Planning Out Your Writing

February 9, 2024Leave 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.

Hope you have had a good week. Strong winds and heavy rain where I am, snow elsewhere in the UK. Keep safe, everyone. Great week overall with news that three of my stories will be published in The Best of CafeLit 13 later this summer. This is a personal best. It is also huge encouragement to keep writing and to submit my stories to CafeLit!

Am working on other stories where I know they will need other homes but I love creating characters and discovering how they get out of the situations I put them in – great fun. May you never lose the joy of creative writing!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

I’m pleased to share my latest Chandler’s Ford Today post on Planning Out Your Writing. I discuss why I find planning useful, even when life throws spanners in the works, as it so often does. I also discuss whether planning kills creativity (and why I take the attitude it doesn’t).

I also look at the risks of using planning as a procrastination technique and what I do to ensure this never happens to me. Hope you find the post helpful. Oh and great news – you don’t have to plan out everything. You figure out what you need to know. More in the post.

Planning Out Your Writing

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My Planning Out Your Writing is on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. Hope you will find it useful. Link up on Friday. See above.

When do you think you know your characters well enough? I would say when you know what they are likely to do and how they would react to any given situation. Answering this is a great example of how a little forward planning makes your task as a writer easier too (note I didn’t say easy!).

If I know my character likes biscuits and is a petty thief, I am likely to combine those two things in their story and then it will be a case of working out who catches them out and what happens then. But knowing those two things immediately gets me off to a good start when writing their story.

I can also then decide if this is likely to be a lighthearted tale or a more serious one. Does my character prove to be sorry and stop doing it or, conversely, do they go on to steal more important things and have to be stopped at a later date with more serious consequences resulting from their actions? But just having that starting point gives me those options.

I find planning encourages creativity rather than kills it

Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to play with her best pals, the Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback, today. Fabulous running by Lady and her Ridgeback friend. The Vizler as “pack leader” watches indulgently but is so pleased to be with her two pals. It’s sweet to see.

Writing Tip: It pays to read your stories out loud so you hear them as a reader takes them in. If you need to focus on one thing, read the dialogue out. What looks good written down doesn’t always read out well. If you stumble, a reader will and you don’t want anything switching them off. I’ve found this has paid off for me.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Delighted to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale, Horizons. Is Simon’s mother right in wanting him to broaden his horizons? Will he ever do so? Find out here.

Little details in a story can add so much depth to your characterisation. From my Pen Portrait in From Light to Dark and Back Again, my character Mary is described as someone who brushes her hair once a day whether she needed it or not. Now that gives me an instant picture of Mary in my head.

For one thing she’s not vain. There are more important things in her life than her personal appearance. I’m visualising Mary as being on the scruffy side when it comes to her hair and, by extension, her clothes just on the strength of this line. The story goes on to show why Mary does this and I’m not giving the game away here.

But that one phrase conjures up a whole image for my character. Flash is fantastic for this and it helps you make much more of your word count. Flash teaches you to simplify description here. It can also lure your readers in so they will want to find out whether their expectations of the character are correct or not (and if the latter, why not as well. My story does give a very good reason for Mary being the way she is).

Something to consider is that many of the writing festivals have competitions to go with them. Some of these, as well as offering short story competitions, have flash fiction ones too. So do bear these in mind.

A good rule of thumb for any competition is you should be able to check the background out of the competition easily. Also any entry fees should be proportionate to the prizes on offer.

Flash fiction competitions come up often but are not always labelled as such. Writing Magazine offer a 750 word story competition and a 500 words all dialogue one. They’re not labelled as flash fiction competitions but they are of course.

Entering (reputable) competitions is good practice in writing to deadlines and if you get shortlisted or better, it is something to put on your website, author newsletter, writing CV, query letters etc. Also if a story doesn’t do well in a competition, have another look at it. Polish it up and send it elsewhere (which would be suitable for your type of story).

Fairytales With Bite – Tooth Fairy Rules

Every profession needs its guidelines. Here are some which would be useful for a trainee Tooth Fairy to know.

You only collect from those customers who are on your daily client list.
You do not, repeat not, need to make up numbers. See 1 above.
Pliers are not regulation equipment. See 1 and 2 above.
Do not expect gratitude from your clients. They should be asleep for a start. If they see you, something has gone horribly wrong. Report back to HQ immediately.
When leaving the correct money, also leave toothbrush, toothpaste and the fun comic we issue showing the benefits of looking after your teeth, even the baby ones, for as long as possible. Never leave sweets. You are not to speed up the natural process for when the next tooth is due to come out.
If you suspect the client has sped up their own natural processes for losing baby teeth, report to HQ and don’t leave any money. The boss may well send superiors in to investigate further. Don’t get in their way. They will be the ones the kid will be allowed to see. They will tell the kid off. Kid can’t report to parents. Who’s going to believe them when they say they’ve seen the Tooth Fairy and they’re not nice? What matters here is the cheat doesn’t get the money. They won’t do it again.
Look after your own teeth. You are meant to set a good example. Don’t eat sweets when on duty in case someone sees you. It is not a good look for the Tooth Fairy.
Stay away from dentists’ kids. You shouldn’t get these allocated to you but if you suspect you have been report to HQ. Dentists’ kids won’t believe in you. They’ll have had all the “facts” from their parents here. So why visit? Save your time and effort for those who do have some belief, even if it is based on the wish to gain money from having lost a tooth. We gain their teeth, we have their belief, they get some payment. Those are the rules. No belief. No payment.
Report back to HQ when you finish your nightly rota. Most of the time this will be a simply check in and check out. Did you get all the teeth expected? Yes. Were there any problems? No. You’ll then be issued with your rota for the following night.
When out on your rounds, ensure you are not followed by vampires. They too look to extract from humans but they’re nowhere near as nice as we are. Be wary of politely spoken gents wearing big capes and who seem reluctant to smile. Any sign of fangs from anything, get the hell out of there, but this is good advice for all species to be honest.

This World and Others – Health Matters

In your setting, and assuming you have more than one kind of creature living in it, health matters will vary. So think about how your creations are made, biologically speaking, and then work out what health issues would concern them.

If you have winged creatures for example, do they have to keep wings and the muscles supporting them in good working order and how would they do that? Would they suffer from wing rot if they don’t look after themselves, for example?

If you have characters who are known for their speed, are their feet especially developed here and how would they differ from human feet? Again, how would your creations look after themselves here?

Does your setting have doctors etc to take care of health issues that do crop up? No creature is going to be totally invincible. Even immortals can suffer from problems (if they’re dependent on a kind of climate to be immortal, if there are changes there that will have a knock-on effect).

Can other characters take advantage of known health weaknesses here and how that would change the outcome of your story?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Horizons, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/j2y55JoEFN

Delighted to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale, Horizons. Is Simon’s mother right in wanting him to broaden his horizons? Will he ever do so? Find out here. pic.twitter.com/WrkofP14kW
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) February 9, 2024

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Planning Out Your Writing https://t.co/I8fMVqRZ1o

For CFT this week, I discuss why I find planning my writing useful, even when life throws spanners in the works. I discuss whether planning kills creativity and look at the risks of planning being a procrastination technique.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) February 9, 2024

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Review: The Sleeping Beauty and Publication News

February 2, 2024Leave a comment

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Image Credits:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. A huge thank you goes as ever to The Chameleon Theatre Company for supplying the photos for my review of their pantomime for Chandler’s Ford Today this week.

Hope you have had a good week. Author newsletter out this week, as is the super duper bumper issue of Writers’ Narrative for January and February 2024. Plus I review The Sleeping Beauty pantomime for Chandler’s Ford Today. Lady has seen her friends all week so she has had a great time too and I’ve spotted first daffodils out. Spring is on its way at least here in the UK.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

So pleased to share my review of The Sleeping Beauty recently performed by The Chameleon Theatre Company. Great show. Wonderful performances and The Chameleons prepare all their own sets too.

My review looks at the classic ingredients for a perfect pantomime. Did The Chameleons deliver on these? You can find out via the link – oh yes, you can!

Review: The Chameleon Theatre Company – The Sleeping Beauty

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Author newsletter out today, I’m glad to say. Given it is a Leap Year this time around I shared 29 tips/prompts which I hope my subscribers find useful.

Will be sharing my review of The Sleeping Beauty as staged by The Chameleon Theatre Company on Chandler’s Ford Today. Link up tomorrow (see above) and I hope the review reflects the fun of pantomime. It was a great laugh when I went to see the show last week. This is always a sign of a great pantomime wonderfully performed.

Have two stories to work on and submit over the next day or so. Have also got a number of possible competitions to check out in the Writing Magazine guide that came with the February issue. Looking forward to checking these out.

Delighted to say the super-duper double issue of Writers’ Narrative magazine is now out covering January and February 2024. Lots to read with plenty of superb interviews and advice. Hope you enjoy it (see link below).

I have two pieces in here. I talk about New Beginnings for Characters on Page 14 and ask Flash Fiction Romance – Is It Possible? on page 40. But to find out the answer to that question, do check out the magazine.

If you haven’t already subscribed, there are links to do this within the edition itself. It means you won’t miss an issue and it will come straight to your inbox. Happy reading!

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Delighted to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest drabble, Down Time. Find out why a robot would like to dream here and what it tries to smuggle into its shed on its down time.

Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to play with her youngest friend, Coco, the small Labradoodle today. Both dogs happy. Coco did not want to go home. I guess that’s a good sign!

Flash fiction has many joys to it, including being able to write in different genres and moods with it, but it is also adaptable when it comes to working out what you do with your finished pieces.

Some of mine are reserved for future collections. Others are sent in for competitions. Others go to Friday Flash Fiction and still more on to my YouTube channel. Flash is easy to share as part of your marketing. It shows what you do and, hopefully, gives some entertainment for potential/actual readers. I find the dribbles and drabbles (the 50 and 100 worders respectively) work best for this.

Pleased to be talking about flash fiction again in the double issue of Writers’ Narrative magazine where I look at Flash Fiction Romance – Is It Possible? (Check out the link to find out more).

One of the joys of flash fiction is it has to be character led, as you haven’t got the word count room for lots of description, and you can set said characters wherever and whenever you want. I love doing this. I’ve written crime fiction, historical fiction, monologues, fantasy flash fiction etc. I’ve written from the viewpoint of a mother dragon and from an alien curled up inside a ping pong ball! Had a ball writing both of these two as you can probably imagine.

The only limitation is that upper word count limit of 1000 words but there is plenty you can do effectively up to that word count. Some of my most poignant stories come in at this count or under (see They Don’t Understand in From Light to Dark and Back Again and The Pink Rose in Tripping the Flash Fantastic).

Advantage to flash is setting characters anywhere

Fairytales with Bite – Character Ambitions

What ambitions do your characters have? Where magic is involved in your setting, is it a question of your characters getting any magical powers at all or is it a case they wish to top up on what they already have?

Would their ambitions be easy to achieve because they’re expected to have ambitions like that and there is a clear career path, or would they have to fight to get to where they want to be? If magic is restricted to only those of a certain background, how would those of other backgrounds get access to magic? Who breaks the barriers and how do they do it?

If your characters fulfil their ambitions, does this bring them what they were looking for, or are they left feeling let down, frustrated even? If the ambition is a “good” one, what is your character hoping to do by achieving it and are they seeking this “good” ambition for its own sake, for others, or just for themselves?

Are character ambitions limited to whatever class your characters are in? Is there only so much a character could hope to achieve because of their background? When it comes to limitations, who brought them in and why? Were there logical reasons for stopping a certain kind of character achieving something others are allowed to achieve?

Good potential for stories there! Characters who break the moulds set on them by others are always fun to write and there is no lack of tension and conflict, which means there has to be some sort of resolution as well. Pretty much an inbuilt story structure going on here.

This World and Others – Types of Character

One of the fun sides of world building is working out what kinds of character you will have populating it. Are they based on human biology or on something different? Give some thought as to whether your characters will determine the kind of geographical location they can live in or whether the latter dictates the kind of the characters you have to invent who can live there.

A water based world, for example, is likely to have aquatic creatures, which may or may not be the stars of your stories or may threaten/be helpful to your other characters who are the lead, as the case may be. In a water world, would your characters, assuming they are roughly humanoid, be expected to swim and do they have features we do not? For example, would they have gills and fins attached to a human like body?

Also give some thought as to type of character based on intellectual ability or the complete lack of it.

What kind of characters to you need to bring your setting to life? For any setting to seem plausible to a reader, you need to show something of how it works and one great way to do that is by showing your characters at home in their environment as part of the story.

If they’re on a journey, what transport would they use, for example? In showing, say, they can hire flying cars, readers will assume there is a whole industry behind producing said flying cars, which immediately highlights your setting as being reasonably well developed.

Where you have different types of character, you can also show how well or otherwise they get on, what the politics between the different types are and how this affects your characters, amongst other things. (There will be a history behind whether types of characters get on with each other or not so you can imply/show some of that history. If an outsider queries why Character Type A does not get on with Character Type B, a third one can reveal it was because of the war in the year 18,006 and Character Type B’s people committed atrocities. You don’t have to give a lot of information. My example here would be a line or two in a conversation between two characters).

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Twitter Corner with hashtag, Scrabble tiles, and the blue bird

Allison Symes – February 2024 – Leaping Into Flash – https://t.co/HVzDAHy1zN pic.twitter.com/3u4p8zvONn
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) February 1, 2024

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Down Time, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/pGQVTvPVP3 Delighted to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest drabble, Down Time. Find out why a robot would like to dream here and what it tries to smuggle into its shed on its down time. pic.twitter.com/BFJK3CmCYL
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) February 2, 2024

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Review: The Chameleon Theatre Company – The Sleeping Beauty https://t.co/Up5pKtJmLK Pleased to share my review. Fab performances. My review looks at the classic ingredients for a perfect pantomime. Did The Chameleons deliver? You can find out via the link – oh yes, you can!
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) February 2, 2024

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Fairytales and Pantomime

January 26, 2024Leave a comment

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Image Credits:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Many thanks to Richard Hardie for the publicity shot of me at the Book Fair last summer.

Hope the last few days have been okay for you. Weather settling down a bit more. Busy week with the ACW Flash Fiction Group and a pantomime on my agenda this week but both were lots of fun – oh yes, they were! Lady has been playing with her two best buddies so she has had a lovely time and made more friends at my Slimming World group. I don’t normally take her with me for that but circumstances dictated I had to do this for this week and she loved being fussed over. I put a thank you post on our SW timeline and it had over 110 views! Think Lady has a new fan club…

Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am pleased to share Fairytales and Pantomime, my latest post for Chandler’s Ford Today. I look at why fairytales do make for wonderful pantomime material and why fairytales and pantomime help to keep each other relevant and in people’s memories. I think that matters.

I also look at why pantomime can encourage a life long love of theatre. Nothing to dislike there! Hope you enjoy the post. This is a lead in to my review of Sleeping Beauty performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group. Am looking forward to sharing that next week.

Fairytales and Pantomime

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Early post as am off to the pantomime tonight. Oh yes I am. No. There’s nothing behind me either! I am off to see The Chameleon Theatre Group perform Sleeping Beauty. Am expecting lots of laughs, excellent performances, and a great time to be had by all. Well, that is exactly what happened for all of their other pantomimes so am not expecting differently tonight!

I hope to review the show for Chandler’s Ford Today next week but my post tomorrow will look at why Fairytales and Pantomime are such a great match up. Looking forward to sharing that one. See above.

Don’t forget my author newsletter goes out again next week. I know, I know. January, for once, has flown by and we are almost into February. This time as well as sharing my news and useful tips, I am also sharing a pdf which I hope will prove useful to the writers amongst my subscribers. Plenty of time to sign up. If you wish to do so, please head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

While on topic, I’d just like to say a big thank you for all who have signed up to my newsletter and a big hello and welcome to those who have signed up recently.

Hope you had a good day. Lady has. Got to play with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback friends. Me? Housework and going to the dentists! Having said that, dentist is reasonably happy with me (!) and I am looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction group meeting later on. Zoom is a blessing and the meetings are always great fun.

Will be looking at Fairytales and Pantomime for Chandler’s Ford Today – link up on Friday. See above. I explore why fairytales are brilliant stories to adapt for pantomime. Am going to see The Chameleon Theatre Group perform Sleeping Beauty on Thursday. Looking forward to that. Review to follow in due course.

Why do I love fairytales so much? Firstly, they are great stories. Secondly, the most unlikely characters often turn out to be the heroes and I have a very soft spot for that kind of thing. Thirdly, you just know the villains won’t get away with it (so unlike life, sadly). Fourthly, they were one of my first introductions to the wonderful world of stories as a whole. That alone is enough to make me love fairytales.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with If Only, a tale which shows the consequences of the Fairy Queen banning magic from being used in baking. Hope you enjoy the story. Many thanks to all who have commented on this one already.
Am currently working my way through the excellent competitions guide and handbook which came with the current edition of Writing Magazine. I’ve set a goal to enter more flash and short story competitions this year and am sure this guide will be an enormous help. This is where setting myself some deadlines (and using my diary to help me stick to them) will be useful.

Writing Tip: I know this one isn’t always possible, life has a habit of throwing curve balls etc, but I have found it so useful to block out times in which I will write. Again I use a diary to help me with this. Sometimes that time is a short slot. Today’s slot (Thursday 25th January slot) is as I’m off to the pantomime (oh yes I am!) after dinner tonight so I’ve got about ninety minutes in which to get some writing done.

Knowing this was coming up, I’ve worked out what I can do in that time slot and am doing it. It helps. When life does get in the way – as it does and will – whatever I scheduled for myself to do, I just “rebook” on another day. I find booking myself writing time helps me stick to it and I do get more written. It is worth a go.

It is fine if you can only book fifteen minutes here, half an hour there etc. Pockets of time mount up and I find the smaller slots ideal for drafting some flash pieces to finish off later. I then book myself a longer slot to do that finishing work.

As well as flash fiction, I write short stories and have just submitted one coming in at the 2000 words mark – for me, that’s a huge tale! This story was fun to write because I had the word count room to expand my characterisation in a way that suited the tale. I know it has added depth to the story.

But this also reminds me why I love flash so much. The impact of a flash piece can be tremendous precisely because there are not so many words to deliver that in. Flash fiction, for me, is like snapshots – one moment in time. A short story can be two snapshots put together if you like – you can have a couple of moments in time.

Both are wonderful fiction forms and I hope to write more of both in 2024 than I did last year. Onwards and upwards!

Fairytales with Bite – Spanners in the Works

Troublesome characters are great fun to write and to read. They are the ones who throw the spanners in the works but it is not always for evil reasons. Sometimes they can see the lead character is heading off in the wrong direction so they may cause trouble to make that character face up to this and make the right choices instead.

Maybe causing trouble is the only way to make the lead character face reality. So give some thought to your troublesome characters. Why are they causing trouble? How do your other characters respond to it? Are your troublesome characters being troublesome just because they can or because they have good motives to do so?

A good example here is Gollum from The Lord of the Rings. He was troublesome to put it mildly. Even when he helped the hobbits, it was from mixed motives. Yet he did help them (even if on Mount Doom, he hadn’t intended to do so).

Troublesome characters can add a great deal of tension to your story but there should be good reasons (even if only from the character’s viewpoint) for them being that way. Gollum really thought he was right to want the precious back. Okay he was wrong but he thought he was right. And you can use that kind of thing to portray a character causing trouble because they honestly believe it is the right thing to do.

It is then up to you to work out whether that is the case or not and, especially where not, what your lead will do to overcome all those who cause trouble for them. After all, we wouldn’t want things to be too easy for our lead characters now, would we? The story is in overcoming the problems somehow.

This World and Others – Problems

What problems do your characters face which are directly caused by your setting? Those problems can come from geography (dreadful terrain to have to journey across) to government dictatorship (not allowed to travel without a legal permit which would be a nuisance, to put it mildly, if your character has to go on a quest. Yes, they can ignore the requirement but at some point I would expect them to be challenged so they have to be prepared to deal with this somehow).

Think also about a character’s own problems. Do they have to overcome fears? Do they have to overcome family/friend objections? Are they going against what their society would expect them to do and, if so, what drives them to do this? There would have to be pressing reasons to do that. Nobody upsets the old apple cart without good cause.

Stories focus on problems and how characters overcome them. I find outlining my characters useful as I work out their traits and the negative/positive qualities coming from those. That will show me how well or otherwise said characters are likely to be at overcoming problems and often gives me good ideas for the problems I will make them face.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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If Only, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/DwaSyHAtm4 Pleased to be back on FFF with If Only, a tale which shows the consequences of the Fairy Queen banning magic from baking. Many thanks to all who have commented on this one already.https://t.co/hfPQ5woqhV pic.twitter.com/Gtiz31VO0A
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 26, 2024

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Fairytales and Pantomime https://t.co/7XwamhCICV Am pleased to share Fairytales and Pantomime, my latest CFT post. I look at why fairytales make wonderful pantomime material and why fairytales/pantomime keep each other relevant and in people’s memories. Hope you enjoy the post.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 26, 2024

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Newsletter Tips, New Hats, and a New Reading/Writing Year

January 19, 2024Leave a comment

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Image Credits:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Many thanks to Richard Hardie for taking the publicity shot of me at the Book Fair last year. Many thanks to Gill James for taking the publicity shot of me at the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event which I’ve used in my Authors Electric post for this month. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.

Hope you have had a good week. Continues cold here. Perfect weather for staying in and getting on with the writing then!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Pleased to share Newsletter Tips, my latest post on Chandler’s Ford Today. I hope this post proves especially useful to those considering setting up an author newsletter. I share why I decided to have one and what I have found helpful in keeping it going.

I also discuss the advantages of having one at all and, some great news here, is that to begin with at least, it is perfectly okay to use a free plan from one of the service providers such as Mailchimp or MailerLite. I share thoughts and tips on scheduling your newsletters and coming up with interesting content too.

Hope you enjoy the post.

Newsletter Tips

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Am pleased to be back on Authors Electric with my latest blog post – A New Reading and Writing Year. I ask what you would like in this new year on both counts and share some of the things I would like.

I share a few thoughts on AI and Twitter too (because I would like to see authors appreciated more. Robots can do many things but the world would be a far poorer place without human imagination).

Hope you enjoy more fabulous books (reading and writing them) in 2024.

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Another chilly one today. Glad to say Lady got to play with her best buddies, the Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback. Good time had by all. Life came back to my feet on getting home!

Don’t forget I’ll be sharing Newsletter Tips on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Will be especially useful if you are thinking of setting one up. See above.

Am looking forward to resuming my “arts correspondent” role for CFT soon as I am off to see The Chameleon Theatre Group’s latest production of Sleeping Beauty next week. It is panto time. Oh yes it is! Review to follow in a couple of weeks though I am planning to write a piece about fairytales and pantomime the week ahead of that review.

I do hope The Chameleons do get to stage Terry Pratchett’s Wyrd Sisters at some point as I know they’d do this well. It was a shame they couldn’t go ahead with this last autumn after all but I hope they get to have another crack at this. Great story and I know they’d do it justice.

I’ll be looking at A New Reading and Writing Year for Authors Electric ahead of all of this though – link up for that tomorrow. Again see above. Busy week on the old blogging front!

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Thrilled to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale, New Hat Time. This story came about as a result of my using a well known saying as a theme. Clue: it involves hats! Hope you enjoy the tale. Many thanks also to those who have sent in comments already on this one.

Hope you have had a good day (and kept warm enough. Lady was running around with her best buddy again so she was fine).

A major focus for me when I write flash fiction is thinking about the impact of my story on potential readers. Do I want to make them laugh, cry, occasionally scream etc? I then look at the characters who can “deliver” these things.

Competitions with set themes, I find, kind of give me a head start here because I can work out immediately the kind of impact their theme is likely to deliver, though you do sometimes get themes which can be taken in more than one direction. I enjoy those. I get to pick which way to take it!

Though when that doesn’t happen and a theme has an “obvious” impact, I have great fun in working out how I can deliver on that and what would make my characters stand out. It is a good challenge. Entering competitions is useful for this and for getting you into the habit of writing to deadlines.

Brrr…. Am so glad writing can be done in the warm! (Ironically I have enjoyed my swims so far this week. When the weather is this cold, the water feels like you’re getting into a tepid bath. Trust me it isn’t like that!).

When drafting a flash piece, I focus on getting the story down. Then and only then do I think about the word count. The story is the most important thing.

Once down, I can then look at whether I have expressed things as well as I can. Usually a turn of phrase can be improved. Sometimes I will add in a detail to improve my characterisation. The odd detail here and there can create a stronger image and make my character more relatable to a reader.

That all done, then I can figure out what word count suits the story. Sometimes I leave it at a longer count. Okay, that will change where I send the piece, but the story has to be complete in and of itself and sometimes these things do work better at 300 words rather than 100.

Fairytales with Bite – Fairytales and Theatre

This topic came to mind as I will shortly be looking at this for a longer article for Chandler’s Ford Today. I’m off to see Sleeping Beauty performed by the excellent local amateur theatre group I often review performances for and, of course, there is a close link between fairytales and pantomime.

But it led me to wonder if your stories are set in a magical world, what would they do for entertainment? What would they consider to be fairytales? Do they have such a thing as theatre? I must admit I would hope so. There is something almost magical about theatre, I think.

In your magical setting, when it comes to performing any kind of story, would magic be allowed to be used, especially for what we would think of as special effects? Or is it a case, in a magical world, that the one time this power is not used is in putting on entertainment as that has to be done “manually”? By that I mean using the arts of acting, stage set design and so on directly rather than having a wave of the magic wand solve all of that.

There is much satisfaction to be had in creating a piece of work yourself. I find this every time I complete a flash fiction piece or short story (even though I know there will be more work to be done on these things). So could your characters want to produce things like theatrical entertainment without resorting to magic to help them? This is where they get their creative spark. Just a thought. There could be some interesting stories here.

This World and Others – Alien Forms of Entertainment

Linking in with Fairytales with Bite, what would alien forms of entertainment be? After a hard day’s work collecting specimens from other planets for your bosses (and you don’t want to know what happens next, not your job to worry about that etc), where would your average alien go to be entertained? Or is the thought of entertainment, as we know it, alien to them?

On the assumption it isn’t alien, what would your characters like do to do relax? Would there be music, cinema, theatre, sports, the arts etc? Would there be things in common with Earth here or is what they do different? How would they play sport if they don’t play it as we do? How would they enjoy music if they don’t do so the way we do?

Here is where you would need to give some thought as to what your characters look like and what their physical biology is? If they don’t have ears, how would they appreciate music? Could they absorb it through their skin instead, for example?

If there is an entertainment industry, who controls it? Can all access it? Do your characters have to pay for their entertainment and, if so, what form does the payment take? Are certain entertainments more valued than others?

Now I can see story ideas forming here but also you could use these kind of questions to work out what you need to know about how things work in your setting and then share with a reader only what they need to know. So you set out early on a character absorbs music through their skin, say, by showing this to a reader early on. Readers will pick up that is what happens in your setting but naturally you need to know how things work first.

You can also drop entertainment into your story as a backdrop. Perhaps your character has to meet someone/thing important at a certain entertainment venue before going on to do whatever is expected of them. There have to be places where your characters meet and there is no reason why it couldn’t be your world’s equivalent of our pub etc.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

Authors Electric: A New Writing and Reading Year by Allison Symes https://t.co/HKLcPX1zEt Am pleased to be back on Authors Electric. I ask what you would like in this new reading and writing year and share some of the things I'd like. Hope you enjoy the post. pic.twitter.com/8paIzgRX6j
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 18, 2024

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New Hat Time, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/7nMU6hUECV Thrilled to be back on FFF with my latest tale, New Hat Time. This story is based on a well known saying. Clue: it involves hats! Many thanks also to those who have sent in comments already on this one. pic.twitter.com/A4N1TeRP9p
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 19, 2024

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Newsletter Tips https://t.co/dGC6tcLyne Pleased to share Newsletter Tips, my latest CFT post. I share why I decided to have one, discuss the advantages of doing so, and tips on scheduling newsletters and coming up with interesting content too. https://t.co/dGC6tcLyne
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 19, 2024

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New Year, New Writing Format for Val Penny

January 12, 2024Leave a comment

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Image Credits:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Many thanks to Val Penny for supplying fab author pictures and book cover images for my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. Many thanks to Richard Hardie for the publicity shot of me with my two flash fiction collections.

Hope you have had a good week. Cold with some snow here though Lady has been too busy having a lovely time with her best girlfriends over the park to take any notice of that! Writing wise, I share my first author interview of 2024 and look at why you can learn so much from reading/listening/watching these.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am delighted to welcome back Val Penny to Chandler’s Ford Today to discuss her changing from her usual long form work to the wonderful world of the short story.

Val tells me all about her new book, Hunter’s Christmas and Other Stories, in my CFT post New Year, New Writing Format for Val Penny. Does what it says on the tin, folks!

Plus there are plenty of super tips and thoughts on the short story form. Val shares with me, for example, what she found were the challenges of the short story form and what she thinks makes a character sustainable for more than one tale of any length.

Much to enjoy here and many thanks, Val, for a super interview. Good luck with the short story collection!

New Year, New Writing Format for Val Penny

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Brrrr…. I can always tell it is especially cold outside because it is the only time the water in my local swimming pool feels like I’m getting into a tepid bath! Trust me, I’m not, but it just feels like it given outside is worse!

Will be sharing my link to New Year, New Writing Format for Val Penny on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. Do look out for that. See above. Lots of good tips and thoughts on the short form of writing.

Talking of short stories, I’ve got my first flash fiction competition entry off already this year. Next on the agenda is a potential longer short story for an anthology. Will probably look at that over the weekend. First draft done a while back so any time around now is a good time to come back to it so I can see it with fresh eyes and spot the errors. There will be some!

But then that’s the purpose of the first draft, isn’t it? Just get it down and come back and do the tidying up and sorting out later. Works for me. The crucial bit is having that time away from the first draft. It helps me to put some necessary distance between the rush of creativity where everything is wonderful and the downside where you think everything is rubbish to be able to spot yes, this bit is fine, this other bit needs work, and then get on and do said work.

Lady got to play with her two girlfriends, the Vizler and Ridgeback, so is having a cracking time this week. As did they it must be said. Not quite as cold as yesterday but still time for the big coat. Fortunately most dog owners are well prepared. The new boots I had at Christmas are getting a very good airing!

Writing wise, it’s great to have my first author interview of the new year with Val Penny on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Double win here for me – we are talking about short stories too, which as you know are a huge love of mine. Link up on Friday. See above. I always find I learn a great deal from author interviews whether I conduct them, read them, listen to them etc.

Interviewing your characters by getting “them” to answer a few pertinent questions is a great way to get to know said characters well enough to write their stories up. I find the answers to said pertinent questions also throw up ideas for stories to put those characters in. If you’ve not tried this, give it a go.

You don’t need to ask a lot of questions – just a couple to get you started and these can range from finding out what your character tastes are (which will lead you to wonder why they have these) to what they would never do. The latter can lead you to dumping them right in it and having to face up to having to do this very thing – all good fun!

Author interviews are useful for another reason too. Long before my work started being published, I would study said interviews and look at the kinds of questions being asked. Let’s just say it’s proved to be excellent research material.

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Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest story, Consequences. Just how strict can librarians be? Find out here and do you agree with the attitude of my librarian character here.

A huge thank you to all who have commented on this so far – check the comments out for their views on my librarian here!

Hope you haven’t got too cold today. Lady is probably wondering why I am encouraging her to keep moving when we’re out and about right now. It’s not for her. It’s for me!

Looking forward to the first meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom later on this month. Will flag up Writing Magazine has a 500-word competition open at the moment. Deadline 15th February. For more details see the link.

There is an entry fee but it is cheaper if you are a subscriber to the magazine. (They also have a very useful competitions guide out with the magazine this month so if writing competitions are of interest to you, it would probably pay you to get a copy of this).

I sometimes love playing around with well known sayings for titles/themes for stories. I’ve done this for my YouTube story Lost in a Bad Book. Why a bad one? Well, check out the video to find out why!

But changing one word in a phrase like that can be an excellent way to come up with something which is different and will grab attention. Wouldn’t you want to know how a book could be bad, for instance?

I’ve talked about using books of proverbs and sayings for inspiration before. It is worth doing and you can change the odd word here and there in such things to get even more ideas for stories. Well worth a go.

Fairytales With Bite – The Fairy’s Commandments

If there was such as a thing as a list of commandments for fairies to follow, I think it would look something like this.

Never waste magical energy when common sense could solve a dilemma for you.
Don’t transform animals into magical objects unless there is no choice. There was a bad backlash from the animal rights lobby after the Cinderella case.
Make sure you can read your spells properly. Glass slippers, really? Those must have been horrible to wear. Nobody wants that happening again and it was assumed to be due to an elderly fairy godmother not reading said spell properly.
Don’t let humans know of your existence especially when working in their world. They are curious enough creatures. We don’t need more curiosity from them. We don’t need them tracking our world down either. They’ll only try and colonize it.
Know who and what you are taking on magically before you do so. Saves time and a lot of grief.
Keep up to date spell books and always ensure your wands are fully charged.
Always carry at least one spare wand. Things go wrong when out working. You need back up.
If an evil witch wants to boast of her evil deeds, let her ramble on. You can spend the time working out how to outwit her.
Make sure you know what your powers are and, more importantly, your limitations. We all have them. Then play to your strengths.
If you are on call as the Tooth Fairy, try not to reach for the pliers unless the kid does have a long record of being obnoxious.

This World and Others – Rules and Regulations

Rules and regulations are needed for any world including our fictional ones. Not the most interesting thing to think about perhaps but you do need to know how your world works. Where magic is involved, how far can it go? Would there be rules governing the behaviour of magical beings to ensure they don’t wipe out the non-magical ones? What can’t be solved with magic?

What are your characters expected to comply with? What does everyone have to know?

Rules and regulations will cover all aspects of life too so think about transport rules, government regulations etc. How do these all impact on your characters? Are there rules and regulations which should be abolished (no longer needed, times have changed etc) and is anyone trying to get these things removed?

If your setting has contact with other worlds (especially in trade), what are the differences between them? Are there odd rules one setting has to stick to and the others do not?

Are there rules your characters wished did exist and, if so, why? Also why haven’t these things come into being? (I would suspect a vested interest somewhere especially if the wished for rule would benefit the majority but that may be being a tad cynical!).

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Pleased to be back on FFF with my new tale, Consequences. How strict can librarians be? Find out here and do you agree with the attitude of my librarian character? Huge thanks to all who have commented on this so far – check the comments for their views!https://t.co/2rzK1eIhXt pic.twitter.com/MJl4AUr0Hb
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 12, 2024

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New Year, New Writing Format for Val Penny https://t.co/UfUIrtYn6z Am pleased to welcome back Val Penny to CFT to discuss her new book, Hunter’s Christmas and Other Stories. Plus there are super thoughts on the short story form. Many thanks, Val, for a super interview.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 12, 2024

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The Joys of Writing Dialogue

January 5, 2024Leave a comment

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Image Credits:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. A huge thank you to fellow author friends for taking various publicity shots of me last year. Much appreciated and said shots are being put to good use!

Well, the New Year in the UK has got off to a very stormy start. Hope you are all okay. Plenty of flooding and high winds in my part of the world. Have well and truly christened the new boots received for Christmas!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

My first Chandler’s Ford Today post for the New Year is all about The Joys of Writing Dialogue. I love getting my characters to talk but I do have to ensure what I get them to say is relevant to their story and moves the tale on in some way. Otherwise there is a risk of conversational ping-pong which gets in the way of a good, pacy story.

I share thoughts and tips on what I’ve found useful in writing dialogue. I also share why knowing your character types helps with this aspect of writing too. Hope you enjoy the post and find it helpful.

The Joys of Writing Dialogue

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Hope you are all okay. Stormy weather today. Enjoyed my swim but that was the only occasion today when I welcomed getting wet. Even Lady didn’t like the heavy rain and it was very heavy. Did our walk in record time this afternoon!

Another reason to love creative writing – it is something you can do in the dry! Talking of which, I will be sharing The Joys of Writing Dialogue for Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above.

My interview with Val Penny will be Friday week so plenty of good things to look forward to (and I hope you enjoy reading them in the dry!).

Will be having a busy weekend looking at some drafts for competitions. Deadlines are in February but I follow my own advice to get my entries in at least ten days before said deadline, having gone through my scripts several times. Yes, even for flash. It’s amazing how typos can get through several edits.

The one consolation here is this happens to every writer but I know to look out for this and my final edit on anything is to specifically look for these. So I set myself dates where I will have an edit to check the story works done by a set date, then I will have another edit a few days later to ensure I am still happy with the plot and go through for errors. Then a few days later still I do my final edit for typos and get the story submitted. Then off to the next story!

The weather was a complete contrast with yesterday. Lady and I didn’t get wet at all. She did get to see her best pal, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, and a riotous time was had by both of them.

Am looking forward to interviewing Val Penny for Chandler’s Ford Today again soon on her book of short stories. More details nearer the time but did I want to quiz a novelist about switching to the short form? You bet I did! All sorts of questions arose from that which I look forward to sharing later, along with Val’s answers.

Writing Tip: Never worry about rubbish first drafts. That’s the point of a first draft. You just get the story down and tidy up later. Nobody ever writes a perfect first draft. Shakespeare didn’t either. There is some consolation in that thought, I think!

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It’s great to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my first story for 2024 called, aptly, A New Start. Find out if Gemma does actually have her own new start this time. Hope you enjoy the tale (and many thanks to those of you who have already commented on this one).

Sometimes I use a theme as a title. One example of this is The Power of Suggestion in Tripping The Flash Fantastic. I get my character to show how the power of suggestion changed their life and whether it was for the good or not. Themes are fantastic hooks for stories and I like the thought of having a double whammy here by using them as titles as well.

Writing Thought: Why not write down a list of your favourite themes (and this can include proverbs and sayings too) and pick one or two to write stories up for? Think about your favourite films, TV shows, books etc – is there a common theme or two behind what you like most?

I’m attracted to the thought of people not always being what they seem (this is a classic idea in fairytales) so the moment I came across Strider in The Lord of the Rings, I did guess correctly there was more to this character than was apparent. I also thought this was true for Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series.

So do I write stories where characters are not all they seem to be? Oh yes! Simply because it is a theme I care about and working out what those are for you can be a great place to start when looking for new story ideas.

There are several good reasons to have a try at the flash fiction and short story competitions.

Firstly, these are excellent ways to practice writing to deadlines.

Secondly, following the submission rules (and these do vary) gets you some useful practice in following any future guidelines on submissions of longer work.

Thirdly, if you are long or short listed or win or get a runner’s up spot, all of this makes for excellent material to put on your writing CV. This is especially true when you are submitting longer work. It will show a publisher/agent someone else judged your material to be of a standard to get any of those placings.

Fourthly, you get in useful practice in sticking to word counts. This is especially true of the flash fiction competitions where there are those who want you to write to an exact word count. Not one word more. Not one word less. It is a good idea, when you’re drafting flash for future use, to draft some which come in at the 250, 300, and 500 word counts as these are some of the most popular categories I’ve come across for competitions.

Fairytales With Bite –

New Year Acrostic – Tips for Visitors to the Magical World

N = Never underestimate a fairy waving a wand.

E = Expect the worst if you come across a witch with a cauldron as she is highly unlikely to worry about your health and safety.

W = When visiting a magical world, expect strange creatures but the good thing is they’ll think you’re odd too.

Y = Your three wishes, if you are fortunate enough to get any, cannot be extended or transferred.

E = Expect high moral standards here, even with strange creatures about – greed is generally looked down on, for example.

A = Always treat anyone you meet with respect – you never know what powers they’ve got and prudence is a good thing here.

R = Restrict yourself to following the proper tour with guide and don’t go wandering off – it won’t end well for you if you do.

This World and Others – Beginnings

At the start of a new year, it is natural to think about beginnings. For fiction, we can look at beginnings for characters but also for settings.

How did your magical world begin? How did it get to where it is now in terms of development? Has the use of magic enhanced your setting or weakened it? Have there been magical wars? Has power had to be controlled to stop chaos erupting?

For example, if magic polluted your world, was there a point when the “bosses” said enough was enough and limited the use of magic to prevent further damage? How did your setting and characters then cope with a new beginning of limited magical use? How difficult was it to adjust?

For your characters, what beginnings have they had to face up to and were these welcome or not? What are they leaving behind so they have their new beginning? Do they have regrets or are they only too glad to have a new start (and what could lead them to feeling that way)?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES
https://author.amazon.co.uk/books

A New Start, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/Q02aOlIHBP It’s great to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my first story for 2024 called, aptly, A New Start. Find out if Gemma does have her own new start this time. Hope you enjoy the tale. pic.twitter.com/jIbEAlhMH6
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 5, 2024

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The Joys of Writing Dialogue https://t.co/FPHNh3Crjr My first CFT post for 2024 is The Joys of Writing Dialogue. I love getting my characters to talk but must ensure what I get them to say is relevant and moves the tale on in some way. I share tips on what I’ve found useful here.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 5, 2024

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Approaching a New Year/Reviewing Your Writing Year

December 29, 2023Leave a comment

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Image Credits:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Many thanks to Richard Hardie and Julia Pattison for images of me in my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week.

I hope you had a lovely Christmas and hope you go on to have a Happy New Year. It was nice having a break and catching up with family. Lady was spoiled rotten. And I have several new books to read so am very happy about that! This post is a round up one covering the Christmas period. Back to my normal twice weekly routine here from next year (but then that’s only a few days away now!).

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

29th December – CFT
Second post and it is my usual weekly one for Chandler’s Ford Today. I look at Approaching a New Year. There is a theme emerging from my posts tonight! I ask if you approach a new year with anticipation or apprehension. Well, I recall the hopes for 2020 and we all know how that turned out!

But this is a good opportunity for writers because we’re about to enter a new writing year too. This is a great chance to look at your writing goals and see where you are with them. Do they need adjusting? Sometimes they do and that’s fine but taking the time out to think about this is a good way to help propel your writing forward.

Why? Because you will make necessary tweaks and other changes to help you towards your writing goals or, if they’re not working out for whatever reason, to re-evaluate what you want to do with these. I changed direction to the shorter forms of writing as a result of one of my re-evaluations. It has proved to be a good move! Hope you find the post helpful.

Approaching A New Year

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29th December – More Than Writers
It’s double post time! First one up tonight is my post for More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. This time I look at Reviewing Your Writing Year. I share why I think taking time out to review your writing for the past year and what you would like to do over the next twelve months is a good idea.

And I stress why it is vital to focus on the positives. There will be some. Those positives can be built on too. I also take a look at reviewing your reading too given what we read is a great source of inspiration for our own stories. Certainly in my case if I didn’t have a love of reading, would I have wanted to write? Probably not!

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Am enjoying my additions to my reading pile. Good to get back to some writing yesterday. Not doing much today as seeing family. Back to full on writing from tomorrow. Will be looking at Approaching a New Year for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. See above.

Am off for further family celebrations tomorrow so may post early or not at all but I wanted to pop by now and say (a) hello, (b) hope you had a lovely Christmas and (c) to say my Chandler’s Ford Today post on Friday will be about Approaching a New Year. Will be back to normal writing routine from Friday but must admit I have enjoyed the break and am looking forward to catching up with family tomorrow. I also hope you had lots of lovely books as presents. Have added to my TBR pile!

And last but not least, though nobody really knows what day of the week it is now (there is something odd between Christmas and New Year that does this to people I think), it is time for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Down Time. It does seem apt!

NO POSTS Christmas Day or Boxing Day (I wonder why! Hope you had a fabulous time).

Have a lovely Christmas. I hope you get plenty of lovely books amongst your presents! Have ticked off The Muppet Christmas Carol from my viewing. Will be watching Hogfather later. And there’ll be other favourites to enjoy over the next couple of days – a favourite here is The Great Escape, which I remember always being on at Christmas.

I do have a soft spot for films based on true stories (though I admit The Lord of the Rings is a notable exception!). I expect I’ll be watching some of my favourite Morecambe and Wise sketches too.

Back in a few days, folks. Have a great time.

Hope you have had a good day. Lovely to have a brief chat with my great editor at Chandler’s Ford Today earlier this afternoon. Will be catching up with her more when we next go to see The Chameleon Theatre Group perform. That will be in January – for the pantomime which is always a good laugh. Oh yes, it is!

Will be discussing Approaching a New Year for Chandler’s Ford Today next Friday. I won’t be posting for a few days over Christmas and my next round up of what I write where won’t appear until the 29th too (you will still get a bumper read though!). Think I am delivering on this promise!

Hope to get plenty of reading done over the Christmas break too. I definitely put books on my wish list. Now you can’t say you’re surprised by that, eh? Hope you too get plenty of lovely books. When I’m not writing, I want to be reading.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I do hope you had a lovely Christmas. I loved catching up with favourite films, many festive, some not. All of the films had something in common though – they all had fabulous storylines and fantastic characters. Those are the two most important ingredients to any story, no matter what format it is in.

Hope to get back to submitting work to Friday Flash Fiction from next week.

And I hope having a break has inspired you with your reading and writing. I know mine has. I loved the break. I am happy to be writing again. Win-win. (And I am loving my Christmas reading!).

Naturally I hope to write more flash in the coming year. It would be nice to have a go at more competitions too.

F = Flash makes you focus.
L = Limitations on word count encourages creative thinking.
A = Always use specific details to create strong images in your readers’ minds.
S = Specific images also help you make the most of your word count.
H = Have fun with your characters as they are the stars of your flash tales.

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Just to say I hope you had a lovely Christmas. Will be back to normal writing routine on Friday but wanted to say hello now and to flag up Amazon still have a good offer on my From Light to Dark and Back Again flash fiction collection on the paperback. See link below for more. Over 40 stories for under £4.00 – bargain!

In other news, my newsletter will be going out again on New Year’s Day. To sign up for that, please head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

I use my newsletter to share tips, news, story links and so on. Many thanks to all who have subscribed – it is much appreciated.

NO POSTS Christmas Day or Boxing Day (had a great time. Hope you did too. Lots of lovely new books to read. One very happy writer here!).

Happy Christmas. Will be back online next week. Hope you get to enjoy plenty of stories and down time. There will be a Chandler’s Ford Today post on Friday where I’ll be looking at Approaching a New Year. It literally will be timely! In the meantime, have a lovely time over the festive season.

Glad to be able to share the Mixcloud link to the Three Minutes Santa show hosted by Hannah Kate on North Manchester FM last weekend. One easy link to click! Do have a listen. I loved the variety of stories and music. Enjoy!

Goodreads Author Blog – Story Time!

I know it’s not quite pantomime time. For those not in the know, pantomime happens after Christmas and goes on to late January/early February. It is a fabulous way of getting people into the theatre as it is aimed at all the family with a lot of audience participation, adlibs, and much humour. The stories used for pantomime are based on the classic fairytales. Pantomime is an old tradition too). I do know it is story time though.

I love the story of the Nativity, poems such as Twas the Night Before Christmas (also known as A Visit from Saint Nicholas), and the carols. In the Bleak Midwinter is my favourite and Christina Rossetti, like Charles Dickens, have added to Christmas related literature. Not many can claim to have done that. I also love stories in film (The Muppet Christmas Carol, The Polar Express, Hogfather).

I also love to write festive flash fiction and was privileged to have one of mine, This Is The Partnership, broadcast on internet radio recently. My tale looks at how Santa deals with a dodgy salesman. Good fun to do.

But as I mentioned in a recent post here, I am looking forward to that lovely time just after Christmas where I will get to read more, the normal routines are suspended, and I get to enjoy those presents which just happened to be books. I always have a request list here. No surprises there.

I hope you have a lovely Christmas and you get to listen to/watch/read some wonderful stories.

Fairytales With Bite – A New Beginning

A new beginning is what comes after the happy ever after ending in the classic fairytales when you think about it. Cinders and Prince Charming had to get used to their new beginning of a married life. The woodcutter in Little Red Riding Hood may well have gathered extra business in terms of removing threats after what he did to the Big Bad Wolf. If so, it would have meant an entire new career.

Major events can often trigger new beginnings. Not everyone responds to these well. (Just ask the evil fairy godmother in Sleeping Beauty. She didn’t welcome the christening. Okay it was because she wasn’t invited but there would have been a reason for that).

So think about what a new beginning would mean for your characters. Would they welcome or fear such things? When the new beginning has been forced on them, how do they handle that? Does something good come out of their situation? Can they see the point of the new beginning later on?

If your setting has to start again – new government, new way of ruling etc- how does that come about? Why? What are the consequences of the change? Does anyone resist the new beginning and do they have good cause? Are they successful?

Good story ideas there!

This World and Others – Time Measurement

I write this as we approach a New Year – 2024 – which is the one time everyone is focused on time. We measure our time by seconds, minutes, hours, days etc but how would your world do it? Would time be based on the rising and setting of any sun like star?

If your world has an industry, how would they measure working time? In the UK, time became standardised thanks to the coming of the railways. Time needed to be standardised for the railway system to work at all (no good having one time in one place and another time in the train’s destination, say) so does your setting face anything like that? Does anyone resist the change to timing systems?

What devices are used to measure time in your setting? Who invented these?

If you have Time as a character in a story, how are they recognised? How would “they” prefer to be measured?! (Would be good to ask Time directly, yes?).

No system for measuring anything can ever be infallible so what would be the failings with the system your world has and how would these impact on your characters? Here in the UK we have to adjust our clocks by an hour twice a year to adjust to daylight hours available. So what would your world do when “corrections” were needed?

Also give some thought to the downsides of being able to measure time? Are your characters’ lives dictated by the clock or other measuring device and how would this show in their behaviour and attitudes?

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Glad to be able to share the Mixcloud link to the Three Minutes Santa show hosted by Hannah Kate on North Manchester FM last weekend. One easy link to click! Do have a listen. I loved the variety of stories and music. Enjoy!https://t.co/j3iYysQqPa
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 23, 2023

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liked Allison Symes's blog post: Story Time https://t.co/2b8oK6keWO via @goodreads I celebrate stories at this time of year including carols (which tell the Nativity in song), pantomime and fairytales, as well as fab books. Hope you enjoy many wonderful tales this Christmas. pic.twitter.com/iO1BzlLoLA
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 23, 2023

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Although nobody really knows what day of the week it is now (there is something odd between Christmas and New Year that does this to people I think), it is time for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Down Time. It does seem apt!https://t.co/3CB3DeI66S
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 27, 2023

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More than Writers: Reviewing Your Writing Year by Allison Symes https://t.co/SCtrOtmbrF I share why I think taking time out to review your writing in 2023 and what you would like to write in 2024 is a good idea. There will be positives in your review, which can be built on too. pic.twitter.com/13kO0mh0bG
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 29, 2023

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Approaching A New Year https://t.co/hq1iEsA8zq Do you approach a new year with anticipation? I recall the hopes for 2020. Look at how that turned out! But this is an opportunity for writers because this will also be a new writing year, making it a good time to re-assess goals.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 29, 2023

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Allison Symes – Festive Writing and Round Up 2023

December 22, 2023Leave a comment

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All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. A huge thank you to all who shared pictures from the Bridge House Publishing celebration event with me – full details in the Chandler’s Ford Today post – but thanks, all!

Hope you have had a good week. Almost there with Christmas preparations. Loving joining in with the carols when played on Classic FM. (For the record my favourite carol is In The Bleak Midwinter but it has to be the Holst setting). Lady has got to play with a few chums this week and a new terrier pal called Freddie so she has had a good week.

Am winding down now for Christmas so my next round up post after this one will be on Friday, 29th December. For some reason I’m not going to be about to do one next Tuesday, Boxing Day! So that leaves me to wish you all a most blissful and happy Christmas and hopefully catch up with you again on the 29th.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

It’s always a joy to write the pre-Christmas round up post for Chandler’s Ford Today. This week in my Festive Writing And Round Up 2023, I report on the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event, the Three Minutes Santa show hosted by Hannah Kate on North Manchester FM, and I share some festive flash with you too. Hope you enjoy the post.

Allison Symes – Festive Writing and Round Up 2023

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Making more progress on Christmas prep work so that’s good. Lady got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal today. Two happy and tired dogs went home. Just what the doggy doctor ordered then!

Will be sharing a festive writing and events round up post for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow plus I will be sharing festive flash as part of the post. I’ll also be sharing my write up of the Bridge House Publishing Celebration Event as part of this too and the links to the Three Minute Santas show which went out last weekend. See above. You can see from the pics what a good time everyone had at the BHP event!

Looking a little further ahead, I will not be posting on 25th and 26th December for reasons which now escape me (!) and timings will vary as I disappear to have fabulous times with friends and family. I very much hope you get to do the same!

Meantime more writing and Christmas prep to do so best crack on!

Hope you’ve had a good day. More Christmas prep done today so am making progress at least. Lady got to play with her pal, Coco, and then later with a friendly terrier called Freddie. Good time was had by all.

Looking forward to sharing my festive post for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Also looking forward to the Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom tonight for the Association of Christian Writers. Will be catching up on news. Christmas jumpers are optional. Will be good fun with or without said jumper! Am so pleased a number of us had festive flash broadcast last weekend on the Three Minute Santas show hosted by Hannah Kate on North Manchester FM. Hope we can keep this going!

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Will be resuming submitting stories to Friday Flash Fiction in the New Year given they are taking a well earned break after running their Christmas competition. Many congratulations to the winner and those who were listed.

I’ll probably share a flash fiction tale on my YouTube channel sometime next week but in the meantime if you would like to check out my other stories on there, you can do so at https://www.youtube.com/@allisonsymes

Screenshot 2023-12-22 at 19-10-51 Allison Symes - YouTube

Festive flash is obviously a hot topic for me at the moment but the one thing I am always keen to avoid is any sense of tweeness. I’ve never liked it in any form of writing and, so help me, will not be guilty of it myself!

What I look to do is either write something which will make people smile/laugh (always a worthy aim, that!) or to give pause for thought (time for reflection at this time of year is also a good thing I find).

Will be taking a break over Christmas but will be sharing some of my festive flash for this year in my Chandler’s Ford Today post. Link up on that tomorrow plus I’ll be talking about the recent Bridge House event and sharing the links to the Hannah Kate radio show. So if you like festive flash, as I hope you do, please look out for that post tomorrow. See above.

I do hope to create some festive flash after Christmas and before New Year but is likely to be just on my YouTube channel and on a different day. Will flag it if I get around to doing this.

Don’t forget the December issue of Writers’ Narrative is out and the theme is Finishing Strong. Well, it is an apt topic for the end of the year, is it not?

If you haven’t read it yet, you can check it out here.

Fairytales With Bite – Is Magic The Be All and End All?

The simple answer to that question is no. Magic can’t be the be all and end all, else all conflicts and problems in stories would be resolved by a quick wave of the magic wand. No drama in that!

Magic should be seen as a tool to be used wisely and where there are no alternatives. I believe that is its use in fairytales. Cinderella did need magical help to get to the ball for example. There were no alternatives.

I also like to see magic as having consequences (on the grounds any form of power has consequences if it is used for good or for ill).

So give some thought as to how your characters use magic, what they do instead of using magic, and what consequences they face when they do use it. For example, does using magic drain their mental powers (which could also have a major impact on what else they go on to do in the story).

Consequences should be something they’re aware of (or become so fast) as I would feel it a little unfair if the character didn’t know (or find out quickly). Also if they know what the consequences are it gives them the chance to go for other options and that will make for a more interesting story. A reader will also know when they do use magical power it is because they have no other choice.

This World and Others – “Usual” Magic

What would your setting consider to be “usual” magic – I.e. what most in your setting would expect to see used on a regular basis? For example, is magic used where we use engineering? What we consider ordinary household gadgets such as the washing machine, would these be seen as magical in your setting or very basic?

Who would be the usual practitioners of any kind of magic? Are any species in your setting banned from using it? If so who, why, and is that ban enforced? What would happen if someone defied it?

Within your setting, what categories of magic exist? Can all species access magic to improve lives in their communities? Is some magic considered only to be used by the more important beings? (You can guess who brought that rule in!).

Are any restrictions placed on the use of any kind of magic for the benefit of the whole setting? Generally you don’t want beings firing magic at each other all the time and causing chaos. So what restrictions exist to prevent that from happening? What magic is considered acceptable to be used all the time?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

Will resume submitting to Friday Flash Fiction in the New Year as they take a break after running their Christmas competition. Congratulations to the winner and those who were listed. If you would like to check out my stories on YouTube, you can do so at https://t.co/UABhvVRjC1
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 22, 2023

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Allison Symes – Festive Writing and Round Up 2023 https://t.co/ltOqznSqp8 It’s a joy to write the CFT pre-Christmas post. I report on the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event, Three Minutes Santa show hosted by Hannah Kate on North Manchester FM, and share festive flash.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 22, 2023

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Introducing Rosemary Johnson – Wodka, or Tea with Milk: The Road to Publication

December 15, 2023Leave a comment

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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. Many thanks to Rosemary Johnson for supplying author and book cover pictures and images of her trip to Poland for the Chandler’s Ford Today interview this week.

Hope you have had a good week so far. Christmas preparations are coming along. So pleased to have my cards out! Mind you, it is lovely seeing the cards coming in. Nice way to keep in touch. Lady, as ever, will be looking forward to her Christmas dinner and inevitable toys. She is a great believer in Santa Paws. Writing wise, so pleased to be back on Hannah Kate’s Three Minute Santas show again and also to have another story on CafeLit (coming up later this week, will share on next post here).

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Am delighted to welcome Rosemary Johnson to Chandler’s Ford Today this week to talk about her novel, Wodka, or Tea With Milk. Rosemary shares her road to publication, which has not been an easy one, and what she thinks about writing blurbs. There is much here for many writers to identify with!

She looks at what triggered her love of creative writing and much else besides. Do enjoy a cracking interview and, many thanks, Rosemary for coming on to CFT. Also thanks for a shout out on your blog (see second link) and for referring to me as a flash writer supremo!

Introducing Rosemary Johnson – Wodka, or Tea with Milk: The Road to Publication

Chandlers Ford Today

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Will be sharing a fabulous interview with Rosemary Johnson on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. Do look out for it. See above. Rosemary will be talking about her book Wodka, or Tea With Milk, which is set against the backdrop of the Solidarity movement in the early 1980s, a time I recall well.

I love author interviews. I always learn so much from them. And even if you are not published yet (note the yet!), it is worth preparing for these.

Why? Because it gives you some useful practice in working out what to say about your book or story and to keep it succinct and interesting. That may well prove to help you in preparing a short description when you are ready to submit said work to a publisher. In reading/listening/watching other author interviews, you can learn from how they’ve done this. I know it has stood me in good stead.

Lady got to play with Coco today. Two happy dogs. Always nice to see that.

My story, I Do, I Don’t, will be on CafeLit on 17th December. This story started life as one of this year’s Flash NANO prompts. Link to come later in the week.

Looking forward to an informal Christmas chat/review of writing year with the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group next week. Glad to say three of us will have pieces on the Three Minute Santas show hosted by Hannah Kate at the weekend. This is especially nice as we managed this last year too!

Writing Tip: Festive flash fiction is the main seasonal writing I do. I’ve found it helps to focus on one thing – whether I’ll feature Santa or someone present at the Nativity etc. But for the other seasons, you can pick telling details to flag up to a reader the season in question.

For autumn, I could mention the nights drawing in earlier, or harvest events, or leaves changing colour but I would pick one as the detail for the reader to pick up on. I’ve never believed in laying it on with a trowel! One good thing about flash is the word count limit does stop you doing that.

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Delighted to share my story, Breakdown, on Friday Flash Fiction. This is the second entry by me for the Christmas competition. Here you can find out why Santa needed to call out a mechanic. Hope you enjoy the story.

Closing date for the Friday Flash Fiction Christmas Competition is midnight tomorrow, Friday 15th December. Entries to be 75 to 100 words (and the word counts are checked!). So you do still have time to get something in for this one. More details in the link.

Have another story I want to enter for a competition elsewhere. It is almost ready. Deadline is the end of the year but I want to get it in this side of Christmas to make sure (a) I don’t forget to do it and (b) to follow my own advice to get a submission in about a fortnight ahead of the closing date!

If you are entering any Christmas related competitions, good luck! Even if you don’t win or get shortlisted, these are still good things to try as they’re fun and they get you working to a deadline and word count. That is always useful to practice.

Every so often I will use something I’ve seen in a film to inspire a flash fiction story. Where the Wild Wind Blows (Tripping the Flash Fantastic) is an example of that. The film in question is The Wizard of Oz. This is good fun to do because I can take the viewpoint of another character and run with that.

Indeed it is how I got into print back in 2009 with my A Helping Hand in Alternative Renditions (Bridge House Publishing). So give some thought to the films and stories you love. Is there someone you think has been unfairly represented and who deserves to have their story told? In my first story, I went for the viewpoint of the less unkind stepsister to Cinderella.

Think about the kinds of characters you love to read about. What is it about them that draws you? What can you take from that to put into your own creations? Inspiration comes from thinking about what you like yourself in stories. So the more you read, the more inspiration you’re opening yourself up to getting! That’s never a bad thing.

Fairytales With Bite – The Christmas Tree Fairy

Hope you enjoy the following festive themed tale of woe. Who would be the fairy on top of the Christmas tree?

The Christmas Tree Fairy by Allison Symes

They get me out of the big cardboard box once a year.
They need five minutes to get the dust out of my ear.
I am given the place of honour, you see.
I must sparkle and shine, every part of me.
I look down at the festive tinsel and lights.
While affixed, I get ladders in my tights.
I watch them scoff all the Christmas chocs
Then doze away by the telly box.
I try to make the most of what I can see.
Takes my mind off having been rammed on a tree.
Pleasant it is not, there are places pine should not go
But I’m just a toy fairy, they think, what would I know?
And then before I know it Twelfth Night is here.
Tomorrow I go inside for the next year.

Ends.
Allison Symes – 13th December 2023

This World and Others – Unexpected Visitors

In your fantasy setting, what would count as alien to your usual residents? What would they make of unexpected visitors? What do they expect to be “normal”?

In the Nativity story, I have every sympathy with the shepherds being terrified when the angels arrived. Well, you would be, wouldn’t you? The shepherds knew that bright light wasn’t a natural one (at least not natural to this world). But what would frighten your characters? Would they listen to whoever their unexpected visitors were?

Why would the unexpected visitors come to your setting? Is it a peaceful trip or is there sinister intent behind it? How would your main characters handle this?

I would expect fear, hostility but do you have characters who could see the potential of getting along with the visitors, seeing benefits to both worlds? Would anyone listen to them and give them the chance to see if that potential could be realised?

Definite story ideas there!

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Many thanks to @AllisonSymes1 for posting about Wodka, or Tea with Milk on Chandler's Ford Today.https://t.co/jsDkzLxC2g pic.twitter.com/O1RFtnLKH7
— Rosemary Johnson (@REJohnsonWriter) December 15, 2023

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Breakdown, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/DlWJCGlLfI Delighted to share my story, Breakdown, on Friday Flash Fiction. This is the second entry by me for the Christmas competition. Find out here why Santa needed to call a mechanic. Hope you enjoy the story. pic.twitter.com/CYDh9oub3B
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 15, 2023

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Introducing Rosemary Johnson – Wodka, or Tea with Milk: The Road to Publication https://t.co/rcF3i2WLqI Pleased to welcome Rosemary Johnson to CFT to talk about Wodka, or Tea With Milk. She discusses her road to publication, blurbs, and much else for writers to identify with.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 15, 2023

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Getting The Most Out Of Themes

December 8, 2023Leave a comment

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All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes, as was the photo of my two flash fiction collections taken at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick, taken back in August. That seems ages ago now!

Hope you have had a good week. Weather wet, wintry, and cold. In happier news, I celebrate my wedding anniversary and am glad to share the December issue of Writers’ Narrative, another cracking read for all writers. See below for more.

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Pleased to share Getting The Most Out of Themes for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Themes, to me, are the foundation stones of any piece of writing, fiction or non-fiction. Why? Because they show me what the writer cares about.

Themes also drive character motivations. Love, as a theme, is a classic example here. What would your character be prepared to do for love (or not to paraphrase Meatloaf!)?

Motivations drive actions and reactions. Motivations are driven by the themes. Many a romance and/or crime story has come about due to the character acting and reacting to love.

Hope you enjoy the post.

Getting the Most out of Themes

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Will be looking at Getting the Most Out of Themes for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. This topic will be of use to all writers as themes are a wonderful hook for non-fiction works too. Link up tomorrow. See above.

Had a fabulous time at a sci-fi/fantasy group run by the Association of Christian Writers last night. The verdict on the Doctor Who specials was overwhelmingly positive. Must admit I did feel a tad emotional on seeing Wilfred Mott as played by the much missed Bernard Cribbins in the last one.

Storylines matter (as the Doctor Who specials are proving). There has to be a solid foundation here. I see those foundations as made up of gripping characters, a situation they have to deal with (and you know they’ve got no choice but to deal with it), and a good outcome. Okay the outcome doesn’t necessarily have to be a happy one but it should be apt for the characters and situation.

A reader (or viewer) should be able to see that yes, this outcome was a logical one, even when the story is set in the most illogical universe you can imagine. For anyone to “buy” the universe you’ve created, they’ve got to see it works.

Think about the old fairytales. There is still an internal logic to them. This happens, that happens as a result, magic is used to help a worthy character who also does something to help themselves, happy ending (usually). The follow through happens, basically. Sets up a reader to want to read more.

Where will your fiction take your readers

Delighted to say the December issue of Writers’ Narrative is now out. I have two pieces in here this time. I talk about Finishing Strong in the Short Fiction Forms (page 28). My second piece on Page 35 is where I talk about the Association of Christian Writers: Flash Fiction Group as part of the regular feature Writing Group of the Month. It is a joy to share what the group has been up to!

For my main article, I look at why there must be a point of change in your story and why I consider it is vital to at least have a rough idea of where your tale is likely to end. This is to ensure your story does end strongly. You really do need to know the stop point.

Hope you enjoy a cracking read. The magazine is packed full of wonderful information and interviews, the perfect read for any writer.

Screenshot 2023-12-05 at 21-13-46 The December Magazine isHere

Screenshot 2023-12-05 at 21-21-05 Writers' Narrative eMagazine December 2023

Screenshot 2023-12-05 at 21-21-20 Writers' Narrative eMagazine December 2023

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Delighted to share Questions, a Christmas themed story for Friday Flash Fiction. See why Sam ended up with two cookies rather than just the one he’d hoped for.

In other news am thrilled to say my festive flash piece has been accepted by Hannah Kate for her Three Minute Santas show on North Manchester FM. More details to follow in due course but so pleased to achieve this again.

Let’s just say I shouldn’t have bothered drying my hair after my swim today. Lady and I got a soaking on our afternoon walk! On the plus side, it isn’t as cold as it has been. You win some… some only, mind you.

Another plus side to writing flash fiction is you can still get something usefully drafted in a small number of words. It will still be a complete story. What it will need later is editing and polishing but that applies whether you write 50, 500, or 50,000 words.

So if you are pushed for time (and who isn’t at this time of year?), consider drafting a flash story. They make great warm up writing exercises and there are competitions and markets out there for these tales. Could well prove useful in building up publication credits. I’ve found that to be the case.

I like to end my writing day knowing I’ve got this done, that done etc. Having a story drafted is satisfying in itself. I know I’ve got something to work with and I can come back to this later when I do have more time at my desk.

Hope you have a good day. Brrr… it has turned cold again though Lady didn’t notice as she got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback, Hungarian Vizler, and Labradoodle pals this morning. Very much a puppy party! All four dogs went home tired but happy.

If you’re looking for a present for anyone who loves short reads with more than a touch of humour, I will point the way to my debut book, From Light to Dark and Back Again, which is on offer on Amazon at the moment. See link below for more.

If you would like to buy signed books directly from me, please contact me via my website at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com/contact

Contact

Fairytales with Bite – Baking in the Magical World

There are some renowned ingredients in the fairytale world, of course – suspiciously shiny red apples, the pea (though that got shoved under the Princess’s mattress rather than be used in actual cooking), and gingerbread! Plus there is bread, as dropped on the path by Hansel and Gretel, and the bean as in the giant’s beanstalk, not forgetting the good old pumpkin being readily available too.

The bread and gingerbread confirm baking has to take place to produce these things but what would be baked in your setting? Would the foods be roughly as we know them here or something completely different (to quote Monty Python!). Are Earth-style methods used for baking or is magic used for “mundane” things like cooking?

If you have magical foods, what are the qualities that make them magical? Can all characters in your setting eat them or are there some species for which doing so would have dodgy consequences? Is baking considered an art (it ought to be in my view!) or something those lower down the social scale do (not just for themselves but those above them in rank)?

For celebrations, special events, festivals etc., what special foods would be prepared? Who does the preparing? Can they be trusted? And again is magic used at all? Is food ever used as a weapon and, if so, how? Poisoning is just one way of doing so but if you have a setting where a certain food is not easily available and a neighbouring enemy setting has it in huge quantities, what stories could emerge from that?

This World and Others – Gatherings

I write this as the Christmas season rapidly approaches and naturally that is a time for people to get together. In your setting, what kind of events would have the same effect? Is your setting one where gatherings are strictly controlled and who does the controlling and why?

Where gatherings are permitted, are there rules governing this or does anything go? Is magic used at these gatherings? I always have loved Gandalf’s fireworks at the start of The Lord of the Rings though, given I am a dog owner, I would ask him, if I could, to produce for me the silent type. It’s the noise that worries the animals.

Are there gatherings which are state sanctioned/compulsory? What would be the consequences for someone not going? For other gatherings, do all of your characters enjoy these things? If there are some who don’t, why is this? How do they make themselves cope with the gatherings especially if society/family/friends expect them to turn up?

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Delighted to say the December Writers’ Narrative is out. My Finishing Strong in the Short Fiction Forms is on page 28). I look at why you need a rough idea of where your tale is likely to end to ensure your story does end strongly. Do enjoy a great read.https://t.co/je2OKMdG1R
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 6, 2023

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Questions is my festive tale on Friday Flash Fiction. See why Sam received two cookies instead of the one he’d hoped for. Thrilled my festive flash has been accepted by Hannah Kate for her Three Minute Santas show (North Manchester FM). More to follow.https://t.co/nnfzuCOUqw pic.twitter.com/50layU5hO5
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 8, 2023

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Getting the Most out of Themes https://t.co/ZLrbIPA1K1 Themes are the foundation of any writing, fiction or non-fiction. Why? Because they show me what the writer cares about. Themes also drive character motivations which then drive actions and reactions. Hope you enjoy the post
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 8, 2023

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