Tag: This World and Others

Author Interview: Maressa Mortimer – Going Downsteam

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good few days. Lady and I are not sorry it has cooled down a bit – much easier to manage! It is a delight to welcome Maressa Mortimer back to Chandler’s Ford Today to discuss her new book, Downstream. She also shares wonderful advice about world building and much more. Do check out the interview. Link below.

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I’m delighted to welcome back Maressa Mortimer to Chandler’s Ford Today this week to discuss her fabulous new book, Downstream. Maressa is the author of The Elabi Chronicles and Downstream is book three in that series, (the other two being Walled City and Beyond the Hills).

Maressa shares wonderful tips about world building and writing series books and also discusses the importance of supportive writing groups amongst other topics. Hope you enjoy the interview. Much to enjoy here and good luck with Downstream, Maressa.

Author Interview: Maressa Mortimer – Going Downstream

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Do check out my interview with Maressa Mortimer about her gripping novel, Downstream, which will be on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. See above.

As well as sharing details about the book, Maressa and I discuss writing series books (including sharing useful tips on this), having a writing routine, favourite characters, world building and so much more. Looking forward to sharing this. Oh and I know writers aren’t supposed to have favourite characters from their own works but I suspect we all do.

Writing Tip: If you have an author newsletter, plan out when you want to have your draft for the month finished by. I do this and usually have a draft completed by the 20th or thereabouts. I find this useful because it still gives me time to add things in (especially news which can come in at any time) and I have then time to review it all well ahead of when I press send.

When I have ten minutes or so to write with, I will sometimes use that to add something in to the newsletter. I like to build up the content as the month progesses so there is no last minute rush.

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Today would have been my father’s 87th birthday. I can’t believe it’s eight years since we lost him.
Lady and I are focused on keeping as cool as possible. Am thankful she likes water. At least I know I can rely on Lady to drink plenty. (She has been too. Is keeping well and is being sensible. When it is hot is about the only time she is sensible!).

Am so grateful writing is something to be done wherever I like and right now I like cool!

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting tonight. We’ll be looking at writing 50 and 100 word stories. If you ever want an interesting challenge, have a go at these. The 100 worders were my first introduction to flash fiction. Have never regretted discovering it!

FLASH - Flash fiction encourages focus but you can apply that to other forms of writing

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It’s Friday. It’s time for a story. And I’m delighted to be Lisa’s Choice on Friday Flash Fiction this week. Hope you enjoy my latest here – I Remember You.

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Don’t forget my author newsletter is out again soon. I especially focus on flash fiction so if this sounds of interest do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

This time I will also have news relating to The Best of CafeLit 13 so do look out for that if you already subscribe.

Had a lovely time at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group last night. We were looking at writing to 50 and 100 words. Have got a couple of drafts from that. Will be looking at these in a few days (I like to think of this as my cooling off period!) but think I know what I will end up doing with these stories.

Back to flash fiction writing over the weekend. Catching up with some blogs in the meantime. All wonderful things to write! (Oh and Lady and I are not sorry it has cooled down a bit. Is helping us both a lot!).

 

I’ve mentioned using questions in stories before. The reason I love them is they give you an instant structure to your piece because you and the reader know there will have to be some sort of answer before the end of said tale.

In my What the Neighbours Think (Tripping the Flash Fantastic), I use a question to make a character reflect on themselves as something odd happens and another one towards the end of the story to show a resolution to the tale. Nobody says you have to ask just one question but no matter how many you have there has to be an answer somewhere in the story to each and every one.

Metaphorical questions are fine by the way. It should be clear from context that a question is of that type and therefore no direct answer may be appropriate though in the case of this story of mine, even that one is answered by the way the story plays out.

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Fairytales with Bite – Accidents

No prizes for guessing what inspired this little tale.

A = A crafty but lazy apprentice
C = Conceited and sure of himself
C = Concocted a plan to get out of cleaning.
I = Imagination was wonderful, he thought.
D = Daring him to go further still.
E = Except things went wrong.
N = Now he had no control over the broomsticks and buckets.
T = Terrible things awaited him, he felt, when his boss got home.
S = Sadly, he was right, and he never meddled with spell books again.

Ends
Allison Symes – 26th June 2024

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This World and Others – Upholding the Law

How is the law upheld in your setting? Do most characters find this easy enough to do? Are the laws fair?
If your lead character could bring in one law, what would they choose and why? What does this reveal about them to you? If there was one law they could abolish, what would they choose and why? Again what does that choice reveal about their personality?

Who is responsible for bringing laws in? Can they or the laws be challenged? How far back in time do the laws go? Is the government a democracy or a dictatorship? The answer to that would reveal the kind of laws your society will have and how they are upheld. In the case of the latter, I would suspect with brutality where needed, given what happens here.

If you could think of a funny law, which is apt for your characters, what would you bring in and why? Story thoughts there, I hope.

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

 

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Author Interview: Jennifer C Wilson – 31 Days of Writing

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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.
Hope you have had a good few days. Dare I say it but summer does finally seem to have turned up in the UK. There have been some gloriously sunny days and Lady has been making the most of them with “puppy parties” with her friends. Writing wise, it’s a delight to welcome back Jennifer C Wilson to Chandler’s Ford Today to discuss her hot-off-the-presses book, 31 Days of Writing. If you like writing prompts, do check this one out.

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It is with great pleasure I welcome back Jennifer C Wilson to Chandler’s Ford Today on what, for her, is publication day, Her latest book, 31 Days of Writing, is out today (21st June 2024).

We discuss what inspired her to write the book, aspects of publishing (including via Amazon), favourite forms of writing prompt, and the joys of writing groups (in her case the North Tyneside Writers’ Circle which launched its first anthology last year and is planning to bring out a follow up volume).

So much to enjoy here and plenty of useful information for writers at all stages. Do enjoy and good luck with the book, Jennifer.

Author Interview: Jennifer C Wilson – 31 Days of Writing

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Hope you have had a good day. Gorgeous weather today. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler chum this morning before it became significantly hotter this afternoon. But it is good that summer seems to have turned up!

Do check out my interview with Jennifer C Wilson on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. As well as discussing her new book, 31 Days of Writing, she’ll be sharing many useful tips and thoughts on publishing. Well worth checking out. Link up tomorrow.

Writing Tip: Check out author interviews. They’re fun. You learn a lot from them. Sometimes you can learn what not to do – that can be more useful than you might think. But do look at how the authors have approached answering the questions they’ve been set.

Where relevant to your work, figure out how you would answer these questions had they been put to you. Draft some notes. See it as practice material for working out just what you will say about your books and stories. I’ve found this so useful.

 

Glorious sunshine today. Lady had a fabulous puppy party with her Hungarian Vizler, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Labradoodle pals and with a lovely Toller (Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever) called Charlie. Wonderful time had by all. Lady has a lovely habit of looking up at me as we walk home with her “happy shiny eyes” expression. She was beaming today!

Don’t forget I’ll be talking with Jennifer C Wilson, author of the Kindred Spirits series and much more besides, on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday.  We’ll be discussing her latest book, 31 Days of Writing, which is sure to prove useful to many writers. Looking forward to sharing that. (More author interviews to come too, more nearer the time). See above.

I use a mixture of writing prompts because they all make for interesting challenges. I use books of prompts (and have contributed to some) and will be interested to find out what Jennifer has come up with in her latest.

I also use story cubes, the various random generators, picture prompts (and sometimes use my own photos here) and all sorts. I like to think all of this keeps me on my writing toes. That’s never a bad thing! Up the game and all that…!

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It’s Friday. It’s time for flash fiction. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Break The Ice. We all know families like this one who won’t let a loved one live something down – check out what this is here.

Screenshot 2024-06-21 at 10-02-54 Break The Ice by Allison Symes - Friday Flash Fiction

How about a flash fiction story in four lines plus title tonight? Up for that? Good. Here goes then..

Cookie Crisis
The mystery of how the cookie jar was now empty when, less than an hour ago, it had been full was only resolved at midnight.
Fiona heard the sounds coming from her kitchen and crept downstairs to see the culprit raiding the restocked jar.
It was news to Fiona the Tooth Fairy fancied biscuits on her nightly rounds.
It came as a shock to Fiona the Tooth Fairy was capable of vanishing quicker than her cookies.

Ends
Allison Symes – 20th June 2024

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Although my main flash fiction work is at the 100 words mark, I do regularly write at lower and higher word counts than that. Some of these I save for presentations, future collections, possible competition entries etc.

I like to write across the range because I get the benefits of writing tightly (especially at 50 words or fewer) but for the 500+ word categories, I can give more detail, show more of the character(s), all still without having anything irrelevant to the story in it.

There are many flash competitions out there and from observation I would say the 100, 300 and 500 words or fewer categories are the ones I come across most often. So if you wanted to focus on any of the flash categories, I would go for those.

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Fairytales with Bite – Magical History

What value/importance does your setting place on its history, magical or otherwise? Are what we see as classic fairytales seen as real history to the characters in your setting or have they been subverted in any way (see Shrek for more on that!)?

When it comes to the history of magic in your setting, who wrote the records? Are they accurate? Do they show how magic has developed as a power source in your setting and who wields it, past and present? Was magic always present in your world (literally in the atmosphere) or has it only come to your setting by the folk who settled there? You could also think about what drew them to your setting in the first place.

Are there historical places people visit? Is history treasured or ignored? What history in your setting has been repeated over the years and could those repetitions have been avoided? What impact does your world’s history have on your characters and their stories?

We know how we can be shaped by our personal histories, our nations’ histories etc so why not take that thought and apply it to your creations? What does history mean to them and why? What would happen if someone came along to challenge their long held views? Now that would be a good source of conflict for a story or two.

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This World and Others – The Past Influencing the Future

Henry Ford is supposed to have said “history is more or less bunk”. No, Mr Ford, your view on history is more or less bunk.

While true, history is written by the winners, there is usually at least some evidence to back that history up. You normally can see why the history has been written down the way it has been.

I’m a fan of Richard III and believe he is a much maligned man. There is some (and increasing evidence) on that point. But you can see why and how Richard III has been cast as the everlasting villain. Shakespeare had a role in that!

Everyone is influenced by their own histories then, the histories of their families, their countries etc. There is no getting away from the fact the past does influence the future. For one thing, it definitely influences politics!

Now how can you make use of that thought for your characters? What from their past has influenced them? Are they trying to escape their past and are they successful?

If you have time travelling characters, what in their past is fixed and they can’t change it no matter how much they might want to do so? What would be the consequences for anyone who did try to change fixed points in time? (I think there would have to be some fixed points, otherwise your characters would get to change everything, nothing would be fixed, chaos would result).

On a more general scale, how has your setting progressed? Has it learned from its past and are things improving for your characters as a result? Or are the powers that be trying to keep things always the same, everyone in their places etc because that is how things have always been done?

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Having A Superpower

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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.
Hope you have had a good week. Weather back to being all over the place though – sun, strong winds, rain etc. Looking forward to sharing further author interviews soon on Chandler’s Ford Today so do keep an eye out for these. Meantime, I reveal in this week’s CFT post what I would choose if I could have a superpower. Well, what would you choose? Comments are welcome on the CFT page.

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Hope you have had a good day.

Glad to share Having a Superpower for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I share what I would pick and why. I also discuss why it pays, even in fantasy, not to allow your characters to have unlimited powers. If everything could be solved by the wave of a magic wand, where is the story? I also look at the problems of superpowers. Hope you enjoy the post.

Having a Superpower

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You can find out what I would choose as a superpower in my Having a Superpower post for Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. The idea for this post came from a prompt I set as an exercise for the recent Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting. Lovely to get a non-fiction post from the idea.

Writing Tip: The random generators (words, numbers, pictures, themes etc) are great fun to use to trigger ideas but do bear in mind (a) these things are a starting point and (b) there’s nothing to stop you taking what has been generated and you then put your own twist on it. I’ve done this a lot.

It’s also a good idea to make yourself write to the prompts that emerge because they will come up with things you would not otherwise have thought of and I’ve found it great fun to find out just what can I do with this idea. They are great ways to encourage you to think outside of your usual creative thinking box.

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady got to see her two best girlfriends again today – three days in a row. All three dogs very happy about this.

As well as my author newsletter, I do have a YouTube channel where I post flash fiction videos. (I usually post here once a week). New subscribers are always welcome.

Just go to https://www.youtube.com/@allisonsymes

I use BookBrush to help me create the videos and then I upload them to my channel. Easy and fun to do and I am grateful Dawn Kentish Knox flagged up to me how to add audio to these. Nice selection of tracks available, some of which you have to give accreditation to, but you are given the form of words to use for this when you’re putting a description of what your video is about in the relevant box. You just copy and paste this form of words in – easy peasy. I’ve only used the odd one or two of these. I mainly stick to the ones I can just use without that.

But it is lovely being able to have a form of story sharing which is both visual and audio. I like this a lot. Works well for flash tales.

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It’s Friday. It’s the end of the working week (for many if not all). It’s time for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Regrets. Billy may be a bestselling author but he has regrets too – find out what and why here.

Screenshot 2024-06-14 at 09-57-05 Regrets by Allison Symes - Friday Flash Fiction

Good to see the first review has come in for The Best of CafeLit 13. If you’ve read the book, please do leave reviews. They help all of the authors in the anthology. Thank you.

I do review books myself. I try to keep my reviews short (writing flash fiction a lot helps with that!). They don’t take long to do and, other than buying the book itself, reviewing is one of the other most important things someone can do to support authors.

When I review I like to give an idea of what I liked without revealing spoilers. I’m always intrigued by characters so if they grip me in a story (as they should do), I will mention that and why they did this.


Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting in a couple of weeks. Am working on a presentation for it. I like to work to a theme (same as with my newsletters funnily enough) as these make useful “pegs” to hang relevant material from. It also means we cover different aspects of flash fiction writing.

A writing exercise in three stages for you to try:-

1. Using a random name generator, pick the fifth name which comes up and write a character outline up for that name.

2. Using a random theme generator, pick the fifth theme which comes up and then get your named character to meet that theme in some way.

3. Using a random sentence generator, pick the fifth sentence which comes up and use it to either start or finish your story with.

Have fun!

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Fairytales with Bite – How Characters Handle the Unexpected

How characters handle the unexpected reveals a great deal about them no matter what the story genre might be. In a fantasy setting though you can have even more fun here because just what would count as unexpected in a magical world, for example?

Would that be something like a sudden shortage of magical powers (the equivalent of us having major power cuts basically)? Could a character find they can no longer perform certain magical tasks they always used to be able to do (and could this be related to their aging process perhaps)?

Can the unexpected situation be reversed or dealt with in other ways? Or do your characters have to find new ways of handling matters and how easy or otherwise do they find this? How do they cope with the stress of having to find new ways of handling things, especially if they are under any kind of time pressure? (Good way of raising the drama that one!).

What could the unexpected lead to? Does your world setting have to change its ways? Has the unexpected shown them something of themselves that really should be put right? (You need the equivalent of the kid in The Emperor’s New Clothes here to call out what is wrong here, I think).

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This World and Others – How Things Get Done

How do things get done in your setting? Does your world have the equivalent of engineers, inventors, scientists etc? When they come up with useful ideas for your world, how do they get these out into the public domain so all can benefit from them? Are there safety procedures in place, proper testing done first etc before anything new does get unleashed more widely?

When things go wrong, as does happen when anything new is being developed, how is that handled? Does this have an impact on the general population or is it contained because nothing gets unleashed until this kind of testing is done and done thoroughly enough?

Who controls the way things are done? I’ve often mentioned in this blog the powers that be. This matters. Nothing exists in a vacuum. So your characters will be in a world setting. There will be governments, politicians, and so on. Someone has to over see things. For the inventive side of things, there has to be some organisation which will test things, ensure they are safe for general use etc. So how would this work out in your world?

Could you tell stories about the characters who do this kind of thing and show the problems and stresses they face?

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Author Interview: Jenny Sanders Part 2 and Remembering D-Day 80 Years On

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Hope you have had a good week so far. Have had some lovely weather, hope it continues. Pleased to share Part 2 of a fabulous interview with Jenny Sanders for Chandler’s Ford Today – this time we’re looking at launches, marketing etc. Plenty of tips and useful thoughts. Lady’s thoughts this week, however, have revolved around how much of a good time can she have with her chums. Useful to her but nobody else!

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Am delighted to welcome Jenny Sanders back to Chandler’s Ford Today for the second part of her interview which forms part of her blog tour for Polished Arrows, her latest devotional book, which is now out.

This week we discuss marketing, launches, tips on reaching potential readers, the value of supportive writing groups (Jenny and I are both members of the Association of Christian Writers), and much else besides.

Hope you enjoy the interview – plenty of tips and useful thoughts for all writers here. Good luck, Jenny, with Polished Arrows.

Author Interview: Jenny Sanders – The Polished Arrows of Non-Fiction Writing – Part 2

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6th June 2024 – 80 Years Ago…

Today of course is the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Will be listening to a special programme Classic FM are putting on later this evening featuring suitable music, clips from veterans etc. (It was wonderful). Am sure it will be so moving. (It really was).

I tend to think back to my grandfathers for D-Day and Remembrance in November. One fought. One was in a reserved occupation (and was forever being bombed out).

It is a sobering thought to consider I am only two generations away from this history and only one if you count my parents, both of whom were evacuated from London as children. My father was too young to go for the first batch of evacuees but did go later on in the war when the threat of the V1 and V2 occurred.

We have much to be thankful for including the freedom to have an education, to read, and to write. Too easy to take those things for granted.

Have read Double Cross by Ben Macintyre recently. It is the true story of the D-Day spies who made such a difference. Highly recommend along with his Operation Mincemeat. Stories are so important in preserving what happened for others to learn from, including us.

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Hope you have had a good day. Lady has had an excellent one in that she saw her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback chums again today. Lady and the latter had a good zoomie session too. It is a sight worth seeing but you stand well back! Both of them can put in a terrific pace. You don’t want to be mown down by a combined weight of 58 kilos of dogs!

I’ve mentioned before I interview my characters to find out more about them before I decide if they’re worth writing up or not. I try to ask in depth questions because, as in a “real” interview, such as the one I’ll be conducting with Jenny Sanders on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday, you want the one answering the questions to open up. You don’t want the simple yes/no answers. That kind of response doesn’t tell you much.

But questions such as what do you fear most and why can trigger some interesting responses. I have to think about what my characters would fear and then figure out what they would do if they had to face up to that fear. The fear doesn’t have to be a complicated one either. Looking at the reason why can be fascinating too.

If my character feared black curtains, I would then be delving into their past history to come up with a reasonable explanation for that. This means I have to flesh them out more and it is that process which helps me to get to know them well enough to create situations I can put them in.

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Hope you enjoy my latest story on Friday Flash Fiction – Litter. What will Rosie do when confronted by litter louts? Who gets the upper hand and how? Find out here!
Screenshot 2024-06-07 at 10-00-24 Litter by Allison Symes

6th June 2024 – 80 Years Ago…

To all who fought on the beaches 80 years ago on D-Day, thank you.
To all who worked behind the scenes to make D-Day a reality, thank you.
To those who came back, thank you.
To those who did not, thank you.
The least we can do is remember.
Allison Symes
6th June 2024

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Writing flash fiction has led to me writing more in the first person and it does have its advantages. It is immediate. I take you straight into my characters’ heads. You literally see their world through their eyes.

But I do like a good balance so when I’m thinking of stories, one of the first questions I ask myself is whether this would work best in first or third person. When I’ve got more than one character in a story, then I’m going straight for third person (though I may get one of the characters to show you some of their thoughts if it is appropriate to do so).

For individual characters, first person is inevitable though I often get them to refer to other characters who mean something to them. Doesn’t necessarily need to be a good meaning either!

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Fairytales with Bite – The Establishment

Who or what makes up the establishment in your setting? How did it become the establishment? Is it based on long standing traditions, rights of inheritance, or have your characters had to fight their way to the top? Or is it a mixture?

What do the”ordinary” characters make of the establishment? Are they generally in support or are they oppressed by it? Does magic underpin the way the establishment works and could that be broken by anyone?

Give some thought as to how your establishment issues laws. Is it rule by diktat or is there some semblance of democracy? What did your current establishment replace? Is the replacement an improvement or not? Are all species in your world setting represented in this body or are some deliberately excluded?

What role has the history of your setting placed in getting an establishment established in the first place?
Does it have any role to play in the lives of most of your characters or is a remote establishment in that local governments etc do the day-to-day running of things and most characters are more affected by what they do instead?

Every society has an establishment of some sort though the make up of these differs. You could use what we have here – monarchies, republics (democratic or otherwise) – to give interesting backdrops to your stories.

Also could your establishments hinder your characters in what they are trying to achieve in your stories? If so, how? Hiw do your characters overcome that, assuming they do?

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This World and Others – The Hospitality Industry

One of the sectors to be affected the worst by Covid was the hospitality industry. It didn’t matter what country you were in – this applied worldwide. In your setting, what does the hospitality industry comprise of and what disaster could hit them badly? How is that disaster resolved?

Every so often I like to go out for a pub meal with family but have noticed, though the pubs are recovering from the pandemic, they are still not fully back to how they had been. Hopefully time will rectify that. But in the event of a disaster in your setting, how long would it take your hospitality industry to recover? What support would they have?

Separately, think about who works in this industry. They meet people all the time. They probably get to hear and see interesting things while serving drinks, meals etc. This was certainly true of The Prancing Pony in The Lord of the Rings!

So who could you get to be in a pub like environment? What would they say which might be of interest to someone else (and why is it of interest)? What pivotal role could your hospitality settings play here?

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Author Interview: Jenny Sanders Part 1- The Polished Arrows of Non-Fiction

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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.
Hope you have had a good week. Weather all over the place again here. Lady not worried as she has been seeing her pals most of the week. Glad to share Part 1 of a fabulous two part interview with Jenny Sanders for Chandler’s Ford Today. Jenny discusses her new devotional book, Polished Arrows. Devotional works are in themselves a specialised (almost technical) form of writing so it is lovely to have it represented on CFT.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Second post from me today and it’s time to share Part 1 of a fabulous two-part interview with Jenny Sanders for Chandler’s Ford Today.

She discusses her new devotional book, Polished Arrows, with me and shares how she faced the challenge of switching from her children’s story work to what is a specialised form of non-fiction writing. She also shares how she went into devotional writing in the first place and how Robben Island, South Africa (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for so long) played a major part in this work.

Part 2 will be up next week. Meantime do enjoy Part 1 and good luck to Jenny on both her launch and book blog tour (this interview and next week’s forms part of that tour).

Author Interview: Jenny Sanders The Polished Arrows of Non-Fiction Writing – Part 1

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31st May 2024 – More than Writers
Double blog post from me today. First blog post is due to me forgetting I should’ve shared something a couple of days ago! Apologies, folks, but my latest post for More than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers, should have been shared by yours truly on the 29th. Oops! Still better late than never!

This month I talked about Flash Fiction – Advantages for All Writers. Well, they do say write about what you know! Hope you enjoy the post and a huge thank you to all who have already commented on it (bar the one who is doing an advert for something not writing related at all. Grrr…).

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Will be so pleased to welcome Jenny Sanders back to Chandler’s Ford Today for the first part of a wonderful in-depth interview concerning her new devotional book, Polished Arrows.

Amongst other things, we will be discussing the joys and challenges of this kind of specialist writing and how Jenny began writing devotionals in the first place. Her other work is in short stories for children. So quite a contrast there. Link up tomorrow. See above.

Good luck to Jenny too for the launch of her new book. It is always exciting to have a new publication out there.

Many thanks to Jenny Sanders for the author shot below.
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Lady had a lovely time with her Rhodesian Ridgeback friend today so all is right in her world.

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting tonight on Zoom. Always good fun. Theme is questions and answers this time. (They are an excellent structure for all forms of writing for one thing).

A question for you though. Have you thought about making your characters answer questions they would rather not face in the course of your story? There could be some interesting ideas emerging from what it is they don’t want to face here and from what happens when they do have to face those questions and deal with them in some way.

Have fun (though I concede your characters almost certainly won’t but then isn’t that one of the joys of writing – to dump your characters right in it and see how they manage? I refuse to believe that is just me).

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Facebook – From LIght to Dark and Back Again

It’s the end of the working week. It’s time for a story. Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my Unwelcome News. Just how will Melissa take her “Dear John” letter from Stefan, who has cleared out her bank account, and which of them has the biggest secret? Find out here!
Screenshot 2024-05-31 at 10-15-31 Unwelcome News by Allison Symes


Had a lovely time at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting last night on Zoom. The questions and answers topic generated plenty of ideas for stories for all of us and I am looking forward to working on some of my ideas from this session in due course. That’s the joy of joining in with the exercises on the night – I too get ideas triggered for me to work on later.

The Bridport Prize competition deadline is 31st May, so you just have time to submit something. Having said that, I would call this last minute.com submitting given I’m writing this on 30th May! There are other competitions out there though.

If you have got a copy of the competition guide Writing Magazine issued earlier this year, it would pay you to have a look through that and mark up the competitions which catch your eye. If you haven’t do check out their website though bear in mind some of their competitions are for subscribers only. Still worth taking a look though especially if you are a subscriber.

Screenshot 2024-05-30 at 19-45-27 Writing Competitions - Writers Online
Hope you have had a good day. Am running the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting tonight. Will be nice to see everyone. I do set exercises for these meetings and often I will join in with these on the night myself. I love live writing exercises. I’ve recently used some of the ideas I came up with for a previous session here to then write stories which have since ended up on Friday Flash Fiction and on my YouTube channel. Win-win I think there!

I do sometimes prepare an answer in advance for an exercise I’ve set to give an example and I know I’ve learned a great deal from workshops I’ve attended as a delegate where that has happened. But I do love the adrenalin rush when you’re set an exercise and you think now what can I do with this? I’ve learned to not worry about how rough the result is – this is only going to be a first draft and only I will see it – but the thrill of knowing I’ve got something down in answer to the brief is wonderful.

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Fairytales with Bite – Nasty Surprises

Thought this was an apt topic given I had a nasty surprise recently, having been burgled. Give some thought as to the kind of surprises your characters could well do without. Think about how they would handle these (with or without help) when forced to face up to them. Just what would count as a nasty surprise in a magical setting? Could magical powers fail at a crucial moment (and what would trigger that failure)?

Who would be behind the nasty surprises and why are they doing this? What are they hoping to gain (as there has to be something here to make it worthwhile for them to go to the bother of doing this)? Can those nasty surprises be overturned or softened (as in Sleeping Beauty)?

One nasty surprise, of course, could be a formerly reliable character turning to evil ways. What would be behind that? Are they motivated by money, power, or fear of what would happen if they don’t “turn”? Do they end up regretting changing ways here or is it something they wished they’d done years ago? Are there any indications a character like this might turn bad to the other characters in your story? Could early intervention prevent what could be a very nasty surprise indeed?

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This World and Others – Crime and Punishment

In any society in any setting, there will be those who break the accepted rules. There will have to be ways of dealing with that so society doesn’t break down. (Well, not unless that is the point of your story and you are showing how it breaks down etc but even then think about how you would end your story. No resolution to the problem would, to me, seem depressing. There is a place for dystopian fiction but must admit it isn’t my reading choice).

So how would your fantasy settings handle the idea of crime and punishment? Would these be akin to what we have here or something only your world could do because….?

Does your society have the equivalent of a police force (or the wonderful Watch from the Discworld novels)? How effective are they? Are they held in regard by the rest of your society?

What would be considered reasonable punishment for crimes? Indeed, what would be recognized as crimes? Is there a crime, say, of misusing magical power and how could that be proven and what would be done here (especially if the idea is to stop others doing this?).

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Decisions

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good week. Mine has got better as we slowly recover from the burglary. There is much to be said for keeping the drama strictly to the pages of fiction!
But Lady has seen her best friends this week and, especially on Wednesday, you could see she was being cheered up considerably by her Rhodesian Ridgeback bestie. It was sweet to watch. Tuesday was so stressful.
It has been a relief to get back to writing. It has helped enormously in terms of feeling things are almost normal again and just being creative in and of itself, I’ve always found is its own reward especially in stressful times. I guess it is because it is an outlet.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Pleased to share Decisions, my latest post for Chandler’s Ford Today. I look at the topic from the viewpoints of writing decisions (including the choices characters have to make), career decisions, and the value of going to writing events and chatting with other writers, as you can often find out so much from this.

That in turn can lead you into writing paths you might not otherwise have found (more decisions to be made there!) and I can vouch for this. I met my publisher many years ago long before I wrote anything for them. Neither of us at the time could have known how things would pan out here. More details in the post.

https://chandlersfordtoday.co.uk/decisions/

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Things are slowly returning to normal here. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler friend today.

My Decisions post is up on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow (see above) and my next author newsletter will be out on 1st June.

To sign up do head over to my website at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

I set a monthly theme for the newsletters, as well as sharing news, as it gives me a “peg” to hang tips and short posts on which I hope prove useful. I try to think of what I would look for in this newsletter if I was the one receiving it. I find this a useful technique here and for writing my fiction because it helps me to focus on what really matters here – giving something of value to readers (potential or actual).

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Everything stops for tea, including changing the world apparently, as my character, George, testifies in my latest tale for Friday Flash Fiction called Tea Break. Hope you enjoy the story.
Screenshot 2024-05-24 at 11-56-13 Tea Break by Allison Symes

I like to hit the ground running with all of my stories so try to ensure my opening line intrigues in some way. Sometimes I use dialogue for this. Sometimes I set up an odd situation. Sometimes I show a character’s thoughts and ensure they’re thinking something interesting!

Sometimes I use questions as an opening line because you then know the story has to answer said question. All are fun to do and if you would like to check out more of what I do, the link takes you to my Amazon Author Central page.

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Fairytales With Bite – “Normal” Routines

I’d decided on this topic before discovering I’d been burgled earlier this week so I guess it is a timely topic! What would your magical characters consider to be their normal routines? Which do they like? Which do they tolerate (on the grounds they probably don’t have much say in the matter?

Can they ever get back to their normal routines after their adventures or do they have to make new ones and, if so, how easy or otherwise do they find that process? Are others around them, especially those who did not go on the adventures with them, understanding of this or not?

If you have more than one kind of magical character, where are there similarities in normal routines for the different types of being? Which would be radically different? Can this lead to conflict? Are there bridge builders who try to improve relationships between the species?

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This World and Others – Dealing with the Unexpected

Again, I came up with this topic before my burglary this week. I have indeed been dealing with the unexpected!

How do your characters cope with the unexpected? As with us, some will inevitably handle it badly, especially if they are routine dependent. Others won’t be fazed by the unexpected at all. Could you put the two types here together in a story?

What impact does the unexpected and how it is handled have on them both? Would the more confident one help the other one to cope with future unexpected events because of the way they show them how they handle this one right now?

Where does the unexpected come from incidentally? Is it something that could reasonably be expected at some point or is it truly coming out of nowhere? If your world is facing something unexpected, who takes charge to deal with it? Are they successful?

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Tea Break, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction <a href=”https://t.co/Lf2Am2VCkA”>https://t.co/Lf2Am2VCkA</a&gt; Everything stops for tea, including changing the world apparently, as my character, George, testifies in my latest tale for Friday Flash Fiction called Tea Break. Hope you enjoy the story. <a href=”https://t.co/SThc7EAYKq”>pic.twitter.com/SThc7EAYKq</a></p>&mdash; Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) <a href=”https://twitter.com/AllisonSymes1/status/1794067934945464514?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>May 24, 2024</a></blockquote> https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Decisions <a href=”https://t.co/JxpGU14jqa”>https://t.co/JxpGU14jqa</a&gt; Pleased to share Decisions, my latest post for CFT. I look at the topic from the viewpoints of writing decisions (including choices characters make), career decisions, and the value of going to writing events and chatting with other writers.</p>&mdash; Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) <a href=”https://twitter.com/AllisonSymes1/status/1794069007454077312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>May 24, 2024</a></blockquote> https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

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Journeys

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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 and Scottish photos were taken by me, Allison Symes.
Have had a fabulous Scottish break. Couldn’t have asked for better weather either. Lady has had a wonderful time too. I’ll be back at my normal writing desk for my next post here.
Will be looking forward to running an editing workshop not long after my return and the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction group meeting not long after that so back to normal in every sense but it is great when you enjoy a break but also don’t mind getting back to normal life again. Well as normal as it gets for a writer anyway.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Delighted to share Journeys on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Appropriate too as I prepare to return home from a fabulous break in the gorgeous north-east of Scotland.

In my post, I look at how journeys work in fiction and non-fiction, as well as discuss how every story, regardless of its genre, has to be a journey in and of itself. Well, it does have to have a beginning, a middle, and an end, and the character(s) have to resolve some sort of dilemma enroute, yes? I call that a journey! Hope you enjoy the post.

Journeys

 

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Have no idea where the time goes when away on holiday. Revisited my favourite northern beach – Dunnet – today. Right up at the top end of the country along the coast from John O’Groats with stunning views.

We walk for miles here and Lady has finally got to do something which was a tradition for our previous dogs, Gracie and Mabel, which is to lick out our icecream pots! See pic.

The drive up to Dunnet on the A9 is stunning too. The views are incredible and I have a deeper appreciation for the old map makers who had nothing but paper, pencils and pens, and a ruler to draw up those original maps. They’re incredibly accurate too.

Am enjoying what remains of my break listening to Classic FM played through Alexa at the cottage here. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find Lady, rather than being spooked by it, has taken no notice of it whatsoever! Have been impressed by the sound quality via Alexa too. Useful to have in a remote cottage (we’re truly off grid where we are at the moment).

My Journeys post is up on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow and I will be sharing a two part interview with Jenny Sanders here in the not too distant future. Am working on other articles for Writers’ Narrative, which I hope to finish on my return home.

Am making good progress on a potential fourth flash fiction collection though I do want to add more stories to it to get the word count up to about 60,000 words or thereabouts. Next week will be spent mainly in catching up with various bits and bobs I suspect. It usually is spent that way after a break.

Lady having her first icecream at Dunnet

Lovely day though it started with a lingering mist. Once it did clear, we were blessed with glorious sunshine. Revisited Helmsdale, Dunbeath, and Brora today. Lady had a fabulous time on the beach at Brora. It is a mixture of sand and seriously impressive rocks and is home to a seal colony too, not that we saw any of them today. (I’ve captioned the picture below as Lady, Queen of the Rocks. She loved walking on them, through them etc).

When we’ve travelled in previous years on the train up to Wick (which is like a tour of Scotland in one hit as you see coast, mountains, moors, farmland etc on the one trip), the railway line goes right by the beach at Brora and you usually do see the seals out. Can’t get a better view of them in fact.

Writing wise, my post on Journeys for Chandler’s Ford Today is up on Friday. I look at the topic from the point of view of how journeys are used in fiction and non-fiction. I look at character journeys too.

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again on 1st June. To sign up head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Lady at Brora, Queen of the Rocks

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I wrote my story for Friday Flash Fiction this week overlooking a lovely view from a remote holiday cottage on the north-east coast of Scotland. Am not going to get a better view than the one I had! Back to usual desk for my next tale! Meantime I hope you enjoy A Break Does You Good but what kind of break is my magical character really after? Find out here. (And am thrilled to be one of the two Editor’s Choices this week too).

Screenshot 2024-05-17 at 19-35-08 A Break Does You Good by Allison Symes

Back to Dunnet again today as it is one of my favourite beaches – see the pic as to why. This is just a short section of the beach too.

One lovely discovery at the holiday cottage was a welcome hamper with chocolates, shortbread etc in it. Other half and I have made short work of those this week!

But the thought of a lovely welcome like that led me to think about characters. If they went away somewhere, would they be made welcome at their destination (or stopping points along the way come to that)? Is the purpose of their journey known and welcomed or feared? Did the characters leave willingly or did they have no choice? Is it likely they’ll come back and, if so, how will their return be handled?

The returning hobbits in The Lord of the Rings were changed by their experiences and rightly so. Therefore their experience of The Shire on their return was different from how they’d known it before their adventures started.

(If you read the book, you’ll find out more about why things were different, the films didn’t cover this, which has always struck me as an odd omission. The films were long as it was so to me it would have made sense to have filmed this final section of the story as Tolkien told it).

Return visit to Dunnet saw even more glorious weather and a better view of the headland

Spent today visiting old haunts in this wonderful part of Scotland today (North-East coast). Image below is of some seriously impressive rocks at Dunbeath which is a lovely village just off the A9.

Give some thought as to what old haunts your characters might have. Also are there places they would never go to again even if they were paid to go? What does this reveal about them to you? How would they handle things if they were forced to go back to somewhere they swore they’d never go again?

Another angle to this is whether the ones left behind in the old haunts would welcome your character(s) back or not. People don’t always welcome back the prodigal son/daughter/alien being etc and there could be some interesting story ideas here too.

The rocks at Dunbeath are seriously impressive

Fairytales with Bite – Holidays

By the time this post goes out, I’ll be about to return from a much needed and wonderful break in the Scottish Highlands. Holidays of any kind can give a much needed break away from routine and refreshment.

So where would your magical characters go when they needed to put down the old magic wand for a while to get right away from it all? Which places in your setting would be known as “resorts”? Are there specific places for people to go to of a certain magical ability and higher? Where would the “lower” magical characters be expected to holiday?

Thinking about the government of your setting, most here on Earth do have a kind of summer break while the business of government continues albeit at a lower level. How would this work in your setting? Who would ensure the day-to-day matters were still done?

There is, of course, a holiday industry ranging from self catering to the poshest hotels, from camping to exotic cruises etc. So many work behind the scenes here. In your magical setting, who would be the equivalent of the travel agents, the hoteliers, the companies who offer self catering properties etc?

Thinking about your characters, who decides where to go when wanting a break? Also, are there any kind of public holidays when most would have some time off?

What would your characters do on holiday? Would seeing somewhere different change their life for better or worse on their return home again and what could that lead to? Travel broadens the mind. What would that do to your magical characters and are any allowed to explore outside of their own world?

Image below:  Beautiful Brora

Beautiful Brora

This World and Others – Getting Away

Linking with Fairytales with Bite above just how would your characters get away from it all and is this option available to all or just a select few? For those without magical transport of their own, are there public services they could buy “into”?

If exploration is allowed out of the character’s own world, where would they go, how would they get there, and are they expected to blend in with the locals? What might happen if they didn’t do the latter? Would the other world welcome alien visitors? (How would you react if a fairy godmother, armed with wands and spell books, turned up in your vicinity? Not everyone would take that well).

Does your character’s home world welcome visitors from other planets? Could humans accidentally or deliberately locate your magical world and how well would that go down? Would those humans be allowed to go home again?

If worried about humanity’s impact, which would not be unreasonable given what we’ve done to our own planet, what would happen to the ones who did make it to your setting? Would they be allowed to settle down in the magical world or would they be magically disposed of?

Also give some thought as to other reasons why your characters might want to get away. What would they be trying to get away from and do they succeed?

Image below:  The long and winding road – north-east Scotland (just one of many here but all with stunning views and plenty of wildlife to watch out for).

The long and winding road outside Glen Cottage

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Questions and Answers In Writing

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Hope you have had a good week. Lovely to have the temperatures matching the spring weather at last. Posts will be out at different times next week but am looking forward to my Scottish break. Will do hubby, dog, and I the world of good, as it always does.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Delighted to share Questions and Answers in Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I look at the value of a simple but timeless structure for writing, which works just as well for non-fiction as it does for fiction. I also share specific examples of good questions to ask for use in fiction and non-fiction respectively. Hope you find the post useful.

Questions and Answers In Writing

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The spring sunshine has finally turned up with a lovely temperature to go with it. Lady and I are loving this.

Will be looking at Questions and Answers in Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. See above. Post will look at how these work for fiction and non-fiction. They do make a useful structure for your writing.

Writing Tip: Mix up how you find prompts for your writing. It keeps things interesting for you by keeping you on your creative toes. No bad thing that. I like to use a mixture of the random generators, story cubes, books of prompts, proverbs and phrases etc. I have written stories, many of which went on to be published, from all of these methods.

442385796_10161874238522053_2352573593092291139_nHope you have had a good day. Proper spring weather at last – Lady and I loved it.

I’ve mentioned before I use random generators of various types to help trigger ideas. They are the modern equivalent of story cubes (and I use those too!). I had a quick look at the random question generator tonight and came up with What is one of the great values that guides your life?

Now that could make an interesting blog post or non-fiction article but it would have uses in fiction too. You could use this as a theme, deciding on the value in advance and showing that being played out through your story. You could get your character to answer the question directly and then backing it up with their actions. You could also have fun here by showing them failing to live up to what they said. What would be the fallout there? There would be some.

Screenshot 2024-05-08 at 19-52-48 Random Qs

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest 100-worder, Artistic Inspiration. Talking of inspiration, this one is inspired by the old Tom and Jerry cartoons (which are always worth watching). Find out why via the link. Hope you enjoy the story.

Screenshot 2024-05-10 at 10-16-39 Artistic Inspiration by Allison Symes

Another great way to have fun with flash is to write what I call a “two-hander”. This is where one character is directly addressing another one who is reading what the first one has sent to them which is in the style of a letter, minus the usual greetings and yours sincerely bits etc.

My example of this is You Never Know from From Light to Dark and Back Again where my lead character is berating the unseen other character for envying them a luxurious life as a magical tour guide.

The story shows exactly why it is any thing but that. Would you fancy the Gollum special (the raw fish diet), for example, which my lead character has to have? Doesn’t matter if they get tired of it. Would you listen to Snow White’s advice to never eat anything red and glowing? (I can’t help but feel that is good advice outside of fiction as well!).

Fun to write but you need a strong lead character who has enough to say on the theme of the story and ideally does so with wit. (Nobody likes a whiner). You want your readers to end up sympathising with what the lead character is putting up with here. So think about who your two characters would be and how the second one would give the first one something to write to them about.

Allison Symes - Flash Fiction Collections

If you have a character with special powers or abilities, you do need to let readers know about this before any demonstration of those things.

In my Being Yourself (Tripping the Flash Fantastic), my character reveals what her special gift is, then demonstrates it, leading to a satisfying conclusion as she…. Well no spoilers here as ever but the point is I do set that special gift up ahead of showing it in action. To do anything else won’t ring true for a reader.

A reader will also need to understand why your character wants to use these gifts/powers. Doesn’t necessarily have to agree with the course of action being taken by the character but there has to be what I call good follow through in that a reader sees what is happening, understands why, and so the story will work for them.

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Fairytales With Bite – Travels

How do your characters get around in your setting? Do they rely on broomsticks or do they have more sophisticated forms of travel? Do your characters regularly travel or is it something they only do out of necessity (such as with the hobbits in The Lord of the Rings)?

Are certain species banned from travelling and how did that come about? Is travel easy for most or only the reserve of the privileged few? Is magic used to power transport or is that saved for other more important things? You could have a combination of machines as we would know them with magical power saved for what cannot be done mechanically.

Which characters can fly directly? Which need to use a broomstick or other device? Can animals fly in your setting and would that be restricted to those who would normally be renowned for running such as the horse? (You could argue their flying would equal their running on the ground, they would just be “running” in the sky effectively).

Are there places in your setting where everyone loves to go? Where would they avoid and why?

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This World and Others – Wonders

There are so many wonders on our planet, despite the ever grim news, it can be easy to miss them. From the glories of nature to the wonders of the universe above us (and getting to see even more of these thanks to the space telescopes) to the tiniest flower, there is much to wonder at and admire. But you do have to have an open mind and an appreciative heart to see this, I think.

So in your setting, do your characters see the wonders around them or do they take these for granted because they are always here? Would they suddenly realise how much these things mattered if they were taken away for some reason?

Wonders also span the scientific world in terms of discoveries in so many fields, including medicine. What would be the equivalent in your setting?

What is the view of your Joe Public here? Do they appreciate the wonders around them or do they need these pointing out? Who benefits the most from wonders where discoveries happen and new inventions occur? Do the benefits get down to the ordinary people?

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Review: The Chameleon Theatre Group – Waiting For Gateaux

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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 The Chameleon Theatre Group for permission to use their splendid photos on my post for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Also thank you to Katrina Lush from my Slimming World group for permission to use her very funny photo as part of that post. See the post itself for more!
Hope you have had a good few days. Weather all over the place again with sunshine, rain, thunder, strong winds etc. Have enjoyed a lovely Zoom meeting this week. I am part of another Association of Christian Writers genre group which meets on Zoom and it is always great to get together and chat. Online meetings work so well.
Looking forward to a break away next week. I will post as and when possible and yes the dog is coming. Lady always has a fabulous time when we’re away – lots of lovely walking in glorious scenery. Looking forward to that.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Hope you have had a good day and you are all set for a nice Bank Holiday weekend (as it is for the UK).

Pleased to finally share my review of Waiting For Gateaux recently performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group. As ever it was a joy to see the show and it is another joy to write about the show for Chandler’s Ford Today. Hope you enjoy the post. Lots of local links on this one, which is lovely. Two of my worlds kind of collided here – find out which in the post, link below.

Review: The Chameleon Theatre Group – Waiting For Gateaux

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Lady had a bonus today – she got to see and play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback chum today. Both dogs happy to see each other unexpectedly like that.

Will be sharing my review of Waiting For Gateaux performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. Already looking forward to their next show in July which will be another comic one. If ever there was a time you could do with a laugh on stage, I suspect this is it given the news continues to be so grim.

I am part of another ACW genre group based around science fiction and fantasy and we were discussing on Zoom last night utopian works as opposed to dystopian ones amongst other things. I can see the point of dystopian fiction. I don’t read much of it. If I do want grim, I will tune into the news!

Generally I like my fiction to entertain and help me escape the world for a bit, regardless of the genre I’m reading. I definitely don’t want unremitting grim. Can get that for real elsewhere, thank you. I also don’t write grim fiction for the same reason. I want to finish my book, whether it is non-fiction or fiction, having had a pleasant time reading it!

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Hope you have had a good day. Hard to believe it’s May already. May is one of my favourite months. Lots of colours and better weather (fingers crossed for the latter!).

Author newsletter went out earlier today. See screenshot for a taster. If you would like to sign up do head over to https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Many thanks to all who have subscribed since the last edition and a huge hello to all of my subscribers. Many thanks for the support.

The theme for the May newsletter was writing exercises, something I adore and use a lot. I like to mix up the kinds I use too. Keeps me on my toes and I end up producing more stories than I might otherwise have done. Nothing to dislike about that!

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It’s the end of the working week for many and a Bank Holiday weekend for the UK. Time for a story then. Hope you like my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Hiding Place. My character wonders what could possibly go wrong after they come up with a good idea but are they right to think this? See for yourself via the link.

Screenshot 2024-05-03 at 10-03-34 Hiding Place by Allison Symes

Have drafted a poetic flash which I hope to look at over the weekend. Whenever I write these, I sort out what the story is first. Then I work out if it Is suitable for telling in poetic form. Then and only then do I worry about rhyme (I like rhyme in poetry. I also like free verse but I know what I prefer here).

Once I’ve got these basics sorted, I will record myself reading this out loud on Zoom and play it back so I can hear how it sounds. I often do this with prose fiction but I find it even more important to do when writing in a poetic form. I can hear what works and what doesn’t. Then out comes the editing pen again. Then I re-record and play it back again until I am happy with it. I have found doing this pays.

I do find this kind of flash works best when kept short. My current draft comes in about 200 words but I suspect it will end up at about the 150/175 words mark when done.

440791713_10161861104852053_5425516408687705655_nAmazon still has From Light to Dark and Back Again on offer as a paperback. See the link for more details. I don’t know how long they will hold the book at this price. Also do bear in mind you can contact me via my website if you’re interested in having signed copies of either of my flash collections or the anthologies I’ve contributed to over the years. Both of my flash collections are also available as ebooks.

When not working on flash fiction, I am writing various pieces for Writers’ Narrative, Chandler’s Ford Today and so on. My monthly blog pieces do tend to come in at the 500 words mark so would count as flash non-fiction. Most of my CFT and WN articles are 1000 words so are right at the upper limit here too. All good fun to do (and I hope useful to readers).

 

Fairytales with Bite – Changing

Often in fairytales an arrogant character is transformed into something else for a while to teach them a lesson and to learn the value of love. The best known example of that is The Beauty and the Beast, of course.

But in your stories do your magical characters go straight for that or do they try something else on a proud person first before using the transformation option. Also give some thought to your transformed characters. Could any of them prefer to stay in their new “look” and why would that be? Are they granted their wish to stay in the form they’ve become?

When it comes to being changed back again, how do your characters readjust? Do any remnants of their transformed self stay with them for a while? I would hope other characters in your stories realise it is best to change what is wrong (and indeed to recognise what is wrong in the first place) without having to become another creature altogether – it would be quicker and less traumatic I would have thought.

Even without transformation spells, characters do need to change during the course of your story. Something has happened. It changes them. They face a problem. They deal with it. They are changed by what they have had to do here. Most of the time that leads to a positive outcome but not always.

I admire the way it is acknowledged in The Lord of the Rings Frodo Baggins was so changed by what he went through he was not going to be able to stay in The Shire and it was best he went with the elves. It was absolutely the right outcome for him and his character portrayal backs that up.

So give some thought about what changing does to your characters – physically in the case of magical tales but even more importantly to their overall state of being. Are they happier/better off for the change or has the change, unavoidable as it was, left them with scars they have to find ways of living with?

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This World and Others – Making Things Happen

Who and/or what makes things happen in your setting? What would be the driving forces in your world? Would it be politics, as we know it here, or something like creative agencies driving this?

If you have a world dominated by engineers, scientists, inventors etc., that world is bound to be driven by what they come up with. Also does your world welcome their inventions? Are the inventions generally for the greater good? Have any of them gone horribly wrong?

Making things happen is often a good thing. I welcome discoveries in science (medicine especially) because I can see the potential for making lives better for people. But not everyone welcomes new discoveries. For one thing, it means old ones are superseded. Could someone resent that and try to stop the new invention/inventor? What would they be prepared to do here? Could easily see crime stories emerging from that. Making things happen could mean stopping other new things happening at all!

Who would make things happen in the various settings in your world – the political scene, the arts sector, the sports world etc? If your world doesn’t get on with other worlds around it, is there anyone prepared to try to make things happen to improve that? Do their efforts pay off?

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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My Top Five Writing Exercises

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good week. I’ve had a busy one with the ACW Flash Fiction Group and a lovely trip to see the latest production from my local excellent amateur theatre company. Review to follow on CFT in due course. All I will say is with the title being Waiting For Gateaux I was expecting some laughs. Lady got to see her friend Coco the other day for the first time in ages and both dogs were very happy to see each other. Dogs are lovely like that.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Had a lovely time at Ritchie Hall for Waiting For Gateaux last night. Review to follow for Chandler’s Ford Today in due course.

Meantime, I’m pleased to share My Top Five Writing Exercises as my CFT post this week. If you would like to try writing exercises to help with your story creations etc but don’t know where to start, why not try out the five I list here? I use them all regularly. There are many other exercises available but these are the ones I use most often.

My post also looks at how writing exercises encourage you to think in different ways (and therefore stretch your imagination). I also share further top tips for making the most of writing exercises. Hope you find the post useful.

My Top Five Writing Exercises

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Am off to see Waiting For Gateaux, the latest production to be staged by The Chameleon Theatre Group at Ritchie Hall tonight. Should be fun. Will be reviewing for Chandler’s Ford Today in due course. I also get to meet up with my lovely CFT editor at these productions so we do kind of consider these to be a CFT works outing!

Will be sharing My Top Five Writing Exercises for CFT tomorrow and evaluating what I find helpful about each of these. There are many more I could have mentioned as I use far more than five but I thought the ones I picked for this post would be useful for any writer to use. See above.

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Every so often I receive reviews directly rather than via Amazon etc. Delighted to say one came in for me today for Tripping the Flash Fantastic. A huge thank you to the reviewer concerned.

I like how Allison Symes managed to put together a book of short stories, flash fiction, and poetry that intrigued me here and there. Tripping the Flash Fantastic is also very easy to read through because the stories are short—before long, I found myself already having devoured more stories than I thought I could in a short amount of time. The stories are also creative and while not all stories resonate, it is inspiring and quite original. I like simple books like these. From KO.

I’ve mentioned before all authors appreciate reviews. They help make our books more visible and all writers welcome validation of their work (and we get that from reviews and other feedback from readers of course).

Reviews don’t have to be long either. Nor is there a use by date by which you need to get reviews in by. Yes, they are especially useful shortly after publication but I’ve reviewed books by other authors which I came to years after those books originally came out. You can’t know when someone is going to see your books.

But do review. It doesn’t take long. And it gives the author something to share as part of their marketing via posts like this one, mentions on their website etc.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to share my latest story on Friday Flash Fiction – Deception. The opening line for this one started life as an exercise I set for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group which I run once a month on Zoom.

I always have a go at the exercises (I don’t want to miss out on the fun of creating stories from them!) and knew this one had potential. This story, I think, will have resonance for many. Many thanks to those who have already commented on this.

Screenshot 2024-04-26 at 10-12-54 Deception by Allison Symes

One of the delights of going to see a live production, as I will be doing this evening, is watching for those lovely moments which add to the characterisation of the play in question. These will be those “flash moments” which help you understand a character better and can be funny, moving, tragic etc. Mind you I am off to see Waiting For Gateaux so I am expecting humour with a title like that!

Glad to say last night’s Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group on Zoom went well last night. I hope everyone gets something positive from the exercises I set. I have a go at these myself after the meeting and I think I can do something with at least two of what I drafted last night. Hope to start drafting something over the weekend when I have more time.

Sometimes for these meetings, I will prepare an answer to an exercise in advance to give an example but I do love joining in with live writing exercises myself. Does wonders for the old brain cells!

I often set and AM set writing exercisesLooking forward to tonight’s meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group. Always good to see everyone and we usually draft flash pieces in response to prompts (or have the starts of stories to finish off later) by the end of the evening.

I join in with these exercises and indeed, from the meeting in March, I’ve used a couple of opening lines I drafted then for YouTube and Friday Flash Fiction stories this month. That’s a result as far as I’m concerned.

Pleased to have received a review of Tripping the Flash Fantastic directly (see my author timeline on Facebook for more on that). See above. But I will sneak in another plea for reviews for all authors. Thanks.

I like to mix up how I open my flash tales but the one thing I try to do for all of them is to hit the ground running. I want to engage readers immediately. Sometimes I do that by setting up an interesting premise. Other times I’m showing a character in the middle of something and you have to read on to find what happens.

Sometimes I’m using thoughts, dialogue, or questions. But whatever I use, I always ask myself what is in this for the reader? That matters. Keeping your audience in mind all the time helps with focus. It makes editing easier too. With that question in mind, it is easier to spot what would be useful to a reader and what could be cut.

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Fairytales with Bite – Magical Equipment

In your setting, what exists in the way of magical equipment? Who makes it? Where do they get their “components” and do they have to meet safety standards?

(I’m married to an electronics engineer. Safety standards come into his world a lot and rightly so but I see no reason why they can’t come into a fictional world too. Indeed, a good story idea would be about someone trying to enforce safety standards for the greater good and the struggle they have to get everyone else in their society to accept that point. How many accidents would have to happen before the need for change is recognised and your character is the one to lead the way here?).

Can all of your characters access the magical equipment they need or are these reserved for certain species and/or for those at a certain level of magical ability? Your governing authority could of course control who can gain that magical ability to limit what powers can be used by whom that way but there would be an interesting story in why they are doing this.

Also does magical equipment go wrong? Can it be fixed? Who would carry out repairs and “servicing”? Is there the equivalent of an MOT for a witch’s broom? (If not, why not! Would love to see a queue of witches lining up to get their vehicles through statutory checks. What would happen to any unfortunate service engineer telling an annoyed witch her bristles need replacing? Could see some funny stories coming out here!). How can wands be checked to ensure they are doing what they’re supposed to do? Who cares enough to ensure magical equipment does work properly?

What controls do your governing authority have to ensure shoddy equipment doesn’t make it out into the open? Where has your world come from in terms of equipment development to get to where they are now?

Who has invented the equipment? What was done to improve the original models (almost inevitably improvements would either be necessary or become desirable when technology changes)?

Give some thought too as to how well or otherwise your characters use magical equipment available to them. That could make a huge difference as to whether they complete their “mission” successfully or not. Tools/equipment matter!

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This World and Others – Manufacturers

Linking in with Fairytales with Bite above, who are the manufacturers who make the products your characters will use? (The best known one of course is Ollivander the wand maker from the Harry Potter series but I liked that character. I liked the way it was realised someone had to make the things the main characters need to use).

How do the manufacturers access the ingredients and materials they need? What difficulties do they face here? Do they ever find materials they could always access before become rarer due to reasons of natural disasters/magical wars/other events in your setting or other manufacturers effectively buying up the lot?
Do magical manufacturers trade knowledge and materials with each other? Are there trade bodies? Do governments agree standards manufacturers have to meet and enforce that?

How did manufacturers get into the business? Is it a question of following the family business? How did those businesses begin? What made characters realise their talents lay in making equipment rather than using it directly?

How do they balance selling their equipment to those they would far rather not have these things with being able to survive? (Well, would you want to sell equipment to Sauron or Voldemort but what choice would you give your manufacturers for your own cast of villains here?).

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Screenshot 2024-03-22 at 15-23-10 Writers' Narrative April 2024Screenshot 2024-03-22 at 15-24-20 Writers' Narrative April 2024

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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