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Using Time for Fiction

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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. Not bad here though the weather was mixed. Think winter is trying to hang on when it really should just go away now. I have a look at friendships, crossing divides, and whether flash fiction can bear having repetition in it amongst other topics this time.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Delighted to share my latest post for Chandler’s Ford Today which is on a topic which is close to my heart – Using Time For Fiction. I like to make the most of those odd pockets of time we all get and it can be amazing what writing you can do in these. See the post for tips and thoughts here which I hope you will find useful.

Using Time For Fiction

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Better day. Got to have some sunshine today and Lady got to “show off” playing with her ball in front of her pal, the one she treats almost like a mum, the lovely Hungarian Vizler.

Am off for a day or two tomorrow. Will be posting as usual but times may vary. A lot will depend on where I am and the quality of a Wifi signal. It can be variable indeed on trains!

Sharing Using Time for Fiction on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. As ever I plan to use what time I can on my journey to do what writing I can using my trusted phone and Evernote. Am never short of things to do here. Am never bored. The journey flies by and I end up going home with a lot drafted ready to be edited later. There is nothing about that scenario I dislike!

Using pockets of time boosts productivity

Another mixed bag, weather wise, here, but Lady got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback best friend today. Both dogs went home tired and happy.

Am talking about Using Time For Fiction for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above. Looking forward to sharing that.

Hope to be taking part in an author event in July. More news on that nearer the time. Am giving a flash fiction workshop for a writing group in May. Looking forward to that a lot. Always happy to talk about flash fiction!

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom at the end of the month. I set some prompts last time and one of these was the first line of my story, Untaken, which was up on CafeLit yesterday. So I do write up my own prompts too!

May be an image of 1 person and text that says "I don't believe in writer's block. I DO believe there are times when we are not so creative for all kinds of reasons. We're human after all. Prompts can be a useful kick start."

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It’s the end of another working week (a shorter one in the UK given we had a Bank Holiday on Monday for the Easter weekend). Still time for a story. Hope you like my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Making Her Day. See what does here!

Screenshot 2023-04-14 at 17-27-12 Making Her Day by Allison Symes

Does writing flash regularly make writing to a specific word count easier? Hmm… jury’s out there. What I find is it is a case you know you can do it. You’ve done it lots of times before. But you still have to face this blank page. I go by the Wodehouse maxim to apply the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.

I will often refer to my notebooks (and this is where an idea from there will grab me and I run with that). Using pockets of time just to jot down potential ideas is never wasted effort and it pays off for me a lot.

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Is there a place for repetition in flash fiction? It may sound ironic, given the limited word count, but yes there is. I’ve used a repetition of a phrase for a character to stress something. They are trying to convince you they are speaking the truth. Sometimes this kind of repetition can be a habit of the character. So there is a place for it but it must be something you’ve thought out and can back up the characterisation to limit the risk of it looking like a mistake.

May be an image of text that says "Repetition, deliberately done, can be highly effective in a story. It can lead to a ripple effect throughout and add depth to your characterisation. Saying something once and then repeating it twice (again a rule of three!) helps people remember that something ar better. It is a huge indicator to the read that this something matters to the story and its outcome."

Fairytales With Bite – Friendships

What kind of friendships are encouraged in your fictional settings? One of my favourites is the friendship which develops between Legolas and Gimli from The Lord of the Rings. So many funny moments when they’re fighting side by side too. (‘It still counts as one, elf’, just being one example. This was an aspect I thought the films brought out so well).

And you can’t beat the friendship between Frodo and Sam for loyalty and courage. But the latter friendship is more understandable – between two hobbits rather than between an elf and a dwarf, traditional enemies.

Does your world discourage/encourage friendships between different species? Where would friendships be forbidden outright and does anyone defy this? How do your characters meet and develop friendships (or enmity come to that given friendships can go sour)?

You can show so much about a character by the type of friends they seek out (or seek to have because it serves their career etc – that in itself tells readers a lot about them!). Also what kind of a friend is your character to others? That can also reveal a great deal about the type of person they are.

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This World and Others – Crossing Divides

Following on from Fairytales with Bite, friendships can be a great way to cross divides. The Legolas/Gimil example is a great one here. Who would be brave enough in your setting to make the first move here?

What divides does your world have and how did these come into being? Does anyone ever challenge them? Are there any good reasons for a divide? (An aggressive country attacks another. They’re beaten back. The victim country puts up a wall to stop this happening again – that kind of thing).

Where you have a divide, you have characters caught on either side of it. There is an obvious potential for tragic stories here but could you bring out a funny side at all? Do you have the spiv type characters who use the divides to their advantage and manage to cheat the system?

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ALLISON SYMES – BOOK BRUSH READER HUB

MOM’S FAVORITE READS LINK – CHECK OUT THE MAGAZINE INCLUDING MY FLASH FICTION COLUMN HERE –

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Publication News and Writing Up from My Notebooks

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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.
Hmm…back to the wild and stormy weather again. Am grateful Lady doesn’t mind being dried down when we get in. She sees it as a chance to have a cuddle. I get her dried. Just a pity I don’t dry off so easily and quickly but never mind! Am delighted to have publication news to share this time though.

BookBrushImage-2023-4-11-20-4815Facebook – General

Publication News: Am pleased to say I am back on CafeLit with my story Untaken. Hope you enjoy it (and it’s a warning to beware of thorny hedges with special properties – see the tale for more!).

Screenshot 2023-04-11 at 20-17-17 CafeLitMagazine

After a gloriously sunny Easter weekend, it has been an odd day weather wise today. Have had rain, hail, torrential rain, strong winds, sunshine etc. Just need snow now and we’ve got the set. (Has not been unknown to happen either!).

Looking forward to sharing Using Time For Fiction on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Will also be reprising my role as CFT arts correspondent when I go to see The Chameleon Theatre Group’s latest production of spring plays later on this month (called aptly enough Spring Trio). More nearer the time.

Many thanks for the lovely comments continuing to come in for Which Way?, my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction. I do find the feedback on this site useful and encouraging. Also good to see familiar names on here too.

 

For all who celebrate Easter, I hope you had a very happy one!

Am enjoying listening to the Classic FM Hall of Fame as I write. I hope my three choices end up playing on the final day of this, which is tomorrow. They did last year! One of mine was in the top three too.

Publication News: Am also thrilled to find out today I will be in The Best of CafeLit 12, which will be out later this year. Always great to have publication news. (And a story of mine will be on CafeLit as well during this coming week. Looking forward to sharing the link there when I can).

A huge round of congratulations to the other authors will be in CafeLit 12 with me too!

Publication News

Lovely sunny day, Lady had a great time at the park, and loved being able to have lunch with my other half in the garden for the first time in months. Lady loved “hoovering” up too.

Many thanks for the lovely comments coming in on Which Way?, my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction. In case you missed it, do check it out here. I rather like my character, Betty, in this. See what you think.
Screenshot 2023-04-07 at 09-12-58 Which Way by Allison Symes

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope you have had a good day. Lady, my better half, and I all got rather soggy tonight. This is where I am pleased writing is an indoor activity – in the warm and dry!

I did okay in the Classic FM Hall of Fame this year. One of my pieces went down one place, another went up by one place, and the other stayed where it was last year! One of my chosen pieces was Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saens. I remember this piece from the old quirky detective series, Jonathan Creek, but I do have another reason for loving it. See link!

It’s Easter Bank Holiday Monday here where I am but it is still time for a story. Hope you enjoy Super Soaker, my latest on my YouTube channel.

 

Have had a lovely Easter Day at church and then came home later to find out I will be in The Best of CafeLit 12 later on this year. (Also thrilled to see friends of mine will be in there too). Now that is a nice start to the week ahead!

I’ve talked about jotting down promising opening lines in those pockets of time everyone gets (aptly) from time to time. I’ll be talking more on that in my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week but a good follow up question would be, “Allison, do you actually write up those opening lines into stories?”.

Yes, I do. Some of those stories have ended up in my flash collections (From Light to Dark and Back Again/Tripping the Flash Fantastic). Others have ended up on Friday Flash Fiction, CafeLit or my YouTube channel. But they do get written up. Not always immediately, I admit. That doesn’t matter though. Indeed a break away helps convince me this opening line really does have the promise I initially thought – and that’s a good thing, always.

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Hope you have had a good day. I’ll be looking at Using Time for Fiction for Chandler’s Ford Today next Friday. Always a timely topic!

One thing I think should go into the Murphy’s Law of Creative Writing is when you start a writing session slowly, time seems to drag a bit. You then find your “spark” and get cracking and then time speeds up and before you know it, it is time to stop. I guess time must reflect state of mind here. I do know it can be a pain at times.

Glad to report I will be back on CafeLit next week. Looking forward to sharing another story with you from there early next week.  See above.

 

Goodreads Author Blog – Humorous Books and Stories

I love humorous books and stories. As well as treasuring the works of Wodehouse, Austen, and Pratchett (now there’s a trio for you!), one of my favourite books is The Oxford Book of Humorous Prose compiled by the much missed humorist and all round good person, Frank Muir. (I remember him from the TV show Call My Bluff and he was an early pioneer of BBC radio comedy with his writing partner, the equally missed Denis Norden).

The book is huge (and not to be dropped on your foot if, like me, you have the hardback edition) but it is a riveting read. Also perfect for dipping into when you need a quick “humour fix”. Can’t recommend highly enough.

The reason I mention it is because my late mother taught me to read at an early age and I inherit my love of books and stories from her. The one thing she never really got though was humorous writing. No idea why. Just didn’t work for her at all. The nearest she got to it was with Jane Austen. Yet she read sci-fi, crime, thrillers, Du Maurier, Dickens, all sorts, and fantasy. She loved the Terry Brooks series of fantasy books. Me? It was Terry Pratchett all the way here!

Which humorous books would you recommend? Do you have any “blind spots” with regard to reading?

Screenshot 2023-04-08 at 20-46-23 Humorous Books and Stories

ALLISON SYMES – BOOK BRUSH READER HUB

MOM’S FAVORITE READS LINK – CHECK OUT THE MAGAZINE INCLUDING MY FLASH FICTION COLUMN HERE – 

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Building A Book Workshop – Author Interview: Gill James

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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, as was the photo of Gill James at a Bridge House Publishing event.
For those who celebrate/commemorate, may I wish you a Happy Easter. It is lovely to have the sunny weather to go with it! A busy week again this week. I hope you enjoy a fabulous interview with Gill James on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Really great idea here. Check it out below.

BookBrushImage-2023-4-7-20-1515Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am thrilled to welcome back Gill James to Chandler’s Ford Today to discuss her Build a Book Workshop. Doesn’t that sound intriguing? Find out all about it here.

Author Interview: Gill James – Build A Book Workshop

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Another good day for Lady – she got to play with her pal Coco today.

Will be sharing a wonderful interview with Gill James on Chandler’s Ford Today soon. We’ll be discussing Build a Book Workshop which is a fabulous idea. More tomorrow. See above.

Don’t forget the April issue of Mom’s Favorite Reads is out. Do check it out – it’s a great read and free!

 

Lady had a ball with her best mate, the lovely Rhodesian Ridgeback, today. Good time had by both.

Looking forward to sharing a fabulous interview with Gill James about Build a Book Workshop for Chandler’s Ford Today. Interesting premise. Great answers to questions, what’s not to like? Link up on Friday. Again see above and yes I am really excited about this interview. The premise here is a superb one. Do check out the interview.

Talking of questions, don’t forget you can use these to quiz your potential characters, I often do and will also use the random question generators to help me come up with “left field” questions, which can be a great way of truly finding out what your character is made of! They also stop you using the same old questions over and over again.

I will often use questions to give me ideas for themes for stories and again often they make for good titles too. I find they help me dig that big deeper and that in turn benefits my story and characterisation.

May be a cartoon of text that says "Questions make for good themes τσσ. What questions DO bother your characters and why?"

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be on Friday Flash Fiction this week with my story Which Way? Hope you enjoy it. This story was prompted by the throw of a story dice and, aptly, a picture of a dice came up!

Screenshot 2023-04-07 at 09-12-58 Which Way by Allison SymesIf you do get Writing Magazine the last issue had their competition guide in it. Bear in mind a lot of the short story competitions either have categories for flash as well or their word count requirements fall within flash territory. Well worth checking out.

Don’t forget to check out the Ts and Cs of the competitions too (and that should be easily done by going to the competition’s website where you should be able to see these). You can sign up to Writing Magazine on line – their website says you could get access to their archive here, which would include the last edition with the guide, I would have thought!
Screenshot 2023-04-07 at 20-29-10 Writers Online Membership - Writers OnlineEntering competitions is also good practice for writing to deadlines

I was talking about using questions to help me with my fiction writing over on my author page earlier. Of course, because I am coming up with stories and characters all the time for my flash fiction and short stories, I need to ensure I have a constant supply of idea generators.

This is where the random generators are a blessing. It is also why I mix up the type I use frequently. Doing all of that makes me think outside the box more. That in turn helps fuel creativity and I am always all for that! (Story cubes, the old game of bits of paper in a hat with different words, adjectives on etc and then you pick out pieces at random – these all work too).

Also don’t forget the prompts books (and I will admit to bias here given I’ve contributed to some). Talking of which, I am also in The Big Book of Prompts, and many of the writers who regularly contribute to CafeLit, Bridge House Publishing etc are in there too. Why not see what we’ve come up with for ideas and see what you can make of them? Have fun!

 

Fairytales with Bite – Light and Dark

I’m writing this after what seems to have been the dullest, wettest March on record. Even the recent clock change where the clocks went forward did not appear to make much of a difference. And then the sunshine turned up and now we can believe spring has got here after all! Light makes all the difference.

In your setting, what kind of light would be considered natural? Are your characters affected by light levels the way we can be? What would they have in the way of artificial light for the winter season? Does your setting have a long dark period or a long light one? How would that make your characters behave?#

If you live in a setting where there isn’t a lot of natural light for most of the time, behaviour will be different compared to those who have nigh on perpetual natural light. (Those living in the latter can more obviously get out and about that much more easily. Sleep patterns will differ here too. How would that affect your characters?).

Is dark feared or welcomed? How do your characters manage to do the everyday tasks of life when dark is a way of life for them? Is crime more prevalent in a “dark” world?

You can also explore the issues of light and dark for each of your characters too. What would be their light attributes, which their dark etc? That alone could give you a good character outline ahead of writing your story up.

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This World and Others – Nature

Light and dark are natural phenomenons of course but in your setting what is the natural world like? Is it comparable with ours? How do your creatures (human like or otherwise) cope with light and dark? What are their natural tendencies? Is there prey and predator, for example, and who would be considered to be the “top of the tree” here?

Have your main creations changed the natural world and, if so, how? Are there benefits to what they’ve done? What are the disadvantages and has your natural setting found a way of fighting back against what it hates? There are stories to be had in climate disasters and their aftermath, for example, but a more positive outcome here would be a tale where your characters learn from their mistakes, put them right, and the natural world responds to that. Redemption stories are always welcome! (If only to cheer us up as readers because there is so much gloom out there. We see natural disasters all the time, yes?).

How broad is your natural world? Is there a range of geographical settings? That directly affects what can live in your setting naturally so what kind of varieties of plant/insect/animal life, do you have here? How do these affect how the others can live?
It pays to take time to work this kind of thing out. Setting can so often act like a character in its own right. Think of The Shire, Mordor, Gondor etc in The Lord of the Rings. Each distinct. Each memorable. Each with their own “natures”.

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ALLISON SYMES – BOOK BRUSH READER HUB

MOM’S FAVORITE READS LINK – CHECK OUT THE MAGAZINE INCLUDING MY FLASH FICTION COLUMN HERE –

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Turning the Tables, Mom’s Favorite Reads, and Publication News

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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 start to the week. Looking forward to sharing a wonderful interview on Friday and it is nice to have publication news again too. Also, we have had sunshine here – spring has finally turned up!

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Facebook – General

Delighted to say I’ll be having another story (a flash piece) up on CafeLit next week. More details nearer the time but news like this always cheers. I find it useful to submit stories regularly to different places, including my YouTube channel.

Doing this builds up publication credits and I enjoy sharing the links to stories on my author newsletter. Who doesn’t like a free read after all? Also said publication credits backs up my books (From Light to Dark and Back Again and Tripping the Flash Fantastic) so win-win there too.
Screenshot 2023-04-04 at 20-48-24 Allison Symes - YouTubeWoo-hoo, welcome to spring! Got my washing out on the line today – it is always the simple pleasures in life I appreciate most!. Gorgeous sunny day today, much enjoyed by Lady and I. Hope you have had a cracking start to your week.

I write for a number of blogs and online magazines and I love the different challenges each sets. But this is where scheduling is vital for me. I plan out when I am writing X piece for Y, also giving myself enough time to rest a piece and then edit it before submitting it (naturally in good time for the deadline).

And what helps me schedule effectively? The good old-fashioned A4 sized diary! So using a pen and paper still comes into my writing processes. I like that.

May be an image of text that says "I use my diary to note down what I am writing when and to record how I'm doing. Has helped make me more productive."

Hope the weekend has been a good one for you. Bit of a mixed bag here. Poorly again (but thankfully it was brief) on the Friday night, spent Saturday recovering, and now back to my full self, happily writing away, Looks like we might see some sunshine this week. Do hope so. Lady would welcome it too.

Looking forward to sharing a fabulous interview with Gill James on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. We’ll be discussing her Build a Book Workshop book. Later this week I hope to flesh out some stories I drafted during the Flash Fiction group meeting on Wednesday night for submission – definitely want to get these somewhere!

Have a great writing and reading week. Am currently reading and loving 1000 Years of Annoying the French. It‘s a different way of looking at history, that’s for sure!

May be an image of phone, screen and text that says "Air T"

Pleased to say the brand new edition of Mom’s Favorite Reads is now out. Grab yourself a wonderful, free read. I’m talking about New Life – Transformation as the theme for this month’s flash fiction column given the link with Easter in April. Hope you enjoy the piece (and the great fiction and non-fiction pieces that came in as a result of my challenge this time).

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Do you find music evocative? Have you used that to help you get in the right mood to write a specific story? I tend to use classical music to relax to as I write and find that really helpful. I write more when relaxed. But music doesn’t change what I write – and I like that too because the one to change anything is me (later an editor/publisher as and when needed – always is by the way. There are inevitably some changes to be made before a book sees the light of day).

For the historical fiction writers amongst you, do you use music to help you get the right era set in your mind as you write? I can see a use for that. Mind you, given historical includes anything aged over 50 years, that has to include me too!

May be an image of indoor

It’s Monday again (though it has been lovely to have a sunny one!) and time for another YouTube story from yours truly. Hope you enjoy Still There. This story started life as a response to a throw of my story cube dice. See the tale for why this is so appropriate!

 

Flash fiction is great for turning the tables on a character. I love doing that. (Who said authors had to be nice, by the way? If a character deserves what’s coming, that is precisely what they get from me!). It is why punchline endings and/or twist endings work so well in this format. The reader doesn’t have time to get bored before “wham!”, they’re at that punchline/twist ending.

But the reasons for turning the tables should make sense. I’m not going to drop a character in it just for the sake of it. There has to be a good reason for it, even when my character doesn’t have it coming.

May be an image of tree, road and text that says "Make your twist a strong one. Twists, well delivered ơη, are superb hooks. love it when a twist catches me out and I ook back at the story and see the clues WERE there."

The latest edition of my author newsletter went out earlier today. I enjoy compiling these and I aim for a good mix of news, tips, story links etc. Talking of news, I’ll be glad to welcome back Gill James to Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday where she’ll be talking about her book, Build a Book Workshop. Now this combines two of my favourite things – books and workshops – so this will be a special joy to share! (Just add in chocolate and I would have hit the jackpot!).


Goodreads Author Blog – Animal Stories

Do you like animal stories? I have a very soft spot for the classic tales like Black Beauty. Anna Sewell was an early campaigner against animal cruelty with this wonderful book. I also love Aesop’s Fables. The Tortoise and the Hare will never date. I sometimes write animal stories in my flash fiction. I think it can work well there given flash is so short and the impact is greater due to that.

I also liked Fantastic Mr Fox and Watership Down (though it is probably best if those characters don’t mix!).

I think the strength of animal stories is when they are well done, you see things from a different perspective. You certainly do with Black Beauty. As with any fiction, I like the character to be well portrayed and what they come up with to be reasonable in terms of what we know about them and their character. In the case of animal stories, what we know about their behaviour patterns too should fit in with the tale being told.

Screenshot 2023-04-01 at 19-54-14 Animal Stories

ALLISON SYMES – BOOK BRUSH READER HUB

MOM’S FAVORITE READS LINK – CHECK OUT THE MAGAZINE INCLUDING MY FLASH FICTION COLUMN HERE –

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Anthologies

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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.
Another hectic week, more rain too! Am hoping the weekend proves to be a much needed time to wind down a bit!

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Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

Pleased to share Anthologies, this week’s post on Chandler’s Ford Today. I look at the advantages of writing for them and share some tips on working to themes. Most anthologies do set these and it is good practice in any case given so many competitions do as well. Hope you find the post useful.

Anthologies

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Looking forward to sharing my Anthologies post on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. This is a classic case of writing about what you love as well as what you know! Link up tomorrow. See above.

Had a fabulous time at the Flash Fiction group meeting on Zoom last night (for the Association of Christian Writers). Great responses to the writing exercises I set. Hope you all get some stories submitted and “out there” as a result.

Don’t forget my monthly newsletter goes out on the first of each month so there is still time to sign up in time for April’s one. Head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com – would love to have you “aboard”. I share tips, writing advice, as well as news.

What I have in the back of my mind here is writing something I would love to receive myself in my inbox for this kind of thing. Mind you, I try to take that approach with my story writing too. I try to keep an Ideal Reader in mind, always, while writing what I love to write.


It’s my turn on More than Writers (the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers). This time I talk about Signs of Spring. This applies to our writing too! Hope you enjoy the post.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I took part in the Andrew Siderius Memorial competition on Friday Flash Fiction last week with a 100 word story. This week I have had a go at the up to 500 words category. Good challenge to mix up the word counts you write to!

Hope you enjoy The Fairy Godmother’s Guide For Finding A New Client, which is one of my longer titles! Sums the story up though.

Screenshot 2023-03-31 at 19-47-23 The Fairy Godmother's Guide for Finding a New Client by Allison Symes

Lady had a fabulous time with her Aussie Shepherd gentleman friend today. Both dogs have a very impressive thundering gallop when they run! Okay, they can send up some seriously impressive mud as well but one cannot have everything!

There is a useful competitions guide (often covering flash too) in the current edition of Writing Magazine but I think the next one is due out at any time so it may pay to grab a copy of the current issue while you can. The guide takes you up to December.

I’m currently prepping a story for a competition and hope to end up submitting that sometime in April.

Don’t forget to look out for Mom’s Favorite Reads due out again soon. I will shortly be setting my challenge for the May edition. See it as a good way to practice writing to a word count of 300 words maximum.

May be an image of text that says "Flash Fiction"

Damp and grey day here, not that Lady cared. How does the weather affect your characters’ moods? Do they match the weather or do they deliberately go in the opposite direction (if only to cheer themselves up a bit on days like today, say? I find the writing carries on regardless – it is time which is a more relevant factor for me.

May be an image of text that says "Creative writing does just that for reader and writer. Readers can tell when something is written with love and care. You've got to care about what you write to stand all the rejections you are likely to get before acceptances come. Come INSPIRE"

Fairytales with Bite – Humorous Magic – What Could Go Wrong?

What kind of magical jokes would your mischievous characters do and what would be the consequences? In your setting, is magic taken seriously most of the time but with the proviso of something like an April Fools’ Day where folk are allowed to be more playful with their spells (on the understanding nobody gets hurt or made to fall in love with someone they wouldn’t usually fall for)?

I mention the latter as some limits would have to be set to prevent unfortunate consequences which would continue for longer than the period of mischievous magic allowed for. But tricks, jokes – what kind would these be and does your society welcome this as a way of letting off steam every now and again?

If humour is frowned on (it can be closely linked to free speech), how would your characters let off steam? Would there be underground comedy venues? I grew up watching The Goodies. Check out their episode Goodies Rule UK for their take on this – I find this is still funny after all these years. If funny magic is banned, why, who brought in the ban, and does anyone defy it?
Where humorous magic is allowed, who clears up the inevitable mess? There will be someone!

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This World and Others – Treating Magical Accidents

That last line leads nicely into this topic. Where magic is practiced, things are bound to go wrong. See The Sorcerer’s Apprentice for one thing! So who would deal with the accidents? Is there the magical equivalent of paramedics, the St. John’s Ambulance Brigade, or any other first responder? Are magical mishaps treated magically or with or traditional kinds of medicine, similar to what we have?

Also, is there any such things as a magical accident insurance company? I could see there being funny stories here, especially with what might go on the claim forms. (Fans of UK comedian Jasper Carrott will remember his routines with insurance claim forms. Hilarious stuff).

Are there particular groups in your setting who would be more prone to this kind of accident, due to either being more clumsy or less experience with magic than other more privileged groups? Would this lead to them being allowed to get more magical experience (if only to keep everyone else safe from them)?

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Reviews, Time, and Appearances

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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. Busy start to the week, the spring flowers continue to come up, but still no sign of proper spring weather yet. Lady continues to enjoy the mud! She has got used to the clock change in the UK quicker than I have!

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Posting a bit earlier tonight (and again tomorrow) as I’ve got a couple of busy evenings coming up (though one of them is for the Flash Fiction Group I lead for the Association of Christian Writers. Always fun, always good writing produced from it. Can’t wait to see the usual members there tomorrow. Zoom is fantastic for this kind of thing).

Writing tip: I know I’ve mentioned this before but it bears repeating. When time is short, just do what you can. I am in that situation at the moment and will be for a while.

What matters is getting some writing done and I get to my desk relieved and happy to get on with some writing even if, right now, it is not quite as much as I would like to do. There will be time to make up for that later on hopefully.

Ironically this is where I find deadlines especially helpful. They give me something to work to and ensure I focus.

May be an image of text that says "I've found it pays to take time off an official deadline and use that as the date I get stories in by instead. This is the date ー use to go through my script for the last time. If| need to correct mistakes, still can.lfit's it's fine, off it goes. can."

Hope you’ve had a good start to your week. Not bad here and Lady got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback bestie today so all well there. Still feeling a bit of “jetlag” after losing an hour yesterday. The day after a clock change is always the worst for that!

Pleased to say I’ll be interviewing Gill James about a very special idea in April. A bit more on that nearer the time – am looking forward to sharing this on Chandler’s Ford Today. It is going to make an apt tie in with my Anthologies post which will be up this Friday. There are times you just can’t plan these things. Serendipity can be fabulous!

 

I’ll be discussing Anthologies for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Well, they do say write what you know! I’ll also share some tips on how to make the most of the theme you’re set (as so many anthologies will want you to write to one).

Talking of which, it is great to see some fabulous reviews coming in for The Best of CafeLit 11 on Amazon. The wonderful thing about writing a review for an anthology is you can help many authors in one review (!) so so write one. Doesn’t have to be long either.

Allison Symes: books, biography, latest update

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Hope you have had a good day. It actually felt like spring here today. Just in time for the clocks to go forward in my part of the world tonight.

I’ve often used time in stories. Sometimes I’ve used Time as a character. Sometimes I’ve used time travelling characters. Sometimes I’ve written historical flash fiction where the setting of the story acts like a character (and again is a time frame). But time could be used as a countdown in a story too. That would be a great way of ensuing a good pace. Equally you can have an inciting incident happen at a particular time in a story and the tale takes off from there.

I use time to work out my writing week. Certain days of the week I have more time to write than others so I save my longer pieces of work for those days. I use pockets of time to jot down notes, opening lines, title ideas etc. It all mounts up and helps me to be more productive. Time is to be used!

May be an image of text that says "Never Neverworry worry about how much time you have to write. Five minutes of writing builds up over time and is perfect for drafting short pieces. V"

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Flash fiction can cover any mood and any genre. It’s just the word count you need to watch. But the word count for your flash story has to be appropriate for the tale you are sharing with us. Some of my stories genuinely work out better at 500 words rather than 100 and so I leave them at the upper limit.

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It’s Monday and time for a story. Hope you enjoy Appearances. Be ware who you mock!


One of the toughest writing exercises I’ve tried is writing to a middle line. You’re usually told where exactly in the story, word count wise, it has to be be too. It’s not an exercise I come across often and I suspect that is because everyone finds it tough! But this is where forward planning is the writer’s friend.

What I have found useful here was having a spider diagram with the middle line slap bang in the middle and then work out, firstly, what could lead to that line from the start of the story. I then work out what could lead from it to get to a suitable ending (and I usually work out that ending too). I just jot down possibilities and then go with what I like best but the “two way” planning here has worked well for me in the past.

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Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom. Exercises will be set. I know. I’ll be setting them but I do make it a policy not to do the exercises myself until the night of the meeting. I love taking part in live writing exercises myself. It’s fun, a good discipline, and I get to draft some stories for later polishing and submitting somewhere. Win-win there!

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Goodreads Author Blog – Reviews

R = Reading is one of the great joys of life, along with writing the stories in the first place!
E = Entertainment between the covers and can be educational too.
V = Varying between light reading, serious reading, humorous reading and all kinds of genres, is it too much to ask for a review?
I = Imagine the author hard at work – a review is of enormous help to them.
E = Easy to write too – often the best reviews are fairly short.
W = Will the review influence others to buy the book – hopefully – authors appreciate their sales!
S = Support your authors – buy the books and review them. Thanks!

Screenshot 2023-03-25 at 20-48-09 Reviews

 

 

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Purposes of Reading

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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. Pleased to receive my ALCS money (more on that below, if you’re a writer you really should check them out) and Lady has had a superb week in the park seeing so many of her friends. Better weather too. Yay!

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Pleased to share my latest Chandler’s Ford Today post about the Purposes of Reading. This is the other side of the writing “coin” in that to write well, it helps enormously if you read well too. See the post for why and I hope you enjoy it.

Purposes of Reading

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Delighted to receive my payment form ALCS yesterday (especially nice given it was my birthday! Lovely timing, ALCS!). If you want to know more about ALCS and how they help authors, do check out the website. I get my membership of ALCS as part of my membership of the Society of Authors. I like that – a lot!

One reason for networking being important for writers is you find out about organisations like this through other writers. It is always good to have somewhere to turn to when in need of advice and what ALCS does for authors is a wonderful addition.

Screenshot 2023-03-23 at 20-15-01 ALCS

Many thanks for the wonderful birthday messages on my timeline today. All much appreciated! I am now officially a “Heinz” – of the 57 varieties fame! (Very famous advert which ran for many years saw Heinz boast about having 57 varieties. Well remembered in my part of the world).

Will be sharing Purposes of Reading for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above. Loved writing that one. (In fairness I love writing all my posts but anything to do with books, reading, writing etc will always be especially pleasurable to write!).

Writing Tip: When reading, note down what it is you love or loathe about the characters in the story. Work out why you feel the way you do about them. Use that to work out what you would like/loathe to see in your own characters. Are there character aspects in common (you really discover you loathe a certain type of character because…)?

As well as being an interesting study, you may well discover themes you really want to write to/avoid writing about doing this. I don’t particularly like grifter stories where the grifter gets away with it so am unlikely to write any. I know that’s partly due to having to deal with scams for real so that colours my view but I am aware of that. If I wrote a grifter story, you could be sure I would make sure they didn’t get away with it!

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Hope you enjoy my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction called Getting One’s Wings. Fun to write, I hope you find it fun to read.

Screenshot 2023-03-24 at 09-42-13 Getting One's Wings by Allison Symes

I’m talking about Purposes of Reading for Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. And I would add here it is important to read widely in your field as well as outside of it. I love reading flash fiction collections (and short story anthologies). I find them inspiring and encouraging and they remind me of why I love both of these fabulous forms of fiction.

If you’re not sure where to start, why not try The Bridgetown Cafe Bookshop? See link. (Oh and if you’re wondering if it is a coincidence I’ve flagged up my own two flash collections, it’s not!).
Screenshot 2023-03-24 at 20-36-22 The Bridgetown Café Bookshop
Many thanks for the happy birthday wishes. Much appreciated. Had nice day having hair done as well.

Now what would your characters consider to be a nice day? Can you set them against one another here? A criminal would see it as a good day if they’ve got away with their crime. Someone on the right side of the law would take a different view. And there can be poignant pieces to be written here. A character has a specially nice day and we discover it is going to be their last one etc.

Flash fiction is very good for those moments you want to “capture” for your character. This time meant something to them because… and that is the story. The impact here is how will it make your reader feel. A story should generate a reaction. And especial moments as stories work best when kept short.

May be an image of text that says "With flash fiction, you have to focus on THE single most important aspect of your character's life"

Fairytales with Bite – Birthdays

Topical subject this week given I’ve just had my own birthday! So in your fictional setting how much importance is given to birthdays? Do people celebrate them or is it just another date on the calendar? Is there a birthday “industry” (cakes, cards etc)? Or are only the birthdays of important figures commemorated? If so, who would these be and why have they been chosen? Would these be celebrations everyone is expected to join in with, regardless of how they feel about it?

Now birthdays can be public gatherings so how would the powers that be in your world look on these? Are such gatherings forbidden or limited to a set number? How are birthdays counted? Is the calendar year the same as ours or much longer/shorter?

Another use for birthdays in fiction is to have them as the point where your character realises something has to change. They’re another year older. Life is passing them by. What do they do to change things? How can the birthday be used as a trigger here?

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This World and Others – Celebrations

Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and you cry alone. There is a lot of truth in that. But when it comes to celebrations, for birthdays or anything else, what are your characters’ attitudes here? Do they love to celebrate or do they dread that kind of gathering?

What would your characters celebrate? Do they stick to traditional forms of celebrating or come up with their own thing? If your setting is divided into different settings, are there common celebratory forms or does each “segment” have their own style?

If your character is a more morose type what would they do if forced to take part in celebrations and what or whom could get them to agree to such a thing in the first place? Think about the hold someone might have over them and can your character escape this? Do they use the celebration as a cover for a get-away? (Yes, do think The Lord of the Rings here but what would your character want to get away from? How could the celebration be useful to them?).

If your world is an oppressive one, do the powers that be allow official celebrations or is everyone kept down all the time?
Celebrations have meaning and impact on people which is something your could explore for story ideas. Think about what celebrations have meant for you. What would make your character feel the same way? Could that lead to your character developing empathy?

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Purposes of Creative Writing

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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.
It has been an odd week. I started it being ill, got better, appeared on a blog, and am now looking forward to catching up with friends and family shortly. Proof I suppose it is better to end well rather than worry about a rotten start. Having that said, writers need to start well, do the middle well, and end well. It is a good challenge!

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Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

Pleased to share Purposes of Creative Writing, my Chandler’s Ford Today post for this week. There are many benefits to any kind of creative activity but I look at these from the writing viewpoint. I hope this proves to be an encouraging post! I also look at finding your creativity in this one. I believe everyone has at least one form of creative activity which would suit them. It can be a question of finding it. I also feel creative writers actually have two – we need to be active readers too. Hope you find much of cheer here and do keep on with the writing.

Whether you stay in the same direction or not is another matter. I changed direction to flash fiction and have never regretted that! Whether you seek to be published or not, writing can stretch you, make you come up with pieces you never thought you could produce, and is huge fun.

Yes, there are those days when you would rather throw your laptop out of the nearest window but even there is some comfort. Every writer has felt like that at some point. I find it helps to know I’m not alone when I feel like that. We get days when we still do but you also get those days when you are in the zone, the words fly out of you, stories get produced and published etc.

Purposes of Creative Writing by Allison Symes

 

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Hope you have had a good day. Looking forward to sharing my Purposes of Creative Writing post for Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. Has been a struggle to get back to writing after a very dodgy weekend but have got there in the end. Have run late all week but not just on my writing it should be said. The writing has been a solace all week (unlike so much else!).

I hope everyone who goes to the Scottish Association of Writers Conference has a fabulous time. I did when I went last year. I ran a flash fiction workshop there and judged one of their competitions for them. It was a delight to meet friends old and new. Weather this year is a bit different, mind you! Keep warm, folks.

One of the joys of conferences is learning more about the wonderful world of writing. I love the fact there is always something you can learn to improve on what you do and to get more from it. No wonder writing is good for the brain, something I cover in my CFT post tomorrow. (Nice to come full circle on a post as well!).

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Am thrilled to be back on Val Penny’s blog today. Many thanks for hosting me once more, Val.
Val put some pertinent questions to me which I loved answering. I talk about flash fiction (of course!), discuss characters, and writing routines. Last but not least I share some advice which I’ve found helpful. Hope you do too.

Screenshot 2023-03-15 at 10-12-50 Conversation with Allison Symes

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You know the saying beauty is in the eye of the beholder? Well, for my story for Friday Flash Fiction this week, I apply that principle to magic. Hope you enjoy Spotting the Magic.

Screenshot 2023-03-17 at 09-40-48 Spotting the Magic by Allison Symes

Am at that stage where I’ve got a couple of possibles for a certain well known competition I enter – now it’s make up my mind time. I could enter both so I may decide on that eventually. Am resting the pieces so I can look at them with a fresh eye. I’ve got a couple of months in hand here but that soon whizzes by and I want to have my submissions in well ahead of the deadline, as I usually do. What is pleasing here is I have earmarked some of my draft Flash NANO pieces for competitions so that’s another reason for taking part in this again. I found it a great way to get a stock of stories together to work on for future use.

May be an image of text that says "Flash fiction illuminates briefly it is a great form for a lighthearted piece. These often work best when kept short."

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction group meeting on Zoom later this month. Ideas and news (competitions etc) are shared. This is handy as no one writer can know everything and we can all help each other here.

Don’t forget I share tips and news on a regular basis via my newsletter. Next one due out on 1st April. That may be April Fools Day but I’m not fooling, honest. To sign up head over to (my landing page) at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

 

Fairytales with Bite – Using Prompts for Fairytales

I often use a wide range of writing prompt. I often use random generators, have recently used story cubes, and I’ve contributed to, as well as used, books of prompts in my time.

But have I used any of these for writing what I call my fairytales with bite? Oh yes. Not all the time. Some prompts work better for certain types of story but things like the random question generator are useful for giving you a direct theme and/or title for your piece. Then you can work out how to get a fantasy/fairytale story out of it!

One such question I’ve used was What’s something you learned in the last week? You can apply that to a magical character easily enough and there is good potential for a humorous piece here.

The random word ones are even easier here given what you usually do with those is put them into a story (of any genre so the sky’s the limit here).

Well worth having a go at – I’ve had a few pieces published this way. I often use these to submit stories once a week to Friday Flash Fiction and to create stories for my YouTube channel. You just want a way in to get started and the prompts are useful here.

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This World and Others – Exploring Your World

How do your characters get around in your setting? Is exploration encouraged or firmly discouraged? Is there a drive to explore at all? Or does that drive come about as a result of urgent need? The hobbits in The Lord of the Rings are the ultimate example of that I think, given they were usually more concerned with second breakfast and/or beer!

You could get stories from transport systems here (and who uses them and, perhaps more pertinently, who doesn’t. What would be the reasons behind that? Does anyone defy the rules? What would be the consequences (there always would be something)?

Where the world has been explored, who did this? Who were they doing it on behalf of? What do your characters think is the most important thing about their world? Are they worried about location or do they prefer to explore the world metaphorically via challenges to standard ideas etc? There is always someone who will want to find out just how far they can go!

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ALLISON SYMES – BOOK BRUSH READER HUB

Screenshot 2023-02-24 at 21-11-57 Reader Hub Book BrushMOM’S FAVORITE READS LINK – CHECK OUT THE MAGAZINE INCLUDING MY FLASH FICTION COLUMN HERE
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Screenshot 2023-02-17 at 20-49-13 Allison Symes

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Not Impressed

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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.
Apologies for a shortened post this time. Sadly I was ill over the weekend/early part of this week but am glad to report am now feeling much better. I did miss being able to write though. It is true – writing can be addictive! Mind you, it has been the thing to cheer me up as I’ve got back to it again.

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Facebook – General

A huge thank you for the best wishes expressed yesterday. Am so glad to be well on the mend (though must ‘fess up to sporting a rather unfetching tired and washed out look right now! Better than being ill by lightyears though).

So glad to be back writing again. I do have to be ill not to be able to do any at all! I did manage to submit a story to Friday Flash Fiction yesterday and I will be sharing over on my book page shortly my video for the week. To only be a day out is not bad given the circumstances.

And it is always nice to have something to look forward to doing, creatively, at the end of my day. I suspect it was that aspect I missed the most.

I’ll be talking about Purposes of Creative Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Look forward to sharing that on Friday.

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Apologies for the no-show yesterday, I had an awful weekend, being rather ill! (Lost 6 lbs over one night!). Am feeling better now but very tired and washed out. It will be a few early nights this week for me I think.

Writing tip: Never beat yourself up when you can’t write. I just couldn’t focus on anything over the weekend. These things happen. Look forward to having writing to come back to when you are more up to that again. I know this one works – have just done an unwanted test on this one!

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Hope you have had a good day. Many thanks for the comments coming in on Clearing Away, my latest on Friday Flash Fiction.
I’m going to be looking at the Purposes of Creative Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Am enjoying writing it and looking forward to sharing this on Friday.

When I prepare author interviews for CFT, I take some time in researching the background to the writer in question so I can put pertinent questions to them and find aspects of their work they will want to elaborate on. That makes for a great, entertaining interview. You can do pretty much the same for your character outline. What would your character want to tell you and why is an interesting angle to explore. What do you think your characters would want to keep hidden from you and why is another one.

Screenshot 2023-03-10 at 09-42-10 Clearing Away by Allison Symes

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Glad to now be able to share my story video of the week. It was lovely getting back to doing this, after having been ill, and to only be a day out is nice. My story title reflects how I felt about how I ended up spending my weekend – hope you enjoy Not Impressed!

Sorry, I wasn’t about yesterday. I spent a lot of the weekend being ill. Pity that wasn’t over in a flash!

Moving on, I’ve mentioned before that one joy of flash is being able to draft something when you haven’t got much time. It is also handy when you are not up to writing much. You still feel as if you have got something done and I’ve found that helpful in the past and now. It can be a useful morale boost when you’re not feeling up to much.

Allison Symes - Flash Fiction Collections

I shared in my CFT post yesterday that one thing I loved about editing for Mom’s Favorite Reads is in seeing how people respond to the challenge I set. They always rise to the occasion! I love responding to challenges (say competition themes) and seeing what I can do with them. I think being made to raise our game here is a great discipline.

It is always nice being able to surprise yourself with what you can come up with here and having the challenge to respond to is a fantastic way of stretching yourself. After all, responding to that CafeLit 100 word challenge made me discover the joys of flash fiction. You need something to respond to in the first place, I think.

May be an image of 1 person and text that says "A fiction writer's challenge is to keep coming up with characters who engage with us. A non-fiction writer's challenge is to keep coming up with topics which engage us. I do both!"

Goodreads Author Blog – Haunting Characters

I occasionally write a ghost flash fiction story. One of my favourite stories of all time involves three ghosts and a miser – I’ll leave you to guess what that one is! And I love a great series of books called Kindred Spirits by Jennifer C Wilson who combines ghost stories and history. (I should add Jennifer is a friend but I would happily read and recommend these books anyway given I love historical fiction and this is an interesting take on it).

But haunting characters shouldn’t just be confined to ghost stories. I want characters to haunt me and stay with me long after I’ve finished reading their story. Some of those that do this for me include Elizabeth Bennet, Mr Darcy, Sam Vimes, Death (from Discworld), Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee, Jeeves and Wooster, and many others besides. I do love an eclectic mix!

So how can a character haunt a reader then? Simply by being so convincingly portrayed any reader would want to root for them and absolutely have to find to what happens to them. They’ve got to make the reader feel as if they were almost there in the story with them, as it is only when that is achieved will a reader care enough about them.

Screenshot 2023-03-11 at 20-46-06 Haunting Characters

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Catching Up – Author News – Allison Symes

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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. It has been a right mixed bag weather wise – snow, sleet, rain, sunshine – but Lady has taken it all in her stride. My solitary crocus seems to have survived the onslaught, much to my relief. Before you ask, I have planted others but I suspect they’ve been taken by animals feeding on these things. This one crocus comes out year on year and is a delight to see.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am pleased to share Catching up – Local Author News – Allison Symes as my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. The first quarter of 2023 has been brisk, I’m pleased to say. Pleased because the writing life is not meant to be a static one. Am also pleased to spread the word for Mom’s Favorite Reads and share some tips I’ve found useful.

Catching Up – Local Author News – Allison Symes

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Looking forward to sharing a catch up post from me for Chandler’s Ford Today where I share recent events and news. See above. There has been plenty going on since my last one. Mind you, the writing journey isn’t meant to be static so I fit in with that well enough. Link up tomorrow.

One tip that has stood me in good stead is to always double check submission requirements, whether it is for an online magazine, a publisher, or a competition etc. Follow these things to the letter (and in the case of Friday Flash Fiction to the comma – see the site (and my screenshot for more on that). Why?

Well, you risk automatic rejection if you don’t, for one thing. There are always good reasons for submission requirements. Sometimes it is to do with formatting.

Secondly, you make the editor’s life that much easier if you follow the rules. Editors, competition judges (and I am sometimes both of these!), appreciate these things (and trust me, I have!).

Thirdly, it can make you look like an amateur if you don’t follow the rules.

Fourthly, if you’re working (or hope to) with a publisher/agent, if you can’t follow the rules, it can make you look awkward to work with and you don’t want to give off that impression, however unintentionally.

So it is worth taking the time here to get these things right.

(In other news, am rather chuffed with myself as I’ve finally managed to score over 600 on an online game similar to Scrabble. I managed to get all seven tiles out on a double treble word score. The likelihood of this happening ever again is remote so am grabbing bragging rights now!).

Screenshot 2023-03-09 at 20-08-57 100-Word Submissions

Well, we did get snow, and Lady had a lovely time but neither of us were that sorry to get back home again.

Where would your characters call home and does home have the same meaning for us as it would do for many of us? Is it something they look forward to returning to or somewhere they just “put up with for now” because they have plans for better?

One of the things I loved about The Lord of the Rings is when Frodo, Sam etc do return to The Shire, they are pleased to be back but it is obvious they have changed. It would be odd if they had not been. And that’s something we need to reflect in our stories if we get characters returning to a place having been through their story.

A character shouldn’t be exactly the same as they were before setting out. Readers expect to see change (and sometimes it can be negative) but there should be something to show they’ve been affected by their experiences during the tale.

May be an image of outdoors and text that says "Hobbiton, home of the Hobbits, in The Lord of the Rings."

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I mentioned I was going to use the theme of clearing away for my YouTube and Friday Flash Fiction stories this week. The YouTube one went out on Monday but today I can share the one now on Friday Flash Fiction. Hope you enjoy Clearing Away.

Screenshot 2023-03-10 at 09-42-10 Clearing Away by Allison Symes

Just a quick post to say if you find flash fiction books like mine on Amazon saying they’re out of stock – well, they’re not. Most of the indie press such as Chapeltown Books use print on demand (as it saves a small fortune in warehousing and distribution costs and I feel is less wasteful too).

What happens is an order goes in to print your book and you get it shortly afterwards. And do bear in mind you are always welcome to buy from me directly via my website. Just let me know via my contact page (link below). Always pleased to help here! (And I can sign your books for you too).

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Just going to flag up that Amazon have an offer on the paperback of From Light to Dark and Back Again. See link. Many thanks to all who have reviewed both of my books – reviews are much appreciated. More are always welcome, of course. Yes, I do review books myself. It is another way of supporting the author. The nice thing is reviews don’t have to be long either but they do have to be honest ones!

Screenshot 2023-03-10 at 21-07-08 Allison Symes

Fairytales with Bite – Problems Acrostic

P = Problems a character must overcome; cause of great drama and tension.
R = Real issues even in a magical world should be something a reader can sympathize with your character about.
O = Onward and upward but just how does your character do that – with magical help or without?
B = By the end of the story the problem must be resolved in some way but not necessarily happily.
L = Let your character work things out for themselves, even if they end up concluding they’ve got to call help in.
E = Extra help should be seen to be merited (after all, why should someone have a fairy godmother drop in?).
M = Make the problem help your character develop in some way, that will bring about a point of change, which all stories need.
S = Sympathy, struggles, stress – your characters should go through two of these to get the first!

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This World and Others – Typical Problems Your World Faces

What are the typical problems your world faces? Are these seasonal? Have they taken steps to make things better or are other things getting in the way of that happening?

If it is a question of your world not wanting to face up to the problems they’ve got, why is that? Is it a question of the problems being so huge they can’t tackle them or a lack of resources? Could they team up with other places to help them sort these issues out or is that where the real problem lies – they can’t get on with anybody, nobody wants to help them etc?

If the underlying problems are to do with the environment, are there characters in your story who are trying to do something to make things better? What can they achieve? Can they change others’ attitudes?

Plenty of story thoughts there. And bear in mind the problems might be exactly what your character needs as a challenge to get the best of them. We generally see problems as to be overcome. Your characters can do and it can develop what they are capable of doing, even if at the beginning of the story (and throughout it) they doubt what they can achieve. People will be glued to finding out what your character can do, how they overcome their doubts etc.

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ALLISON SYMES – BOOK BRUSH READER HUB

Screenshot 2023-02-17 at 20-52-45 Reader Hub Book BrushMOM’S FAVORITE READS LINK – CHECK OUT THE MAGAZINE INCLUDING MY FLASH FICTION COLUMN HERE –

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

Screenshot 2023-03-10 at 21-07-08 Allison Symes

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