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Image Credits:-

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

Have had a fabulous Scottish break. Couldn’t have asked for better weather either. Lady has had a wonderful time too. I’ll be back at my normal writing desk for my next post here.

Will be looking forward to running an editing workshop not long after my return and the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction group meeting not long after that so back to normal in every sense but it is great when you enjoy a break but also don’t mind getting back to normal life again. Well as normal as it gets for a writer anyway.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Delighted to share Journeys on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Appropriate too as I prepare to return home from a fabulous break in the gorgeous north-east of Scotland.

In my post, I look at how journeys work in fiction and non-fiction, as well as discuss how every story, regardless of its genre, has to be a journey in and of itself. Well, it does have to have a beginning, a middle, and an end, and the character(s) have to resolve some sort of dilemma enroute, yes? I call that a journey! Hope you enjoy the post.

Journeys

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Have no idea where the time goes when away on holiday. Revisited my favourite northern beach – Dunnet – today. Right up at the top end of the country along the coast from John O’Groats with stunning views.

We walk for miles here and Lady has finally got to do something which was a tradition for our previous dogs, Gracie and Mabel, which is to lick out our icecream pots! See pic.

The drive up to Dunnet on the A9 is stunning too. The views are incredible and I have a deeper appreciation for the old map makers who had nothing but paper, pencils and pens, and a ruler to draw up those original maps. They’re incredibly accurate too.

Am enjoying what remains of my break listening to Classic FM played through Alexa at the cottage here. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find Lady, rather than being spooked by it, has taken no notice of it whatsoever! Have been impressed by the sound quality via Alexa too. Useful to have in a remote cottage (we’re truly off grid where we are at the moment).

My Journeys post is up on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow and I will be sharing a two part interview with Jenny Sanders here in the not too distant future. Am working on other articles for Writers’ Narrative, which I hope to finish on my return home.

Am making good progress on a potential fourth flash fiction collection though I do want to add more stories to it to get the word count up to about 60,000 words or thereabouts. Next week will be spent mainly in catching up with various bits and bobs I suspect. It usually is spent that way after a break.

Lovely day though it started with a lingering mist. Once it did clear, we were blessed with glorious sunshine. Revisited Helmsdale, Dunbeath, and Brora today. Lady had a fabulous time on the beach at Brora. It is a mixture of sand and seriously impressive rocks and is home to a seal colony too, not that we saw any of them today. (I’ve captioned the picture below as Lady, Queen of the Rocks. She loved walking on them, through them etc).

When we’ve travelled in previous years on the train up to Wick (which is like a tour of Scotland in one hit as you see coast, mountains, moors, farmland etc on the one trip), the railway line goes right by the beach at Brora and you usually do see the seals out. Can’t get a better view of them in fact.

Writing wise, my post on Journeys for Chandler’s Ford Today is up on Friday. I look at the topic from the point of view of how journeys are used in fiction and non-fiction. I look at character journeys too.

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again on 1st June. To sign up head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I wrote my story for Friday Flash Fiction this week overlooking a lovely view from a remote holiday cottage on the north-east coast of Scotland. Am not going to get a better view than the one I had! Back to usual desk for my next tale! Meantime I hope you enjoy A Break Does You Good but what kind of break is my magical character really after? Find out here. (And am thrilled to be one of the two Editor’s Choices this week too).

Back to Dunnet again today as it is one of my favourite beaches – see the pic as to why. This is just a short section of the beach too.

One lovely discovery at the holiday cottage was a welcome hamper with chocolates, shortbread etc in it. Other half and I have made short work of those this week!

But the thought of a lovely welcome like that led me to think about characters. If they went away somewhere, would they be made welcome at their destination (or stopping points along the way come to that)? Is the purpose of their journey known and welcomed or feared? Did the characters leave willingly or did they have no choice? Is it likely they’ll come back and, if so, how will their return be handled?

The returning hobbits in The Lord of the Rings were changed by their experiences and rightly so. Therefore their experience of The Shire on their return was different from how they’d known it before their adventures started.

(If you read the book, you’ll find out more about why things were different, the films didn’t cover this, which has always struck me as an odd omission. The films were long as it was so to me it would have made sense to have filmed this final section of the story as Tolkien told it).

Spent today visiting old haunts in this wonderful part of Scotland today (North-East coast). Image below is of some seriously impressive rocks at Dunbeath which is a lovely village just off the A9.

Give some thought as to what old haunts your characters might have. Also are there places they would never go to again even if they were paid to go? What does this reveal about them to you? How would they handle things if they were forced to go back to somewhere they swore they’d never go again?

Another angle to this is whether the ones left behind in the old haunts would welcome your character(s) back or not. People don’t always welcome back the prodigal son/daughter/alien being etc and there could be some interesting story ideas here too.

Fairytales with Bite – Holidays

By the time this post goes out, I’ll be about to return from a much needed and wonderful break in the Scottish Highlands. Holidays of any kind can give a much needed break away from routine and refreshment.

So where would your magical characters go when they needed to put down the old magic wand for a while to get right away from it all? Which places in your setting would be known as “resorts”? Are there specific places for people to go to of a certain magical ability and higher? Where would the “lower” magical characters be expected to holiday?

Thinking about the government of your setting, most here on Earth do have a kind of summer break while the business of government continues albeit at a lower level. How would this work in your setting? Who would ensure the day-to-day matters were still done?

There is, of course, a holiday industry ranging from self catering to the poshest hotels, from camping to exotic cruises etc. So many work behind the scenes here. In your magical setting, who would be the equivalent of the travel agents, the hoteliers, the companies who offer self catering properties etc?

Thinking about your characters, who decides where to go when wanting a break? Also, are there any kind of public holidays when most would have some time off?

What would your characters do on holiday? Would seeing somewhere different change their life for better or worse on their return home again and what could that lead to? Travel broadens the mind. What would that do to your magical characters and are any allowed to explore outside of their own world?

Image below:  Beautiful Brora

This World and Others – Getting Away

Linking with Fairytales with Bite above just how would your characters get away from it all and is this option available to all or just a select few? For those without magical transport of their own, are there public services they could buy “into”?

If exploration is allowed out of the character’s own world, where would they go, how would they get there, and are they expected to blend in with the locals? What might happen if they didn’t do the latter? Would the other world welcome alien visitors? (How would you react if a fairy godmother, armed with wands and spell books, turned up in your vicinity? Not everyone would take that well).

Does your character’s home world welcome visitors from other planets? Could humans accidentally or deliberately locate your magical world and how well would that go down? Would those humans be allowed to go home again?

If worried about humanity’s impact, which would not be unreasonable given what we’ve done to our own planet, what would happen to the ones who did make it to your setting? Would they be allowed to settle down in the magical world or would they be magically disposed of?

Also give some thought as to other reasons why your characters might want to get away. What would they be trying to get away from and do they succeed?

Image below:  The long and winding road – north-east Scotland (just one of many here but all with stunning views and plenty of wildlife to watch out for).

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Journeys https://t.co/uuE43Qw9cv Delighted to share Journeys on CFT. Apt too as I prepare to go home from a break in the gorgeous north-east of Scotland. I look at how journeys work in fiction and non-fiction, as well as discuss how every story must be a journey in and of itself.

— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) May 17, 2024

A Break Does You Good, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/fY1D4Xe9NR I wrote this story for FFF overlooking a lovely view from a remote Scottish holiday cottage. Find out what break my character wants here. Am thrilled to be one of the Editor’s Choices too. pic.twitter.com/k5EU1FWVMh

— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) May 17, 2024