Tag: writing tips

Tips, Flash Fiction, and Marketing

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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 the weekend went well. Hope the coming week does too! Writing wise, I’m looking forward to sharing a post on Chandler’s Ford Today later this week looking at Making the Most of Your Writing Time, which is always a relevant topic.

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It was nice it wasn’t so cold today. Instead of looking like a walking inflatable thanks to wearing so many layers when taking Lady out, I managed to look like half a walking inflatable today. It is progress!

Will be looking at Making the Most of Your Writing Time later in the week for Chandler’s Ford Today.

Busy preparing a presentation for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction group next week. I love putting these together and I join in with the exercises I set on the night of the meeting. It means I get some drafts done too.

Was pleased at the weekend I managed to draft two possible short story competition entries. Will be looking at these tales again this coming weekend. Know they will need work but then that is what the editing stage is for.

 

Hope Monday hasn’t been too bad for you. I have a lovely Zoom meeting to look forward to this evening, which will be especially welcome after a hectic day.  It was!

Marketing Tip: It might sound obvious but ensure you enjoy the marketing you do. I like sharing flash fiction videos on my YouTube channel so have no problems doing that kind of marketing! I also love blogging, so I blog.

I’ve found it pays to split my time into writing and marketing so I don’t neglect either of them. So I work out what I can do based on my other commitments on any given day. I’ve found that helps with focus and I do get writing and marketing done by the end of each week. This post of course is a bit of both of those things!

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Hope you have had a good weekend.

About to start my flash fiction Sunday afternoon writing session – always look forward to this. Have a couple of short story competitions I want to have a go at so plan to start fleshing out ideas for those too. Will be good to get the old brain fired up!

Writing Tip: Good ways to get into flash stories include asking a question so your character has to answer it in some way or with a line of dialogue so a reader will want to read on to find out how that conversation finishes.

Best of all, you can combine these! See my example below.

‘What is that at the end of the street, Dora?’

All sorts of possibilities arise from that. Has Dora’s friend spotted something alien? Is the friend seeing something Dora really cannot see (or are they trying to wind Dora up for some nefarious reason)?

You could also ask a question you too would like to know the answer to and get your character to answer it! (And if you’re stuck for ideas do heck out the random question generators – these can be useful for giving you a starting point).

Have fun!

Tips will help you make the most of your writing day
Hope your Saturday has gone well. Still pretty cold around here.

Plan to get back to submitting stories to Friday Flash Fiction this weekend. Also will be writing about Making the Most of Your Writing Time for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Always a timely topic that one!

At the end of the month I’m off to see Cinderella as performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group and unlike the lead character, I do plan to be home before midnight! But The Chameleons always stage wonderful pantomimes and I am so looking forward to having many laughs at this later this month.

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I sometimes write flash tales as acrostics but find these work best when I only use one or two words to form the acrostic itself. For example:-

New Year by Allison Symes

N = New Year’s Day is when my hopes are high.
E = Ending days later when normal life resumes.
W = Wendy sighed. It is the same every year so why am I surprised?

Y = Yet deep down I still feel this year should be different.
E = Even though long experience tells me otherwise.
A = And then she picked up the letter from her mat.
R = Recognizing the New Zealand address of an old friend, she opened it and a return air plane ticket fell out.

Ends
Allison Symes – 14th January 2025

Hope you enjoyed that. Acrostic tales are fun to do and make for an interesting change to the usual prose format.

Advantage to flash is setting characters anywhere

It’s Monday. It’s cold. It’s dark. It’s still January. It’s still Monday. Time for a story then. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Getting On With It.

 

Still cold here but not as bad as yesterday. Am cheering myself up a bit by looking out for the early signs of spring on the way. I have a tiny primrose out in my garden. Have no idea whether it will survive the frosts but it is out.

And that reminds me of a useful character trait which I’m sure you could find a use for in stories – a character with persistence, who will get through or overcome some difficulty, no matter what the odds are against them. There are definitely story ideas from that thought and all inspired by a tiny primrose. I like this.

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Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group later this month. It’s always great fun and Zoom makes meetings like this possible where in person get-togethers are simply not an option, as is the case here.

Zoom is also useful for recording your stories and playing them back (you simply set up a meeting with yourself, press record, end the meeting and Zoom converts the recording into an mp3 file for you). I always use this facility when I’m submitting a flash tale for potential broadcast. It is the only sure way to know I have got my timing right.

Usually with these things you’re given a maximum recording time rather than a maximum word count. When I play my recordings back, I’m listening for errors in dialogue but also making sure I’m not speaking too fast.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Books For the Darker Times of Year

January can be the gloomiest month of the year. Christmas is over and it is still ages before spring turns up. It is a great time for getting more reading done though! One of the simple delights in life is curling up with a good book in a cosy chair with a hot drink or several to hand.

For me, January is definitely not the time to be reading anything gloomy in itself. I want something to make me smile or laugh (Wodehouse, Pratchett and Austen are my go-tos for this).

I also like to read plenty of short fiction (it’s so often easier to find funny short stories tor flash fiction than novels – well that’s been my experience).

But if there is anything positive to be said for January, it is a good reading month. Escaping into a world contained in the pages of a book always seems like a good idea to me but never more so than when it is dark and cold outside.

Screenshot 2025-01-11 at 17-23-00 Allison Symes's Blog - Books For The Darker Times of Year - January 11 2025 09 22 Goodreads

 

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Characters and Motivation

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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. Many thanks to Lynn Clement for the recent image taken at the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event and to Janet Williams for the one taken of me at the Book Fair in October.
Hope you had a good weekend. A busy one for me with next weekend being even busier still though I suspect that will be true for most. Will be taking a few days off in Christmas week so will probably end up doing one round up post here only that week. Am wrapping up various writing things now.
Looking forward to reading a wonderful poem about the three wise men in a church service later this week. It’s one of the few times when I get to read poetry out – always a lovely thing to do (and listen to I find). There are links between flash fiction and poetry in that both focus on specific details, are looking to make impact by the specific choice of words (we think about how they sound when read out etc) , and word count is limited.

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Hope you have had a good day. Lady did get to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today so all well there. Looking forward to resuming swimming from tomorrow. Have been poorly but also had car off road so not a great combination of circumstances. All well with car and with me now!

Character Tip: What is it about a character that makes you want to read their story? This is where studying the books you love by other authors is so helpful to you. You can work out what you like and dislike and apply that to your own creations. I know what I dislike in characters so make sure those traits don’t turn up in mine.

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Family funeral today so was out early with the dog. Lady will hopefully catch up with her pals properly later this week though she did get to see one of them on our way home (and the two dogs gave each other “muzzle snuggles” – sweet to see).

Writing wise, am busy editing and wrapping up various pieces of work because come next weekend, I know I won’t be getting much writing done!

Author newsletter will go out on 1st January (though I’m not going to promise it will be on the stroke of midnight!). I share news, tips, prompts, story links and more here so if that sounds of interest, do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Many thanks to all who have signed up to the newsletter this year and to all who continue to support it. Much appreciated.

Newsletter with envelope image

Hope you’ve had a good weekend. Cold but dry. Lady and I have appreciated not getting soaked!

Will be sharing Bridge House Publishing Celebration and Broadcast News for my Chandler’s Ford Today post this coming week. Will also be sharing a free festive story not found elsewhere as part of this. Link up on Friday.

Looking forward to wrapping up the year with members of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group on Wednesday. Four of us had a story on Hannah Kate’s show yesterday – well done, all.

Character Tip: Actors need to know their motivation, so do your characters. Funnily enough, motivation can be something small (though it would be major to your character). So, for example, a character can be motivated to act in a certain way simply because they want to successfully carry out one petty act of revenge against someone, whereas most of us would just let something like that go.

The motivation has to make sense to your character (and to your reader – we don’t have to agree with it, mind you, and neither do you. I can think of some of my characters whom, if I could meet in real life, I would want to shout at).

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Saturday 14th December 2024
Have had a delightful afternoon listening to Three Minute Santas on North Manchester FM with Hannah Kate. A lovely range of 23 stories – loved them all. Well done, everyone, and such a great advert for festive flash fiction, I think. Hope to share a link later (and again in my Chandler’s Ford Today post next week where I’ll also share more from the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event).

Writing Tip: I often get ideas for festive flash much earlier in the year so I do just dot them down then and come back and work on them at a later date. Naturally you can do this for other obvious topics (someone is bound to want a love story for February for some reason!).

Basically, when you get the idea write it down. Don’t rely on your remembering it – you won’t. I’ve lost ideas myself in not doing this. Something always comes along to distract you. But once it’s safely noted down in a notebook, or on your phone etc., you do at least know you have something to come back to to work on later.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Looking forward to an informal Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom tomorrow. It’s a lovely way to wrap up our writing year. We share festive flash pieces, have a good chat, and Christmas hats/jumpers etc are entirely optional!

I won’t be entering any further competitions this year though I was glad to get a couple of flash related ones in at the end of November/early December. Won’t know for a while how they did. Fingers crossed time!

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It’s Monday. It’s time for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Ringing The Changes – Not. There is one person who would love an iced bun with a cherry on it but knows they cannot. Expectations and all that. Find out who and why here.

 

Has been a busy weekend. I suspect the next one will be busier still!

I did love enjoying all those festive flash pieces on Three Minute Santas yesterday – it is a great advert for the form. Many thanks, Hannah Kate. Lovely way to support short form writers.

Am busy enjoying Christmas favourite films at the moment. Watched The Muppet Christmas Carol on Friday and plan to watch The Polar Express soon (Tom Hanks is great in that). Have seen Hogfather.
Definitely time for festive stories – flash or film related!

As for hopes and plans for 2025, I’ve got a few ideas in mind. As ever for this year, I’ve written more than I thought in one direction and not quite finished other items off, though I have made good progress on them – the usual mixed bag! Will be winding down the writing from next weekend for a few days. One thing I look forward to just after Christmas is having more time to read – and I do make the most of that.

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The challenge with writing festive flash, in particular, is coming up with a new way at looking at what are familiar stories and legends. For my Perspective, broadcast on Three Minutes Santas on North Manchester FM earlier today, I took the story of the Nativity and showed how it looked through the viewpoint of the oxen, one of whom especially was a bit on the grumpy side. As ever my way in is to find the character I want to write about and then take things from there.

What appeals to me about a potential character? With a grumpy character like my oxen, I can explore why they are grumpy (and often this can lead to humour). But there has to be something in the character for me to be able to draw out.

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Goodreads Author Blog – The Reading List

I suspect if ever there is a time of year for the reading list to grow, as if it had been fed with a super speedy fertilizer, it will be the time of year just on Christmas and just afterwards. It’s a nice problem to have though and I hope your reading list grows with lots of interesting new items this year.

Now I admit any book related presents I receive at Christmas do go automatically to the top of my reading list. I think there must be an written rule somewhere that new books do go to the top of the list like that. I tend to top up my Kindle reading list in the New Year (it’s a great way to use any given vouchers etc).

One thing that doesn’t change is the variety I have on my reading list. I like a good balance of the long and short forms, non-fiction as well as fiction. I’m never short of something interesting to read – the thought of that makes me shudder. Just as well there’s no chance of that happening then – and my reading list continues to grow and thrive!

Screenshot 2024-12-14 at 16-30-49 Allison Symes's Blog - The Reading List - December 14 2024 08 30 Goodreads

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Dialogue, finishing Flash NANO, and Competitions

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Quiet but lovely one here. Another smashing interview coming up with Wendy H Jones about A Right Cozy Christmas Crime on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Do look out for it. What I love about interviews for CFT is how much useful information is shared other writers can use.

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Hope Tuesday has gone well for you. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today and had a lovely time showing off her running skills in front of the dog she considers to be her “mum figure”.

Writing Tip: I’ve mentioned before about recording your stories on something like Zoom and playing them back to hear how they sound. You take in the story as a reader would doing this but I would add I think it is essential when you have plenty of dialogue.

What looks good written down doesn’t always read out well. It doesn’t always sound like natural speech either. Playing the story back will also help you pick up on those ums and ahs we do use in natural speech but which are a turn off in fiction. The odd one or two are fine but you don’t need many of them to convey a character hesitating.

The irony with fictional speech it has to be better than natural speech to keep a reader’s attention.

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Hope you have had a good Monday. Lady got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal today. Zoomies ensued! The Ridgeback’s owner and I have long experience in getting out of the way of the pair of them when they’re in full running mode like that. Why is it dogs like to play right near their humans mums just like toddlers do!

Writing wise, have had a fantastic weekend. I’d been resting some flash fiction pieces I’d earmarked for competitions. (Taking part in Flash NANO gave me an excellent time period in which to rest them). Worked on said stories, odd amendments only, and have now sent them in, well ahead of their respective deadlines. Have also drafted some blogs for later in the month.

This was all on top of what I’d usually do over the weekend so felt like I got a fair bit done. Will slow down as the month goes on – can’t imagine why!

And it was lovely to catch up with friends and family on Zoom too. Today by contrast has been chaotic but am so glad to be at my desk now. Getting to do any creative work, I find, relaxes me and I’m all for that!

468841003_1037349155071612_8758455932160783035_nAuthor newsletter went out earlier today. The “advantage” in producing a monthly newsletter is it makes it so easy to see just how quickly the year is flying by!

Loved Flash NANO. Enjoyed the prompt variety. My word count for this year came in at around the 8000 words mark as my story word counts were towards the shorter end this time. Having said that, it’s 8000 words I wouldn’t have written otherwise.

Am also getting ever closer to having a potential fourth flash collection in terms of word count though there is much to be done to tighten things up before submission. Have also got other pieces to submit this week (competitions) and another longer term project which I’ve completed, and where I’ve almost got the submission package up together.

So plenty going on behind the scenes, most of which involves flash fiction in some way.

Am delighted Writers’ Narrative is back and I hope you’ve had chance to check it out. Useful for all writers.

468885190_1036411131832081_4146249516002910914_nHope you have had a good day. Quiet one here but lovely. This time next week I will be on my way back from the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event – am so looking forward to going to that and catching up with friends old and new.

Writing wise, I’m delighted to say there was a fantastic response to the Flash NANO prompt set on 29th November. It was one I set and it’s been a joy to read what people have made of it. I too had a go at it (if it hadn’t been picked, I was going to save it for something to write up later) and my tale came in at 73 words, my shortest for Flash NANO 2024.

Author newsletter out again tomorrow – where does the time go?

Last but definitely not least, I’m looking forward to sharing a wonderful interview with Wendy H Jones about A Right Cozy Christmas Crime, a recently released short story collection, featuring 13 authors, including Wendy herself. We’ll be discussing the joys of crime fiction in the short form amongst other topics. Link up on Friday.

 

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Am looking forward to the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event on Saturday. Many of the authors get to do some readings and I hope to do so too. It’s a joy to be read to – I love being told a story. I also love sharing some of mine and flash fiction is ideal for this.

Competition News: Friday Flash Fiction are running their Christmas competition at the moment.. You can enter two stories over the two weeks the competition is on. Each story to be 90-100 words and no more. And you do have to include two different words relating to the season in your stories. You use one on one week, the other on the next. You cannot use both words in either or both of your tales. For more details, see the link. Good luck if you have a go!
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It’s Monday. Has been a hectic one for me (have the feeling that won’t slow down until after the 25th!). It’s definitely time for a story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – There’s Red and Then There’s Red.

What does Santa do when Rudolph comes down with a cold with five minutes to go before flying time and the famous red nose has become an infamous one? Find out why and what here.

I know. I can hardly believe we’re into Advent and the final month of the year already. Looking back, I’ve got plenty of writing done. Would still like to do plenty more before this year is out.

Had a lovely time at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting last week. I’ve some exercises from that to tidy up and see if I can submit somewhere plus more to write up. All fun though. When I know I can do something with the character, the words fly and that is how I like it to be. I can tidy up and sharpen later. Have always found this pays off.

Will be taking time off at Christmas as usual. The break is lovely but what is nice is I am always raring to go again by the time I get back to my desk again and I like that too. I do enjoy dropping my characters right in the mire and seeing what they do to get out of it again. Whether my characters like me is a totally different matter!

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Can’t believe this is the last day of Flash NANO for 2024 already (30th November). Many thanks to Nancy Stohlman for another great year of interesting prompts. Am I biased because one of mine was chosen? A bit!

But in fairness I have found all of the challenges interesting, some I thought I’m not going to do because I couldn’t see an immediate way in, and others I took to at once. I was expecting that though.

BUT I have got something out of each and every one so I see it as another successful year here. Also 30 new stories written which is always a win!. Am also grateful for feedback received on my stories. Useful and encouraging. Thanks, folks! Probably after Christmas I will go back and look through my drafts and see what can be done with them. I hope to send at least some of them out to competitions.

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Goodreads Author Blog – ‘Tis the Season For Books

Couldn’t resist the title for this blog given we are about to go into Advent and then Christmas, of course as I write this on 30th November 2024.

It really is the season to be reading books of course. What is there not to like about being curled up somewhere nice with a good book and a lovely drink of choice (Options hot chocolate, mint or orange flavoured, for me usually) and have a good read?

‘Tis also the season for authors to be out and about selling their wares so if you have an event near you, do go along and support. Your local writers will appreciate it. Another way of support is to leave reviews in the usual places. These don’t have to be long and help writers with their marketing. They’re also encouraged because it is always nice to know you’re being read (and I love this aspect myself).

So ‘tis the season for books then – to read them and to support those who write them. Books are such a fantastic invention and there is something for everyone out there of all ages. I like to mix up my books between genres, long and short form fiction books, and non-fiction.

Whatever you read, I hope you find some cracking new books this season.

Screenshot 2024-11-30 at 17-59-22 Allison Symes's Blog - 'Tis The Season For Books - November 30 2024 09 59 Goodreads

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

So nice to get back to sharing the latest issue of Writers’ Narrative here. Enjoy!

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Outlining and Prompts

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Image Credits:-
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Hope you have had a good few days. Looking forward to going to the Association of Christian Writers Autumn Gathering in Rugby at the end of the week. Will be good to catch up with folk. Am looking forward to the workshops too. Won’t be long before Flash NANO starts in November either. Have found that great fun to take part in over the last couple of years and am looking forward to being part of it again.

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Taking part in Flash NANO

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Hope you have had a good day and managed to avoid at least some of the rain. Mu gutters were doing their usual splendid impersonation of Niagara Falls at 9 am today! Thankfully it was dry when Lady and I went out and she did get to see her Hungarian Vizler friend, much to the delight of both dogs.

Looking forward to sharing a fabulous interview with Miriam Drori about her new book, Loyalty and the Learner, on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Looking forward also to my trip to Rugby on Saturday to join the Association of Christian Writers for their Autumn Gathering. Am hoping the weather will be better!

Writing Tip: I often outline my characters by interviewing them. A couple of pertinent questions gets the ball rolling nicely. Once I know the character well enough, I can write their story up. So I look at what motivates them (and from that, why). I also look at what secrets they might keep and why.

For example if my character is motivated by the need to be discreet, I would probably discover a secret from their past which is so horrendous, discretion has become second nature for them. I can then decide whether to reveal their secret and how they handle the outcome of that or take another route and get them doing something drastic to keep that secret. Either would be a good story to write up.

PROMPTS - I like to mix up the kinds of prompts I use, it encourages more creativity

7th October
A deeply sad day.

Writing wise, I’m working on blogs, editing, judging, as well as flash fiction at the moment. Enjoying it all too. I find writing therapeutic at times in terms of it giving me a creative outlet and I escape for a while into the world I create. Reading helps me escape into worlds other writers create – love that too.

Having said that, I don’t always like what my characters get up to and some of them I definitely wouldn’t want to meet for real, so to speak. It is the way of things but I also take comfort from the fact my characters should have a life of their own, else they would only be cardboard cutouts. Nobody relates to those.

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Drizzly but clearing up here today. Hope your weekend has been a good one.

Busy editing and judging at the moment. Will be enjoying flash fiction Sunday afternoon too today.

Character Creation Tip: It’s not unknown for authors to base their characters on aspects of themselves. Well, you draw on what you know here, right? True but I’d be wary about doing this if writing horror, erotica or even crime! You do want to separate the author from their work!

My approach is to take what I know about human nature/behaviours – and specifically what can result from a trait – and ask myself questions especially the What If one. The What If question is useful for getting an outline/rough idea together. I look at what a character would do and why.

Knowing the why is important for me because I can then write the story up with confidence knowing where it and its characters are going. The why makes motivations understandable (though not necessarily nice).

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Hope you have had a good start to your weekend. I’m looking forward to going to the Association of Christian Writers Autumn Gathering next Saturday. Looking forward to catching up with people and enjoying the workshops.

On Chandler’s Ford Today next week, I’ll be chatting to fellow Swanwicker, Miriam Drori, about her new novel, Loyalty and the Learner. Looking forward to sharing that.

Writing Tip: What have I found to be the most useful piece of writing advice I’ve picked up over the years? I’d say it was to write first and to edit later and that’s it’s okay to write a rubbish first draft. Everyone does! Just get those ideas down and then come back to them, after a suitable break away to evaluate them properly and then do the inevitable tidying up work which needs to be done.

The time away from your first draft is vital to be able to judge it properly but I use that time away to go and draft something else. I can then rest that one and come back to the first piece. It means I always have something on the go. I like that.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting in a couple of weeks. Will be looking at how to make the most of Flash NANO, which stars on 1st November, and I’ll be sharing tips on how to make the most of writing prompts. I’m writing on prompts again for Authors Electric this month (due out on 18th October).

I use a wide variety of prompts. It keeps things interesting for me but it also means I’m not fazed when I’m set them by other writers. I know I can produce something. I can polish things up later and only I see the first draft!

I use the prompts directly but I often do put my own twist on them and get yet another idea. So if an opening line prompt says something like He wasn’t amused to get a parking ticket, I would change that to something like The alien wasn’t amused to get a parking ticket. I know I could have fun with that one!

PROMPTS - The advantage of writing to prompts is it gets you used to writing to topics set by someone else, handy for competitions with set themes, and writing events
It’s Monday. Time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Lighting Up. I expect many will identify with this one!

 

There are plenty of flash fiction competitions out there. A quick Google search will bring up loads of them. All of that is good news but do make sure you check out the terms and conditions and you are happy with these.

I never enter competitions which require me to sign away all of my rights (just what is in that for me?! I also may want to do something else with a the story in the future. Signing away my rights means I can’t do that).

I also check the entry fee is proportionate to the prize on offer. I also check out the competition’s website. Usually there are FAQs here which I find it pays to look at. The competition should be easy to find online. If they have a Facebook page, do check out the comments. If you’re not sure about a competition (a) walk away, you have to be comfortable with where you’re sending your work as you want it to reflect well on you and (b) do ask the writing community.

If you’re part of online writing groups do ask around here too. Someone is likely to be able to answer your query. Also the competition organiser should cover a lot of the common queries in their FAQs and, if not, be amenable to you putting a query to them.

Always walk away from those who don’t want to be helpful – you have to query why, right?

462210759_992961259510402_736286537237125836_nOne reason I love writing something for Friday Flash Fiction most weeks is it gets me back to my first introduction, and therefore love of the flash fiction format, the classic 100 word story otherwise known as the drabble.

For flash competitions and markets, unless they want a specific word count, I write to just under the overall limit. I want to make the most of the word count room I have available. So if I have a 250 words limit and my story comes in at 150, I will save it for a competition or market which is looking for word counts of 200 words or fewer.

The reason for that is so I can make every possible use of the word count limit I have got. If I’ve got the room for that powerful line which shows something useful about the character it’s going in. Here it is a case of adding depth to the story and character.

No line will ever go in, regardless of word count, if it doesn’t add something useful to the story in some way but if I’ve got some extra room, I see it as a wasted chance if I don’t use it this way.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Books With Impact

To an extent, all books have impact. The first impact is on you as the reader making you decide whether you loved the book or not. But when I talk about books with impact, I mean those stories which stay with you long after you’ve read them initially and which you will happily re-read at any time.

For me, this includes The Lord of the Rings, Pride and Prejudice, most of the back catalogues of Agatha Christie, P.G. Wodehouse, Terry Pratchett, and the classic fairytales.

What pleases me now is I’m increasingly adding non-fiction to that mix. It makes for an interesting “reading diet” and I would include most of Ben Macintyre’s books in the “will happily re-read” category.

I don’t mind the book format I use either. I mainly read paperbacks and ebooks with hardbacks every so often coming into the mix (but I have to be very sure of the author for those!).

The impact I look for in fiction is entertainment. For non-fiction it is in learning something new to me in a way that entertained me (and I welcome the development of creative non-fiction here because this is one of its strengths).

Screenshot 2024-10-05 at 17-43-41 Allison Symes's Blog - Books With Impact - October 05 2024 09 43 Goodreads

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the link to the September 2023 issue of the magazine which had marketing as its theme. Always a timely topic, that one! I have two pieces in here – Marketing Your Books and Writing for Online Magazines. And it really isn’t long to go now before the magazine is back with us again!

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Newsletters and Competition News

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you had a good weekend. Lovely to catch up with family and friends and relieved the weather held. It was bucketing down again on the Sunday! There are times my gutters do a credible impersonation of the Niagara Falls! Writing wise, am busy judging a flash fiction competition at the moment and editing, as well as writing my usual materials. Plenty going on but that’s the way I like things. Also have had some exciting competition news of my own – see below.

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Facebook – General

How come it is October already? Having said that, I like October. It can be a lovely month, weather wise, though today it has been changeable in my part of the world.

Still the first of the month always reminds me to get my author newsletter out and accordingly my latest went out earlier today. I guess producing one of these a month makes it easier for me to spot how quickly the year is passing!

Writing Tip: I know it’s an oldie but this tip is a goldie and one I use a lot. The moment you get an idea jot it down as soon as you can. Don’t rely on yourself to remember. You don’t. I know I’ve lost ideas this way. I try never to do so now.

Now what do you do when said idea strikes at an awkward moment? Often does for me – the shower is a favourite location for my brain to decide it is suddenly going to show up with some inspiration. Goodness knows why, though I am grateful it never happens just as I’m trying to sleep. I know that would irritate me no end.

Anyhow, I have notebooks in different places to allow for this. Alternatively, I grab my phone and use the note feature on that to jot things down. Sometimes I’ve just jotted down key words but have found that is enough to get the idea “back”.

Have been known to mutter words to myself re the idea until I can get to that notebook or my phone. It may sound odd but it works, honest! Just helps to have an understanding family though!

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Screenshot 2024-10-01 at 16-21-40 Allison Symes - October 2024 - Writing Events

Hope you have had a good start to the week. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals this morning. A good time had by all despite the dodgy weather.

Glad my Newsletters post on More than Writers (I shared the link yesterday – see below) has triggered questions. I have now responded to those for those of you who commented on the post itself. I will add in that I was a late comer to having an author newsletter but am now glad I have one. It is an easy way to engage with readers and I find them fun to put together too. I believe in keeping it simple and being consistent, two good qualities for any writer!

And talking of which, my next newsletter is out tomorrow, 1st October. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com – and many thanks to all who have subscribed.

 

It’s my turn again on More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. This time, I talk about Author Newsletters and share tips as to what I’ve found helpful in setting up and running mine. Hope you find the post useful.

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Hope you have had a good day.

Will be looking at Story Inspiring TV and Its Music for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Am sure it will bring back many happy memories for many of you. Looking forward to sharing that on Friday. Then it will be back to author interviews again. More details to come nearer the time.

You often hear the advice to treasure the moments (and we should do too) but you can make this true for your characters too. Think about what moments they would treasure and why. Sure to be a story or two behind answering those points.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Competition News:  Had a lovely email in this morning saying one of my stories has come third in a competition, I can’t say any more than that yet but will share more when I have a link to share as the story will be published. Could do with more emails like that!

Mind you, while I have been on both sides of the editing fence at the same time before, this is the first time I’ve been on both sides of the competition judging fence at the same time as I am currently judging flash pieces for a Scottish writing group. Lovely position to be in though.

 

It’s Monday. The weather here has been iffy to say the least. It’s time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Cake and Candles, a timely theme as I was celebrating a family birthday over the weekend. Well, they say write what you know, do they not?

 

I’ve always had a soft spot for characters who can see beyond the obvious and who are not necessarily prepared to go along with the crowed (especially if they can see said crowd is being foolish).

One of my characters like this is from The Terrified Dragon (Tripping the Flash Fantastic) where the local butcher can see a way of putting an unexpected dragon to use (well, be fair, it is never good news when one turns up in the neighbourhood), instead of just trying to kill the thing. Great fun to write and I always find characters like this more interesting to write for. I start by working out what it is about them which makes them different to the rest.

Another example of mine is from The Circle of Life (From Light to Dark and Back Again) where my character finds a novel way to stop animal cruelty. Funnily enough, I didn’t name either of these two characters (for longer stories I would’ve done) but they’re memorable because they stood out against the crowd.

Allison Symes - Flash Fiction CollectionsI used the random object generator recently and used what came up, a cookie tin, as inspiration for my stories on Friday Flash Fiction (The Old Bat and the Cookie Tin) and on my YouTube channel (Appreciation) this week. Two different characters, two different story lines, two stories full stop and all from one object idea! I like this! Hope to play again with the random object generator soon.

You can make even better use of the generators by changing the parameters you use for them but I’ve found not generating too much in one go is a good idea. I limit myself to two or three things at a time.

By the time I’ve clicked a couple of times something will have rung my inspiration bell and off I go with an outline and first draft. Having too much in one go I’ve found tends to swamp me. I have got to see the wood for the trees!

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Goodreads Author Blog – Encouraging Reading

It is no surprise all authors are always huge fans of reading. It is usually a case of having loved stories all of our lives, we then want to write some of our own. I’m all for things like World Book Day which encourages children to engage with books. Would like to find ways of encouraging adults to read more though!

I do think one of the most important things about children’s literature is in its role in engaging kids to read at all and then to keep them reading, Every writer of stories for adults owes a debt to the children’s writers given they grown our audience for us.

It is not unheard of for someone to discover books as a an adult but it is far more often the case someone has developed a love of reading which started when they were children. It is said the best way parents can encourage children to read to let their children see them read for pleasure.

I can vouch this approach works. My late mother encouraged my love of reading this way and also by ensuring, when very young, I was read to every night. The oral tradition of storytelling is an ancient one and must never die! It does lead on to reading for yourself.

So let’s hear it for the children’s writers and also get on with our own reading. In doing the latter we support other writers and I would hope encourage those around us to read for pleasure too if only by setting a good example here ourselves.

Screenshot 2024-09-28 at 14-00-03 Allison Symes's Blog - Encouraging Reading - September 28 2024 05 59 Goodreads

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the November 2023 issue which had novels as its theme. My article is on Writing Novels and is based on what I learned from writing mine. That book is still unpublished though I hope to return to it soon.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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The Joy of Writing Events

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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. A huge thank you goes to Penny Blackburn for the image of me reading at the Swanwick 2024 Open Prose Mic Night, to Jen Wilson for taking the one of me at the Lift Up Your Pens session, and to June Webber for the Swanwick celebration photo. (I swear I was on the apple juice and NO not cider!).
Must admit the weekend was mainly spent recovering from Swanwick week but I suspect every other attendee did much the same! Have slowly resumed my usual writing routine this week. I find having a routine helps enormously. I know what I am writing when and by the end of the week I’ve got more done precisely because I haven’t dithered.
Of course most of this week I’ve also been thinking about what was I doing at Swanwick a week ago. It would never surprise me if other Swanwickers do the same.

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Facebook – General

Hope you have had a good day. Glad to be swimming again. First time back in the pool after Swanwick. I came out feeling a little bit less like a beached whale! (You do get looked after very well at The Hayes!).

Writing Tip: Even if you’re not thinking of being published or are published yet, it would still pay you to work out what you would say if someone asked you about what you write. That question does make for a good ice breaker at events like Swanwick so it would pay to be ready for it.

Should the time come when you’re submitting work to a publisher/agent, they will want you to be able to describe your work succinctly. If you are writing a book or a short story collection, it also pays to think of your one line hook for it because these take more time than you might expect to get right.


Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group on Zoom on Wednesday. Plan to share some useful tips, after which I hope people will share a piece or two of flash fiction.

It’s not a bad idea to get used to sharing work in an environment where you are comfortable doing so. It gets you used to reading your work out. You receive immediate feedback from a friendly audience. It can be a major source of encouragement.

Talking of which I was encouraged Bridge House Publishing shared an excerpt from my Tripping the Flash Fantastic. See screenshot. Nice start to the week.

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Pleased to be back on Authors Electric with a timely post. I talk about The Joy of Writing Events, two days after returning from the wonderful The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. Post went out originally on 18th August 2024.

I look at the joys of being with like-minded people who understand the joys and frustrations of writing and discuss the benefits of joining in with writing events. Zoom, of course, has come into its own thanks to the pandemic making online events possible. I regularly run a workshop on flash fiction using this.

What is great is that there are benefits from both types of event. For me, being with others who understand that urge to write is one of the biggest ones. No need to explain anything!

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I was mugged by Lady on getting home from Swanwick yesterday as expected. Lady duly delivered and she was delighted to see her best pal, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, as we returned from our lunchtime walk today. Win-win for the dogs!

Eventful journey home yesterday as the train to London St. Pancras had to stop at Kettering because of a medical emergency and everyone had to change trains. Just hope that poor passenger is okay. Especially glad to get home after that and see everyone.

Will be writing about my week at Swanwick for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Looking forward to writing that one up! The rest of the weekend though is booked for recovery time. As expected, I came back from Swanwick, re-inspired, re-enthused, and shattered but these are all signs of a truly great week!
Many thanks to June Webber for the picture too!

Celebrating at Swanwick 2024 - photo from June Webber
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I was resting a flash fiction competition entry prior to going to Swanwick. Glad to say I have now reviewed it and submitted it.

I knew there wasn’t a lot to do to it but those who came to my editing course will know I talked about having a “final, final edit” where I look for typos, ensure I’m following all the rules etc. I then get the story sent off which is now done for this one. I won’t know anything until much later in the year but I’m 11 days ahead of the deadline so that pleases me too.

Never leave submissions to the last minute – you will miss something. I’m not guilty of this one myself but have known it to be done. It never pays off.

So on to the next flash competition then and I do have something in mind to have a try for here. Now to get on with a first draft (though I will probably add this on to my flash fiction Sunday afternoon spot later this week).

Sometimes I know which competition I’m trying. Sometimes I have an idea for a character, write their story up, and then if a suitable competition comes up, I will review my story and after polishing it, send it in. But I do always like to have some flash “on the go”. That does pay off!

Polishing your manuscriptIt’s Monday. It’s the first Monday back from Swanwick. I need a story! Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Dial a Character.


I suspect it will be a slow return to normal after the bliss of Swanwick week. Having said that, one thing which will help enormously is having my usual flash fiction writing on a Sunday afternoon! I also had the lovely task of judging some flash stories for a competition and I have now sent in my choice. It was hard to pick a choice (which is alway a good sign of great quality writing overall). I’ll be judging flash stories again for a writing group in September and am looking forward to doing that. Will also be resuming my editing work later this week.

Oh and have managed to submit a story for a flash competition, which I was “resting” during Swanwick week. I’d drafted it at the end of July, edited it a week or so into August, and then rested it, came back home, minor tweaks only required, and off it has gone.

One of the things I mentioned in my editing course was having a deadline by which you will send a piece off somewhere. It is possible to use editing as a form of procrastination and I am aware of this so always set myself deadlines to get work out by. It gets around that issue nicely.

456023104_10162139308377053_632554507637700600_nLooking forward to seeing everyone next week at the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction group on Zoom. I plan to share some top tips and I hope people will get the chance to share some of their flash pieces. Well, everyone likes to listen to stories, right?

Pleased to share the word about flash fiction at Swanwick. It is also a fabulous format to use at Open Prose Mic Nights because you can give your audience complete stories and still not over run. Win-win there.

Am looking forward to resuming my usual flash fiction writing on Sunday afternoon. Nice way to end the week. Good luck to anyone who has entered the Friday Flash Fiction competition (which is timed to run as the Edinburgh Festival runs).

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Goodreads Author Blog – Celebrating Books and Those Who Write Them

I’ve recently returned from my highlight of the writing year – a week spent at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick, which is set in the lovely county of Derbyshire. I have a week of workshops and courses (I ran a two part one on editing there this year) and spend a week immersed in the wonderful world of writing with other authors who understand the drive to write at all.

It is also fantastic catching up with old friends in person. For the rest of the year we stay in contact online. It’s also lovely getting to meet new people and chat with them about what they do writing wise. (The topic is a guaranteed ice breaker).

I like to see Swanwick as a chance to celebrate books and those who write them. I come back refreshed, reinvigorated, and shattered! You can feel the creativity in the air, I think.

In general terms, I would like to see more celebrations of books and their authors. Books are one of the best things humanity has ever given to the world.

Screenshot 2024-08-17 at 20-12-50 Allison Symes's Blog - Celebrating Books and Those Who Write Them - August 17 2024 12 12 Goodreads

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I’m sharing the recent May 2024 edition which was based on memoir. My article was on using memoir techniques for character creation.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Learning from Author Interviews

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots 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…!

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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.

Look up author interviews and get a feel for the kind of questions that are asked

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).

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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.

Spiderplant advert for editing talk by Allison Symes on 25th May 2024

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.

Framed Flash CollectionsIt’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.

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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.

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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.

Screenshot 2024-05-25 at 18-08-02 Fictional Humorous Worlds

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Marketing On The Move and A Commendation

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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, 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?

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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.

Screenshot 2024-04-09 at 10-12-58 Association of Christian Writers (Group) ACW's Allison Symes asked such great questions that this author interview brought out more than any other - ever Facebook

Chandler's Ford Today post reminder picture(1)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).

BB - Flash with a Dash for TTFFHope 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.

433964776_10161819122772053_2492553790739286847_nLovely 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.

Screenshot 2024-04-06 at 14-13-48 Doing Right by Allison Symes

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.

436968787_10161823048807053_1350110096695660263_nIt’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!

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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!

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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.

Screenshot 2024-04-06 at 16-52-23 What Reading Teaches You

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Publication News and Writing Tips

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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.

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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).

431165501_10161776772797053_6555407234403660617_nPublication 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.
Screenshot 2024-03-11 at 17-06-44 Friday Flash FictionHappy 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!
Screenshot 2024-03-08 at 09-53-43 Point of No Return by Allison SymesHope 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.

From Light to Dark and Back Again - by nightI 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!

BB - Flash with a Dash for TTFF

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.

Screenshot 2024-03-09 at 17-22-57 World Book Day

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Writing Tips and Writing Progress

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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 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.

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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.

430085170_10161765165057053_271253412308704820_nHope 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.

430034332_10161763489227053_427225652607989573_nHope 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.

431141358_10161761796432053_2620119523481667258_nHope 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.

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.

429761854_10161765175692053_6716777998577770161_nIt’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!

431237964_841544844652045_7168468588543625191_nI 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

Tripping The Flash Fantastic - by night

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.

Screenshot 2024-03-02 at 17-15-32 Taking In Stories

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