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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

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again 

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.

 

MailerLite – Allison Symes – Newsletter Sign Up

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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Spoofs

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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 needed an X-ray but is fine and recovering well. Writing going well too. And mostly Lady and I are managing to avoid the rain so we always take that as a win.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am pleased to share Spoofs on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. A great spoof has to mimic what it is spoofing successfully so people will “go along” with the spoof and enjoy it (and what it is mimicking). This requires an in depth knowledge of the original work and, I believe, a great love for it. You have to know exceedingly well what it is you’re spoofing.

But when done well, this format is a delight. It isn’t just found in books either and I name two films and, separately, a TV series, which I think spoof brilliantly.

To find out more do check out the post.

Spoofs

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Lady is pretty much back to her old self today (needed an X-ray the day before, see below) and it was particularly nice she caught up with her two best pals, the Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback today. Seeing them perked her up no end and they all had a lovely time, despite the mud.

Writing wise, I’m sharing Spoofs on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. Looking forward to sharing that. I look at what makes for a good spoof and if ever there was a time of year to enjoy them, I think it is now while we are still in the depths of winter with spring still a fair way away. See above.

It’s my experience too that humorous writing, of any kind, while it may be easy to read definitely isn’t easy to write. I salute anyone who manages it. This is partly because humour is subjective, of course, and not of all it “reads across” well. Also especially with a spoof, you do run the risk that those who love the original you base your spoof on will loathe the take you put on it!

But a good spoof is a great joy and you can find them in many art forms. More in my post tomorrow.

Hope the day has gone well. Has been a strange one here as Lady had to have an X-ray. She’s okay and we have had confirmed what we thought was the problem but it is manageable and things will get better from here because we know what it is. So glad to have her home again. The house has felt very odd without her here.

Writing wise, I loved the ACW Connect session run by the Association of Christian Writers last night. It was good to see old friends and chat with new ones. I’m also looking forward to the next session of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group next week. I’m off to the panto next week too – oh yes I am!

I’ll be sharing Spoofs on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I like a good spoof and share some of my favourites as well as discussing what I think a good spoof should be. It was fun to write, as you can imagine.

Writing Tip: My week is made up of writing sessions where I can get lots done in one go and lots of smaller sessions. Writing flash is great here because I can use the smaller time slots I have available for that. But a good idea is to save the smaller sessions for those writing tasks you’re not so keen on (e.g. marketing, editing etc) so you have the longer ones for longer stretches of creative writing, which is where most of us get the maximum enjoyment from our writing.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Lady was delighted to catch up with her Hungarian Vizler friend today and two chums she hasn’t seen for a while – the lovely Coco and Charlie. Lady is much more herself after her X-ray earlier this week.

Flash Fiction Tip: Always focus on the lead character (in stories under 250 words or so, you are likely to just have the one character in your story). Think about their purpose. What are they seeking to achieve? Do they do so or fall flat on their face (which you can exploit, of course, for a humorous tale)? What drives them? What gets in their way? All of those questions would be good to answer for longer works too. Motivation matters for our characters. It is that which does so much to make them believable to readers.

Hope to get around to looking up some flash fiction competitions over the weekend. I know of a couple of possibles but it will be a case of having the time to check them out before I draft anything. It always pays to check the details to avoid the risk of being scammed etc. Sadly rogues target any industry including the writing and publishing ones.

Also some competitions have very restrictive conditions which may well make you think twice about going that route. I avoid those who want to take all of my rights, for example, on the general principle I really don’t like this. The author is unlikely to do well out of this.

Having said that, when I’ve found suitable competitions, I love the challenge of getting something into them. It is fun to do. And you do have to be in it to win it after all.

It is possible to write flash without realising it. Any novelist who prepares a blurb or the shorter kind of synopsis will be writing up to the 1000 words maximum (and probably closer to 500 words). It would count as flash!

Any writer who takes part in writing exercises at online or in person events will be writing flash as you never have enough time to write more than about 100-200 words or so in the time you’re given for these things.

So why not look at those pieces you’ve drafted and polish them up and submit them? I was asked last night at the ACW Connect session (which was fabulous) where I submit my flash. Well, I build up stories for collections, of course. I also send them into competitions. I also share some in my newsletter/on my website (all counts as marketing).

Why not see if you can get your flash work out there and see what can be done with it? If you win or are shortlisted, anything like that, it also gives you news to share.

Flash Tip: Think about the purpose of your story. How do you want your readers to feel on reading it? Are you trying to make them laugh, cry, scream etc? From there you can work out the kind of character(s) which would be best suited for the story.

Fairytales With Bite – Starting Over

All of us need to start over at some point, whether it is starting a new job, new writing project etc. Why would your characters want or need to start over? Do they welcome or fear the prospect? How easy or otherwise do they find taking a new path in life? Is there support available?

What do your characters want their starting over to bring to them? There should be some advantages, otherwise why bother? If it is a question of necessity rather than wanting to start over, what brought them to this point? Could they have avoided it? If not, what advantages could they gain from dealing with the position they’re now in? Could something good come of the having to start over again?

Alternatively, is your character the one forcing someone else to start over? If they’re a fairy godmother or similar magical being, they could well need to use magic to bring someone to their senses to force them to face up to something and then change their ways. This is common theme in fairytales. Here, could you look at what was the last straw for your character which made them decide now is the time they are going to make Character X change their ways?

This World and Others – Finding A New Place

If your characters have to start over, as I discussed in Fairytales with Bite, would this involve finding a new place? Where would they go? Where are they coming from? Is the new place somewhere they want to go or are they out of options?

How easy or otherwise is it for your character(s) to find a new place to be? If they can choose where they want to go, given they can’t stay where they are for whatever reason, what would they be looking for? If they find this, does it compensate them for having to leave their old place at all? What does make them have to/want to leave?

In a magical setting, are characters expected to live in certain areas depending on their species? Or are the different species encouraged to live together and how does that work out? If it works out well, what would they do if someone from outside tried to change that? Would anyone be forced to find a new place because of this? (Sadly it is nothing new and we still see plenty of examples of it here).

Also, natural disasters can cause the need to find a new place. What kind of natural disasters could happen in your magical environment? Can the use of magic make things better or worsen them?

MailerLite – Allison Symes – Newsletter Sign Up

WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

News:  Writers’ Narrative will soon be moving to Substack. Subscription IS still free to the magazine. Have shared a link with an older version of the magazine below. Do enjoy and look forward to the next issue soon.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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What Makes A Story Real

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Many thanks to Paula Readman for taking an image of me with From Light to Dark and Back Again. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope the weekend went well. Not bad here. Looking forward to attending a Zoom social event with the Association of Christian Writers this week. Lady is hoping to catch up with her friends in a different way of course!

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Hope the day has gone well. Looking forward to a lovely online meeting with fellow members of the Association of Christian Writers later on today. Should be fun. Am always up for a good chat with other writers!

That thought makes me smile as I remember going to my first ever writing event many years ago (over on the lovely Isle of Wight too) and being such a nervous newbie. I knew nobody. By the end of the event, that changed! I’ve always found the writing community to be incredibly supportive and continue to appreciate this. It has been a great joy to go to various events over a lot of the country since.

Marketing Tip: I’m a big believer in scheduling mainly because I do blog a lot. But you can do this with aspects of your marketing too. I think ahead a little about themes for my newsletter, for example. I can then start drafting my newsletter a little bit at a time over the month so there is no mad rush to write it right at the end of the month ready for it to go out on the first.

Talking of which, it won’t be long before my next newsletter is due out. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

It won’t be that long before you can find out what the theme for my February newsletter will be!

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Hope your week has got off to a good start. Busy one as ever here though Lady did enjoy seeing her Hungarian Vizler pal today.

Writing wise, I’m writing various bits and pieces, some of which I’m preparing ahead of tomorrow when I have a lovely ACW event to go to online. It will save me a great deal of time tomorrow (which I’m looking forward to “spending” chatting with other ACW members!).

Looking forward to going to Camelot The Pantomime which is being staged by The Chameleon Theatre Company. Their pantomimes are always good fun – oh yes they are. It will be interesting to see just how much make up the Dame gets to wear this year. It usually is pretty impressive.

Character Tip: I don’t tend to use how a character looks as a way into getting to know them. Their traits and attitudes are more important to me but that doesn’t mean I only use those. If I have a character, for example, suddenly start using a lot of makeup when they normally wouldn’t, there will be a story idea there for me to follow through on.

I’m delighted to be back on Authors Electric with my first post of the year, Approaching The Light. While it is true January does seem to be the longest month ever (and do check out Brian Bilston’s Mnemonic for more on this), on the plus side as the month goes on we are literally approaching the light(er) evenings.

I also discuss liking (as well as writing) light and dark stories. Life has both elements so I think fiction should do too. Too much dark is too grim for me. Too much light can be sickly sweet for me. Neither option is good! I also look at redemption stories and light and dark in our characters for this post.

Hope you enjoy it.

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Hope today has gone well. I cleared up a load of autumn leaves. It makes for a great workout, trust me on this. Lady, naturally, “supervised”.

Will be looking at Spoofs for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I’m fond of a good spoof and you can find them in different art forms too. I’ll look at some of these and discuss what makes for a good spoof in my post. Am looking forward to sharing that. As you can imagine from the title, it was a fun post to write.

Tomorrow, I’ll be sharing my first Authors Electric post for the year and will be looking at Approaching the Light. This topic suggested itself because as January goes on (and doesn’t it just!), you do start to see the lighter evenings and the promise of spring coming again. See above.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Flash is great fun to write as you can set your characters anywhere you want and in any period of time. I try to take full advantage of that, though inevitably, certain favourite genres of mine do crop up regularly in my writing. I will always have a soft spot for humorous fairytales/fantasy tales.

I like to mix up the moods of what I write too. I do write light and dark tales which inspired the title of my first book, From Light to Dark and Back Again. It reflects life, my tastes in fiction etc.

Characters, like us, do have to work for their success, in whichever form that comes so their stories should reflect this. It inevitably won’t be all sweetness and light (which to me is far too twee to read yet alone write. I want my stories to have some bite to them).

Certain issues you care deeply across are likely to surface in your fiction too. It’s no coincidence that in most of my tales some sort of justice is always seen to be done for those characters deserving that.

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It’s Monday. It’s still January. It’s definitely time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Nicknames.

The receptionist of an exclusive club where nobody gets in without an invite with their name and nickname on it is confronted by someone without this. The character is forceful but will the receptionist stand her ground? Find out here.

Flash encourages focus, as I was discussing yesterday, simply due to its word count restriction. You haven’t got the word count room to go on at length. Over time and with practice, you become better at leaving out wasted words, finding better ways of phrasing things etc., and all of that tightens your writing considerably.

Even better, learning all of this is useful for whatever other writing you do. I’ve found it helps me with my blogs and articles. Plus it is an excellent warm up writing exercise ahead of your main work. You can always use the random generators to trigger a prompt to get started.

And if you are writing longer works, you might, later, want to write some short pieces to share with readers of your newsletter, website etc. A scene with a favourite character which you had to cut from the main work might be turned into a short, stand alone piece. It can act as wonderful additional marketing material and your readers will feel as if they are getting extra from you too.

Hope you enjoyed my Changing My Life 100 words story I shared here yesterday. See previous round up post. The 100 words flash format (also called drabbles) is a great challenge but it is wonderful for twist and punchline endings especially.

It is also long enough to let you think something about a character with the ending either confirming what you thought or surprising you. I do know I wouldn’t want to cross my character from yesterday (whom I deliberately didn’t name – it’s more chilling that way sometimes).

Often with the drabble, I do know the ending first. I can work out the details leading up to that ending and focus only on what you need to know to make sense of the story. I’ve often talked about flash fiction making you focus. The shorter the word count, the more intense that focus is, but it can lead to powerful, emotional storytelling. You’re not diluting the impact basically. It is “in your face” so to speak.

Goodreads Author Blog – What Makes A Story “Real”

What makes a story real for me, regardless of its genre, is when I believe in the characters. They have come to life to me on the page (or via the screen or via audio etc) and so I want to find out more about them and what happens. If I don’t “get” the characters, I’m unlikely to read on.

Now those characters don’t have to be nice but even with the villains, I still have to see why they are being the way they are. I don’t have to agree with them though! But I don’t believe in any character who does something or says something “just because”.

Every story, even the shortest flash fiction such as the ones I write, has to have a logic about it, even if it is set in a fantasy land. There have to be characters and situations readers will “get” even though we can never be part of the fictional world the author has created.

A story also feels real for me when it “plays out” properly. Even in flash fiction, you can have the Three Act Structure. The acts just aren’t so long, that’s all! But there does have to be a proper beginning, middle, and end. I have to feel as if the characters ended up in a situation which was appropriate and satisfying.

I do prefer happy endings but have read stories where the endings are open to question on that front. Frodo, from The Lord of the Rings, doesn’t get the happy ending Sam did. Rightly so too. It was apt for Sam, not for Frodo but that’s the point. The two characters are realistic. Their story arc is right for them.

I like to see a “right” story arc, regardless of the length of story. Stories fall flat otherwise, for me. What do you think?

MailerLite – Allison Symes – Newsletter Sign Up

WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Pitching

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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 have spent most of our time dodging the rain whenever possible and catching up with friends. Writing going well and I’m looking forward to joining in with an online event from the Association of Christian Writers next week too.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am pleased to share Pitching on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Pitching, I suspect, is one of those Marmite topics where writers will either love or loathe it. (The other one here is editing incidentally).

I share tips I’ve found useful for pitching, as well as discussing the importance of keeping accurate records of what you sent where and the result. I also look at some reasons why pitches can be turned down even though you have sent in the best possible pitch for the market.

I hope you find the post useful.

Pitching

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Hope your Thursday has gone well. Dreadful weather here today. Only time I enjoyed a soaking today was when I went swimming. Lady did get to see her Hungarian Vizler pal though and before the heavy rain came in so we’ll take that as a win.

I’ll be sharing Pitching on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow and hope it will prove useful. See above.

I’m off to the pantomime (oh yes I am) with my CFT editor later in the month to watch the latest production from The Chameleon Theatre Company. They’re staging Camelot The Pantomime. It should be fun and I plan to review it in due course. Those reviews are always fun to write.

Writing Tip: Every so often, I will check out the random generators and deliberately try one I haven’t used before. It’s a case of seeing what I can do with it. I can usually come up with something but the idea of trying something different here is to knowingly keep myself on my writing toes. And I get to produce stories I wouldn’t have produced any other way so I see that as a win.

Hope today has gone well. Lady had a fabulous time in the park. She saw her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals and her “boyfriend”, the lovely Aussie Shepherd. Great time had by all. Lady has shown her Ridgeback pal how to herd. Not sure the Shepherd knew quite what to make of that!

Writing wise, I’m looking forward to an ACW event online next week, the idea being it will help ACW members around the country connect and chat. Should be fun. Am busy writing various pieces including future Chandler’s Ford Today posts. I’ve drafted a couple of shorter flash pieces I hope to find a home for in due course too.

Writing Tip: Do you care about your characters? Do you root for them to succeed or fail (sometimes, at least, that’s apt for villains)? Do your characters make you want to find out what happens to them?

The answers to all of those should be a definite yes, naturally, because if your creations don’t grip you, they won’t do so for potential readers.

So there has to be something about your characters which makes you care, which is another reason why I like to outline “my people” so I get to know them a bit and, from there, I can start to care for them.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

One random generator I find especially useful is the random question one. What it comes up with can often give great ideas for themes and you then take that in the direction you want. One of my examples is below and I hope you enjoy it.

Theme: What’s something about you today that the old you would find surprising?

Changing My Life by Allison Symes

I open the red box which was in my wardrobe. I stored a letter in it years ago. My reopening date was to be my next birthday ending in zero.

I open the letter. I was to name on opening it five things I’d changed since writing it.

I’ve lost weight. I now swim. I’ve updated my clothes and look fabulous. I’ve discovered Fairtrade chocolate. Last but not least, I lost an abusive husband.

I feel happier than I have in years. He won’t feel the same. He won’t feel anything.

I buried him at the bottom of the garden.

Ends
Allison Symes – written on 11th January 2026.

Why not give the random question generator a try and use the questions as themes? I’ve written many stories this way.


Flash is a great joy to write and a continuing challenge, which is something I love about it. I have to find ways to keep on inventing characters and situations and it is fun to do. It is also nice to mix up the word count ranges I write to, though my favourite will always be the 100 worders. Well, as they were my way into flash fiction at all, it’s understandable they will always be my favourite, I think.

When I’m at workshops or events such as Swanwick, I enjoy taking part in the writing exercises which are set at these things. I try to polish up as many of my first drafts here as I can and see if I can do something with them. I have gone on to have pieces published doing this.

When I set exercises for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group, I either take part in the exercises on the night (I love live writing) or I have prepared something as an example. I still get more flash drafted so win-win here!

Flash is a wonderful tool for improving your writing overall. I’ve learned to spot my wasted words and so cut them out later. I’ve yet to work out a way of not writing those wasted words at all but so far that’s beyond me. I do know what to cut though and my first edit is off to a flying start thanks to that.

It also teaches you to think about what matters to your stories and characters and to focus on this alone. That’s no bad thing either. After all, this is what we need to share with readers first and foremost.

Anything that doesn’t move your story on in some way should be cut because why is it there if it isn’t a vital component?

Fairytales with Bite – Games

What kind of games would be played by your characters in your magical setting? Do they play games at all to unwind?

Games can teach us so much about winning and losing graciously. They can also encourage team spirit and co-operation. So where and how would your characters develop all of that if games were not a “thing” in your setting? Or is co-operation not a “thing” either and how would disputes get resolved in your setting to avoid absolute chaos?

Games can also be used to teach skills. What skills would be useful to your characters to learn this way?
Is magic allowed to be used in games or would that be considered cheating? Who would police things to ensure cheating was spotted and stopped?

We also talk about games as in playing games with people in a more dishonest way, usually to try to get something we want by underhand means? What games would your characters stoop to for something like this and do they get away with it?

Story ideas there for sure. Happy writing!

This World and Others – Arts and Crafts

One lovely thing about humanity, I think, is our arts and crafts. There is a huge range of them, of course, and often they are beautiful things. I admire anyone who can knit or crochet well, for example. Their finished works look amazing. (Also see tapestries for more of the same – beautiful objects, beautiful just because they are). I admire anyone who can draw or paint well – skills which are well beyond me but I do appreciate the finished articles.

Which arts and crafts would be found in your setting? Can anyone enjoy these? Or are certain arts and crafts limited to certain species? There may be good reason for that if so, such as the way your creations function may dictate what they can and cannot do here.

Would your characters have/go to arts exhibitions? Would their arts and crafts include the imaginative use of magic (for the public good of course)? How would your characters carry out their arts and crafts? Could they deliberately not use magic here to make the most of enjoying arts and crafts the “manual” way?

Which arts and crafts would your setting have which we either don’t have here or carry out in a different way? Could arts and crafts be used to build bridges between different communities in your setting?
And even if it is just something your lead character would do to unwind, which art or craft do they find the most helpful and why? Just answering that will tell you more about them, which in turn can impact on how you show them to us via your story.

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Stories Everywhere

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Hope the weekend went well. Managed to get plenty of writing and editing done. Also pleased the temperature has come up somewhat. My solitary primrose made it through the snow and frosts! Lady continuing to enjoy getting out and about with her chums and that is how life should be, I think.

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Hope today has gone well. Wet and muddy here today. Lady did get to see her Hungarian Vizler friend but neither dog nor their owners wanted to be out for long. We weren’t!

Writing wise, I had a lovely time at the online group I went to last night. Am also looking forward to the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group later this month. Zoom is a fabulous thing though the words ‘you’re on mute’ have gone into the general vocabulary of everyone I know.

Will be sharing Pitching on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday and hope it will be useful. I suspect this topic will be another Marmite one (the other is editing) where writers will love or loathe it. But I still hope the post will be handy!

Hope the week has got off to a good start. Lady’s has. She saw her Hungarian Vizler pal and received pets from the shopping delivery guy (I loathe supermarkets).

Writing wise, am looking forward to going to an online writing related group on Zoom this evening so will get some “bits and pieces” of writing and editing done around that. Mondays are always hectic for me so this will be a fabulous way to unwind.

Have started going through the Writing Magazine Competition Guide and have marked up one or two possibles to try out. I hope, later this week, to check the background of these competitions out and maybe start drafting something. I do have a story to write for somewhere else so have started drafting ideas for that.

Hope your weekend has gone well despite the grim weather and even grimmer news. Mind you, I guess this makes me even more glad than I usually am to escape into the worlds of flash fiction and short stories. At least I know my villains will get what they deserve even if it does end up being in a roundabout way.

Am enjoying my usual Sunday flash fiction afternoon. The fact it is cosy indoors helps a lot! On a more serious note, I’ve always loved creating characters and in short form work you get to do this a lot. Know the people (or other beings of choice), know what drives them, and I’m off to a cracking start with a story outline.

Hope your weekend has got off to a good start. We don’t usually see friends, doggy or otherwise, at the weekend though today was a nice exception when Lady and I caught up with Daisy, a sweet spaniel, and her owner.

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Pitching for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Link up on Friday (which will halfway through January already, hooray!).

Though Friday Flash Fiction has now sadly shut up shop, Sunday afternoons will continue to be flash fiction day for me as I can get a reasonable amount of writing done and I do want that to continue.

Character Tip: What is your character’s level of education? It is worth giving this some thought as it will have a direct impact on the vocabulary and type of language they’re going to use, both of which can show so much else about them (such as likely class etc).

Readers won’t need to know the answer to this directly but will pick up on it subconsciously as they read what your characters say and think. Incidentally, that’s another lovely thing about reading – it’s the nearest we get to mind reading. We can read the minds of characters after all!

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Flash is a great way of helping your other writing as by the time you’ve written 200 or 300 words as a flash piece, you should find you’ve “limbered” up enough to get on with other, longer writing work.

Writing exercises set at events or workshops can only give people five or ten minutes at most to respond so you will “only” get a flash piece in terms of word count out of them but there’s no reason why you can’t go on to polish these pieces up and get them published.

Certainly collect them together, polish them up and you could have a collection on your hands.

It’s Monday. It’s January. It’s winter weather. Okay not unexpected but very few enjoy it! Definitely time for a story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – The Done List. Collie owners will especially appreciate this one!

Everyone has a To Do list, even when they can’t write them down. Find out why my collie character was happy to get their two jobs done, even though their Mum wasn’t.

Chilly again today. I don’t think Lady was that sorry to get back indoors again. It is during cold spells I really appreciate writing being an indoors job!

Glad to catch up with some Swanwick friends on Zoom last night. Hope to be back on Zoom again later on.

Writing wise, it’s flash fiction Sunday for me so will be cracking on with some new pieces in a while and, later, continuing the editing work on my Seeing The Other Side. All great fun.

Also a nice bit of news. I’ve often sent in pieces, and had them accepted, by Christian Writer, the magazine of the Association of Christian Writers. I now have a column in there called Allison’s Advice (I do like a nice spot of alliteration every now and then and it seems I’m not the only one!).

I’ll be sharing 100 word writing tips here. First one appeared in the magazine I received yesterday. I hope people are going to find the tips useful. It’s lovely getting some flash non-fiction published.

I love mixing up the mood of my stories and think this reflects life in a way. It is a mixture of funny and sad and I like my tales to reflect that. This is where I think a collection can work so well because it can show a range of emotions.

Naturally, I’m biased here, but I’ve always loved story anthologies, long before I became published in them, because I loved the variety of moods they can show. I still love them, of course.

If you write flash pieces over time, would it be worth you seeing if you have enough to get a collection together? The independent presses or self publishing would be the best routes here. But it is possible. Two collections later, with a third due this year, I can confirm it is worth doing.

One of my favourite parts of putting a collection together is grouping the stories. It’s fun as I can group character types or moods of story as I see fit. Okay, my editor may want to change this later and that’s fine but I do enjoy this process.

Goodreads Author Blog – Stories Everywhere

I like the thought of there being stories everywhere. Okay, I’m biased because I love reading and writing them. Inspiration for stories of my own can and does come from various sources too. There’s nothing to beat being inspired by what you love reading yourself, in my view.

Okay, there are stories I try to avoid, most notably the news which is so grim. There is a focus on negative rather than positive stories there and I would like to see a better balance. But I guess knowing this, it does encourage me to read more and escape into the world of books. Nothing wrong about that.

Where you have characters, you have stories. Where you have any society, you have stories. The fun with fictional writing is, of course, in inventing your own. The fun with reading is discovering what other authors have invented.

And the great thing here is the sky isn’t the limit.There are no limits. Fantasy and science fiction especially are great vehicles to explore other kinds of character and societies and I find these fascinating. What can also be fun is spotting the other books and stories which have clearly influenced the author. Quest stories, I think, will have some kind of nod to the ultimate quest story, The Lord of the Rings.

Stories being everywhere is excellent news for all of us who love reading. We will not lack variety or number of stories to enjoy. That’s definitely worth celebrating.

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Story Inspiration

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Hope the first full week back after the Christmas and New Year break has gone well. Lady has been pleased to catch up with her friends. Weather is what you’d expect for January! Writing and editing are going well and I have booked my big writing event for later in the year, which has cheered me no end.

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Hope your Friday has been a good one. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler pal and her Aussie Shepherd boyfriend, who, by far, had the best coat of anyone for coping with the bitter weather today.

Writing wise, I’m pleased to share Story Inspiration for Chandler’s Ford Today this week and hope you will find it useful. I look at various useful “hunting grounds” where inspiration is likely to strike (and has done for me many times). These include books of lists, prompts, Kipling’s honest serving men and much more besides.

I hope you find these thoughts useful to encourage your own inspiration as it never does any harm to encourage that as much as possible.

Happy writing.

Story Inspiration

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Hope today has gone okay. Bad weather coming in this evening as I write this. Keep safe. Lady saw her two chums, the Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback, again today. Thankfully it was only light rain this morning. I don’t think any of the dogs would’ve been that sorry to get back indoors again.

Writing wise, I’m sharing Story Inspiration on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. I hope it will prove useful as I share some good ways to find inspiration. I always feel it is better to hunt for it than wait for it to come to you. There are various good “hunting grounds” for inspiration, some of which I’ll be sharing tomorrow, and which I hope will add to your “store” of places to look for sources of story ideas.

Hope today has gone well. Lady saw her best buddies, the Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback, today. Ice and snow pretty much gone, just in time for the storm to come in tomorrow! Oh well, at least the temperature has gone up somewhat.

Writing wise, am looking forward to meeting up again later in the month with the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group. We’ll be looking at Ways and Paths as a topic. Plenty of story ideas to come from that and I hope we will start drafting some on the evening.

Also have a story to get on and draft for a future submission. Plus I’m beginning to go though the Writing Magazine Competition Guide for possible places to try.

Looking forward to joining in with another ACW genre group online this evening. It’s always good fun and a great chance to socialise. Zoom continues to be a blessing when you can’t get together with other writers in person. Though I am looking forward to my big annual event in August – The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick – as well. Thinking about that cheers up a gloomy January for me somewhat!

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My way into flash fiction writing was the 100 word story, also known as the drabble. CafeLit issued their 100 word challenge and I responded to it and haven’t looked back since.

Flash Tip: I’ve often found the best way into writing a 100 worder is to focus on the ending first. How do I want the story to end – with a laugh or with something else which will move readers in other ways? Is a line of dialogue to bring the story to an end the right way to go or should I finish the tale with an “event” which must finish the tale?

Once I have a rough idea of the likely ending, I can work backwards from there to the likely beginning. Knowing a likely ending also shows me the likely lead character who will be finishing the story. I can then work out more about them.

Having the tight word count means I have to only focus on that which is relevant but this is a good thing. I’ve found writing the 100 worders does encourage tighter writing elsewhere and helps me fight any tendency to indulge in purple prose.

As well as flash fiction, there is such a thing as flash non-fiction. Many blogs would count as this given often they come in at about the 500 words mark.

But have you given thought to writing a short piece sharing how you came to write one particular story, say? This would be of interest to other writers and your readers. Works best when kept tight but could give you excellent additional material to add to your website/blog.

Counts as part of your overall marketing, of course, as well.

Glad it’s warming up a bit outside. Spotted a primrose out in my garden just around Christmas time. Is still out. Seems to have survived the frosts and snow – at least so far. (Am putting the qualifier in because I recently said we hadn’t had any snow and, guess what, overnight we got some so I don’t want anything happening to that poor little primrose!).

Now, we all face tricky conditions at time but this can be fabulous for our characters. It is perhaps just as well they cannot tell their creators what they think of them for this. I do love dropping mine in the mire as much as I can.

So what traits do your characters have to help them handle the situations you put them in? Are they already resourceful or do they have to learn how to be so? Many great story thoughts to come from that, I think.

Traits are an invaluable way of gauging a character. You could also use them to figure out how they could develop others.

For example, if your character’s main trait is honesty, would they develop bravery to ensure honesty in their world continued? Would they fight to save what was good in their world and stop it from being obliterated by the greedy?

(And if anyone’s thinking there are parallels with what’s going on here right now, you’d be right but we can use some of this at least as inspiration for story ideas. When you know what’s driving someone, you can get stories out of that).

Fairytales With Bite – Resuming Normal Life

It always takes a little while to resume normal life after any kind of break and perhaps more so after a break like the Christmas/New Year one. Am slowly resuming normality myself!

But how would your characters get back to what is normal for them? How long would that take them and what does count as normal for them? What kind of breaks would they expect to be as part of their overall life?

What official breaks does everyone in your setting have to take? Are they appreciated or resented? Could the events themselves be “commercially exploited” (and that does tend to lead to resentment in some quarters)?

Do any of your characters use official breaks to get out of something they ought to be doing? Does that work or does it cause further problems later on? Does anyone resent having to resume normal life again?
Could enemies of your setting use the break to cause havoc and how would they do this?

Story ideas there, for sure.

This World and Others – Routines

I must admit I do like routines. I have one for my writing and have had this for years. Every so often I adjust it to take in new writing/editing work etc but, on the whole, I’ve found it useful to help me make the best of the time I have available for writing and/or editing on any one day. But I know not everyone likes routines. There are many who would find them restrictive.

What would your characters make of routines? Are there those who thrive on them (and if so, how)? Are there others who would feel routines are like straitjackets? What would happen if you have a character of each type stuck together and they have to work out some sort of routine to get them though to the time when they’re free to do their own thing again?

Does your setting have a routine in terms of characters have to work at certain times, relax at certain times etc? What would its views be on those who don’t follow the general pattern here? Could a setting with a fixed routine face enemies who would exploit the disadvantages of being too rigid? What would the enemies be seeking to exploit on your setting itself?

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New Year, New Books, New Authors

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Hope your weekend went well. Some snow here though not too deep. Am wrapping up with multiple layers so I am waddling with Lady rather than walking with her right now! Hope the first full week back to “normal life” goes well. Pleased to be back writing and editing again. Needed and enjoyed the break but it is good to be back.

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler friend and, later, was escorted home by her Aussie Shepherd “boyfriend”. Lady is keeping her socials together, well enough!

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Story Inspiration on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Always a timely topic, this one. Writing and editing works are going well – and I’m staying out of the cold as much as possible, all wins here!

Writing Tip: Think about what inspires you to write – favourite stories, favourite types of characters etc – and then look at why you love these things. You will learn something useful from doing this and it will help you as you create your own tales. More in my post on CFT on this on Friday – what I can say now though is this works.

You know I said yesterday (4th January 2025) we hadn’t had snow in Hampshire as yet? Well, it is a clear case of me and my big mouth. We did get snow over night (probably 1 to 2 cm, no more than that). You’ll be pleased to know I won’t apply for any job in weather forecasting! Think that would be best for everyone…

Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today, both of whom were wearing coats. Lady doesn’t really need one (and I am sure she and her predecessors would consider them sissy for a collie/collie-cross anyway). All three dogs had a lovely time despite the cold and yes we owners did keep them moving.

Writing wise, am having a quiet evening getting on with various small writing pieces. Nice way to unwind after what is always a hectic day for me. And I get to stay well out of the cold too. Win-win there, I’d say.

Character Tip: What does your character make of their usual weather patterns? If cold is a regular feature of these, how does your character cope with it? (If they’re a northerner of any sort, they’ll put on their big coat. If they’re a southerner like me, they’ll put on a big coat with a body warmer under it – mind you, it did live up to its name today). How could cold weather help or hinder them? There will be story ideas there. Happy writing!

Hope Sunday has gone well. Bitterly cold and heavy frosts here in Hampshire but no snow (as yet anyway). Hope you are all okay. Lady has had a lovely day in that she saw her “boyfriend”, a lovely Aussie Shepherd, in the park earlier. He has a wonderful thick coat and I shouldn’t imagine felt the cold at all!

Writing wise, I’m making good progress with my editing work. I’ve also got ideas I’d like to develop this year and I hope to share some 100 word stories on Facebook every so often. I’ve enjoyed sharing my Friday Flash Fiction links most weeks and want to keep up writing the good old drabbles regularly.

One enjoyable task this coming week is to start reading the latest Writing Magazine. It came with its annual competition guide and I hope to work my way through at least some of that this year. There are more flash fiction competitions out there than you might think and I do find this guide immensely helpful.

Hope the weekend has got off to a good start for you. As I write this I am enjoying a trip down memory lane thanks to Classic FM playing the theme from Animal Magic. Older readers will remember that show!

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Story Inspiration for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. It’s a timeless topic and I’ll be sharing some ways I use regularly to keep triggering ideas. I hope you will find it useful and look forward to sharing that on Friday.

Have resumed my editing work and making good strides with it, including on my own edits for Seeing The Other Side.

Writing Tip: I use an old school diary to note down deadlines for competitions, my own deadlines for when I want to get work finished by, and so on. It pays. I see it as making an appointment with myself and my writing and it has helped me to get more done. For longer work, I can break my task down into “manageable chunks” and put those in the diary. It all helps.

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Tonight, 6th January, is of course Twelfth Night, traditionally the time the Three Wise Men visited Jesus in Bethlehem. My story, The Family Legend, in the recently published Magi (Bridge House Publishing) takes a thought from this story – that at least one of the men were still alive thirty three years later and found out what had gone on in Jerusalem – and I ran with it.

But you too can run with the idea of an unexpected and/or unlikely journey and the characters that do this. There could be some interesting flash fiction pieces here too though I suspect you would probably need the 500 words plus range to do this justice in the very short form.

Hope you try the idea out though. Good luck!

It’s a bitterly cold Monday, the kind where Good King Wenceslas would feel at home. For me it’s definitely time for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Looking on The Bright Side.

A fairytale witch finally has to tell the facts of the magical life to her child, who is shocked to find out where their instructions come from. Find out more here.

 

F = Flash fiction – fun to write, easy to read, lots of impact due to its brevity.

L = Language and editing skills develop a lot when you write in this form as you do look for the right word which carries the right amount of weight for what you want to convey. No wasted words here. Where one word will have the impact I want, I’m using that not three or four.

A = Assessing the impact you want your story to have on readers and then working out the best way of doing it before writing anything is, I find, sensible for this format. I want to hit the ground running so to speak here.

S = Settings can be anywhere in time or space or in any kind of world you care to invent. What matters are the characters. People follow what they’re up to even if they’re a three headed purple dragon from the planet Zog. If people care about the dragon, they will read on.

H = Humour is fabulous for flash. It’s fun to end a story with a punchline.

Flash fiction is not new. It has been around for centuries. To name one example, all of Jesus’s parables in the Bible come in at well under the 1000 words mark limit for flash.

The form has had several names including postcard fiction (which I like – you can picture it); short short fiction (which I don’t like – it’s a mouthful); and sudden fiction (this is okay but doesn’t, to my mind, seem an apt term for thoughtful flash pieces).

But whatever you do call it, flash fiction is a fun challenge and I love writing to the various word count brackets within it. The most popular for competitions I’ve come across are the 100, 250, 300, and 500 word ones but the first three of those are the most common.

All of them are great fun so why not give them a go?

Goodreads Author Blog – New Year, New Books, New Authors

Happy New Year and I hope 2026 brings you plenty of books to enjoy. I hope amongst those books will be books and authors who are new to you. One of the great joys of reading is in discovering new stories to enjoy by writers you either already thought you knew well or by authors you’ve not read before. Everyone wins from that one.

I’ve not yet made any plans for my new reading year. I’m currently engrossed with the books I received for Christmas and loving them all. Then I may catch up on my poor neglected To Be Read pile or at least make some inroads into it. I suspect you may well be in the same reading boat, yes? I’ve not yet come across a reader and/or writer who hasn’t got lots of books “on the go”.

I used to feel sad at the thought I know I won’t get around to reading all of the books I would like to read. Funnily enough, I now feel comforted by the thought. Why?

Well, it confirms to me the world will never run out of stories to enjoy and that is a great thing.

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Winter Stories – Part 2

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Firstly, I hope you have a very happy and peaceful New Year. I slept through it – I was very happy! Writing and editing work has recommenced now but it is a joy to get back to it again. Secondly and most importantly, Lady had a fabulous Christmas and is enjoying seeing her friends again.


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I don’t know about you but it really doesn’t feel like a Friday. Still, Lady did get to see her Hungarian Vizler friend again today and a lovely time was had by all.

What has helped me accept it really is a Friday is it is time for my first Chandler’s Ford Today post of 2026 – Winter Stories.

I share some of what I think count as winter stories, the importance of appreciating reading, and look at stories about stories, including how they can inspire further stories themselves. I also see stories as a link to the past and to the future.

I hope you enjoy the post – it’s a gentle start to a new writing year.

Winter Stories

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Happy New Year! Lady was pleased to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today and I was pleased it was less cold than yesterday so we both came home feeling we had gained something!

It’s good to be back to the old writing routine again, having had a wonderful break (and a calorific one at that!). Glad to say my author newsletter went out earlier today and I will be back on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow with my first post for 2026 on Winter Stories. See above.

Am on both sides of the editing fence at the same time again at the moment. Loving this. The last time this happened for me was back in 2020, the year we all prefer to forget, when I was working on Tripping The Flash Fantastic. Seems a world away now but am so looking forward to Seeing The Other Side coming out this year.

Hope you have had a good day. Lady caught up with her two best buddies, the Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler. We kept the dogs moving. It was far too cold to keep still! Lots of fog too – didn’t really lift. Still, this is one thing I love about writing. It is an activity best done in the warm! Will be listening to Classic FM’s Pet Classics this evening too. (New Year’s Eve). I think it helps the dog but I know for sure the calming music does do wonders for me!

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Winter Stories for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. My next author newsletter is good to go for tomorrow, 1st January, and talking of which, I’ll finish by wishing you all a very Happy New Year.

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It’s sad to start the New Year with no more Friday Flash Fiction (see screenshot) but it was wonderful getting back into the world of writing drabbles with them for the last couple of years.

I do hope to share 100 word stories of mine every so often here. And to start, here was one I was going to submit to FFF in early 2026, having written it in December 2025. It does fit in with pantomime season though – oh yes it does!

Hope you enjoy Following.

Following by Allison Symes

‘Which way now? This old map isn’t clear enough. I knew we should have bought an updated one. See, here, the print is all smudged, Hans.’
‘Shall we toss a coin?’
‘Is that all you can come up with, Hans? Didn’t you learn something from last time?’
‘Yes. I learned not to rely on using a trail of breadcrumbs because the birds will eat them. Come on, let’s just go left. It’s the wider path. It looks less overgrown.’
‘Okay but if we come across a gingerbread house again, we are turning and running away immediately, right, Hans?’
‘Right, Gretel.’

Ends
Allison Symes – 21st December 2025

Happy New Year! Had a lovely informal meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group just before Christmas. Our next meeting will be towards the end of the month. Already looking forward to that one plus ACW members have the chance to meet up online later in the month too so I’ve signed up for that one.

Zoom can and does bring people together when in person gatherings aren’t feasible. It’s also a great tool for helping with flash fiction writing in that I use it to record stories I intend to “perform” or send in for potential broadcast. It gives me a way of hearing how I come across and it confirms my timings. All useful stuff.

Hope to start looking for potential flash and short story competitions in a week or so. Looking forward to submitting stories again. You have to be in it to have any chance of winning it after all.

The turn of the old year into a new one is one of those points in time we all remember. But you can use the thought of points of time as something your characters have to deal with.

What moment in time would be a pivotal point for your character and why? It doesn’t have to tie in with the calendar after all. It could be an anniversary date (pleasant or otherwise) and much more. It could also be a driver for what your character does next and naturally there would be consequences from that.

Happy New (writing) Year!

Fairytales with Bite – New Beginnings

I write this on 31st December 2025 with the New Year only a few hours away so I suppose it is a natural time to be thinking about new beginnings. What would make your characters decide they need a new beginning? Would they use a New Year (or equivalent in your setting) to decide this or are they forced to make a new start and how did they get into that position at all?

Does the new beginning live up to its promise? What makes the character change to make the new beginning mean something to them? What do they have to change? Is anyone or anything getting in the way of your character having a successful new beginning? Or is your character made to face up to the need to have a new beginning by another character and what makes them go along with this?

Do you have characters who always make new beginnings but they never seem to work out? Could a friendly fairy godmother help with this and finally help them get the breakthrough they’ve been seeking?

Definitely story ideas there! Happy writing.

This World and Others – Letting The Old Go

New Year’s Eve is an obvious time to let things go. You don’t have the choice. The old year goes, the new one comes in. But what would your characters really not want to let go of, even if they should do so? I have sympathy here. I never want to let go of chocolate even though, strictly speaking, it is something I don’t need to be able to survive.

All successful stories pivot on a moment of change. The character has to change in some way or do something different – the story has to move forward so it can work.

Letting things go, especially those with great meaning to the character, can be a useful symbol showing your character being ready to move on as they let go of anything they feel is holding them back. This can, of course, include other characters, who may or may not be happy about this but what you definitely have here is a story. The conflict here has to be resolved in some way and that can include the first character moving on regardless.

Give some thought as to what your characters wouldn’t like to let go off too and make them face the possibility of having to do so. What would they do? How would they react?

Story ideas there for sure!

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A New Year, A New Promise, A New List (Maybe)

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I hope you had a lovely Christmas and may I wish you a Happy New Year. The round up below consists of posts for pre-Christmas and in between Christmas events plus my usual pieces. I hope you enjoy a bumper read! Lady, naturally, had a fabulous Christmas seeing family and Santa Paws was as generous as ever.

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady saw her “boyfriend”, the lovely Aussie Shepherd, Bear, today. They both had a lovely time with Chuckit balls – at least the pair of them had the coats for the bitterly cold weather today.

I am sad to report Friday Flash Fiction is closing in the New Year. I am so grateful to them for their support, for getting me into regularly writing 100 word stories again (which was my way into flash fiction and being published in my own right), and the sheer fun of joining in and reading the other fabulous stories on this site. It will be greatly missed.

Will I keep on writing the 100 word stories? Oh yes. They are a great challenge and fun to write. It is amazing what you can convey in such a short word count.

29th December – More Than Writers

How can the year have gone by so fast? Yes, it is time for my final More Than Writers post for 2025 and I look at A New Year, A New Promise, A New List (Maybe). I discuss why I don’t make resolutions but I do review what I think I might like to achieve writing wise for the coming year.

I share why I think doing this is helpful and the great thing is it doesn’t matter where you are in your writing life. Even if you are just starting out, taking time to review where you are and where you would like your writing to go is a good idea. I also share some thoughts as to what could go on to your “review list”.

Hope you enjoy the post and find it useful.

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27th December

Hello again. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Lovely time here. Will be back to my usual writing routine on Monday but thought I’d pop by just to say I hope you received lots of fabulous books as presents. Don’t forget the next best thing you can do for any author is to review their books. Aptly since I’m a flash fiction writer, I will say reviews don’t have to be long. A line or two is great. Make a writer’s New Year – give them a good review!

I’ll be back on Chandler’s Ford Today next Friday too with a post about Winter Stories. Will share that on Friday.

I will be sending out my author newsletter on New Year’s Day too. To sign up for tips and stories and more, do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

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24th December – Christmas Eve

Hope your Christmas Eve has gone well. Busy one here but am set up ready to go for tomorrow. Lady is always interested when Mum is busy cooking in the kitchen. I wonder why….

Looking forward to a lovely church service tomorrow and then later catching up with family and favourite films. However you spend Christmas, I hope you have a great and enjoyable day.

It was great to have a quick catch up chat with my Chandler’s Ford Today editor, Janet Williams, this evening. Will be posting again on CFT from January. Tonight, I plan to just write a few odds and ends. I find doing some writing helps me unwind after a a busy day. I think it’s because the writing gives me some time to be creative and I seem to thrive on that.

Happy Christmas! Seems so long ago now but it was less than a week as I prepared this! Mind you, even with Christmas now over for another year, it is ALWAYS worth celebrating the wonderful world of stories.

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Am happily working on an edit of my Seeing The Other Side at the moment, as well as editing for someone else. It was way back in 2020, the year we all prefer to forget, when I was last on both sides of the editing fence at the same time. It’s an interesting and enlightening experience.

Will be co-judging a flash fiction competition from the end of January and am looking forward to donning my judge’s hat again. Judging stories is also an enlightening experience and a great honour to be asked to do.

It’s hard to say what the single thing is I most love about flash fiction writing and reading, but a strong contender would be the impact such stories have on you. There is no dilution of the emotions the stories are meant to produce. You get the pay off for twist stories quickly too and I find I then want to read even more short twist tales, it is like an addiction but this one is harmless at least!

29th December
The time between Christmas and New Year always does seem strange. What I do know though is today, 29th December, is still a Monday and therefore it is time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Approaching Time.

Even anthromorpic beings with a limited shelf life make the most of the time they’ve got, even when they are parts of Time herself.

 

27th December
Just popping by to write some brief pieces. Have thoroughly enjoyed my time off (and will be off again tomorrow) but it is also nice to be back at the desk for a short while tonight.

One of my nicest tasks when I get back to a proper writing routine will be to start selecting flash and short story competitions to have a go at in 2026. I did enter more competitions this year and want to keep on doing this (as it makes me write more and what isn’t accepted in one place may be accepted elsewhere, that has happened for me before).

I also want to find new competitions to try. It stretches me and my writing and that’s a good thing. It will be a while before I send anything into Friday Flash Fiction but hope to do that again sometime in January when the new editor gives the word to go. Sadly, I received further news since writing this that Friday Flash Fiction will be closing at the end of 2025 but I will keep writing 100 word stories. There are a number of competitions for these so I hope to try some of these.

24th December – Christmas Eve
Just a quick post to wish you all a Happy Christmas. Naturally I hope you receive many wonderful books (including flash fiction collections, of course) tomorrow! Mind you, I am obliged to add flash fiction isn’t just for Christmas!

Joking aside, I will also say a huge thanks for your support this year. I continue to love flash fiction in all of its forms and look forward to getting back to writing more after the Christmas break.

Meantime, I hope you have a lovely Christmas and New Year. See you here again soon!

Fairytales With Bite – Festivities

I write this on the evening of Christmas Eve 2025 so naturally festivities are very much to mind at the moment.

Now festivities come in a huge range of forms and are held for various reasons, including personal festivities, religious ones etc. Which type or types would your setting have? How did they originate? Have the way they are celebrated changed over time and what brought about the change?

What do your characters make of the festivities? Do they look forward to them or dread them? Is there the equivalent of the last minute Christmas shop? Are the festivities a time for everyone to “down tools” including magical ones? How would your world ensure it was secure enough during its “down time” or is it secure enough to know it doesn’t have enemies? (Good story possibility there for someone to prove them wrong!).

Who organises the festivities? (I’d want to know who does the catering but I have a vested interest in that one given I do the catering here).

Also a festivity could be a useful break/time of respite for a character who needs it. Story ideas there for sure.

This World and Others – Marking the End of a Time Period

As well as thinking about Christmas as I write this on 24th December 2025, the festive season also includes marking the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one.

What time periods operate in your fantasy world? Are there periods of time they mark when they pass? How does time operate in your setting? Is it the same as ours or do they not have things such as days, weeks, years?

When it comes to periods of light and dark, which is the greater in terms of length or are they the same? We base our time system on the thought there are twelve hours of daylight, twelve hours of night (especially in mid summer) but what would your world base their system on if they don’t use natural light to base it on?

Now I admit I did use to stay up and see the New Year in but these days I tend to take the view the New Year can come in without me witnessing it as I do appreciate my sleep more! In your setting, would everyone be obliged to mark the passing of a set period of time? How would those commemorations happen? Who did say what the time periods would be at all?

Goodreads Author Blog – Happy New Reading Year

I hope 2025 brought lots of lovely books into your life and that you have an excellent and Happy New Reading Year too.

The time between Christmas and New Year can seem a bit odd, it’s almost as if you’re in limbo, but it is a great time for getting on with reading all of those lovely books you received as presents. (And a lovely New Year’s present to the authors can be to leave them a review here on Goodreads and elsewhere, of course).

The New Year will bring a new book into my life too. In May, my third flash fiction collection (Seeing The Other Side – Bridge House Publishing) will be out and I am looking forward to that, naturally.

Am also currently enjoying editing works for others. It’s a lovely job. Also it makes me think about my own writing and this can be enormously helpful.

I do know, above all else though, I will continue to love and appreciate stories and books. They are some of the best things about humanity. (Okay, folks, I do have to include chocolate and classical music in that list too!).

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Winter Stories

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Hope all is well. Had a lovely weekend singing carols and reading/enjoying readings at two Carols by Candlelight services over the weekend. My next post here will be in a week’s time and will be a bigger round up though I am taking a few days off over Christmas and hope you are too. Do have a lovely Christmas.

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals for the last time before Christmas. A good time was had by all and I suspect three lovely dogs will be thoroughly spoiled and enjoy their visit from Santa Paws.

Writing wise, I’m winding down for the Christmas break. There will be a round up post of what I write when and where on my website later this evening, brief posts tomorrow, and then I’m off for a few days.

However you spend Christmas, I do hope you have a wonderful time. I’m looking forward to the break but also to resuming writing when the break is over again. That is the lovely thing with writing. It is a wonderful thing to return to after a needed break, I find. (So unlike returning to the housework etc etc!).

Hope the day has gone well. Hectic here but Lady did get to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals and a great time was had by all three, so that was fine.

I now have the Mixcloud link to the Three Minute Santas show on North Manchester FM hosted by Hannah Kate recently. If you’ve not had a chance to hear the show so far, here’s your chance.

The range of stories was so good but don’t just take my word for it. Why not give the show a listen? It was great fun to take part in and listen to the other tales.

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Had a lovely time at yesterday’s Carols by Candlelight service. Romsey URC looked stunning (though I was glad not to be the one putting the candles out afterwards!). The music and singing were wonderful and truly sublime. I read the poem The Shepherds at Bethlehem which was lovely. Also loved the recitation of The Not so Perfect Christmas Tree.

Went to my church’s service this afternoon which was more informal with carols, poems and readings, and cracker jokes. A great time was had here too though in a different way! Certainly by the time we finished all of the carols we want to sing (and we sing loads, we get to request carols to sing), we are more than ready for a cuppa afterwards.

Those who went to the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event earlier this month, and who kindly gave me their Christmas cracker jokes because I said our minister could do with new material, well he put it to good use this afternoon! Plenty of groans and laughs – as there should be with these things.

It will be odd not having a Chandler’s Ford Today post next week but there was no way I was posting on Boxing Day! I’ll be back on that (and other things too like flash submissions) in the New Year. The next few days will be spent getting a few writing bits and pieces done and other material written so I hit the ground running when I return to my desk properly in a week or so.

Am also looking forward to getting on with some Christmas reading too.

Hope the weekend has got off to a good start. I’m looking forward to reading a wonderful poem, The Shepherds at Bethlehem, at a Carols by Candlelight service later this evening. Poetry and flash fiction both rely on using specific words to create specific images (and to make the most of their respective word/syllable/line counts).

No Chandler’s Ford Today post from me on Boxing Day next week (now, admit it, that’s not really a surprise is it!). Will be back on CFT in the New Year. I suspect post-Christmas I will get a little writing done, especially flash pieces ready to submit later, but am looking forward to a break. Am also looking forward to seeing what arrives from my book related wish list for Christmas!

Have been enjoying singing along to the carols and other Christmas songs Classic FM have been playing. In their poll, I voted for In the Bleak Midwinter but it has to be to the Holst tune. I do think though that Christina Rossetti, with her fabulous poem, has added to Christmas, as did Charles Dickens of course with his A Christmas Carol.

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Given most of the carols tell the story of the Nativity in verse form and are well within the 1000 words limit for flash, do they count as flash stories? I think so! I think they also count as “flash poems”.

I have written the odd flash piece using rhyme and it has been fun to do but it will never be my main style. Poetry, for me, is like art – I know what I like when I come across it, appreciate it deeply, and leave those far better suited than me to write it!

Will put up a short post tomorrow and then will be off for a few days. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas.It’s Monday. But it’s not just any Monday. It’s the Monday before Christmas, otherwise known as Hecticville, yes?  I do know it’s time for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Action Replay.

Action replays may have been around for far longer than thought in this fun tale concerning the shepherd left behind from the trip to Bethlehem.

There won’t be any submissions to Friday Flash Fiction as a new editor takes the helm from January. A huge thank you to the founder and original editor for all of his hard work here. He knows who he is! I must thank FFF for getting me back into writing the drabbles (aka the 100 worders) regularly. They are great fun and a good challenge.

One task for early January will be to list a few competitions to enter for the first quarter of 2026. I would like to try new ones (with a good track record) this year, as well as continue to try and write more than the year before.

Naturally, I’m looking forward to the publication of Seeing The Other Side (Bridge House Publishing), my third flash collection, in May 2026. It will be lovely having another book out again. Plus I have ideas to pitch so hope to get on with those early in January and see what happens. I do know, whatever happens, the writing life isn’t a static one.

I’m pleased to say I have written more flash this year and hope to continue with that in 2026, of course. It has been mainly at the 100 words length (especially for Friday Flash Fiction) but given this was the word count which introduced me to flash at all, this does seem appropriate.

I often think of the carols as flash poems given the word count is limited (even if you do sing, like we did at church last Sunday, all eight, yes, count them eight, verses of O Come O Come Emmanuel). They tell the Christmas story in song.

When it comes to the great When Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night, when it comes to the line ‘Fear not’, said he for mighty dread had seized their troubled mind in verse two, I always think well it is no wonder, really, you can’t blame the shepherds here. Anyone would be startled!

But it is thoughts like that which can inspire some fun, festive pieces. One of mine was about a young shepherd worried about leaving the sheep behind when it came to going to Bethlehem. Fun to do.

Goodreads Author Blog – Winter Stories

In my last post prior to Christmas for Goodreads, may I take the chance to wish you all a Happy Christmas and New Year. I also hope you receive plenty of books as presents!

Do you associate any particular books with the winter season? I do. I always think of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe with its line always winter and never Christmas. Always struck me as sad and horrifying that.

Naturally I associate the Nativity and stories which come from it. There are some fun stories around showing the story from the viewpoint of the animals in the stable etc.

Plus I tend to think of Frodo and company trudging through the snow covered mountains in The Lord of The Rings.

Which stories do you link with winter?

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