Tag: Titles

A New Chapter

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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 your weekend went well. Not bad here. Spotted first snowdrops out in the garden – spring really is on the way at last. Have news to share about Writers’ Narrative moving to Substack and I discuss being open to opportunities too. More below. Lady is now back to her full self after her X-ray too.

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Had to get the dog out early today but Lady didn’t mind. Any time is a good time to go to the park. Dogs really do keep life simple.

Writing wise, I’m looking forward to working on the topic of Ways and Paths with members of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group tomorrow. Am hoping we will get to draft some useful flash pieces to polish up at a later date. It will also be lovely to see everyone again since the last meeting was our informal just before Christmas gathering. Yes, it does seem ages ago now.

Will be reviewing Camelot The Pantomime which is being staged by our excellent local theatre company, The Chameleon Theatre Company, after seeing the performance on Thursday. It should end up being my first Chandler’s Ford Today review for this year plus my first one for February, which as a month I much prefer to January. It’s shorter for one thing and as it goes along you do see even more evidence spring is on its way – oh yes it is.

Hope today has gone well. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals so her week has begun well.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing my next author newsletter soon. The good news here, folks, is that does mean January is almost over! I’m working on blogs and a couple of stories for competitions at the moment. I hope to start submitting stories again from next weekend onwards. It also won’t be long now before I’m a co-judge for a flash fiction competition for a writing group and am looking forward to that. Judging stories is always a privilege, joy, and an enlightening experience.

The ACW Flash Fiction Group meet on Wednesday and I’m off to our local theatre’s pantomime on Thursday so it promises to be an interesting week.

My news today is about Writers’ Narrative moving across to Substack. I now have an account there as well and you can find me at Substack.com/@AllisonSymesWriter1

For the moment at least, it will be mainly my Writers’ Narrative work on there but I may develop other ideas on Substack in due course. As ever, it is a question of finding the time but there are possibilities here which I would like to explore in due course.

My first two articles for Writers’ Narrative on Substack will be appearing in early February. I’ll share more nearer the time about these.

Writing Development Tip: I see things like my news as part of my ongoing Continuing Professional Development as a writer. Inevitably there are “teething” issues to begin with but these do soon settle down (it’s my experience there is always someone you can ask for help and who will help!) and you end up with more strings to your bow, writing wise, as a result precisely because you have stretched yourself to try something new. After all, I could easily not have responded to CafeLit’s 100 words challenge and therefore missed out on the joy of flash fiction.

So I try and see new things as opportunities to explore. Most of them work out really well. Occasionally I come to the conclusion something isn’t quite right for me but unless I give it a go, how can I know?

It’s important to be open to writing opportunities. It’s how I’ve become a flash fiction writer, a competition judge, an editor, and write for Chandler’s Ford Today and Writers’ Narrative.

Hope the weekend has got off to a good start. Lady back to her playful self after a trying week for her.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Top Ten Author Newsletter Tips for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. I hope that will prove useful (and the post is effectively an update on earlier CFT posts on this topic).

In other news, Writers’ Narrative is moving to Substack and there will be a final “hurrah” from Friday Flash Fiction. The Editor’s Choice anthology is coming out on 2nd February 2026 and I do have stories in there. Meantime do check out the reel below for a quick look.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1259365916073203

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I love a good title which can be taken in more than one direction for all of my stories, flash or otherwise. Especially for flash, the title can do some “heavy lifting” in indicating the story’s likely mood without using up my word count allowance.

Most places don’t include the title as part of their word count limit, though it pays to check this always as some places do include it. I always allow up to five words for a title usually so if a word count limit has been given as 50 words, I will make sure my prose comes in at 45. The only exception to this is if the title is excluded and the market still then wants 50 words to the dot.

An open title gives the writer plenty of possibilities to play with and I love that aspect. I want my stories to be an entertaining read. I want to be entertained as I write them too. I think it matters that writers enjoy (most of the time) what they do. It is what helps to keep you going after all.

It’s Monday. It’s been hectic as usual. It’s so good to be sat down at my desk. Definitely time for a story then.

I hope you like my latest on YouTube – Upside Down.

Marbella teaches Risbanda the value of working out at the gym rather than just working at magic all of the time but does Risbanda appreciate it? Find out here.

 

I’m looking forward to the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group next week. We’ll be looking at Ways and Paths, which is a fabulous topic to write stories, of any length, around.

Am also delighted my first Allison’s Advice column for Christian Writer, the ACW quarterly journal, is now out. The magazine landed on my door mat recently. Appropriately it is a flash non-fiction piece coming in at around 100 words, as future columns will be too.

A lot of the themes and questions generated by random generators can also be put to good non-fiction use.For example, for this post I’ve generated the question What are you a natural at?

For flash fiction, you could write a story where your lead character shows the answer to this question and it makes a huge difference to the story outcome.

For non-fiction, you could write a piece answering the question for yourself or from the viewpoint of a historical figure.

January is almost over, honestly, and it will soon be time for the next author newsletter from me. I will be sharing an exclusive 100 word story in this. To find out more, and to receive useful writing hints and tips (which can be applied to all branches of fiction, not just flash), do sign up via my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Am looking forward to flash fiction Sunday tomorrow and I finally hope to get around to marking out some more flash and short competitions to try. This week has been busy, next week’s will be as well, and I usually find the weekend is the best time to go through the competition guide and see what I like the look of here.

Next week will see me go off to the panto (oh yes, I will be!) and leading the next session of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group. Both of these will be great fun but in different ways!

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Goodreads Author Blog – A New Chapter

New chapters turn up in life of course. Writers’ Narrative, whom I write for, is moving platform to Substack. In my writing, new chapters crop up a lot though the best, to date at least, was the discovery of flash fiction and being published in that form.

When it comes to reading, with the exception of Terry Pratchett who didn’t use chapter breaks for his Discworld series (he did for his Young Adult books), I do appreciate chapters. They give me a breather when I’m reading a lot. They give me somewhere to read to ahead of sleeping. Yes, I often do give into the temptation to just read one more chapter and before you know it, the clock has moved on alarmingly! We’ve all been there.

I generally prefer shorter chapters. I suppose this may come from being a flash fiction and short story writer. Anything over 1000 words will seem long to me! But I also prefer them because I like a good pace to my own stories and those I read and short chapters help a lot with that.

A new chapter is always, I think, an exciting part of a book when you’re reading it for the first time. It holds all the promise of you finding out what does happen next.

As for story collections of the kind I write, each story acts almost like its own chapter but I hope they encourage reading on to find out what happens next in the next story.

 

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WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

Hope you enjoy the above back issue of Writers’ Narrative. Will share the latest issue when I can. Meantime have a good read. It is a fabulous magazine but you don’t just have to take my word for it!

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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The Perfect Read

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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 weekend. Plenty of writing and editing done so all good here. Lady continuing to make good progress. Getting significantly colder – have had first frosts – but I prefer that to the wet and the mud as, I suspect, does Lady.

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Hope you had a good day. Cold but bright and Lady got to see her two best buddies again, the Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler. Lovely time had by all. I resumed a good swim and enjoyed that. Water felt warm – it never is by the way but it confirms it was perishing outside!

Writing wise, I’m delighted to say my author copies of Magi, the Bridge House Publishing anthology, reached me today. My story, The Family Legend, is in there and it is good to be between the covers again with some very familiar names. Some of them I hope to meet up with next month at the BHP celebration event. It’s always nice to receive a parcel of books with your work in them.

It won’t be too long before the next issue of Writers’ Narrative will be out and, in a few days, I will be sending out my latest author newsletter. If you would like to know more about flash fiction, read some of my online stories, and pick up on good writing advice, do sign up at my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

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Hope you have had a good Monday. Hectic here as ever but Lady did get to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler friends today. They all had a great time.

Had a fabulous writing and editing weekend. Plenty done. Just to flag up (and thanks to Jenny Sanders for letting me know) that Hannah Kate is holding her Three Minute Santas again on North Manchester FM. See the link for more details and good luck if you intend having a go. I hope to again, It’s good fun to write festive flash fiction.

Tip: I always record my submissions for Hannah’s show on Zoom and then play them back. I can literally hear how I come across and, just as good, the Zoom recording confirms the time I’ve taken to read my story. All useful as Hannah needs stories which are no longer than three minutes (the clue is there, folks!) and I can ensure I come in just under this limit doing this.

Festive Stories Wanted for Hannah’s Bookshelf on North Manchester FM

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Hope the weekend has gone well. Lovely church service this morning followed by walking the dog and heading home for lunch. Nice day today too though on the cold side.

Looking forward to flash fiction Sunday afternoon which will begin shortly and include responding to today’s Flash NANO prompt.

Writing Tip: What would I say was the most useful writing tip I’ve received and still use? Difficult to say but on balance I think it has to be the write first, edit later tip.

When I began writing seriously, I spent ages trying to get the first sentence or two right but just ended up getting frustrated. It was much better when I began just getting the story down, having a break from it, and then looking to improve it. I wasn’t interrupting my writing flow. I was treating writing and editing as two separate and different creative tasks. I enjoy them much more, keeping them apart from each other.

I also know now in a way I didn’t back then nobody writes a perfect sentence. Everybody has to edit at some stage so why not enjoy the creative writing first, then work out how to improve it? I also find it much easier to figure out what does need improving (and why) if I can see the whole story. I know what I’ve got to work with for one thing.

Hope today has gone okay. Horribly soggy here. Good day for staying indoors and getting on with some writing then!

Writing wise, I plan to share Short Story Collections on Chandler’s Ford Today next week. I’ll be sharing the joys and challenges of writing for these plus share tips on how to make the best of any set theme. I hope it will prove useful. After that will be a fabulous author interview – more on that nearer the time.

Looking forward to looking at memories and story ideas resulting from that topic for the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group next week.

And if you’re starting to think about book related presents, why not check out an anthology? Your recipient will receive a mixed bag of stories and hopefully will discover many authors new to them. Why not check out Magi (Bridge House Publishing)? See link.

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I can hardly believe we’re almost at the end of the last ever Flash NANO. Will be getting on with the latest prompt later this evening. Where has the time gone? The variety of prompts have been fantastic and a good challenge.

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting tomorrow evening. The focus will be on memories and how we can use these for flash fiction and flash non-fiction. Our December meeting is always an informal chat with sharing of news and stories. Christmas jumpers, hats etc are optional!

Have drafted a potential festive flash fiction story which I hope to submit later this week. Still want to pick out some earlier drafts for competitions but hope to get to do that later this week. Deadlines, thankfully, aren’t for a while yet.

It’s Monday. It gets dark far too early for my liking. It has been hectic as usual. Time for a story then and I hope you like my latest on YouTube – Book Signing.

What secret is Allison keeping from Linda and where does a book signing come into it all? Find out here.

Note: No authors were harmed in the making of this video! Neither am I confessing to something here, honest!

 

I found fairly quickly after getting into flash fiction writing seriously, I did need to have a title as a “peg” to work with. I would say I leave 90% of them unchanged. But I do need something to help me get started and a title is a big help here, even when I know for sure in advance I’m likely to be changing it. It is the way of it too that sometimes as you write, a better idea for a title comes along so I then go with that.

I like shortish titles, especially those which are open to interpretation. You can have a great deal of fun with those in playing with expectations and either delivering on them directly or springing a good twist on your readers. Certainly when I’m reading flash fiction/stories, a title I can guess will be open to interpretation will always grab my attention.

Flash NANO continues apace and I will have a go at today’s prompt later. All good fun (and it has been lovely to receive great feedback on stories I’ve shared on the FN Facebook page. A little encouragement goes a long way as any author would tell you!).

Also congratulations to Hannah Kate for the 10th anniversary of her Hannah’s Bookshelf programme on North Manchester FM. Flash fiction has often featured on Hannah’s show, especially at Halloween and just ahead of Christmas. Flash is a great format for radio – short enough to be entertaining. Not too long to switch people off either!

North Manchester FM: Hannah’s Bookshelf Anniversary Special, Saturday 22 November, 1-4pm

 

Goodreads Author Blog – The Perfect Read

Provocative title for this post? Maybe? Is there really such a thing as The Perfect Read?

I think there can be but it depends on what you like to read and your mood as you read it. For example, I will often read something by P.G. Wodehouse in the darker months because I want something lighter to cheer me. It always does and so, whatever I choose by him here, it will be the perfect read.

When I’m reading an author new to me, having been captivated by their blurb, book cover etc, I simply want the book to deliver on its premise. As long as it does that, it will be a perfect read for me. What I don’t want is to have expectations set up and then not delivered on unless there is a superb twist or something like that, which I always love because I never mind when an author wrong foots me like that.

What I don’t want is a promising book but the author wrong foots me by delivering something which comes across to me as dull. (Mansfield Park by Jane Austen does this for me I’m afraid but I do love her other works).

The perfect read, in a more general sense, always occurs for me when I can get behind the characters, whether I’m rooting for them to succeed or fail. (There is nothing quite so satisfying as booing a good villain, even if I only do so metaphorically!).

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Curling Up With A Good Book

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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 the weekend went well for you. Okay here. Writing wise, am making good progress on my next author newsletter, have sent some pitches off last week, and am continuing to blog, edit, and write flash fiction – all good stuff. I think it’s sometimes easier to write more as we go into autumn and winter – less temptation to be outside!

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Hope today has been a good one. Lady didn’t get to see any doggie pals today but she did see some human ones so was pleased about that and is looking forward to catching up with her four legged chums tomorrow.

There is one more big flash competition I want to have a go at (deadline is the end of the year) but am hoping something I will draft for Flash NANO (which starts on 1st November) this year may prove to be a good fit for it. Will have to wait and see. What I do draft this year will be an excellent start to my fourth flash fiction collection in due course.

Hope you have had a good day. Lady’s week has got off to a flying start as she met up with her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals. Lady and her Ridgeback pal has a lovely play fight, which they both loved. Given Lady is coming up 9 and her pal is 7, they are both still pups at heart.

Writing wise, one of the joys of being interviewed is of course to talk about your work and what you love about it in depth. One fabulous question I was asked by Wendy H Jones in the October 2025 issue of Writers’ Narrative was about whether short form fiction allowed for more experimentation in voice and form.

Do check out the interview for my reply (screenshot below gives a taster) but it was great to share something of what I love about the short forms of fiction and, in a separate question, what drew me to it in the first place.

Hope Sunday has been a good and peaceful one for you. Not bad here. Looking forward to starting flash fiction Sunday soon. Nice way to end the week (or begin the next one, either works!).

Writing Tip: When you come across (as you will) a story which didn’t work for you, take some time out to figure out why this was. You will learn a great deal from this.

I know there are certain types of character I don’t like having read some of them in stories which didn’t grip me at all, so I take care not to produce that kind of character myself. I’ve found it helps just as much to know what you don’t like as it does knowing what you do when it comes to your own writing.

Hope you have had a good start to your weekend. Managed to get the lawn cut (and before it shoots up too high again ) so I count that as a win.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Ending a Piece of Fiction as a nice conclusion to my mini-series started yesterday with Starting a Piece of Fiction. The new post will be up on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday.

It was lovely to finish the working week with a nice surprise. Naturally, I was thrilled to be one of the two Editor’s Choices for Friday Flash Fiction this week with my Finding Out the Hard Way.

Delighted Jim Bartlett was the other pick for his Safer. Many a word of truth in that one. Do check the stories out on FFF. You can be guaranteed a good read. Link below to my one which appeared yesterday.

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One tip I find useful for competitions with a specific word count (e.g. 53 words, 75 words etc – and I have come across these) is to instantly reserve up to five words for the title. I then know a rough count for the story itself.

If I end up having a shorter title, I can add a couple of words to the story. Often I don’t bother. I see having those “spare words” as a safety net to ensure I am well under the count asked for though there are places which want you to get to the exact limit. In these cases, I know immediately how many words I need to put into the story to bring it up to the right count.

It’s Monday. It’s as hectic as ever. It’s time for a story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Giving It A Miss.

A justly beautiful tourist destination, popular with colleagues, who only visit at a certain time of year leads to my character finding out why. She isn’t planning a return visit. Find out why here.

 

It won’t be too long before I take part in the last Flash NANO. I will be sorry to see that go. I’ve found it so useful for producing 30 draft flash pieces in November for the last few years. Some of those went on to be published (and some will be in my Seeing The Other Side collection due out in May 2026).

I’m looking forward to meeting up with other members of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group at the ACW in person meeting at the end of this month. It will be nice to step outside our Zoom boxes for a bit. Naturally, we will all be waving the flag for the joys of writing flash fiction!

When I write to a specific word count, as I do for Friday Flash Fiction, the additional challenge of sticking to 100 words each time is coming up with something fresh and different every time, which can still be contained in that tight word limit.

I have found it useful to focus on one character and one moment. It makes me think about what matters so much to my character it has to be written up as a story. Flash is excellent for helping you develop a real feel for what matters here and that’s a good discipline to take across to other forms of writing as well. I’ve found it useful with my blog posts and articles too.

Goodreads Author Blog – Curling Up With A Good Book

One of the joys of the autumn and winter seasons is you get to have more opportunities to curl up with a good book., Okay, I do have to go out with the dog (which is fine) but when you have the chance to just grab a book and not go out in the cold and wet, you’re going to take it, yes?

As the nights draw in, I will often turn to my favourite forms of comfort reading, which is on the lighter side of fiction. There is enough “grim” going on in the world for real for me to want to read more of it in a book, I’m afraid.

Dystopian fiction has never been my thing and it certainly isn’t now. I’m all for books which address issues because they can meet so many needs. For one thing, they can draw attention to those issues and make people think about them.

But I will admit with not having as much reading time as I would like, I am going to focus on an entertaining read. That takes in many genres, funnily enough.

For me, one definition of a good book is it is one that takes my mind off things for a short while and with characters I can root for and come to care about.

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WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

Back issue time as I’ve shared the October 2025 edition above. Hope you also enjoy the issue below and remember it is free to subscribe.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Serialisation News: Seeing The Other Side by Allison Symes – CafeLit

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you had a good weekend. Busy here – from wood treating fence panels to writing to editing. Glad it has become cooler now. Lady is not sorry about that either. Thrilled to say the partial serialisation of Seeing The Other Side has started on CafeLit – details below.

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Nice day today. Lovely swim. Hope today has been a good one for you. Loved an online Zoom meeting I attended last night. Perfect end to a hectic Monday and interesting topic too.

Writing wise, have just completed the first stage of an edit. Looking forward to assisting with a friend’s online book launch before too long as well. Delighted the first part of the serialisation of Seeing The Other Side is now up on CafeLit. Will share another link to the next part this coming Sunday.

And it won’t be too long before the next author newsletter is due. To sign up for news, tips, story links and more do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

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Hope today has been okay, given it is Monday after all. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal this morning so all is well there. Also cooler today which is most welcome.

Writing wise, I’ll be catching up with bits and pieces this evening as Monday is one of those days when I don’t have so much writing time. But the nice thing about this is I still get useful stuff done which frees up my time for longer writing stints later in the week.

The nice thing about flash is of course I can get a short tale written in the time I do have even when said time is limited. My bits and pieces also include things like writing admin, such as adding things to my ALCS listing (Authors Licensing and Collecting Society) as well as tidying up/updating my website here and there. ALCS link here – do check them out.

Serialisation News – Seeing The Other Side – CafeLit

Am thrilled to say the first part of the serialisation of my third flash fiction book, Seeing The Other Side, starts today on CafeLit. See link. Hope you enjoy this opening taster! More to come too. Will share as and when I have the links. This is the first time I’ve had any work of mine serialised. So pleased about that.

You get good value here too – you will find four of my new flash pieces here.

And while you are on CafeLit do check out the wide range of stories and styles they have here. It is a great site for short story and flash fiction writers.

Hope today has been good for you. Lady out nice and early as another hot one today. Managed to get two fence panels wood treated – it’s all glamour here I’ll have you know!

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Breaking Down Why A Story Works for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Plus after that I’ll be interviewing fellow Swanwicker and flash fiction writer, the lovely Esther Chilton, who will be sharing news of her children’s book, The Secret Dragon. More details on that nearer the time. (Plus it won’t be long after that before I meet Esther again in person at Swanwick; am so looking forward to being there again).

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I sometimes come up with alliterative titles to make me think of ideas for flash stories. Good fun to do. Can be useful for acrostic stories too.

I deliberately mix up how I come up with titles. I use phrases and proverbs. Sometimes I use a piece of some of the dialogue I’ve used in the story itself. I prefer two to five words for my titles (easier to remember) though I have used longer ones, including for my book titles.

What matters though is any title, however you come up with it, has a hook to intrigue a reader.

It’s Monday. Okay it’s not as hot as last week but it is still time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – You Know It Is Time.

You know you must change your career. You know your boss won’t be happy. You dare not run from her. It would be better to face the dragons than that…

It’s flash fiction Sunday again for me. Lovely way to spend the afternoon. (Will also be interviewing fellow flash fiction writer and Swanwicker, Esther Chilton, for Chandler’s Ford Today soon though ironically it won’t be flash which will be the focus here!).

I do love the weekly challenge of coming up with my 100 worder for Friday Flash Fiction and another flash piece for my YouTube channel. I also use this afternoon to sort out competition entries and thinks like that. It’s a nice way to end the week – by submitting pieces here and there. I think it gets the following week off to a cracking start.

It’s another way I put specific time aside for specific writing work I want to do – I find it pays.

Looking forward to flash fiction Sunday tomorrow for me. Plus I hope to finally get another competition entry out. Story is all good to go but I want to do my final checks on it. This week has been hectic in a good way so am especially looking forward to a quieter one tomorrow when I can get more done.

Things like those final checks for example shouldn’t be rushed. (You will miss something and then be cross with yourself for it – guess how I know!). I will be in good time for the competition deadline – it’s the end of August – but once this story is off, I then focus on another story to work on for somewhere else. I like to have something “on the go”.

Goodreads Author Blog – Favourite Parts of a Story

Regardless of story genre, length, whether it is in a magazine or in a book, what would you say were your favourite parts to a story?

I love dialogue because when this is done well, it is like eavesdropping an interesting conversation. I know – that probably does say a great deal about me, doesn’t it? But good dialogue will move the story on, have a good pace to it, and leave you wanting to “hear”/read more.

Description works for me when it conveys information I need to know in a story which can’t be shared any other way. So yes I will need to know something about setting, for example, but I won’t necessarily need to know every last detail. I just need to know what is important.

So I would need to know there was a moor, say, but I don’t need to know exactly what the moor is made up of because I will have my own ideas about that. Earlier generations would have needed everything spelled out when people didn’t travel so much so wouldn’t necessarily know this. Naturally writing flash fiction and short stories does tend to encourage what I call tight writing.

Narrative where the story is being moved on thanks to the narrator is another favourite of mine because you usually get a good pace here. You are shown what you need to see. Everything counts so you know you need to read this. I’ve forgotten who it was who said “try not to write the bits people skip” but they had a point!

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Book Reviews, Editing, and Writing Superpowers

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Hope the weekend went well. Good to be back in the garden again. Lawn grateful I was I think! Pleased to see lovely foxgloves in flower too. Writing wise, am pretty much back to my normal routine and enjoying that. Lady, as ever, appreciates the company of her pals at the park. We appreciate the little things in life. They’re often more important to you than you might think. Know this is true for me and the dog!

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Soggy one here in Hampshire though Lady was delighted to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal again. Both dogs had a lovely time in the park before the rain set in.

Writing wise, will have further editing work coming up shortly. Looking forward to starting on that.

There will also be a bonus Chandler’s Ford Today post on Saturday this week from me as I’m publicizing The Chameleons’ Open Evening on 7th June. They’re celebrating their 60th anniversary this year and are inviting people to see what they do (and where they need volunteers) on and off the stage.

Plus I will be looking at History and Stories in my usual Friday night slot where I look at the links between history and stories and why I love both. (Nice link here as The Chameleons have acted out many wonderful stories, some of them history based, over their 60 years on the stage).

Stories, whether as prose or plays, can explore history and shed new insights on it.

Bank holiday here today in my part of the world. Lady was thrilled to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals today. We either see all we know on a bank holiday or nobody at all – there is no middle ground!

Had a quick look at the random question generator I use every so often to trigger story ideas. Usually the question gives me the theme I write to (and my characters answer the question, it literally is the story).

The question which came up tonight was if you could have one superpower what would it be? Now that is a fabulous question and I’m sure an article or two could be written around it but I wondered about answering it for this post from a writing viewpoint.

So which writing superpower would I like to have? I think it would be the ability to keep writing, no matter what. I wouldn’t ask to write perfectly from the get go because I think a lot of excellent stories come about thanks to having decent editing work done on them.

But to keep going whenever and whatever the circumstances, that would be a good thing to have. It isn’t always easy to do this so having a superpower boosting me here would be most welcome.

Hope the weekend is proving to be a good one for you. Cut the lawn yesterday. Desperately needed doing. Looking much better now and it was a great workout for me!

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again too. (I know. I can hardly believe is is almost June either). You can sign up at my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Writing wise, I’m working on a longer short story as well as my usual flash work at the moment. Have put final touches to my presentation for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group for Wednesday. Now done! Will be back to blogging and editing shortly. I do like a good mix of things to do!

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Have got to the end of the first week back from our wonderful Northumberland break. Always tough, the first week back from any kind of break but hey I’m there so now it is a case of onwards and upwards.

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at History and Stories for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. I love history. I love stories. History is full of stories. It’s a gem of a topic to write about! I’ve also found reading historical fiction has led to me reading historical non-fiction too but more on this in my post on Friday.

Character Tip: Remember it isn’t compulsory to like the characters you create, far from it, but you do need to know what drives and motivates them so you can write their stories up with understanding of where they are coming from and why.

For villains, you do need to look at why they have become that way. Not all of that will make it into your finished tale but enough should so readers can see why they’re being the way they are too.

If, say, your villain is driven by the need to make money a line of dialogue with another character or their own thought showing their need for enough money will create that understanding.

Readers (and you) still don’t need to approve of how they go about things here.

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Hope today has been a good one. Looking forward to the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction Group tomorrow. The topic is Tens. Looking forward to seeing everyone then. Zoom has made more things possible including writing groups like this one.

Am hoping to go an in-person ACW meeting later this year but have to book it first. Hope to do that in next couple of days. I like a good mixture of in person and online events. In a world which is far from perfect, why not have the best of both worlds when it comes to meeting with other writers?

Flash is also wonderful to share in any kind of workshop and/or writing group given it is short. I’ve always found stories illustrate points well. People remember the stories. (This is nothing new, far from it. Jesus did this with parables. Aesop did it with his fables too. All would count as flash fiction as we know it now).


It’s a Bank Holiday Monday where I am but it is still Monday. Time for a story then and I hope you like my latest on YouTube – Mixing It Up.

What harm could it do to mix up the dragons’ magical foodstuff and give it to the butterflies instead? George thinks it will be okay but is he right to do so?

 

Titles are important for any story (or article come to that) given they’re the first hook to entice a reader into reading your work. 

For flash fiction, I try and use mine to do some “heavy lifting” in terms of indicating to a reader the tale’s probable mood without using up any of my precious word count. (Most flash competitions don’t include the title in the limit they set you but there are always exceptions so do check).

I also use titles as a brainstorming exercise. It’s fun to do too. Why not give it a try?

Writing Exercise: Give yourself five minutes. Jot down as many three to five word titles as you can in that time. It helps to think along the lines of Subject and Action (a refusal to act will count as an action). Also consider Subject and Job.

You are looking for two immediate hooks here. People will want to know about your subject depending on what action or job you’ve given them in the title.

For example, how about George, the Butterfly Tamer, as an idea. I would immediately want to know who George is, how can anyone tame butterflies, and why does anything think it is needed. The story would reveal the answer to those questions but I’ve got to read it to find out. Job done by the author there I think! Do see my YouTube story for this week too – see above. I wrote this post first then decided to write the story up with just the title to go with. Good fun to do.

I’ve also found when I do this exercise once I get started, a whole raft of other ideas come. Later, I will review my title lists and the ones which still appeal to me are the ones I will write up. But this exercise is definitely worth trying. Hope you have fun with it.

Looking forward to the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction Group on Zoom on Wednesday. Have set what I hope will be an intriguing theme (Tens – what would you make of that?) Alas, I’m not telling all here, but it is fun coming up with different ideas for these meetings and, of course, a good challenge to me.

Whatever you write, doing something different every now and then is a good challenge and will help sharpen up your other writing – or at least I’ve found that to be the case. It’s another good reason to enter story competitions every now and then (but do check the competition background out first and ensure you’re happy with it). Again, it makes you do something different, you are often set the prompt and it is a good challenge to see what you can do with it.

(Am also pleased because when I relax I play with words too. Have today got the word rewrites out in my phone’s equivalent of Scrabble. All seven tiles out so I get the bonus points too. Apt word for a writer and editor, I think!).

Goodreads Author Blog – Book Reviews

Do you read book reviews? I do. As a writer myself, I appreciate the reviews which come in on my books but I also like to write reviews on works by other authors. Other than buying the book itself, reviewing is probably the next best way to support authors. I keep my reviews short and would put in a plea to review when you can. It helps more than you know.

I try to review the moment I’ve finished a book whether it’s on Kindle or in print. Otherwise, I know I may well forget to do it. Life getting in the way and all of that…

The best reviews give a good flavour of what the book is about without giving too much away. The good news is they don’t have to be long to be effective.

Why not review the book you are currently reading? Doesn’t have to be a contemporary one either (though that obviously does help current authors) but there’s nothing to stop you giving your thoughts on a classic work either. I know I still find those useful for the classics I’ve not yet got around to reading.

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Author Interviews

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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. Book Fair images taken by Janet Williams. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a great weekend. Nice one here. Making good progress on the writing. Significant editing done too. Hope the week ahead continues to go well for us all. There are more signs of spring appearing all the time too, which always cheers me up.

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Pleased to share my latest post on Authors Electric. This time I look at Author Interviews. It is a great joy to be on both the receiving and setting end of these, given I’ve appeared on other writers’ blogs, have been on podcasts, and, of course, I set many writers questions over at Chandler’s Ford Today.

I discuss how I’ve used author interviews to help me on my own journey to becoming a published writer and how I continue to find such interviews engaging and informative. Hope you find the post useful and thought provoking.

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Hectic here but it was good to see Lady playing with her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals earlier this morning.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing a fabulous interview with Joy Wood on Chandler’s Ford Today post on Friday. Tomorrow I’ll be sharing my Authors Electric post about Author Interviews. See above. Not a coincidence this one!

Hoping to get an article finished and sent off later this evening plus I hope to work on my presentation for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group later this month. Am almost there on it.

Had a productive weekend but Mondays are always one of those days when I don’t get so much writing done due to commitments elsewhere so I use Mondays to do little bits and pieces. These things mount up.

Hope the weekend has been a good one. Nice to see more sunshine.

Writing wise I’ll be getting on with Flash Fiction Sunday shortly. Later I have editing to crack on with and a presentation to add more to so I will be happily out of mischief for the rest of the day, no problem!

Also have just heard will be off to a murder mystery my local amateur theatre group is performing in April. Will be going to this with my lovely editor from Chandler’s Ford Today. Looking forward to that already. Plus I will have a writing Zoom to go to in early April as well as so plenty going on.

Character Tip: This is where writing what you know can help you in the creation of your characters. We know what we like and dislike in other people so let’s put that to good use as we invent our own people/beings of choice.

We understand what can make people angry, for example, so how can you tap into that when writing an angry character of your own? Look at the reasons why people have the attitudes they do.

There will be something you can use for your fictional creations from that. Understanding motivation helps so much here I think.

Hope you have had a good start to the weekend. Managed to get washing out and dried on the line today – yes, I know it’s sad but it is a win, honestly! Also lots of daffodils now out in one of my borders – daffodils always make me smile as I see them as pretty cheery plants, and they also remind me of Wordsworth.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing a fabulous interview with Joy Wood on Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Do look out for that on Friday. The interview is packed full of useful thoughts and tips and you can also find out how and why competition slogans had an impact on her writing life. Looking forward to sharing that and hopefully catching up with Joy again in person at Swanwick later this year.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Lady had a fabulous time in the park today with her Rhodesian Ridgeback chum and Coco, the lovely Labradoodle. Great time had by all. Hopefully more of the same will take place tomorrow!

I haven’t used dogs much in my flash fiction tales and short stories. I tend to focus on characters who are human or fantastical in some way though my YouTube story this week, Temptation, is one for dog owners to enjoy especially.

But there is nothing to stop us using the qualities most dog owners appreciate in their pets (loyalty, love, faithfulness, mischief making, just being fun to be around etc!) in other types of character for our stories. Just a thought.

To quote The Bangles, it has indeed been a Manic Monday and it is time to share another story of mine on YouTube. Hope you like the short but sweet Temptation. Dogs and their owners will especially appreciate this one.

Temptation can attack anyone or anything but especially, in some cases, where cooked chicken is involved.

 

Both of my flash fiction collections with Chapeltown Books have titles which indicate something of their genre and/or mood. From Light to Dark and Back Again very much flags up the mood of the stories. Tripping the Flash Fantastic indicates the genre (flash and fantastic tales/fantasy).

Did I have either of those titles when I began compiling my books for submission? No! Both had alternative working titles. The titles I ended up with came to mind as I was drafting and editing. This happens so I no longer worry about it. I find I have to have a working title for anything I write but am not worried if it ends up changing. I think I just need a placeholder and I work with that.

Most of the time when ideas for alternative titles come up, they are better than the original but it doesn’t always work out that way. When it doesn’t I simply stay with what I first came up with. I always ask myself what kind of impact the title has on me (and therefore on a likely reader) and the strongest impact is always the one I go with.

Looking forward to flash fiction Sunday afternoon tomorrow. Friday Flash Fiction is about to run their annual Andrew Siderius competition so do look out for this. I hope to have a go.

Also looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting later in the month. Will be looking at editing flash fiction for this one. One massive benefit to flash fiction writing is you do learn to improve your editing skills considerably and that can then filter across to other forms of writing you do. I’ve found this to be the case.

Goodreads Author Blog – Books and Their Moods

Now it’s no secret the books I read often depend on what mood I’m in. When life is grim (and the news even more so), then I will usually go for humorous reads such as works by Wodehouse, Pratchett, and Austen, something I know will make me smile basically. I see it as having something lighter to counterbalance the darker side of life.

But books too have their moods and certain genres play on this to good effect – horror, crime, and thrillers, all indicate the moods of their stories to name but a few.

Now I’m one of those readers where I don’t want the mood the book to match my mood. I like that counterbalance though there are books I will always read regardless of what mood I’m in. For example, I will always find time to re-read Agatha Christie or Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time (which is a fabulous book and the only novel to make me change my view on a historical person, in this case Richard III).

So which books do you use to lighten your mood? Which ones do you read regardless of mood of book or your own mood?

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Creating Characters, Famous First Lines, and Writing Tips/Exercises

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Hope the weekend was okay. Stormy weather here – thunder, hail, the works. Perfect weather for staying inside and getting on with the writing though. Even Lady hasn’t been sorry to get back home from her walks the last couple of days or so. Am seeing more signs of spring emerging though which always cheers me.

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today. I had a great swim but now it’s more than time to be back at the desk again.

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

Looking forward to sharing my blog post, Getting There, on More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers tomorrow.

Writing Tip: Flash fiction comes in a great range of word counts and formats up to the 1000 limit. Why not have a go at a one line story? It can be done! Here is one of mine.

Glenda, not having wish granters encroaching on her patch, thank you, and having sealed the genie back in his lamp, grinned as she kicked the wretched object into the sea.
Allison Symes – 28th January 2025

Have fun drafting one-liners like this. Sometimes you could extend them for a longer story. Equally leave them as one-liners and share on posts or via your website as extra reading for your audience (but just bear in mind they will count as being published. I only share here or via my website what I am happy not to share elsewhere).

Hope Monday hasn’t been too bad. Weather frightful. Caught in hail though thankfully it didn’t last long. Lady did manage to play with her pal Coco, the lovely Labradoodle, so that made the world all right for both of those two.

Very pleased with writing done over the weekend. Have sent a story off for consideration. Picked a story I wrote a while ago which I know could suit a competition. And I did manage to get plenty of blogging done too (to appear at future dates). Also enjoyed Flash Fiction Sunday. Will share my new piece for YouTube shortly over on my book page.  See further down.

Today I’ve completed a survey for the Society of Authors regarding my thoughts over AI. I don’t fill in every writing survey I am sent but this one definitely warranted my attention. They’re emailing all members about this so if your belong to the Society it might pay to look out for this. I saw it as a chance to have my say.

Stormy again here. Took Lady around the park in record time today and even she wasn’t sorry to get back home again. This is about as common as gold dust in these parts – I.e. not at all. Keep safe, everyone.

Looking forward to starting flash fiction Sunday soon. Plus one of my two story competition drafts I have now edited and I hope to submit this later on before turning my attention to the other one. And, yes the gap away did help me spot something which could be strengthened. The break away from a piece of work does pay off.

Busy week coming up but I am looking forward to seeing my local theatre group, The Chameleon Theatre Group, perform Cinderella later this week. That will be fun.

Hope the weekend is going okay.

Writing wise, I’ll be talking about Adaptations for Chandler’s Ford Today next week, ahead of my going to see an adaptation of Cinderella performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group. A review for that will follow. Am looking forward to doing that as the show, I know, will be such fun and I’ll enjoy writing the review because I try to convey something of that fun in the write up.

Don’t forget my next author newsletter will be out again soon. I discuss all things related to flash fiction and short stories, share tips, story links and more. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

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I need to create characters continually for my flash and short stories, though I do sometimes re-use some in linked tales. This is why I find a simple template useful for this. I can then add or take away from that template as I see fit which in itself helps me create characters who are not formulaic.

For example, for one template, I might “ask” my character what would they never want to do (and then almost certainly I would make them face having to do that thing in a story. Great drama).

For another one, I might “ask” what they find funny and what they don’t and again set them in a situation where this comes out and moves the story on. There will be consequences from what they find funny or not. I will make sure of that.

But in writing down the question to “ask” I find I have to answer it and I also get to start hearing my character’s voice in “their” response.

It’s Monday. It’s stormy. There has been hail. There has been a soggy dog walker (me!). Definitely time for a story then Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube -Being Careful Enough.

When you go to so much trouble to make a new life for yourself on your new world, you know you can’t be careful enough. You know there are portals out there designed to drag you straight back to what you consider to be hell. Find out here how Shiraz, who decided to name herself after a grape, fights back against all attempts to drag her “home”.

Writing Thought/Exercise: Why not have something unexpected arrive in the post, yes good old snail mail, to your character? What is it? Why is it unexpected? Is the delivery a welcome one or not?

Earlier this week I had a pleasant surprise arrive on my mat – a certificate from the National Blood people enclosing my “I’m a 75 donor” certificate and badge. Will happily plug them too – if you can give blood, why not do so? Lives are changed by it (and there are story ideas here too. You could tell a tale about the donor or recipient or both.).

Sometimes with a flash piece, I start with a title (often having picked one to work up from my notes. I use pockets of time to brainstorm ideas for titles, opening lines etc. It pays. It also means I know I can always find something I am likely to want to write up). The title often gives me clues as to the kind of character needed to fit it.

Sometimes I start with a drafted opening line which then usually inspires ideas for the title and the character to fit it.

It’s not a bad thing I mix things up like this. It is good practice for competitions given some of those give you a set opening line to work with, for one thing. For another, it keeps me on my toes and it means I have more than one way into crafting a new story.

Goodreads Author Blog – Famous First Lines

Famous first lines (such as It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife – Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice) are often used to show writers how to hook your readers from the start. I like to think of it as hitting the ground running. And it I something I try to do with my flash fiction and short stories.

I know when I’m reading I want that first line to draw me in either by setting up an intriguing setting or a character whom I simply have to know more about. Only one way to do that of course – read on.

Naturally that sets a challenge to me to make sure I’m doing something similar when I’m writing. But then this is why writers do have to be good readers too. You do learn from what you read. Gives us the perfect excuse to get our heads in a book as often as possible – I like this!

Of course the best first line in the world cannot support the whole of the following story on its own – the rest has to be pretty good too – but as a way of drawing readers in, you can’t beat it. People look at book covers, the blurb, and the first line. If they like all of that, they are more likely to buy the book.

And from a reader’s viewpoint, great first lines stay with you.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Next issue due out any moment. Hope to share in next post.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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A Creative Life Part 2 – Sophie Neville – Author Interview

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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. Weather has slowly improved as the week has gone on. Writing wise, am delighted to share Part 2 of a fabulous interview with actress/writer/scriptwriter/artist, Sophie Neville, on Chandler’s Ford Today. Do check it out. (Have had some wonderful comments in on Part 1 too).
Lady has had a good week, getting to see her friends for most of the past few days. She always gets a real buzz from being with her buddies which is lovely to see.

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Am thrilled to share Part 2 of a wonderful interview with Sophie Neville on Chandler’s Ford Today. This week, Sophie shares, amongst other things, how she came to write about chronic fatigue, her love of travelling (especially by horseback), and what she’d like to take to a desert island if I let her have the Bible, Shakespeare and, because I’m a fan, Jane Austen. Hope you enjoy the post. Many thanks for the lovely comments which have come in on Part 1 (especially on Facebook).

Author Interview – Sophie Neville – A Creative Life on Water, In Film, and In Writing – Part 2

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Lovely day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler this morning and I was at the top of the queue to pick up a prescription at the chemists, which for me is about as common a happening as a solar eclipse. I’ll take this as a win!

Part 2 of my interview with Sophie Neville is up on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow, don’t miss. See above. Both parts of the interview have been a joy to prepare and there is so much inspiration here for anyone interested in the creative life in whatever way (as Sophie is also a very talented artist and scriptwriter).

Writing Tip: It’s easy to forget your old notebooks from writing conferences, events etc, but every now and again dig them out and have a look through. I’ve found work in these I’ve gone on to polish up and have published on CafeLit etc.

Equally you may come across something you want to explore further and which you’d forgotten about so it is well worth having a flick through your books. It’s also cheering to look back at your earlier works and then see where you are now, writing wise. You will have made progress.

I can look back through my books and spot more easily whether something written back then could be developed or not. Just knowing that means I know now what could work and what absolutely won’t. It saves time! But unless you do look back through your books, you really won’t find that nugget where you could do something.

434052480_10161826408147053_6744102198749073238_nNice day today despite the weather. Lady got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback and I’ve had my hair done. (I know. There is a Murphy’s Law for Having Your Hair Cut – that will be when the wind gets up and the rain comes down but never mind).

Looking forward to sharing Part 2 of a great interview with the lovely Sophie Neville on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Again see above. So inspired by this interview – it is a fabulous celebration of creativity I think.

Meantime, if you’re looking for a fabulous read, do check out the latest issue of Writers’ Narrative. Plenty to enjoy here. The theme this time is editing, a subject dear to my heart of course, given I’m an editor (freelance) and copy editor (WN), as well as an author. If you don’t receive the magazine regularly, you can subscribe for free and the link is given in the magazine itself.

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It’s lovely to start the working week with a story. It’s just as lovely to end the working week with a story! Am pleased to share my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Time For A Change. What will Maisy do when her household objects go on strike? Find out here. Hope you enjoy the story.

Screenshot 2024-04-12 at 10-07-07 Time For A Change by Allison Symes

Flash collections are joy to put together. I like to mix up the genres and the moods of my stories in mine. I like to think of this as giving a demonstration of what flash is and can be. I also don’t want to write or read “doom and gloom” tales all of the time, though they do have their place, which is why I like to ensure there is a good mix of humorous flashes, as well as darker ones in my books. Life is made up of humour and darker stuff so I think it apt my stories and books reflect that.

The one thing I have found I haven’t been able to write about at the time or now is the pandemic. I just wanted to escape all of that in my fiction, whether I was reading or writing it. That has remained the case. My publishers did bring out a couple of Covid related anthologies but I just couldn’t write anything on that. I suppose everyone has their blind spots.

If I have got to choose one overall favourite form of fiction, it is humorous writing, whether it is Austen, Pratchett, or Wodehouse (and there’s a trio to conjure with!). Never fails to cheer me up and I will always prefer that kind of fiction rather than the “more worthy” kind. Nothing wrong with humorous writing. Phenomenally difficult to get right.

I do have fun with my titles. I like to keep them as open as possible so readers have to find out which way I’ve taken them and that can only be done by reading the story. But I especially love “innocent” sounding titles like my Time for Tea in From Light to Dark and Back Again. My lead character in this thinks they’re being clever, but are they right to think it? Do check it out via my Amazon Author Central Page.

Give some thought as to what you want your titles to convey to a reader. Proverbs/sayings can make for excellent titles, as well as themes, and I’ve sometimes changed one word in these to “subvert” them for my own purposes. (Punish the Innocent from FLTDBA is an example of this).

Every so often, I do jot down potential title ideas and come back to them later. If they still seem good, I’ll get a draft done. But time away from possible ideas is just as important as time away from the first draft of a stale. You need that break to judge them objectively.

Screenshot 2024-04-11 at 20-09-53 Allison Symes books biography latest update

Fairytales with Bite – Openings Don’t Have to Be All Once Upon A Time

Many of my flash fiction tales are what I call fairytales with bite. They involve a magical character (fairy godmother, witch etc) and I dump them in a situation they have to get out of quickly. Sometimes they call on their powers. Sometimes doing that would make things worse and they have to find another way of resolving their issues. Often there is a humorous twist to my fairytales with bite and I love writing them.

The classic opening for fairytales from childhood stories of course remains as Once upon a time and I remember just hearing those four words meant it was time to settle back and enjoy having another fairytale read to me as a child. Many happy memories there! (And when I could read the books for myself as an older child, I still appreciated that opening. I knew what was to come by then but it didn’t spoil the story, far from it in fact. It was time to eagerly anticipate enjoying a favourite tale).

For my own stories though, I like to show a character in action (and this can include showing their thoughts indicating the attitude of the character immediately) or their setting.

I like to establish it is a magical environment quickly so readers know what to expect. Sometimes I do that by just revealing the character is a dragon, fairy godmother, so if magic is then used to help resolve the problem, readers aren’t surprised by it and it doesn’t seem coincidental. That matters. Coincidences never ring true in any kind of fiction.

So think about what you want your opening to convey to your readers. What do they need to know quickly? How will you show your setting is a magical one?

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This World and Others – The Stories Your World Treasures or Fears

Every culture has its stories. Some will be stories they treasure. There will also be those that “are buried” and there can be various reasons for that. For example, there are some violent stories in most countries’ histories. Some of those will be remembered (at events like Armistice/Veterans’ Day). Others will be “not talked about”, often because they’re frankly embarrassing and, rightly, the countries concerned have moved on – rightly so too.

So when it comes to your stories and your sci-fi/fantasy/fairytale settings, which stories would be recognised and acknowledged by your characters and those who rule over them? Which stories would be ignored or deliberately suppressed and why? What would happen to anyone uncovering those tales (and it is inevitable someone would! When there is a secret in fiction, someone is bound to reveal it!).

Think about who told those stories. Did they know what the consequences would be? Did they suffer for their art? Or were those stories not approved of at the time of your setting looked on very differently going further back into your setting’s past?

Attitudes can change over time and that can also apply to stories. What would have been approved of years ago may well be condemned now (and vice versa).

Are there stories your world fears because they could so do much damage if these were more widely known? What do the authorities do to keep those stories restricted to limit the risk of that damage ever happening and are they right to take this action?

Stories can convey truth. Not everyone welcomes that. So definite ideas for your own tales could emerge from that thought.

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Questions and Answers For Characters

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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. Unbelievable weather here – heavy rain, gale force winds etc. March is supposed to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb. No sign of the lamb yet! (I also know parts of the country have had snow too). Am always grateful writing is something to be done indoors! Writing wise, will have a very special interview coming up on Chandler’s Ford Today in early April. Looking forward to sharing more about that a bit nearer the time.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

29th March 2024 – CFT
Second blog from me today and it is my usual weekly post for Chandler’s Ford Today. This time I talk about Questions and Answers for Characters. This ties in nicely with my More than Writers post for ACW (see further down) too given I look at how little details can make a story seem more believable to readers.

Well, getting little details right about your characters will help make them more believable to readers too. For this post, I share what I think are five useful questions to ask of your characters which would, I’m sure, inspire story ideas for them to “serve in”. I’ve long found outlining my characters does then trigger story ideas and I think is well worth doing. Hope you find the same.

Questions and Answers for Characters

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29th March 2024 – MTW
It’s double blog day for me today. First up is my post for More than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. (Well, it was first up when I put my posts on Facebook!). This time I talk about Easter Stories and Little Details. I share how the little details in the biblical accounts make them more real for me.

I also go on to discuss how getting the little details right in your stories will help make your characters and tales seem more believable to readers too. This ties in nicely with my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. More on that in a moment. (See above). Hope you enjoy the MTW post.

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Can’t believe the weather today – heavy rain and gale force winds! I was walking Lady earlier when another local commented it feels more like November. It does too. For those of you who have had snow, I’m sorry!!

On to happier matters. I’ll be looking at Questions and Answers for Characters for Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. Some of what I share in here could make a useful template if you’re not sure where to start in finding out what you need to know about your potential creations.

It will be a double post from me tomorrow as I’ll also be sharing my More than Writers post tomorrow for the Association of Christian Writers where I’ll discuss Easter Stories and Little Details. Again see above! Blogs can be like buses – none for ages then two or three at once!

I often find little details make a character/story for me because it helps to make them seem more real and believable, no matter how fantastical or otherwise the setting is.

Also had a lovely time at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting last night. Lots of great ideas were shared. I take part in the writing exercises I set on the night of the meeting. I love live writing exercises. They fire up the old imagination and I now have some promising opening and closing lines to investigate further in due course. That will be fun!

 

Strange weather again today though Lady did see her Hungarian Vizler chum and we managed to get damp rather than have a thorough soaking. I guess that counts as a win.

Looking forward to tonight’s Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom. Will be looking at Endings and Beginnings. Apt as we head into Easter.

Will be looking at Questions and Answers for Characters on Chandler’s Ford Today on Good Friday. See above. I’ll be sharing tips on what I’ve found useful in getting to know characters before I write their stories up. Hope it will prove useful. Also pleased my copy of Christian Writer arrived yesterday. I have a humorous piece in there this time which I hope ACW members will enjoy.

And don’t forget the April issue of Writers’ Narrative is already out in good time for a fantastic Easter read! Check it out at the link.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to say my second entry for the Andrew Siderius competition for Friday Flash Fiction is now up on site. This one, Memories, has the theme of manipulation and is in the 151-500 words category. Hope you enjoy the story. Let’s say my sympathy here is for my alien character and there is none at all for Mrs Evans. See what you think. Link here.

Screenshot 2024-03-29 at 09-29-35 Memories by Allison SymesFlash fiction is great for sharing different moods of story. I’ve written funny tales, scary ones, and the poignant kind, just to name a few examples.

One of my latter type is Judgement Day from Tripping the Flash Fantastic. It is a story I often read out at Open Prose Mic Nights and the last line has a “punch to the gut” ending appropriate for the character and their situation. With this tale, I did know the ending first and worked out what would lead to that ending.

If you’d like to find out more, do check out my Amazon Author Central page.

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A useful writing exercise, which I’ve used to kick start flash fiction ideas, is to just jot down ideas for titles and then one or two lines working out which direction you could take those titles.

For example, if I used a title such as The Open Door, I would then write a line or two indicating what kind of mood I would want the story to be, what kind of character would best serve that mood, and then I’d jot down some notes for a potential character. All of that would be about a paragraph, similar to this.

But it is enough of an outline to get me started and I find that in itself is enough to fire up other ideas. I often find it is the starting of a piece which can prove tricky. Once I have a way in, I can then get on with the first draft.

I can then judge the piece as a whole later and make suitable amendments (and there always are some!). But you have to have something down in the first place to be able to do that. Getting over a blank page/screen, for me, is vital.

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Fairytales with Bite – The Biter Bit

One of the things I’ve always loved about fairytales from an early age is that justice will be done. Sometimes that justice can be on the rough side – a case of the biter bit. But for those characters who are kind and honourable, you know somehow things will work out for them in the end. (If only that was always true in life!).

The phrase The Biter Bit would make a great theme for many stories. Who would deserve to be bitten like that? What have they done to deserve it? And where does magic come into it? Is it a case of an annoyed magical being doling out the punishment here (as is often the case with the fairytales) or would they be on the receiving end? Who would be powerful enough to do this?

Thinking about your setting as a whole, how would the justice system operate? Who would make sure any kind of poetic justice, especially if a magical kind, wasn’t overdone?

Story ideas there too I think!

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This World and Others – Sayings

Proverbs and sayings are so useful for giving theme ideas for stories. I’ve sometimes used them directly as titles too. But for your alien setting, what kind of proverbs and sayings would they have? Would they be similar to ours or something totally unknown?

Many of our proverbs and sayings come from the Bible, Shakespeare etc. Where would your setting’s sayings come from? What would be the texts your characters would treasure and how have these influenced their culture/outlook/treatment of aliens (including humans)?

There is no reason either why you couldn’t use our sayings to influence how you portray your alien characters and/or settings.

For example, take the saying Truth Will Out. If your character is an honest one in a setting which isn’t, how would that play out? What led to your character becoming counter culture here? If the setting is based on truthfulness, what would it do to characters who were not (and again what led them to being counter culture here? I think it would take more than just greed here too. To go so against your own culture would take strong motivation given the risks involved, especially if your setting has the death penalty. So the drive behind this would have to be more than material, I think).

Again, interesting story idea potential here.

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Author Interview: Francesca Tyer – Part 1

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Many thanks to Francesca Tyer for supplying author and book pictures for the first part of her fabulous interview on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Another hot few days but Lady and I have been keeping as cool as possible. Delighted to share Part 1 of a great interview with Francesca Tyer, YA fantasy author, who is part of the Authors Reach stable. Wide ranging questions and more to come next time too.
I’ve talked before about interviewing characters to find our what they’re made of – it is a fab idea, I’ve used it many times, but don’t forget to ask open questions so “they” can’t answer with a simple yes/no. You want your characters to have to explain “themselves”.

I have interviewed characters before now

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am delighted to welcome Francesca Tyer, YA fantasy author from the Authors Reach stable, back to Chandler’s Ford Today. This is the first part of a fabulous in depth two-part interview. This week Francesca and I discuss inspiration, poetry, writing follow on books, writing routines, and much more. Hope you enjoy it and I look forward to sharing Part 2 next week.

Author Interview – Francesca Tyer – Part 1

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It was so good to go swimming today, I can tell you! Pity I had to get out again but there you go. Can’t have it all.

Don’t forget Part 1 of a fabulous interview with Francesca Tyer is live on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday – will put the link up tomorrow. See above. Looking forward to sharing that. More interviews to come later in the month too.

Looking forward to running another flash fiction workshop in early July. Then there will be the Book Fair at The Hilt. And after that I will begin my official countdown to when I go to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick, which is the biggest highlight of my writing year. It will be so good to catch up with friends (and hopefully make new ones) there. Am also looking forward to running my editing workshop there.

Towards the end of the year will be the Bridge House Publishing celebration event and I am looking forward to that too. So plenty going on, writing wise, which is how I like it.

Oh and I should have news to share about online magazine Writers’ Narrative fairly soon too.

May be a doodle

Hope you have had a good day. More breeze today which Lady and I have welcomed.

On Friday, I’ll be sharing Part 1 of a wonderful two part interview with Francesca Tyer. She is a YA fantasy author whose third book, The Earthstone, will be out soon. This is the follow up to The Firestone and The Seastone.

We’ll be discussing what led Francesca into writing YA fantasy, her love of poetry, her writing routine, and she shares some useful tips and there is much more besides. Looking forward to sharing the link later this week. See above.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to share Anniversary, my latest 100 word story on Friday Flash Fiction. See what you think about Helen, my lead here, and her take on anniversaries.

Screenshot 2023-06-16 at 18-35-04 Anniversary by Allison Symes

I often ask myself questions as I’m outlining my story. I want to quiz my characters so I know what they’re made of and it reminds me why I want to write about these people/other creatures of choice in the first place. I ask myself whether my title would lure me into reading the story if it were written by someone else. I also ask what is in this for the reader?

The last question is a good one. It helps me to focus on what matters for my characters. It encourages the ruthless cutting out of any purple prose and to ensure my wasted words (very, actually, and that are the worst) have been removed.

May be a doodle of text that says "I ask myself questions as I write my first draft."

I like to keep my titles to the point. Often when I’m entering competitions, I’m conscious I need something that will “hit” the spot immediately. After all I’m trying to hook the reader into reading the rest of the story – in this case the competition judge.

I want my title to help the story stand out and give it a better chance of a placing. For those competitions where the title is part of the word count allowance, I have an even more powerful reason to keep my titles short. I want to save the majority of the word count allowance for the story itself.

The role of the title is to set the scene for what is to come in the story. It should be a good lure!

May be an image of text that says "Engrossed in a good book? Read for longer than you meant to? Ãh good. The hooks worked then."

Fairytales with Bite – Magical Extremes

What are the ranges of magical ability in your setting? What would count as magically “low” ability and “high” ability? Is this dictated by the character’s background? Can your characters improve what they do or are magical educational establishments only for the privileged few? Is this something that has been inherited or are your characters seeking to change the system?

Talking of systems, is there an agreed definition of what would constitute “bad/evil” magic and which would be considered “good”? Is anything banned and what would happen if someone broke that ban?
How has your world discovered what works and what doesn’t here?

The past history here might not make it into your story but it will colour your characters’ views and behaviour. That can change your plot. So it is worth working out what you need to know here. It will add depth to your characterisation knowing X is doing Y because….

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This World and Others – Climates

Your setting is likely to have more than one climate. As well as the geographical variety, and there will be different regions with different temperatures etc., think about what the political climate could be like. Everywhere has some sort of political elite so what form would yours take? Do your characters come from that elite or are they against it? How interested in politics are your characters? If they’re disillusioned, why would this be?

If your setting has a religious element, there will be a climate there too? Is is a moderate one or an extremist type? How does that play out?

Class and social status can have a major effect on the kind of climate your character lives in. If they’re lower down the social scale, how does poverty affect the kind of climate they live/work in? Are there tensions fuelled by poverty in and around them? Can your characters work to improve things here?

If a character is within a family unit, what kind of climate exists there? Is s it a loving one or does your character struggle to fit in? Why would that be? Personal climates will affect attitudes and actions of your character too.

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES
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