Tag: Writing goals

Diaries and Letters

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. (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 2023. It is lovely being back at the writing desk. Look out for a useful writing exercise in my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. Hope you give it a go and find it useful.

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Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am pleased to share my first Chandler’s Ford Today post for 2023 where I take a look at Diaries and Letters.

I look at the joys of reading books of these as well as explore using these formats in my own flash fiction writing. I also discuss the usefulness of keeping a diary (not just for noting down what I’ve got to do and when but also for reviewing where I am with my writing and to set goals). I also share a useful creative writing exercise here.

Hope you enjoy the post and hope you have had a good first week “back to normal”.

Diaries and Letters

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Looking forward to sharing Diaries and Letters for my Chandler’s Ford Today post tomorrow. See above – this is one of those posts where I have to watch my spelling. It’s difficult reading and/or writing dairies!

I love reading and writing both formats! Am looking forward to sharing more author interviews later on in the year and am glad to say I’ll be taking part in another writer’s blog in March. More details nearer the time. Also looking forward to running another flash fiction workshop later this month.

Hope to get back to work soon on a major project I had to shelve last year (due to my wanting to get my third flash fiction book submitted). Looking forward to that too. I’ve got a rough draft done on it but know it needs plenty of honing.

Have you set any writing goals you want to achieve this year? I like to have a rough idea of what I’d like to see done in the period and deliberately have a mixture of goals I know I’ll achieve quickly as well as the longer ones. It is nice being able to tick things off my “list”.

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Hope you have had a good day. Weather a lot better than yesterday – Lady and I didn’t get wet! It is the simple pleasures in life etc etc…

Am currently reading a biography of the late Queen by Gyles Brandreth (and loving it). Then I’m on to a crime novel. I like mixing things up! I read in different formats too (and I’ll be looking at some formats of story writing in the forms of diaries and letters for my next Chandler’s Ford Today post too. I often read books of letters and diaries – do check these out. They’re illuminating. I’ve written in both diary and letter formats too).

Writing Tip: Given you’re going to be spending some time with your characters (and yes that applies even to a flash piece), it does pay to get to know them a bit. If you could write a letter to your leading character, what would you put in it and why? Give some thought as to how they would reply to you. You’ll get insights into their personality doing this.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It’s great to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my story The First Day. An apt title for the first week in the New Year, I think. Hope you enjoy. (Also many thanks for the comments coming in on this already but I think you’ll like my characters in this one).

Screenshot 2023-01-06 at 09-18-42 The First Day by Allison Symes

If you want to practice writing short in a way that helps other writers, how about writing a review of their books? It helps authors with publicity and is the second best way to help them (the first is to buy said books of course). The great thing with reviews is they don’t have to be long.

Talking of writing short, I must admit I did find the strapline for both of my collections tough to come up with – I knew what I wanted to say but it was condensing it down enough that was the issue. Still I got there in the end.

For From Light to Dark and Back Again, the strapline reads A collection of very short stories to suit every mood.

For Tripping the Flash Fantastic, it reads A carefully crafted collection of story worlds.

It is funny how writing short is so often more difficult than writing long!If you’ve got ideas for possible strap lines or even words you’d like to use in a strapline, jot them down somewhere safe. Never assume you’ll remember. You don’t, honestly.

Flash with Amazon and Barnes and Noble

I mentioned over on my main author page on Facebook about getting to know your characters. There are various ways of doing this. For flash fiction, you may not need to know so much. I often use a template to help me work out what I think I need to know. One or two pertinent questions can draw out a lot of information! It’s working out what you need to know I think which can be the tricky bit.

I know I need to know a character’s major trait and why it is that one. Others may need to know what they look like and deduce their personality from the type of clothes they like to wear etc. But as long as you know what makes them tick, that’s the important thing. You do have to convince ourself you know these people and therefore can write their stories up with conviction. You know X would react like this to Y because… etc etc

May be an image of text that says "".. Understanding what makes US tick is crucial for understanding what makes your characters tick."

Fairytales with Bite – New Year Acrostic (Writing Tips)

N = New Year = New start – do your magical characters need this and, if so, why?
E = Explore what your characters would do when dropped right in the mire. This can be great fun!
W = Work out what your characters could do with in the way of worthy opponents. You mustn’t make life too easy for them.

Y = You decide how magic works in your setting and whether your characters can all have the same powers or have the potential to develop them.
E = Eagerness to gain power – which of your characters have this? Why? What would they do with that power if they got it?
A = Always know what your characters are doing and what their motivations are. These need to be motivations readers understand but we don’t necessarily have to like them.
R = Read through your stories and check for consistency. If your character changes behaviour patterns, there has to be a good reason for that, again something readers can identify with. Were they “redeemed” or “corrupted”? What are the consequences of the changes? Your stories need to play this out.

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This World and Others – Starting Over

This is an apt topic for the start of another year (and Happy New Year!). Many stories show characters starting over (and my favourite here is A Christmas Carol by Dickens).

But give some thought as to whether your setting needs to start over. Has there been a climate catastrophe in your world where agriculture, industry etc all need to start again? What caused the disaster? How have your characters recovered from it? What changes have had to be forced on them? Which have they happily adopted?

Also there are personal disasters for your individual people. What form(s) do these take? How did your characters start over or have they never been able to really recover? What are the consequences of not being able to start over?

How would the history of your world impact on those living in it now? Is there history they prefer to forget (and so have “started over” by focusing on the history they are happy about?). Starting over can be an artificial concept exploited by the powerful so you could explore what they are trying to bury here.

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ALLISON SYMES – BOOK BRUSH READER HUB

A New Year – New Goals?

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Facebook – General

I don’t really start thinking in specific terms about what I’d like to achieve writing wise for a New Year until about now. I know what my general goals are and those don’t change much but at about this time I set myself some specifics and then work my way through them as the year goes on.

Some years I achieve them all, some years I don’t, but I feel as if I achieve more for having set some ideas down as to what I’d like to get done.

One specific thing I really do want to do next year is enter more writing competitions (flash, short stories, maybe novel but certainly the first two). I didn’t enter as many as I thought I might this year though I have been working away at other projects, one of which I’d like to also get out in 2019 if I can.

Whatever your projects are, whatever your writing goals are, the most important thing is to enjoy what you write and believe in it. If one market or competition does not work out for you, see if you can figure out why. If there is nothing obviously wrong, try with another market or competition that the piece or story would suit. Above all, don’t give up. Enjoying what you write helps a lot when the rejections come in – and they will.

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The only problem I have between Christmas and New Year is working out which day of the week it is and I know I’m not the only one to lose track. Back to full writing routine from tonight though and it is great to be back.

Looking forward to using my new writing diary. Full of prompts and loads of places to jot down ideas (including a monthly To Do/Goals page and at the end of the month an Achievements page. The trick here is to try to get both pages equally full I think! A blank achievements page could be depressing! However I plan to use this to help me try and achieve a plan to enter more writing competitions this year).

Under the picture prompts, there is space to jot down notes for story ideas. I’m going to use those to flesh out some flash fiction!

Big plan is to have the novel ready to start submitting again (I hope around Easter time). So lots to do and I start by preparing material for a guest blog and my usual CFT spot. More details on both to come.

Good luck with your writing plans and have fun with them!

Can’t have too many notebooks and pens. Image via Pexels
Let the ideas flow and let journeys encourage that! Image via Pixabay
A nice clear desk (not mine!). Image via Pexels
Great characters = great books. Image via Pixabay.
Time flies when reading or writing. Image via Pixabay
Is everything black and white in your stories? Image via Pexels
Lovely nib! Image via Pexels.
Great characters will engross you. You will lose time reading their stories. Image via Pixabay.
Let your writing sparkle. Image via Pexels.
Love that clock. Pexels image.
Decisions, decisions and a not terribly helpful signpost. Image via Pixabay.

Happy New Year, everyone. Good luck with all writing endeavours.

Never be afraid to check out the credentials of publishing services companies/publishers/agents etc as the genuine ones will (a) not mind you doing this as it shows you are taking things seriously and (b) will be able to answer queries well and thoroughly. Also don’t forget you can seek advice from the Society of Authors/Alliance of Independent Authors and their websites are always worth checking out.

Have fun with your writing, try out competitions, write what you would want to read, and read loads! (Magazines, novels, short stories, flash fiction, non-fiction – it all “counts”).

I’ve got a couple of projects planned for the next year including submitting my revamped novel, a third flash fiction volume, and I’d love to do more non-fiction too. Don’t know whether I’ll get this all done but it will be fun finding out – and I guess that’s the point!

Being lost in the world of your story. Pixabay image
Get those ideas coming! Pixabay image
Love this image! Image via Pixabay
Finding time to read can be difficult but is so worth doing. Pixabay.
Says it all! Pixabay image.
What will this be for your writing journey? Pixabay image
Hope you have lovely books as presents! Pixabay image
Doing something with those ideas! Pixabay image
A good writing group will help you discover this. Pixabay image.
Ebooks and print – both have their own frustrations when it comes to publishing. Image via Pixabay
Memories are fragile especially over time. Pixabay image.
Alas, too late for me! Image via Pixabay
Plugging in for new ideas? Pixabay image

Loved the Doctor Who special tonight. Can’t keep a good enemy down, that’s all I’m saying.

The whole point of any story is conflict resolution though that can cover anything and everything from exterminating someone to being reconciled with them. What matters is the conflict is over. The story has concluded.

But while the conflict is going on, it is true that the hero/heroine and villain must be worthy of each other. No hero/heroine gets to win “easily” – there must be huge hurdles to overcome. The villain needs then to be capable of stretching your heroes to their utmost (and beyond ideally, making said heroes stretch too. Drop your characters right in it and see what they can do).

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Had a great trip on the Watercress Line (steam railway) yesterday with family. Always think of the stories of the navvies who cut out the sidings etc to make our railways. So many stories we won’t know but can only make educated guesses at.

When it comes to our own stories, what is most important to your characters? Who are the characters who you MUST tell stories about and why? Think about what has made you choose these people and play to their strengths and weaknesses. A well portrayed character has plenty of virtues and failings and both will affect the direction of the story.

All writers feel this way sometimes. Pixabay image.
Assemble your characters, assemble your world. Image via Pixabay
The blank page (or screen) is ready for your diary (or blog!). Image via Pixabay.
A familiar sight to many of us. Image via Pixabay.
Stepping into another world.. Pixbay
Preparing the blog. Image via Pixabay.
I’ve never read a book in these conditions, have you? Pixabay image.
Beautiful books. Pexels image.
Or get away from it all in one book. Pixabay image.
Your blog, your topic, your theme – just be sensible on copyright and libel issues. Image via Pixabay.
Outline the characters and away you go! Image via Pixabay

It’s a good idea to mix up how you source ideas for stories. I like to use proverbs, well known sayings, songs can be an inspiration too and this year I hope to use more picture prompts. (My new writing diary has loads of these in it and I plan to get several flash fiction pieces from these!).

It’s also nice from the writer’s viewpoint to mix up how you gather the ideas/raw material to get you on you way to generating a new story. It keeps things interesting for you and you on your toes, which is never a bad thing. One of the things I adore about flash fiction is it is always a challenge to write small but doing so is very satisfying. (Even more so if the story is published!).

One thing I would like to try and do more of is use more of my own photos to trigger ideas and to take pictures specifically with story generation in mind. The great thing with using your phone for pictures is it is so easy to delete the ones that don’t work out. Sometimes you need to do that with a story too but that is much harder to make yourself do.

I try and avoid getting into that position by outlining first (it really does help). The great thing with outlining is it can be as detailed or not as you like. I’ve sometimes drafted a one-line outline for a piece of flash fiction but it has helped me work out which route to take with the story before I start it. I find I then write more efficiently too.

Work and the muse will come. Don’t wait for it to show up first! Image via Pixabay
A gorgeous pen. Image via Pexels
Use personal reviews to help you generate characters and story outlines. Image via Pixabay.
My feature image for tonight’s Chandler’s Ford Today post. All images in this post were taken by me.
Good reading – and writing to be done – here. Pixabay image.
CAN you manage time? Pixabay image.
Books invite you into their world. Image via Pixabay.
Notes about your characters can help you portray them more accurately. Not every note has to make it into the story itself. Pixabay image.
Memories are fragile especially over time. Pixabay image.
Love both the Kindle and the paperback. Why choose when you can have both? Image via Pixabay
I don’t understand those who dislike books, in whatever format. Image via Pixabay.

What are your hopes and plans for your flash fiction writing in 2019?

Mine are to submit pieces online and for competitions more regularly. I also hope to post more on my website – allisonsymescollectedworks.wordpress.com – as well.

I’m working on a third volume of flash stories as well and hope to get this up together and ready for submission.

I really enjoyed taking part in Open Prose Nights for the first time this year and would love to do more of those. I would also like to give more talks on flash fiction as well.

But I should finish the year’s posts with a flash fiction piece I think.

CROSSING TIME
‘I suppose you think that was clever’, the girl said.
‘Of course, why do it otherwise?’ I replied.
‘You can’t hold me back. It doesn’t matter what you do.’
‘There’s not a human born who doesn’t long to, you know. I had the courage to try.’
‘Or the foolishness! Most of you accept you cannot beat me. You even celebrate me once a year.’
‘Yes, it’s all lights and fireworks and parties, but you are a cruel devil and I will beat you.’
The girl laughed. ‘How? You’re not immortal. You can’t win a fight with Time. I should know. I also know how long you have. I can see your sands running through’.
Out of nowhere she produced an hour glass and sure enough the sand was running through but I didn’t care. I didn’t bother looking. I didn’t want to know. It wasn’t the object of the exercise. I wanted to defy Time and I had.
‘I can keep you at bay with this time piece, and keep doing so until it is time for me to go. I like my current age. I will stay this way. That will do.’
I waved the pocket watch in the girl’s face as if daring her to take it but she waved it away from me. The watch’s hands were going backwards. I set them to a week ago last Friday. I wanted to see if I could do it the way the saleman in that strange little shop insisted I could.
And sure enough here I was back where I had been last Friday. Just outside the chip shop, cursing myself for forgetting my coat on what was the coldest night of the year so far. What I hadn’t expected was this wraith like girl turning up to berate me.
‘There is always a price to pay for crossing Time,’ the girl said, sighing. ‘I will catch you in the end. Your time will come. And trust me I will make you know it when it does. I don’t like cheats. I never have.’
‘So be it but my “time’s up” will be at the age I choose.’
‘And how are you going to explain that to people? Tell them you’ve got a funny portrait in your attic?’
I grimaced. I must admit that thought had not occurred to me. But so what? I could always tell people I had found a really good moisturiser!
The girl vanished. I went and got my chips. I was just crossing the road, munching them happily, when a Mini came out of nowhere and sent me crashing across to the other side. The last thing I remember was seeing the girl reappear and she was laughing.
I got one thing right. Time IS a cruel devil.

Allison Symes – 31st December 2018

Some very strange creatures are in books. Image via Pixabay
Too much to do, too little time perhaps? Pixabay image.
The Waterloo clock. Pixabay image.
Jotting down ideas for future stories is always a good idea. Image via Pixabay
The time turner. Pixabay image.
Finding time to read can be difficult but is so worth doing. Pixabay.
The world’s most famous timepiece. Pixabay image.
Your blog, your topic, your theme – just be sensible on copyright and libel issues. Image via Pixabay.
My writing desk is nowhere near as elegant as this one. Pixabay image.
Indeed! Pixabay image.
Be open to change. Pixabay image.
The one time of year when Time itself is the news. Pixabay image.
The precursor to blogging – journal keeping, Image via Pixabay.
Good advice. Image via Pixabay.

One nice aspect to flash fiction is if you use a writing exercise to help you start off your creative work for the day, then there is nothing to stop you revisiting what you come up with for that and see if you can turn it into a flash fiction story.

From that writing exercise can come an entry for a competition, a published flash tale etc. Give it a go if you try these writing exercises (which often get you to write a couple of hundred words or so. Perfect length for a lot of the flash fiction categories. You can always edit to get a piece down to 75 words or less or keep the piece as it is and look for the 200, 250, 300 word category competitions and markets).

Good luck!

Let the creativity spill out. PIxabay image.
Shakespeare had his quill, modern writers have their laptops. Image via Pixabay.
Never give up, work hard, be disciplined… all valuable traits for success, whether you’re a tennis player, a writer or a character in a story! Image via Pixabay.
Reviews can have global reach. Most impact I think can often be local to the writer.
Always good advice. Image via Pixabay.
Being lost in the world of your story. Pixabay image
My desk is NOT this tidy. Pexels image.
What journeys are your characters going on? Image via Pixabay
Making the most of the writing time. Pixabay image
Images from the magical world… Image via Pixabay
There must be some truly fantastic fiction here. Image via Pixabay.
So true. Pixabay image.
Good advice – and it applies to our characters too. Image via Pixabay
Hope your Christmas books take you to all sorts of wonderful places! Pixabay image

Goodreads Author Blog – And Happy New Year!

Following on from my Merry Christmas post last week, I could hardly call this one anything else!

So with a New Year in mind, what are your reading and/or writing plans for 2019?

I would like to read more flash and short story collections in the next 12 months plus get my own third anthology of stories finished and ready to submit. (Still very much at first draft stage).

I would like to catch up on my To Be Read pile (but I suspect that is an ambition most of us have!). I would like to submit more non-fiction pieces too.

I don’t tend to take up reading challenges because I think I would feel so disappointed in myself if I don’t manage them. However, I would like to widen my variety of reading (which is reasonably wide as it is but I am conscious there are many genres I haven’t tried and I ought to explore. The world of books is meant to be explored!).

Whatever your plans here, good luck! Happy New (reading) Year!

Well, what IS your story? Image via PixabayImage via Pixabay.
Books are magical – image via Pixabay
Stories reflect all sorts of moods. There is a story to suit everyone out there! Image via Pixabay.
This statue reminds me of myself when I was a lot younger. Okay I wasn’t made of stone (I’m still not!) but I did always have my head in a book. (And do so as often as I can now!). Image via Pixabay.
Some of the strongest ideas have a simple theme. See A Christmas Carol as a classic example. Image via Pixabay.
Love this library. Mine is somewhat smaller than this! Image via Pixabay.
The joy of books. Image via Pixabay.
Heavenly books. Image by Pixabay
It can take a lot of self-belief to be able to call yourself this at times. Image via Pixabay
Let a book carry you away! Image via Pixabay
Books are wonderful – whether in print or electronic, whether as audio stories or told by a storyteller. Image via Pixabay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Books make wonderful gifts. Image via Pixabay.

AWKWARD QUESTIONS AND WRITING GOALS

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Again many apologies for the no-show last night.  The bug that got me last week decided to put in a repeat appearance much to my annoyance!  Still, hopefully all gone now.

FAIRYTALES WITH BITE

Awkward Questions can be fun to ask of yourself and your characters. In the case of the latter having someone ask them the questions that they didn’t want to be asked can be a great way of raising tension and guarantees conflict!  But the questions must be significant enough to have a real impact, the kind of impact that will turn your story on its head.  It also pays to ask yourself as a writer from time to time things like why am I writing this, is my meaning as clear as I think it is and so on.

THIS WORLD AND OTHERS

Writing Goals discusses why I review my writing performance in the post-Christmas run-up to the New Year.  I also set some goals, some I know I won’t achieve in 12 months but I want to be well on my way to doing so in that time frame, which is the point of setting these!  Others I will achieve.  Other things happen that are unexpected bonuses.  But writing goals down is, I’ve found, a good way to ensure I’m in with a reasonable chance of achieving said goals.  I don’t really know why writing them down makes a difference.  All I know is it does and that’s enough for me.

CHANDLER’S FORD TODAY

My post this week shares the news of local YA author, Richard Hardie, whose books, Leap of Faith and Trouble with Swords, are being stocked by local independent bookshop, P&G Wells of Winchester.  It’s a real pleasure to promote a local writer and a local bookshop!

FACEBOOK PAGE

I discuss my upcoming Chandler’s Ford Today post and share a link to Southampton Writers’ Circle’s You Tube channel as they have kindly shared the Baubles trailer on this.  Thanks, everyone, and hopefully see you again in 2017.

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you-really-do-enter-another-world-when-reading-image-via-pixabay

You really do enter another world when you read.  Image via Pixabay