Tag: writing guides

Locations and Author Interviews

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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 (and photos from wonderful Northumberland) taken by me, Allison Symes.
My post this week comes from glorious Northumberland where my other half, the dog, and I are enjoying an autumn break. Gorgeous scenery. Lots of walking. Cosy cottage to stay in. Bliss! Oh and I get to write as well. Lovely!

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Facebook – General

Glorious day spent at Seahouses and Bamburgh. Wonderful beaches, great walks, and fabulous views of Bamburgh Castle. One tired and happy dog again – result! Also am enjoying catching up with Terry Pratchett audio books while we are touring. Today, we managed to get most of the way through Thud and should finish that tomorrow.

Will be interviewing Val Penny for Chandler’s Ford Today later this week. She’ll be sharing news of her new book, Hunter’s Secret, and sharing good advice on blog tours. Link up on Friday.

I was writing postcards earlier this evening and it reminded me that one of the many names for flash fiction is postcard fiction, the idea being you can only write what you can fit on the back of a postcard. Now I have tiny writing so I can get 150 words on there (yes, really). Others in my family have huge writing. They’d get 50 on!

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Had a wonderful day in and around the Kielder Forest today. Gorgeous woodland walks, superb lake views (Kielder Water). Again one tired and happy pup in Lady! Looking forward to another day on the coast tomorrow. We like to mix up beach play and forest walks. Weather has been good too.

Writing Tip: Little touches can add great depth to a story. Near where I’m staying at the moment is a lovely bench which reads “Sit and Chat Bench”. Anyone sitting there is open to having a chat. I thought it a lovely idea but there are stories here too.

Fictionally, and in a setting of my own, I could invent someone who set up that bench and explore why they did it. Which characters would sit on a bench like that? Who would they talk to? What would the conversation lead to (because it would lead to something)? Conversations can change a great deal!

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Lovely day out and about at Druridge Bay Country Park. Great beach. Useful visitor centre. Great walk around the huge lake on the other side of that centre. A perfect day out for dog walkers! Lady has come back shattered but oh so happy.

Will I be using some of the locations I visit this week in future stories? Don’t know right now but I will have them in mind if I want to describe a certain setting. I often find though that the odd telling detail is enough. For example, I could mention my character walking along a lonely, sandy beach and you may well conjure up in your own minds where that beach could be. (I can think of several in Scotland as well as in Northumberland which would come to mind for me if I read that).

What matters to me is having a picture in my mind. I usually focus on character but sometimes that will show me their setting as well. I then work out what I need to share in the story so it makes sense to a reader. Still I am going to have some cracking ideas for future settings during my time in Northumberland and it is great to be back here.

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Am staying in glorious Northumberland for a break with other half and Lady. Looking forward to lots of lovely walking.

Will be sharing a fab interview with Scottish crime writer, Val Penny, for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. She will be sharing news of her new book, Hunter’s Secret, and wonderful advice on blog tours, something which is a major part of marketing for many writers.

What do I look for in any author interview, whether I conduct it or not? I like to have the sense the interview is a proper conversation as useful tips and information comes out of that. I like to see how the author’s experience is helping them now when it comes to marketing. We all try different things. Some work. Some don’t work so well. All of that can save time, money, and effort for other writers.

I do know I am grateful for all I’ve learned from author interviews over the years. And they’re fun.

Author Interviews coming up on CFT

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Many thanks for the great responses coming for Being Engrossed, my most recent tale on Friday Flash Fiction. In case you missed it, see the link below. Would you do what my character, Stephen, is planning to do here?

Screenshot 2023-10-06 at 09-28-46 Being Engrossed by Allison SymesIt’s Monday. It’s time for a story. Hope you enjoy Thirteen Hours, my latest on YouTube.

Flash fiction is great for use in various marketing ways. Firstly, I can (and do) create mini videos via Book Brush and YouTube to share on my social media timelines. Secondly, I can add these to my website. I sometimes create exclusive stories (video and plain text) for my author newsletter. I see all of that as advertising what I do.

When out and about at book signings, it is easy enough to share an example of flash fiction to people by reading out one or two. Doesn’t take long. Shows what flash is and what it can be capable of quickly. My experience has been people love being read to and I have made sales as a direct result of doing that!

And flash has helped me no end with my own editing. I am not afraid to cut where it is needed. I remember, years ago, being tentative over that. After all, who really wants to kill their darlings? They’re your darlings for a reason, right?

Hmm… writing flash sorted all of that out. If it doesn’t move the story on, out it goes and that’s that.

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Flash focuses on moments but these can take many forms. An event is an obvious moment but so can be that moment of realisation when a character switches direction. What triggers that moment of realisation?
Also something a character says to another can be the spark for the changing moment. But the changing moment really does have to be important enough to trigger the required change. All stories show change.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Writing Guides

Most writers, including me, have a number of writing guides collected over many years. The need for guides changes through a writer’s career. I started with the beginner guides and, much later, went to marketing and publishing books.

What I was after (and still am) is clear information presented in an entertaining way. I find I recall things better if I like what I’ve read. Also guides should be encouraging, otherwise why read on?

My favourite writing guide is On Writing by Stephen King. I am also fond of the Wannabe Writer guides written by the much missed Jane Wenham-Jones.

A good test of a guide is its readability (and re-readability). Which guides have you found useful?

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES
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How To Guides

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good week. I had a fabulous trip out to my local theatre company’s latest production and ran a flash fiction workshop. Weather still all over the place but Lady has got to play with some of her best pals. So a good week then!

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Wow, it’s Friday again already, and time to share my Chandler’s Ford Today post. This week I’m looking at How To Guides and I share some of the writing ones I have used (and in many cases continue to refer to). I look at how the need for specific guides changes as your writing progresses and share some thoughts on what makes a good guide for me. Do share details of any guides you’ve found helpful in the CFT comments box.

How To Guides

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I was talking about how to make the best of themes as part of my topic for the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction group last night. It pays to practice writing to themes – why? Because the classic themes come up time and again. Anything that doesn’t fit into a themed competition can always be saved for an open one.

May be a graphic of text that says "goe Ludwig Mie more es is Less Less Mies an Rohe Less is more could be THE anthem for all flash fiction writers."

Lady had a fabulous time playing with her best buddie, the lovely Rhodesian Ridgeback, today. Both dogs had a fabulous time. You should hear them run – it really is a thundering gallop!

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group on Zoom this evening. It is great fun thinking of topics to discuss and then working out what exercises we can do related to these. We all get some drafts done and it has been lovely when people have gone on to have work published online and broadcast later. More power to the (flash) pens/laptops!

Also looking forward to my theatre trip tomorrow and to sharing my post on How To Guides on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Glad to say the May edition of Mom’s Favorite Reads is already out and what a cracking read it is. The theme this time was sailing and you can see how I used that for my flash fiction column on Page 56. Do check out the excellent stories which came in as a result of my challenge as well. Given it is a Bank Holiday weekend in the UK, that gives you plenty of time for a great read and several cups of tea/coffee while you do so – now that is what I call a good use of weekend time.

Flash fiction competitions come in many forms but the common ones are the 100 worders, the 300, and the 500 kinds so it is worth practicing writing to those different word counts. You can know these will come up regularly. For my collections, I wanted to have a good mix of all the different (and standard) word counts here including the 750 and the 1000 worders. I felt (and still feel) having a god representation of the different word counts in flash made a good advert for the form overall. I think it also shows the form has more flexibility than might be thought – it is only the upper word count you have to watch.

Always a joy to talk or write about flash fiction

I use random generators a lot as you know and I sometimes use the same thing generated for two stories. I invent different characters for the tales and will often ensure one is a humorous piece and the other isn’t. You really wouldn’t know they were based on the same underlying idea unless I told you! I just send these to two different markets or save one for my YouTube channel.

But I equally use two generators for two different ideas entirely. Then I can keep the mood the same if I wish to do so. I sometimes expand the number of parameters I set when using the generators (or in the case of story cubes I roll more than one of them!). There is plenty you can do with these things and they are a great source to find ideas, something just to get the creative sparks off to a good start.

May be an image of text that says "I love the fact there are so many different types of random generator I can use to help trigger ideas."

Fairytales with Bite – Endings

E = Expect the unexpected as not every fairytale has the classic happy ever after ending.
N = Never underestimate the “drab” character – they will almost certainly have an important role to bring the story to a good ending.
D = Do or dare – this will occur just ahead of the ending – something has to happen to bring that ending about.
I = Imagination – your characters may well imagine the ending they’d like but will they get that or something much better?
N = Narrators can guide the readers in some fairytales and you can find out what they make of the ending (have written some of these myself).
G = Good usually triumphs over evil as an ending here but I welcome that – would like to see it happen in real life more often to be honest (and maybe it is one of the comforts of the fairytale as a whole).
S = Stories need a satisfactory ending – it has to work for the characters and the set up of the story – but it doesn’t need to be a happy one (though I admit I prefer them!).

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This World and Others – Changes

C= Characters and changes and causes and consequences – the bedrocks of any story in whatever setting.
H= How your characters handle changes will reveal much about them but also drive the story -not everyone reacts well.
A= Attitudes will determine how a character reacts to change – those who love routine will find changes harder to cope with.
N= Negative attitudes to change can lead to negative actions – what would that lead to in your story?
G= Great characters will find ways of dealing with changes and the consequences which come from them.
E= Every setting, every fantasy world, must develop and change whether it is in terms of technology, how they treat others, etc. What triggers the changes? Are the settings better because of the changes and if so how?
S= Stubbornness – there will always be those characters who resist change for various reasons (one of which is fear of change itself). How would they impact on your story?

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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