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outlining

Honest and Dishonest Characters

April 25, 2025 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

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

It is ironic that, regardless of whether you create honest or dishonest characters or both, you do have to be honest about how you create them. What do I mean by that?

I mean you create a character who is fully rounded, where readers can see why they are the way they are, even if they disagree with them, and your characters are not set up as cardboard cutouts. They have to seem real and believable, an honest creation if you like.

But you can have fun with honest and dishonest characters and naturally literature abounds with both kinds.

[Read more…] about Honest and Dishonest Characters

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Tags: am writing, character creation, characters, creative writing, fiction, outlining, traits

PowerPoint

March 22, 2024 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

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

Linking back to last week’s post on Online Workshops I thought I’d take a look at PowerPoint in more detail. I used PowerPoint a lot in the late 1980s/early 1990s and then forgot all about it until Zoom came into my working life.

[Read more…] about PowerPoint

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Tags: am writing, creative writing, making the most of PowerPoint, outlining, PowerPoint, presentations, slideshows, using PowerPoint for Zoom meetings, writing advice

Planning Out Your Writing

February 9, 2024 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

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

I’m a great believer in planning out my writing for various reasons.

  • Planning out what I write when means I don’t miss deadlines. This is vital for posts such as this but also for short story and flash fiction competitions.

[Read more…] about Planning Out Your Writing

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Tags: creating characters, creative writing, meeting deadlines, outlining, planning your writing, writing advice

Quizzing Your Characters

September 29, 2023 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Image Credits:-
Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Screenshot re Hannah Kate’s Hannah’s Bookshelf show on North Manchester FM was taken by me, Allison Symes.

I can guess what you’re thinking. How can you quiz characters, which are literally figments of my imagination?

Fair point but I find it a useful way to work out what my characters are made of before I put them into a story. I need to know who they are before I work out what they’re going to be getting up to in my flash fiction or short stories.

[Read more…] about Quizzing Your Characters

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Tags: am reading, am writing, characterisation, interviewing characters, outlining, pantsers, planning your characters, plotters, working out what you need to know about your characters

Author Interview: Gail Aldwin and The Secret Life of Carolyn Russell

June 30, 2023 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Image Credits:-
Many thanks to Gail Aldwin for supplying splendid author/book cover photos and the cover reveal mini video. All other images created in Book Brush using Pixabay images.

It is with pleasure I welcome Gail Aldwin back to Chandler’s Ford Today. Gail is a prolific writer. As well as writing her coming of age novels including the lovely This Much Huxley Knows, Gail has written flash fiction. Her book, Paisley Shirt, was published by Chapeltown Books.

Gail has had pieces on CafeLit. Her latest book, The Secret Life of Carolyn Russell, takes a different direction. This psychological suspense novel will be published by Bloodhound Books on 3rd July. Gail will be holding a Twitter book launch (which is something I’ve not come across before and want to know more about!).

[Read more…] about Author Interview: Gail Aldwin and The Secret Life of Carolyn Russell

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Tags: am reading, am writing, book launch, changing writing directions, dual timelines in a novel, Gail Aldwin, outlining, psychological suspense, The Secret Life of Carolyn Russell, Twitter book launch, writing journey

Part 2 – Francesca Tyer – Author Interview

June 23, 2023 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Image Credits:-
Many thanks to Francesca Tyer for her fabulous author and book photo pics. Other images created in Book Brush using Pixabay images. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.

It is great to welcome back Francesca Tyer for Part 2 of her interview. Francesca is part of the Authors Reach stable and is the author of The Firestone, The Seastone, and, shortly to be launched, The Earthstone.

There is so much hard work behind writing any book, yet alone a series, and given most authors spend so much of their time at their desks, it is great to get away from that for a while to have an enjoyable discussion about writing and to spread the news about our latest works.

So welcome back to Chandler’s Ford Today, Francesca. Now to pick up from where we left off last week.

[Read more…] about Part 2 – Francesca Tyer – Author Interview

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Tags: Authors Reach, book launch, creative writing, fantasy, fiction, Francesca Tyer, marketing, networking, outlining, The Earthstone, The Firestone, The Seastone, workshops, YA

To Outline or Not To Outline

June 2, 2023 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

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

Writers can fall into two categories – the planners and the pantsers. One lot plan out their writing while the other prefer to write “by the seat of their pants” so to speak. They get to their desk and just write.

But you can be both. Some writers will want to plan out, say, a novel, but don’t worry about doing this for their shorter forms of writing. I do both too. How does this work?

[Read more…] about To Outline or Not To Outline

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Tags: am writing, blogging, creative writing, creativity, fiction, flash fiction, non-fiction, outlining, pantsers, planners, planning, stories

Verbs and Verbosity in Fiction

July 1, 2022 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

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

Maressa Mortimer – Part 2 – Being An Indie Author

September 17, 2021 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Image Credit: Book covers and author pics were kindly supplied by Maressa Mortimer. Other images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.

It is lovely to welcome back Maressa Mortimer to Chandler’s Ford Today. This week, Maressa shares her thoughts on marketing (every writer has views on that!), and how she feels her writing has developed. She also discusses book tours and why she has used Facebook Live for her book launches. So with no further ado, over to Maressa.

[Read more…] about Maressa Mortimer – Part 2 – Being An Indie Author

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Tags: am reading, am writing, Association of Christian Writers, author newsletter, creative writing, Facebook Live, Maressa Mortimer, marketing, outlining, self publishing

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