Directions by Allison Symes

 Image Credits:  Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. One image of The Hayes, Swanwick was taken by me, Allison Symes.

I read short and long form fiction and non-fiction. I mix up reading in print books or on Kindle. I often try works by authors new to me on the latter. If I like the ebooks, I often buy said authors’ paperbacks later. The Kindle is especially useful for non-fiction.

I also write in short and longer format, fiction and non-fiction. It keeps my reading and writing life interesting.

My writing life has been an upside down one. I started by writing novels.Talk about running before I could walk. I then went into short stories. From there I went into flash fiction. During the short form time, I branched out into non-fiction by blogging, writing articles etc. It is all fun.

Almost certainly I’ve done everything the wrong way around! Having said that, this means when I go to a writing event, I have a wide range of topics to interest me. It is a rare day when I can’t find something of interest.

The big benefit from writing flash fiction is it takes away the fear of editing because it encourages tight writing. I know I must cut back. This has crossed over to my other writing and I welcome this. It has also led to me running workshops on flash fiction and editing, neither of which I expected when starting out. Both topics also led to me writing articles for online magazines, again something I hadn’t foreseen.

I guess the point here is not to worry about your writing direction changing. No journey is static. That goes for the writing one too. I’ve also learned to be more open to opportunities. Flash fiction was an opportunity which arose from my short story writing. I’m so glad I’ve gone down that route.

It can pay to try writing something new and see what happens. I also see flash fiction and short story competitions as opportunities. If fortunate enough to win or get a listing, I have material to use for further marketing purposes. If not, I can have another look at my story, make any changes I feel are needed, and send it in somewhere else. I have had work published doing that.

The other benefit of writing events is they give you chances to explore other forms of writing. If nothing else, I will look in the programme and, if something grabs my attention, I will give the workshop a try. By the end, I’ll know if there’s something in it for me. Sometimes it doesn’t work out but usually a writing exercise has resulted and I can always use those!

Whatever direction your writing life is taking you, I hope it proves to be an interesting and enjoyable journey with not too many bumps in the road (rejections etc!). 

The lovely thing with the writing community is it is supportive. It is good to know others understand our compulsion to write and our writing journeys are not necessarily in a straight line.