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creative writing

Verbs and Verbosity in Fiction

July 1, 2022 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Image Credits:-
Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.
Screenshot taken by me, Allison Symes.

Now you might think one of these has an obvious place in any kind of creative writing and the other definitely not.

On the face of it, quite right too. Ironically, though there can be a place for some judicially placed verbosity but more on that shortly.

Verbs are, of course, part of the writer’s creative toolbox, along with the various component parts of our language. I use them to trigger story ideas. How?

[Read more…] about Verbs and Verbosity in Fiction

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Tags: am writing, character traits, characterisation, creative writing, fiction, outlining, verbosity, verbs, writing advice

Underlining in Fiction

June 24, 2022 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Image Credit:    Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.

What do I mean about underlining in fiction?

Simply it’s how to emphasize a point to a reader without repeating yourself. It will be as the reader looks back at the story they will realise certain points were emphasized without them being aware of it. Otherwise known as planting information!

[Read more…] about Underlining in Fiction

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Tags: am writing, creative writing, inference, planting clues, tips, underlining in fiction, writing advice

The Rule of Three In Fiction

June 17, 2022 By Allison Symes 4 Comments

Image Credit: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.

The Rule of Three is a classic in all fiction. It is one of the basic building blocks for successful story writing. It’s not new. Think about Jesus talking about the parable of The Good Samaritan. Two people walk by on the other side from the poor robbed man. The third one, the Samaritan, not only stops but helps the victim.

[Read more…] about The Rule of Three In Fiction

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Tags: am reading, am writing, classic fairytales. The Good Samaritan, creative writing, creativity, story structure, The Rule of Three, the three act structure

Travelling Workshops

June 10, 2022 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Image Credits:  Some images via Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Others directly from Pixabay. All other photos taken by me, Allison Symes, from the Scottish Association of Writers’ conference, the London Jesuit Centre and the Association of Christian Writers Golden Jubilee weekend.

It has been a busy year to date and we’re only up to June. Earlier in the year I was at the Scottish Association of Writers’ Conference where I ran my flash fiction workshop. I also judged their Margaret McConnell Woman’s Short Story competition.

I’ve been on my travels again recently (and am enjoying getting good use out of my railcard once again. I am the woman who bought a new railcard two weeks ahead of the first national lockdown in 2020 in good time for going exactly nowhere – oops!).

[Read more…] about Travelling Workshops

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Tags: Association of Christian Writers, creative learning, creative writing, Finding Your Voice series, flash fiction workshop, The London Jesuit Centre, workshops, Worth Our Weight in Gold weekend

Settings and Simplicity in Fiction

June 3, 2022 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Image Credit:          Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.

Setting often act like characters. Many stories wouldn’t work without their settings. It is as true for The Lord of the Rings and the Discworld series, as it is for Wuthering Heights and A Christmas Carol. Can you imagine the latter happening outside of London, for example? Writers can exploit settings to get more from their tales/characters.

[Read more…] about Settings and Simplicity in Fiction

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Tags: am writing, characterisation, characters, clarity, creative writing, settings, simple writing

Reading, Rhythms, and Resolutions in Fiction

May 27, 2022 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Image Credit: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.

Now there’s an interesting combination of topics for the letter R in my In Fiction series.

[Read more…] about Reading, Rhythms, and Resolutions in Fiction

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Tags: am reading, am writing, books, creative writing, reading, resolutions, rhythms, stories

Questions In Fiction

May 20, 2022 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Image Credit:   Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.

I use questions a lot in my storytelling and, to a certain extent, for blogs like this. How? Well, it is appropriate I set a question to start this piece!

[Read more…] about Questions In Fiction

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Tags: am writing, creative writing, questions, questions as story structure, using questions to set themes and titles

Paragraphs and Punctuation in Fiction

May 13, 2022 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Image Credit:    Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. One photo directly from Pixabay.

Paragraphs and punctuation may not be the most immediate things to spring to mind for the letter P in my In Fiction series but they have important roles to play in creative writing.

[Read more…] about Paragraphs and Punctuation in Fiction

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Tags: am writing, competitions, creative writing, grammar, house style. publishers, paragraphs, punctuation

Originality in Fiction

April 29, 2022 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Image Credit:  Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.

Is there such a thing as original fiction? Hmm… you may think that’s an odd question for me to ask and the answer to that must be “yes”.

[Read more…] about Originality in Fiction

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Tags: am reading, am writing, author voice, creative writing, fiction, finding your writing style, non-fiction, originality in fiction

Names In Fiction

April 22, 2022 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Image Credits:  Most images created in Book Brush using Pixabay images. Some directly from Pixabay. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books.

Names are as important in fiction as they are to us in life. Names give us a sense of who we are. They are a major part of our identity and names can reveal so much about ourselves.

Names can indicate someone’s likely social class, whether they’re traditionalists or not, and something of their family background too. Writers can play on that to help add depth to their characterisation. Names can also indicate the genre of a book. Well, you’re not going to find the likes of Frodo Baggins turn up in a Jane Austen novel, are you?

[Read more…] about Names In Fiction

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Tags: am writing, creative writing, fiction, inspiration for names for characters, naming characters, non-fiction, writing advice, writing tips

Making Characters Real In Fiction

April 15, 2022 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Image Credit:  Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.

It is the irony of all fiction writing that, while everyone knows the stories are made up, people want characters they can believe.

These characters must be true to life so a story writer’s job is to make their characters seem real enough that, if the situation could happen in reality, these would be the characters who would also exist in reality.

[Read more…] about Making Characters Real In Fiction

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Tags: am writing, characterisation, characters, creative writing, realistic characters

Laughter in Fiction

April 8, 2022 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Image Credit:  Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.

Laughter is one of the great joys of life and it has a huge range. This is reflected in fiction too. There are the laugh out loud stories, those wonderful moments of irony, slapstick, the great one-liners and so on. What matters in stories is that humour arises naturally out of the characters and the situations the writer has put them in (and often the greater the height from which the author has dropped their characters in it, the better).

Forcing humour never works. Something is funny or not, as the case may be. When I interviewed Fran Hill and Ruth Leigh on this topic, their insights showed how difficult writing writing humour can be though both ladies manage it magnificently despite writing in different genres. Fran writes memoir with humour. Ruth writes women’s fiction with humour.

[Read more…] about Laughter in Fiction

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Tags: am reading, am writing, characterisation, creative writing, funny lines, humorous fiction, P.G. Wodehouse, Terry Pratchett

Journeys in Fiction

March 18, 2022 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Image Credits: Some images directly from Pixabay. Other images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos and one photo from Allison Symes.

This post is timely because by the time this goes out I will be up in Scotland again for the Scottish Association of Writers’ Conference. I’m running a flash fiction workshop there and have judged one of their competitions (the Margaret McConnell Woman’s Short Story).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I hope to interrupt my In Fiction series to report back on how things went soon. And yes I loved the train journey (Waterloo, King’s Cross, Edinburgh, Croy) – the scenery on much of the route is amazing. It’s the second time I’ve been up to Scotland in the last few months as I was at the Brechin and Angus Book Festival back in November.

[Read more…] about Journeys in Fiction

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Tags: am reading, am writing, characterisation, creative writing, internal journeys, journeys in fiction, point of change, questions

A Poem by John Roedel – “In the face of war, I’m so small – yet, love is so big.”

March 4, 2022 By Janet Williams 3 Comments

Image by Michael Schwarzenberger from Pixabay

Recently a friend shared this poem by John Roedel. What an incredible poem. It moves me so deeply.

If you are feeling overwhelmed, I hope this poem gives you hope and comfort.

In the face of war, we feel helpless. We can’t do many things. Yet we can love. We can become a force of peace in the world. Thank you John Roedel for this beautiful, eloquent poem.

I can’t make the
world be peaceful
I can’t stall tanks
from roaring down streets
I can’t prevent children
from having to hide in bunkers
I can’t convince the news to
stop turning war into a video game
I can’t silence the sound of bombs
tearing neighborhoods apart
I can’t transform a guided missile
into a bouquet of flowers
I can’t make a warmonger
have an ounce of empathy

[Read more…] about A Poem by John Roedel – “In the face of war, I’m so small – yet, love is so big.”

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Tags: creative writing, good neighbours, hope, poetry

Human Behaviour In Fiction

March 4, 2022 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Image Credit:  Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.

One aspect of fiction, whatever its genre or length, is it does reflect on our behaviour. It isn’t flattering either, most of the time. The classic fairytales, for example, call evil out for what it is and the kind of evil shown in them (such as cruelty to step children) is something we see only far too often for real.

Stories tell us what we know. Even in the most fantastical of settings, there will be something we can identify with (otherwise, why would we read such things?).

And human behaviour is the direct reason for any story. We use stories to try to make sense of the world we know (and perhaps more than ever in crisis times such as the one we’re going through now with the situation in Ukraine).

[Read more…] about Human Behaviour In Fiction

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Tags: am writing, big themes, characters, creative writing, fairytales, fiction, heroes, human behaviour in fiction, stories, villains

Frameworks in Fiction

February 18, 2022 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Image Credit:  Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Some images directly from Pixabay.

The definition of framework is an essential supporting structure of a building, vehicle, or object. Well, that can be extended out to include stories. They need a structure to make them work.

[Read more…] about Frameworks in Fiction

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Tags: am writing, creative writing, fiction, frameworks, planning your writing

Endings in Fiction

February 11, 2022 By Allison Symes 7 Comments

Image Credit:  Most images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos though some are direct from Pixabay.

A story of whatever length has to have an opening which hooks the reader in but the closing line must deliver on the promise of the set-up at the start of the tale. Weak endings leave a reader feeling cheated (aka the “why did I bother reading that” scenario and no writer wants that).

[Read more…] about Endings in Fiction

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Tags: am reading, am writing, circular stories, classic stories, creative writing, fiction, impact on readers, linear stories, story endings, twist endings

Dialogue in Fiction

February 4, 2022 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Dialogue is something I love writing though I use it more in short stories (1500 words plus) than in my flash fiction (1000 words maximum).

[Read more…] about Dialogue in Fiction

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Tags: am writing, characterisation, creative writing, dialogue, internal dialogue, use of swearing by characters

Character Types in Fiction

January 28, 2022 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Image Credit:  Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Some images direct from Pixabay.

I’m sure this topic could go on for several weeks but I thought a whistlestop tour of some of the major character types you’re likely to come across would be fun.

[Read more…] about Character Types in Fiction

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Tags: am reading, am writing, author take, books, character types, creative writing, fiction, genre fiction, heroes, minor characters, stories, villains

J is for January

January 7, 2022 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Image Credit:  Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay/Pexels photos.

Is January your favourite time of the year? It isn’t mine. If I had to choose, I would be torn between March and September as I love spring and autumn equally.

[Read more…] about J is for January

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Tags: Blue Monday, creative writing, January, National Days, New Year resolutions, planning ahead, signs of spring, winter weather
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