Learning from Author Interviews

May 28, 2024Leave a comment

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All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.

Hope you have had a good weekend. It was a Bank Holiday one here in the UK. Mixed bag weather wise but that’s normal. Lady saw her best chum, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, unexpectedly on one of our afternoon walks. Both dogs relished that.

I’m catching up with my writing again after an unwelcome break (as in break in!) and being so glad to be back doing normal things again. Well, as normal as things get for a writer anyway. Have not yet thought of a flash story where a burglar gets their comeuppance but give me time…!

Facebook – General

I love conducting author interviews for Chandler’s Ford Today and also enjoy reading those in writing magazines etc. I’ve picked up many useful tips along the way from these. I also find it endlessly fascinating how each writer comes up with ideas, how they approach getting the writing and editing done and so on.

I got into the habit of reading author interviews long before I had anything published. I was interested then chiefly in how writers got their breakthroughs and quickly discovered no two writing journeys are exactly the same.

But I also realised if I was the one being interviewed and asked these questions, I ought to work out just what I would say in response. So I jotted down several questions and worked out what I might say in the event I had stories published (and then later a book) and had these posers put to me.

I’ve found that so useful. It also helped me filter out what I do need to get across when talking about my writing and to leave out those interesting side bits which aren’t relevant to the questions being asked. I also found doing all of this helped with self confidence.

Practicing talking about what you do (and using interview questions you’ve come across as a guide) is a good thing to do. I found it ensured I was able to summarize my books in a line or two. That’s useful too.

Hope you have had a good Monday. Bank holiday here in the UK. My usual hectic day but with the family at home. Usually feels like a strange cross between a Sunday and a Monday.

Writing wise, I’m interviewing Jenny Sanders on Chandler’s Ford Today about her new devotional book, Polished Arrows. This will be a two-part interview and we will be taking a good look at this kind of writing, which is a specialised form of literature. More to come on Friday.

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group on Wednesday evening where the topic will be questions and answers.

And don’t forget the June issue of Writers’ Narrative will be out very soon.

Weather back to being all over the place again. Oh well. Glad to see some love-in-a-mist coming up in one of our borders. Lovely name for a pretty plant. First time we’ve planted it. Something cheery to see after a bad week.

I had a quick look at a random theme generator and the topic which came up was redemption.

Interesting one. Fiction wise, you can invent a character in need of redemption and work out whether they obtain that or not (or deliberately refuse to be redeemed. There would be consequences from that. How would that play out?).

Also bear in mind the character themselves may well feel they don’t need redeeming at all but those around them do! Who would be right? The need for redemption is in the eye of the beholder perhaps.

For non-fiction, there could be some interesting pieces about redemption as a theme in art and the artists who created those pieces, just to name one example.

That is just one topic.

Bear in mind you could also combine themes which come up on the generators. Another one which came up on my look through was spaceship. Okay, you could look at who needs redeeming on board said craft! I’m sure there’d be some interesting possibilities there.

What I always look for when I use random generators, story cubes, books of prompts etc is a starting point, a way into creating interesting characters I then want to write up (and dump right in it and then see how “they” get out of that situation).

It was a pleasure to share on Zoom a one hour talk on editing with the Spiderplant writing group (who are affiliated to the Association of Christian Writers). Many thanks for making me feel so welcome and I hope you found the advice useful. (Many thanks to Rosalie Weller for kind permission to use the photo).

As well as being an author, I’m an editor and judge competitions too. This can be enlightening because it helps me improve my own writing. This is because I can see where mistakes are made (especially on competition entries) and then try to ensure I don’t make the same ones myself.

In other writing news, I will be talking to Jenny Sanders on her new book, Polished Arrows, in an in-depth two part interview which starts next Friday on Chandler’s Ford Today. Looking forward to sharing Part 1 then.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Occasionally, I do have scene breaks in my flash stories. These tend to be for the tales which are 750 to 1000 words in length such as my She Did It Her Way, Kind Of (From Light to Dark and Back Again). Most of the time the action of my stories is dealt with in a few paragraphs but this story did need the full flash word count range to show what I needed it to show.

This tale had four characters in it (one was a dog) and another was referred to by the two female, human characters. (The last character was a pushy salesman who fell foul of the dog). I especially enjoyed writing the ending for this story where everything is wrapped up.

A story has to be the appropriate word count length to tell it properly. Sometimes I find a story I thought would come in at 100 words does need more space and can end up as being a 500 words tale instead. That’s fine. I just find another market for it than the one I originally intended.

For me, a story is only complete when everything is wrapped up and I feel not another word could be added without diluting the impact in some way.

It’s Monday. It’s a Bank Holiday but nothing disguises the fact it’s Monday. Garfield, the cartoon cat, famously loathes Mondays. But then he wasn’t about to enjoy a new story from me on YouTube! Hope you like my latest here – First Class. Is Griselda right to be suspicious of posh looking mail coming by first class post and is she in trouble? Find out here.

I talked about random theme generators over on my Facebook author page but wanted to add here there is a huge amount of these things out there. I find it pays to mix up the ones I use as this makes for an interesting challenge. Can I write to what has been generated? It is useful practice for writing to story competition themes as well, I think, because you’re getting into the habit of responding to a prompt which has been set by someone else.

The opening line kind is my favourite because I can use that to kick start a new piece of flash fiction or a short story. Occasionally, if the line is right, it can inspire an idea fora blog post. One I generated for this post reads I am optimistic that…

Now you can write an article or a blog post from that but you could use it for fiction too as a story told in the first person by your character. What are they optimistic about? Are they right?

The important thing is, whatever type of prompt you use, to have fun with them. I’ve created (and had published) many stories and flash pieces which started life this way.

All stories need a proper beginning, middle, and end, regardless of their word count. I find for flash fiction it helps to visualise my word count. This is where studying sites like Friday Flash Fiction helps a lot. You can literally see what 100 words looks like on screen.

Having got the visualisation sorted, I can then work out when I need to have the character and set up by, leaving myself enough words to show the problem and worsen it for my poor characters, while still leaving myself enough word count room again so I can give a proper finish.

For a 500 word story, for example, that is roughly one page of A4 so I can visualise splitting that A4 into thirds to deal with the three crucial elements of any tale.

Goodreads Author Blog – Fictional Humorous Worlds

Every story, of whatever word count length, is its own mini world, of course, but I have a soft spot for humorous worlds, especially when the books concerned are part of a series.

My two overall favourites here are Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series and practically anything by P.G. Wodehouse. The latter has multiple worlds – the worlds of Jeeves and Wooster, the Blandings world, the Psmith world and so on.

I love humorous writing. It is wonderful escapism. There is always a time and need for that but perhaps never more so than now when the news is so grim. What I love about the book series though is watching how characters develop over them. This is especially true for Pratchett’s Sam Vimes. That character arc is a fascinating one. Compare who he is in Guards! Guards! with how he is in the final book he is in, Raising Steam. It is a fascinating character study all authors can learn from. Feet of Clay and Men at Arms also work as great detective stories too so do check them out.

You could argue Jeeves and Wooster don’t change that much but that is part of their charm. What does change is the chaos around them they have to sort out, especially Jeeves.

But what is consistent about all of these is the laughs! In a troubled world, I so welcome these. I do wish humorous writing wasn’t looked down on though. I learned a long time ago what looks like easy writing took an awful long time for the writer to craft. It’s even harder for humorous writers given humour can be subjective.

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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liked Allison Symes's blog post: Fictional Humorous Worlds https://t.co/kbyc75gLTN via @goodreads I celebrate humorous writing, especially in book series, for Goodreads this week. pic.twitter.com/ZLcS28jBjO
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) May 25, 2024

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It’s a Bank Holiday but it’s still Monday. Garfield, the cartoon cat, famously hates Mondays but he wasn’t about to enjoy a new YouTube tale from me! Hope you like First Class. Is Griselda right to be suspicious of posh first class mail? Is she in trouble?https://t.co/cwGL2ySJBw
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) May 27, 2024

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Marketing On The Move and A Commendation

April 9, 2024Leave a comment

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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 Lady posing on our last holiday.

Hope you have had a good weekend. Have been on the tail end of Storm Kathleen here. Writing wise, I’m looking forward to sharing Part 2 of a fabulous interview with actress/writer, Sophie Neville, on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Be sure not to miss. It is an inspiring interview with someone who is so immersed in the creative life it is an encouragement to all.

In other news, Lady had some fun spotting some pals at a local fun dog show over the weekend, one of whom came second in their category. If ever there was a category “dog who is the best at being daft”, Lady would be a shoe-in for that, or should that be a paw in?

Facebook – General

Lady had a great start to her Tuesday by playing with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals.

Did get my story sent off to Friday Flash Fiction yesterday – they opened up to submissions again yesterday evening. Sent in a 100 worder. Good to get back to those again.

Managed to do some marketing “on the move” today. I was giving blood and part of the process is to confirm who you are, address etc. Usually you’re asked what you do too. Gets a nice chat going before you donate. So I mentioned I’m a writer, with two flash collections out and another in the pipeline, to which the NHS Blood lady made a note of my name and said she’d look me up online. Marketing doesn’t have to be scary! Some of the best marketing can come from conversations.

Has been a nice day today with lovely comments in on my recent interview with Sophie Neville on Chandler’s Ford Today. See screenshot and Part 2 of a fabulous conversation will be up on site on Friday.

Hope you have had a good start to your week. Not bad here but blustery again as I write this.

Am busy preparing blog posts and articles at the moment. Have a story I want to submit to Friday Flash Fiction when they reopen to submissions so hope to do that later this week but ahead of Friday of course!

Looking forward to taking part in a history group Zoom session this evening. I do write some historical flash but have always loved the subject of history since school days long before I took up creative writing.

Finding out what happens is a key component to writing in itself. It is what draws the readers in. It comes into history (and science) but I love things which shed light on the past. Sometimes a spark of inspiration for a story can come from that. I’ve found that to be the case for my historical flashes.

I totally understand the point of historical fiction though I only dabble in it myself. And I want the historical non-fiction I read to be gripping, entertaining, as well as informative. History should never be boring. It wasn’t for real for those going through it. It shouldn’t be in book form either!

Do I hope to write more historical pieces? Yes. As with my other flash work, I focus on the character and look at what I could say through them in my tale. I hope my portrayal of them shows a side to them which encourages empathy. Understanding what motivates people, real of fictional, is a powerful and good thing when it encourages that empathy (and a deeper appreciation for what we do have now).

Hope you have had a good weekend. Blustery but dry here. Think we’re getting the tail end of Storm Kathleen.

Looking forward to sharing Part 2 of a fabulous interview with Sophie Neville (of Swallows and Amazons fame, though she has done and continues to do so much in the creative spheres), for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Do look out for that.

A huge thank you for the congratulations coming in on my story Doing Right being Commended in the Friday Flash Fiction competition. Nice way to end the week.

Writing Tip: You’ve got to your desk, eager to write. Nothing comes to you. Don’t panic. Free write literally anything for a few minutes and/or brain storm title ideas, opening line/closing line ideas etc.

I’ve found that once I’ve started writing something other ideas, better ideas, come to me, but you do just need something to start with. The idea of just writing anything, no matter how rubbish it may seem to you, is just to warm your creative “muscles” up so those other better ideas come through. You’ve nothing to lose by trying this either.

Another good tip here is to go back through your notebooks etc where you have previously jotted down ideas. Now is the time you might put one or two these to use. The idea here is you have already jotted this idea down, now flesh it out and see what you can do with it. Again, it is to get you started on something.

Good luck and happy drafting.

Lovely surprise today (6th April 2024). Discovered my 100 word story, Doing Right, was commended in the Andrew Siderius competition recently held by Friday Flash Fiction. Many thanks to Dawn Knox for flagging that, congratulations to her too, and well done to the winners and all who where shortlisted as I mentioned yesterday over on my Facebook book page.

First time I have had a commendation here. Feeling chuffed!

Link to story here. All pet owners will get this one.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Busy day today so am later posting than normal but good to be back at the desk and writing. Need to give some thought to the Bridport Prize soon. (Closing date is end of May). Do have a story ready I feel would be suitable so I will try and take a look at that again this weekend. I will want to submit anything by early to mid May at the latest.

I don’t believe in leaving it to the last minute for one excellent reason. You’re more likely to make mistakes in your entry if you do.

Second reason – technology can go wrong so if there is an internet “blip” you want it to “not matter”. You will want to be able to try later or next day once things are fixed. If you have something like that right at the last minute to submit your story, there’s no time to have another go at submitting the same. I do believe in a safety net here.

It’s Monday. It’s time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube, which has an apt title for Mondays – One of Those Days. Hope you enjoy it.

If you have a flash fiction story which revolves around a secret, do play fair with your readers and ensure the secret is revealed by the end of the tale. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a “big reveal”.

In my The Past – Ready or Not? (Tripping the Flash Fantastic), I reveal my character’s secret in three words towards the end of the story (which is a sub 150 worder).

I see this as akin to Chekov’s Gun rule in that if you have a gun in the story, at some point it must go off. If you have set up any kind of expectation in your tale, you do need to follow through on it. But that follow through is huge fun to write and can create some tremendous closing lines.

Have fun with this, I do!

I enjoyed writing The Writers’ Wish List for the recently published Spring 2024 edition of Christian Writer, the journal of the Association of Christian Writers (and only available to paid up members of ACW).

One element I applied directly to flash fiction and short story writers is that, every now and again, I will come across someone who is “stuffy” about the shorter forms of fiction. Naturally my wish was people wouldn’t be like that!

I have never understood this attitude. Yes, novels are difficult to write and obviously take far more time but the short forms still need drafting, editing, crafting, and a lot of time and care still goes into doing that. Also, why restrict what you read and/or write? I love reading novels and short stories/flash fiction. Plenty of room in the world for both forms!

When I’m reading I will deliberately read a novel or work of non-fiction, then a short story or flash collection, then back to a longer form of writing again. Why restrict yourself?!

When I’m writing, my main work is in the short form but I do have longer projects on the go. Why restrict yourself here either? Yes, you will over time find what is your natural “home” but it doesn’t mean you can’t give something else a try writing wise. I find it’s fun.

Sometimes, just sometimes, a short story or flash fiction piece will pack a powerful emotional punch in ways the longer forms wouldn’t do because everything that needs to be said is said in, say, 500 words.

The great novels show you a whole world and you need the time and space to show that. That’s something the short forms can’t do.

But this is why we need all of the writing forms!

Goodreads Author Blog – What Reading Teaches You

As a writer, I’ve learned so much from what I’ve read over the years. You take in how stories work by reading loads of them.

I picked up on the Rule of Three from reading the classic fairytales, for example. I came to realise something would happen, then happen again, but on the third time there would be a different outcome.

You also get to see how stories are laid out (paragraphs, dialogue, how scene breaks work etc) just by reading how others have done this before you.

I’ve long thought writers effectively have two great joys here – their own writing and reading. The love of reading triggers the desire to write. It is also why it pays writers to read widely – classic and contemporary, fiction and non-fiction.

Ideas for your own stories are often triggered by something else you’ve read so it pays to have an “imagination pool” to fish from which is as wide and deep as possible. Reading widely, and in varied forms, does that for you.

I’ve found the Kindle has encouraged further reading in that I use it to try out books by authors new to me. I will take a “punt” on a £2.99 ebook. If I like the author’s work, I often go on to buy further paperbacks from them later. But this is all because the Kindle makes it easy to read even more works. I like that. I make a point of reading both ebooks and paperbacks in my main reading session. Love them all.

Books are wonderful things.

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Lovely surprise. Found my 100 word story, Doing Right, was commended in the Andrew Siderius competition recently held by Friday Flash Fiction. Many thanks to @SunriseCalls for flagging that. First time I've had a commendation here. Feeling chuffed!https://t.co/oU1M24ONsy pic.twitter.com/6DLVi6mUcT
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) April 6, 2024

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liked Allison Symes's blog post: What Reading Teaches You https://t.co/FM6NDWr6J5 via @goodreads I share my thoughts on what I've learned about writing when I've read works by others. It's more than you might think too. pic.twitter.com/1WYeTTnl3z
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) April 6, 2024

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Read contemporary as well as classic fiction. Both will inspire you but you do need to know what is out there in the here and now. That information will be even more useful to you when you are ready to pitch something. pic.twitter.com/38sCInNUdj
— ACW (@ACW1971) April 6, 2024

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I’ve often found inspiration for a story by reading an interesting non-fiction book or article. I will come across a useful nugget and realise it could apply to a character or I could use it to make things worse for that character. So keep non-fiction in your reading diet too. pic.twitter.com/6rQ3EH6KjX
— ACW (@ACW1971) April 7, 2024

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I mix up reading genres and formats. l go from paperbacks to Kindle and from reading crime to fantasy. I combine those via Terry Pratchett’s Vimes books. Inspiration for your stories comes deep down from what you love reading. Read on. It is fun and will help your own writing. pic.twitter.com/1AA7Wk6dVY
— ACW (@ACW1971) April 8, 2024

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It’s Monday. It’s time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube, which has an apt title for Mondays – One of Those Days. Hope you enjoy it.https://t.co/jy57mtRatK
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) April 8, 2024

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Publication News and Writing Tips

March 12, 20242 Comments

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Image Credits:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.

Hope you had a good weekend. Garden starting to look really nice with daffodils all over the place. Lady has got off to a good start to her week by having a tremendous run around with her best pal, the Rhodesian Ridgeback. Both of them tired out. Job done! Writing wise, got lots done over the weekend so pleased with that.

Facebook – General

Hope you are having a good Tuesday. Am glad it’s dried up somewhat.

Will be looking at Online Workshops for Chandler’s Ford Today this Friday. Will also share tips on how to make the most of these from the viewpoints of attendee and tutor. Hope it will prove useful.

Writing Tip: Got a competition coming up? Good. Give yourself plenty of time for it. My own approach is to draft a story, rest it for a few days, and then come back and edit it. Seeing it with fresh eyes after a reasonable gap does make all the difference in spotting errors, things you could do better etc. I send my competition entries in about ten days before the actual deadline, having carried out a final edit to ensure no pesky typos have slipped the net.

I also double check (as part of my editing) that I am following all of the guidelines issued by the organisers to the letter. Once all done, I’m drafting more stories. I like to having something resting, to be creating something new, and to be jotting ideas down for future stories/competitions I like the look of (where I’ll note down possible themes).

Publication News: Delighted to hear a recently edited story of mine has been accepted and will appear on CafeLit this time next week. Looking forward to sharing that.

Just to flag up as well Friday Flash Fiction will be running the annual Andrew Siderius competition. I hope to have a go – one week in the 100 words category and a longer flash in the longer word count section for the following week. You can enter over two weeks but can only have one go at each word count category. There is a also a poetry category so potentially you can send in three entries in total. More details to follow.

Do keep an eye out on the website for more on this but why not give it a go? Good fun to have a go at.
Happy Mother’s Day to all mums, past and present, and to all mother figures. Hugs to all who find it a difficult day for whatever reason. You are remembered.

It is both a lovely and a strange day for me as I miss both my mum and mum-in-law. My lovely mum-in-law was a second mum to me. Know I was so lucky there.

My mum would’ve been 90 this coming Wednesday. She encouraged my love of reading and taught me to read before I started school. That one is the gift which keeps on giving. She did get to see my first published story in print and my late Dad got to see my first book. There is a kind of symmetry there.

Many thanks to all who have sent in wonderful comments on Point of No Return, my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction. That second line has raised a few smiles!

Sometimes a line like that just comes to you and you know deep down it is a great one. Moments like that are so special for any writer and I treasure my special writing moments. And if you haven’t checked out my second line, see the link and screenshot!
Hope your weekend is going well. Lady got to see her friend, Coco, in the park today and the pair had a good run around. Nice day out there too. Even managed to give my lawn its first cut of the year (and entertained Lady by kicking her football for her as I was doing that. Makes quite a sight. One leg in, one leg out, kick her football all about etc!).

Will be looking at Online Workshops for Chandler’s Ford Today. Link up next Friday. Will be discussing the advantages and disadvantages of these and sharing tips on how to make the most of them.

Writing Tip: Do read the writing magazines. I’ve often found information useful to me immediately but have just as often come back to information when I’ve had a need for it later. It happens! To start you off, do check out the March issue of Writers’ Narrative magazine (oh and remember subscribing to this is free, details on how to do so are in the magazine itself).

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

One of my favourite flash pieces is Calling the Doctor, which I used as the book trailer for From Light to Dark and Back Again. I’ve often changed the mood of the story in the last line or two (and still do of course!) but this one was an early story where I managed to change the mood on the last word. I’ve also found it makes a great piece to read at Open Prose Mic Nights for that reason.

I do have a lot of fun playing with story moods in flash like this. When I’m drafting a tale, I already know what mood it will be, who my character is, and a rough idea of the likely ending. Yes, sometimes that can change. It did with Calling the Doctor. It was on the editing I realised changing what my last line is to what it is now would have far more impact on a reader/viewer.

Hope you have had a good Monday. But as ever it’s story time. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – It’s Good To Be Wrong.

Happy Mother’s Day to all who celebrate and to all who remember and to all who do both, as I do.

Occasionally I write about another kind of mum – the kind who is the human mum to a dog. Well they do say talk about what you know! One of mine from From Light to Dark and Back Again is called She Did It Her Way, Kind Of.

It’s one of my longer flash pieces – right up at the 1000 words end – and it shows Jane Westbrook and her puppy, Harry, figuring out how to get along after the death of William, Jane’s husband and who would’ve been Harry’s trainer. It is one of my reflective, feel good pieces, but if there was anything I could change about it now, it would be that title. I went for this title initially as a twist on a well known phrase (doing it your way) and it does work as that but I know now, as I didn’t back then, I could’ve simplified it!

Having said that, it is a dog-related tale I’m very fond of and I suspect most dog owners would identify with it.

I was delighted to be notified by my publisher the other day they’d received a lovely review of Tripping the Flash Fantastic.

One good thing about reviewing flash fiction collections is it would be highly apt to keep reviews short! The quote below is from another short review for this book.

If you enjoy a diverse collection of stories, this is the book for you!

If you can do review books you’ve enjoyed. It means a great deal to the author to get feedback like that. And I review as much as possible myself (most writers do). Great thing – it doesn’t have to take long and is the second best thing you can do to support writers after buying their books. Thanks!

Goodreads Author Blog – World Book Day

I like the whole concept of World Book Day (which was just held on 7th March 2024). Having said that, judging by the writers I know and this goes for me too, there isn’t a day ever when a book doesn’t feature in it somewhere. Often it is more than one book too!

I like the way children are encouraged to think of/dress up as their favourite characters. Books are meant to be interactive in that they draw you into their worlds. It’s one of the aspects of reading I love most. You really can lose yourself in a good book.

I should imagine the most difficult comes from deciding which character is your favourite, which is the one to dress up as this year etc. I was never into dressing up but books have been a major feature of my life since very early days.

I have my late mother to thank for encouraging that love of reading. She taught me to read before I started school. She was moaned at for “doing it the wrong way” but I’ve never felt her way of doing it was wrong, far from it. She herself read everything from history to science fiction (H.G. Wells in particular for that) so she can’t have been doing too much wrong!

I don’t know which favourite character I would dress up if I was the right age for this. Mind you, given I am not endowed with a great height, I suspect I would end up dressing as a hobbit! (Before you ask, I don’t have hairy feet. Just want to be clear on that point!).

I hope everyone taking part had a fabulous World Book Day and it enthuses all ages for reading more until the next one comes around again.

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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liked Allison Symes's blog post: World Book Day https://t.co/GoyNUrXVQD via @goodreads It may be a couple of days late but I thought this week's Goodreads post from me really should focus on World Book Day. Hope you enjoy it. pic.twitter.com/Y9a7dyx93x
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) March 9, 2024

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Hope you have had a good Monday. But as ever it’s story time. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – It’s Good To Be Wrong.https://t.co/e1ep7rev3G
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) March 11, 2024

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One of my favourite flashes is Calling the Doctor. I used it as the trailer for From Light to Dark and Back Again. I’ve often changed a story mood in the last line or two (and still do!) but this was an early story where the mood changed on the last word. https://t.co/6PeGgHqJyx
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) March 12, 2024

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Writing Tips and Writing Progress

March 5, 2024Leave a comment

Screenshot 2024-02-28 at 16-25-51 Allison Symes - The Society of Authors

Image Credits:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.

Hope you had a great weekend. Pleased with how mine went – lots of writing and some gardening done (prefer it that way round!). More signs of spring in my garden and elsewhere – do find it cheering. More submissions sent out (in one case recorded and sent out). Good to see signs the daylight is lasting that bit longer. Makes it nicer for Lady’s evening walk.

Facebook – General

Hope you managed to avoid the heavy rain earlier today. Lady and I didn’t! Got a good soaking. March has come in like a lion, as the old proverb says. Can only hope it does go out like a lamb. Mind you, am seeing more spring flowers about so something has got the benefit of all of that rain!

I’m looking at The Task of the Opening Lines for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I like to hit the ground running with my stories and posts and will be sharing my thoughts and tips on opening lines in this post. Hope it will prove useful.

Opening lines don’t necessarily have to be the ones you started with in your first draft either. I often change mine once I’ve had chance to judge my piece objectively. I will often spot a stronger opening line further down so just move things around. Much easier to do this day and age and, yes, I did use to have to literally cut and paste. I really don’t miss that!

Writing Tip: When you’ve got a few minutes and you want to write something but don’t know what and time is short etc., why not grab a notebook and jot down some potential opening lines? What you need is a character, an action, maybe a sense of setting.

For example one of mine is ‘What gave me away?’ Maisie scowled. This is the first line from Visitor Expected (Friday Flash Fiction). You can come back at a later date and work out what could come from your draft opening lines. I like the idea of having something to come back to like this and I get to use up pockets of time for some useful writing after all.

Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to play with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback girlfriends. All three dogs very happy about that.

Am making progress (finally!) on my long term project and am investigating possible homes for it when I’m ready to submit it.

Making very good progress on a fourth flash fiction book too. A lot of what I do here goes on around the backdrop of my blogging, regular story submissions etc. It means I always have something of interest to work on (I don’t like being bored, life is too short for that). There are certain things I would like to get done by the summer and am on track so far.

I also love writing the short forms of fiction because they give me a lovely imaginative “break” from the longer work I’m doing. Plus I can get those shorter pieces out and submitted and hopefully receive publication credits in the meantime too.

Nothing to dislike here but it does mean planning out my writing time. I have found that pays off. Some days I do write more than others. That’s the way of it but what I want to do is make the most of whatever time I’ve got whether it is ten minutes or four hours.

Hope today is going well for you. Lovely to see some sunshine after the frost this morning.

Looking forward to sharing some smashing author interviews on Chandler’s Ford Today in the next couple of months. More details nearer the time. It’s always a joy to host these as I find I learn so much from what other writers do. I’ve picked up lots of tips on time management for one thing – and these have paid off for me too.

Writing Tip: Put yourself inside your character’s head. What can they see and hear? Why do they feel the way they do? When you know what your character is doing and why, it simplifies writing their stories up. You will know what they would do. You will also know what they wouldn’t. Their reactions will seem like second nature to you too. All useful.

Hope you are having a good weekend. Good to see some sunshine. A huge thank you for the lovely comments coming in on my latest Friday Flash Fiction story, Visitor Expected. Am thrilled even more comments have come in since yesterday. If you haven’t had chance to check the tale out, see the link. I like the Mrs Harrises of this world. Think you will too.

My Chandler’s Ford Today post for next week is on a topic close to my heart – The Task of the Opening Lines. Especially for flash fiction, the opening line is so important. I like to hit the ground running with my openings because that helps me to make the most of my word count and it also helps to hook the reader in immediately. Link up on Friday.

Screenshot 2024-03-01 at 09-40-46 Visitor Expected by Allison Symes

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I like to mix up the flash fiction word counts I write to because (a) it’s fun, (b) it’s a good challenge, and (c) there are a wide range of competitions out there, all of which want differing word counts. So it pays to be able to turn your hand to several of them!

Have just submitted a flash piece and am working on a sub-300 words piece for another competition. Mind you compared with what I write for Friday Flash Fiction 300 words seems a huge amount!

You do get better, over time, at judging word counts when you see something written (on paper or in screen). When I guess, I am usually within 30 words or so. But being able to visualise what different word counts look like is handy as it helps me to gauge for this story I might need three paragraphs, for another I might only need the one. So just knowing that gives me a rough story structure immediately.

It’s Monday. The heavy rain’s back. It’s Monday. It’s time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube -We’re Off.

Motivation is vital to the success of character portrayal in any story. In Tripping the Flash Fantastic, I have a character who is out for revenge because their boss put them on a duty they really did not want (Camping It Up). I ended the tale with their revenge carried out but if I had decided to write a longer piece here, I could have had the consequences of that revenge come home to roost for my character. That would have been as understandable and believable as the character’s initial wish for revenge.

When I do use revenge as a motive, regardless of length of story, I always ensure there is a good reason behind it. You have got to understand where your characters are coming from. You don’t have to agree with them though and I often don’t agree with mine!

I occasionally write flash in poetic form. It’s good fun to do and an interesting challenge. One example of this is Choices in Tripping the Flash Fantastic. The key point is I always work out what the story will be first and then decide whether it would suit a poetic form and, if so, which kind.

I usually go for four or five line stanzas with a simple rhyme scheme as I have a soft spot for rhyme. (I’ve read some spectacular free verse by the way but my preference always has been for rhymes).

The editing challenge here is interesting too as I have to ensure my syllable count is consistent. Where I need to change words to fit that, I still need to ensure it makes sense for the story. Basically the joins shouldn’t show!

Writing a flash piece in poetic form is an interesting writing challenge too. Why not give it a go?

Forms by Allison Symes
This writer says give poetic flash a go.
But do remember you will still need to show
A proper tale with a start, middle and end.
Check all is well with your words before you send
Your story out there into the big, bad world.

Allison Symes – 2nd March 2024

Goodreads Author Blog – Taking In Stories

One of the things I love most about stories is there are so many ways to take them in. My favourite will always be the paperback, followed by the hardback, followed jointly by ebooks and audio. I especially love audio books for long journeys and will look forward to hearing some old favourites again when I go on holiday later in the year.

But don’t forget audio itself comes in more than one medium. Stories on radio work astonishingly well, whether they are readings from books or plays (which are scripted stories). Also film and TV can share stories amazingly well.

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson got members of my family into that terrific story. They would never have read the book. I had read it, loved it, and thought the film trilogy did the original justice. (Though I must admit I would have liked the films to have included what really happened to Saruman after Sauron’s fall).

I also love the fact adaptations to help breathe new life into classic books. Win-win for the written word there I think.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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liked Allison Symes's blog post: Taking In Stories https://t.co/Y6mCZmgpJa via @goodreads I celebrate the various ways in which we can take in stories for my Goodreads post this week. pic.twitter.com/oOykSHXqui
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) March 2, 2024

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It’s Monday. The heavy rain’s back. It’s Monday. It’s time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube -We’re Off.https://t.co/7wnwwDeYN2
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) March 4, 2024

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Writing Tips, Course News, and Finding Blog Ideas

January 16, 2024Leave a comment

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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 were the photos from The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick (taken in much warmer times – last August!). Many thanks to Julia Pattison for taking the publicity shot of me at my editing workshop at August 2023’s Swanwick too.

Hope you have had a good few days. Good weekend writing wise and one of my stories submitted over it will be published soon. More details in a future post. Plus I do have news to share of a two part course I will be running later this year. Good start to 2024! Lady continuing to have fabulous times with her best friends so she thinks she’s got off to a good start for 2024 as well.

Facebook – General

Brrr… it has been a tad on the nippy side today. Wearing enough layers to act as my own buoyancy aid should the need arise. Hope you have had a good day (and do keep safe. No snow here. Know it has fallen heavily elsewhere).

Will be sharing advice and tips in Newsletter Tips for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Talking of which my next one will be out on 1st February. To sign up please head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

A huge thank you for the kind comments on my post yesterday where I shared news about the course I’ll be running at Swanwick later this year. Much appreciated. Looking forward to August already – mind you, the cold snap here encourages that feeling!

Writing Tip: Finding ideas for blogs such as Chandler’s Ford Today, Authors Electric, More than Writers etc is something I have to do a lot obviously but a good way in to this is to look at what interests you as a reader and as a writer because you won’t be the only one interested in those themes.

Some of the topics I write about are based on what I have found out on my writing journey and would be useful to share. My Newsletter Tips post this week comes into that category. Sometimes I write about books. Sometimes I use seasonal topics (for example, I always write something about the importance of remembering in November).

Occasionally I will use the random generators – especially the question one – to trigger ideas. I looked up one for this post and what came up was Who inspires you to be better? Now that’s a fabulous question and the answer to it would make for a great blog (Allison, do note this one for yourself at some point!).

Screenshot 2024-01-01 at 19-36-05 Allison Symes - January 2024 - A New Writing Year

Course News

Thrilled to say I will be running a two part course at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick, in August. My topic will be Hints and Tips on Editing. So looking forward to this and to being at Swanwick once more. For me, if there is a home for writers so to speak, Swanwick is it. Lovely start to 2024 too.

For more details on Swanwick, see the link. Writing Magazine, in conjunction with the School, are running a Win Your Way to Swanwick competition. You have to the end of March 2024 on this one and there are three categories – short stories, poetry, and writing for children. See the Writing Magazine link for more information.

Nice start to the week and pleased to say another story of mine will be on CafeLit next week. Heard today on that one. More details and link to come in due course.

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A good writing exercise is to take a character and put them in different word count stories – for example, 100 words, 200 words, 300 words etc. You can either take the same basic story and extend it (without padding of course) or, as I prefer to do, put the character in a short sharp 100-worder, then put them in different situations for the longer flashes. Three different stories but with one character. Well worth a go and is an interesting challenge especially if you go for the different situations scenario.

And of course you choose how many you do. I’ve prepared something recently on this for the next Association of Christian Writers Flash Group meeting and I went for one character, two different stories but you can do as many as you like. So if you have a character you really want to spend more time with then this is a way to do so.

Hope you have had a good day. Still pretty cold. Will be looking at Newsletter Tips for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Link up on Friday.

It was a joy to welcome back Val Penny on yesterday’s post New Year New Writing Format for Val Penny. Always glad to welcome someone to the short story and flash fiction worlds!

Writing Tip: Think about what it is you love about stories and characters. Is it the way the author has used select details to reveal more about them or the way they speak? Is it the way the story “comes together” for a satisfying resolution?

Look at how the story starts, look out for the tipping point roughly in the middle, heading to the resolution/conclusion. (The latter are often combined). Look at how the writer has ended their story in what is the right place (or what you think, because you love the story, is the right place).

Working out when to end a story can be tricky. It can be tempting to add in just that bit more, especially if you adore the characters, but you want to look for an ending which leaves the reader feeling no more could be said or should be. And a great way to work out what that could be is to see what other authors have done – yet another great reason to get more reading done!

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope you have kept warm today. Brrr… it’s bitter out there. Lady ran around as normal. No problems with her keeping warm.

What is it you like most about stories of any length or genre? For me, the characters have to interest me enough to make me want to read to find out what they get up to and that usually happens if they’re facing dilemmas that have to be solved, one way or another.

I have a soft spot for humorous works where the resolution to the dilemmas faced by the characters usually provide a good laugh. Would love to see humorous fiction and non-fiction appreciated more than it is. We could do with more to laugh about, yes?

Flash can come into its own for humorous stories. I often end a humorous flash with a punchline ending. The form’s brevity makes this the perfect way to end a story. You leave the reader on a high note. Nothing to dislike there!

It’s Monday. It’s January. It’s freezing. Time for a story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Toppings. Find out what happens when a trainee fairy loses a magical duel and where hats come into it all.

I usually write a flash fiction story for Friday Flash Fiction and then another for my YouTube channel afterwards. Sometimes I take the same topic but take it in contrasting directions. So if one story is a “dark” one, the other will be lighter. I like doing that.

Most topics/themes are suitable for working with like that. I don’t write on the topics/themes which, for good reason, can only be grim. I see my role as writer to be one of someone trying to entertain so there are some topics I don’t touch. But there are plenty of other ideas to write up and that is where I focus.

Sometimes I keep the mood for my flash pieces the same but go for two different topics/themes. All good fun to do! And I like to mix up how I approach writing the stories. Sometimes I use random generators (and there are so many of these to choose from you are not going to run out, honestly!), or pick a proverb to use as a theme/title. Sometimes a film or book I like inspires me.

It is the getting started on ideas for stories that can be tricky at times so it pays to have a variety of methods to play with.

Reviews are what every author would like and find difficult to get but please consider giving a review. They don’t have to be long. And an author can use a review or parts of it to help with their marketing, which in turn can help with book sales and visibility on Amazon etc. Also a bit of encouragement goes a long way when you’re at your desk writing away.

For example, part of a lovely review I had for Tripping the Flash Fantastic reads The storytelling was beautiful in so few words which takes the talent and skill of a practiced author.

Lovely and unexpected and a real boost to yours truly.

I do give reviews myself – mainly on books though I do sometimes on groceries etc. I find you can get a good “feel” for whether something is likely to suit you or not by reading the reviews. If the majority are favourable, they’re likely to be right.

Same goes other way round (and am glad to say I’ve never come across this one with books. I have come across it with grocery items at times – what do I do here? Avoid said product!).

Goodreads Author Blog – Making History Gripping

Making history gripping is something that applies to fiction and non-fiction. Given a writer is telling the story of something that has happened or a biography of a historical figure, it should be gripping to read. History is so full of drama and vivid characters, it should catch the reader’s attention and hold it until we get to the end.

Am currently reading historical non-fiction and loving it. Hope to review in due course but what I love about this particular book is the way in which evidence is presented for the case the author is making. It shows the facts and resources used and you just have to read on to find out what will be uncovered next.

I also love creative non-fiction here as history often comes up in this. Creative non-fiction can give a kind of licence to fill in the gaps where facts are not known but it has to be done in context with what is known. A reader has to feel that this is plausible given what is known.

I enjoy history in hardback, paperback, and the Kindle and am glad to see there are so many ways to approach what, for me at least, is an engrossing topic. I’ve also enjoyed historical romance (The Warrior’s Prize by Jennifer C Wilson because this showed me aspects of history for an era I didn’t know much about as well as having a great romance story with it. I will declare I do know the author but I liked the book because it showed me aspects of border life back in medieval times which was an area of history I haven’t really explored).

So even if you like “just stories”, history can meet a need here too. Why not check out historical fiction? It will show you history as you’ve not seen it before. I learned a lot about King John from reading The Lady of Hay.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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liked Allison Symes's blog post: Making History Gripping https://t.co/Q5jgTKetCF via @goodreads I discuss Making History Gripping for Goodreads this week. I love history in fiction, non-fiction, paperback, hardback, and ebook. Historical fiction can help bring eras to life too. pic.twitter.com/T348bkrDi3
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 13, 2024

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It’s Monday. It’s January. It’s freezing. Time for a story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Toppings. Find out what happens when a trainee fairy loses a magical duel and where hats come into it all.https://t.co/cjB1ND6tBg
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) January 15, 2024

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Anniversaries, Celebrations, Nightmare Journeys!

December 5, 2023Leave a comment

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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. I also took the bookstall display photo from the Bridge House Publishing celebration event. Talking of which….

Had a fabulous time at the Bridge House Publishing celebration event over the weekend, despite a nightmare journey (details below). Was glad to have made it though! I love Zoom. It’s a great tool but there is something special about being able to meet friends and fellow writers in person.

Many thanks to Lynn Clement for the image below taken at the Bridge House Publishing event. Lovely to meet up with her again. I have been her editor. Many thanks also to Paula R.C. Readman for the image of me reading from From Light to Dark and Back Again at the event. So nice to see her again. It has been a few years since we last met in person but then this is the joy of this kind of event.

Facebook – General

Today is a special day – 36 years to the day since I tied the knot with my other half, who is a rather special gentleman. Will be off out later in the week to celebrate, meal out etc. Funnily enough, it was a sunny December day way back then. Friends who wed the following June had rain all day. One thing you say about the British weather – it is never boring nor can you assume anything.

Writing wise, I have another super author interview coming up on Chandler’s Ford Today on 15th December. This week’s post will be about Getting the Most out of Themes, which I hope proves useful regardless of what you write.

Nice job later in the week is to narrow down two or three stories I drafted for Flash NANO as there is a competition I want to have a crack at and the deadline is the end of the year. Following my own advice to always take time off an official deadline, I’d like to get my story in this side of Christmas.

Writing Tip: Every so often, just write something for fun. Yes, really. I find it a great perk me up and it often sparks off ideas for other things I do want to see “out there”.

Sometimes I come back to the fun piece and polish it up and submit later. Sometimes I just leave it. But I had fun writing it and it gave my creative writing spark a much needed boost. I think most of us need that kind of boost sometimes.

Especially if you’re tired, and I have found this is often the case at this time of year for some reason (!), just writing something for fun is….well… fun!

I plan to write in more depth about the Bridge House Publishing celebration event for a just before Christmas Chandler’s Ford Today post (and many thanks to everyone at the event for sharing photos with me and giving permission to use them for that future post!).

Meantime, I was pleased and pleasantly surprised to make a guest appearance along with Debz Brown on Paula R.C. Readman’s blog today. Thank you, Paula. The blog is a great example of the upside of the writer’s life and we all need those!

A Trip to London.

Weather has warmed up but got wetter here in the south. Does that count as a win? Who knows? Mind you, coming back into a cosy home on returning from walking the dog counts as one of those moments of bliss. Another one is the first sip from a decent cup of tea! It really is a case of the simple pleasures in life.

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Getting the Most out of Themes for Chandler’s Ford Today this coming week plus there will be another super author interview the week after so do look out for these. I am also planning a just before Christmas round up post, appropriately just before the big day and I hope to include a report on the Bridge House Publishing celebration event in that.

Talking of yesterday, it was lovely seeing the selection of books available yesterday. Thought it made a good display. A huge thanks to Gill James without whom none of that would have been possible.

Many thanks for the lovely comments coming in on The Lost Coin, my story on Friday Flash Fiction. Link here in case you missed it. I side with Gran in this one.

Nightmare journey up to London for the Bridge House Publishing celebration event. Points failure (can’t be helped), overtime ban (unfortunate), and only four carriages to London Waterloo on the previous train (stupidity).

That train was packed when it got to my stop. So waited for next one an hour later. They put eight carriages on for that. Whoever thought four carriages would ever be enough for the London run needs their head examining! Then had to change at Basingstoke. Next train to London Waterloo packed to the rafters and only five carriages. So was the next one but I was able to get on that one.

It was such a relief to get to the Theodore Bullfrog and fantastic to see everyone. I was so pleased to see people in person I haven’t seen for a while and it was great to catch up with Lynn Clement, whose The City of Stories, I had the privilege of editing.

There was much convivality over lunch followed by readings and publisher news. I hope to write more about this for Chandler’s Ford Today later this month. Picture below gives a taster!

Writing Tip: Use your own experiences of delays, frustrations etc to fill in how your characters would feel, act, react. Get something positive out of this!

Oh and the journey home was much better and I got to chat to a lovely Swanwick friend as well as we travelled back together!

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

As I mentioned on my author Facebook page, it is my wedding anniversary today. Anniversaries, of all sorts, are great themes for stories. You can think about whether your characters relish the anniversary in question or try to ignore it and why this is the case. There is a story there!

Also some characters will commemorate something because it holds meaning for them but what if those closest to them don’t share the same meaning? How would that play out in their relationship? Or have they come to an understanding? There are stories there too.

You can also take anniversaries to be the dates commemorating historical events and this can apply even if you’re writing sci-fi/fantasy. What important dates would your worlds expect their peoples/beings of choice (!) to commemorate and what form of celebration would take place? Stories there too.

Also there is bound to someone who does not go along with the general flow here – who are they? Why are they not joining in?

Happy writing!

Just to flag up Friday Flash Fiction are running their annual Christmas competition. You can send two 100 word pieces in over two weeks and I’ve sent my first one in. Full details in link. The idea is you send one piece in during this week and another next week (final date is 15th December). It’s good fun. Why not give it a go? They won’t be taking the longer flashes during this period because obviously they’ve got to focus on the competition entries.

And if you’re quick, you’ve still got time to submit something to the Hannah Kate Three Minute Santas show as long as your story is in by midnight tonight – 4th December 2023. Her show with the chosen selections will go out on 16th December. Again see the link but you really do only have hours left on this one. This is one problem with doing a round up post after a deadline! I have submitted a story to this show. Will let you know how it does.

Last but not least it is time for a Monday flash fiction tale on YouTube. My latest story here is Never Going Back. Hope you enjoy it.

Screenshot 2023-12-04 at 17-40-01 Christmas Contest Entries

Screenshot 2023-12-04 at 17-42-52 3 Minute Santas - Hannah Kate

Hope you have had a good day. Am looking forward to going to an Advent Carols service later this afternoon. Carols in themselves often summarise the story of the Nativity in not that many words. Flash hymn writing maybe?!

It was great to catch up with many fellow flash fiction writers in yesterday’s Bridge House Publishing celebration event. Bridge House also includes CafeLit, Red Telephone, and Chapeltown Books. Yesterday’s event saw a great crossover of writers present – from the novelists to the short story writers to the flash fiction authors (and many of us do more than one of these).

The short form of story telling is fantastic because it makes you keep coming up with interesting characters. I’ve always loved inventing people so this is a win-win for me. There are opportunities out there with competitions, online magazines, and so on to get your work out there. You do wait a long time for the “pay-off” from a novel! Having said that, the big strength of the novel is being able to show a reader a complete world. For the short forms, writers have to condense that.

Whatever kind of writing you do or love reading, it all leads to fabulous stories. Something to get right into, I think, especially at this darker, wetter time of the year! Curl up with a good book (novel, novella, collection)? Don’t mind if I do!

Loved the Flash NANO challenge. Probably after Christmas I will take a closer look at these though I’ve got a couple of possible contenders for a competition I need to enter by the year end.

So my focus will be on working out which is the strongest one here, polish that up, and submit it before Christmas. It never pays to leave things to the last minute for this sort of thing. You will miss mistakes if you rush. Have done this myself in the past. Learned from it. Not done this since!

Goodreads Author Blog – Post Christmas Reading

I know what you’re thinking. Surely it’s a bit early for this blog! Not if you’re like me and you’re already planning your post Christmas read for that lovely period after 25th December until 2nd January.

Normal life has not yet resumed and there is more time to take it a bit easier. For me that means more reading and writing.

I’ve put in my book request list and am looking forward to the nice dilemma of what to read first. It is the only time I don’t stick to my book pile in strict order. Christmas given books are bumped right up the queue!

Am so looking forward to this and I hope your post Christmas read is a joy too.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

liked Allison Symes's blog post: Post Christmas Reading https://t.co/478kG1vZI9 via @goodreads

Hang on a minute, Allison, is it not a bit early for this kind of post? We haven't even got to Christmas yet. True but see my Goodreads post for why I am posting this now. pic.twitter.com/r1s92rEax2
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 2, 2023

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There are books of all genres for all the family in our members’ bookshop… https://t.co/RqLgIi2He6 pic.twitter.com/lOEmMICtbN
— ACW (@ACW1971) December 2, 2023

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It is that time of the week again. Time for a Monday flash fiction tale on YouTube. My latest story here is Never Going Back. Hope you enjoy it.https://t.co/ofTNzA87Fi
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 4, 2023

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The Writing Community

October 6, 2023Leave a comment

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 all is well with you. About to head off for a break in gorgeous Northumberland. Will be taking laptop with me. Have laptop, will travel, will write, and I suspect I’ll get some done via good old Evernote on the phone on the journey up there. I’ve taken to the idea of using pockets of time for writing, whether it is to brainstorm or draft a story or blog post. Those pockets mount up. Amazing what you can get done.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am delighted to be sharing The Writing Community on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. This is something so worth celebrating and something I deeply appreciate. It has added richness to my writing life and I have learned so much useful information too. It’s lovely being able to share some of that information back again. There are always new writers glad of this.

I share some useful website links (Society of Authors, Alliance of Independent Authors, Writer Beware, and Hampshire Writers’ Society). I also look at the usefulness of writing magazines which can help you feel part of a wider writing world and a few thoughts on online communities.

I do follow some on Facebook but deliberately don’t follow them all. (Not enough time basically but being selective about what you would like to give to a group as well as receive from it is a good idea anyway). Hope you enjoy the post and find it useful.

The Writing Community

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When did I realise I wanted to write? It has been in the background of my life for a long time. I always did love composition lessons at school but it didn’t occur to me for decades I might do something with this. It took a significant birthday and the birth of my son to make me realise if I wanted to see a book out there with my name on the front cover, it would be a great idea if I sat down and got on with it!

In all seriousness, my only regret, writing wise, is not starting sooner than I did because I had no idea how long it would take for me to find my feet, learn my craft, learn to come to terms with rejections, improve my craft more, get better at submitting the right story to the right place to increase my chances of acceptance etc.

And it does take time. I think though there is a good side to this. I appreciate my acceptances more than if they had come to me “easily” I think. I now have a great deal more appreciation of how hard writers work to bring out works for us to enjoy. I also appreciate the editor’s craft more too. Mind you, I ought to, being one myself! I also appreciate more why every writer needs a good editor!

Hope you have had a good day. Definitely feeling the autumn chill now. Am celebrating The Writing Community in my Chandler’s Ford Today post on Friday. That’s something which is always worth celebrating! See above.

Writing Tip: I find three to five word titles ideal for most of my stories. There are always exceptions to any rule (bear in mind my first book, From Light to Dark and Back Again, has seven, count them, seven words in it!) but most of the time the shorter the title, the easier it is to remember and to share on social media, especially where there is a limited character count.

I will use pockets of time to jot down ideas for future potential titles. I come back to these later and any that still grab me, well those are the ones I flesh out characters for and then go on to write my first draft. The time away from my initial ideas is a good test to see if something is likely to work. If I find myself thinking why did I come up with that, it is highly unlikely I’m taking things any further!

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction. My latest story here is called Being Engrossed. Find out what kind of trouble that leads my character, Stephen, into! Glad to say there are some smashing comments coming in on this one already. I do appreciate the feedback I get from FFF (and this ties in nicely with my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week which celebrates The Writing Community!).

There are many things I love about flash fiction. I like the way I can put characters anywhere I want in terms of genre, time period etc. I love coming up with lines which I know will make great twist endings or humorous punchlines. I love working out how I could get to those closing lines literally so, yes, it is like putting a puzzle together.

This may well be one of the joys of crime writing for the author as well. They know what’s happening so it is a question of working out how to put it together so it hooks the reader. And that’s the challenge for every writer, regardless of what form we write in – how do we hook the reader?

For me, it’s always about intriguing characters and interesting situations to dump them in. I so enjoy putting my characters through the mill and finding out how they manage.

Remorse and regrets can make for an interesting character study story. I do this with My Girl in Tripping the Flash Fantastic, where my take on Queen Anne Boleyn is sharing her thoughts on the eve of her execution. All I came up with for her in this story is based on plausibility.

It would not be unreasonable, for example, to be thinking of her young daughter and what would happen to her. We also know Queen Anne did pray a lot (and she would’ve done then).

But this kind of story gives you an opportunity to have your character reflect on their life (whether you use a historical character or make one up) and this can have huge resonance with a reader. Also works best when kept short so flash is ideal for this.

Fairytales with Bite – Away Trips

In your magical setting, do your characters get sent on “away trips”? If so, are these missions to spy on other worlds and why would this be done? For example, would a magical world send their spies to Earth to keep an eye on what we are doing with what we call science? Would they be looking to steal our best ideas and use them for their own purposes on their own world?

Equally do your magical characters get to have “jollies” where they can just go away and enjoy themselves? What would they have done to serve their world to justify getting something like that? Where would your average fairy godmother go when she wanted a holiday? Can all beings in your world have these trips or are they just for the select few?

What would the benefits be to your characters of having these trips? If they are allowed to visit other worlds, such as ours, does that trip away change their attitudes towards (a) their own lives at home and (b) their previous views on other worlds? What could the consequences be? If you are told that Species X is evil and you discover that they’re not, what would you then do on your return to the place where you have been lied to?

This World and Others – To Boldly Go or to Stay Right at Home?

Sorry couldn’t resist the nod to Star Trek here (and is that the most famous split infinitive in history – I think it may well be!). Does your setting encourage its characters to explore and, if so, are there limits as to where they can go and what they can do?

If your world encourages exploring other worlds, do they like what they find out? Do they adapt useful ideas for their own use? Or does finding out about other worlds fuel hostility if they (a) disapprove of what what other world is doing or (b) that other world is doing better than they are.

“Simple” motivations such as jealousy can be put to good use here to set characters on a course of action which will have consequences and increase drama in your story. If you knew your world was going to be resentful, would you give them a watered down account of what you found out when you went exploring? Do you get found out and, if so, what would the consequences be?

I mention consequences a lot. All stories are based on cause and consequence and change. Having characters explore outside of their normal boundaries has great potential for stories as those characters bring new ideas home. Not everyone welcomes new ideas!

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

Being Engrossed, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/K15gOlAkm0 My latest story on Friday Flash Fiction is Being Engrossed. Find out what kind of trouble that leads my character, Stephen, into! Glad to say there are smashing comments coming in on this already. pic.twitter.com/gqdq1FUFDS
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) October 6, 2023

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Delighted to share The Writing Community on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. This is something so worth celebrating and something I appreciate. It has added richness to my writing life and I've learned so much. It’s lovely sharing that information back. https://t.co/EyqFj7oyn8
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) October 6, 2023

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Characters Who Surprise and Unexpected Reviews

July 11, 2023Leave a comment

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.

Fabulous weekend with the flash fiction workshop on the Friday and the Book Fair on the Saturday. More about the latter to come in my CFT post this week. Hope you have had a good weekend too. Lady has been busy catching up with her girlfriends so she has had a nice time too.

Facebook – General

Changeable weather today – managed to avoid the rain. I got wet instead thanks to a swim! Much more fun.

Reading wise, I’m now back on the non-fiction after reading a hugely enjoyable crime novel. (And there were good examples of both kinds of book at last weekend’s Book Fair too).

Writing Tip: Never expect perfection from a first draft. It’s not what the first draft is for. I is just where you get the story down. Then you can work on improving it. It will need improving. All stories do. But unless you get that draft down, you won’t see where to improve it. And take comfort from the thought that every fiction author is in the same position here!

Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to see her two favourite girlfriends today – good time had by all. Busy day after a lovely weekend but then Mondays are always like that.

Can you remember the first character (or an early one) that took you by surprise? Mine was The Little Mermaid from Hans Christen Andersen. (Definitely not the Disney version!). Why? It was news to me that fairytales did not always have a happy ending. Okay, be fair, I was a kid at the time but that was a useful lesson, even if you don’t realise it is one at the time.

Another story which captivated me early on was The Snow Queen. The girl is the hero in this one! I loved that (and still do). Bearing in mind I grew up a long time ago and that kind of thing was a novelty, trust me. (It’s why I always have had a soft spot for Lady Penelope from Thunderbirds as well).

To this day, I have an even softer spot for the feisty female lead in a story who knows her own mind and acts on it, whether she gets it right or not.

Met a fellow dog walker in the Recreation Ground today. No surprises there but she bought From Light to Dark and Back Again from me at the Book Fair yesterday. She came over and said, with a big grin on her face, she’d read the book this morning and she felt I had a “wicked sense of humour”! As I replied, that is a review! (Oh and guilty as charged here by the way. Not at all sorry!).

Looking forward to sharing a write up of how things went at the inaugural Book Fair here for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Will be an especial pleasure to share that one!

Oh and a huge thanks for the great comments coming in on Flaky, my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction. Much appreciated. If you didn’t get chance to spot this one, do check out the link (and check out the other stories too. You’ll be in for a good read).

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Had a fantastic time at the book fair at The Hilt today. It was lovely to meet fellow authors, some I knew, others I didn’t, but we all got chatting to each other and to the many people who came. I’ll be writing more about this for my Chandler’s Ford Today post next Friday but it was a great event and I hope this does become a regular thing. Many thanks to the organisers, to those who kept the writers well supplied with tea and coffee etc., and to all who supported the event.

It was nice to finish my day with a meal out with family. Much appreciated. I never mind not having to cook!

Writing Tip: Never worry about your first draft being rubbish, They are kind of meant to be. It’s the editing which will polish the work and make it better. Do see the writing and the editing as two separate creative tasks. They each have their challenges and I find if far easier to keep the two tasks separate. I need to know what my story is and what really matters before I can do any editing work on it. (Oh and this ties up with the writing tip given above but I can’t stress this point enough. Write first, edit later. It really does pay.).

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Many thanks for the lovely comments in on my post yesterday regarding Counting which is my latest tale on YouTube. Much appreciated. These videos are great fun to do and are another way of highlighting what flash fiction can be. Who says marketing can’t be fun?

Was at an interesting Zoom talk last night and it flagged up another source of research. For me, non-fiction has often sparked ideas for stories.

Why? Because you often come across intriguing characters and events in non-fiction. You can ask yourself what would your character do if they faced something similar. If in real life a personage did Action X, you could explore alternative history stories here by getting your character to do Y instead and work out what the consequences would be.

It’s Monday. The weather’s changeable. It’s still Monday. It’s time for a new story from me on YouTube. Counting is a result of a random number generator prompt where I generated three numbers in sequence. Thought I’d put them all into a tale and mix them up, apt for this story especially.

So nice to see authors I knew and those I met for the first time yesterday. Plenty of networking went on at the Book Fair (which is how it should be too).

One aspect to flash which might be overlooked is, if you’re not sure where to start with writing, the short form is a great place to begin.

Why? Well, for one thing, you’re not overwhelmed by the thought of having to come up with 80,000 to 1000,000 words for a novel. Also, with work, practice, and persistence, you can get stories submitted and hopefully build up publication credits which you could then list in a query letter to a publisher/agent when you are ready to submit a longer piece of work somewhere.

I mentioned a few times yesterday that writing flash has helped with my other forms of writing. You don’t just tighten up your editing in one form only here! The skills you learn writing the short form come in useful for the longer works too! Win-win.

It was a fantastic opportunity to spread the word about flash fiction at the book fair at The Hilt today. I was pleased to meet others who write flash too. Also great to see many authors who write a wide range of books here. More about this in my Chandler’s Ford Today post on Friday. So good doing live events like this though.

Glad to say the flash fiction workshop went well yesterday and it was lovely meeting everyone in the writing group online. It has been a lovely end to the week.

Goodreads Author Blog – Book Fairs and Events

I was at a Book Fair local to me recently and it was great fun. As well as celebrating books, it was fantastic to meet other authors and readers. There was a good range of books on offer too covering a wide range of tastes which is exactly what you want from an event like this. (The organisers also kept the writers well supplied with tea and coffee, which was also appreciated!).

Going to events like this is a fabulous way of supporting authors you know, as well as discovering writers new to you. It’s a way of bringing books to you, especially if your nearest bookshop is some distance away.

I hope the organisers of this event do it again. It would be lovely if it became a regular event.
If you get the chance to go to such things near you, do go. You may well be surprised at the range of books on offer. Every book event I’ve been to has been seriously impressive here.

Screenshot 2023-07-08 at 21-10-03 Book Fairs and Events

Screenshot 2023-06-13 at 17-05-35 BOOK FAIR - FREE ENTRY Facebook

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

From Light to Dark and Back Again - by night

liked Allison Symes's blog post: Book Fairs and Events https://t.co/Tvg99htkc4 via @goodreads I celebrate book fairs and other events of that ilk for this week's Goodreads post. pic.twitter.com/EILBRfvtHr
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) July 8, 2023

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It’s Monday. The weather’s changeable. It’s still Monday. It’s time for a new story on YouTube. Counting is a result of a random number generator prompt where I generated three numbers. Thought I’d put them all into a tale and mix them up, apt for this.https://t.co/SyJkw9HOnW
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) July 10, 2023

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Starting Conversation and Events as Backdrops

May 9, 2023Leave a comment

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.

Loved watching the Coronation of King Charles III over the weekend. Loved the Concert too. Liked the balance of music – old and new. Now I write with classical music on in the background. I find it relaxes me and when I am relaxed I write more. Do you write/read with music on in the background or not?

Facebook – General

Lady had a lovely run around with her Aussie Shepherd gentlemen friend today – before the rain hit I’m glad to say. Good time had by both.

Looking forward to sharing History In Stories for Chandler’s Ford Today later this week. It’s a lovely topic to write about. A huge thanks to for all the lovely comments which have come in so far on Starting Conversation, my latest on Friday Flash Fiction. This one clearly hit a chord with people!

Doing anything creative is good for the mind and soul. I think, and it is a joy to come up with stories and blogs. Am almost there on my competition entry. Am currently resting it. Will look at it again in a few days for my final check and then submit it I hope.

Lady got to see her pal, the lovely Hungarian Vizler. Got out at the right time too. The rain was heavier later. Am now watching the Coronation Concert on catch up. Enjoying what I’ve seen so far. Loved the Coronation Choir. And the combination of the Royal Ballet, Royal Opera, The Royal Colleges of Music and Art for the sonnet from Romeo and Juliet was wonderful. Certain things are timeless – Shakespeare is one of them. My late mother would have wondered why it took me so long to find that out. I got into Shakespeare late but at all thanks to National Theatre Live. Must try and get to some more of those.

Writing Tip: Give yourself more time than you think you need to get a story ready for submission to a competition. There is always something last minute you need to change. I get around that last minute business by making my last minute about a week to ten days ahead of the official deadline. Works for me. Am practicing what I preach here as I hope to get my entry in for a well known competition soon.

Pleased to say I’ve had the joy of proofreading my entry for The Best of CafeLit 12 and getting that back to Bridge House Publishing. That is always a joyous job to do!

Hope you have had a good day. Nice to see the sun come out. Mind you, it was raining for the last Coronation so maybe this is a British tradition being upheld again.

Looking forward to giving another flash fiction workshop in just over a week’s time. Zoom is a blessing here (though I am happy to do in person workshops too as long as the distance is “do-able” for me). I love going to workshops too and always learn something useful from them. Sometimes it can be a case of you getting to see something from a new angle and that can help transform your writing or take it to another level. Have had direct experience of that.

It’s difficult to say what the single most important piece of writing advice is but the one I’ve consistently found to be the most helpful is to write first, then edit later. I did try editing my work as I went along when I first started out but quickly realised I was boxing myself in. It’s when someone else said about editing later and it’s okay for the first draft to be rubbish that I changed my approach here. I have never regretted doing so. The nice thing with this tip is it is useful whether you’re a planner or a pantser. Just get that story down. Tidying up can happen later.

Loved watching the Coronation. Found the service deeply moving. Pity about the weather but I guess the rain does make this a peculiarly British event! Not going to let rain get in the way. Favourite moment: other than the crowning in itself, I loved the conductor of the orchestra in the Abbey. He was almost throwing himself into his work. Reminded me of the late Sir Patrick Moore’s exuberance when playing the xylophone (younger readers may need to look that one up). I love people who clearly love their job!

I’ll be chatting about history in another way for my post for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. I’ll be looking at History in Stories and it is amazing how often this comes up and not just in the obvious historical fiction category either. Looking forward to sharing that next Friday.

Many thanks for more wonderful comments coming in on Starting Conversation, my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction. In case you missed it, do check out the link below (and the other stories on that site – it’s a great read).

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Strange day weather wise here – sun, rain, thunder, sun again. I don’t use the weather a lot in my stories. Just as well really. If I used a British day in my flash stories, after a day like today, I’d probably be using up a lot of my word count limit!

I am also wary of anything that could read like boring description. The art of description is for it to come alive in your reader’s mind so, for me, showing how a character is effected by weather conditions is far more interesting than writing about the weather itself.

It’s Monday. Okay, it’s a special Bank Holiday Monday after the Coronation of King Charles III. Still time for a story though (and aptly too given he wrote The Old Man of Lochnagar, which I remember being read by HRH as he was then on Jackanory, a UK children’s story programme).

Hope you enjoy One Go. Would you do what my character does here?

I’ve always loathed any kind of bullying and sometimes my stories can reflect that. In Tripping the Flash Fantastic, I had a great deal of fun with my story Enough is Enough which shows someone who has struggled with her weight taking matters into her own hands and finding her own way of responding to those who’d made her life a misery. Am not necessarily endorsing my character’s actions by the way but I do understand where she is coming from and that is crucial for whatever kind of character you write. You’ve got to know where they come from. Then your readers will.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the Coronation of King Charles III today turns up in stories as a kind of historical backdrop. Certainly readers will be able to date the timing of the story accurately! And yes historical events themselves can be written up as fiction or can be referred to by characters as part of their stories. None of us live in a vacuum. Character don’t either so referring to their past events or what may be for them current events makes sense.

For flash fiction writers, using a historical event makes an excellent shortcut for staging your story. There is so much you wouldn’t have to say. Think of the word count saved!

I could refer to today’s events without having to tell you all that went on or what my characters were likely to be wearing etc. I could pick specific moments to show you through my characters but you would work out what was going on around them without me having to spell it out. You’d have an idea of the era/event already. One of the tricks of flash, if I can call it that, is to tap into what can be inferred and use that to save the word count for what a reader cannot work out.

Goodreads Author Blog – Commemorative Reading

I thought this was an apt topic for the week of the Coronation of King Charles III. I read commemorative reading every now and then. For example, I enjoyed Andrew Marr’s book Diamond Queen, which was brought out to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of the late Queen Elizabeth.

I enjoyed the commemorative programme for the Coronation of King Charles. Lots of interesting historical pieces in there but then I am a fan of historical works, fiction and non-fiction.

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey is the only novel that has ever made me change my mind about a real historical figure – in this case Richard III. It’s a short volume. The narrative is based on a detective confined to hospital and he does a “theoretical investigation”. Well worth checking out. Triggered my reading more about Richard III too.

Commemorative reading places you in time and can act as research material. I can use this for inventing characters for my own stories. I can set them against a particular time period and have some of the reading material to hand to help me flesh out details my readers would need to know.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

liked Allison Symes's blog post: Commemorative Reading https://t.co/NLivx9JXWb via @goodreads I look at commemorative reading for Goodreads this week and share how it can be used to help with writing stories too. pic.twitter.com/hGwjQjDQRz
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) May 6, 2023

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It’s a special Bank Holiday Monday after King Charles' Coronation. Still time for a story (and aptly given he wrote The Old Man of Lochnagar, which I recall was read by HRH as he was on Jackanory).Hope you enjoy One Go. Would you do what my character does?https://t.co/7XH8c3Prwg
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) May 8, 2023

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Book Recommendations

April 21, 2023Leave a comment

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.

Not a bad week. Have had lovely spring weather. And I get to talk about Book Recommendations for Chandler’s Ford Today this week – always something I’m happy to talk about. Lady hasn’t seen quite so many of her friends this week so will be hoping for better I suspect next week!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

It’s that time of the week once again – time for my Chandler’s Ford Today post. This time I’m talking about Book Recommendations and I share my criteria for my recommending any book to anyone. I also share what I would recommend at the moment (book recommendations are always updated!) and I discuss why I would recommend a series to writers. As ever, comments are welcome on the CFT page.

Book Recommendations

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Lovely day today – able to switch from good old mac to a body warmer. Will probably chuck it down tomorrow. Apologies if it does!

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction group meeting on Zoom next week. Always fun and I get to draft flash pieces during this too! Yes, I do set homework but I also do it (not in advance either) so again it helps me get more flash pieces written. I can work out what to do with them later on. I will find homes eventually and I also build up pieces for inclusion in a future collection.

I’ve found over time little is wasted in writing. Stories I haven’t been able to place I have rewritten or taken a character out and reused the character. You learn from what doesn’t work as well as from what does, which is another reason why I feel even rejections are not wasted experiences. Doesn’t stop them hurting at times. But you can learn from them.

Hope you have had a good day. Will be looking at Book Recommendations for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above. Looking forward to sharing that. I’ll be setting out my criteria before I recommend a book to anyone. One nice bonus to going to writer events is you end up with a load of book recommendations made to you so no danger whatsoever of running out of things to read. (Perish that thought!).

I’ll be off soon to see The Chameleon Theatre Group perform their latest production. Aptly called Spring Trio, this will consist of three one act plays. Looking forward to seeing that and it will be another Chandler’s Ford Today “works outing” given my lovely editor will be going as well. Review to follow in due course.

Writing Tip: Forget word counts. Is that odd for a flash fiction writer to say? Not really. Get your story or blog down first, then worry about the tidying up. Then worry about what the word count is – and sort accordingly. You really do need to work out what it is you are saying first, then worry about how many words you can use to do just that.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It’s the end of the week so time for another story of mine on Friday Flash Fiction. I hope you enjoy Going Home. Lovely to see some great comments coming in on this one already. Thanks, folks!

Looking forward to a flash workshop I’ll be running in May. That one will be on Zoom (which is a fabulous word to get out in Scrabble by the way. Have only done it once. Got it on a treble word score and scored over 90 with it. My bragging rights are definitely word related!).

I love online and in person workshops, whether I am running them or going to them. Have learned plenty from both kinds.

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again soon (1st May). To sign up for tips, news, story links etc., do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com – and a huge hello to all who have already signed up. It is good to have you aboard!

Must admit I do love picking out pieces to read at Open Prose Mic Nights and the like. I like to mix up the mood as well as the word count of the stories I pick for this. I also mix them up altogether for other occasions so I don’t just read the same ones. I also practice reading these and will often use Zoom to play back my readings so I can hear how they sound. I’ve found that facility so useful and it means I can ensure I get my timings right.

You usually have up to five minutes for these things. People don’t mind you coming in at under that time. What they don’t want is you going over it. Nor do you want to unintentionally irritate other performers doing that. And it is a good practice to get into for those times when you might want to submit a story for broadcasting. You will know how long time wise your story is and again ensure you fit in with the broadcaster’s requirements here. More likely to get a second bite of the cherry if you fit in!

Fairytales with Bite – Twists

To my mind, all fairytales have twists in them. The “harmless old lady” who turns out to be a powerful magical being in disguise so watch how you treat them or she will make you pay is one of my favourite twists here. Fairytales taught me early on that it isn’t a good idea to judge by appearances alone. Plus the stories are full of unexpected/unlikely heroes/heroines who make the story work Like that aspect a lot too. A girl in rags isn’t usually considered to be a heroine but the world of the fairytale turns expectations upside down.

How can you make use of that for your stories? What would nobody expect your character to be able to do (inbuilt prejudices?) and they then go on to do them? What would be the consequences? Could these be humorous or tragic?

Regardless of what you write, when you use twists, they must be reasonable for the characters, your setting, and the story line. I find it helpful to work out what my twist will be first, then figure out how that could come about “naturally” in my story line. I think of this as working from B to A! (But it does work. Well worth trying. It means I know my twist is logical and makes sense).

This World and Others – Setting Scenes

With my flash fiction, due to its limited word count, I tend to use selected details which will conjure up a wider picture of my setting in the reader’s mind. If I set a story in an alien world, I will use one or two details to show the setting cannot be on Earth/is definitely an alien world but I don’t go into chapter and verse. I will show you an alien who can make himself shrink so he can hide in a ping pong ball (and I have done this!). The fact the alien can shrink into that shows you that this creature is not of this world and probably needs to find better places in which to hide. (Yes, the tale was a humorous one. It is my oddest setting to date).

For longer stories, I’ve got the room to share a little bit more detail but I still try to avoid big swathes of description. I would rather show you my character spilling the tea out of her cheap crockery (rather than tell you this was in a drab lounge because you can imply if the crockery is cheap, where she is living is likely to be as well). I try to work out the details a reader couldn’t guess and ensure those facts go in – the rest they can and will work out. I love doing this myself when I’m reading works by other writers. I love being able to picture the scene without every little detail being “spoon fed” to me. I want to work some things out but need the right clues to do it.

As for twists, as mentioned in Fairytales with Bite above, I will ensure the right clues are put earlier on in the story so when the twist does come, readers can look back and see that yes, this twist could happen because the seeds were sown for it in paragraph three or what have you. (This where working out what the twist is first pays dividends and help me set my scenes more convincingly too).

ALLISON SYMES – BOOK BRUSH READER HUB

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Going Home, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/E9dwaHJc1C It’s the end of the week so time for another story of mine on Friday Flash Fiction. I hope you enjoy Going Home. Lovely to see some great comments coming in on this one already. Thanks, folks! pic.twitter.com/FGHebkrhqi
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) April 21, 2023

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Book Recommendations https://t.co/vdSD2GwIzC It’s time for my CFT post about Book Recommendations. I share my criteria for recommending any book and what I would recommend at the moment (book recommendations are always updated!) and discuss why I'd recommend a series to writers.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) April 21, 2023

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