but there should be inferences to it somewhere in your tale. Your characters’ actions and reactions are based on what? Being attacked by an enemy? Well who is the enemy and what is the personal history here?

How is your world governed? Who runs it? Is there any opposition? How does it get on with other worlds around it? What happened in its past to influence how it is run now? What kind of ceremonies and rituals does it have and does your lead character go along with these or rebel against them?

History is important to us. It helps shape us. It should do for your characters too, even if you imply what that history is. Information is best drip fed into a story in any case but readers do put two and two together. I love doing that in books I read. I get a complete picture of the fictional world doing that and it makes the story stronger for me, always.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As One Season Ends…

Leave a comment

Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

As part of my CFT post this week, As One Season Ends, I look at how getting older has helped me as a writer. I prefer to use the term mature, though I appreciate that may put you in mind of a fine wine or a good cheese! I am proud to say though my “wine/cheese” still has plenty of life in it and I’m well ahead of my Best Before Date.

One thing I love about writing is it is not the privilege of one age bracket only. Debut writers have had successes when young or old and I find that tremendously encouraging. I hope you do too.

Image Credit: As ever, the marvellous Pixabay. Captions on CFT post.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

What I love about character creation:-

1. You literally get to invent people. People with traits you’d like to have. People with traits you’re glad you DON’T have. It’s huge fun inventing a new person (I suspect Baron Frankenstein may have had similar thoughts but with much more questionable results in his case!).

2. You have great fun inventing dialogue for your characters and I love it when “they” come up with something that surprises me. I then look at this again and think, yes, that suits the traits I’ve given them. It’s proof to me this character is live, working, “their own” person and likely to be distinctive to the reader.

3. You have even more fun dropping said characters right in the mire and finding out how they get out of it (or not as the case may be. In the latter case, does someone else help them out? Why? What do they hope to gain? All sorts of story possibilities there).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Well, the weather was cooler today, much to the relief of both Lady and me. (The same can’t be said for the political atmosphere in the UK at the moment and that’s all I’m saying about that).

Writing wise, while I believe there is a lot of truth in there only being so many plots in the world, I also believe there are infinite possibilities with said plots. Why?

It’s all down to the characters. Character creation fascinates me as a tweak here or there can make a huge difference to how your character is going to respond to situations and therefore what conflicts ensure. If they’ve got any kind of spirit they will be the cause of problems AND be the type that resolves them (or those caused by others who are worse than they are!).

A meek and mild character is not generally going to be the hero/heroine (I never did like Miss Price in Austen’s Mansfield Park, far too wishy-washy for me) but they can be an irritant (however unintentionally) to your main character and be the cause of further problems for your lead to sort out. So even this kind of character can be useful.

Have fun with your people, people!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

When I was putting From Light to Dark and Back Again together, I didn’t have an overall theme in mind. The stories were a nice mixture of humorous and dark tales and that directly inspired the book’s title.

When writing individual flash fiction stories, I focus on who the character is going to be, what their major trait is, and whether the story is going to be a funny or dark one.

If I’m writing for a competition with a set theme, then I work out different ways of how that theme could be taken and then go with the one I like best. It is very rarely the first idea I came up with either.

It is true for me when brainstorming ideas I do have to get the dross out of my system before coming up with something that has real possibilities. The important bit is not to worry about the dross, after all you’ll be discarding that, but get to those deeper ideas and that’s where you will find promising story ideas and characters to work with.

Open theme competitions can sometimes be more difficult precisely because they’re open. I set my own theme for these and then work to that. I have to have some parameters and then away I go. All I can say is that it works for me.

Whatever you’re writing this weekend, have a fab time doing so!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

My favourite kind of ending for flash fiction stories is the twist one. I like trying to guess at it and feel pleased when I’m right. I’m more pleased when I’m not as the author has kept me guessing and wrongfooted me (and I really don’t mind that at all!).

It’s a tough thing to get right though.This is where I think knowing what your twist ending will be and then working backwards to get to the start point would pay off. I’ve found this to be a technique that works for me and I’m in illustrous company too. Agatha Christie was known to do this and I can see why.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I hope you had writing fun with the random word, phrase, and number generators. The great thing with these is if you’re ever stuck for something to write about, use any of these and just go with what comes up. It doesn’t matter if what comes up is ridiculous. Have fun with it!

Just free write, say for a set period of time, and have a look at your work later. Don’t expect it to be perfect. It won’t be. (I doubt if there is any such thing as a perfect piece of writing anyway).

What I hope you will find is in having something to work with, it will free up your imagination for other writing projects you have on the go.

I find it to be a fun thing to do and I often do use the generators for flash fiction in particular. (Oh and another great prompt can be pictures of course. See what you can do with the great images from Pixabay below!).

Well…? Pixabay
The writing journey has to be taken a step at a time. Pixabay
Warning: Writer at Work. Pixabay
Contrasting can be a useful technique when trying to solve problems with your fiction. Pixabay

Association of Christian Writers – More than Writers –

– Appreciating Writing

How often do you take time out to appreciate writing – your own, as well as the work of others? Not often enough, I suspect, but this begs the question should we appreciate writing more? Wouldn’t we be better off just writing? I’d argue appreciating writing will help you improve your own.

Inspiring, Entertaining, Informing – all good things to aim for with our writing. Pixabay

Every now and again, I recall what writing has done for me. I look at what the work of others has done for me too. One novel changed my attitude to a king. (The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey if you were wondering. The way it is written is good too).

Appreciating our writing, and that of others, should help us, and them, develop as writers. Pixabay

I believe in realising why you must write and its effects on you (in developing a creative streak, if nothing else), you will end up inspired to write better.

It is in writing my stories and blogs I discovered the hard work needed to (a) keep these going, (b) to continue to be entertaining and, hopefully, share useful information, and (c) how hard other writers must work on their material.

I’m also grateful for technology. I don’t miss carbon paper and typewriter erasers.  Pixabay

I appreciate a great turn of phrase so much more now and often wonder how long it took the writer to come up with the final selection of words that made it into print.

In appreciating the writing of others, you can also analyse what it is you love about it. What can you learn here to apply to your work? There will be something.

In going to conferences and Writers’ Days, you appreciate the breadth of the writing world and find encouragement within your own sphere. Writing has taken me to places I’d never dreamed of reaching. (If someone had told me a couple of years ago, I’d happily take part in Open Prose Mic Nights, I’d have told them not to be so silly).

I used a bigger Olympia. It weighed a ton! I really appreciate not having to lug that around any more! Pixabay

Writing should stretch you and that is good. There is no such thing as the perfect piece of writing but what we can do is the best we can at the time and go on to do better as we learn more about our craft and pick up tips from other writers.

It is also lovely when you can share tips with others. Writing is a lonely enough profession so support and encouragement go a long way. Well, they do for me.

Writing is something not to be taken for granted then. I don’t write to give a message. I write to entertain. I hope my stories and blog posts can lift people when they need that. I see it as giving back to the writing world which has given me so much.

This is always a good idea. Pixabay

There is every point for “message” writing. There is every point just to entertain. We cannot know what hard times readers are going through but to give them opportunities to take time out for a while  is worthwhile. So never be ashamed of just writing to entertain. I do sometimes wonder if entertainment is looked down on as a reason to write. I don’t think it should be.

Fairytales with Bite – As One Season Ends

My CFT post, As One Season Ends, looks at the topic from a personal and writing viewpoint, but here I want to look at how your characters handle the changes in the seasons in their lives.

We all have such seasons and our characters should be no different. After all, there have been times in life when we have been students and other times, say, when we’ve been employees. So what seasons in life do your characters go through?

If your setting is in fantasy or sci-fi, do your characters have education as we know it? What do their young people have to go through to be considered mature? How do your characters cope with expected changes in life (their society expects them to do this and then do that etc)? How do they handle the unexpected ones (the sudden loss of someone special etc)?

Does your created world have physical seasons as we understand them here? If so, what function does each season serve? I would expect there to be some sort of growing season (which logically must be followed by some kind of harvest).

How do your characters mature? Are there rituals they must follow and what happens to anyone who defies that?

Plenty of food for thought there I think.

Image Credit:  As ever, the photos are from the fantastic Pixabay. The ones I originally used on this on FWB are up above under my CFT link. Here are some other beautiful seasonal pictures. I always love an opportunity to use photos like these.

Is your reading journey a bright one? Pixabay image.
Is your reading journey a straight run or does it twist and turn? Pixabay image.
The writing journey is more likely to be full of twists and turns. Pixabay
Where will your flights of fancy take your writing? Pixabay
Use weather, climate etc to reflect moods in your story but don’t overdo it. Pixabay image.
What kind of landscapes exist in your fictional world? Pixabay image

This World and Others –

What Every Good Story or Non-Fiction Piece Needs

While every genre has specific requirements, what every good story needs can be summarised as follows. (A lot of this can apply to non-fiction too).

  1. Memorable characters with distinctive voices. For non-fiction, this equates to a memorable narrative style and voice. Think of documentaries you have loved. What made them stand out? A lot of that will be down to the narrative voice.
  2. A plot that keeps the reader enthralled and has plenty of ups and downs. For non-fiction, it is a case of setting out what you want to share with the reader in an entertaining and informative way. No dull list of facts etc. You want to engage with your reader and draw them into the world you’re trying to show them.
  3. To meet the needs of the reader whether it is to entertain them with a story or show them something they hadn’t known with non-fiction. You really do need to know your audience.
  4. A powerful ending that delivers on a promising start.
  5. No sagging middles!
  6. A good, memorable title which hooks the reader.
  7. To be a good advert for the other writing you do!

Image Credit:  The fantasic Pixabay.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.