Tag: writing

Story Endings and Why I Love Creative Writing

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All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you had a good weekend. Wet and stormy again here though crocuses are emerging in my garden. Plenty done writing wise which I’m very pleased about. Hope the rest of the week continues to be productive.

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You know I said yesterday Writers’ Narrative was due out soon (see below!), well I was right. It’s out now! Do check out the magazine below.

The theme this time is historical fiction. Plenty of wonderful articles in here sharing useful insights. Time for a good drink and a great read I say. You can find my piece on pages 16 and 17 where I look at how historical fiction can be written for the shorter forms of writing too.

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Hope you have had a good start to the week. Park so muddy this morning. Lady didn’t worry thought (she never does!) and focused on having a nice time with her Hungarian Vizler pal. Quite right too.

Writing wise, I had a lovely weekend, submitting stories and picking others to edit for competition entries later. Also drafted articles and got on with my longer term project (well, one of them anyway).

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again on Saturday. Yes, it is almost March already! To receive news, tips, story links, prompts etc do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Also Writers’ Narrative will be out again soon. I was right – see above!

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Hope your Sunday has gone well. Nice quiet one here though the wind is getting stronger. Storm due later.

Why do I love creative writing, fiction or otherwise? There is no one answer to that but my love of reading made me want to write stories of my own. Basically, I wanted to see if I could do it and I soon discovered writing is addictive (albeit in a good way).

My love of reading non-fiction has led to me wanting to and then going on to write non-fiction articles and posts. And, of course writing is a creative outlet. I suspect most people have at least one way of being creative and I soon found that writing was the one for me.

Best of all has been getting to make so many writing friends. All of us understand the need to create stories and articles without having to explain why. When we get together in person or online, that is lovely. We do pick up from where we left off!

It will be a little while before I go to my next writing event though, as well as running the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group this coming week, I’m going to attend an event ACW are putting on in early April, which I’m sure will be encouraging and useful.

Hope your weekend has got off to a good start. Had some sun today which is lovely and have potted the first crocus emerging in my garden.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing The Writers’ Wish List for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. (Well, it will be this writer’s wish list but there will be plenty to agree with and maybe add to via the CFT comments box on Friday!).

Delighted to be Editor’s Choice on Friday Flash Fiction this week with my Best Advice tale. Link here in case you missed it yesterday and a huge thank you for all the lovely comments coming in on this so far.

Looking forward to flash fiction Sunday afternoon tomorrow too. I have been submitting a number of stories recently which is great. I need to take some time out to look for other possible competitions and I hope to do this tomorrow too. I make a point of checking out the competition background just to reassure myself all it as it should be before I send anything anywhere.

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Hope today has been good for you. Lovely to see some sunshine. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal and an old friend, Daisy, whom we haven’t seen for a while.

Writing Tip: You can show something of your characters’ general attitude to life by showing how they react to minor annoyances, you know the kind we all have.

Do they swear like the proverbial trooper when they stub their toes or do they express their annoyance in a less fortnight manner?

How do they react in certain weather conditions? What brings out the worse of them here (and bear in mind in a fantasy story you could have another magical character deliberately make them face this situation knowing it will cause them to react badly).

It’s Monday. It’s been stormy (overnight) and so muddy in the park. Definitely time for a story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – People Watching.

Just another woman working away in a cafe over a chocolate brownie and tea or is there something more sinister in her work? Find out here.

 

Finding topics for my flash fiction and short stories varies. I use the random generators. I use books of prompts (some have been published by Bridge House Publishing. I’ve contributed to those and there is now a Big Book of Prompts available – see link below).

I also use story cubes. Sometimes a topic is set by the competition I want to have a crack at and sometimes I use a competition theme even if I don’t enter it. (This is usually due to my having discovered the competition a bit too late to enter it but I can still use the topic and get a story out of it. I can find another home for it later).

I like having a variety of methods to “get into” a story (though my all time favourite is working out who my lead character will be and then finding a lovely situation to dump them in – great fun!).


Flash can be punchy, moving, funny, and anything in between those things. You can set your characters anywhere and everywhere including in time, in this world and others you make up. The word count can vary from a few words to a few hundred but as long as you don’t go over 1000 at a time, it’s fine.

You can bring out flash collections, share individual pieces on websites like Friday Flash Fiction, and there are competitions specifically for the form. And you wonder why I love flash fiction! (The fact it is responsible for me finally having books to my name has a great deal to do with it too!).

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Goodreads Author Blog – Story Endings

A story doesn’t keep its implied promise of a good read until a reader reaches the end of it and then even the magic words The End are no guarantee it was a satisfying read.

A great story ending ties up loose ends and has an appropriate conclusion for the characters involved. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a happy ending but it does have to be “right” for what we have come to know of the characters and the plot line. It has to “fit”. Otherwise a reader will feel “jarred” by that ending and will wonder whether the book or story was worth their time reading it after all, something no author wants to encourage.

Sometimes when I write my short stories and flash fiction, I have the closing line immediately. I have sometimes entered competitions where they give you the closing line and you then work out what must have come before that.

I enjoy this exercise. It makes me think from B to A rather than A to B. I deliberately make myself start stories this way first every so often to encourage my own creative thinking. The huge advantage of course is I know what the ending is going to be. I have an outline (a very rough one) from that alone.

I like to read books and stories where I feel the ending couldn’t have been different from the ones which have been given. To me that is a successful story.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

As the March issue is hot off the press (see above), so to speak, I thought I would share the February issue again here. Double bubble here, folks. Hope you enjoy both magazines. Do subscribe. Link above and in the magazine itself.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Making The Most of An Author Interview

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All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good week so far. Lady has seen plenty of her friends so she definitely has! Writing wise, I enjoyed an online book launch for a Bridge House Publishing colleague and am happily busy editing and writing. Have also spotted first crocuses out and that has cheered me up immensely. Spring is on its way, honestly! Oh and to finish the working week nicely my story on Friday Flash Fiction this week is the Editor’s Choice. More below on that.

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Lady had a fabulous start to her Friday by getting to play with Coco, the lovely Labradoodle, and her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal. All three went home tired and happy and well managed to beat the rain.

Delighted to share Making The Most of An Author Interview for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Hope you find it useful. I share thoughts and tips on preparing for text interviews and appearing on podcasts/radio. I also look at how preparation is key and sharing your story amongst other things here.

Making the Most of an Author Interview

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Damp and murky day again today but it didn’t stop Lady from having a good run around this morning and a good long walk this afternoon.

Writing wise, I’m sharing Making the Most of an Author Interview on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. I share thoughts and tips and hope you will find it useful. Link up tomorrow. See above.

Received some lovely writing news which I can’t say too much about now but hope to do so later in the year. Cheered up a wet Thursday for me I can tell you.

When you get moments like this (and note I say when!), cherish them. They help a lot. Doesn’t matter if they seem “small”, they’re not to you! And these things can mount up over time. It is often the case one thing will lead to another. I found flash fiction thanks to writing short stories. And a lot has come from just that discovery!

 
Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler pal and, separately, got to play with Coco, the lovely Labradoodle. Lady is having a smashing week so far!

Looking forward to supporting a Bridge House Publishing online book launch later. Also next week will be when the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meets again.

Will be discussing Making the Most of an Author Interview for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up on Friday. And I hope there will be more author interviews here before too long. Plenty going on.

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Delighted to be on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest story, Best Advice. Also thrilled to be the Editors’ Choice this week. Nice way to end the working week! Find out what happens when Kate asks Mel for advice and is Kate pleased with the outcome?
I’ve used objects before as prompts for flash fiction. Sometimes I’ve used a random object generator to come out with those.

The great thing about using that is I have no idea what can come up until I’ve actually generated it and then there’s the challenge of well, what can I do with this?

I find this a great way to challenge myself and highly recommend it. You can change the parameters on generators like this so there’s nothing to stop you having two or more objects to put into a story.

The advantage of using objects like that is (a) you’re not going to run out of things to choose to use here and (b) you can then think about who owns/has owned the object and great stories can just come from answering that.

When I enter competitions, I assume if I haven’t heard back within two months, its a no. I will then review the story, see if I can make any improvements, and, often sent it back out somewhere else. I’ve had work published that way.

I must admit this is where I find joining in with Flash NANO especially helpful as I know by the end of November each year, I will have thirty new draft flash stories to look through and polish up. I hope to get at least some of them out into the open market.

Fairytales with Bite – Over the Rainbow

Naturally in coming up with this topic my first thoughts turned to The Wizard of Oz but how would it be if you had characters who were so “over the rainbow” when it came to magical powers etc? 

Could any of them willingly give these up to make a new life for themselves elsewhere without magic and, if so, how would they get on? Would they be tempted to resume using magic to make their new lives easier to cope with and could there be consequences from that? Potential for humour here I think.

As for those who live “over the rainbow” what are their lives and settings like? Would we want to visit or be only too keen to stay away? Story ideas there too I think, especially if you take the views rainbows are lovely to look at (as they indeed are) but what is behind them?

Could there be something less pleasant lurking and the residents of beyond the rainbow know this only too well? Could they even envy humans because we do not face the things they do?

This World and Others – What is Fantastical Anyway?

Just how would you define fantastical? If we look back in time it is not too hard a stretch of the imagination to visualise our ancestors seeing the things we do and have (especially in technological terms) as fantastical.

When we look at what we know the word could do with and doesn’t yet have which would benefit humanity (and indeed the whole of creation ideally as well), we could consider inventions to sort these things out as fantastical precisely because we don’t have them now.

A magical world would not consider magic to be particularly special unless there are new developments in the field, so to speak. A scientifically based one would take the same vie on science. And when you have visitors to other worlds, what would they consider to be fantastical but the residents do not?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Popular Themes – Is There Anything New To Say?

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All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you had a good weekend. Lady did – she got to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback again. I managed to get plenty of writing done, which always pleases me. Full steam ahead for the week to come, I hope!

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Delighted to be back on Authors Electric. My post this month is called Popular Themes – Is There Anything New to Say?

I thought it would be an apt topic given a certain saint has just had his renowned saint’s day and there are more than a few love stories around at the moment!

I share my thoughts on the importance of bringing something new to the mix and share how my way in to this is via the character(s).

Hope you find the post useful.

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Hope your Monday has been reasonable. It’s not my favourite day of the week by any means but what was lovely this morning was Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler and her Rhodesian Ridgeback pals. A great time was had by all.

It seems the scammers were especially busy earlier today as I spotted a couple within the space of a few minutes. Tiresome, tedious and a reminder, I suppose, we all have to be careful. The golden rule of if it seems too good to be true is right here.

Writing wise, had a smashing weekend getting plenty done with story and article submissions achieved. Hope the rest of this week follows a similar pattern!

Lovely church service this morning. Enjoyed that. Lady also got to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal unexpectedly after that and both dogs were so pleased to see each. Very sweet to see.

Sent off a story for a competition. Have picked another one to try (and have got a rough edit of a potential story for it too). Had a good evening writing yesterday!

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again before too long. I share news, tips, story links etc. To sign up head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

I’ve found adding bits and pieces to my newsletter throughout the month is the best way to write it. I also allow a few days before it is due to go out to check it and to make sure there is nothing missing. I usually pick a theme for the month. The one for March will be titles, a great form of advertising for your stories if you get them right.

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Hope the weekend is going well so far. Still grim, weather wise.

Writing wise, I’ll be discussing Making the Most of an Author Interview for Chandler’s Ford Today next week and plan to share tips I’ve found useful. Hope you will do so too. I also hope to have further author interviews (more news as I get it) and hope you enjoyed the great one with Gill James, which I shared yesterday.

Character Thought: What would a character of yours usually see as nothing out of the ordinary but another character shows them otherwise? What has brought about the chance of perspective and is the second character right in bringing it to attention of the first character or not? What is the impact of the change of perspective on the first character? Do they handle it well or not?

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Lady hit the jackpot this morning in that she firstly got to play with Coco, the lovely Labradoodle, and then, separately, with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal. Lovely time had by all. Lady tired but happy. Definitely a good day in her books.

Talking of which, what would be a good day for your characters and could you get some stories from that? A day in the life of can make an interesting take for a story. Works best when kept short so what better format than flash fiction for that?

It’s Monday. It’s cold BUT the sun came out today, hooray! Note to anyone not in the UK – most of us have had several days of grey, murky weather. Okay not unusual for February but it is so nice seeing the sun again! Still time for a story though. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Listening to Reason.

What do you do when you are fed up with some jerk being incredibly rude to you and in a crowded shopping centre where people are laughing? Well, when you’re in my character’s shoes, you have options you know will silence the jerk and the laughter. Find out what these are here.

 

Will be working on another flash story for a competition which isn’t advertising itself as a flash one but is because it wants a maximum word count of under 1000 words. It pays to look out for these. There are more of this kind of competition than you might think. Also several of the short story competitions have a minimum word count of 1000 words so flash fiction writers could go in for these too if they wished.

It pays to practice reading flash fiction (and indeed other stories) aloud. It is so easy to stumble over something you know well (and even easier on material you don’t!). I use Zoom to record myself when I’m preparing for an Open Prose Mic session or anything like that. It means I go into the event more relaxed than I might otherwise have been simply because I do know I have prepared all I can.

Separately I’ve found reading work out loud, even if not an event, to be useful because it means I can hear how my dialogue comes across and so on. You can hear where the prose seems “heavy” or too complicated and I can then edit accordingly.

Goodreads Author Blog – Flash Fiction

My main writing work is in the field of flash fiction where the longest any story can be is 1000 words. You can pack a lot of characterisation and drama into that limit. As well as having individual pieces published online and in print anthologies, I have two collections of flash fiction books out with a third in the pipeline. The advantage of flash fiction is you get a short sharp read and it can have a huge impact on you because it is so short. It is undiluted fiction, if you like.

Probably the best known of all flash fiction stories is Ernest Hemingway’s famous For sale: baby shoes, never worn. There is a world world behind those few words. Very much punch to the gut storytelling there.

I make a point of reading flash fiction and short story collections in between reading longer works. I want to read from as wide a field as possible and I will always put in a huge plug for the shorter forms of fiction, just as I am doing here! It isn’t just because I’m published in these forms, honest.

Do check out the collections. There are so many fabulous stories to find out there and word count shouldn’t come into your reading choices, I think.

I also think reading long and short forms of writing makes for an interesting reading “diet” for you. I know I love mine!

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Publication News and Character Voice

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All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you had a lovely weekend. Good one here despite the weather. Managed to get some stories submitted for competitions. Hope to look at a good competition guide I have to pick others to have a try at soon. All good for encouraging the imagination.

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Murky and grey again today but not as cold as yesterday. Lady and I weren’t sorry about that.

Don’t forget I’ll be interviewing the great Gill James on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday to discuss her new book, Natascha’s Story. Gill is author, editor, and publisher and is the brains behind CafeLit, Bridge House Publishing, Chapeltown Books and more.

As well as discussing writing for the younger end of the children’s market. Gill will be sharing thoughts and advice which will be useful to any writer so do check this out when the post goes out later this week.

Writing Tip: If you’re thinking of having an author newsletter, think about what you would want to see in it if you were receiving it rather than writing it. Seeing things from the viewpoint of your audience is so useful (and for your fiction and non-fiction writing elsewhere too).

As well as the content itself, think about how you would want the newsletter to look. Keep it uncluttered but with plenty of interesting things for your reader such as text boxes, bullet points, photos (suitably sourced of course so either use your own or use a free to use photo site such as Pixabay), and white space to make it a pleasure to read.

Gaps (white space) matter because what you don’t want is a huge block of text hitting your reader in the eye. Trust me, it’s off putting and won’t make readers want to read on.

Publication News – 10th February – Freedom on CafeLit
It’s a lovely start to the week for me as I have a new story up on CafeLit called Freedom. Hope you enjoy it. Find out here if Goldilocks really is a reformed character or not.

Hope the day has gone well for you. Busy one here so it is now especially nice to be back at my desk and start writing. Have a couple of stories to review this evening ahead of submitting them for competitions.

Character Tip: How do I know when I have got my character’s voice right? It’s when I can write their dialogue knowing this is exactly what they would say given the circumstances I’ve put them in. Everything rings true.

Sure, later, I’ll tidy that dialogue up as there will be things to strengthen and correct but I will know I’ve got the voice right. This is another reason why I need to know their major trait because a lot of their attitudes and therefore what would say and think comes from that.

Another grim and drizzly day. Lady and I made it around the park in record time. Even she wasn’t sorry.

Writing wise, I’m looking forward to sharing a fabulous author interview with Gill James on Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Amongst other topics, we’ll be discussing the joys and challenges behind her latest book, Natascha’s Story, which is aimed at they younger end of the children’s market. Plus Gill will be sharing wonderful writing and marketing tips plus much more besides. Do look out for this next Friday. Plenty for writers of all genres to enjoy.

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Pleased to have got stories reviewed and submitted over the weekend. This coming weekend, I hope to look through and pick a couple of other competitions to try.

Plus I will need to think about stories for competitions I usually enter soon too. With competitions coming up in May, June etc it is about now I will look through stories I’ve already drafted and check to see if any are suitable. Often I find something which is and so polish that up and send it in.

Sometimes I will think not and create something new but I do make sure I write new stories throughout the year so I always have a stock to refer to like this. I’ve found it pays (and it is lovely when I find a story which will suit a competition theme – think square peg and square hole here! Very satisfying whether or not it goes on to do anything in the competition itself. You can only give these things your best shot and you do have to be in it to have any chance of winning it).

It has been a grey murky Monday,. But I was cheered by having a story up on CafeLit today (see my other page for the link to that – see above). But of course I am also cheered whenever I share another YouTube video. Hope you like my latest on here called Proportion.

Has Glenda blown things out of proportion or have she and Dave really got a witch stuck in their chimney, broomstick and all?

 

I enjoy submitting stories regularly to Friday Flash Fiction because it has (a) got me back to writing 100 word stories regularly and (b) I like having a deadline (to be in for the following Thursday) to stick to as I find having any deadline means I am more likely to get something written and submitted. 

Competition deadlines are useful for the same reason. You know you have to meet the date to have any chance at all.

Many thanks too for the comments in on my latest story on FFF – Come Back.
It’s going to be flash fiction Saturday afternoon for me this week as I’m out at a village/church event tomorrow. I do hope the weather picks up a bit in time for that!

The challenge of flash fiction is in coming up with so many different and interesting characters. It is the bit I enjoy the most as I’ve always loved creating people for stories.

The first thing I need to know is what makes my character tick because from that I can work out whether they’ll be interesting enough to write about. It is a bit like casting the right person for the right role in a play. Get it right and it will work seamlessly. If you don’t, however, readers/audience members will find your character hard to believe/get behind. (And you as the writer will find to harder to write the story up with any enthusiasm).

When I know what makes my characters tick, I want to feel like I cannot wait to write their stories up. This is a great sign. It shows you that you do have something to work with here and you will be more inclined to get on and do it.

Certainly this has been my experience. So a little time taken out to work out the character first pays dividends, I find.

Goodreads Author Blog – Books, Books, Books

Of all the inventions created by mankind, books are one of the best. I cannot imagine a world without books. Nor do I wish to be able to do that.

Books entertain, educate, inform, can show us plenty about this world we won’t get to find out any other way (not all can travel as freely as they’d like for example), and take us to worlds which will never exist but which are fun to visit for the purposes of a story. I’m thinking Middle Earth and Discworld amongst many others for that!

I never mind about the book’s format. I just want a good story for fiction. For non-fiction I want an interesting narrative which keeps me gripped by the subject. Most of my books are paperback (my favourite format) but I cherish my hardback, audio books and ebooks just as much. All have their advantages.

I have various books I re-read during the course of a year, though for some if I have the story as a film, I will take the story in again that way. I often rewatch Hogfather by the late great Sir Terry Pratchett. I can then read another book by him or another author, having taking in a story I know I will want to take in again at the right time of year, in this case just ahead of Christmas.

But I fervently believe you have to have the books in the first place!

And if you want to check out books and authors new to you, why not check out what your local library has to offer? They are full of the most marvellous books, books, books!

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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The Chameleon Theatre Group – Cinderella – Review

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All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing.
Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Hope you have had a good week. Nice to see some sunshine about though there were frosts with it. Writing wise, enjoyed going to a lovely ACW Zoom group meeting and am making good progress with other projects so not bad at all. Hopes yours is going well too.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Hope you have had a good day. Bitterly cold here. Lady though got to have a good run at the park and then her pal, Coco, came out, so she had another good run with said Coco. Lovely to see them have a good time.

And I too had a good time at the pantomime The Chameleon Theatre Group staged recently. I went to see my favourite fairytale, Cinderella, performed by them.

My review is my post for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. You can find out one reason why Cinderella is my favourite fairytale too plus get a good flavour of the show itself from the review below. As ever, a huge thank you to The Chameleons for kind permission to use the photos. As for the Ugly Sisters, once seen, never forgotten. See the post for proof! (You’ll find captions for the photos below on the actual CFT post).

The Chameleons – Cinderella Review

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Sunny but cold today. Lady had another fabulous run around with Coco the lovely Labradoodle.

Looking forward to sharing my review of Cinderella on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. Always a joy to go and see any show staged by The Chameleon Theatre Group, though understandably their pantos are a huge highlight of their year. See above.

There will be a great author interview with Gill James on CFT the week after so do look out for that too.

Writing/Marketing Tip: When you read author interviews, listen to them or what have you, do make a note of the questions being asked. Then work out how you would answer them if you were the one on the receiving end. It helps you think about what you would say about your writing. I’ve found it so useful to do.

You could also think about questions about your writing you would like to be asked and figure out those answers too. Even if you are never asked them directly, this could make for some interesting material to go on your website (which you could then update now and again to keep your website looking fresh etc).

Hope you have had a good day, Lovely to see some sunshine and Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal. Has been a nice day.

Will be sharing my review of Cinderella, as recently performed by the excellent Chameleon Theatre Group for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above. That post inspired my recent Goodreads post on Watching Stories too because that’s precisely what you do when you watch telly, see a film, or go to see a play, and it is another way of taking in tales.

Character Tip: What does your character want enough to do almost anything to get? Motivation matters but this can vary from character to character. What is desperately vital to one is something beneath the notice of another. What matters is readers see why something matters so much to your character. We need to understand why but don’t necessarily need to agree with the character’s view here.

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It’s Friday. It’s bitterly cold where I am. Definitely time for a story though this one may leave you feeling a little chilled. See what you think when you check out my Come Back on Friday Flash Fiction this week.

A writing exercise I often set with the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group is to jot down some opening lines and then some closing lines. These are based on the theme for the meeting. One of the reasons I love this exercise is it is a simple one and can be done anywhere.

You could use a random theme generator to come up with a theme and then see what you can do with those lines. Often you will find an opening line would also make a superb closing line. You can then write up two stories based on that. What will be interesting here is how the emphasis will change depending on where that line is positioned. Your character will either do something as a result of that opening line or their actions will led to that line being the conclusion.

Also this exercise is great for when you don’t have much time. Pick a theme. Give yourself five minutes to jot down something. Come back and write the stories up later when you do have more time. It’s a good use for those pockets of time we all get where you can’t do a lot of writing but you could do something.

Motivation matters for your characters regardless of the length of your story. For flash fiction, this means with the shorter would count limit I have to indicate this early on.

I try to do this within the first line or two. Often I do this via dialogue or character thought because you can see into the character’s mind set that way. Something of their attitude will be shown here and that will flag up what they’re after.

In my The Circle of Life from From Light to Dark and Back Again I start with People throw kittens into the river here. I hate that. It’s so cruel.

I don’t need to tell you what my character wants here. You can also pick up on their attitude. It’s then a question of reading the story to find out what my character does to try to stop the cruelty and if they succeed or are likely to do so by whatever it is they decide to do/try to do.

Fairytales with Bite – Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time is the classic fairytale opening, of course. And it is a wonderful indicator a reader is about to enter another, magical world, where our rules don’t apply.

When it comes to writing our own fairytales though, we will need our own opening lines to hook readers in, given this fabulous line is so closely associated with the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christen Anderson and so on.

I will often open one of my fairytales with bite by showing you a magical character in action. By showing the magical character, that immediately flags up to a reader what kind of story this is. Sometimes I will do it with a character speaking and the kind of words they come up with will also indicate this is going to be a fantasy piece.

You could also use time itself as an indicator your story is a fairytale simply by ensuring the time system isn’t like ours. That in itself is enough to flag up this world is different.

Once upon a time is the classic fairytale opening line. Image from Pixabay.

This World and Others – Stage Presence

I watched my local amateur theatre company perform the pantomime Cinderella recently and very good they were too. No question of there being a lack of stage presence – they had loads!

But do our characters have this kind of presence which would make them stand out to readers? Can readers tell characters apart easily enough? What qualities are there about your characters which would draw readers in?

When it comes to your magical setting, what kind of theatrical entertainments would they have? What would your characters go to see for fun? What would be considered cultural? And what would they consider to be fairytales? Would there be any similarities with what we have here? Who would act out their stories and is their profession honoured or considered dodgy? Acting has not always had a good press here!

Where your world has different species, can any or all of them take part in theatre or any banned for some reason? Bear in mind for a long time women weren’t allowed on the stage here and their roles were always played by men.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Questions, ALCS, and Publication News

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Hope you had a nice weekend. Weather was lovely on the Sunday. Pleased my snowdrops are coming out. These are always one of the first signs of spring on the way. Had a fabulous time at the pantomime last week (oh yes I did!) and am looking forward to sharing more about that on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. It’s a joy to support local theatre too.

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady had a fantastic one in that she unexpectedly got to see and play with Coco, the lovely Labradoodle. Two tired and happy dogs went home!

Writing Tip: Questions are useful for story writing.

Firstly, you can use them as a title. The fact it is a question will help intrigue readers because the story will have to answer it and there is only one way to find out if that happens – read the story.

Secondly, you can use the question as a theme for your tale so it may not appear in the text itself but you will use it as a structure to help you write it.

Thirdly, you can get your character to ask the question and then have them or another character answer it but you will see there is a structure built in right away. I like questions in stories just for that reason.

Hope Monday hasn’t been too bad. It’s not my favourite day of the week though today was okay and Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal so she was pleased.

Just a quick note to writers who have articles in magazines with an ISSN number (such as Writers’ Narrative which had its February issue come out on Friday – see link below if you missed it).

Don’t forget if you are a member of the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) you can list your articles here and these will add up to what ALCS will distribute in due course. More information about who ALCS are, what they do for writers, and how you can join up can be found at their website at https://www.alcs.co.uk/

A little admin and you can earn some money from articles you write for ISSN numbered magazines so do consider this.

 

Hope you’ve had a good weekend. Nice to see some sunshine. Lady and I have appreciated it when out and about.

Writing wise, I’m planning to share a review of Cinderella as performed by the excellent Chameleon Theatre Company as my post on Chandler’s Ford Today next week. There will be a fabulous author interview the week after that.

As ever, have enjoyed a big stint writing stories as my flash fiction Sunday afternoon though some inevitably end up being longer short stories. I say inevitably because sometimes a character develops and I know I need more than 1000 words in which to explore their story properly. That’s fine. I will just find a suitable market for that story in due course.

1st February – second post

Second post from me tonight is to say I’m thrilled the new edition of Writers’ Narrative has come out and the theme is on non-fiction. I have two pieces in here. One is Writing Non-Fiction: Hints and Tips and the other is Using Fictional Techniques for Non-Fiction.

The magazine is packed full of wonderful articles and useful information but don’t just take my word for it. Check it out at the link below and remember it is free to subscribe to it. Apologies link is in twice this week but it IS a fab read. Don’t just take my word for it though!

1st February – 1st post
Two posts from me on here tonight. First up, just to say my author newsletter went out today. I was looking at the idea of using popular themes for this one. Hope you find it useful.

If you don’t already subscribe, it is easy to do so. Just head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Many thanks to all of my subscribers, your support is much appreciated.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to say I will have a new flash fiction tale on CafeLit next week. Will share more details nearer the time.

As well as writing flash fiction, I of course, read it and am currently enjoying a wonderful book full of marvellous pieces (Flash Fiction Magazine bring out book length anthologies. Well worth a look).

Naturally, you can also check out mine at my Amazon link which is https://author.to/AllisonSymesAuthorCent

It’s Monday. It has been murky. It is cold. It is still Monday. You know what that means. It is time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Mistaken Identity.

Stella was sure she’d recognized Mary but the woman insisted she was called Jane. But if Stella was right, Mary was in the wrong place in the wrong time and why is there a gunshot?

 

I often set exercises for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group. Some of these I prepare my answers to in advance because sometimes it is useful to see an example already laid out. Others I write my answers to on the night because I love the adrenaline rush of writing to a prompt given with little notice. I find I just want to get on with getting a story down. I know I can improve it later.

And that is the secret to these things. Don’t worry about getting it perfect. That can come later. Just get something written to the prompt. Everyone knows this is a just a very rough first draft. Nobody gets it perfect first go. That thought has cheered me a lot over the years and it still does!

Hope you have had a good day. Cold and murky but at least the dog and I didn’t get a soaking today. We always count that as a win.

Am building up a nice compilation of stories for a potential fourth flash fiction collection. Will add to that when I enjoy my usual flash fiction Sunday afternoon tomorrow!

Am currently resting a longer story for a competition but hope to review that and get that sent off in the next week or so. I so welcome email submissions. When I started out, everything had to go by post. Email for this kind of thing save so much time and money and you know for sure your story has reached its destination okay.

Having said that, every so often I receive a lovely letter in the post from a dear friend -and there is something so special about that. (You can’t beat postcards either).

Incidentally, I have sometimes used the letter format for a flash story. Why not give it a go and see what you can come up with? They’re fun to write. This format is also a great way of ensuring you do have a strong character voice because it is vital to have that to make this format work. You do have to know the kinds of things your character would come up with. But that is huge fun to work out!

Goodreads Author Blog – Watching Stories

I’ve just enjoyed watching a fabulous pantomime, Cinderella, staged by my excellent local amateur theatre company. It was a wonderful evening’s entertainment (oh yes it was!).

Most of the stories I enjoy I do take in via books of various formats – paperback, ebook etc – but there is a case to be made for watching stories on the stage, via film, and listening to them too via radio and audio books.

But watching stories I think is especially interesting. Is what you are seeing on the stage or via a film matching up with what you’ve already imagined if you’ve already read the book or story the production is based on?

For Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the answer to that was yes. The pantomimes are faithful to the original fairytales too though they do bring in extra characters like Buttons. But nothing spoils the original story. And that matters. In an ideal world, those who don’t read much will watch stories and maybe be tempted to check the original books out. I would like to think this happens, at least sometimes.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Link shared above. Hope you enjoy the magazine.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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The Positives and Negatives of Adaptations

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Hope you have had a good few days. Less rainy but still incredibly muddy over the park, not that Lady cares! Writing wise, I’m looking forward to writing up and sharing a review of the fabulous pantomime, Cinderella, staged by The Chameleon Theatre Group. It was fun to go and see. It will be fun to write about! Oh yes it is!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Pleased to be back on Chandler’s Ford Today with my post The Positives and Negatives of Adaptations. As well as answering the question implied in the title, I share what I look for in a good adaptation and invite you to share which worked for you and which didn’t in the comments box. Hope you enjoy the post.

The Positives and Negatives of Adaptations

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Hope you have had a good day.

I’ll be talking about The Positives and Negatives of Adaptations for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. See above.

Title change here as I did talk about adaptations some time ago but thought it time for an update. It’s also timely as I’m off to see a classic adaptation (Cinderella) for the pantomime as performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group later this evening. Will report back on that in due course. Looking forward to doing that.

And I’ll have a wonderful author interview coming a little later on in February too. More details nearer the time.

29th January 2025
Glad to be back on More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. This time my topic is Getting There and I hope you find it encouraging. I share thoughts on what I think writers should see as “getting there” and feel that progress can often be in small steps, which mount up over time.

My next blog here won’t be until March because I had the foresight to pick the 29th as my day to blog and therefore only write in February once every four years!

I do hope you find this one useful at what can be a dark and dismal time of year.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It’s Friday, the end of the working week for many, and time for a story to see us into the weekend. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction called Turn Up For the Book. I’ve mentioned before about how you can use proverbs and well known sayings to inspire stories. This is the latest from me using that basic idea.

Hope the day has gone well for you. Am looking forward to having many a good laugh this evening at Cinderella, the pantomime being staged by The Chameleon Theatre Group as their choice of pantomime this time.

Writing Thought/Exercise: What one thing would guarantee a good laugh from your characters and why? There could be some interesting stories to come from answering that one. Have fun!

The challenge with flash fiction is ensuring you have written a complete story (and not just an extract). This is why I find it useful to outline my character because I use that to figure out why I am writing about them and what they are doing, the emphasis being on doing, because something has to happen in a story for it to work at all.

Sometimes I will know the opening line or the closing line and can work out the rest of the story from there but knowing the character generally gives me my way in. I also know from my outline when the point of change has to happen and that’s the key moment in any story regardless of word count.

Fairytales with Bite – Battling The Elements

Now I know it’s January and this weather isn’t unexpected but over the last few weeks I’ve spent a lot of time battling the elements. I’ve not won! The UK has seen storms with stronger wind speeds than normal and I’m grateful I haven’t experienced flooding, power cuts etc others have. But you prepare for these things as best as you can and I am also grateful for my heavy duty dog walking coat. It has seen sterling service recently!

Given our stories are set in magical settings, there are other elements other than natural ones our characters may have to battle. As well as magic in and of itself, what other elements could your characters face? Could the weather take on a personification? Could elements include the weather being abused by those powerful enough to do and your characters have to find a way of stopping this?

Could water, the sky, the ground, any basic feature you care to name cause problems for your characters other than what you might expect to come from in a non-magical setting? For instance, rather than “just” flooding, could your characters be facing flooding which is programmed to seek them out and destroy them? Who or what is behind that and how can your characters overcome it?

Good story ideas there I think.


This World and Others – Weather and Other Forecasting

I’ve long thought the weather forecasts are a kind of intelligent bet. Mostly they are accurate (and better than they once were) but sometimes they are anything but. And I still rely on the old look out of the window method of forecasting to decide if I need my big heavy duty dog walking coat or not. I like the fact the old saying of Red sky at night, Shepherd’s delight, Red sky in the morning, Shepherd’s warning is still amazingly accurate.

So what kind of forecasting goes on in your setting given all of that? Is it a purely scientific approach? Or it is based only on old country sayings? Or is it a combination? Which do your characters rely on and are they ever caught out and get it wrong? What effect would that have on their story?

There can be stories too told from a forecasting angle. Who invented the forecast methods your setting uses? How did they persuade the authorities to take these on? Who regulates what can be forecast and how?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Am hoping to share the next issue in my next post as it is a joint January/February one. Do look out for it. In the meantime, do have a good read of the current edition.

 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Creating Characters, Famous First Lines, and Writing Tips/Exercises

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Hope the weekend was okay. Stormy weather here – thunder, hail, the works. Perfect weather for staying inside and getting on with the writing though. Even Lady hasn’t been sorry to get back home from her walks the last couple of days or so. Am seeing more signs of spring emerging though which always cheers me.

Facebook – General

Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today. I had a great swim but now it’s more than time to be back at the desk again.

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

Looking forward to sharing my blog post, Getting There, on More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers tomorrow.

Writing Tip: Flash fiction comes in a great range of word counts and formats up to the 1000 limit. Why not have a go at a one line story? It can be done! Here is one of mine.

Glenda, not having wish granters encroaching on her patch, thank you, and having sealed the genie back in his lamp, grinned as she kicked the wretched object into the sea.
Allison Symes – 28th January 2025

Have fun drafting one-liners like this. Sometimes you could extend them for a longer story. Equally leave them as one-liners and share on posts or via your website as extra reading for your audience (but just bear in mind they will count as being published. I only share here or via my website what I am happy not to share elsewhere).

Hope Monday hasn’t been too bad. Weather frightful. Caught in hail though thankfully it didn’t last long. Lady did manage to play with her pal Coco, the lovely Labradoodle, so that made the world all right for both of those two.

Very pleased with writing done over the weekend. Have sent a story off for consideration. Picked a story I wrote a while ago which I know could suit a competition. And I did manage to get plenty of blogging done too (to appear at future dates). Also enjoyed Flash Fiction Sunday. Will share my new piece for YouTube shortly over on my book page.  See further down.

Today I’ve completed a survey for the Society of Authors regarding my thoughts over AI. I don’t fill in every writing survey I am sent but this one definitely warranted my attention. They’re emailing all members about this so if your belong to the Society it might pay to look out for this. I saw it as a chance to have my say.

Stormy again here. Took Lady around the park in record time today and even she wasn’t sorry to get back home again. This is about as common as gold dust in these parts – I.e. not at all. Keep safe, everyone.

Looking forward to starting flash fiction Sunday soon. Plus one of my two story competition drafts I have now edited and I hope to submit this later on before turning my attention to the other one. And, yes the gap away did help me spot something which could be strengthened. The break away from a piece of work does pay off.

Busy week coming up but I am looking forward to seeing my local theatre group, The Chameleon Theatre Group, perform Cinderella later this week. That will be fun.

Hope the weekend is going okay.

Writing wise, I’ll be talking about Adaptations for Chandler’s Ford Today next week, ahead of my going to see an adaptation of Cinderella performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group. A review for that will follow. Am looking forward to doing that as the show, I know, will be such fun and I’ll enjoy writing the review because I try to convey something of that fun in the write up.

Don’t forget my next author newsletter will be out again soon. I discuss all things related to flash fiction and short stories, share tips, story links and more. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I need to create characters continually for my flash and short stories, though I do sometimes re-use some in linked tales. This is why I find a simple template useful for this. I can then add or take away from that template as I see fit which in itself helps me create characters who are not formulaic.

For example, for one template, I might “ask” my character what would they never want to do (and then almost certainly I would make them face having to do that thing in a story. Great drama).

For another one, I might “ask” what they find funny and what they don’t and again set them in a situation where this comes out and moves the story on. There will be consequences from what they find funny or not. I will make sure of that.

But in writing down the question to “ask” I find I have to answer it and I also get to start hearing my character’s voice in “their” response.

It’s Monday. It’s stormy. There has been hail. There has been a soggy dog walker (me!). Definitely time for a story then Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube -Being Careful Enough.

When you go to so much trouble to make a new life for yourself on your new world, you know you can’t be careful enough. You know there are portals out there designed to drag you straight back to what you consider to be hell. Find out here how Shiraz, who decided to name herself after a grape, fights back against all attempts to drag her “home”.

Writing Thought/Exercise: Why not have something unexpected arrive in the post, yes good old snail mail, to your character? What is it? Why is it unexpected? Is the delivery a welcome one or not?

Earlier this week I had a pleasant surprise arrive on my mat – a certificate from the National Blood people enclosing my “I’m a 75 donor” certificate and badge. Will happily plug them too – if you can give blood, why not do so? Lives are changed by it (and there are story ideas here too. You could tell a tale about the donor or recipient or both.).

Sometimes with a flash piece, I start with a title (often having picked one to work up from my notes. I use pockets of time to brainstorm ideas for titles, opening lines etc. It pays. It also means I know I can always find something I am likely to want to write up). The title often gives me clues as to the kind of character needed to fit it.

Sometimes I start with a drafted opening line which then usually inspires ideas for the title and the character to fit it.

It’s not a bad thing I mix things up like this. It is good practice for competitions given some of those give you a set opening line to work with, for one thing. For another, it keeps me on my toes and it means I have more than one way into crafting a new story.

Goodreads Author Blog – Famous First Lines

Famous first lines (such as It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife – Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice) are often used to show writers how to hook your readers from the start. I like to think of it as hitting the ground running. And it I something I try to do with my flash fiction and short stories.

I know when I’m reading I want that first line to draw me in either by setting up an intriguing setting or a character whom I simply have to know more about. Only one way to do that of course – read on.

Naturally that sets a challenge to me to make sure I’m doing something similar when I’m writing. But then this is why writers do have to be good readers too. You do learn from what you read. Gives us the perfect excuse to get our heads in a book as often as possible – I like this!

Of course the best first line in the world cannot support the whole of the following story on its own – the rest has to be pretty good too – but as a way of drawing readers in, you can’t beat it. People look at book covers, the blurb, and the first line. If they like all of that, they are more likely to buy the book.

And from a reader’s viewpoint, great first lines stay with you.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Next issue due out any moment. Hope to share in next post.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Author Interview: Introducing Gemma Owen-Kendall

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Hope you have had a good few days. Storm Eowyn is on its way. Take care and keep safe. Have had an odd week in that I’ve had a lovely time with the good people at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group (Wednesday night) and then had technical issues with Chandler’s Ford Today which now appear to have been sorted. A mixed bag of a week! But do check out the CFT interview with Gemma Owen-Kendall – it is a great read.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am delighted to welcome Gemma Owen-Kendall to Chandler’s Ford Today for an in-depth talk about her debut novel, Red Daisy. This was launched at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick last August.

Gemma shares thoughts on marketing, editing,her writing journey, and her love of fairytales, a huge influence on her novel, and much else too. She has also written flash fiction and short stories so there is much to share here.

Hope you enjoy the post (and naturally I am especially pleased to welcome a fellow flash fiction writer to CFT!).

Author Interview: Introducing Gemma Owen-Kendall

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Glad to report the technical issues with Chandler’s Ford Today now appear to have been sorted out so I will be sharing a fabulous interview with Gemma Owen-Kendall about her debut novel, Red Daisy, from there tomorrow. Tech issues never happen at a good time! See link above – such a relief this has been sorted out.

Gemma discusses her journey to publication with SpellBound Books and shares thoughts on marketing and editing amongst other gems so do check the interview out. It’s a great read! Link up tomorrow.

 

Hope you’ve had a good Wednesday. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal and to play with Coco, the lovely Labradoodle. These two are younger than the Vizler (though Lady incredibly is eight now. You wouldn’t believe it to see her run). Anyway the two younger dogs had a fabulous time running around the park. Lovely to see them.

Writing wise, I am interviewing Gemma Owen-Kendall about her debut novel, Red Daisy. This will be part of the Reading Between the Lines Vlog book tour.

The bad news is Chandler’s Ford Today is down at the moment due to technical issues which I hope will be sorted out soon. There is never a good time for technical issues! Thankfully sorted.

Meantime I will be sharing Gemma’s fabulous interview from my own website (Allison Symes Collected Works) on Friday. Do look out for it. Gemma shares about her writing journey and there are plenty of useful thoughts for all writers here. (I will share the interview again from CFT the moment it is available but these things are sent to try writers, I think). This is what is known in the business as having a Plan B! I highly recommend it!

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest story, Getting On With It. Even fairy godmothers don’t like the return to work after a Christmas and New Year break. Find out why here.

Lovely evening spent with the good people at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction group last night (22nd January). The theme was All Things New. Newness in itself is a fabulous topic, especially apt for the first month of a new year, and I set a few exercises based on it which I hope they enjoy.

One of those exercises was to use the word new itself in an opening line and then, separately, in a closing line.

Why not give it a go and see what you come up with? Have fun!

Sometimes a flash piece of mine has scope for being expanded into a longer short story and so I do that. The story and the characters have to suit and sometimes I do need 2000 words to tell the whole tale rather than the top limit for flash of 1000. That’s fine, especially since I know I will be drafting other flash pieces before long.

Top Tip: I’ve long since learned the most important thing to do is to write the story. Then after a break from it I edit it. I leave it again for a while and review it again. Then and only then will I start to think about the word count. I’ve learned over time when to leave a story alone. When I honestly feel I cannot add a word or take anything out without spoiling the story, I leave it. And, as I say, that sometimes does come in at above the flash limit.

Fairytales with Bite – Continuing Professional Development

As a writer, I’m learning all the time ways to improve my stories (and with that I hope my changes of publication). I read about my craft. I go to writing events – in person and online ones – and am part of writing groups (online). It’s all fun too (and hard work but when it is work you enjoy it helps a lot!), I see all of this as my Continuing Professional Development.

So what would your characters see as their Continuing Professional Development? How do they learn their craft? How do they improve their skills as they do the work? Who manages all of the training? I could see there being potential for humorous stories here.

And how about characters who use their training well – what stories could they share? What about those who misuse their skills (deliberately or accidentally). What would happen here?

And can someone unexpectedly rise through the ranks and surprise everyone with how well they do with their development? Fairytales are often based on those who are not expected to do well but, with some help (often from a handy fairy godmother), they do go on to do well.

So why not set stories like this in a learning environment? The “fairy godmother” here could be an exceptional teacher. What would they make of their student doing well like that?

As ever what are the consequences? Not everyone would take someone unexpectedly doing well that well themselves. Plenty of possibilities for conflict here thanks to a character getting on with their Continuing Professional Development. Not everyone is professional about these things themselves.

This World and Others – Monitoring Standards

When it comes to education or other forms of learning (vocational etc), who would monitor standards in your setting to ensure all is as it should be? Could they be open to persuasion that those who are not expected to do well are allowed through or are stopped from making the best of their learning? Good potential conflict stories there.

Does your setting and it authorities keep standards as they have always been or are they open to developments in their equivalent of technology and/or science, which would lead to needing new sets of standards every so often?

When I began writing seriously as a writer, I was using a typewriter. There wasn’t such a thing as the Data Protection Act. So of course when computers became more readily available, writers like me had to adjust to using them, have our own websites, ensure we obey data rules and so on. We have had new standards to stick to so does your setting have this kind of ongoing process here?

Who is open to change? Who is open to ensuring standards continue to be monitored well? Who might get in the way of all of that? Not everyone welcomes change. Again good conflict stories could be found here.

 

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Good news:  Next issue (January/February 2025 is due out soon).

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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The New Writing Year

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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, with the image of me holding The Best of CafeLit 13 taken by Adrian Symes.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Pleased with writing done over that time which included writing new flash and reviewing draft short stories. Hope to submit the latter in the next couple of weeks or so. Have got my eye on other competitions to enter too. Lady has been in fine form too.

Facebook – General

Hope Tuesday has been okay for you. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler today (and our neighbour’s retriever) so she has had a good day. Still pretty cold here.

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again before too long. It’s amazing how quickly the first of the month comes around. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com and many thanks to all who have subscribed.

I subscribe to a number of author newsletters myself. I find them useful – writers always learn from each other – as well as helping me to stay informed of what else is going on out there, writing wise. I find the world of writing infinitely fascinating and love hearing more about it and not just in my sphere.

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Hope Monday hasn’t been too bad. Lady got to catch up with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today and has had a good day.

Monday is one of the days in which, due to other commitments, I don’t get to do so much writing so I use it to do “little bits and pieces” which then frees up my time later in the week, when I can have longer writing sessions.

What do I count as “little bits and pieces”? Well, adding items to my newsletter is one, finishing off a blog post is another etc. Longer writing sessions will see me write one or more flash pieces, edit a story, make submissions and so on.

It is a question of working out how to make the best use of your writing time, I think. I aim to finish most days by being pleased with what I managed to get done in the time available to me rather than beat myself up about not getting much done. It helps me cope with Mondays for a start!

Hope the weekend has gone well. Freezing again here and murky.

Glad to say I’ll be talking to fellow Swanwicker Gemma Owen-Kendall about her novel Red Daisy for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. It is a great interview. Looking forward to sharing it.

I hope there will be further author interviews throughout the year. It’s always fascinating to find out about the writing journeys of other writers. I’ve always found you can learn so much from each other this way.

I often “interview” my characters when I’m preparing a story. I find it useful to know what makes them tick and certain questions such as what is the one thing you would ask for if you could be allowed a wish to be a great way to find out more about my potential “star”. For a start, I will find out if they would ask for a selfish wish or not and that alone can reveal more about them.

Pleased to be back on Authors Electric with my first post here for 2025. This time I talk about The New Writing Year.

I share how I use January, often a gloomy month, to ensure I have something to look forward to, writing wise, later in the year and discuss competitions and writing plans. This time of the year is a great time to focus on what you’d like to achieve by the end of it, I find.

Hope you find the post useful as you consider your own writing plans for the year ahead.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I love flash fiction for many reasons but a big one is being able to set my characters in different settings, meaning I can play with genre here.

I’ve written fantasy flash, fairytale flash, historical flash, crime flash, ghost flash and much more. I like the variety.

What all of these things have to have in common though is characters who will grip a reader (not literally!). This is why I always start by working out who my characters are and I have found this pays off.

It’s Monday. It’s still cold, dark and January and, of course, Monday. Time for another story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube. This one is called To Do. Wilma takes matters into her own hands when she gets fed up with her neighbour’s boasting and she gets to complete her yearly bucket list too. Find out how and why here.

 

Will shortly be embarking on flash fiction Sunday. Also want to review a couple of stories I drafted last week. For flash and short stories, I usually find a few days is enough time to give me the necessary distance to see what needs to be fixed. The one thing I know for sure is something will have to be fixed!

I also write longer short stories though I tend to stick to between the 1001 and 2000 words mark for those. I must admit anything over 1000 words does seem lengthy to me!

Am delighted to say I will be sharing my first author interview for 2025 on Chandler’s Ford Today next week. I’ll be interviewing fellow Swanwicker (and short story and flash fiction writer) Gemma Owen-Kendall about her novel, Red Daisy, which was launched at Swanwick last year. Looking forward to sharing that.

Talking of flash fiction, Writing Magazine have a 500 words competition. See link for more information and good luck if you enter this. Deadline is 15th March 2025. If you can get hold of the current copy of the magazine, they’ve issued their competitions guide. Well worth having to hand.

Goodreads Author Blog – Why Reviews Matter

There are two things every reader can do to help authors. The first one is obviously to buy their books in whatever format you prefer (and where that’s not possible, do borrow from the library. Authors usually receive Public Lending Right – at least in the UK). The second one is to review their books here on Goodreads and/or Amazon.

Reviews matter to writers for several reasons.

Firstly, it is good (and encouraging) to know we are being read.

Secondly, it is helpful for us to know what you like about our books and yes occasionally what you dislike. All we want is for any review to be fair, as most of us accept not everyone is going to like what we do.

Thirdly, we can use the fact we have had reviews as part of our marketing.

I always check out reviews for any product I’m interested in – books or otherwise. Often, I will come across something linked to the product I’m looking into I hadn’t heard of before simply because a review for it turns up. I then check it out.

The good news is reviews do not have to be long. Some of the best ones I’ve had have been one or two lines only. What helps is in saying you liked the book (hopefully!) and what in particular stood out for you. Job done.

Do I review books myself? Oh yes. I tend to do this in batches of two or three books at a time but I keep my reviews short. (Also makes it easier for the author to use part of the review in quotes they want to share).

A good New Year’s Resolution for any reader would be to review more. As we’re a community who love books and stories, it’s a nice one to try to keep, don’t you think?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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