Writing.Magazine.January.2018

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Could you get a writing grant?

The 7th Self-Publishing

Conference Saturday April 27th, 2019, 9am-6pm • University of Leicester

This conference offers a unique opportunity to meet and interact with influential individuals and companies working within the self-publishing sector. It is the perfect day for authors thinking about, or already involved in, self-publishing their work.

Whether you are going it alone or using a self-publishing company, this conference offers multiple sessions on a wide variety of topics.

This year’s event is sponsored by Writing Magazine, Nielsen Book, Writers&Artists, Matador, The Book Guild, TJ International Printers and others. The keynote speaker is Orna Ross, Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), with over 16 sessions on topics as wide-ranging as illustration, marketing to retailers and media, typesetting design, using an agent, marketing with a podcast, ebooks, social media... and much more. We are also joined this year by successful authors Stephen Booth and Jane Corry. A full programme and registration details are available on the conference website.

Early-bird registration is available from 1 Nov–31 December 2018 at the reduced price of £60. From 1 January 2019, registration is £70 per person; this includes a delegate’s pack, morning coffee, buffet lunch, afternoon tea, a drinks reception and a choice from more than 16 sessions on different aspects of self-publishing.

www.selfpublishingconference.org.uk “

I cannot think of very much wrong with the event and can recommend it to aspiring writers and indie/self publishers. Richard Denning I just wanted to thank you for the excellent Conference I attended on Sunday. It was well organised, well presented, full of helpful, friendly people and a joy to attend. Sandra Smith An absolutely first rate conference – from the speakers to the catering and the venue. A great overal atmosphere and so many nuggets of information and ideas they wouldn't all fit onto the notepads you kindly provided! Tony Boullemier

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JANUARY 2019

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E D I TO R ’ S L E T T E R

HELPING YOU BECOME A BETTER WRITER

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JANUARY 2019

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Dear Reader How do you write a bestseller? That’s one of the burning questions we try to address this month. It’s easy really, you just have to write the perfect

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YOUR MONTHLY

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Published by Warners Group Publications plc, 5th Floor, 31-32 Park Row, Leeds, LS1 5JD, UK Main office: 0113 200 2929 Fax: 0113 200 2928 Subscriptions: 01778 392 482 Advertising: 0113 200 2925 Editorial: 0113 200 2919 Marketing: 0113 200 2916 Creative Writing Courses: 0113 200 2917 Website: www.writers-online.co.uk Publisher: Collette Smith Email: collette.smith@warnersgroup.co.uk Editor: Jonathan Telfer Email: jtelfer@writersnews.co.uk Assistant editor: Tina Jackson Email: tjackson@warnersgroup.co.uk

book, which no reader can put down, market it well and time its publication to meet a zeitgeist you couldn’t have predicted while you were writing it. If only we had full control over all those elements...

Fortunately, there are ways to improve your chances. Turn inside to explore the marketing tricks and tactics that work for the really big hitters, and learn how you might be able to make some of them work for you on a smaller scale (p12). But before you even get that far, how do you write a bestseller? Getting that part right is rather more tricky, and nobody knows quite which trend, style or topic readers will latch onto, but whatever your genre, there are ways to improve your readability and keep readers turning the pages (p14) that will help make your good book great.

A WELCOME FROM THE EDITOR

One writer who’s no stranger to writing bestsellers is this month’s cover star, Cecelia Ahern, who has managed to sell books by the bucketload without losing sight of her literary goals, which is perhaps the best lesson of all: write, write with a passion, the books you want to write. Do that and, bestseller or not, you’ve already won.

Senior designer: Nathan Ward Email: nathanw@warnersgroup.co.uk

TAP HERE TO WATCH

Jonathan Telfer Editor

Good luck!

Editorial designer: Mary Ward Editorial designer: Rajneet Gill Editorial designer: Jackie Grainger Marketing: Lauren Beharrell lauren.beharrell@warnersgroup.co.uk Advertising sales manager: Sarah Hopton sarah.hopton@warnersgroup.co.uk Advertising sales: Louise Clarke Email: louise.clarke@warnersgroup.co.uk Subscriptions: writingmagazine@warnersgroup.co.uk Creative Writing Courses: writingcourses@warnersgroup.co.uk Competitions: writingcourses@warnersgroup.co.uk WM Competitions, Warners Group Publications plc, The Maltings, West Street, Bourne PE10 9PH, UK. Typeset by: Warners Group Publications plc, 5th Floor, 31-32 Park Row, Leeds LS1 5JD Printed by: Warners (Midlands) plc, The Maltings, Manor Lane, Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH Distribution: Nikki Munton Email: nikkim@warnersgroup.co.uk Tel: 01778 391171 Warners Group Publications plc, West Street, Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH

When you have finished with this magazine please recycle it

p22 KELLY NOTARAS

p28 CHRIS CLEMENT-GREEN

Kelly Notaras is a writer and book editor specialising in transformational nonfiction.

After working in editorial at HarperCollins, Penguin, Hyperion Books and Sounds True, she founded kn literary arts to help authors write, edit and market their books. The Book You Were Born to Write: Everything You Need to (Finally) Get Your Wisdom Onto the Page and Into the World is published by Hay House. Visit her at www.knliterary.com

Chris Clement-Green lives in mid-Wales, from where she runs writing retreats at The Welsh Writing Shed. In addition to her memoir Into the Valley (Mirror Books 2017) and her debut novel, Wings of Retribution (Crowood Press 2019), Chris has had short stories and articles published both here and in America, and her debut play, Pedo, was recently performed in Aberystwyth.

p10 TIM GALLAGHER Tim Gallagher is Public Affairs Manager at the Society of Authors, working on policy, advocacy and campaigns.

He was previously a researcher and adviser for several members of parliament, and wrote a coming-of-age novel in his early twenties which is now nailed firmly underneath the floorboards.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of Warners Group Publications plc. No responsibility can be taken for artwork and photographs in postage. Whilst every care is taken of material submitted to the editor for publication, no responsibility can be accepted for loss or damage.

Email submissions preferred. © Copyright Warners Group Publications plc. ISSN 0964-9166 Warners Group Publications plc are not able to investigate the products or services provided by the advertisers in Writing Magazine nor to make recommendations about them. Readers should make sensible enquiries themselves before sending money or incurring substantial costs in sending manuscripts or other material. Take particular care when responding to advertisers offering to publish manuscripts. While few conventional publishers seek a financial contribution from authors, many such advertisers do seek a payment (sometimes thousands of pounds) and readers should remember there can be no guarantees such publishing arrangements will prove profitable. There have been cases in which subsidy publishers have provided unduly optimistic reports on manuscripts to encourage authors to commit themselves to financial contribution. Readers should be aware of this and should not allow their judgment to be blurred by optimism. Manuscript advisory services do normally charge for their time, but agents normally do not (although some agents do quote a reading fee). While Warners Group Publications plc cannot act as a licensing or accreditation authority, they will investigate complaints against advertisers. Complainants must, however, send complete documentation and be willing for their names to be disclosed.

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JANUARY 2019

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IN THIS ISSUE 14

16

WRITERS’ NEWS 76 Your essential monthly roundup

of competitions, paying markets, opportunities to get into print and publishing industry news

CREATIVE WRITING

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

ON THE 14 Creative writing: The magic formula COVER How do you make a good book great?

28 Fine-tune your feedback Learn how best to receive, and give, feedback

16 Star interview: The writer who found her roar Multi-million selling author Cecelia Ahern talks about overcoming chicklit stereotyping to write stories about modern women at breaking point

30 Beginners: Size doesn’t matter Don’t worry about whether the themes are big or small, just write your story

20 How I got published: Rod Reynolds The crime writer figured it was time to get serious or forget it

38 Under the microscope A reader’s first 300 words gets the eagle-eye treatment

26 Beat the bestsellers The style and technique of Daphne du Maurier

42 Fiction focus: Keeping it cosy Three authors explain the enduring appeal of cosy crime

ON THE COVER

ON THE COVER

60 Short story masterclass: Watch the sky Some of the heavens’ most mysterious manifestations can add heightened ambience to your storytelling

45 Writers’ circles: Circles’ roundup Writing groups share their interests and activities

62 Writing for children: Facing the chop Rather than bin them, find ways of recycling characters who don’t make the final edit of your children’s story

ON THE COVER

4

66 Creative writing: Quick flash Get to grips with the art of writing flash fiction

JANUARY 2019

36 Shelf life: Ben Schott The Miscellanist and novelist shares his top five reads

46 Subscriber spotlight WM subscribers share their publishing success stories 74 Author profile: Kelly Florentia The romantic thriller author got her start with a WM creative writing course 96 My writing day: Andrew Taylor The historical crime writer talks about finding the rhythm of his writing process

www.writers-online.co.uk

CONTENTS

ASK THE EXPERTS

POETRY

10 Writer’s Voice: What Brexit means for writers The Society of Authors highlights the implications of leaving the EU

34 Poetry winners: Once upon a poem Read the winners of our narrative poetry competition

11 On writing: Robert Graves

54 Poetry workshop: Out of the rubble Exploring a reader’s poem which emerged as a response to a tragic news report

21 Ask a literary consultant Is your partner a creative support?

65 Behind the tape Expert advice on getting the details right in your crime fiction

55 Poetry in practice Don’t get stuck in your writing routine – try different approaches to writing a poem

71 Research tips: Evaluating websites How to get the best results from your online searches

56 Poetry primer: Poetry from A to Z Your guide you through the language of poetry

WRITING LIFE

COMPETITIONS AND EXERCISES

40 Talk it over: A tangled yarn Keep plugging away at a long-term project or start something new?

50 Away from your desk Get out of your garret for some upcoming activities and places to visit 98 Notes from the margin: Imposter syndrome Do you feel a fraud when you tell people you’re a writer? You’re not alone

PUBLISHING

24 Free range writing Get into gear for 2019 with writing exercises to understand the year just gone and boost your creativity for the year to come 31 & 51 WIN! Win cash prizes and publication in our latest short story competitions 32 & 52 Short story winners Read the winning entries in our latest short story competitions 44 Writers’ circles: Bee the same again?

Be as busy as bees by using similes to enhance your work in this writing group exercise

11 From the other side of the desk Industry agent from agent Piers Blofeld

REGULARS

12 Marketing: To be the bestseller Maximise your marketing with insider information about what makes a book into a bestseller

ON THE COVER

6 Miscellany 8 Letters

22 Getting published: Self-help help Want to write non-fiction that changes lives?

ON THE Leading publishing editor COVER Kelly Notaras offers her top ten tips for writing a self-help book 68 The business of writing: Free money Could a grant help your next writing project get off the ground?

ON THE COVER

41 Helpline Your writing problems solved 72 Editorial calendar 73 Computer clinic 81 Going to market

44

87 Novel ideas 91 Travel writing know-how

12 www.writers-online.co.uk

JANUARY 2019

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MISCELLANY

THE WORLD OF

WRITING A grown-up Tracy Beaker, Peaky Blinders going widescreen and Val McDermid being the Famous Five are just some of the surprises Derek Hudson has discovered in the world of writing

Shelby and Co heading for the big screen?

The popular TV bad boys with the distinctive head gear are heading for the big screen, Roisin O’Connor, of The Independent announced after listening to showbiz gossip.

‘A series director for the hit BBC show Peaky Blinders has said a film adaptation is being written by Steve Knight.

‘Otto Bathurst who helmed the first three episodes of the series starring Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby, provided something of an update after years of rumours about a movie version. “I think it’s actually being written,” Bathurst, who won a Bafta for his work on the Birmingham-set gangster drama, told Yahoo Moves UK. “I think Steve, Steve Knight the writer, I think they’re planning something, yeah.’’’

The Indy journalist said that Cillian Murphy was asked about the prospect of doing a film back in 2016 and appeared ambivalent about the idea. ‘I love the idea theoretically,’ he said, ‘but it has to come at the right time, you know? You can’t alienate the beautiful democratic thing of television where everyone just watches it.’

Last year he seemed to have warmed to the notion, telling Deadline: ‘If the writing is as good as it is for the show, then for sure.’

Peaky Blinders returns to TV screens in 2019.

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JANUARY 2019

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MISCELLANY

© Nick Cunard/Writer Pictures

‘Readers young and old rejoiced at the news that Tracy Beaker would return in another book by Dame Jacqueline Wilson, and My Mum Tracy Beaker – again illustrated by the marvellous Nick Sharratt – did not disappoint,’ wrote Anna McKerrow on the BookTrust website.

Here are some some of Jacqueline Wilson’s answers to Anna’s questions: • ‘I’ve been joking that I’d have to write about a grownup Tracy for ages. I’d suggest titles like Tracy Beaker Single Mum and Tracy Beaker’s Mid-Life Crisis and Tracy Beaker OAP to make people chuckle. Then last year I suddenly thought... why not? I wanted to find out what Tracy would be like too. I always knew she’d be a very caring, loving mum, but I wasn’t sure what else would be happening in her life. So I started writing – and it all became clear to me.’

• ‘I get very touching feedback from children, especially when they’re going through hard times. It makes me feel so proud if one or other of my books helps a child feel like they’re not alone and that it’s not their fault.’

• ‘I’m lucky to be able to remember vividly what it feels like to be a child.

Times have changed considerably, of course, but I still hope I know how primary school-age children think and feel. I’m not so sure about young teenagers, though, when they’re seemingly so obsessed by looks and social media. I’m glad I’m not a teenager now – I don’t think I’d have coped!’

Val’s literary adventures

© Geraint Lewis/Writer Pictures

The return of Tracy Beaker

Crime writer Val McDermid, who grew up in a working class district of Kirkaldy, had a stroke of good fortune in the 1960s, she told Horatia Harrod of the Financial Times.

Her parents moved to a house opposite the library.

‘That was probably the best thing they could have done for me’, recalled Val, who ‘became a voracious reader, and spent hours imagining herself in her favourite characters’.

She said: ‘I was the whole Famous Five, including the dog, or Maria von Trapp escaping the Nazis.’

The FT’s Horatia Harrod added that when Val discovered that writing could be a job, ‘the die was cast’.

Hard lines for writers

Hard lines for writers

Man Booker prize winner, novelist and journalist Howard Jacobson’s ambitions as a lad were always concerned with writing, according to his comments contained in the Guardian archives: ‘I cannot remember a time when I didn’t want to be a writer, and specifically a novelist; I can’t remember ever wanting to be anything else. I never wanted to be a sportsman, I never wanted to be a musician. I never had the slightest bit of interest in music; we were too clever in my school to be interested in pop music. So when other boys had pictures of footballers on their walls or they had pictures of musicians on their walls, I swear to you, I had a picture of George Eliot, I had a picture of Jane Austen; I had a picture of Ben Jonson, a copy of Sargent’s portrait of Henry James which was in the National Portrait Gallery... I only ever wanted to be a writer and I only ever valued writers. And it hasn’t changed; I only ever value writers.’

© Leonardo Cendamo/Writer Pictures

Goodreads website includes comments from US author Nancy Arroyo Ruffin on how writing could be a tough calling: ‘Even great, best selling writers produce works that fall flat from expectations. This writing thing isn’t easy and everything you produce won’t be a best seller, but you must write anyway. You have to write because you love it, because it fuels you, because you can feel the stories living inside you, nudging you, prodding you, itching to get out and the only thing worse than writing it and failing is not writing it. As the late Maya Angelou once said, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

‘Even if your work doesn’t resonate with others, it is still worth writing.

And that in itself, is what’s important.’

Goodreads has more from Paul Gallico (1897-1976), who wrote The Snow Goose and The Poseidon Adventure: ‘It is only when you open your veins and bleed onto the page a little that you establish contact with your reader. If you do not believe in the characters or the story you are doing at that moment with all your mind, strength, and will, if you don’t feel joy and excitement while writing it, then you’re wasting good white paper, even if it sells, because there are other ways in which a writer can bring in the rent money besides writing bad or phony stories.’

© Colin Hattersley/Writer Pictures

WRITING FOR EVER

OWNING UP And finally a confession from lawyer turned big-time writer John Grisham: ‘With Ian McEwan or John le Carré, I’ll read a paragraph, and think, that’s beautiful. I’m so envious of writers who have a command of language. But I know I can’t match it.’

www.writers-online.co.uk

JANUARY 2019

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TITLE

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR We want to hear your news and views on the writing world, your advice for fellow writers – and don’t forget to tell us what you would like to see featured in a future issue...

Write to: Letters to the editor, Writing Magazine, Warners Group Publications plc, 5th Floor, 31-32 Park Row, Leeds LS1 5JD; email: letters@writersnews.co.uk. (Include your name and address when emailing letters. Ensure all

letters, a maximum of 250 words, are exclusive to Writing Magazine. Letters may be edited.)

When referring to previous articles/letters, please state month of publication and page number.

Finding a USP

STAR LETTER Finding a way through I fully understand how getting deeper and deeper involved and, as a result, more and more isolated when trying to make a written piece perfect can lead to mental illness but my experience is rather the opposite.

My wife died three years ago. She was my proof reader and editor and we laughed over badly written bits of articles and stories. We formed a partnership on many journalistic excursions, she got people talking while I made notes and took pictures. When she died it was a shock and I turned inwardly to grieve. I walked a lot, just to get out of the flat. I started talking to people and, out of habit, making notes. The notes turned into articles and stories and I began to adjust. It was only later that I began to realise that those writings meant I began to feel I didn’t just go back to a flat where she wasn’t there, I went back to a flat where I did something I enjoyed. Obviously, the balance was on her not being there to start with but it began to adjust and make me feel that, in some way, I was sharing the experience. I still walk a lot and it gives me scenes of sunshine, rain, blowing trees, flowers and woodland that adds atmosphere to my writing but, importantly, I talk to people. I need to if I want to write articles, or get ideas for stories.

SULLATOBER DALTON Meadowbank, Faringdon The star letter each month earns a copy of the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook 2019, courtesy of Bloomsbury,

www.writersandartists.co.uk

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JANUARY 2019

I have spent the last thirty years being ‘too busy’ to start the writing career I’ve always dreamed of. I have climbed the corporate career ladder, and gently lowered myself down the other side. I’ve raised a family, carefully guiding my children through nursery and school and university, waving them off into their adulthood with a sigh of relief that we’ve all survived. The dog is elderly and no longer wants a daily three-mile stomp through the countryside. The precious time to write that I have craved all these years is available in abundance. I now have my own writing room, decorated and filled with all things writerly. A shiny new laptop awaits my log-on, there are notebooks with carefully coordinated pens and pencils, and lots of inspirational quotes on the walls. Six months of Writing Magazine editions are all neatly filed in date order on the shelf, propping up a library’s worth of ‘how to write’ books. I created this room a year ago and so far, all I’ve managed to write is this letter. But I take great comfort in knowing that even if I’d had this perfect writing set up all those years ago, procrastination would still have been my biggest skill and is clearly my natural talent.

JULIE MULLINS Reading, Berkshire

HAVE YOUR CAKE AND READ IT I just wanted to comment on how much I enjoyed the runner-up short story competition, Cinnamon Buns (https://writ.rs/cinnamonbuns).

I found the story absorbing and engaging particularly as it used the sense of smell so well. I could also smell that delicious sugary cinnamon of the buns and could imagine how wonderful they would taste. Mouthwatering!

Having a blind person as the narrator was very original and again used well, those often forgotten senses of sound and touch. I felt the author captured the world of the narrator really well.

Cinnamon Buns was a positive and upbeat story. Now, I need to find the nearest cake shop.

SHARON WILSON London

Personalised publishing I picked up Writing Magazine for the first time (Dec 18) and read, ‘You Can Do It!’ I found the Editor’s Letter really uplifting. It gave so much hope for the self-publisher. I loved writing from an early age and dreamed of being an author.

Having traced my ancestry back to 1715 in the Campbeltown area of Scotland, I compiled a book about it. I had a 100 copies of my manuscript printed at work for £1 per copy. I took them to local shops in Campbeltown and sold them for £5 per copy on a sale or return basis. They all sold and I even had requests for more. People from all over the world wrote to me and thanked me and reminisced about Campbeltown.

There are many ways to get published, and self-publishing is as authentic as any other way. It gives a ‘voice’ to the people, however that voice needs to be expressed.

I didn’t get a major book publishing deal, but it felt as if I had. It was such a fun process and I met some great people along the way. Now, having found WM, I have been encouraged to do it again and with their support, ‘You Can Do It too!’

TRICIA LEVACK Kirkcaldy, Fife www.writers-online.co.uk

L E T T E R S TO T H E E D I TO R

Finding alternative routes

ELUSIVE ILLUMINATION

As an amateur writer, I take much away from articles such as Try the Scenic Way (WM, Nov) in which Adrian Magson reminds us that it is better to take a non-linear progression through the telling of our stories. I’ve read through a piece I have just written and found it lacking in the excitement that might be provided by inserting a few changes of pace and turning down a different road for a while to look at the journey from another perspective.

I am currently learning to drive and, as my instructor can attest, I am finding each new step a bit of a challenge. Perhaps I should remember that the next time that I sit down and type out a short story; each new step in the journey is also a learning curve for the main character and everyone around them. It might add a little buzz to the story. Especially if the protagonist finds themselves in such a panic that they are gripping on to the metaphorical steering wheel of their story as I am to the literal one in my instructor’s car sometimes.

Still, I never quit my lessons and do not intend to either. Again, that’s a lesson worth remembering for storytelling; a character that doesn’t quit is a character that makes things happen. Which, as Mr Magson reminded us, should keep the story fun and entertaining.

PHILIP SIMONS Kempston, Bedfordshire

Every Writing Magazine I’ve ever received has been packed with illuminating advice. I’ve kept them all and there is now a veritable library in my writing room, into which I dive to search, enthusiastically, only to emerge an hour later, defeated yet again.

I’m sure that every writing question and dilemma I experience has been discussed somewhere in those pages. However, how on earth do I find that article on poetry, the one on surviving rejection or the letter suggesting a new resource, which I know is in there somewhere amid the piles of back copies? The answer is – I can’t, most of the time.

As I write this, I’m taking a few minutes to refresh myself after spending a couple of hours writing for NaNoWriMo. It’s going well so far, and will keep me out of mischief until 30 November. Once this challenge is faced down, however, and real life begin to filter back into my consciousness, I aim to take a closer look at my neglected resource library. I’m planning to catalogue those items that are of particular interest to me over the next few months. I’m sure I’ll find nuggets of gold to help me with my writing ambitions but will I find the time to write as well? Perhaps I’ll find the answer to that question too.

CHRISTINE WILLIAMS Church Stretton, Shropshire

Internet-free focus Wise words from Tony Rossiter on Zadie Smith’s advice about writing disconnected from the internet (WM, Dec). I can completely empathise with the becoming side-tracked into ‘fascinating – but irrelevant – avenues’. Amazing how easy it is to begin with ‘research’ and end up shopping on eBay for something you may or may not need, but convince yourself you do. It’s all part of prevarication, I guess, and the modern day offers us extra layers of distraction with the many and varied social media platforms. Out of necessity in the previous few weeks due to serious family illness I have mostly avoided the internet – I just haven’t had time. I’ve had to prioritise. I’ve needed the distraction of writing, though, but it has to be concentrated and focused. Last week I wrote and sent a story to a magazine new to me. I didn’t wait long before checking my emails and to my delight my inbox contained a message from the editor thirty minutes later saying she loved my story and wanted to buy it – my quickest sale ever and the boost I needed. I couldn’t wait to share my news with my friends on Instagram, of course – and then back to reality, after one final click on my inbox, of course, just in case. It’s all about balance, I guess?

FRAN TRACEY Ruislip

Walking it out I found myself nodding sagely while reading Simon Whaley’s article Fit to Write (WM, Dec). As someone who has had type 2 diabetes for twenty years and experienced a stroke in 2009 I have learnt the value of keeping active and walking about a bit as a vital part of my writing life.

I am lucky enough to be a community walk leader with my local council and on Tuesday mornings I lead a group of twenty odd ‘older persons’ around an 18th century park complete with a Grade 2 listed mansion and a lovely ancient woodland. I have often spent the 45 minutes which it takes to complete the circuit to ponder a particular knotty problem with my writing which I later solve at my desk.

Walking through the green woods also does wonderful things for one’s soul and mental health. It was instrumental in curing me of the ‘black dog’ of my own depression while walking through those same woods following a diagnosis of depression.

I would warmly recommend regular bouts of walking to anyone who is serious about their writing.

CLIVE BAULCH Sydenham, London

Foreign exchange Having read James McCreet’s article, Found in Translation (WM, Dec), I wholeheartedly agree with him that learning a second language can teach you a lot about your own language. Having become a teacher over the phone to Spanish bankers in Madrid (that’s right – I never met them), I found that they knew things about my language that I didn’t. Back in the sixties, I was never taught about superlatives, or an abundance of other words that could categorise our language into groups of usage. Doing an exercise with my students, which called for them to pick out the number of phrasal verbs in a story that I would read to them, it took me three weeks to be brave enough to ask one of them what a phrasal verb was (a verb which is made up of more than one word, eg, put up means something completely different to put out, put by and put up with). And that superlative taught me that while big would become biggest, and pretty become prettiest, beautiful would become most beautiful and not beautifullist. Why? Because the ‘est’ follows a one or two syllable word and a word of more syllables has ‘more’ placed in front of it. I am educated in English language to a high degree but it took my Spanish students to take my knowledge a step further and I have benefitted from it.

DENISE WATSON South Hetton, Co Durham

Marvellous masterclass I can honestly say that the Masterclass feature is worth the price of your magazine alone. It single-handedly introduces me to some of the finest short stories surely ever written. They are a great delight to read and come from writers of all genres, sexes and eras. I certainly might never have found them on my own.

I enjoy downloading the story, taking it to a coffee shop and indulging myself. And then the Masterclass gets to work, picking the story apart and explaining what it is about it that works so well. The style is guiding, eg.

‘Notice this, notice that, look at the scene when’ and illustrates brilliantly how you can improve your own writing.

December’s Masterclass on Mark Twain’s beautifully witty The Million Pound Bank Note was hugely enjoyable and it will certainly be inspiring my future writing.

RUTH BANISTER Tunbridge Wells JANUARY 2019

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ld do for Find out what the SoA cou .org and ors you at www.societyofauth 12 with of ce pri get 15 months for the G MA NG ITI the code WR

What Brexit means for writers Tim Gallagher, public affairs manager at the Society of Authors, examines the potential implications of leaving the EU

I

n the immediate aftermath of the 2016 referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU, Theresa May’s soundbite of choice became ‘Brexit means Brexit’. We hear a lot less of this now, presumably because no one really knows what Brexit means. Regardless of what happens over the coming weeks and months, it will take years for our future relationship with the EU to be thrashed out, and for the full implications of Brexit to be understood.

We therefore can’t say with any certainty what Brexit means for writers. But there are various laws, agreements and funding streams derived from the UK’s membership of the EU that affect writers, which could change as we head for the exit.

The good news is that Brexit does not pose the same sorts of direct challenges for writers as it does for some professions. The position of authors, poets, scriptwriters and illustrators is not comparable with, for example, workers in the car industry, whose jobs hinge on the UK’s capacity to sell car parts to Europe.

Language, creativity and imagination are not subject to agreements with the EU. But there are still some potential outcomes of the Brexit negotiations which could affect the business of being a writer.

Copyright The first of these is copyright. Copyright ensures that writers and other creators own the rights to their work and are able to monetise it. The success of the UK’s publishing and creative industries is underpinned by our goldstandard copyright framework.

But many countries across the world do not have such high standards, and there is a danger that our own copyright laws could be watered down as we seek to strike trade deals with these countries.

The potential pitfalls of trade deals for food standards or environmental protections are well-documented, such as the notorious chickens washed with chlorine that could be imported from the US. A weakened copyright 10

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regime would be the chlorinated chicken of the creative industries, and it is essential that the Government resists any attempt to dilute our high copyright protections, or to use copyright as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations. Such a move would be extremely detrimental to authors and the wider industry.

EU funding Many authors and other creative practitioners have benefitted from European Union funding.

The Creative Europe funding scheme provides important funding for the arts across Europe, and brings in an average of £18.4 million a year to the UK. Creative Europe is particularly important for literary translation, and since 2014 its funding has enabled 147 books by authors from or based in the UK to be translated into other languages. It has also helped distribute 145 British films in other European countries.

One of Creative Europe’s key aims is to ‘promote the transnational circulation and mobility of cultural and creative works and artists to reach new audiences’. This is a laudable goal, and public funding of the arts must continue to support such an aspiration after Brexit. Membership of Creative Europe is not restricted to EU states, and we are urging the Government to either commit to remaining within Creative Europe following our departure from the EU, or to increase domestic funding for the arts via the Arts Council or another equivalent body.

Freedom of movement Across the arts and culture sector at large the principal concern around Brexit relates to freedom of movement. A key source of work and income for musicians and other touring artists is the freedom to travel from one European country to another without the need for visas or other restrictions.

Many parts of the UK creative sector such as film and TV are accustomed to employing European workers on a short-term basis, something which is only feasible because of www.writers-online.co.uk

free movement. A time-consuming and costly visa system would all but put a stop to this sort of work.

Whilst writers do not rely on free movement within the EU to the same extent, many UK writers travel across the continent to speak at festivals or for research.

Authors thrive off being able to travel to and experience other cultures, as well as being part of a community of European writers.

Restrictions on work-related travel will undoubtedly impede this. The Society of Authors has been calling on the Government to ensure that our future migration system recognises the unique needs of the creative sector, and negotiates an agreement with the EU that reflects this.

Trade Finally, it is in the interests of published writers for the UK to maintain a strong trading relationship with the EU after Brexit.

The UK is the largest exporter of physical books in the world, and the EU remains the publishing industry’s most important market, accounting for 36% of these book exports.

Our exports are a source of soft power as well as economic success, and would be undermined by barriers to trade with the EU such as tariffs or customs checks.

Conclusion At the time of writing, it is not clear whether the UK will leave the EU with or without a deal, whether Brexit will be soft, hard or some texture in between. But the Withdrawal Agreement is only the start of the process.

It will take several years to tie up trade deals.

The Government is nowhere near finished designing a post-Brexit immigration system.

Copyright law is always subject to change.

Over the months and years ahead the Society of Authors will continue to campaign for a final Brexit outcome which does not disadvantage writers. To find out more, please visit: www.societyofauthors. org/Where-We-Stand.

AGENT OPTIN I T LIO E N

On Writing

From the

OTHE R SIDE OF THE DESK

Tony Rossiter explores great words from great writers

“”

As writing it is not distinguished, but as story it is superb.

ROBERT GRAVES

G

raves was commenting on the work of Agatha Christie. ‘Agatha’s best work’, he said, ‘is, like PG Wodehouse and Noel Coward’s best work, the most characteristic pleasure-writing of this epoch and will appear one day in all decent literary histories.’

There have always been writers whose prose has been unexceptional (or worse), but who have become popular because of their sheer ability to tell a good story – a story that grabs your attention from the first page and compels you to keep turning the pages. If a writer can do that, he or she may be able to get away with sub-standard writing: leaden prose, poor grammar, one-dimensional characters, unconvincing dialogue… you name it. For many readers, a book’s only essential element is a gripping plot.

If you write fiction, storytelling is what it’s all about.

You have to interest and excite your readers on the first page and make them want to find out what is going to happen next. There are many ways of doing that. A puzzle to solve (such as a murder) or a question to answer is one way. Another is some unusual or extraordinary event or incident that requires explanation. A character placed in a dangerous predicament, either physical or emotional, is yet another. And getting the reader to identify or empathise with your central protagonist, rooting for your hero’s success, can be a powerful way of securing and keeping the reader’s engagement and interest.

Suspense is arguably the most important ingredient of any story, and to create suspense you don’t necessarily need to produce brilliant writing. You need to know how much to tell the reader, and how much to withhold. One technique that can be effective is the use of short chapters with cliffhanging endings (as Dan Brown has shown).

If you love the English language and want to respect it and use it as beautifully and creatively as you can, it may go against the grain to produce writing that is unremarkable.

Don’t let the best be the enemy of the good. Remember that for many readers, the story is more important than the quality of the writing. Undistinguished writing won’t matter if you can produce a superb story.

Literary agent Piers Blofeld concludes his two-parter on the mistakes writers make when submitting to agents and publishers

O

ne of the lovely things about going to writers’ festivals is that one is reminded how nice most writers are. Just as these events are a great way for authors to remind themselves that agents and publishers are not some strange race apart (well, not all of them anyway...) so it is good for agents and publishers to be reminded of the all-too-human hearts that inhabit the absolute centre of this business.

It is far too easy to clamp slightly too tightly round rather depressing concepts like the book as product or social media platforms and forget that in the end it all comes down to talent and application. Whatever clever new marketing ploy publishers come up with, the oldest and truest statement in publishing is that nothing sells the book like the book – in the end it all comes down to what’s on the page.

Which, slightly glibly, leads me into my second instalment of the ten most common mistakes people make in their pitches.

• The second novel in a trilogy This is a surprisingly common mistake – it’s unsellable, there is no point in looking at it and if you have sent out the first novel in the trilogy and found no one to take it up, persevering with the second indicates a lack of professionalism rather than admirable tenacity.

• The ridiculous comparison Again it amazes me the number of people who will happily compare themselves to Nabokov or Kafka – you only come off badly and what’s worse you look like you have an over inflated sense of your own importance.

• Miss X always used to say I could write A writer’s CV is daunting, but telling me that a teacher thirty years ago once liked one of your essays just highlights how little else you have to say. You are better off saying nothing than trying to make too much of not much. This particularly applies to the many small literary prizes that exist – they may be really important to you, and it is great to demonstrate that you are diligently putting your work out there, but making the shortlist of a prize with no national profile is worth mentioning, but not worth making a big deal of.

• Trying to tell too much of the story Most agencies ask for a synopsis, your letter needs only give the briefest of flavours. It is one of the best indicators of a well (fully) conceived story, that you are able to express it simply and pithily. There is an old agenting exercise of asking authors to write a 5,000, 500 and fifty-word synopsis – the fifty-word one is by far the hardest – and the bits you struggle over most are almost certainly the parts of the story you have yet to properly resolve in your mind.

• Not knowing the difference between story and backstory Story is about character – novels are about emotions: that’s what I need to know about – whether it is set on Sicily or Mars, in the future or in the past is, up to a point, irrelevant: what matters is a psychologically vivid and arresting situation. The mise en scene is worth mentioning, but if that’s all you are telling me about then it is telling me that you likely don’t really understand the fundamentals of storytelling.

Anyway, like all listicles, these aren’t hard and fast categories and there are probably other ways I could have sliced the pie – certainly I could have gone beyond ten, but I hope it’s useful.

www.writers-online.co.uk

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11

MARKETING

To be the bestseller You can’t predict which books will be bestsellers, but you can improve your chances by understanding the marketplace, with Margaret James’ help

W

hat makes a book a bestseller?

‘You have to be young, blonde, beautiful or a famous celebrity to write a bestseller,’ one disgruntled novelist muttered to me at a conference last summer. ‘So someone like me has no chance.’

I looked around the lecture theatre, spotted several bestselling novelists, and decided this is not necessarily so. But what is certain is that writing a great book merely marks the start of the author’s Pilgrim’s Progress along the rockstrewn, pot-holed and winding road from publication to bestsellerdom.

Or even to any sellerdom.

How and why does a book become a bestseller?

Surely that’s easy to answer? It must be because it’s a good book? Well, just take a look at the almost inevitable bad reviews of some bestselling books, not all of these reviews apparently inspired by jealousy or spite, and maybe think again.

Of course, we authors can’t please all of the people all of the time, but some bestsellers do get more than a few reviews explaining in calm, reasoned 12

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detail why a particular bestselling book is a huge disappointment, and sometimes it’s hard not to agree with these negative reviews.

Whoever thought this stuff was worth publishing? Who are these millions of readers who love it? They can’t all be stupid and/or taken in by a load of cynical, Emperor’s New Clothes kind of hype, can they?

As I researched this subject, I did ask a variety of people in the industry – authors, publishers, editors, literary agents and booksellers – for their views, and some were willing to talk to me, but only on the understanding I would name no names. So I sometimes wondered if I was trying to infiltrate Cosa Nostra, rather than simply chat to people in a perfectly legitimate industry.

The almighty, all-powerful Amazon is notoriously secretive about how it markets books, but it does seem as if those titles which are exclusive to Amazon – that is, not available on any other book-buying platforms – sometimes get preferential treatment.

Amazon might deny this, and of course some non-exclusive books do become bestsellers. But various selfpublished authors whose books are Amazon exclusives have confirmed to me that they are offered promotions www.writers-online.co.uk

they don’t think they would get if their titles were also available on Kobo, iTunes or other websites. Of course, the Amazon Daily Deal is the Holy Grail of author-aspiration, almost invariably jet-propelling a title up the charts into the single figures range in the space of 24 hours, even if it then drops like a stone the following day.

Why are some books and not others available in supermarkets?

Of course I don’t know what deals are done behind closed doors, but I gather it’s often because many smaller publishers can’t afford the discounts the supermarkets demand. ‘I couldn’t sell to our books to supermarkets,’ said the managing director of one independent publisher whose authors have won many prizes and awards.

‘I can’t even get them printed for the amount a supermarket would be prepared to pay me.’

So, the next time you are delighted to find that one of the titles you’ve been meaning to buy from an online website or a high street bookseller is even cheaper in your local supermarket, also bear in mind that the supermarket will have bought its stock at a huge discount, and that eventually

MARKETING

the author will probably be getting a tiny fraction – most likely the usual ten per cent – of the price actually received by the publisher, not of the price for which the book was sold. As for titles that end up in Poundland and the like – draw your own conclusions, people.

But yes, small sums do mount up, and most authors are delighted when their books become available in supermarkets because the sheer volume of sales often means the books get into those elusive bestseller lists, to the joy of all concerned.

Do reviews help to sell books?

Opinion on this is divided. Amazon is famous – or infamous – for taking down reviews of books whose authors apparently have a relationship with the reader. The algorithm that decides whether or not these relationships are genuine (yes, it’s a fair cop, that review was indeed written by my mother) or not (for heaven’s sake, Amazon, I do not know who on earth Cosy Reader might be) seems to be rather hit and miss. I’ve had reviews taken down for no apparent reason, certainly not because I have any kind of relationship with the relevant author. But if Amazon decides the reader and the author are linked in some way, that carefully-worded review stands a good chance of being doomed.

What about writing the kinds of books that are on-trend right now – does that help to create a bestseller? Maybe, but bear in mind that the timeframe from concept to publication might easily be two years or more, and when your own on-trend book is published it might be so yesterday that nobody will want to read it. So chasing specific trends is always going to be a risky strategy.

My advice to my own creative writing students is always to write the book you want to write. So what if historical romance or black comedy is not fashionable right

now? One day, it will probably be fashionable again.

Can I maximise marketing my book?

BookBub, a website of lists and other tools for readers and writers, offers authors and/or their publishers excellent publicity and often correspondingly gratifying sales, but at a price tailored to meet the author’s or publisher’s requirements.

Okay, you might think, I’ll sign up with BookBub and my route to fame and fortune will be assured. But BookBub chooses with whom to do business, so authors can’t just pay the fee (yes, there’ll be a fee tailored to the kind of publicity you want and where you want it) and wait for the cash to accumulate.

Nowadays, many publishing contracts contain a clause stipulating the author must agree to participate in the marketing of a book. This participation will include a range of activities such as blogging, promoting on social media, giving interviews on radio and television and to newspapers and magazines, doing book-signings, making promotional trailers and giving talks in libraries, to local groups and to schools. Does any or all of this help to sell books? Do the book bloggers have real power and do they influence readers in their thousands, or are they just talking to each other?

Maybe, maybe not. One publisher to whom I spoke told me that publicity was far too important a job to be left to mere authors, and I do know that this particular publisher’s publicity material is often hugely impressive, pulling out all the stops to get both the book and the author noticed. Other publishers, however, seem to do nothing much publicitywise. Or even nothing at all.

Does appearance make a difference?

How many times have you come across a writer on social media complaining about a horror of a book cover foisted on this poor author by a determined publisher? I’d guess not many, because writers who grumble in public about their publishers aren’t going to do themselves any favours. www.writers-online.co.uk

So, if you want to moan about your publisher, I’d suggest you do so in a safe space among trusted friends!

Or even just talk to yourself.

Do covers help to sell books?

Publishers and self-publishers certainly hope so. As a reader, are you first attracted to a book by its gorgeous cover? Or don’t you care about the cover?

Does the author have the right name for the genre in which he or she is writing and if, as reader, you think not, does this matter to you? As a young adult who loves adventurous, sword-and-sorcery fantasy, would you buy a novel written by someone whose first name was the same as your grandmother’s? Or, as a senior citizen who enjoys highbrow literary fiction, would you buy one by someone who sounded like a contestant on Love Island?

Maybe the use of initials rather than first names, thus avoiding any of this kind of suggestibility, could be a great marketing ploy? After all, those initials FR Smith could stand for the rather elderly-sounding Frederick Reginald or the much younger-sounding Fiona Rose. Male or female, old or young – as a reader, do you care?

It’s easy to come to the conclusion that writing the actual book is the easy bit. But let’s give readers some credit for intelligence and common sense. Get a publisher in a corner at a party, tell the publisher you’re a contributor to Writing Magazine researching an article, and most will admit they just don’t know why some books succeed while others fail. ‘We give all our authors’ books the same start in life,’ one publicist told me. ‘So I don’t know why some become bestsellers and some sink without trace.’

As a midlist author myself, who has had some success as a novelist but has also experienced many ups and downs in the course of my fiction-writing career, I guess that in the end it might all be down to reader recommendation?

Of course, some degree of publicity must be desirable because readers can’t buy a book if they don’t even know it exists. But later…

So, whenever you read a book you love, don’t keep it to yourself – tell other people about it because, as an author, isn’t this what you would like readers to do?

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13

c i g a m e h T ? a l u form

Author James McCreet considers what makes a great book so readable

N

ot all books are equal.

We all have our favourites – the ones we return to over and over again because they retain the capacity to delight and entertain even after they no longer surprise us. But what makes these books so good? It must be something more than an ineffable alchemy of talent or inspiration.

Naturally, tastes differ. Lolita is not to everybody’s liking. Nor is The Da Vinci Code. Still, I believe there are common characteristics that enhance the readability of any book. If you can take them into account when you plan and write your novel, you’ll have a better proposition to sell, and happier readers.

The idea The most difficult element of a novel is also the most powerful. The idea 14

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is not the story (which is a longer journey) but the single proposition from which the entire novel grows. It’s the germ which, when presented to a potential reader, elicits the response, ‘Oh, I’d love to read that!’ It may be something entirely original, or it could be a variation on a theme: a classic investigation, a compelling romance or a vivid fantasy world.

Good ideas are difficult because anything new or original is difficult.

As the author, you need to explore the one source that other writers don’t have access to: your own experience, thoughts, personality and reading history. That’s where your great idea is. It’s easy enough to write a pastiche or a homage or another brick in the generic wall. Your advantage is your uniqueness.

The challenge is to learn how to recognise and express your individuality – in voice, in style, in narrative form. www.writers-online.co.uk

This requires bravery and practice... as does all good writing.

The characters A good character can rescue a mediocre book, so imagine a great character in a good book. A good character is one who compels the reader to spend time with them. Their personality or speech is magnetic, even if they’re just making a cup of coffee or driving to work. We want to follow them just to see what they’ll say or do next.

Literature is full of such characters. Sherlock Holmes.

Poirot. Captain Ahab. Fagin. Zorba.

Captain Corelli. They are often larger than life – life with stronger colours and flavours. Occasionally they’re not even main characters.

Svengali has become the archetype of the manipulative impresario, but few remember he was a character in the 19th-century’s best-selling book:

FICTION

George du Maurier’s Trilby.

If you want to create a brilliant character, you need a lightning-rod personality: someone who captures the static of life’s experiences and conducts them in a flash of energy. This might mean creating an amalgam of different types. You’ll also need a distinctive voice and manner that doesn’t seem like anything else previously experienced. Life’s true characters are like this. It’s not a pose or a disguise – it is the essence of difference.

The story A great story grabs you from the first paragraph (or even line) and carries you page by page to the end. The trip is by no means comfortable or predictable, but it is always credible and engaging. The reader simply has to continue, whether to see what happens at the end, or merely to enjoy the journey. Sometimes the greatest books can’t possibly offer an ending that exceeds the experience of getting there.

Creating a great story is a matter of technique rather than inspiration.

It entails understanding the reader’s expectations and the mechanisms that make a story work. At the molecular level, that means a sense of narrative that pulls everything into the structure. Every line and every paragraph is interwoven with story elements, character arcs, pace, tension, exposition and description. Nothing is wasted. Everything is relevant to pulling the reader in.

The story itself should develop entirely intuitively and organically, which is the opposite of how real life works. Real life has a story only in retrospect and retelling. Everything that occurs in the novel must occur because it simply has to – it couldn’t have happened any other way. This means establishing a world and characters in which the events are credible. Thus a Kurt Vonnegut novel (The Breakfast of Champions) can feature an alien visitor to Earth who communicates via farting and tapdancing. A novel by Tolstoy can’t.

Sometimes, a great story is one of epic scope and occurrence with something different happening in every chapter. Sometimes, it is the simple events of a single day (Mrs Dalloway). Either way, the events

must hook us and compel us to want, expect, dread, predict or resolve something. A great story builds on itself so that, at any one point, the reader is aware of what’s happened and is reading into the future.

Great stories are also the sum of their parts. Though nothing is separable, there are scenes that delight in their own right – scenes that are designed to be re-read as set pieces. And that’s another hallmark of a great read: it’s one you know you’ll read again even before you’ve finished it.

A great ending, meanwhile, forms a kind of narrative circuit. It seems to the reader that the ending they read is the only possible ending – even if that ending is open or ambiguous. The whole novel has led inevitably and ineluctably to a certain point and the reader feels a sense of completion. Or rather, the very best endings are those that send the reader right back to the beginning to enjoy the book again.

Narrative voice There are some books in which relatively little happens but which are narrated in such an engaging voice that the reader will follow wherever the writer takes them. Certainly, this is a very great skill acquired over many years. You’ll find it in many great books.

It’s there in the crime books of Elmore Leonard or James Ellroy, the science fiction of Kurt Vonnegut, the horror of Stephen King, the work of Annie E Proulx and the serious literature of countless writers from Vladimir Nabokov to Cormac McCarthy. They all have in common a compelling way of telling the story: a style that takes readers inside the fictional world so completely that the writing disappears and there are only places, people, conversations.

How to learn these skills? It takes time, naturally, but if there’s a secret it is this: your writing must be an expression of your authorial personality so completely and naturally that it just flows as your spoken voice does. At least, this is how it appears to the reader. In truth, every comma, sentence and word is carefully chosen to express precisely what the writer wants to say.

You know you’re reading a brilliant www.writers-online.co.uk

narrative stylist because you don’t see cliché. You don’t see the same hackneyed adjectives. You don’t find yourself skipping pages to get to the point. Rather, you find yourself stopping occasionally to savour the experience of reading or to understand how such an effect was created. This doesn’t disrupt the reading; it enhances it.

Expert narrative perspective is a combination of two things: expressing yourself as a writer with the confidence of long experience, and knowing exactly how your work is going to affect your reader. Combine these two things and you will start to create magic on the page.

Putting it all together Ah, but it all sounds so easy when tabulated like this, doesn’t it? The difficulty is combining all of these elements into one seamless package to thrill and please a reader. At any one time, they will be gripped by the characters, the story, the voice and the idea behind it all. How do you do that?

It doesn’t happen by accident. It may happen after years of writing or if you have a rare talent, but for most writers it’s a case of constant awareness that novels seldom coalesce from the mists of talent and inspiration. If you’re the kind of writer who decides to sit down with your half-formed idea and bash out a few thousand words, it’s like panning for gold. You might find a few sparkling grains, but the giant nugget is unlikely.

Writers have to be students of the novel and understand their many mechanisms. You see this in many of the great writers if you read their books in order. Their style changes as their voice develops. They discard what doesn’t work in favour of what readers respond to. They enhance their style without necessarily complicating it. Compare Cormac McCarthy’s Suttree (1979) – a work of dense literary genius – with The Road (2006), which is virtually a screenplay in its telegraphic simplicity.

Great, highly readable novels are the work of a lifetime, but understanding how they work is the first step in that journey. We have time, but having the willpower and the willingness to learn is always the greater challenge.

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15

THE WRITER WHO

found her

ROAR The bestselling Irish novelist explains dashing expectations, breaking out of the chicklit stereotype and finding her voice, to Tina Jackson

I

n writing, just as in life, appearances can be deceptive.

Thought you had Cecelia Ahern pegged as a writer of lightweight chicklit? Back off and think again. The platinum-selling Irish author has found her Roar!

Cecelia’s books have won awards and sold more than 25 million copies. Her 2004 debut, PS, I Love You, has alone sold 2 16

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million copies and was adapted into a 2007 film starring Hilary Swank. Her latest book is Roar, a collection of short stories: thirty surreal, poignant tales of unnamed women who have reached a point in their lives when they need to reclaim their voice or identity.

The stories, written with charm, kindness and empathy, are welltimed for the #MeToo climate. www.writers-online.co.uk

From the opening story The Woman Who Slowly Disappeared, we meet unnamed women at the end of their tether. Their whimsy is a thin veil for the fact that these are stories about women who have put up with aspects of their lives for too long. ‘The stories aren’t about sexual abuse and the gender pay gap, but I do see that they are a part of a whole conversation about listening to women’s stories,’

S TA R I N T E RV I E W

says Cecelia. ‘This is the right time to publish these stories. It’s time to tell more women’s stories.’

Cecelia has written fifteen books of popular fiction and YA fiction. Her TV writing includes Samantha Who? and PS, I Love You is one of two of her novels to have been adapted as films: Her second novel Where Rainbows End was turned into Love, Rosie in 2014.

For Cecelia, who delivers a new novel every year, the stories were a very personal project. ‘I had no intention or plan to write a collection of short stories,’ she says. ‘I started five years ago with The Woman Who Disappeared and over time I started writing more and more. I realised I couldn’t separate them – they belonged together. I just kept writing them, at my own pace, just because I wanted to tell them in some way. It was fun to write. I broke a lot of rules writing them but there was no editor, no publisher, no book deal. I just wrote to please myself.’

Each title begins ‘The Woman Who…’ ‘Originally the title was going to be The Woman Who and the quote that was going to introduce The Woman Who Disappeared was “I am woman hear me roar.”’ That quote, by Helen Reddy and Ray Burton, is now at the front of the book.

There is a thematic reason the women aren’t named. ‘I think early on some of the women did have names. But they didn’t need names – I wanted them to be everywomen.’

Each unnamed woman’s story was one that Cecelia needed to tell. ‘I was really just writing them because I’m compelled,’ she admits. ‘All the stories are exploring identity, they’re about a transitional period where someone steps up into their life and takes responsibility.

I wanted to take an issue but write about it in a humorous, different way.’

The story titled The Woman Who Was Swallowed Up by the Floor and Who Met Lots of Other Women Down There Too is a perfect example: a woman so mortified by an incident in an office meeting that she falls through the floor, where she finds lots of other embarrassed women.

‘We’ve all had our moments of wanting to go through the floor!’ laughs Cecelia.

Some are thought-provoking; others, like The Woman Who Grew Wings, the story of a refugee mother, are truly moving. ‘I wanted to write about the stress of the school gate, which affects a

“I just kept writing them, at my own pace, just because I wanted to tell them in some way. It was fun to write. I broke a lot of rules writing them but there was no editor, no publisher, no book deal. I just wrote to please myself.” lot of women – but then I wanted to write about someone who really was an outsider,’ Cecelia says.

The surreal, magic realist storytelling style of Roar may come as a surprise to some. ‘They arrived like that,’ smiles Cecelia. ‘I love surreal stories, I’m really drawn to the surreal. You can talk about grounded, real issues but tell them in a unique way, not a battle-cry but gently told.

On the surface it appears whimsical and underneath there is depth. That’s how I like to write short stories – not in your face.’

The playful element often began www.writers-online.co.uk

with the titles she chose for individual stories, which take well-known phrases or expressions and amplify them into stories about aspects of the female condition. ‘Many times I was inspired by the titles, taking ideas and experiences and phrases and just playing with them. ‘ There is a mix of rage and compassion in the stories, and the situations the women face represent limitations and stereotypes faced by women. At no point, though, does Cecelia or any of her ‘Women Who’ point an accusatory finger at individual human beings, and the JANUARY 2019

17

end notes are invariably upbeat.

‘They do have uplifting endings – I suppose they’re not blaming anyone,’ she says. ‘It was important to me, in these stories, not to blame anyone else. It’s about taking responsibility.’

She likes the short story form for its ability to allow a writer to address a single issue, at speed. ‘Short stories are punchier and more issue-based.

In one hour I was able to get off my chest something I was feeling intensely about. Have an immediate resolution – that was a great purpose.

I didn’t have to go into back story, I could stick to the subject and the

as a surprise to some, even though all her writing is threaded with magical, inexplicable touches. ‘I am known as a writer of romantic fiction – but probably only six of my books are romantic,’ she says. ‘But all of them have love at the heart of them. People who only read my first books will be surprised by this – but there’s elements of this kind of writing in all my books.’

The only time warm, friendly Cecelia gets heated during our interview is when the word ‘chicklit’ is mentioned. ‘I’d never have called my books chicklit!’ she exclaims.

“We all love watching people. I love watching people. I’m an observer.

When you do that, you learn things.” theme. Just keep it short and sweet and punchy.’

The Dublin-based writer was first brought to the public’s attention in 2002. As the daughter of Bertie Ahern, the former Taoiseach of Ireland, the media glare on the 21-year-old debut writer was intense, focusing on her father, her past as a dancer and singer (her band, Shimma, were in the running to represent Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest) and her link to pop group Westlife – her sister is married to singer Nicky Byrne. She was young. She was very pretty. But did she deserve a major publishing deal?

The focus was more on Cecelia’s background and personal life than her debut PS, I Love You, the story of a recently widowed young woman whose husband left her a series of letters to open, but the book was largely critically dismissed. Readers, however, voted otherwise, buying it in droves, and it’s her bestselling title.

‘The first book I wrote was a love story, and I’m proud of it – it was a love story and it was dark and romantic and had humour in it. I want to capture a lot of different things.’

Cecelia is well aware that as a writer she may well have been labelled ‘The Woman Who Wrote RomComs’, and that Roar may come 18

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‘It’s not an expression I like – I don’t think any female author does. It’s derogatory – when women write novels, there are so many different kinds of novel they can write.

Women’s fiction can do exactly the same as fiction written by men.

When I’m writing, I don’t think of the reader. If someone paints a picture, they don’t say, it’s for a woman, so why should they for a book? I write for myself, and I write stories I hope people want to read.’

Some of Roar’s tales deal with responses to stereotyping, and Cecelia is well aware that the way female novelists are packaged can lead to this. ‘Covers can be an issue,’ she admits. ‘I love this cover. I have issues with covers and a lot of women writers have issues with covers. My covers have been targetting women, and a kind of woman, because you want your books to reach a broad readership and read what’s inside.

I’ve found my Roar and we’ve changed for this cover. For The Marble Collector it could have been for anyone, man or woman. I think I took out my frustrations in The Woman Who Was Pigeonholed, which is what I’ve experienced over my writing career.’

She hopes Roar will introduce new readers to her books. ‘They’ll www.writers-online.co.uk www.writers-online.co.uk

see what I do, and they might be surprised. With the new book I’m working on now I’d like to change tone again, and because I’ve spent so much time with these stories, I need a new challenge. I’ve learned a lot from them, and the strength and the voices are what I want.’

Cecelia, who has two young children and a book-a-year deadline, works office hours. ‘My writing process is very scheduled,’ she says. ‘I write from January until June then edit during the summer, and it’s published every autumn. I work in an office four days a week, and I write longhand, from nine to five. That’s my schedule. Roar differed in that I was writing between novels, after novels. I might write a short story at the very end of the day. I wrote them on holidays, and in breaks.’

On a book-by book basis, she’s learned a way of drafting that works for her. ‘I’ll write a few chapters, then edit it as I go along. And then I go back, over and over and over.’

Writing is Cecelia’s job, but it’s one she loves. ‘Writing is my career but writing a novel is still a passion project for me also.’ Writing the Roar stories is a case in point: she wrote them because she couldn’t not write them. ‘I didn’t think anybody would ever want the stories in Roar,’ she confesses.

She thinks the reason her books resonate so widely with readers is because the characters and their stories spark an emotional response. ‘People are emotionally involved with the stories – but at other times, people are entertained. People identify with the characters and their journey. Look – we all love watching people. I love watching people. I’m an observer.

When you do that, you learn things.’

Cecelia’s background may be out of the ordinary but she has an uncanny capacity to empathise with the concerns of everyday life. ‘My life is incredibly normal!’ she counters, laughing. ‘We’re all people – we’re all made of the same stuff. No matter what, we’re all human – just because my dad is a politician, that’s not my life. We all have an individual story, and we should never assume what another person’s story is – that’s what the story, The Woman Who Thought The Grass Was Greener on the Other Side is about – you can never tell what someone else’s life is like.’

S TA R I N T E RV I E W

There are themes she comes back to.

‘Always love. Identity, self-discovery and transitional moments. Characters who have lost a sense of themselves and have to rediscover who they are.

I’m fascinated by the human spirit and they way life throws things at you and you have to overcome them. We’re so resilient. It’s great subject matter and ripe for stories – when people are happy, they don’t question anything, but loss?

That’s when you question everything.’

She’s wary of offering advice for writers, believing that everyone will find their own way. ‘First of all, don’t take anybody’s advice! Everyone has their own methods. From speaking to a lot of aspiring writers, I’d say write what moves you. Write with your inner voice, the one you think with. You have to give the reader a surprise – something they didn’t even know they wanted.’

She certainly doesn’t have advice on how to write successful popular fiction but she believes there are to key elements that help.

‘The thing is, I write fiction and it will either become popular, or not. I do write high-concept stories where the plot is something people can get hooked into. It’s plot heavy and the characters come from the idea. We’re storytellers – you want to tell a story and have a really good idea. You need two things: great plot and great storytelling.’

The Woman Who Has Found Her Roar takes a pause for breath. ‘Well, you need a lot more than that. But it’s a beginning.’

LISTEN TAP HERE To hear an extract from P.S I love you

www.writers-online.co.uk

JANUARY19 2019

How I got

I N S P I R I N G WO R D S

published ROD REYNOLDS The crime writer tells Dolores Gordon Smith how he figured it was time to get serious or forget it

‘F

irst, an admission: I didn’t always want to be a writer.

‘Or to be more accurate, although I’ve always loved books, I never imagined being a writer when I was younger because it seemed such an impossibility – like dreaming of being a footballer or rock star. At age 29, I hadn’t written a word of fiction since school.

‘What changed? A few things. Approaching thirty and feeling unsettled in my career made me reappraise things. Having a writer friend say, “Why can’t it be us?” made the odds seem less daunting. And most of all it was hubris: the feeling that I could do better than some of the rubbish I read.

‘My first stab quickly disabused me of that notion. Writing any book is hard. So subsequently I saved for eighteen months to take a year off work, signed up for a distance

learning course to learn the fundamentals and banged out a draft in two months. I worked longer hours than my desk job. I worked weekends. I loved every second of it.

‘The completed manuscript was rejected by dozens of agents, but there was enough encouraging feedback to make me pursue it. The consensus was that although that particular story didn’t work, my writing was good. One letter even included a handwritten note saying, Don’t be discouraged, the odds aren’t as bad as they seem. 99.9% of what we receive is rubbish.

‘I started plotting a new novel I was desperate to write, but real life intervened and I went back to work. A year went by. With my motivation waning, I figured it was time to get serious or forget it. I chose the former and signed up for City University’s MA in creative writing, specifically in crime fiction – the only course of its kind then.

‘I met some incredibly talented aspiring writers, who inspired me to write better.

I worked with professional authors who helped me find that extra layer of quality.

And I gained invaluable insight into the publishing business.

‘I finished the manuscript that became my debut novel, The Dark Inside, and snagged an agent and a publishing deal before I’d even graduated – a first for City’s MA programmes. I celebrated. And then I started writing the sequel.’

Top tips • The one thing that I hear agents and editors say they’re looking for above all: voice. Learn what that is, then hone yours, make it unique, make it consistent throughout. Not easy, but key.

• Read your work aloud to yourself. You’ll feel like an idiot at first, but there’s no better way of picking up on clunky dialogue and prose.

Rod’s editor, Angus Cargill, Faber & Faber ‘Voice.

‘What do people mean when they refer to “voice” in writing?

It’s one of those words in publishing and writing, often used and yet seldom defined.

But maybe therein lies the clue, voice is the mystery element that good writing has to have, a tone or note which will capture the reader’s imagination, which will somehow elevate the words to something they believe in and want to follow. No novel really works without it, and you don’t need to read much to recognise it (even if you can’t explain it).

‘The opening paragraph of Rod Reynolds’ strikingly assured debut novel, The Dark Inside, was to me a great example of this: ‘I arrived in town four days after the latest killings. Tall pines lined the road in. They only petered out the last mile, where the Texas-Pacific line ran parallel to the blacktop, gunmetal rails running off into the distance. A sign at the town limits read TEXARKANA, U.S.A. is 20

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TWICE AS NICE. A dog cocked its leg and took a piss against it.

‘In just a few sentences, this gives you character, place and situation – an outsider arriving somewhere as the “latest killings” have happened. Both arresting and fresh it also announces itself as clearly, and lovingly, in the tradition of classic crime. And while pared down, note the details too, his use of “latest” (so these aren’t the first killings); the tall pines lining the road, almost as though our narrator is having to tunnel in (and we don’t yet know if there will be a road out); the sign at the town limits (an invitation or a warning?); and then, to seal it, the image of the dog cocking his leg to underline his, and our, sense that something very dark is at play here.

‘Of course, a book has to live up to its opening, its promise, but when you feel in safe hands like this, you know you are and ready to go, whatever the story and wherever it will take you.

‘On to the opening of Rod’s second book, Black Night Falling, just a single line this time, and again in the voice of his superb narrator, the troubled, peripatetic journalist Charlie Yates: It was almost dark when I landed.

‘Arrival and foreboding – what more of an invitation do you need?’

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Ask a Literary Consultant

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Writers’ partners can play a vital supportive role, explains Helen Corner Bryant

Q A

‘My partner is writing a novel and I’m wondering how best to support them…’

By pledging to support your partner, you’re effectively giving them free rein to create: this is a gift in itself.

Encouragement from friends and family can oil the wheels of the writing process and alleviate writer guilt whilst endorsing their quest and enabling them to fly. A writer’s journey may or may not lead to a publishing deal, and while it’s good to have an end goal in sight – for some this is just to finish their piece – it’s also important that the pressure surrounding a writer is as positive as is practicable.

All too often I hear writers say they can’t justify their writing to their partner if it’s not going to be published. Although this doesn’t necessarily suggest their partner is being unsupportive, it’s not that helpful, and perpetuates the common misconception that a writer’s success is determined by publication. Would a painter or musician (or partner thereof ) demand the same thing of their art?

Naturally, this kind of pressure can spur certain people on to succeed – like anything in life, what doesn’t work for some works for others. I also know many writers who say their partners have no interest in their writing – some even find it a waste of time – and they live very happily. These writers are usually able to carve out their right to write without distraction.

The chances are if your partner loves writing it will feed into a vital and necessary part of them. They’ll be busy researching and imagining: what did an 18th-century banquet have on its menu; how can they save their characters from captivity; what does it feel like to not be heard? The writer has real characters and lives to create in a setting that feels authentic and visceral. If they’re staring at you wildly in the kitchen while you ask what they’d like for dinner, the chances are they’re in another world while at the same time trying to be with you as well. Sometimes they’ll share what they’ve learned and sometimes you won’t want to know. But, as a writer, they’ll be equipping themselves with all sorts of facts, experiences, and emotions – real or imagined – and this can lead to quite an interesting life for everyone, even if it’s just from the kitchen table.

Equally, if the writer spends every waking second absorbed in their stories, those surrounding them might start to feel frustrated and resentful. It is possible for it to not take over one’s life, though, and to set aside an hour or two a day or every few days where it sits naturally within the household.

It’s vital that the

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writer strikes a balance.

For some, it’s important that their partners engage with their writing: asking questions and offering a fresh perspective can be a welcomed part of the process. We do find more often than not, though, that in the interest of keeping the peace and striking that healthy writing-home balance, authors benefit more from a writers’ group or a course that offers peer-topeer feedback. However, there’s no harm in mentioning that they set their next novel in a destination that you’ve always wanted to explore and then booking those tickets.

Of course, if your loved one does go on to get published, all the better for everyone. One benefit of having a writer as a partner, child, parent, friend, is that you can share in their joy and sense of achievement. Ultimately, it’s impossible to predict where writing will take a writer, but if you’re the supportive partner who creates space for them to write – this can be mental, emotional, and physical, and bearing in mind that the best gestures are the little ones such as bringing them a cup of tea while they’re in mid-flow – this can make all the difference.

Are you thinking about submitting to the trade?

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- Edit Your Novel online course alumna Dawn Brown Based on the #1 bestselling book, On Editing, our Edit Your Novel online course is designed to help you perfect your submissions package whilst equipping you with all the tools you need to become a confident self-editor.

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JANUARY 2019

21

SELF-HELP HELP Want to write non-fiction that changes lives? Leading publishing editor Kelly Notaras offers her ten top tips for writing a self-help book

‘S

elf-help.’ If the term triggers a snicker or an eye roll from you, you’re definitely not alone. For many, the new age promise that a little personal growth work can bring a jackpot of love, prosperity and life satisfaction sounds like so much snake oil. But if statistics are true – which say that Americans alone spend upwards of $11 billion a year on selfimprovement – then there has to be something to it – right?

I’m here to say, yes. And I can say that with such authority because I have not always been a believer. I myself discovered self-help in my late twenties, when I was living in New York City and working as a book editor at a major publishing company. I was publishing on literary fiction, pop culture and memoir at the time, and if you’d suggested I would one day be a self-help editor I would have called you crazy.

But behind closed doors, I was very unhappy. When I started sobbing at my desk one day – and couldn’t stop – I made an appointment with my doctor.

She took one look at me and prescribed anti-depressants. A few months after getting on the meds, a friend encouraged me to pick up one of the great personal growth titles of our age: The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.

Here’s where my story about self-help changed. Because without hesitation I can say that that book transformed my life.

First and most importantly, it introduced me to meditation. (And 22

JANUARY 2019

within a year of daily sitting practice, I was off the anti-depressants.)

But reading the book also opened the door into editing self-help as a career. Through my meditation community I was offered a job as the editorial director at a multimedia spirituality publisher. Suddenly the books I was reading for my job were the books I was already reading in my free time: self-help, personal growth and inspirational memoir.

In the intervening decade I’ve learned a whole lot about what it takes to go from being an aspiring self-help author to a successful, published one.

I am sharing here my top ten tips for writing self-help – in hopes the book you were born to write changes someone’s life the way Eckhart Tolle’s book changed mine.

1 Test your audience before you start writing One of the biggest mistakes I see new self-help authors make is writing a book without first test-driving their ideas to make sure they resonate with an audience. This may seem elementary, but you’d be surprised how many authors fail to take this important step – and face grim sales as a result.

The good news is that there’s never been a better time to connect with potential readers. Social media, blogging, podcasting and video-casting are all great ways to test-drive your ideas to see which gain traction. Invite your fans to join you for a coaching group via video conferencing software, or start www.writers-online.co.uk

offering one-on-one sessions for clients. In doing so you’ll learn what works and what doesn’t, and you can tailor your book content accordingly.

2 Choose a unique concept for your book This ‘hook’ or positioning statement is the 1-2 sentence pitch explaining what the book is about.

If your heart is set on finding a traditional publisher, your hook needs to quickly communicate how your book is new, different and appealing. Once you have your hook dialled in, let it be the guiding light as you write.

Too many people put time and effort into writing an entire manuscript, only to discover too late that their concept lacks the oomph required to catch a publisher’s attention. If you’re concerned about this, consider working with an editor to hone your hook, someone who has a sense of what is working in the book marketplace and what publishers are looking for.

3 Speak to the reader’s pain point, and explain the benefits of what you’re offering Readers come to the self-help bookshelf searching for answers to a real pain point in their lives. As a self-help author, your job is to communicate to the reader that you understand her problem – and that you have a solution.

For this reason, it is most effective

GETTING PUBLISHED

to choose a title that focuses on the benefits the reader is going to receive from reading the book. You may even want to name the problem in the subtitle or cover copy – ‘overcome X and experience Y’ – with X being the problem and Y being the desired outcome. If you successfully communicate the problem (and, later, how your book is positioned to help) you’re sure to find ready readers.

4 Write about what you personally know Too often I see authors over-quoting other writers, thinkers and teachers, flying on the coattails of others’ authority. If you are considering writing a self-help book, your personal and professional experience with your topic ought to be deep and significant. Moreover – going back to point 1 on this list – you ought to have tested your theories at length to make sure they solve the problems they claim to.

If you don’t yet have this experience, don’t worry – you can get it. I suggest pausing the book-writing process and taking your work out into the marketplace to see how it lands. It may take a bit longer to get your book on the shelf, but your time-tested authority will be evident on the page – and in your sales figures.

5 Start with an outline While they should not be formulaic per se, most popular self-help books do keep to a strong, symmetrical chapter style. By contrast to fiction or memoir, prescriptive non-fiction should be much like, well, a prescription. Step-by-step, chronological, easily digested by the reader. What’s the best way to ensure your book fits the bill? Write from a solid outline.

I suggest creating a table of contents, and then adding three or four subheadings inside each chapter. Go one step further and add a handful of bullet points to each subheading, so you know the general flow of information you want to include. The added bonus is that this outline will give you a simple starting point every time you sit down to write. No deliberation, and no more blank-page-paralysis. Just pick a subheading and start writing.

6 Include memorable stories, not just facts I once worked with a brilliant therapist who had amazing information to share – but his book was so information-heavy that I feared nobody would want to read it.

My main focus in our work together was getting him to include real-life client tales (composites, of course) to brighten up the narrative and allow readers to connect with the information in a more personal way.

It’s been suggested that humans are 22 times more likely to remember a fact if it’s been wrapped in a story. Stories are also inherently entertaining. So take advantage by including anecdotes to illustrate your main ideas throughout the book. These may be case studies from your client base, relevant stories from literature and mythology, or anecdotes from your own life.

7 Create an actionable programme or process A self-help book is meant to help readers get something specific they want from life. To this end, it can be very helpful to offer step-bystep guidance toward the outcomes you’re promising. Naming a specific number of teachings, such as The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success (Deepak Chopra) or The Four Agreements (Don Miguel Ruiz) or a multi-step process (like a new eating or exercise plan) can help the reader digest the content in an orderly manner.

What’s more, choosing a programme or process will also help you stay organised as you write, and avoid going off on tangents.

Even if you don’t want to name the number of steps or teachings in the title or subtitle, using a numbered organisational structure is a sure-fire way to create a strong, symmetrical backbone for the book.

8 Give the reader practical exercises No self-help book is worth the paper its printed on if it doesn’t have a measurable effect on the reader’s life. In other words, your audience should not just learn your teachings intellectually; they must also be set up to integrate that learning into their everyday lives.

The easiest way to accomplish this goal is to include actionable, step-bywww.writers-online.co.uk

step exercises throughout the text. In most cases I suggest including at least one, but no more than three exercises per chapter. They may require journalling, movement, conversations with loved ones or even a ‘field trip’ to a park or shopping centre. Regardless of the form, the exercise should allow the reader to practice one or more key principles in that chapter – so they can be woven into her life.

9 Know your audience A reader needs to feel like your book is precisely tailored to his individual needs, or he is likely to leave it on the shelf. So when it comes to your book idea, choose a topic that will speak to a specific audience. How can you ensure your book hits this mark?

Choose an ‘ideal reader’ for your book before you start writing.

If you’ve been teaching about your topic for a period of time, you probably know the demographics of the person who is most drawn to what you do. Is this person a woman or man, a millennial or retiree, married or single? What are his or her struggles, hopes, dreams? Once you know who you’re writing for, it becomes much easier to know what to include in the book – and what you can hold for a future book.

10 Start building interest in the book early In today’s changing marketplace, it’s up to the author to get the fire of interest in their book burning bright. For this reason, growing an audience – or ‘building your platform’ as it’s called in the book business – is a critical part of any non-fiction book journey.

While many authors think a publisher will do the marketing for them, such is no longer the case.

But once again, the internet is on your side, handing a bullhorn to anyone with something to say and the motivation to say it. So no matter where you are on your self-help book journey – whether just nurturing the dream or already shipping your manuscript off to the printer – the time is now to start building your audience and setting yourself up for strong sales at publication time.

Kelly Notaras is the author of The Book You Were Born to Write (Hay House).

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23

writing Start planning your 2019 writing year with these exercises from Jenny Alexander I love New Year – it’s the perfect time for making new starts. I like to begin a new book in January, having spent the autumn laying the groundwork – that’s been my pattern for many years. It reminds me of waiting for the wave on a bodyboard and catching it right at the start of its rush to the beach.

When it comes to my personal writing, I buy a brand new notebook for the start of each New Year, so the first of January always feels like setting out on a new adventure. I recommend it!

I hope 2019 will bring you many new writing adventures, and here are your free-range writing forays to get things started. There’s just one rule: stick to the timings.

I

Memoir Think back over 2018 and write some lists: • Three positive things that happened • Three negative things that happened • Three things that happened (or didn’t happen!) in your writing life Don’t overthink it – just go with your first ideas, big or small.

After that, write about 2018, whatever comes, keeping your pen moving on the paper for ten minutes.

Reflect on what you’ve written.

Notice what kind of thing you’ve chosen to focus on – your inner life and emotions, your day-to-day activities, places, people, relationships…?

Write for another five minutes.

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Note: If you’re starting a new notebook, make this the last entry in the old one.

Fiction Someone makes a New Year’s resolution. Who? Write some character notes – their name, age, appearance.

What is their resolution? Why is it important to them?

In early January, they are tempted to break their resolution – why? Where are they? Write some notes on the setting.

Someone else is involved, either in encouraging them to break their resolution or persuading them not to.

What is their relationship with the protagonist, if any? Why do they try to intervene? What’s the outcome?

Write the scene. 20 minutes.

• Note: If you give your fictional protagonist one of your own New Year resolutions, the other character in this scene may show you either your inner strength of purpose or unconscious resistance in relation to it.

Non-fiction At the start of a new year, I set myself one big challenge, one small one and one inner challenge to the way I’m thinking. I like the idea of challenges rather than resolutions – it sounds more dynamic and less dogged.

What would you like to try and achieve in your writing life in 2019?

Think of some big things and some small ones, and jot them down just www.writers-online.co.uk

as they occur to you – for example, ‘Finish my novel’, ‘Write my diary every day’, ‘Go on a writing workshop’, ‘Enter a competition’ or ‘Tell my friends I’ve been secretly working on a novel for years.’

Only you know which of your writing challenges are big or small. For some people, going on a workshop could be a fun thing they’ve just never got round to trying but, for others, it might feel like a terrifying step into the unknown.

Now think about your attitudes towards writing. What negative thoughts do you have that get in the way of your writing success and pleasure? ‘I’m no good at it’ – that’s a common one. ‘It’s self-indulgent.’

‘Who would be interested in what I have to say?’ Simply noticing when you’re thinking those thoughts will help you to let them go.

Choose one big challenge, one small one and one negative thought about your writing that you’re intending to notice and let go.

Write a mission statement for your writing goals in 2019. Email it to a friend, if that might help you stick to it – or send it here to Letters at Writing Magazine.

Poetry Imagine last year was a single day – what kind of weather would it be?

Sunny, stormy, overcast and grey?

What kind of place – countryside, beach, garden, office, kitchen, shopping mall?

As usual, go with your first thoughts – there’s no right or wrong decision in creative thinking. For me it could be a bright breezy day outside, in an unfamiliar hall or meeting room, because one feature of 2018 was that I did a lot of writing workshops for organisations outside my local area.

Close your eyes for a few minutes and use all your senses to fully imagine yourself in this setting. Notice how you feel emotionally, and where you feel those emotions in your body.

Write a poem simply describing the experience of being there. See if any thoughts or insights start to emerge through that. Take twenty minutes.

Note: Poetry is more instinctive and non-fiction more a function of the rational mind, but they can both be effective ways of finding a sense of direction.

A DV E R TO R I A L

5 Hurdles of Publishing:

how to finish writing

You start writing a book, but by the last chapters, it can feel like you’ll never finish. How will you know when it’s done? The SilverWood team have some advice on how to finish writing.

There are no secrets or short-cuts, but here are some common pitfalls to avoid:

1. You get distracted from your writing plan The book is 90% finished so you lose motivation, having previously taken care to schedule your writing time.

Writers are creative people, so they get distracted by new ideas; fresh information could affect how you want to end your book.

• Avoid writing two books in one – instead, give yourself the opportunity to expand your portfolio later. Jot down ideas for a second book and any follow-up research, then turn your mind back to the task in hand.

• Your writing plan should be detailed enough to indicate the conclusion you are aiming for, and will help you focus on the problem you set out to solve.

3. You struggle to reach a conclusion

2. You stop writing because you lose confidence It’s natural for writers to get tired of writing. You read the words over and over, getting to a point where you can’t trust your own perspective.

• Employ some positive mental attitude techniques. Write a negative thought down on a card, flip it over and write the positive thought on the reverse. For example: ‘Everyone will love my book.’

• Turn the positive list into your mantra, repeating it two or ten times daily, until the writer’s block lifts.

• Ask a professional to look at the work you’ve produced.

This should give you a fresh perspective and new energy.

SilverWood can give constructive feedback on your first three chapters for £66. Read more here: www. silverwoodbooks.co.uk/product/RR1/readers-report

can’t stop tweaking the words for 4. You fear of criticism

Sometimes your writing reaches a dead end; you can’t make it flow properly to reach your desired conclusion.

Your plan shows roughly what should be in the closing chapters, but no matter how hard you try, the words are twisting into waxing platitudes or complex nonsense.

• Take a complete break. Go for a walk, or spend a few days in new surroundings.

• Think about your audience. How do you want them to feel when they read the last part of your book? Can you picture them in your mind? Could you even sketch them to get your focus back to finishing the book for their benefit?

Your manuscript is finished, but instead of handing it over to the editor and proofreader, you tinker with sentences and chop up paragraphs.

• Authors who’ve already been published are familiar with how editors and proofreaders can improve their work. But fear of the unknown causes first-time authors to question their skills and their ‘right to be successful’ – imposter syndrome is real when you’re writing a book.

• Techniques to overcome it include surrounding yourself with encouraging individuals, referring back to your research and sticking to your goals.

• There’s a lot of advice out there for entrepreneurs which also applies to authors, like Alison Edgar’s blog: http://sales coachingsolutions.co.uk/overcome-impostor-syndrome/

5.You fall out of love with the subject When you’re struggling to finish writing, you reach a point where you simply don’t care anymore. You’ve lost sight of what you wanted to achieve and why.

• If you have reached this point, it feels impossible to get to the end. Consider shelving your manuscript until you reconnect with the reasons why this book matters.

• SilverWood’s tip for re-motivating yourself is to check out your competition, especially for non-fiction books.

Who’s written a similar book on the subject? What was left unanswered by their book? How will the readers benefit from your studies and results?

Often, authors find their frustration with current books on the market will spur them on to finish the manuscript. This is also great timing to talk to self-publishing experts, like us. Even though you’re ultimately only going to pick one, call a few people to discuss your book and let their enthusiasm re-ignite yours. We are always happy to talk about books! If you’d like to have a chat with an expert who can help you find the clarity you’re looking for, then please drop us a line.

How can SilverWood Books help you…?

• Editing and proofreading • Typesetting and professional cover design • POD, bulk printing and ebooks • Distribution to the book trade • Marketing tools

Discuss your next book with Anna or Catherine: E: enquiries@silverwoodbooks.co.uk T: 0117 910 5829 | silverwoodbooks.co.uk

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f o e u q i n h c e t & e l y t s e h T

Daphne du Maurier LISTEN TAP HERE

To hear an extract from Rebecca

S

he was a prolific writer, probably best known for novels and short stories adapted into films, such as Hitchcock’s Rebecca and The Birds. Daphne du Maurier produced sixteen novels, many short stories, several biographies, three plays, a memoir and books about Cornwall, the county she loved and lived in for most of her life. Here I’ll focus on three of her best-loved novels, Jamaica Inn, Rebecca and Frenchman’s Creek.

How she began She was born into a theatrical and artistic family. Her father was the actor/ manager Sir Gerald du Maurier, her mother the actress Muriel Beaumont and her grandfather the illustrator and writer George du Maurier (author of Trilby). An avid reader from an early age, she began with Beatrix Potter before going on to Robert Louis Stevenson, Katherine Mansfield, Guy de Maupassant and the Brontë sisters. Her family connections helped to kick-start her literary career. Her first published short story, And Now to God the Father, appeared in 1929 in her uncle’s weekly magazine, Bystander, where several of her early short stories were to appear.

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Tony Rossiter examines the work of a writer sometimes described, rather misleadingly, as a romantic novelist These are full of unpleasant male characters (bullies, seducers, cheats) and weak women: masculine power and heartlessness is pitched against feminine helplessness, foreshadowing a theme that recurred in her novels.

She was impressed by the ‘iron discipline’ of the writer Edgar Wallace, a close friend of her father, and decided that if she was to forge a literary career she would need to establish a rigid writing routine. By putting her nose to the grindstone and writing for six hours every day at Ferryside, her family’s holiday home near Fowey in Cornwall, within a fortnight she produced 45,000 words of her first novel, The Loving Spirit (the title taken from an Emily Brontë poem), a family saga, based on real events and places, told over four generations.

Jamaica Inn Jamaica Inn (1936) was du Maurier’s fourth novel; within three months of its publication it had sold more than her first three novels combined. Inspired by her stay in 1930 at the real Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor, it’s a gripping story of smugglers and wreckers who run ships aground, kill the survivors and steal their cargo. With lots of suspense and a well-worked twist in the tail, it’s an exciting story with a very strong sense of place. There is fine descriptive writing that takes the reader out onto the bleak, windswept moors and into the grim and threatening interior of Jamaica Inn. Du Maurier succeeds in fusing landscape, climate and story with the character and inner thoughts and feelings of her heroine, Mary Yellan.

Rebecca For many critics, Rebecca (1938) is du Maurier’s masterpiece. In 1937, having signed a three-book deal with www.writers-online.co.uk

her publisher, Victor Gollancz, she accompanied her husband Frederick Browning, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Grenadier Guards, on his posting to Alexandria (Egypt). For some years she had been toying with the idea of a novel about jealousy, and she sketched out a possible story: ‘Very roughly, the book will be about the influence of a first wife on a second,’ she wrote. ‘Until wife 2 is haunted day and night… a tragedy is looming very close and crash! Bang!

Something happens.’ She knew the title but not what would constitute the ‘crash! bang!’ of its plot, just that there would be two wives, one dead, and the name: Rebecca.

She started the book sluggishly, and after writing 15,000 words she tore these up and made a fresh start. When she returned to England in December 1937 she had written only a quarter of the novel, but once she was settled again at Ferryside she made good progress, and

by April it was finished. ‘It’s a bit on the gloomy side,’ she told her publisher, and ‘the ending is a bit brief and a bit grim’.

The manuscript was read by Norman Collins, senior editor at Gollancz, who reported favourably: ‘sentimental… but in a haunting, melancholy way...

Brilliantly creates a sense of atmosphere and suspense... I don’t know another author who imagines so hard all the time’. He believed that the very first paragraph would capture the reader’s attention and sympathy. It’s probably one of the most famous beginnings of any 20th-century novel: Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.

It seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive, and for a while I could not enter, for the way was barred to me. There was a padlock and chain upon the gate. I called in my dream to the lodge keeper, and had no answer, and peering

B E AT T H E B E S T S E L L E R S

closer through the rusted spokes of the gate I saw that the lodge was uninhabited.

Manderley was based partly on Milton, a grand country house in Northamptonshire which du Maurier had visited as a child, and partly on Menabilly, the Cornish house in which she lived for 25 years. Gollancz wrote to booksellers saying that he did not remember a book which so obviously contained every single one of the essential qualities of the bestseller.

Du Maurier wrote Rebecca in the first person, from the perspective of a young unnamed narrator, who after her marriage to the older, wealthy Maxim de Winter, finds herself living in the shadow of his beautiful, dead wife.

With her lanky hair, her bitten nails and her inability to talk to servants, she seems little more than a schoolgirl.

She is shy and nervy, with low selfesteem. Anxious, dreamy and romantic, her neurotic insecurities and fantasies spiral out of control when she becomes mistress of Manderley. ‘You are so very different from Rebecca,’ says Maxim’s sister, Beatrice. The dead Rebecca is beautiful and charismatic, loved and admired by everyone she meets.

Rebecca’s soulmate is Mrs Danvers, the sinister housekeeper at Manderley.

This is how du Maurier introduces her: Someone advanced from the sea of faces, someone tall and gaunt, dressed in deep black whose prominent cheek-bones and great, hollow eyes gave her a skull’s face, parchment white, set on a skeleton’s frame.

She came towards me, and I held out my hand, envying her for her dignity and her composure; but when she took my hand hers was limp and heavy, deathly cold, and it lay in mine like a lifeless thing.

‘This is Mrs Danvers,’ said Maxim, and she began to speak, still leaving that dead hand in mine, her hollow eyes never leaving my eyes, so that my own wavered and would not meet hers, and as they did so her hand moved in mine, the life returned to it, and I was aware of a sensation of discomfort and of shame.

The contrast between the two wives, the unnamed narrator and Rebecca, is stark. But the paragon of beauty and kindness turns out to be a malevolent fake: ‘vicious, damnable, rotten through and through’, says Max, when the truth emerges. Du Maurier’s skilful writing secures the reader’s loyalty to her jealous,

insecure narrator – and has the reader seeing Max as victim rather than the murderer he is.

Once promoted as a ‘world-famous bestseller of love and suspense’, Rebecca is in reality an unsettling psychological thriller with many of the trappings of a Gothic romance: a mysterious mansion with hidden corridors and rooms, violence, murder, sexual passion, a haunting landscape and a spectacular fire. Many critics now see it as a 20th-century resetting of Jane Eyre, with Brontë’s madwoman in the attic transformed into Rebecca’s ghostly presence, and a key feminist Gothic text.

Frenchman’s Creek ‘The only romantic novel I’ve ever written’ was how Daphne du Maurier described Frenchman’s Creek (1941).

It’s a swashbuckling tale of pirates, danger and love set in the Restoration period of Charles II. The action takes place in and around a hidden inlet in the Helford River estuary in Cornwall where Daphne du Maurier spent her honeymoon. Donna, Lady St Columb, bored by the shallowness of Restoration court life, leaves her husband behind in London to spend time on their remote estate in Cornwall. She soon comes face to face with the French pirate who has been robbing the houses of her well-todo Cornish neighbours: ‘Why are you a pirate?’ she said at last, breaking the silence.

‘Why do you ride horses that are so spirited?’ he answered.

‘Because of the danger, because of the speed, because I might fall,’ she said.

‘That is why I am a pirate,’ he said.

The pirate, Jean-Benoit Aubéry, who enjoys sketching sea birds, is a more educated and cultured man than her dull husband. Transformed from highborn lady into a wild, selfless woman, Donna falls in love: ‘In England,’ she said, ‘people never sleep in the afternoon. It must be a custom peculiar to your countrymen. But in the meanwhile, what are we going to do until my clothes are dry?’

He watched, the ghost of a smile on his lips.

‘In France,’ he said, they would tell you there is only one thing we could do. But perhaps that also is a custom peculiar to my countrymen.’

She did not answer. Then leaning www.writers-online.co.uk

forward he stretched out his hand, and very gently he began to unscrew the ruby from her left ear.

How she wrote For most of her life du Maurier spent several hours of every day writing, and from the 1930s to the 1960s she produced a novel approximately every two years. The process of writing a novel was, she said, different from a short story, which often stemmed from a specific incident or event. Contemplating a new novel, she frequently spent nine months or so mulling it over and giving it time to germinate, before she sat down and started to type. Once she began writing, she had an obsessive focus on the work in hand, entering into the head of each of her characters.

Her novels tapped into her audience’s love of adventure, sexuality, mystery and fantasy. She had an uncanny understanding of how to engineer suspense; how to make the reader wait and wonder and want to know; and how and when to deliver the denouement. With many of her novels rooted in the landscape of Cornwall, she had a gift for descriptive writing encompassing all the senses – not least, touch and smell (for example, lilac and other flowers at Manderley) – and excelled at creating a strong and atmospheric sense of place.

Her novels embodied desires and dreams to which many women could relate and, in the words of Stephen King, she ‘created a scale by which modern women can measure their feelings.’ Du Maurier, however, talked of the ‘boy-in-the-box’ and explained to a few close friends that her personality comprised two distinct people – on the one hand, the loving wife and mother; on the other, the ‘decidedly male energy’ that propelled her writing.

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Fine-tune your feedback Chris Clement-Green featured in a recent WM article about the benefits of mentoring.

Now, she follows up with advice for how feedback should best be received, and given.

I

n the dim and distant past I once worked as a police trainer. The word ‘trainer’ is important as five years earlier, when I had been a raw recruit myself, we sat behind desks and were front-loaded law by ‘an instructor’.

But things had moved on and, as a trainer, it was my job to keep the learning ‘student-centred’ and life relevant. Instead of weekly pass/fail exams, progress was measured by peer and trainer feedback, so this feedback had to be well structured and formal. With experience and hindsight I feel this six-rule structure could, indeed should, be applied to the giving and receiving of creative writing feedback, especially in a workshop environment:

follows and the tutor then fills in any gaps.

• The feedback shouldn’t be personal. This is helped by using the word ‘I’ instead of ‘you’. For example the phrase your main character lacks depth can be seen as attacking the writer. Replacing it with, I feel the main character is a little flat – I need to know what he’s actually thinking when X happens, makes it much harder to argue with someone’s feelings rather than with their opinion.

• All feedback must be very specific – ‘good’ or ‘dull’ doesn’t cut it.

• All feedback should be received with open minds and open NVCs. Non-Verbal Communicators such as folded arms and scowls are unlikely to elicit specific, usable feedback.

Instead take notes and show interest in all that is being said.

• The writer always goes first, stating what was good and not so good about their work. Peer feedback

• Never respond to feedback with anything other than a thankyou, but this is on the clear

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understanding that the recipient’s thanks is not automatic acceptance of the feedback.

• Go away and think about what was actually said (hence the notes) and not what you thought was said. Consider the feedback in the knowledge that you can do one of three things with it: a Ignore it completely. b Accept it completely c Accept the parts of it that make sense to you.

After setting out these six groundrules on the giving and receiving of feedback, I would also discuss transactional analysis. This is a theory put forward in the 1920’s

by Dr Eric Berne in his book The Games People Play. Transactional Analysis (or TA) describes how all interaction between two people comes from one of three places: speaking as a parent (critical or

AU T H O R E X P E R I E N C E

nurturing), an adult or a child (tantrum throwing or wheedling).

One can immediately imagine members of any writing group who declaim their opinions like a critical parent – you should have done it this way! Or indeed a nurturingparent – well I think that’s very good! Either of these parental approaches is likely to trigger a childlike reaction in the recipient of the feedback: tantrum-child – what do you know! Or wheedling-child – thanks very much, but your piece is much better.

In worst-case scenarios a tantrumchild response to critical-parent feedback can result in a similar riposte and it’s downhill from there, with no learning or improvement taking place. If the group is lucky and has a strong ‘adult’ leader, the latter may intercede and try to encourage members to talk to each other on a purely adult-to-adult basis, but this is much harder than it sounds. However, by following the six feedback rules, it makes it far easier to remain in the ‘adult-zone’ while giving and receiving feedback.

After leaving the police in 2007 I took the opportunity to join my first writing group. The first thing I learnt in this group was that many writers write purely for themselves – which is fine. Unfortunately they don’t realise this fact and open themselves up in such groups to feedback they don’t actually want.

What they do want is praise; confirmation they are already a good writer, rather than ideas about how to become one.

I moved on from that group and enrolled on the OU’s creative and advanced creative writing courses, but I found peers there were still reluctant to either give or receive detailed feedback. With the exception of the tutor, I found the feedback just wasn’t specific enough to be useful. Why didn’t the character work? What was meant by too authorial a voice? How could the plot be made more believable if it was based on a real event? I also found some of the pat-slap-pat feedback (say something nice – say what you really feel – say something nice again) both irritating and patronising. It’s unusual for any

piece of writing to be completely devoid of merit, even if it’s only one memorable image, but the positive feedback must be as genuine and specific as the negative.

In 2013 I was accepted onto the Master’s Creative Writing course at Bath Spa. Hurrah, I thought. At last I’ll get the level of feedback I’ve been searching for – and I did. But guess what? I didn’t want to hear it, and I quickly fell into the trap of not actively listening to it. By active I probably mean passive. Instead of listening to what was being said with a truly open mind, I was thinking about why the feedback was wrong

However, I did begin to add more of me into the creative mix and in 2017 Mirror Books offered to publish the completed manuscript which was titled Into the Valley.

But guess what? The editor wanted more about me. So after years of battling against a consistent flow of professional opinion, I gave up the fight and included more of myself in my own memoir.

But despite all my training and experience, I still hadn’t learnt my feedback lesson. I had already completed a first draft of my debut novel, when I decided to invest the advance from my memoir into some

“Many writers write purely for themselves – which is fine. Unfortunately they don’t realise this fact and open themselves up in such groups to feedback they don’t actually want.

What they do want is praise.” and rolling around retorts in my mind as to why (specifically) it was wrong, and how they were missing the point. I played the game though: I took notes, smiled, nodded and kept the majority of knee-jerk retorts inside my buzzing brain, while all the time it was me who was missing the point.

I had always followed a policy of ignoring one or two negative reviews, but if three or more people were making the same observation then you would be stupid not to at least revisit the relevant section.

However, this policy too went to the wall during the first six months of my Masters.

My dissertation was a piece of life-writing, a memoir about my first ten years policing Thatcher’s Britain.

All the tutors and most of my peers enjoyed what I produced in the workshops, but they all wanted more. What more I kept asking?

More about how you were feeling when you did X or witnessed Y they kept telling me in a very supportive ‘adult’ way. ‘But my memoir is not about me,’ I argued, ‘it’s about Thatcher’s Britain!’ I know, tantrumchild, unbelievable. www.writers-online.co.uk

one-to-one mentoring. Thank God my mentor was both professional and persistent, because I continued to break every one of the feedback rules and argued the toss about almost everything he said in a fairly ‘criticalparent’ way. I’m sure some mentors would have taken the easy route and just continued to take my money and maybe rein in the feedback, but this one stood his ground as a reasonable ‘adult’, using great patience and meeting all of my arguments with specific, detailed counter-arguments, until I was (eventually) forced back into the adult-zone, where I started to actually follow the advice I set out at the start of this article – keeping my mouth shut and trying what was advised first. On the few occasions I felt his suggestions hadn’t worked, they invariably sparked off another sort of edit.

This letting go of my childlike arrogance enabled me to embrace his feedback and this allowed me to really grow as a writer. My debut novel Wings of Retribution is due to be published next year by Crowood Press.

I wanted to call the novel The Soft Tread of Vengeance, but some feedback is non-negotiable...

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BEGINNERS

SIZE DOESN’T MATTER Don’t worry w whether the themes are big or small, just write your story, says Adrian Magson story

TOP TIPS n an interview in October’s WM, Sebastian Faulks claimed he didn’t see the point in ‘small themes’ as subjects, preferring ‘love, war and what it means to be human’.

Nor, he continued, did he want to ‘waste three years of my life, and two or three reading days of a reader’s life, on small beer’.

Personally, as a reader, I like to choose how I waste my time, small beer or not. It’s mine after all. I like to be entertained, whether reading fiction, non-fiction or sauce bottles.

And I wouldn’t call my normal reading matter small anything. (Nor, I suggest, would any of the authors be too keen on hearing it.) If the reading matter entertains me and takes me out of myself, and along the way educates me as well on whatever the subject matter might be, I’m very grateful for that. Life is indeed short – as SF acknowledges – and how we live it is down to each one of us.

From a writer’s perspective, however, I don’t see any subject as a waste. Most of us as writers set off by making tentative steps, be it with short stories, articles, poems, plays or that first daunting book.

We pick on an idea or theme which is something that has been taunting us for some time… or which has come into our head like a flash of lightning, demanding that it be tackled before it oozes out of a crack in the skull and is gone forever.

The theme might be seen as ‘small beer’ by some; it might be judged by others as a gargantuan tale of life, love and redemption. But who is to judge before the words settle on paper?

I

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Whether big or small, it’s down solely to the individual writer to decide what they wish to tackle.

I always wanted to write crime and spy thrillers – and always have done.

Call me shallow. But I’ve also written more than my fair share of short fiction which I’m sure some would judge as lightweight. Not that I ever saw them as such. To me, writing is something you have to get out of yourself in order to be satisfied and to learn and grow.

Otherwise, why bother? Whether considered high- or low-brow (and I make no distinction), writing is something deeply personal to each one of us, and I wouldn’t want anyone setting out on the writing road to be put off trying whatever they felt like writing merely because someone more experienced or successful felt it wasn’t worthwhile or big enough.

Someone once said that writing is like a marathon. (No, I couldn’t find out who, either – but whoever it was, was right on the button.) Some writing is made in a burst of creative fire, a stream of consciousness, call it what you will; it arrives, thunders through us and is dropped on the page like up-ending a bucket of words.

(And how I wish for more of those moments!) Other projects take more time, more thought and a damned sight more hard work, because then it’s like pulling teeth; every word seemingly needing to be ground out in a never-ending dribble of sweat, tears and cuss-words enough to frighten fur off the cat.

But in the end, I view the writing process as a marathon, no matter the www.writers-online.co.uk

• Don’t be put off trying a project because it might be judged ‘too small’ or ‘too big’. It’s your choice, your project, nobody else’s.

• Write what is inside you, because it needs to come out. Then you can move on.

• Every story has a theme; the size doesn’t matter.

• As a writer, you need to please yourself first. If it doesn’t please you, it won’t do much for the reader.

size. Whether you’re just starting out or are further along the road as a writer, it’s the endeavour that’s important, not any one particular project. And face it, how many successful writers only ever wrote one book? (Okay, apart from Boris Pasternak, Emily Brontë, Anna Sewell and a few others). But I bet none of them found it a cakewalk, otherwise they’d have written another one, wouldn’t they? Simples.

And that’s the thing with writing: like butterflies to a buddleia, most of us come back to it because we can’t not do so. It’s a bug inside us, demanding that we write something else. No matter that we’ve just gone through hell on a unicycle grinding out the latest work, we’re already thinking about the next one.

And contrary to popular myth, size doesn’t matter. I’ve had great enjoyment writing short stories, articles and books, whatever the theme. And while some will have disappeared into distant memory, and not even been suitable for chip-wrappings – mainly because magazine paper doesn’t seem to be used for that – I gather readers have enjoyed them, too. And that’s my main interest.

The writing has to please me first and foremost – and I don’t mean in a self-satisfied or smug way or that I don’t sometimes feel I could have done better. I do, often. What I mean is, I have to feel a sense of enjoyment, of pleasure, of a job well done during the process. Because if I don’t get any of that, I doubt it will filter through to the reader, and I’ll find it damned hard to move on with any satisfaction to the next project.

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N I W

N O I T A C I L B U P & S E Z I R P IN CASH £250 TO BE WON

Dialogue Only SHORT STORY

COMPETITION STILL TIME TO ENTER With its closing date of 15 January, there’s still time to enter last month’s open competition, with any theme or subject. Prizes and details are as above. See p95 for entry details.

Don’t tell us he said it, just tell us what he said! No attribution, no description – just use all your writing skills to paint a picture and tell a story while keeping your dialogue realistic and flowing.

The winner will receive £200 and publication in Writing Magazine, with £50 and publication online for the runner-up. The closing date is 15 February.

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£250 TO BE WON

FOR ENTRY LL DETAILS, FU D N RULES A MS ENTRY FOR

1st place CREATIVE NON-FICTION COMPETITION

£200

While the Cherry Blossom

Falls

I

f you held my heart in your hands you would be able to tell me where it was broken. You would tell me how it happened, and whether you could fix it. I know that you would try, and that if you couldn’t fix it for me, you would tell me gently, calmly, but that I would see sadness in your eyes and new lines on your face.

I can you tell you that you can hold a six-year-old child’s heart in your hands and pump it back to life in another child’s body. I can tell you that if that were not enough, you can perform this magic while news announcers pump updates to your assistants about the earthquake rumbling across the nearby towns. I can tell you that while the buildings around you begin to quiver, and the blossom is shaken from the trees outside your windows, you will remain steady until your work is done.

I can tell you that if my aorta is too weak to clamp while you replace my mitral valve with a synthetic valve, crafted with a precision that makes it easier to replace than repair, and you cannot cut off my blood flow while you operate then you will be able to lower my body temperature to a steady eighteen degrees for up to forty minutes and my blood flow will slow sufficiently for you to hold my heart in your hands and mend it. I can tell you this.

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Jeanette Everson was first published in Horse and Pony magazine at the age of ten. She’s striving to achieve equal accolade now she’s (allegedly) a grown up, and has recently completed the Open University Advanced Writing course and had a few flash fiction contest wins and publications. She runs her own ceramics business and teaches English as a foreign language to people all over the world.

Jeanette was pleased that publication of this story would raise awareness of the importance of organ donation, which is still taboo in Japan. ‘I talk to this Japanese heart surgeon who is the subject of my entry, the more I realise just how hard doctors work and how under-appreciated they are. He is without doubt one of the people I am most inspired by and in awe of and I am thrilled that his story is being told.’

ByJeanette Everson

I can tell you these things, because in between shifts, you tell them to me.

Yet, you still laugh as you tell me you can do these things, and the stress of your days shows only as tiredness in your eyes as they crinkle while you talk.

You are amused when I suggest that when you are older, and your hands begin to shake, you will be able disguise their aging infirmity by attributing your tremors to performing in a quivering operating theatre as the next earthquake crumples your neighbourhood. You laugh as I describe my mental image of your assistants rushing to hold down your patient as the table tremors, wobbling her open chest like a plate of jelly. You smile indulgently as you agree that piping the aroma of coffee into the theatre air may be a useful substitute for the hot liquid you are not allowed to drink in your non-stop marathon of operating time. www.writers-online.co.uk

You tell me, no, whilst there are peaks and troughs in every surgery, there does not come a point where you can take a five-minute break to sit back and flip through the papers or nip outside for an illicit cigarette. When I say that perhaps the piped caffeine is a bad idea after all, in case it wakes your sleeping patient, you disagree: I can tell you that you have confidence that the anaesthetic will not fail, the coffee aroma would never penetrate sedation, and there will be only a very small risk that – with or without coffee – you or your team will fall asleep on the job.

My curiosity to hear more about your days feels like an imposition, a further demand on your emotional stamina, but, like a voyeur at a car crash, I cannot stop myself. I am enthralled, intrigued, and awestruck. By now, I admire you in clichés: When I talk to you, my heart is

S H O R T S TO RY C O M P E T I T I O N W I N N E R

in my mouth; my heart stands still; you hold my heart in my hands. I try to rein myself in. Some days, I suggest that we could talk about the weather, the news, your homelife, trivial things. I don’t want you to pack your work into your pockets and bring it home with you just to tell me. Or, when you call me in snatched time between operations, I want you to relax, turn the work off for a moment. I don’t want it to ooze out of your arteries, your veins, become your blood.

You don’t mind, you tell me. When you explain it to me, it is not a stress.

In fact, you say, it feels like a release, much as taking a clamp from an aorta releases the blood and the heart resumes its natural rhythm. The coolness you maintain as you work is warmed to body temperature as you talk to me, and you can release your own held breaths; talking to me, you tell me, relaxes you.

You teach me the tricks of your trade, and I am relentless with my questions, my need for childlike simplicity in your explanations to be sure I understand.

You are generous with your time and encourage my interrogations. I find a news article, related to your work, and together we dissect it – a heart, an article, an argument.

The article investigates the need to instigate DNRs – Do Not Resuscitate orders – and the difficulty in the time needed to explain their purpose, versus the time available to explain.

How do you keep someone alive long enough to tell their grieving, hoping, despairing spouse, children, parents, siblingsloversfriends… that there is only time for them die? How do you make them understand that they will die anyway? That the only choice left is to die in calm dignity with silence and love – or in chest-thumping, rib-breaking, invasive trauma with bells and whistles and lights and screaming? We agree, you and I, that sometimes – often – it must be better to let them go quietly. I can tell you that you have faced wrath and rage and bewildered vacant confusion from the bereaved. I can tell you that

when they say you have done everything wrong, I am certain you have done everything right.

I try again to talk about other things. What do you do to relax, Read the judge’s for free time? I ask, but then we analysis at: laugh. You haven’t time to relax and I must explain to you what http://writ.rs/ ‘free time’ means. It is a concept wmjan19 you cannot grasp, and I become ashamed as I give you examples about how I fill mine. Yet, you make time for me, and now I fill my free time thinking about the things you told me. The dead child whose heart you had to take has lingered with me. Perhaps, here, I can help you. Perhaps when necessity of focus means you must not dwell on those that are lost so you can concentrate on saving the ones you can, I can hold your heart for you and cry for the ones who died.

This child has haunted me for the days since you told me – you only mentioned her in passing; telling me you’d facilitated the donation of her organs. You didn’t linger; you couldn’t think of her. You transplanted her lungs too, but you glossed over those – to you, this is an everyday occurrence, so you are surprised by my surprise. How do you still smile when you talk to me?

I can tell you these things, but I do not know you. I can tell you these things only because you have told them to me, in your almost-perfect English that only falters when you are very tired.

Your Japanese accent becomes more pronounced when you have had a more exhausting day – back-to-back surgeries, open hearts, a difficult operation, then two small children – one dead, one living (you did that, I remind you, you are why she is living, remember that, I urge you) and an earthquake. I do not know you at all. We meet, online, once or twice a week. Today, you wear your own heart in the three-day-old beard that I haven’t seen before, as you snatch a moment during your 36-hour shift to talk to me.

You tell me that adrenalin keeps you focused while you perform; you only feel tired in between. On days like this,

EXPERT analysis

your exhaustion spills over into fumbled words, forgotten sentences, and a slower response to my endless questions. You have to slow down while we talk, to think more carefully; you falter more often when you are tired. I know now that the gaps in our schedule are the weeks you work the longest shifts, the hours that do not mesh with my own, the shifts that even you are exhausted by. It is in these gaps that I miss you most, worried by what you may be working at today, whether another earthquake is shaking your theatre, or another child has died in your hands. I wish I could reach through our screens and hold onto your hands, just for a while. I hope you have someone who can take your hands in theirs and hold them, treasure them, remind you of how special they are, support their weight while you rest them.

I could tell you now that while it is late into your nights when we meet, and you are straining against fatigue, hunger, sleep, for me, it is only early afternoon, sunlight still streams through my windows, the ground is steady under my seat. I could tell you that I, unlike you, have coffee beside me while I work, can take breaks, go to the bathroom, stretch my legs, stare unseeing into nothing until I am recharged enough to continue. I could tell you those things, but I don’t. Here, at my desk, my comfortable chair, talking to people like you, I learn the most, yet I am the teacher and you are the student.

I take your money and I take your knowledge. You need to improve your English so that you can lecture across the world, answer quick fire questions far tougher yet than those I ask you.

You need to come home from your 16, 24, 36-hour shifts where you hold lives in your hands and work miracles and then call me, your English tutor, for English conversation, where I – I – am always the one who learns the most.

And then, each time, you thank me.

You. Thank. Me. For what it’s worth, your English is great.

Runner-up in the Creative Non-Fiction Competition was Jill Anabona Smith, Broadstairs, Kent, whose story is published on www.writers-online.co.uk.

Also shortlisted were: Terry Baldock, Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire; Dominic Bell, Hull; Ginny Clark, Glasgow; Genevieve Fay, Loughborough; Aideen Glynn, Waterford, Munster, Ireland; Kim Gravell, Llanidloes, Powys; Andrew Hutchcraft, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire; Celia Jenkins, Corsham, Wiltshire; Elizabeth Minister, Holbrook, Suffolk; Georgie Moon, Ryde, Isle of Wight; CL Raven, Llanishen, Cardiff; Andrea Sarginson, Rochdale, Lancashire; Lizzie Strong, Storrington, West Sussex; Marilynn Wallace, Liphook, Hampshire.

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n o p u e c n O a poem djudicating Writing Magazine’s competition for narrative poetry meant engaging with a huge range of interpretations of just what constitutes a narrative poem. Essentially, poems that had a story to tell were the serious contenders. The many entries that glanced at a situation but didn’t take it along a story route were less successful on this occasion.

The stories were of families in crises of varying types, from a missed bus to a bereavement. They were also of ghosts, fairies and mermaids, of historical facts and mythological re-tellings. By far the most popular theme was pirates, and there was a fair amount of swashbuckling leaping from the pages. The best stories in poetry left the reader tingling and provoked the same feeling you get when you are approaching the end of a good novel – you can’t wait for the denouement, but you don’t want the pleasure of reading to end.

The preferred pattern of entries was the sestina; which may not be such a coincidence as it sounds, since the form was analysed and the competition launched in the same issue of the magazine. Although almost all of the sestina entries worked well technically, this is not necessarily the best form for a narrative poem, a point which highlights the vital process of matching form and subject. Of the other entries, blank verse, free verse, rhyming couplets and ballad stanzas all proved popular.

One surprising phenomenon was a tendency to lapse into a dated voice in the poems. Many of them had quaint contractions, such as whene’er for whenever, archaic wording with the occasional thee and ‘twas, and inversions that wrenched the syntax. Even when writing on a historical theme, it’s useful to root the language in the contemporary idiom.

When metre and rhyme were included, their naturalness and accuracy of application gave the poem a terrific boost, and these were a pleasing feature of the winning piece.

Spanish Gold by Sim Smailes of Braintree, Essex, takes us onto the high seas with a brave Captain and his handpicked crew.

The routine voyage that opens the poem is rudely interrupted when a pirate ship gave chase and came up close behind. Battle was engaged, and at the end of the day only the Captain and First Mate survived the onslaught. Their attackers brought their treasure hoard onto the ship when they claimed it. But a storm swept the drunken pirates overboard, and the two surviving mariners decided to take the ship back and split the pirates’ treasure between them.

That was when fate took a hand…

There is, then, a rich and detailed story told in the poem’s twenty-eight lines, a story that keeps the reader reading –

A

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Alison Chisholm considers the storytelling that made the winners of our narrative poetry competition stand out

and guessing – to the end. Even then, the conclusion has one last mystery to yield. Is the last line real or metaphorical? Are two corpses lying on the ocean bed? Or have the men moved into a different dimension, to live out their ‘death’ in Davy Jones’ locker and spend their Spanish gold? All stirring stuff.

FIRST PLACE Spanish Gold Sim Smailes Originally from Yorkshire, Sim Smailes is now teaching at an independent school in Essex. In his spare time he enjoys writing poetry and short stories, mainly for children. In 2011 he won the Poem for Children category of the Plough Prize.

This is his fourth success in Writing Magazine.

In England’s past brave Captain Reeves began a seabound quest, Departing from his Bristol home and heading due South West, His crew, hand-picked, were loyal men, prepared to serve him well, His ship, built from the finest oak, was named ‘The Arabelle.’

Goodbyes were said, the anchor raised, all sails turned to the breeze, Then out of port sailed ship and crew, bound for much warmer seas, Three weeks went by without event, the ocean winds were kind, And then a pirate ship gave chase and came up close behind.

Proud Captain Reeves and all his crew stood firm as cannon roared, But soon their decks were overrun by pistol, knife and sword, The battle was a hard-won fight, the pirates’ losses great, Yet of Reeves’ crew just two survived – the Captain and First Mate.

The buccaneers hauled gold aboard and sailed their victory prize, As Reeves and Clegg, from cabin cells, looked out on stormy skies, Soon waves rose high, the ship was tossed from starboard side to port, The rum-filled crew was swept away, no match for this onslaught.

The next day dawned, the sea grew calm, the sun returned once more, When Captain Reeves regained his strength he rammed his cabin door, With First Mate Clegg the two surveyed the damage that they found, They both agreed to sail astern and turned their ship around.

The storm had claimed the pirates’ lives but not their treasure hoard, So Reeves and Clegg, despite such loss, still had a rich reward, Yet winds weren’t kind, the ship stood still, no breeze would lift her sails, And soon the pair were taken ill, as Death dug in his nails.

A wind rose up, but far too late to save this meagre crew, The Arabelle was hit by seas so fierce it split in two, As Reeves and Clegg gave up their fight a mighty wave grabbed hold And took them to a watery grave to spend their Spanish gold.

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P O E T RY W I N N E R S

The account is delivered at a beautifully balanced pace.

Two stanzas launch the ship and the story, two relate the skirmish with the pirates, two show the turnabout, and the last delivers the punchline. Readers are unlikely to register the neatness of this at a first glance, but it demonstrates a rich flair for storytelling.

The story is supported by beautifully executed rhyming couplets. This is a difficult form to write successfully, partly because the rhymes are so close together. Sim Smailes has ensured that the rhyming is never trite or obvious by using a longer line. The poem is written in iambic heptameters, their seven feet giving a latitude that the more frequently seen four or five feet can’t accommodate. This allows more space to manoeuvre the language, making it much easier to communicate the perfect message without having to compromise wording or expression.

Finely-selected vocabulary conveys the poem in an economical way. No word is wasted, and every one contributes to the build-up of action, characterisation and background. The great battle shows how the decks were overrun by pistol, knife and sword and the reader can see this image in the mind’s eye. We don’t need to be told that the surviving crew members were locked in their cabins by their captors. We are shown how the Captain came to on the next day, regained his strength and rammed his cabin door. In short, the poet has taken to heart that invaluable advice, common to all genres, to show rather than tell what is happening.

The same advice has been taken by the poet in second place. Ros Palmer of Whitstable, Kent gives us a story within a story in The Puzzler and the Strange Omens. On one level, we have a flummoxed farmer asking that enigmatic character, The Puzzler, for help. Within the account of their discussion, a mystery is revealed, its solution providing another punchline finish.

The well-chosen title hints at the arcane with its mention of Strange Omens, so that the prosaic explanation comes as a surprise to the reader as well as the characters. Those characters have been devised with care, too. The received idea of a farmer is a practical, no-nonsense man, but we see this one with a look of fear etched on his face, as if his blood had chilled. And who is The Puzzler? He’s been engaged to give advice to the anguished farmer, and he’s versed in a family tradition of mysteries and sorcery. The characterisation implies an atmospheric sense of unease.

It’s completely coincidental that this poem and Spanish Gold use exactly the same form. Here, too, the rhyming couplets have long enough lines to expand the wording between rhymes, and those rhymes are perfectly selected and executed.

An added bonus is the inclusion of dialogue, a device beloved of fiction writers for moving the story on, giving pleasing variety to the account, and reinforcing characterisation. The explanation at the end is provided in a whole stanza of dialogue which is far more effective than a reported answer would be.

SECOND PRIZE The Puzzler and the Strange Omens Ros Palmer Ros Palmer works as a trainer for the housing charity Shelter. She love experimenting with rhyme, rhythm and vocabulary, and has written a number of other poems about The Puzzler. She also has a large collection of Cautionary Tales, which she says are fun to write, and are fun to perform!

The Puzzler’s advice was sought, one dark, cold winter’s night…

He rode out to the lonely farm where, in the pale moonlight, He saw a man with furrowed brow, quite tall, and stout of build A look of fear etched on his face, as if his blood had chilled.

“I’ve searched the house and all seems well,” the farmer shook his head…

“But something strange has happened here, it makes no sense,” he said.

He shone his lantern downwards so The Puzzler could see: A parsnip in a length of cloth, beneath an old oak tree; Two spiky twigs that formed a cross, perhaps to mark the spot; Some rounded pebbles, in a heap, portending who knows what?

The farmer told The Puzzler he’d been to see a friend – Had left the farm on Thursday night – was gone the whole weekend.

And now he’d come back home to find these omens lying rife…

“I’ll tell you straight, it bodes no good – I’m fearful for my life.”

The Puzzler, now quite confused, could feel his heartbeat race: Were these signs that sorcery had visited this place?

He pondered, then drew out his book of superstitious lore His father’s book from long ago, his grandfather’s before.

The lantern picked out charts of old on paper now worn thin, But just before consulting them, he gave a knowing grin…

“I think I see what’s happened here,” he gestured at the farm, “You need no longer be afraid, for you’ll not come to harm.

Last Friday we were battered by a blizzard, and it’s clear Your ‘omens’ are just evidence a man of snow was here.

I’d stake my life your trespassers were children passing by, They built their man but paid no heed to forces from on high.

This case quite simply illustrates the power of the sun…

And now I’ll take my leave of you, my puzzling is done.”

Again, words have been chosen to provide a clear but colourful picture of events. The omens are lying rife, the book of lore has charts of old on paper now worn thin. The force of weather is delivered economically in battered by a blizzard.

The reader leaves the poem longing to hear further tales of The Puzzler and his wisdom, maybe some that don’t have such simple explanations, or that involve the dark deeds hinted at here. So the story captures the imagination, and its delivery in the form of a poem gives it an extra kick.

Narrative poetry is not everyone’s first choice of style, but writing it is a real test of skill. It might be the perfect medium for your next story.

Also shortlisted were: Pamela Trudie Hodge, Plymouth, Devon; Hilary Jones, Church Stretton, Shropshire; Clive McLaren, Hoylake, Wirral; Joyce Reed, Marple, Stockport; Geoff Roberts, Condom, France; Julie Shackman, Milngavie, East Dumbartonshire; Sim Smailes, Braintree, Essex, Martin Staton, Congleton, Cheshire.

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I N T E RV I E W

Shelf life: The Miscellanist and novelist shares his top five reads with Judith Spelman

B

en Schott is known for his Miscellanies and his Almanacs yet he started working in the media as a photographer, specialising in portraits of well-known people. He first privately printed Schott’s Original Miscellany, which was then taken up by Bloomsbury, receiving wide acclaim for its originality. He went on to publish three more before publishing his first Schott’s Almanac in 2005. Now he is changing tack again and, with the approval of the Wodehouse Estate, has written a Jeeves and Wooster novel – Jeeves & the King of Clubs: an homage to PG Wodehouse.

THE COMPLETE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY ‘This is one of the greatest works of reference and a constant companion when I write. I have the twentyvolume edition, the micro-print compact edition (complete with magnifying glass), and – most useful of all – an online subscription. Dull dictionaries tend to be prescriptive – telling you what a word means and how it should be spelled. The best dictionaries, from Johnson on, are descriptive – showing how the usage and construction of a word have evolved over time. The OED tells the story of the English language and, in so doing, becomes a trove of history and delight.’

MRS DALLOWAY Virginia Woolf

PARIS VAGABOND Jean-Paul Clébert ‘A recent discovery which completely upended my thoughts on how a text might be written and read. Jean-Paul Clébert was a boy from a respectable middle-class family who ran away from school, joined the French Resistance, and never looked back. Making his way to Paris at the end of World War II, Clébert took to living on the streets, and in Paris Vagabond, a so-called “aleatory novel” assembled out of sketches he jotted down at the time, he tells what it was like. The book describes a liminal Paris of outcasts and edge-dwellers in the aftermath of WWII, and Clébert artfully deploys a kaleidoscope of stylistic story-telling techniques.

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‘This is not just a great London novel – and a great novel about sentiment and sentimentality – it is a profoundly clever and complex work, full of dazzling shifts of tone and perspective.

Two quotes from Woolf have long guided my writing: “Let us not take it for granted that life exists more fully in what is commonly thought big than in what is commonly thought small.” And: “Beautiful and bright it should be on the surface, feathery and evanescent, one colour melting into another like the colours on a butterfly’s wing; but beneath the fabric must be clamped together with bolts of iron.”’

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© Dini von Mueffling

BEN SCHOTT

WRITER’S BOOKSHELF

THE SCHEME FOR FULL EMPLOYMENT Magnus Mills ‘It is, for me, primus inter pares within his quirky and idiosyncratic oeuvre. Like all of Mills’ books The Scheme is by turns very funny and strangely ominous, and it refuses to fit comfortably into any definable category. I love writers whose descriptions and dialogue are instantly identifiable, and Magnus is one such writer.’

EDWARD GOREY ‘Finally, anything and everything by Edward Gorey. He was an American writer, illustrator and poet, producing over 100 books often described as surrealist and literary nonsense. Literary nonsense is the way he described his work, comparable to that of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll.

Titles include The Deranged Cousins, The Abandoned Sock, The Glorious Nosebleed, The Beastly Baby and The Wugly Ump. I can also recommend the new biography Born to Be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey by Mark Dery.

t’s true that Jeeves & The King of Clubs is my first novel. But, contrarian as this might seem, I never considered writing the book to be strictly-speaking novelising – even though a novel was the end result.

To my mind, a “novel” should be like a PhD – an original thesis that provides a significant and new contribution to knowledge in a given field. In contrast, I approached Jeeves & The King of Clubs not with a grand, personal vision, but as a deadly serious frivolity.

‘My aim was to create a fabulous, literary “Heath Robinson machine” – deploying all of the pulleys, levers, gears, cranks, and lengths of knotted rope offered by the Wodehouse oeuvre to create the finest, funniest, and most charming Jeeves and Wooster novel possible.

‘In this endeavour, I was aided immeasurably by fifteen years of researching and writing Miscellanies, which goes to explain why there are a dozen pages of endnotes at the back of the novel. You can’t keep a Miscellanist down, you know.

‘Unlikely as it may seem, Jeeves & The King of Clubs was inspired

by Donald Trump, or, rather, by Trump’s former butler who, in 2016, suggested that President Barack Obama be assassinated. It’s not often that butlers hit the headlines and as I read this bizarre story my first thought was: What would Jeeves say? This in turn inspired me to write a short-story in which Donald Trump arrives as a guest at Brinkley Court and Bertie has to play him at croquet and deliberately throw the match.

‘The response to this whimsical jeu d’esprit, published in The Spectator, was unexpectedly positive, and it set the old noggin whirring: might there be an appetite for a new Jeeves and Wooster book? And, if so, how might it be different from the 35 short stories and eleven novels already in print? I did not think a “Young Bertie” novel would work – after all, why would a schoolboy have a butler? And would he really be able to drink and smoke and lounge all day in clubs? What of his parents? And what of the Great War? Equally, I bridled at the idea of modern-day, 21st century Bertie. After all, who would want to bask in the doings of a brash, contemporary “one-percenter”?

‘My leap was to twist the Wooster universe five degrees to starboard and turn the story into a spy caper. To my amazement and delight, the Wodehouse Estate – headed by Sir Edward Cazalet, Plum’s stepgrandson – agreed, and bestowed on the endeavour their blessing.

‘Being entrusted with Jeeves and Wooster by the Wodehouse Estate

‘I

was like being handed the Crown Jewels – you’d be mad not to tremble at the responsibility. That said, having previously written eleven books and hundreds of articles, I can report that following in the patent-leather footsteps of PG Wodehouse is the most fun a writer can have with words.

‘I seldom organise anything, least of all my writing.

However, I tend to do my best work in the morning, in bed with coffee, before the day has really begun.

I am perfectly content writing in a café, on a bench, in a taxi, or on a train – and have a deep mistrust of the “writing schedules of famous authors” that clutter the web. I’ve never kept a daily word count, and don’t really know why anyone would: writing comes in waves, you need to be ready to surf the peaks whenever they chance to appear.

‘It’s a cliché, but the only way to be a writer is to write. Writing is in no small part a craft – and every craftsman improves through industrious iteration. Imagine an aspiring violinist who didn’t practice every day. Absurd. Don’t get me wrong: I completely understand the gravitational pull of procrastination. But the urge to procrastinate usually informs me I am writing the wrong thing: when a project clicks, I can’t drag myself from the keyboard.

‘I think the traditional image of a tortured writer, alone in her garret, dragging words from her soul is profoundly unhelpful.

The vast majority of writers nowadays have “real jobs” (usually by necessity), and a swathe of non-writer professionals (doctors, lawyers, scientists, etc) write reams without recourse to “writer’s block”. Never forget that TS Eliot was a bank clerk, or that Magnus Mills is a bus driver.

‘I believe it is important to read your work out loud. Seriously.

I can’t stress this with enough enthusiasm. Even muttering the words under your breath will identify rambling and repetition. You wouldn’t believe how many times I read out loud each and every line of Jeeves & The King of Clubs – I can’t believe it, to be honest.

‘Also – and this is absolutely vital – ignore pompous advice from writers like me if it does not chime with your sensibility.

There is no correct way to write, just as there is no correct way to cook, or paint, or garden, or sing, or live, or love, or (thank heavens) dance.’

Jeeves & the King of Clubs: An homage to PG Wodehouse by Ben Schott is published by Hutchinson

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JANUARY 2019 APRIL 2017

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UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

CLICK HERE

’s To read James McCreet suggested rewrite of this extract

Under the Microscope James McCreet puts a reader’s first 300 words under his forensic gaze

It dawned on him1 while driving to work that he had semtex in his brain.2 Hearing but not listening to Jane, Greg and Alex babble and laugh,3 it struck him4 that only one thing would do the trick:5 change everything.6 He did not know if he had the courage to follow the revelation,7 but he knew where it came from.8 A few weeks earlier9 he’d settled down one evening to re-read his favourite novel10 but, responding to a disposition he did not understand and strangely did not want to resist,11 after half an hour he’d returned the unopened book to the shelves, thinking, ‘why read anything twice?’12 The car was now entering a small town.13 The babbling had given way to silence.14 He guessed what was on their minds: the imminent assembly and a lifeless, moronic talk from the Head, the sound of bells, registration and one debilitating period after another.15 He looked at the kids and the buses, all heading in the same direction,16 and another question detonated in his mind – why do anything twice?17 It was a crazy idea. It was insane.18 But a fuse had been lit,19 and like the fuse of lust or addiction, he knew it would be hard to extinguish.20 He parked the car and the quartet made its way21 slowly to the school entrance.

He felt elated: 22 everyone walked in a straitjacket, but his was a little less tight fitting than usual. 23 And scared:24 the explosive in his brain had the capacity to blow his world apart.25 And consoled: this brand of semtex offered life, not death.26 Jane detached herself from Greg and Alex.27 -You’ve been very quiet, she said.28 -Just waking up, sweet Jane.29 -Eyes wide open now?

-Completely.

-Seeing clearly?

-Like never before.30

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Eivind Nerberg has worked in industry and commerce, but most of his working life was spent in teaching. His ‘nanotale’, Walk A Pavement Once, was a co-winner of a Guardian online competition. Parts of his other novella, Cries from the Marianas Trench, have been published, including in a collection of prize-winning long and short fiction. His twenty-post blog about a year he and his wife spent in Brighton appears on the Brighton Argus website.

1

I’m afraid this wins the prize for earliest use of cliché in a novel.

There are numerous other ways to express this – almost all of them more creative and engaging than ‘dawned on.’

2

But this part of the sentence is a great opener and immediately gripping. ‘Semtex’ is a brand name and so has a capital letter.

3

A very convoluted sentence that begins with a subordinate clause and confuses matters further with the short list of names. It’s difficult to read, overloaded and distracts from the focus.

4

Another cliché. Also, the subjects don’t agree. ‘Hearing’ has the subject ‘he’, (He was hearing) but the sentence after the clause continues with the subject ‘it’. The grammar rule is that the subject must remain the same in both clauses (‘he’).

In either case, it’s not clear how changing everything will remove Semtex from his brain, or what ‘changing everything’ might mean in practice.

7 8

The ‘revelation’ is not entirely clear to the reader.

Again confusing. The revelation appeared to arrive spontaneously and suddenly just now, but then we’re told it began weeks ago.

9

Indeed, this abrupt flashback is ill-advised so early in the novel.

Having established the immediate scene of a man driving with Semtex in his head, we pause and veer off into the past. It’s a guaranteed way to lose a reader. When beginning a scene, you need to prolong it until the reader is hooked – not introduce another before the first has got going.

5

10

6

11

And another cliché. What exactly does it mean? ‘Do the trick’ regarding the Semtex in his brain?

It’s confusing. The first line gives no clue as to whether the Semtex in his brain is literally there (implanted to kill him) or whether it’s metaphorical.

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Moreover, the story we’re being told appears to have the opposite tone and atmosphere: a man relaxing with a novel. The pace is killed.

A wordy sentence that needs unpicking. Do we really want the reader to stop after a few lines and start trying to understand the

UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

concept of a disposition that is difficult to understand yet also (strangely) hard to resist. The pulse of the novel seems about to flatline.

12

So he spent half an hour wrestling with his disposition? Note how long and how convoluted this sentence is. The dominant clause (‘he’d returned’) is prefixed by three subordinate clauses (a few weeks earlier... responding to... after half an hour). Moreover, the information it conveys seems unremarkable and irrelevant to the Semtex. The idea of not reading a book twice is relatively common and not generally associated with ‘changing everything’. Where is this going? I suggest a capital ‘W’ for ‘why.’

13

We return to the main storyline, but without any sense of momentum or expectation as yet.

14

And following the digression about the compelling but confusing disposition, we may need to look back to remind ourselves about the babbling.

15

But this is a fantastic sentence!

Its length and rhythm perfectly capture the boredom and frustration faced by these teachers.

16

The pedant in me wants to suggest there must be some buses going in different directions.

how the simile develops. Is addiction not a more-or-less continuous process rather than an explosion?

17

21

He’s had only two questions in his mind in the previous few weeks?

We need to be careful with the explosive metaphor, too, because nothing has previously detonated. We were told only that the Semtex was there. Something ‘dawning on’ him is not a detonation.

Nor is his realisation immediately intelligible to the reader. It needs more context. Would we say of eating, or breathing, or brushing one’s teeth, ‘Why do anything twice?’ A colon would be better before ‘Why.’

18

I like the short sentences and the repeated synonyms for emphasis.

But his epiphany does not actually seem crazy or insane. Only confusing at the moment.

19

The metaphor again. Previously there was a detonation (or not) and now a fuse has been lit (after the fact?). What stage of the explosion are we?

20

A nice comparison with lust or addiction, although it’s not clear

In summary This is a curious piece. There are flashes of good writing here in the dialogue and in that sentence with the school bells. The first line is potentially explosive. There is some good emphatic technique. Unfortunately, there are three elements that damage the opening.

• The overall concept is too vague. The reader has little idea what ‘changing everything’ or ‘doing things only once’ might mean in practice, or how such things might equate with Semtex in the brain. There’s a difference between suspense and frustration, between ambiguity and vagueness. Here, we sense that the author knows what he’s talking about but hasn’t explained it properly. We need more clarity – or least more of a hook – at the start of the story.

• That jarring early flashback comes at the wrong time. It disrupts the flow, kills the pace and ultimately doesn’t tell us much we can work with. I think you could cut it completely and improve the beginning. There will be room later if it’s really important.

• Then there’s the precision of the writing. Clichés cling to prose like greasy fingerprints a windowpane, marring what should be transparent. They are the opposite of writing. The explosive metaphor/simile, meanwhile, appears confused at times. Has it exploded? Is it about to? How long has it been there? If the Semtex is in his brain, where is the fuse? Should we even be worried if, as we’re told, this is a lifegiving kind of Semtex? How is the bomb connected to a straitjacket? Might a suicide vest be a better metaphor?

There’s some good stuff here and the germ of an interesting story. The language and the structure need to be improved.

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I’ve never been keen on ‘make one’s way’. You can make your way by hopping or skipping or doing a handstand on a rolling skateboard. What does it really mean? What does it look like?

22

The colon disturbs me. A semi-colon would preserve the flow and connection. A dash would be better. A full stop would be even more emphatic.

23

It’s not clear why. His epiphany still doesn’t mean much to the

reader.

24

I like the staccato repetitions of ‘And.’ The colons work better here because they are more clearly examples.

25

But the Semtex metaphor still isn’t completely coherent and so seems exaggerated.

26

The raggedness of the metaphor increases. Surely the whole point of Semtex (other highly explosive substances are also available) is that they destroy rather than preserve life?

27

The meaning is clear but the phrasing is inexact. We presume that she was not physically joined to the others and so ‘detaching’ is an overstatement.

28

The minimalist dialogue style (very Cormac McCarthy) is bold and effective. It makes the speech more naturalistic.

29

His quoting of the song title tells us something about his character and terms of reference.

30

The dialogue is good: concise, sharp and revealing.

• If you would like to submit an extract of your work in progress, send it by email, with synopsis and a brief biog, to: jtelfer@writersnews.co.uk

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TA L K I T OV E R

A tangled yarn As a knitter, I find that if I put a piece of work to one side – sometimes for months on end – the tension is noticeably different when I start again.

I have the same concern regarding a protracted piece of writing. I have been working on my novel for over five years, but with many interruptions. Life has got in the way repeatedly – via work commitments and family health issues – and I now fear my manuscript reads more like a series of short stories. One of the major reasons I have not been able to make any real progress for the last year, is that I have been involved in running a family business. This has given me an idea for an entirely different story.

Dare I start this new novel before I finish the old one? Should I simply treat the first one as a learning exercise and begin afresh with the new idea? I find myself thinking about the latest plot much more than the old one, but I have invested so much time in my original manuscript.

What would your advice be?

JO SCOTT Broadstairs, Kent

I

t is interesting what you have to say about the knitting. My own efforts with wool and needles have always resembled a rest home for moths, but I totally get the analogy and I sympathise with your experience of life getting in the way. My latest novel Mum in the Middle had the gestation period of nearly three elephants as a result of similar issues, whereas the book that will come out next summer was written in seven months. I know which one was the easier to get right and received the fewer edit notes. It can be tricky to maintain flow and momentum in a story when one can’t get a decent run at it.

But writing is tough and 40

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Jane Wenham Jones helps a reader who can’t decide whether they should stay with a long-term writing project or embark on a new one

demanding however much time you have, and I would say it is hard enough penning a novel when you are totally involved in it, let alone when your mind is wandering to another idea. For that reason alone, I’d be inclined to go with the new concept for a while – even if only to see how you get on.

I recently appeared at the Sharjah International Book Fair with the bestselling novelist Katie Fforde, whose 25th novel A Rose Petal Summer (Century) is published in February – and she says that when she is writing, her thoughts are ‘always with the book’.

I showed your question to Katie and she offers this advice.

‘If you aren’t longing to finish the story you started all those years ago, I feel you should go with the new one, the one you are keen to get down. It’s very hard to fall back in love with a book, when you’ve fallen in love with something fresh in your mind. Don’t feel bad about it. That book may float to the surface of your mind at another time.’

I was going to say myself, that nothing is wasted. The first book will still be there – and might end up being your second book to be published. Second books are notoriously problematic, so you’ll be ahead of the game. I do understand the emotional difficulty of abandoning work though – which is why I have never done this with a novel. But in my short story days I used to sometimes leave a tale halfway through and move onto a new one, and come back to the original later. I always used www.writers-online.co.uk

everything I’d written eventually.

Katie agrees. ‘While I haven’t actually written a book and left it, I have had a subject for a new book planned, and then found another idea is exciting me far more. I’ve gone back to the previous idea later.

I would suggest you give the new book a try for a limited period and then reassess how you feel about it.

Be disciplined and carve out some time each day for – say – the next month. Write the allocated hours in your diary and stick to them religiously as you would if it were a dental appointment or a lunch with friends. Try to write at least 500 words a session – 1,000 would be even better.

Don’t worry too much about the quality – this is a first draft – but simply get the story down.

If you are thoroughly enthused by the end of this experiment, the decision will have been made. If you’ve run out of steam and interest, then you can always go back to your original work.

Whichever manuscript you finish first, you can give the other all your attention while waiting for a verdict from potential agent or publisher: a nerve-wracking time which is always best put to good use.

The important thing is to keep writing against the odds and try to do something each day – even if you only manage a paragraph. As with creating a scarf or jumper, it really does make all the difference.

I wish you a calmer and more peaceful time from now on. Good luck!

Helpline

Diana Cambridge solves your writing problems

Email your queries to Diana (please include hometown details) at: diana@dianacambridge. co.uk or send them to: Helpline, Writing Magazine, Warners Group Publications plc, 5th Floor, 31-32 Park Row, Leeds LS1 5JD. She will answer as many letters as she can on the page, but regrets that she cannot enter into individual correspondence. Publication of answers may take several months. Helpline cannot personally answer queries such as where to offer work, or comment on manuscripts, which you are asked not to send.

Q

I suffer from SAD, and my writing always takes a dive during the winter. I feel I just want to stay in bed. Yet once I get going – usually late in the day – it’s not so bad, and I always feel better in the evening. I don’t think mine is a medical condition, and certainly not one I’d see a GP for. Are there any remedies geared to writers?

LESLEYANN KANE Devizes, Wiltshire

A

I know several writers who become depressed in the winter – it’s really not uncommon. There are little things you can do when you get up – light candles, make good coffee, and have a light nutritious breakfast. But if it’s getting up that’s the problem, then getting up early – force yourself! – is far better than getting up late. I’ve heard writers say that having a neat office and kitchen every morning will up your morale, as will putting on some gentle, relaxing music. The problem with being a writer is that we don’t have to get up – there’s no office we must report into – so we have to create our own professional routine. If you can get up at the same time every day, your body clock will respond to that – just as it does if you go out to work.

Q

I constantly see black and bleak news stories – husbands murdering their wives, children vanishing in strange circumstances, stories of neglect and torture here in Britain. I have become interested in several cases, and wonder what the legal position is on using the facts as a basis for a novel?

BRIGID DAVIES Wigstone, Leicestershire

A

A strong news story makes a good foundation for a novel.

Many writers have used this technique successfully. But it is important to remember that you are writing fiction, not reportage.

Use the true story as an inspiration only, and of course you will be using different names, locations, background, etc.

Q A

What’s the best way in to women’s magazines? I know there are not so many opportunities now.

SYLVIA SPETH Chester

Confessionals. ‘How I changed from a man to a woman’; ‘My brother was in Broadmoor’; ‘I have a PHD – but work as a cleaner’. Anything that grabs the attention and is true, written in the first person, has possibility. You’ll need to be candid, economic and open – and give plenty of detail. The magazine will want pictures of you, or your subject. I would submit the whole feature, rather than the outline. Expect your piece to be edited. The themes I have suggested are general – you can write about an illness you have, an unusual diet or lifestyle, a challenge you’ve had or a difficult decision you’ve had to make.

Q

Is it better to use a pen name when writing a novel?

ROSIE LITWIN Grimsby, Lincolnshire

A

It’s really up to you. I always use my own name for any writing I do, and can’t see the point of disguising your identity. Don’t you want recognition? I do understand, though, that when writers change the genre of what they do, they may want to start afresh with a different name. Names do carry energy, and when writing in a different style you can choose a name which pleases and energises you. I always associate pen names with embarrassment – the days when writing a novel was considered slightly not the thing, and writers wanted to conceal their identity. But it’s a personal decision – no hard and fast rules.

Q

I get mixed up with the many drafts of the short stories I write. In fact I’ve sometimes submitted the wrong draft, and had to try and get my correct one in – not always acceptable.

ROBERT HANAULT Sherborne, Dorset

A

When you make changes, try changing the version number eg V1 Love Story, V2 Love Story, V3 Love Story etc. If you kept all the drafts in one folder marked Love Story, that might help.

Q

I’ve written three times to a local literary festival putting my ideas for an event I could do, and never had a reply. I did have a computer-generated acknowledgement for my first email. There are several names to write to on their website.

MIMI GRANT Long Ashton, near Bristol

A

I suspect it’s run by a committee, and submissions may get lost or be discarded instantly if they don’t fit the festival theme.

Since there are several people dealing with submissions, there may be confusion about answering mails – or they may have decided only to answer those they wish to follow up. Try elsewhere – but do keep trying.

Q

I’ve been asked to give the vote of thanks at a large writing group event we are holding. I’ve never done this before.

SARAH LOVELOCK Canton, Cardiff

A

Listen carefully to the speakers and make one or two notes about each presentation. Make your vote of thanks short and sweet, but pointing out themes that were presented by the speakers. There’s no need to be too fulsome; I can’t stand it when people who make introductions or give votes of thanks says they’re ‘thrilled’ by the thing. I have heard a vote of thanks speaker use ‘thrilled’ five times at the Bath Literary Festival.

‘Delighted’, ‘very appreciative’, ‘found X and X extremely helpful and professionally useful’, ‘gave vital information’, etc, are enough.

Keep it brief and sincere. That’s the trick.

www.writers-online.co.uk

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FICTION FOCUS

KEEPING

ITCOSY

Margaret James talks to three authors who explain the enduring appeal of cosy crime hose two words cosy and crime: aren’t they a bit of a contradiction? After all, what’s cosy about crime – any crime? Nowadays, however, there’s a huge fan base of readers anxious to read what publishers describe as cosy crime fiction, so I tracked down three prolific authors to find out what’s going on.

T

Kitt y French Bett y Rowlands

‘A cosy crime novel is a stor y featuring just a little sex and not too much violence. Other kind s of crime fiction tend to offer readers more blood and gore .

‘I was encouraged to write crime ficti on by my editor, and my work probably turned out to fit the classic definition of cosy crime because I pref er to write about the intrigue of the crime and about working out the solution, rather than about the natu re of the crime itself.

‘My settings have been suggested by my own surroundings: the Gloucester village where I lived with my husband, and the places to which I have travelled or where I have friends.

Murder on the Clifftops is set in France and was inspired by the home of some friends who lived whe re the book is set and had planned to run an art retreat there.

‘None of my characters are totally base d on any living person. My investigator Melissa Craig walked into my head fully formed, and although many peop le have asked if there is anything of me in Melissa, I have alwa ys said not.

‘I don’t have an ideal reader and I don’ t write to attract any particular age or gender, but I do know that men don’t tend to write cosy crime. It would be inter esting to ask them why.

Agatha Christie’s novels epitomise cosy crime for me.’

Website: www.bettyrowlands.com

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‘I’m not keen on the word cosy.

‘I think it misrepresents the genre as a slippers-and-cocoa kind of read, when actually it can be quite edgy and humorous.

‘Cosy crime differs from other crime fiction in that it’s not usually as dark and gritty. You’ll still find murders and detectives, but they’ll be delivered with a light touch along with a good dose of community life. The , settings tend to be reassuringly familiar: in Midsomer Murders, for example . skeleton same the around out fleshed a new story is always ‘Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple stories, and those about Precious Ramotswe of the No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency from Alexander McCall Smith, in which a female amateur sleuth always manages to crack the case, are classic cosy crime at its best.

‘I moved into writing cosy crime by accident. I wrote a screwball ghost detective series and found my work was unexpectedly categorised as cosy.

My Chapelwick Mysteries series does share many classic traits of cosy crime, but it has an original twist. Melody Bittersweet is a female amateur detective in a small town, but instead of killers she hunts errant ghosts.

My books are heavy on humour and madcap characters, and are written to deliver a laugh alongside the mystery and the crime. I’m currently writing the third in the series and hugely enjoy being in Melody’s crazy world.

‘Cosy crime is a broad church, encompassing everything from Agatha Christie’s old-school glamour to Janet Evanovich’s incredibly fast-paced and funny Stephanie Plum stories. Stephanie’s bounty-hunter lifestyle is a world away from Miss Marple’s twinset and teacups, which only goes to prove how wide and varied the cosy crime genre can be.’

Website: www.kittyfrench.com

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FICTION FOCUS

I wish I’d known… with Lynda Stacey

Nicola Slade ‘I’ve written several series of cosy crime novels including the Charlotte Richmond Mysteries, which are Victorian, and the Harriet Quigley mysteries, which are set in a present day.

‘I feel a better name for the genre would be traditional or classic crime, because murder itself is never cosy, even though the settings of the stories might be.

‘How does cosy crime differ from other kinds of crime and mystery fiction?

Usually, although not always, the detective is an amateur with time on his, or more usually her, hands. Cosy crime inhabits a parallel world in which justice is always seen to be done. Think about the stories in the Midsomer Murders series, which are nominally police procedurals, but have all the hallmarks of cosy crime: a smallish social group, and an ingenious murder followed by several other murders before the villain is caught and punished.

‘I write cosy crime because I love reading this kind of mystery, because there’s a puzzle to be solved, and also because I’m squeamish and don’t like to read about gritty, true-to-life murders.

‘I’m passionate about history. I live five miles from Winchester where you touch history every time you turn a corner. The city and surrounding countryside provide the settings for all my cosy mysteries. Plots usually grow from a random idea, and characters often leap into my head fullyformed. I don’t put people I know in my stories, but I do pick friends’ brains for details.

‘My ideal reader is a woman of any age, provided she has a sense of humour and a liking for the puzzle that is the plot. I think the domestic settings often appeal to women, along with those telling details a man might miss – for instance, the wrong label on last year’s marmalade. Also, in real life women are less likely to commit murder, but in the cosy genre you often get women doing the deed – and solving the crime, too.’

Website: www.nicolaslade.com

NOW Try this If you fancy writing some cosy crime fiction, maybe check out work of the authors who have contributed to this article, then try to come up with a story line that features a small community, a crime that’s not described in graphic detail, and an amateur sleuth who will probably solve the case before the police have even left the starting blocks.

www.writers-online.co.uk

A

uthor of three very successful thrillers, Lynda Stacey’s latest novel The Fake Date is published by Ruby Fiction. But did she always mean to be a novelist?

‘I began writing stories at the age of fourteen,’ says Lynda. ‘Yes, I always wanted to be an author, but I had no idea where to start.

‘I’d attended a village school in a mining community where there hadn’t been any formal English lessons, nor had we been taught any grammar. So all that I learned was self-taught, which meant I was almost fifty years old before I found the courage to take the idea of becoming an author seriously.

‘After writing two books, in 2015 my second won the Choc Lit Search for a Star competition and it was at this point that I wished I’d known just a little more about the business of writing.

‘I joined the Romantic Novelists’ Association – the RNA – in 2014, and overnight I felt as though I’d acquired a hundred siblings, all of whom were unbelievably generous with time, information and advice. They kept me going during the difficult days, they praised me when something went well, and they were more than happy to kick me up the backside when I needed it.

‘The author community helped me to learn about building social and professional networks, getting followers on Twitter and Facebook, and mixing with the right people at the right events. The RNA’s annual conference is held every July and is a fabulous networking opportunity. It was at one of these conferences that I met my publisher on a one-to-one appointment. My meeting couldn’t have gone better.

‘The advice I’d like to give is that if you ever get the opportunity to attend a one-to-one with an agent or a publisher, remember these people are human too, so be sociable, be happy to listen, and more than anything give them every reason to believe that you are willing to learn.

‘I can honestly say that becoming an author was the best thing I ever did – and those that really know me know I’ve done a lot of things.’

Website: www.lyndastacey.co.uk AUGUST 2017 2018

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WRITERS’ CIRCLES

Bee the same again?

Be as busy as bees by using similes to enhance your work in this writing group exercise from Julie Phillips

W

e’ve all read pieces of writing where we have a feeling of deja vu and wonder where we’ve read something similar before. It can be frustrating as a reader to keep reading the same old lines in a book and it’s why writers are always seeking new ways of saying something that has probably been said many times before. They want to avoid clichés and are keen to polish their words until they sparkle. Hasn’t it all been said before, though?

Yes – but each writer is unique with different life experiences, which means they will say something in a way no-one has before. Description is key and this is where similes come in – and if you conjure up the right one, it will bring your writing alive.

Hash it up and it will irritate the reader.

A simile compares something with something else. Some well-known similes are, for example: as dry as a bone; as sparkly as glitter; or as busy as a bee. They give the reader a sense of what something is like and can invoke the use of all the senses – as soft (touch) as a cat’s fur, as purple (sight) as an aubergine, as bitter (taste) as a lemon, as loud (hearing) as a foghorn, as pungent (smell) as an onion.

They give the reader a frame of reference and are a useful tool for writers.

First give each member of the group a simile from a published work. Try to get a balance of good similes and some that don’t work. Group members can work in pairs or

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small groups if required. The aim is to read the simile and discuss whether it works or not. What elements of it are interesting and convey what the writer intended? Could it be improved? If so, how?

The next exercise in this workshop is to ask the group to write down a simile that they have read or heard before that has stuck in their mind, whether for good reasons as an example of great writing or as an exercise in how not to write a good simile.

Then ask the group to read them out and discuss whether they think they are effective or ineffective. Could they be changed to improve them, and how would they incorporate them into a paragraph?

Next give each member of the group an object, for example a fork, a tennis ball, a scarf, a watch, etc, and ask them to come up with a simile about that object. For example, as bouncy as a tennis ball or as shiny as a fork.

What features of the object did they decide to base the simile on and why? Did they use the senses within the simile, if so which sense?

Can they switch senses and still make the simile work? What elements make up a simile that works and how hard was it to come up with an appropriate simile that works? What were the difficulties? Ask the group to read them out and discuss.

A simile can make or break a piece of writing, and a bad or well-worn simile can reduce the standard of writing which might affect the chances of publication, so it is

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important to think about and rework your own similes until they work in the way you want them to and that they make sense.

Looking at the difference between good and bad similes can help you to get it right.

Analysis of a simile both from a readers’ and a writers’ point of view is invaluable.

Ask the group to choose one or two similes they have created, or they can come up with new ones, and write a couple of paragraphs that incorporate them. Allow twenty to thirty minutes for this as it does a writer good to spend some extended time on a piece.

It should give time for writing a short first draft and a little editing. They can work individually, in pairs or small groups for this if they wish.

Have a read around and discuss the similes within each piece of work. Is the language and choice of words used effectively, whether yes or no, why? Encourage the group to suggest alternatives and offer constructive criticism. There could be a small prize given for the funniest or the worst simile they can come up with!

Writing is about rewriting and paring down the words until we reach the closest we can to what we intended to say, and similes play a big part in this. It’s important to get the balance right, however, and not have too many similes in your work, which would be irritating to read. In the meantime, your writing group can have fun exploring similes both old and new.

WRITERS’ CIRCLES

CIRCLES’ ROUNDUP If your writing group would like to feature here, whether you need new members, have an event to publicise or to suggest tips for other groups, email Tina Jackson, tjackson@warnersgroup.co.uk

ASA

The Agbrigg Writers

SPOTLIGHT ON… Igniting Writing

Igniting Writing is a creative writing club based at Wokingham Library for 11-18 year olds, writes Alex Baker.

Writing has a reputation for being a solitary activity and for teenaged writers, just making their first steps towards telling stories and developing their writing style, it can be hard to meet others to share all their creative ideas with.

That’s why Igniting Writing exists; by joining the group, teens can share their imaginative stories and build friendships with other young aspiring writers in a fun, relaxed group setting.

The group has been going since 2014 and sessions are completely free to attend. Igniting Writing meets up once a week, every Saturday morning during term time from 10.30am to 12pm, and each session covers a different topic of creative writing, focusing on everything from building settings and creating characters to exploring sci-fi, fantasy and beyond, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Roughly once a month Igniting Writing are also are lucky enough to hold ‘guest speaker’ sessions, where local authors, poets, literary agents and more come in and share their knowledge and advice – it’s a great chance to get the inside scoop from the pros.

Since the group was set up, Igniting Writing has attracted over 100 teens and been invited to lead creative writing taster sessions to pupils in over a dozen schools across Berkshire. Additionally, the group runs creative writing workshops and contests for its members to participate in, to further enhance their writing skills.

Website: https://writ.rs/ignitingwriting

The Agbrigg Writers takes its name from the area of Wakefield in which the group meets every Thursday between 1pm and 3pm, writes its tutor, novelist and poet John Irving Clarke.

Originally a local authority adult education class, the group declared independence seven years ago in order to continue using the Agbrigg Community Centre which has served them so well.

Members of the group now pay into their own bank account in order to cover costs for meeting premises and expenses.

Members take pride in their ventures into self-publishing. A collection of short stories, Metro Tales, was very well-received, as was Spinning Wheels, a response to the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in Yorkshire in 2014. Demonstrating the writers’ growing confidence across a range of genres was the production of Life Support, brave writing which included individual reflections upon the crises which can crop up as we pass through life. But the publication which has made the biggest impact has been Lofthouse, a collection of poetry and prose pieces which commemorated the Lofthouse Colliery Disaster of 1973. The collection formed the cornerstone of a dramatic reading which has drawn an emotional response at the Yorkshire Mining Museum as well as other venues.

Owing to recent bereavements and life changes, the group is now looking to recruit new members. Anyone in the Wakefield area (one writer does travel the twenty miles from Huddersfield every week) who is looking for a friendly and supportive writing group and is serious about their own writing should make contact via the website.

There’s always the offer of a couple of free sessions before any commitment is made. Potential new members will find a group of people who respect each other and the writing which is produced, a group of people who relish the weekly challenge of the stimulus material, and a group of people who demonstrate great enthusiasm for the tea break.

Website: https://agbriggwriters.weebly.com/

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SAU B S C R I B E R S P OT L I G H T

SH A RE

Y

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SUBSCRIBER SPOTLIGHT

U R STO

Share your writing success stories. If you subscribe to Writing Magazine and would like to feature here, email Tina Jackson, tjackson@warnersgroup.co.uk

Wandering the city

Time-travelling tweens ‘Time School: We Will Remember Them is the first book in a time-travelling mystery series that centres on four children, a school, events that have occurred during its 100-year history and how the lives of the people who have studied there connect the present with the past,’ writes subscriber Nikki Young.

‘I’ve always been fascinated by genealogy and the idea of the ghosts of the past intermingling with the present – a whispering reminder from the onceliving, telling us not to forget them. Our ancestry shapes who we are and it’s important to know what the people in our family went through in order to appreciate the lives we have today.

‘The Time School series explores this concept and the children in the stories uncover things about their past they had no idea about, but that have a direct reflection on their current lives. This helps them to understand more about themselves, shaping who they are as young people trying to make sense of the world.

‘The series introduces young children to important time periods in history in a way that helps them experience a small slice of it themselves through the characters.

‘In this first book, readers are given the opportunity to learn what it was like for children in WW1, from the difference in clothing, to rationing and life in general on the home front.

‘By featuring contemporary teenagers experiencing some of the highs and lows of the period, the contrast between their lives in 2018 and that of their fellow pupils in 1918 ensures the book is immediately relatable to younger readers.

‘This is something that is very important to me and directly affects my writing. As well as being a mother of reluctant readers, I volunteer my time in a school, helping children who are struggling to read.

‘Time School: We Will Remember Them is my second novel. My first book, The Mystery of the Disappearing Underpants, was published in 2017. Both are available to purchase from www. troubador.co.uk, or via Amazon or Waterstones and are suitable for 9-12 year olds.

‘Time School: No Going Back will be out next year.’

Website: www.nikkiyoung.co.uk

Serial thriller ‘I love the excitement and the thrill of writing crime thrillers,’ writes subscriber Paul Howard ‘Due to the success of Soul Mates, my publishers Black Opal Books have decided to release future books in the series quicker than originally planned.

Bailey’s Land, follow up to Soul Mates, and the second book in the DI Sarah Machin crime thriller series, was released on 19 May. ‘The next two books in the series, Selective Memory and Dolls, will 46

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‘Where would I be without the tips I’ve picked up from Writing Magazine?’ writes subscriber Carol Hedges.

‘It seems that every time I run up against a writing or self-publishing query, an article appears that clarifies and clears the way. Fear & Phantoms, the sixth book in my Victorian Detectives series, owes not a little of its production to the useful articles I’ve cut out and stored over the years.

‘I have been published by several big mainstream publishers in my writing life, but nothing comes even close to the excitement of getting that email telling you that your book is “now available in the Amazon store”. I use the imprint Little G Books (named after my granddaughter) and all the covers are done by RoseWolf Design, a professional design company. I do think that paying for good covers is essential – I tried designing my own: it was a disaster.

‘Fear & Phantoms is set in 1865 London, and follows the two Scotland Yard detectives Stride and Cully as they pit their wits against a series of mysterious murders, set against the world of banking and finance. A host of minor characters: a young female journalist, and two delightful street children also thread their way through the plot.

‘As usual, the streets of Victorian London play their part. One of the joys of writing these books is doing the research – there is still so much of the 19th century city left; you just have to look up from the modern frontages. I spend a lot of time wandering the city streets, just soaking in the atmosphere, before writing.’

‘Fear & Phantoms is available in ebook and in paperback from Amazon.’

Website: https://carolhedges. blogspot.com

be published by Black Opal Books within the next year. Because the DI Sarah Machin books are a series, it’s given me time to develop the Machin character fully and has made me understand what drives her more. With many more cases in the pipeline for future investigation, the journey in my crime thriller books for DI Sarah Machin is definitely going to be a long one.

‘If you want to read Bailey’s Land it’s available in paperback or ebook, along with Soul Mates, at Amazon and most leading online retail book outlets.’

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S U B S C R I B E R S P OT L I G H T

Creative control

Hopeful and helpful

‘Believe it or not, I owe my writing career to two disabilities,’ writes subscriber Cat Lumb.

‘I was diagnosed with ME in 2009 and instructed to rest, the boredom of which compelled me to put my imagination to work.

I started entering writing competitions and received plenty of rejections; for a long time my biggest success was being shortlisted in a Writing Magazine competition! Until finally I opened an email with those magic words: “We love your story and would like to feature it in our magazine.”

‘That magazine was Woman’s Weekly, and in spring 2015 I was in print for the first time in their Fiction Special. However, this was the same year that I experienced chronic, all-over pain that had me questioning if I’d ever be able to write again. While fibromyalgia set me back it didn’t stop me. If anything it made me more determined. So I attended an Arvon course, then went on to pitch my novel to agents at York Festival of Writing. With positive feedback, I submitted further and while the comments were good, they all ended in rejections.

‘But in 2017 my approach to achieving my dream was shaken up by a fantastic group of empowering businesswomen led by productivity coach Jo Bendle. This Wildly Successful Society made me realise if I wanted to end the year with the words, “I’m a published author,” I had to take control. In the end, I found it a relatively easy process with my writing friends willing to proofread stories, and my partner designing the cover.

‘The Memorial Tree and other short stories was published on Amazon in July 2018 and features two stories previously shortlisted in Writing Magazine competitions. It’s received five-star reviews from both UK and US readers, with one reader saying it is a “beautiful collection of bittersweet tales of memory and loss” – which I adore, because this was my intention. Since then, I’ve also featured in a Comma Press publication – Finesse: Short Stories from new Manchester Writers, and am currently pitching my novel to a whole new set of agents.’

Website: www.catlumb.com

‘It’s happened at last!’ writes subscriber Dawn Cawley.

‘The book that took over my life so many years ago has finally been published and it’s all thanks to Writing Magazine.

‘I read that Splendid Publication wanted something quirky and different so I submitted The Old Fart’s Guide to Survival.

‘Imagine how chuffed I was when they agreed to publish it in time for Christmas 2016.

‘Prior to this I had written a bereavement book, not after the death of my husband, but five years later for a friend who couldn’t cope. I suggested that he proofread it and he said it ought to be published. “Chance would be a fine thing,” I replied.

‘After The Old Fart’s Guide hit the book shelves, I mentioned the bereavement book and Splendid Publications asked to see it.

‘At the time of writing the manuscript I made several mistakes. I felt driven and didn’t pay attention to format or presentation. I went to a local printer and had the manuscript made into a booklet which I flogged for charity, raising a few bob for Marie Curie.

‘I’ll never forget the experience of writing the book. It opened up all the private stuff that I chose to keep locked away. As for sleep – that was invaded also.

‘As so often happens, the manuscript was shoved away in a drawer until the publishers showed interest but they said it needed a lot of work.

‘It was daunting when I heard the requirements. Not only extra anecdotes and additives, but a chapter on probate!

‘However the task proved less frightening than expected.

‘It was a relief when it was finished and going through the experience for a second time turned out to be therapeutic.

‘When the books were delivered I was pleased the content came across as upbeat. Alone Again is a little book of hope and I believe it could help many bereaved partners.

‘Both books are available online from Splendid Publication, from Amazon or can be ordered from major bookshops. Price £4.99.’

WE’LL HELP YOU SELL YOUR BOOK! Don’t miss your exclusive chance to feature on our website,

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Showcase your book to over 14,000 readers each month in the Writers Online Subscribers’ Showcase. We’ll give your book its own page, with blurb, cover and a direct link to your website or an online store. And if you’re a WM subscriber, the service is completely FREE. See http://writ.rs/sellyourbook for more details

PLUS When you’re sending in submissions to appear on those pages, feel free to send us any additional content you have available. Whether it’s an interview video, book trailer, podcast, audio extract or anything else, we’ll give you as much exposure as we can through our digital edition and website. As ever, send your details to tjackson@warnersgroup.co.uk

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JANUARY 2019

47

S U B S C R I B E R S P OT L I G H T

A continuing saga ‘Writing Magazine is my writing buddy,’ writes subscriber Madalyn Morgan.

‘In every issue I learn something new and read something that inspires me. When I wrote my first novel Foxden Acres in 2012, it was featured with the headline Chocks away for Madalyn.

‘Six years on, I am still writing and still loving it. As an indie author, I have published six novels.

The first four, Foxden Acres, Applause, China Blue and The 9:45 To Bletchley tell the stories of four sisters during WW2. The last two, Foxden Hotel and Chasing Ghosts, are set in 1949 and 1950.

‘The Dudley sisters are introduced in Bess Dudley’s story. Foxden Acres is about redemption, cutting across the class divide, love and loss.

Margot Dudley (Applause) moves to London, works as an usherette in a West End theatre and ends up as the show’s leading lady. Claire Dudley (China Blue) joins the WAAF and is recruited by the SOE. She is parachuted into occupied France to work with the Resistance. And Ena Dudley (The 9:45 To Bletchley) works in an engineering factory. While taking work to Bletchley by train Ena is robbed and later accused of sabotage.

‘Foxden Hotel is set in post-war Leicestershire and brings the Dudley sisters together. It was going to be the last in the saga but having written three endings, none of which gave the sisters satisfactory closure, Foxden Hotel has become a sequel to Foxden Acres and Chasing Ghosts a sequel to China Blue.

‘I am currently looking through copies of Writing Magazine for inspiration as I write my seventh novel; working title A Cold Case in A Cold War.’ Website: https:// madalynmorgan. wordpress com/ 48

JANUARY 2019

Cyber communications ‘I have Writing Magazine to thank for my recently published sci-fi book Franchise,’ writes subscriber Peter Glassborow.

‘It was through the magazine that last year I found out about Elsewhen Press. They were after speculative fiction, so I sent them a submission and quickly got an offer to publish my book. It came out as an ebook on 24 September this year, with a print version to come out later.

‘Throughout Elsewhen, led by Peter Buck, demonstrated a professional approach, in contrast to one or two other publishers I have been involved in.

The editing, production of the book cover and press release were well handled with constant updates, queries and responses by email from Peter Buck.

‘They managed to get the well-known sci-fi artist David A Hardy to produce the book’s cover, which captures the space-opera theme of my story.

‘When, years ago, I first began sending submissions from my home in New Zealand to the UK the cost of an envelope holding three chapters and a submission was prohibitive. Now most publishers and agents won’t even accept snail mail submissions – it’s electronic or not. My living on the other side of the world in New Zealand made little difference to Elsewhen in the UK. I would check my emails in the morning to find something Elsewhen had sent in their afternoon, and vice versa, the time difference hardly had any effect. How on earth did authors and publishers get on when living in different countries, or even different continents? Elsewhen and I would still be sending the editing back and forth to each other by snail mail at this point.’

Jack’s empty nights ‘I remember sitting in my friend’s flat on New Year’s Eve of 2015 deciding that this was the year I was going to write a novel,’ writes subscriber Jack Dowd.

‘Earlier that year I had graduated from London South Bank University with a degree in Creative Writing and although I had made various attempts at completing novels before none of those attempts came to fruition. I began writing the next day and although it took me two and a half years I eventually had a completed manuscript. My novel, Empty Nights, follows Henry Andrews’ blog which records his life in Norcrest Academy’s Sixth Form. Henry discovers that his classmate, Yasmin Rivers is pregnant and supports her during this time while also dealing with his parent’s divorce, driving lessons and his approaching A Level exams.

‘I joined an indie publishing company called MommaShark Press and received counsel and guidance from their staff. I used their contacts to hire an illustrator and editor to assist me with my project.

Afterwards they guided me on a media campaign to help me promote my work. Empty Nights was published on 1 September.’

Website: https://jackdowdswritingblog.com www.writers-online.co.uk

S U B S C R I B E R S P OT L I G H T

A wider audience ‘Having spent a couple of years as an indie author I decided to try submitting my latest novel to one of the publishers featured in the Writers’ News pages,’ writes subscriber Wendy Dranfield.

‘I felt Who Cares If They Die needed a larger audience than I could find it alone. I’d written something I felt confident about because I enjoyed the story and characters so much myself. So, when I saw the submissions request for Ruby Fiction – an imprint of the award-winning Choc Lit Publishing – I decided to try sending them the novel. They have a tasting panel of readers who all gave it the thumbs up and my book was released as an ebook and audiobook in September 2018 ‘This is the first crime thriller I’ve written and it lends itself well to becoming a series so I’m currently writing the sequel. I’ve also created my first ever book trailer (https://writ.rs/dranfield) which was huge fun and well received!’

Twitter: @WendyDranfield

Jonzey winner ‘I’m delighted to let you know that I recently won the first ever Mairtín Crawford Award Short Story competition,’ writes subscriber Gaynor Jones.

‘The awards are aimed at writers working towards their first full, published collections and my prize is six months professional mentoring from Paul McVeigh to help me achieve this. I was invited to read my winning story, The Thing Between Your Legs (first published by online lit mag Bending Genres), at the Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast during the Belfast Book Festival, along with the poetry winner and other shortlisted authors. It was a fantastic experience and I’m excited to see what I produce in the next six months. I highly recommend entering the competition next year!’

Website: http://jonzeywriter.com/

A wider audience ‘Stories of Love &…? is a collection of 23 stories of various genres,’ writes subscriber David Miles.

‘Some to make you think, some to lay back and just enjoy and some to puzzle over. If you can’t understand what one is all about try reading it again.

‘Who was driving the car to and from the restaurant?

‘Why did Patricia think that she had had her full allocation of happiness?

‘Has Jenny found happiness?

‘You can download it from Kindle ebooks on Amazon.’

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JANUARY 2019

49

Away from your desk Get out of your garret for some upcoming activities and places to visit

Back soon!

The Foundling Museum The Story of Phi: Restricted Books Explore changing ideas about censorship and sexuality in the exhibition from the Bodleian Library’s ‘phi’ category for obscene books, some of which are on display for the first time until 15 January.

Website: https://writ.rs/storyofphi

A new portrait of author Jacqueline Wilson, painted

by Saied Dai, will be displayed in the Foundling Museum, London WC1, in line with its mission to celebrate the power of individuals and the arts to change lives.

Website: https:// foundlingmuseum.org.uk/

Wise Children

Emma Rice’s new theatre company’s first production, based on Angela Carter’s last novel, is touring and will be at Bristol Old Vic from 23 January to 16 February.

Website: www.wisechildren.co.uk

Christmas Storytelling with Michael Rosen

Writing Picture Books for Children

Author Alan Durant will be joined by an illustrator and editor from Penguin Random House in this two-day Penguin Random House workshop for writers of all levels on 18 and 19 January.

Website: https://writ.rs/prhpicturebooks

Cats on the Page

Running alongside the Old Vic’s production of A Christmas Carol, join the beloved children’s writer and storyteller on 15 December as he reads from his Dickens retellings Bah Hambug! and Unexpected Twist: An Oliver Twisted Tale.

Website: https://writ.rs/xmasrosen

The British Library’s free exhibition of felines in print, on until 17 March, is the purrfect show for literary cat lovers.

Website: https://writ.rs/catsonthepage

Writing Resolutions Get your writing year mapped out in this oneday goal-setting workshop from Write Club in Bristol on 19 January.

Website: https://writ. rs/resolutions

SUBSCRIBER-ONLY COMPETITIONS

0 5 2 £ !

N I W

N O I T A C I L B U P & S E Z I R P H S IN CA £125 TO BE WON

CHILDREN’S & YOUNG ADULT SHORT STORY COMPETITION Writing for children and young adults demands a finger on the pulse but a light touch. Preach or patronise and readers will reject you, so you’ll need to think carefully before jumping in to cover this year’s theme: equality.

Your story should be 1,500 words maximum. The closing date is 15 February.

The winner will receive £100 and publication in Writing Magazine, with £25 and publication on www.writers-online.co.uk for the runner-up.

STILL TIME TO ENTER With its closing date of 15 January, there’s still time to enter last month’s competition, for stories featuring weather as a significant presence, of 1,500-1,700 words. Prizes are as . above. See p95 for entry details

£125 TO BE WON

CLICK HERE

FOR ENTRY LL DETAILS, FU D N RULES A MS ENTRY FOR

1st place TRAVEL FICTION COMPETITION

£100

To happiness on a train

By Amanda Marples

W

e were delayed at Calais.

But we weren’t complaining.

The appointment was a week away, we had time. Time to reconnect, as the therapist advised. Charles was always relaxed about these things, his execution of life effortless. I was always the one with my eye on the clock; worrying about the amount of milk we wasted; writing lists. He shoved his hold-all into the luggage compartment overhead, his belt right next to my cheek, bisecting the cream of his trousers. I could see marks where he’d ironed.

‘Pass me yours,’ he said and I did, feeding it up to him. We were travelling light and could buy things along the way, when we were over the border into Spain.

That’s why we’d applied for this particular card to begin with. Thank God for Charles and his impeccable credit score.

‘Not had a lifetime of childcare bills,’ he explained to people at dinner parties, laughing.

‘What if it doesn’t work?’ I’d asked him at Ashford.

‘Bit late for that now,’ he’d said and kissed me in the midst of tannoy announcements and shrieking teenagers; whistles and human footfall rushing like water around us.

Eventually, the train pulled away.

Charles shook his newspaper out as we gathered speed. I looked at the half-moon of his nails against the headlines, perfectly aligned with the curve of his fingertips.

He glanced to his side and caught me looking at him. He leaned over and kissed my temple. His aftershave smelled clean, like watered grass.

‘Excited?’ he said, sitting back.

‘Yes,’ I said, and smiled. The light 52

JANUARY 2019

Amanda Marples is an academic mentor living in Rotherham with her husband and two noisy children. This is an unprecedented third WM win in as many months. She is in the second year of a Masters at the University of Sheffield where she is working on her second novel. When not writing, she enjoys going out on her skateboard and falling off it, which she then blogs about at motherboardskate.wordpress.com. She really is old enough to know better.

dimmed as a cloud passed over the sun which I disliked so I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. ‘I hope the sun stays out,’ I murmured.

‘Why?’ he asked. ‘In less than ten hours we’ll be in Lourdes. And then it’ll be sun and Sangria all the way’. *** We chatted about nothing much as we sped unseeing through Lille. The touristy things we had planned; a joke about the little cup and whether the dirty magazines would be in English or Spanish. Charles fetched drinks.

While he was gone I pretended I was already pregnant and folded my hands across my stomach, trying to tune in to what I might feel like, repeating mother soundlessly and shy, feeling it on my lips and not able to grasp it as the train shot on.

At Paris, it was quiet. A paper bag blew in with the few alighting passengers and it made me feel forlorn.

I shook the feeling off and noted to Charles that a mid-September trip had been a good idea. Cheaper, too. The advantages of childlessness.

‘Might be the last chance we get,’ I joked, applying lip balm. He nodded and squeezed my hand. There was a woman with a screaming baby further down the carriage. She was struggling with him. I couldn’t guess his age but he had a dummy. I thought I could feel her distress. He was very upset about something. Eventually she pulled a biscuit out of her handbag. He took it and soon www.writers-online.co.uk

fell asleep over her shoulder, worn out with tantrumming and the sway of the train. Her shoulders rocked. I wondered where they were going, shooting through the rapidly falling light with us. To a Daddy, somewhere? Or away from one?

Charles said from the side of his mouth, ‘You shouldn’t give in to them like that.’

I frowned. ‘Trains are boring for kids.’

‘I know what I’d do,’ he said. I jogged his arm, crumpling his magazine.

‘You sound like your mother,’ I said.

‘Thanks very much,’ he replied. His lips pursed.

I rolled my eyes and looked out of the window. Down the tracks I could see a tunnel. The sun had set and we were in open isolated countryside. No streetlights, no friendly glow from houses.

The approaching mouth of the tunnel looked as black as tar and suddenly I wanted to stop, to wake in my bedroom, to feel the cool wood of the bedside cabinet and fumble for my glass of water.

But we were being pulled on. I grabbed Charles’ hand and said his name.

‘What’s up?’ he said, letting his magazine fall forward on to his chest.

‘I don’t feel well.’

‘It’s hot. Do you want some water?’

‘No,’ I said as we were swallowed by the tunnel. I looked out of the window but all I could see was my own white face and Charles looking at the back of my head, his tanned forehead creased with a frown. His cryptic crossword face.

S H O R T S TO RY C O M P E T I T I O N W I N N E R

I turned from the window, away from myself.

‘I’m ok,’ I said. ‘Just the heat probably.’

He let go of my hand and I tried to sleep. *** Charles woke me as we arrived at Bordeaux. Breakfast was arriving on plastic trays.

I went to the toilet, more to stretch my legs than to pee and looked at myself in the tiny mirror. I looked tired but decided against refreshing my makeup. It was hard enough to wash my hands without losing balance. Outside I could hear men shouting, and singing.

‘They’re pissed,’ Charles said through a mouthful of toast as I got back to my seat.

‘Is that allowed?’

‘They sell it on board. What do you think?’

‘They might not be pissed, just enthusiastic. It’s a lovely day,’ I said, looking up and letting the morning sun fall into my eyes. We were snaking through mountains and I could see what looked like a town glistening in the distance.

‘No Claire, they’re pissed. As well as being French.’

‘How so? And since when were you a xenophobe?’ He didn’t answer. ‘Are you grumpy this morning Charles?’

‘Possibly. I’ll be glad to be behind the wheel of a car again, I know that.’

We ate in almost companionable silence. ***

‘Lourdes in an hour.’ He said, ‘Last chance hotel.’

‘Stop it. Don’t say that.’

‘I’m kidding Claire.’

‘Well it’s not funny.’ I opened my magazine and didn’t read it.

Things settled. People slept. Babies, drinkers, Charles.

We rattled on, and my stomach lurched each time I thought of the border and more road stretching out before us; of swabs and sharp pricks; of waiting rooms; of tea that tasted weird and of time stretching out with Charles. Time to kill, to fill.

I remembered a dream as a decayed farmhouse flashed by, dappled with sun and shored up with long yellow grasses.

I was being caught in that bar, again.

Charles was telling me to go, and I was offering to make a sandwich and telling him there was something outside I was afraid of. I shivered. I had wanted to be caught. In the real world, not the dreamworld. I had wanted him to see that something was failing. I went to stay with my mother and slept in my old room.

She was kind, but sad. She said I had to fight to save our marriage. She said don’t throw away the gold and it sounded so serious and dramatic that I thought she must be right.

The counsellor had said we could recover, if we wanted to. I took all the blame. I just wanted it to be over. I asked him after one session during which I cried and he scraped his nails with a paperclip, ‘Why don’t you touch me?’ which was my way of saying can’t you see this wasn’t all my fault?

He had shrugged and said, ‘I do.’

‘No you don’t,’ I had said. ‘Only with your hands like you’re sifting through something, like I’m just scenery.’ He said I was being stupid and Read the judge’s melodramatic and how else was he supposed analysis at: to touch me? We http://writ.rs/ used up all

EXPERT analysis wmjan19

our sessions. Things drifted and the truth sank into my dreams like a log thrown in quicksand. Talk of children distracted us, gave us a new destination.

The baby woke and shuddered against his mother’s neck. She brushed his hair away from his forehead and kissed him there. I wanted to cry and then I knew.

I shook his shoulder to wake him as the train pulled sighing in to Lourdes.

‘Charles, we’re here,’ I said.

He opened his eyes. I watched his pupils dilate and shrink with the light, a black hole in the green universe of his iris.

We didn’t speak. We just looked at each other, suspended between those past and future stations. Every moment overlapped and became inseparable and the road beneath us forked. We were so close I felt his breath on the tip of my nose. I felt him knowing.

I started to speak as passengers pulled down luggage, yawned, stretched, adjusted belts. I said I loved him. I said I couldn’t do it. That a baby was not a destination. A tear trembled out of me when I said that. He took it away with a gentle forefinger. I said we could not travel to happiness on a train. He looked at his hands, where my tear was drying on his finger. I told him we’d figure the money out later. I kissed him and said I’d see him at home. I needed time on my own, on foot, in the air. I had a little cash of my own. I wanted to see San Sebastian, Barcelona, Pamplona. I wanted to not know where I was going and to let my hair get hot from the sun and my shoulders become freckled.

I took my case and walked off the train into the crowds at Lourdes. I wanted to do it without looking back at him, but this was not a film, or a song, or a book. I stood on the platform and looked for him in the window of his carriage. I watched him in frames as my vision was obscured by a confusion of nuns, station attendants and sick pilgrims. He wrestled his bag down, straightened his collar and smoothed his hair all in one easy movement.

I turned away, satisfied, knowing that he’d find his way.

And I knew that I would too.

Runner-up in the Travel Fiction Competition was Jennifer Moore, Ivybridge, Devon. Also shortlisted were: Kevin Chant, Upper Snodsbury, Worcestershire; Jenni Clarke, Le Vaudioux, France; Tracy Davidson, Armscote, Warwickshire; KC Finn, Chester; Andrew Hutchcraft, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire; Sumana Khan, Reading, Berkshire; MT Kielty, Mountblow, Clydebank; Jill Mirza, Canvey Island, Essex; Rowan Patterson, Langport, Somerset; Jane Robertson, Sharpness, Gloucestershire; Lisa Wilshire, Cusgarne, Cornwall.

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P O E T RY WO R K S H O P

O u tuobf ble th e r T

here are some images of war that burn themselves into the mind and can never be removed. Who could forget Nick Ut’s picture of Kim Phuc, the clothes burnt from her body, running from her village in South Vietnam? All the tragedy of war is distilled into its effect on a nine-year-old child.

Jane Burns of Withnell, Chorley was moved by a more recent tragedy.

She watched a news report showing devastating images of children being pulled from underneath rubble in Syria. She says: ‘To see a young child amongst or being pulled out of the rubble, crying, full of dust and then to be told his mother has died is just a global crying shame.’

The route into the poem began with a series of immediate emotional reactions. As a mother herself, the poet’s first question was simply why?

Then she thought: If only I could have that child with me? What would I be able to give to him? At this, the words tumbled onto the page with no initial thought about structuring – a classic response to an immediate stimulus for a poem. The words were fuelled by frustration and anger at the idea of children being innocent pawns in political games.

Since the initial outpouring, the writer has worked on the pattern of her poem, and produced a measured, tidy version, visually the opposite of the chaos of war.

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JANUARY 2019

If you would like your poem to be considered for Poetry Workshop, send it by email to: jtelfer@ writersnews.co.uk

Alison Chisholm looks at a poem that emerged as a response to a tragic news report

LOST IN WAR …

Little child I see your face Full of fear Filled with tears I want to take you from that life…

So young No voice No future No life Come to me…

Too late, we see A child laid out Eyes still and wide A sibling cries

Dirt stained cheeks Bare hands and feet Woollen coat Snotty nose I want to wipe your tears…

Hidden away ‘Midst shells and bomb’s Where crumbling buildings Become your songs I want to sing to you…

I grieve…

This world So sad See what You do What are you putting these children through?

Lay in my bed Thoughts in my head Images of These children dead

Mother lost Taken away Your fate is sealed On this day I want to hold and comfort you…

Tummy rumbles Please don’t die Another reason Why you cry I want to feed you…

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No words…

Shame on you!

P O E T RY WO R K S H O P

This is a poem of haunting but tautly written images, pared down to just a few phrases in each stanza. The focus moves neatly from the physical appearance of the child through the factual background and on to a glimpse into an uncertain future. The poem ends with a general assessment of the situation seen through the eyes of the narrator.

The pictures created are direct, uncomplicated and human. We are shown a bewildered child, and we read the comments of the woman so affected by seeing her.

The title of the poem is interesting, because while it clearly works on a factual level, a more arresting and specific phrase might be more telling. It’s important for the title to be relevant and not obscure, but it’s worth remembering that the casual browser needs a title that really teases the imagination in order to be drawn into the poem.

The poet admits that the ending was difficult facing the reality that this child died, and probably many more like him that we do not even hear about. The ending, is, perhaps, the least effective part. In the earlier stanzas, we see evidence of that advice so often offered to writers to show, don’t tell. After the shock of the child’s death, and all the pain where a sibling cries followed by narrator reaction, we have two stanzas of general summing-up and tub-thumping comment which detract from the drama and poignancy of the earlier part. The poem could be stronger if it ended at I grieve… leaving all final thoughts to the poet’s most valuable tool – the reader’s imagination and interpretation.

The pattern of the poem, with its listing of the brief points, means that this is one of those rare occasions when it works to leave the poem unpunctuated, and this same listing also permits meandering patterns of rhyme and the omission of sentence structuring – all decisions that need very careful thought.

One surprise is the fact that the poet has chosen to use capital letters to start every line, giving an appropriately awkward appearance that’s so right in the context.

The use of italics and bold print for the author commentary makes it stand apart from the images.

A few of the lines might need a little more attention before the poem’s completed. The idea of Where crumbling buildings / Become your songs doesn’t quite work for the reader. It could be

that the image is a good one but needs further expansion and explanation – though this would compromise the unity of stanza shape – or possibly that the Become your songs is rhyme-led, chosen because it sits well after bombs rather than for its meaning. Your fate is sealed / On this day is clichéd, and could be replaced by a more original phrase; while the Please don’t die in the next stanza seems, again, to be rhyme-led, and is rather too obvious.

These sound like harsh criticisms, but in fact they would all be easy enough to work on. It should never be forgotten that a poem could be around for years, even centuries, to come. Every detail has to be right.

Unfortunately, one of the hardest parts of writing poetry is to assess when the poem is finished and ready to send out. Jane Burns has an advantage here, as she is a member of a writers’ circle.

It’s always useful to take a work-inprogress to a circle, club or class in order to gather other writers’ opinions of it.

Members of the group would pick up on tiny points like typos (the errant apostrophe in bomb’s) and words that don’t sit comfortably, like the rather dated ‘Midst, but they would also have advice to offer on larger questions, such as that possible cutting of the final stanzas, and the direction the poem takes as it moves through the material. It could be argued that the suggestions of other writers would all arise in the poet’s mind in time; but seeking advice slashes the revision time and provides the poet with reassurance about the piece.

Jane Burns points out that she finds writing with emotion is ‘easy as I write from the heart’. This is a lucky position to be in. For many poets, writing from the heart is the hardest thing to do, and raw emotion needs to be filtered through more practical concerns. She goes on to say that ‘It made me cry when I re-read the poem.’ This is just about the best response you can have to your own emotion-based work, underlining the effectiveness of your message.

It’s incredibly difficult to communicate a political message without ranting, moving into a didactic voice that alienates the reader, or generally allowing the direction of the poem to slip away from your control. This poem has something special to offer. www.writers-online.co.uk

Poetry in practice Don’t get stuck in a rut with your rhyme scheme, says Doris Corti It is very easy to get set in the usual way of writing a poem. This may have proved an easy way and you often use it. Take for instance a well known pattern, as in a/b/a/b – this can be seen in the following lines: In the land of the living and joy of being free, comes happiness in giving between you and me.

This is a rhyme pattern easy to slip into when an idea to write about comes to mind.

Avoid this tight rhyme next time. Loosen the chains a bit and try another form. Stick to a four line stanza if you feel comfortable with this, but next time use four lines of iambic pentameter (ie five feet to a line, each consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one).

Place these lines in the form called the Italian quatrain. This is where the first and last lines rhyme and the second and third lines rhyme, creating the pattern which is a/b/b/a. This is the form of individual stanzas and any number of quatrains (four lines) can be used to create a poem.

However, subsequent stanzas take their own rhyming sounds,so the rhyme plan for a poem of four stanzas would be: a/b/b/a c/d/d/c e/f/f/e g/h/h/g.

It is an attractive form and as well as being versatile it is easy to follow. It has a pleasant and subtle sound effect with its differing rhymes.

The difference in rhyme pattern can be seen in part of a poem called In Memoriam AHH by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

So word by word,and line by line, The dead man touch’d me from the past, And all at once it seem’d at last The living soul was flash’d on mine Want something different again? Why not experiment with tercets (stanzas of three lines).why not try different line lengths, perhaps with a strict beat or a haphazard one?

If you want a change from a rhyme pattern why not try a form called normative syllabics, where the same number of syllables occurs in each line and the poem may be of any length. Or write in the form of quantitative syllabics, where the first stanza lays down a pattern of syllable numbers to the line – this is then repeated in every following stanza.

Exercises Write a poem to the theme of moonlight using stanzas where rhyme patterns vary. The poem may be of any length.

Then write a short poem where each line has the same number of syllables.

DECEMBER JANUARY 2018 2019

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Poetry from

A

to

Z

Poet Alison Chisholm guides you through the language of poetry

A TRIPLET is a three-line stanza, usually metrical, rhyming a a a.

She dealt in questions, half-truths, lies, her face a mask – no compromise – a smile that never reached her eyes.

count your own breaths until there are no numbers left.

At last you dare to look back, trace the road’s twists into infinity; wonder where to go next.

A TRISTICH, like a tercet, is any stanza of three lines.

EXERCISE: Start your triversen with a subject that you know will work when it is divided into just six sentences. Create a sentence for each stanza of the poem, then break the sentences into three phrases for the three lines. Check that you have the requisite number of stressed syllables in every line. To make sure your triversen has good poetic quality, include plenty of slant rhymes to help the free verse to cohere.

A TRISYLLABIC FOOT is made up of three syllables, such as a dactyl (happening) or anapaest (on the beach).

The TRIVERSEN is a poem devised by William Carlos Williams out of a native American form. The name takes three letters each from the words triple verse sentence.

Using neither full rhyme nor strict metre, the poem consists of six stanzas of three lines, usually indented as demonstrated here. Each stanza is a complete sentence (or sometimes a clause), and each line is a phrase of the sentence. Lines lengths vary, but there are two, three or four stressed syllables in every line.

LEARNING THE ROAD This road has no end; it started with a decision to walk, ambles on through unremitting green.

TROCHEES are feet of two syllables, the first stressed and the second unstressed. A line of trochaic tetrameter would read in this pattern: When the shades of night are falling.

TROPE means the figurative or metaphorical use of a single word or an expression.

TRUNCATED or catalectic lines are shortened by the omission of one unstressed syllable (or more) from the end of the line.

Still air smells stale; even your passing fails to stir it through the mustiness of leaves.

UBI SUNT poems, from the Latin for Where are they, are pieces that ask that question. Originally a reflection on mortality and the transience of life, nowadays they may refer to people or things, often lamenting their absence.

An appropriate phrase may be used as an anaphora to start each stanza.

Time is trapped, seconds cobwebbed where twig and branch turn bone.

You count the rickety fence posts,

SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPH Where are they now, the girls with those big dreams, big backcombed hair, green skirts that only just obeyed the Knee

You may want to escape your mind’s muddle, but mile on monotonous mile the same horizon lours.

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Length rule? Where is Mary, sporty and a maths genius, whose future seemed assured?

Where’s Janet, the only girl in class whose skin defied the ravages of acne?

Where are they now, the girls who giggled through half-hints of whispers of words that were never used outside the biology lab, who struggled through snow and blizzard armed with hockey sticks? Where’s Hilary, and is she now staring out of an office window?

Where are they now, the girls who braved French verbs, Latin declensions, everything they’ve never needed to know about 1066?

Is that Carole or Freddy, Gillian or Viv standing just beyond the extent of my vision, fading where memory fails and quietly dies?

EXERCISE: Think back to some possessions that were important to you at a particular stage in your childhood or adolescence, and write an ubi sunt poem based on them.

UNACCENTED RHYME occurs when unstressed syllables at the end of words have the same sound, although the preceding sounds are different, such as grateful /meaningful, splendid/candid, having/considering.

The UNDERGROUND POETS were performance poets writing in the second half of the 20th century, including Roger McGough, Adrian Mitchell, Michael Horovitz, Brian Patten, Tom Pickard and Adrian Henri.

UNDERSTATEMENT is a diminished description of something, often for comedic or ironic effect, such as calling a howling gale a slight breeze.

CRIME FILE

PENDING CASES Chris High closes the Crime File with a look at some of the titles to look out for early in 2019

A

s the year draws to an end, it’s the perfect time to take a look at some of the novels and novelists – both familiar and not-so-familiar – to look out for in the new year.

First up, informed by his thirty years’ experience as a journalist, Chris Hammer releases his debut novel Scrublands with Headline on 6 January. In an isolated Australian outback town afflicted by interminable drought, a charismatic and dedicated young priest calmly opens fire on his congregation, shooting dead five parishioners before being gunned down himself. A year later, and not without his own demons, journalist Martin Scarsden arrives in Riversend to discover how the townspeople are coping as the anniversary of their tragedy approaches. But as Martin meets the locals and hears their version of events, he begins to realise that the accepted wisdom may be wrong.

Another Australian author with a journalistic pedigree, Jane Harper takes a break from her Aaron Falk novels to publish the standalone The Lost Man with Little Brown. Two brothers – each other’s nearest neighbour but with homes hours apart – meet at the remote border of their vast cattle properties, where

their middle brother, Cameron, has apparently walked to his death in the unrelenting sun.

Dark and moody, The Lost Man will have you reaching for the light... to keep on reading.

Also coming in January is The Dangerous Kind (Bonnier Zaffre), from writer and TV producer Deborah O’Connor, a tough thriller that will draw shivers for its discomforting portrayal of the monsters who walk among us, hidden in plain sight.

Finally in this little round up is The Woman in the Dark (Sphere) by Vanessa Savage, a graphic designer and illustrator with a flair for arresting detail, who has twice been awarded a Literature Wales writing bursary and is currently on the longlist for the Bath Novel Award.

The Woman in the Dark is a haunting psychological thriller cut through with family dysfunction and the secrets that haunt us.

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59

Watch

the

sky

Some of the heavens’ most mysterious manifestations can add heightened ambience to your storytelling, says Helen M Walters

T

his month’s story is one that has been much discussed by commentators and is open to a number of different interpretations with some saying it is a reflection on American society at the time, or even a representation of a clash of religious beliefs. But the aspect of the story that I want to look at is the way in which natural phenomena and the natural world are so important.

Herman Melville is perhaps best known for writing Moby Dick, another tale where the natural world is a crucial factor, but TO READ THIS we are going to look at The STORY GO TO: Lightning-Rod Man, a short https://writ.rs/ story which features a visit lightningrod to the narrator from a very persistent door-to-door salesman.

As always, you will benefit the most from this column if you read the story for yourself. You can read it here: https://writ.rs/lightningrod There are two main characters in the story, a householder and a stranger who comes to his door to try to sell him a lightning rod. But the characters do not carry the story alone. A significant actor in the story is the storm that has brought the 60

JANUARY 2019

salesman to the narrator’s door.

The story is rich in references to nature and the environment. The relationship of the characters to the natural world is important to the plot, with many of the central events of the story not being simply a result of human agency, but of the natural environment.

We start the story by being immediately told that the narrator is in a house surrounded by hills and assaulted by a thunder storm. In this first paragraph we have some very vivid descriptions of the storm with its scattered bolts booming, its zigzag irradiations and ‘slants of sharp rain’. Normally I’d advise against an opening paragraph describing the weather, but in this story it is appropriate because it sets the tone of the narrative so well. It underlines how important the natural world is going to be and is an indication of where power lies in the story.

Although there is a battle of wills between the two characters, nature is ultimately more powerful than either.

The setting in the hills and mountains is crucial. We are told that the storm has been ‘brewed in the mountains’ and that the hooded mountains seemed to be tumbling www.writers-online.co.uk

in on the house. The lightning rod man also tells the narrator that mountaineers are among those most exposed to the dangers of lightning.

Trees in the surroundings are also referenced many times in the story, mainly as a potential danger. Notice how we are told of the ‘big elm’ being hit by lightning, the ‘stricken oaks’ (according to the salesman oak is particularly susceptible!) and the need to avoid pine trees.

The story is also enriched by a number of expressive descriptions of the thunder itself. It is referred to as ‘muttering’, a crammed crash and ringing like spear points.

Notice how well these descriptions bring the story to life and make the reader feel that they too are experiencing a thunder storm.

The description of the power of nature at the beginning of the story is interrupted to introduce one of the human characters – the salesman who appears at the narrator’s door. But note that even the physical description of the salesman takes its prompt from nature with his eyes being described in terms of lightning, but of an innocuous sort. The visitor is also inexorably linked to the thunderstorm.

He deliberately plies his trade during

MASTERCLASS

storms and so it is that which has brought him to the narrator’s door.

Add to all this the many other references in the story to natural phenomena such as running water, fire, globular lightning, earth and clouds, and you have a story that resonates with delicious detail and leaves the reader with an abiding sense of the power of the natural world which goes far beyond the human’s place in it.

What’s that I see?

We’ve looked in a previous column at weather – wind, rain, snow and sun – and how it can have agency and add atmosphere in your story. This time I want to look at some other, maybe less obvious, manifestations of the natural world and how you might be able to use them to add interest to your stories.

A rainbow Finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is an age old fantasy and if you go back to the Bible we are told that the rainbow signifies God’s promise to Noah that he will never flood the world again. But how else can you use rainbows to enrich your story?

Well, rainbows can mean a number of different things. Maybe one of these would work for your story.

Rainbows appear when there is both sunshine and rain present. So they can be used a symbol of hope or a sign that in the midst of adversity good things can still be found. So if your story is about a character who is going through a difficult time, seeing a rainbow might be something that gives them the courage to keep going and hold on to their dreams. Seeing a rainbow is also thought by some to mean good luck, so if your character is due a change in fortune for the better maybe having a rainbow arching over them could be a good way of signposting that.

The rainbow has also been adopted as a symbol of diversity and equality, in particular by LGBTQ groups. So if those themes are important in your story the use of a rainbow – either in the sky or on someone’s clothing, flag

or badge – could help to reinforce your message.

The moon Again the mythology and symbolism is strong. Many different mythological systems see the moon representing a god or goddess and the moon is often seen as symbolising femininity and echoing the phases of life.

And don’t forget there are many different moons to play with in your work, each of which will offer different shades of meaning. Think about the different ways you could use full, crescent, blue, gibbous, harvest, wolf and blood moons. They will all have a different resonance.

Full moons are often associated with werewolves and other unusual activity.

So if you are writing a story that deals with ghosts, the supernatural and the unexplained a full moon may add atmosphere to your tale. It may also literally throw light on situations that would otherwise be in darkness, which may help you move your plot on.

Blue moons have come to be associated with rare events as they only happen under certain specific circumstances. So if your story is working up to an unexpected or portentous event for one of your characters a blue moon might help to raise the sense of rareness and significance of what is about to happen.

A harvest moon is the closest full moon to the autumn equinox and due to atmospheric conditions may appear to have a golden or orangey colour. Think of the other associations of harvest – food, plenty, celebration – and see if you can use them, along with the moon, to give extra layers of meaning to your work.

Aurora borealis Also known as the northern lights, the aurora borealis is a natural phenomenon caused by the activity of charged particles in the atmosphere which results in a spectacular light show in the sky. When I moved to the north of Scotland last year, I was assured that the chances of seeing www.writers-online.co.uk

northern lights were high. So far, no luck. But I live in hope. So, for me, if I wanted to write a story about a fervent hope or aspiration the aurora borealis could well work as a metaphor for that.

There is also a strong mythology around aurora. Before people understood the science behind the manifestation it must have been a most startling and inexplicable experience. In seeking to explain it, many mythologies associated it with fire or interpreted it as a message from either god or evil spirits.

Either way it would be a very dramatic addition to a story and could be used to evoke a range of emotions in your characters.

An eclipse A total or partial eclipse of the sun is another event which is relatively rare and something people will go out of their way to see. So maybe a journey or pilgrimage to see an eclipse could form part of your story.

Or what about the conditions experienced when the eclipse actually happens? Anyone who has experienced one will remember the eerie feeling of light fading from the sky at a time when that should not be happening. The slight shiver at the cold, the feeling that everyone is holding their breath as they wait for things to go back to normal.

That could provide an ideal backdrop for a spine-tingling ghost story or a crime story. Or what about letting your imagination really run riot? What if everyone is waiting and watching for an eclipse to happen and it doesn’t? Or what if the moment of total eclipse arrives and stays, leaving the world in darkness?

You could come up with all sorts of fantasy or science fiction stories playing with the implications of that.

Why not give one of these natural phenomena, or a completely different one, a go? Remember, don’t just think about the phenomenon itself, but also about how it interacts with what your characters are feeling, doing and thinking. It could be a great way to enrich your writing.

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61

Facing the chop Rather than bin them, find ways of recycling characters who don’t make the final edit of your children’s story with help from Amy Sparkes one can seem abandoned and forgotten.

Other times, you may have to edit out supporting or even background characters who you really enjoyed writing about. Picture books, for very young children, tend to have a particularly small ‘cast’, often no more than five characters (although there are always exceptions to the rule). If your cast wildly exceeds this, you might need to consider editing it down.

T

he editing process can be harsh. You’re writing a children’s book, then you find the word count is too long, or you decide there are too many characters, or subplots – or both. Sometimes agents and publishers may suggest changes, or maybe they just aren’t biting on a story, and you’ve decided to move on…

But – wait.

Before you hit the delete button and lose parts of your story forever, maybe there is a way to create something beautiful from those elements facing the chop.

1 Give chopped characters their own stories If a character is interesting enough for you to mourn their removal, they are probably interesting enough to have a story of their own. After all, everyone has a story to tell…

The character facing the chop might be the protagonist or antagonist, who ended up not being quite the one you needed. This does happen sometimes.

Sometimes you have a ‘caterpillar and butterfly’ situation: your original character was cocooned as your work developed and stepped out as someone very different. As a result, your original 62

JANUARY 2019

Here are some points to bear in mind when working with chopped characters: • Your character may need reworking If you want to work with an old, ‘caterpillar’ version of your character, ensure they are sufficiently different from the new, ‘butterfly’ version. Too many similarities and you run the risk of repeating the original story or following it too closely, rather than creating something new and exciting.

When dealing with a fullyformed character who was chopped completely, be aware that they may need altering as you develop the new story plot.

‘Cutting and pasting’ your character into a new story won’t be as effective as taking time to re-develop your character within a new context.

• You still need to develop a strong concept and story idea Even if you have an exciting and dynamic character, your story still needs a concept – a strong idea to take it forward. To help discover your character’s new story, spend time exploring their strengths and weaknesses (which may be slightly different in their www.writers-online.co.uk

reworked incarnation). This can help identify internal and external conflict possibilities and you can develop the concept and the plot from there.

Spidergrams are effective for thrashing around ideas. Put your character’s name in the centre of a page and draw lines outward to pieces of information about the character.

What creature are they? Likes?

Dislikes? Strengths? Weaknesses? What do they want most? What do they fear most? Family ties? Friendships?

Hobbies? How can you link up different threads of the character? You should find plot ideas appearing and evolving as you brainstorm.

Make sure your new concept is quite different from your original story idea. You could try relocating your character to a completely new setting, genre or time period. This will help give your character freedom to breathe and give you freedom to create fresh, new possibilities.

You could also try placing them into a story for a different age group.

For example, say you had written a funny, young fiction story about a lazy warrior. Could you rewrite that character

WRITING FOR CHILDREN

for a picture book readership instead?

Or develop him or her into an edgier, darker, middle-grade version?

2 Turn subplots into new books Sometimes, if there are too many strands in your story, something will have to go.

For example, say you are writing a story for younger children about a pirate who enjoys ballet dancing, but is teased by the other pirates, and ends up going on a treasure hunt to an undiscovered island and must be back in time to perform at his or her first ever show…

The idea is interesting but is beginning to sound rather cluttered and unfocused. But supposing you develop and strengthen your character – in this case, our ballet-dancing pirate – to allow a series of books to be written.

Book 1: Introducing an unusual ballet-loving pirate who proves to the other, teasing pirates that you can combine ballet-dancing and piracy.

Happens all the time…

Book 2: The ballet-dancing pirate goes to an island never-before discovered and somehow (and I’ll leave this to your own imaginations), his/her balletdancing abilities help save the day.

Book 3: And so on.

You don’t have to confine ‘removed’ subplots to the same series, either. If your subplots are deep and elaborate, perhaps you have two separate stories you need to tell. For example, imagine you’re working on a story set in Victorian England, about a boy who escapes from the workhouse in a bid to stow away on a ship bound for America, to find his long-lost father. Along the way, he befriends a lonely, misunderstood girl from a circus family, who uses her special psychic abilities to help him find his way.

Now, this would definitely make an interesting story.

BUT. There is a danger that the main plot and the subplot might end up competing.

The two ideas are potentially so

strong, and so driven, that there might not be room for both. Instead of having the circus girl involved in the boy’s story, why not give her a real chance to shine and write her a story of her own? As you separate the two strands, take time to explore them and expand them. You could end up with something like this: Book 1: In an alternative universe, a blind boy escapes the workhouse in a bid to stow away on the last ever ship to America to find his long-lost father.

Book 2: A lonely, misunderstood circus girl faces up to her dangerous, illegal psychic powers to save her family’s livelihood.

The only problem is, you’ll have to decide which story to write first…

spark of creativity may trigger a short, concise idea which doesn’t fit into your current WIP. Perhaps it would take your story on too much of a tangent or overcomplicate the plot. You could try developing this idea into a short story of its own. If you enjoy working on it, and want to take it further, there’s nothing stopping you developing or reworking it into a longer, more involved story later. Most magazines revert rights back to the author after six months, so you would be free to do what you wish with your story.

Try approaching Aquila (www. aquila.co.uk) or Zizzle (www. zizzlelit.com).

So, take heart. The editing process may be frustrating, but as you trim your work, you could end up with more stories than you expected.

3 Turn an idea into a short story Sometimes when you’re writing, a

NOW Try this Keep a Journal of Homeless Things When you are deleting anything which has potential, but must be edited out of your story, make sure you save it somewhere safe, such as a Journal of Homeless Things. This could be a file on your computer, marked ‘Characters to use’, ‘Ideas to revisit’, ‘Edited out from (insert book name)’ or whatever makes sense for you.

Equally, you could use a notebook instead of ‘copy and pasting’ exact text. The advantage of this, is that as you transfer the information, you are more likely to paraphrase and summarise and get to the heart of the matter. This tends to result in something more organic, concise and mouldable than a direct duplicate of the edited text. It is also likely to remove your ideas one step further away from your original story, which may make it easier to recycle your ideas or characters.

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JANUARY 2019

63

My Writing D

ay

ANDREW TAYLOR The historical crime writer tells Lynne Hackles about finding the rhythm of his writing process

‘I

find that every day has its rhythm,’ says multi-award winning author Andrew Taylor.

‘It’s usually a slow start.

I’ll wake around 7 and begin work between 9 and 10, often tinkering with what I wrote the day before; then tentative stabs at writing interspersed with snippets of research; then the process speeds up and I generally write more in the last hour or so than in the rest of the day. I end around 7pm.

That said, I take lots of breaks – for coffee, walks, lunch, and so on. And I’m very rarely writing for all that time. When I’m writing a first draft, I keep an eye on the word count. A thousand words is a reasonable day’s work for me. More is a bonus.

‘I used to manage a book a year (sometimes more when I was younger). When I started writing historical crime with The American Boy, two years became the norm – the books were standalones and also longer, and the research was endless.

Now I’m writing my Restoration series, where setting and the main characters can be carried over to the next book, so I’m trying to write one a year again. Fingers crossed on that.

‘Writing a book as a whole generally has its pattern. I write 20-30,000 words at a brisk pace. Next comes the great morass of the middle, where I go round and round in circles. When I finally emerge from this, I tend to gallop towards the end. During this time, my family keep at a safe distance. I finished my last book in a 4,000-word sprint that left me shattered for days.

‘I can work on two books at the same time, though usually they are at different 64

JANUARY 2019

stages – eg I might take a break from writing the current novel to edit the previous one, or do an outline for the next. I suppose one learns how to change mental gears. No idea how!

‘A perfect writing day would be one in which the work-in-progress surges forward and perhaps I resolve a plot difficulty en route. (I find walking – in my case, in the Forest of Dean – can be a productive way to solve problems and generate ideas.)

‘I waste far too much time on Twitter.

It’s full of interest but using it as a seriously effective marketing tool is a skill I’ve never mastered. Not sure I want to, to be honest. I answer emails, fiddle around with iTunes and update the accounts. In fact, I do more or less anything to postpone the necessity of putting black words on a white screen.

It’s a marvel I write anything at all. Panic (as in “How on earth can I pay the mortgage next year?”) plays an absolutely crucial role in my creative process.

‘Quite a lot of time is spent on promoting my books, especially around publication – which means talks, book signings, festivals, interviews, etc. When I started writing in the early 1980s, there was very little of this; now authors are expected to do it as part of the job.

Rather to my surprise I enjoy it, though it can be tiring and, of course, it takes time away from the writing. I also teach one or two Arvon courses (or similar) most years, which is a refreshing way to remind myself of the craft of writing.

And I review a bit in the Spectator and The Times.

‘I think I’ve written 45 books now, if I include a few novelisations, children’s books, etc. My latest is The Fire Court, the sequel to The Ashes of London. It’s set in the immediate aftermath of the www.writers-online.co.uk

LISTEN TAP HERE To hear an extract from The Fire Court

Great Fire of 1666. The plot deals with a murder connected to the special court set up to adjudicate disputes about the rebuilding after the fire. Like its predecessor, it features the Whitehall clerk, James Marwood, and Cat Lovett, the Regicide’s daughter who wants to be an architect.

‘I haven’t studied history in a formal, academic sense since A-Level. But the subject fascinates me – in particular, the long shadows that the past throws onto the present. I often chose historical settings that I don’t know a great deal about but find interesting. For me, writing a novel is, in more ways than one, a process of discovery. That’s partly what makes it so enjoyable.

‘I’m currently working on the third Restoration novel, which is called The King’s Evil. If all goes well, it will be published in April.’ www.andrew-taylor.co.uk Twitter: @andrewjrtaylor

My Writing Place ‘I’m fortunate – for more than thirty years, I’ve lived in the same cottage. It has outbuildings, one of which we had converted to be my study. It’s said to have been a tack room in the days when there were horses here, so that’s what we call it – the Tack Room. From my desk I look over our yard, which is largely grassed over, and at the house on the other side. Swallows nest immediately outside the Tack Room door.’

BEHIND THE TAPE

N E W AU T H O R P R O F I L E

Expert advice to get the details right in your crime fiction, from serving police officer Lisa Cutts

Q

I have a character in my police procedural novel who wants to transfer to another force. How easy would this be?

Q

If you have a query for Lisa, please send it by email to enquiries @ lisacutts.co.uk

How long after a body has been found would the post mortem take part?

quite as straightforward as simply moving from one force Office post mortem for a murder or for a body found A Itto isn’t A Ain Home another. Your character, for the sake of fiction, could make this suspicious circumstances, would usually be done the same day. easy as officers do move around the country for a variety of reasons. In reality, it would involve filling in an application, an interview, a fitness test, a medical and completion of the vetting process. Realistically, this could take six months or more.

After the body has been recovered, which in itself may take some time, the pathologist usually performs the PM the same day. If late at night, and dependant on her or his availability, it would probably be done first thing the next day.

Q

Q

Is detective constable a higher rank than police constable?

not. The pay scale and rank are exactly the same. There was a A Definitely time when being a detective was seen as a step up, and not only are those days, rightly so, long gone, there is a national shortage of detectives. Many police forces are recruiting straight to detective with no need for officers to be patrol or response officers for a substantial period of time before working as detectives. There is still intensive training required of all officers.

In my thriller, I would like to keep my police officers realistic.

Would they always accept a cup of tea while on inquiries? Are they allowed to accept tea and coffee?

I’m honest, there are some houses I’ve been in where I would A Ifprefer not to partake, but on the whole, yes, police officers would accept a tea or coffee. Anything more, such as alcohol or a free meal should be refused and reported to a supervisor. This is to stop officers being corrupted by incentives which later become bribes.

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JANUARY 2019

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K

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Q

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Try your hand at writing flash fiction with advice from writer and editor Alex Davis

F

lash fiction is a term that is often bandied around, and typically refers to stories weighing in at under 1,000 words. While the form certainly has some things in common with short stories, writing it is a unique task and skill in its own right, and requires a unique approach to deliver well. And it’s certainly true to say that writing something with fewer words doesn’t necessarily mean it’s any easier – in fact many writers find quite the opposite! Sure, the ‘finish line’ may be a bit closer, but with so few words it’s important to use them carefully and make sure they are all achieving something for the story you are trying to tell.

But how do you go about doing it right? In this article we’ll look at some of the key principles to writing your own flash fiction.

One size doesn’t fit all While that ‘below 1,000 words’ tagline is a pretty reliable one for flash fiction, as always, it is crucial to remember if and when you are sending work out that magazines, 66

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webzines or websites might have their own definition in terms of preferred length. Below 500 is a fairly popular length as well, and there are also a few other terms you might just see floating around to describes particular brands of flash fiction.

The drabble is an often-seen type, and covers stories of 100 words – usually exactly 100 to boot. This can pose a fascinating challenge to authors in terms of exactness and precision in word count, as can the dribble – a spin-off form of precisely fifty words.

Those word counts might not sound like much, but there are two other accepted forms with even more stringent limits than that. Twitterature weighs in at only 280 characters – and regular social media users will know that used to be just 140 characters, There is also a recognised trend of six-word stories, as purportedly started

by Ernest Hemingway with ‘For sale, baby shoes, never worn.’

As with all fiction, knowing your word limits is important, but probably even more so with flash fiction – cutting from 1,000 to 500 can be a massive challenge after all. If you have www.writers-online.co.uk

a specific market in mind, look into it first and be aware of where those boundaries stand.

Three acts – or not?

As you can see in that six-word story, there’s nothing really resembling a full plot there – nor would it likely be possible to deliver a character set up, conflict and denouement within that sort of word count. And that’s a huge distinction between flash fiction and short stories. When you are below 500 or 1,000 words, there’s no necessity to develop a full story – much flash fiction is more about capturing a moment, a vignette, a brief glimpse of emotion. There can be a sense of coming in midway through, or towards the end of a story, in this way distilling and concentrating interesting or emotional scenes. Short stories of 1,000 words or more would almost always be expected to follow traditional structure, but there is more freedom in that regard in flash fiction – in fact in that regard it is as similar to poetry as it is to prose. There’s not always any recognisable character development, or a clear ending as you might know it.

The art of flash Like any other form, there are very few ‘rules’ that you could pin down – in fact the word count is probably the only hard and fast thing with flash fiction at all. However, there are a host of things that you can do to develop great writing in the field, and the following is offered as guidance for anyone with an interest in exploring it further.

1 Read some first Flash fiction is often a form that isn’t as prevalent as short stories, and unfortunately nowhere close to novels either. It’s popular online, but not something you see a huge amount of in book form. As such, it’s important not to ‘fly blind’ and it is well worth spending some time reading stories in the milieu to get a feel and flavour of what it’s all about.

There are numerous sites and webzines offering a host of flash fiction for free – here are a handful of my favourites that you can check out for regular stories. Familiarise yourself with how other people do it before

C R E AT I V E W R I T I N G

getting into it yourself.

• http://flashfictiononline.com/main/ • https://flashfictionmagazine.com/ • www.fridayflashfiction.com/100word-stories

2 Don’t worry about word count – at first Given that we have spent a while looking at various different lengths and forms of flash fiction, this may seem strange advice. With that said, it’s hard to really have any precise idea how many words you are penning without obsessively clicking ‘word count’ – which I have been known to do myself...

Anyway, the best bet is to tell the story first – however many words it takes – then chip away if necessary to meet the desired worldcount. You can often trim a reasonable number of words to bring it down to a specific target, if you have one in mind, or indeed find another market that might accept something at slightly more words if you can’t bear to trim it. Flash fiction markets tend to be less focused on genre, so there’s plenty of scope to find a new home other the one you originally intended.

3 Consider your title carefully The title to any story, long, short or flash, always has a certain importance.

However I feel this is amped up in the case of flash fiction – if the story is only 50 or 100 words a great title can be a way to add extra significance or a hint towards the meaning of the story. Think on it carefully before committing, and don’t be shy to change it as you draft.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that most flash fiction will appear alongside many other stories, be it in magazines, anthologies or online. As such, a grabbing title can make the difference between someone’s attitude towards it, or even whether they decide to read it or not.

4 Keep a very limited cast Even at its longest, flash fiction can be seen as prohibitive on word count – there are many things you can’t really do at 1,000 words, and developing an extensive cast of characters is one of them. Keep to simply one or two for best effect.

You’re also very likely to have little

time to describe characters, or give any backstory. Most of the character development you do will be fairly basic, and largely suggested through actions, dialogue or the protagonists’ interactions with others – in that way you can shift the plot as well as develop character to some extent. Remember, it’s important to make every word count and do as much as it can.

usual context you have in a story is removed, it can still pack a big punch.

In fact sometimes it can be even more so because that one moment is the focus and as such becomes more condensed and even purer.

Think carefully about where to come in and what point you want to come out of the story and you can deliver something truly special.

5 Have an impactful opener and closer

Flash fiction requires a different approach to other fiction, and it’s fair to say that very good novelists and even very good short story writers can struggle with the form. Be sure to think carefully about what your words are doing, as there’s simply no room for waste or spare at this kind of word count. Take the time to explore and read in the form to understand what works and what doesn’t in the medium.

It’s also important to think of whether you want to tell a whole story or part of one – and both can be equally effective, although it gets harder and harder to deliver a full plot the lower you go in terms of word count!

Last but by no means least, it’s important to bear in mind that much of the market for flash is online.

Although there are a handful of magazines and anthologies out there, it’s not a format that sells especially well, so free or limited payment outlets on the internet can be more effective for both readers and the people publishing them. While it can be a hard field in which to really establish a name as a writer, and certainly to develop a career in, it does offer unique opportunities and challenges for a writer and can be a hugely rewarding area to write in.

I’ve already suggested that flash has some similarities to poetry, and I think the way that moods and even individual lines can stick with people is one of those similarities. As such, a strong opening line can really draw a reader into a story, and be something that stays with them. Possibly even more important than that is a great line to end on, something to leave the reader really thinking what has just happened, or what might be about to happen.

Again, don’t be afraid to use the idea of ambiguity and leave the reader guessing a bit.

6 Don’t make it ‘just a joke’ Not to say we don’t all like a good joke, but flash fiction is often used as a medium for humour, and as a shorter form of fiction it can work well in that context. However if the whole thing just builds towards a punchline and has nothing else going for it, it may not be as effective as it could be.

Using and employing humour is absolutely fine, but try to make sure there is more to it than just wordplay or irony to close with. Otherwise the story will feel very light and throwaway, and while it might deliver a quick chuckle, it’s unlikely to remain with a reader in the way other flash fiction might.

7 Tell some of the story, but do it well In this context, it’s fair to say that threeact structure is not the be all and end all – in fact it’s one of the only times you’ll hear me utter those words. So often the trick to flash fiction is to deliver a portion of a story, but do it well.

Giving a fragment of a much bigger tale can have a huge impact – show a moment that would be really important and impactful for the characters. Even though the www.writers-online.co.uk

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t n a r G ishes w

Could a grant be a lifeline for your next writing project? Simon Whaley explores the opportunities.

riting can be a costly business.

Big projects, such as novels or nonfiction books, often require research involving travel and accommodation costs, entry fees and other incidental expenses. Then there’s the time. If only we could buy ourselves some time to tackle such a large project. Sometimes, winning the lottery seems more achievable.

The good news is we don’t need to win the lottery. There are organisations that offer grants to writers to help with these, and other, costs. However, writers who take a practical, businesslike approach to the application form stand a greater chance of successfully securing such funding.

W

Research revenue Traditionally, a publisher’s advance would provide the necessary finance to help a writer pay the bills or meet research costs while working on a book project. But advances are dwindling, and that’s assuming we’re even offered one in the first place.

However, organisations like the Society of Authors and the Arts Council offer grant support to writers to help us with our projects.

John Pilkington (http://www. johnpilkington.co.uk), who writes the Marbeck historical espionage series, is a member of the Society 68

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of Authors, and he applied to their Authors Foundation Award.

This fund was established in 1984, during the Society’s centenary, and its aim is to help authors financially while writing books. John was awarded a grant back in 2015 to help with the research for his next novel.

‘I needed to travel from Devon to Lancashire, which involved considerable costs, such as hotel, petrol, admission fees to museums, historic houses, and castles etc. I drew up a list of places I intended to visit, estimated the time needed and made a budget,’ he explains.

It’s worth remembering that although a grant may be seen as free money, you do still have to work for it. There is an application process, where you have to sell yourself and your project. It’s a competitive process, and should be treated like any other writing competition.

‘In my application for the award,’ John continues, ‘I had to describe the project, giving a rough outline of the book I proposed to write.’

John’s application was successful.

‘I asked for £1,500 and the Society of Authors, in its generosity, awarded me £2500. It paid for the trip, which was very useful, and all the research feeds into the mass of material I’m gathering for the book, which is still a work-in-progress.’

However, securing a grant doesn’t www.writers-online.co.uk

just help writers financially. It also demonstrates that someone else believes in your project and the work you’re doing. ‘The boost to one’s confidence is considerable,’ says John.

Buying time Burhana Islam (www. browngirlscribbling.com) is an English teacher by day and a hermit writer by night. She’s been

Business directory Grant Funders • The Society of Authors (www.societyofauthors.org/ Grants) distributes over £360,000 every year through various grant schemes aimed at supporting works in progress, or helping out writers in financial difficulty.

• Arts Council England (www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/) considers applications from writers seeking amounts of £1,000 or more for projects as diverse as professional development, publishing, and research and development.

• Arts Council Wales (www.arts.wales/funding/individuals) accepts applications from creative individuals looking to develop their careers and earn a sustainable living from their work.

• Creative Scotland (https://writ.rs/scotsfunding) offers funding to help individuals develop skills, or create something new.

• Arts Council Northern Ireland (https://writ. rs/2nifunding) offers a range of schemes for individual artists.

• Royal Literary Fund (https://writ.rs/rlfhelp) offers help to writers in financial difficulties, who’ve published several commercial works.

T H E BU S I N E S S O F W R I T I N G

a mentee in the Penguin Random House WriteNow scheme, designed to support writers from underrepresented communities. Her project, titled Sticks and Stones, is inspired by the three-year-old Syrian refugee, Aylan Kurdi. He drowned in 2015 when his family and other refugees attempted to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, and his death made headlines around the world.

‘I found out about the Authors Foundation Award,’ says Burhana, ‘after a fellow WriteNow Alumni, Nazneen Ahmed, mentioned that she received a grant. Getting funding in that capacity seemed outside my realm of possibility as I had no previous writing credentials other than the mentorship itself, but I thought I’d apply anyway as the worst that could happen was rejection. I could deal with that.’

The next step Burhana took was to check the scheme’s criteria. It’s important you check the eligibility criteria and conditions for any grant scheme you’d like to apply to, otherwise you could end up wasting not only your time, but that of the administrators too.

‘The awarding scheme was right for me and my project,’ says Burhana, ‘as it recognises the value of time needed for a work-in-progress project and rewards it. From research, I saw that the grant also wanted to support those who were working on specific themes such as racial understanding, poetry, magical realism and the likes. Since Sticks and Stones deals with the issue regarding race, I thought I’d stand a better chance too.’

If you’ve never completed a grant application form, it can seem daunting at first. However, give yourself plenty of time to read through all the documentation. Think about what you want to say, and how best to sell yourself and your project.

Despite researching online about how best to complete a grant application form, Burhana found the scheme’s guidance notes were the most useful. ‘The application process wasn’t as difficult as I thought initially would it be. In all, I spent two days writing and proofreading the application endlessly. I spent some time Googling what was needed for a successful grant application and, in the end, gave

up on that completely and instead read the information pack carefully, highlighting key words and phrases when necessary. After writing each paragraph, I checked that I’d addressed each bullet point the pack referred to.’

Take time to read through the guidance notes and think about how you can meet the required conditions of the scheme.

Burhana wondered if being unpublished would make her ineligible. ‘I didn’t have any fan reviews since I’m a previously unpublished author so instead I copied and pasted my editor’s first review of my manuscript. It was about three A4 sides so I hoped it would be an acceptable alternative. My biggest challenge, honestly, was starting the application itself. I wasn’t sure it’d be worth the time I’d need to ultimately give it, but once I started writing and had a little more faith in myself, the process itself was quite cathartic. It reminded me why I was writing in the first place.’

It worked. Burhana was awarded the grant funding she asked for. Like John, she’s found that a successful application is more than just a financial boost.

‘The award has given me the most valuable thing of all: time.

Being a teacher, as well as having responsibilities at home, makes it difficult to fit in time to write, but because of the grant, I can really work on something that means the world to me. The Society of Authors supports writers from all walks of life and this opportunity is not only a much-needed confidence boost, but it almost feels like it validates my own aims of getting a marginalised voice out to readers, one that needs be heard in this day and age. Truth be told, I cannot be more grateful for that.’

Application advice Always remember what the aim of the funder’s scheme is. No grant funder will just give money away, they want to support worthy applications and feel that their grant money will make a real difference to applicants.

The Author’s Foundation aims to support writers who are writing books. So as John explains, ‘You need to demonstrate a realistic chance of publication.’ Note his use of the word www.writers-online.co.uk

realistic. That doesn’t necessarily mean you must have a signed contract yet.

Burhana wasn’t in that position when she applied, but felt her place on the Penguin Random House Write Now Scheme demonstrated her chance of publication was realistic.

And, as she says, what did she have to lose?

‘I’d say always give it a try when you see an opportunity for funding.

I always thought that this was a long shot, but I also knew that there was no harm in applying. The worst that could happen was I’d be in the same position as before – the best would be a cheque through the post that could completely influence the timing and the quality of the project I was working on and, ultimately, give me peace of mind. You never know.’

When it comes to the practicalities, Burhana offers some sensible advice.

‘Read all of the bullet points carefully and ensure they’re addressed to the best of your ability. Use key words and keep it concise, being emotive where necessary and engaging throughout.’

In some ways, applying for a grant is similar to securing a publisher. Not only are you selling your project, but you’re also selling yourself. Knowing that someone else thinks your project is worthy of financial support motivates you further to complete your project and find a publisher.

The best news is that receiving a grant helps sort the financial side of your writing business. And that leaves you with the creative freedom to deliver the project you’ve always dreamed of.

Funding tips • Read all the eligibility criteria and guidance notes.

• Explain how you’ve arrived at the grant figure you’re applying for. Get quotes for travel/accommodation costs, training courses, or show evidence of your monthly outgoings that you need to meet.

• Adhere to any word counts, and only send relevant supporting documents.

• Sell yourself. Grant funding is limited. Why should the funders chose you?

• Give yourself time to complete the application form.

• Get someone else to read it through. Do they understand what you’re applying for and why?

• Submit your application in plenty of time.

• Remember to acknowledge funders in any specific projects they’ve helped you with.

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RESEARCH TIPS

Evaluating websites Follow the advice from research expert Tarja Moles to make sure you get the best information from your online searches he amount of information online is increasing literally by the minute. This is great news as it makes accessing research materials so much easier. The flipside is that there’s an awful lot of substandard material, if not outright misinformation, that you have to wade through in order to find good-quality resources.

When you’re researching online, you need to know how to separate the wheat from the chaff. Generally speaking, it could be said that before any website can be taken seriously, it should simultaneously deliver with regard to the four qualities of accuracy, authority, objectivity and timeliness. If even one of these aspects is not sufficiently satisfactory, you’re in danger of using unreliable information.

Let’s look at these four qualities in more detail.

T Accuracy

Accuracy refers to factual correctness and precision. Any information that you read should be presented in a transparent manner so that the readers can check the facts if they want to. ‘A recent study says…’ is a common way for newspaper articles to tell, for example, about some latest ‘breakthrough’ in medical research. However, if the article doesn’t actually give you a precise reference which you can consult, you should take the article with a pinch of salt. And even if the article does give the exact reference, you shouldn’t trust it until you’ve checked the original source.

It’s not always easy to determine whether something is factually accurate or not – especially if you’re not knowledgeable about the topic area. This is why it’s essential that you double-check any facts you’re planning to use in your writing. You can do this by following the references included in the content and by reading other sources within the same subject.

Accuracy also refers to a text’s spelling and grammar. If you spot several errors,

it’s unlikely that the content will be factually correct.

Authority While you’re considering the accuracy of a webpage, also pay attention to its writer and his/her credentials. As it’s very easy for people to remain anonymous online, your first task is to determine whether the writer is a genuine person. Can you see the name of an individual on the webpage? If not, has the information been provided by an institution or organisation? It may help to read the ‘About’ page – if it exists – and possibly even check who owns the website.

For instance, CentralOps.net (https:// centralops.net/co) can help you uncover domain registrant information. If you can’t find out who the author is, it’s best not to use the webpage’s content.

If the author, whether an individual or organisation, is identifiable, figure out what his/her/its credentials and affiliations are by doing some background research. Is the person/organisation qualified to write about the subject matter? Has his/her work been published elsewhere? How has it been received by others? If you’re satisfied with the author’s credentials and reputation, you can move on in your evaluation process.

Objectivity To assess objectivity, start by questioning the purpose for which the web content was created. If it was not published for the reason of genuine dissemination of accurate information, it’s extremely unlikely that it will be objective.

There’s a huge number of websites which pretend to provide information but have actually been set up as masks for advertising.

Steer away from any site that displays numerous adverts or promotes products and/ or services within the text. Their motivation is not to provide accurate information but make money for themselves.

The online world is also a large playing www.writers-online.co.uk

field where various groups and ideologies try to attract followers to their particular way of viewing the world. The information that they provide will be skewed as they attempt to make their viewpoints more favourable to the readers. This doesn’t always mean that their facts are incorrect – sometimes they can be very precise and truthful – but it’s the interpretation that’s the issue. Very subtle cases can be difficult to spot. After all, we all have biases to varying degrees. However, whenever you notice that a certain piece of information contains explicitly expressed views and/or it contains emotional language, your alarm bells should be ringing.

Timeliness There’s a huge amount of outdated information online. Therefore, you should always check when the content was created and/or updated. You may be able to find a date at the top or bottom of a webpage.

If so, check that you’re happy with when it was written. For some historical topics it may not matter that the author wrote the piece ten years ago whereas for more current issues this timeframe would make the information redundant.

If you can’t find a date, you can do some detective work to get some clues about it. The Wayback Machine (http://web. archive.org) is a useful tool for this as it stores snapshots of past webpages. With its help you can explore how specific webpages have changed over time. Just enter a web address in its search engine and select the date you want to view from the search results calendar.

It’s not always possible to say that a certain webpage is 100% reliable.

Nevertheless, you can at least get closer to 100% reliability by examining the site against the criteria of factual accuracy, author credentials, objectivity and how current the information is. www.tarjamoles.com JANUARY 2019

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Editorial calendar 7 April

1 April

7 April is World Health Day, commemorating the foundation in 1948 of the World Health Organisation. Look out for the theme announcement in early 2019 and tailor your pitches accordingly.

The RAF began using Hawker Siddeley Harrier jump jets 50 years ago.

The sporting calendar starts to gather steam with two big spring events on the first weekend of April, the Grand National on the 6th and the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race on the 7th.

And on 28th April, all eyes, and blistered feet, are on the capital for the joyful spectacle that is the London Marathon

9 April The first British-built Concorde test flight took place fifty years ago, from Filton to RAF Fairford. The pilot was Brian Trubshaw. The French Concorde (pictured) had its first test flight on 2 March that year.

14 April John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath was first published 80 years ago

2

Birthdays and anniversaries 2 April: soul singer Marvin Gaye was born 80 years ago.

He was shot by his father at 45, on 1 April 1984.

4th: actor Heath Ledger was born 40 years ago. He died on 22 January 2008.

5th: Nirvana singer and grunge icon Kurt Cobain committed suicide 25 years ago.

7th: American film director Francis Ford Coppola will be 80; actor and martial artist Jackie Chan will be 65 8th: Belgian singer Jacques Brel was born 90 years ago.

He died on 9 October 1978 15th: Actor Emma Thompson will be 60 16th: Singer Dusty Springfield was born Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien 80 years ago. It’s twenty years since she died, on 2 March 1999.

17th: Actor Sean Bean will be 60.

20th: Actor Jessica Lange will be 70 21st: The Cure singer Robert Smith will be 60 25th: Actor Renée Zellweger will be 50

2 April Yachtsman Robin Kn ox-Johnston becam e the first person to single-handedly, an d non-stop, circum navigate the globe World Book Night is 23 April, when volunteers will distr ibute over a million books to encourage readers

30 April The Jubilee Line on the London Underground was opened 40 years ago

Looking ahead In February 2020, it will be 100 years since the release of the first German Expressionist film and early horror classic The Cabinet of Dr Caligari. What better excuse to write about the history of Expressionism, or horror, or both?

Pivs: Heath Ledger, CC BY-SA 2.0, Howie Berlin, Flickr; Kurt Cobain, CC BY-SA 2.0, RB Page; Francis Ford Coppola, CC BY-SA 2.0, Gerald Geronimo; Jackie Chan, CC BY-SA 2.0, Eva Rinaldi; Jacques Brel, CC BY-SA 3.0, Joop van Bilsen; Emma Thompson, CC BY-SA 2.0, Justin Harris; Sean Bean, CC BY-SA 3.0, 9EkieraM1; Jessica Lange, CC BY-SA 3.0, diChroma Photography; Robert Smith, CC BY-SA 3.0, Bill Ebbesen; Renee Zellweger, CC BY-SA 3.0, Siebbi; Concorde, CC BY-SA 4.0, André Cros; Robin Knox-Johnston, CC BY-SA 4.0, GeorgeCaulfield; Jubilee line, CC By-SA 3.0, Asim18

Strong forward planning will greatly improve your chances with freelance submissions.

Here are some themes to consider for the coming months.

WRITE RIGHT

Parlez-vous foreign?

How do you write dialogue for foreign characters? A little goes a long way, as Jan Snook explains

M

ost writers – of fiction, at least – occasionally set their novels or stories in exotic places: if you’ve ever sat by a rain-spattered window, gazing out at a leaden English summer sky, and then dragged your eyes back to an empty grey screen, you’ll understand why. The allure of transporting your characters (with you tagging along for the ride) to somewhere warm, where the only umbrellas are poking out of long cold drinks, is obvious. The only problem is that the setting you’ve chosen to drop your characters into will be peopled with other characters – and most of them are foreign.

So how do you convey their ‘foreignness’ when they’re talking? Without either mekking zem oll speek lak Inspecteur Clouseau or else littering your work with so many foreign phrases that your reader loses the will to live? C’est un problème, n’est-ce pas, mes amis? But there are ways around it…

It’s fine to use the odd familiar word or phrase in a foreign language. The operative word there is ‘familiar’, so in this country that probably limits us to French, Spanish, Italian and German.

The trick, though, is not to overdo it.

It’s possible to insert some words almost imperceptibly. Greetings and titles are a case in point: bonjour, buenos días and buongiorno, for example, are recognisable to most people, as are Monsieur, Signore, Señor and their female counterparts. By association (and in the right context) readers will also readily understand simple words in languages they have no knowledge of – I don’t speak any Icelandic or indeed Malay, but could certainly guess the meaning of halló and já, or helo and ya… And the words for coffee (café, caffè, kaffe, Kaffee, koffie etc) are pretty universal. (In case you’re

BUENOS DÍAS

HELLO

JO BON

UR

interested, that last one was Afrikaans – and yes, of course I had to look it up.)

The careful choice of such words has the added advantage of making the reader feel intelligent – or at least not making them feel stupid. Unless you are writing an academic work aimed at a particularly erudite market, long quotations in the original Greek are unlikely to win you readers.

Naturally, use of the language in question doesn’t have to be limited to speech. References to signs, shop names and so on also help to add a splash of foreign flavour to a piece, but the same rules apply: you don’t want an unrecognisable word to interrupt the flow of your story. So vehicles with polis, poliţia or policja written on the side (or indeed ambulanza, ambulanta, ambulans, etc) – especially if you’ve thrown in some flashing lights and the odd siren – will effectively convey the fact that the police or medics have arrived on the scene, as well as reminding the reader where that scene is.

If, on the other hand, the word for something central to your plot is unguessable, let another character use it and translate it. Readers will soon learn that the Malay word for praying mantis is cengkadak, and may even thank you for it one day… Or maybe not.

Following on from that, even though the reader won’t be required to pronounce any foreign words they come across, it tends to hold up the story if they have no idea how a frequently-used word is said. I’ve attended book group meetings where discussion was severely limited because none of us could remember any of the characters’ names (they were all called something long, Russian, unfamiliar, and they all started with a P). So avoid irritating your readers, if at all possible, by choosing everyday names for your www.writers-online.co.uk

foreign characters which won’t interrupt the reader’s flow. The names should look authentic but be easy to say, such as Olga, Krystyna, Stefan and Pietr. The internet is a wonderful tool when it comes to listing the most popular names in any given country, so with a bit of research this shouldn’t be difficult.

Another way of signalling to your reader that they are about to be transported to foreign climes is by giving your book a foreign title – think back to Anita Brookner’s Hôtel du Lac, for example: a simple title, easily understood, and with the promise of ‘abroad’. That combination of those three words will not have been just a happy accident.

Choosing a foreign title is not, however, without pitfalls: many years ago (in a different life) I wrote three language teaching books, for which I came up with snappy titles in the relevant languages, and I was inordinately proud of them. My editor at the time, though, dissuaded me from using them, and her reasons were compelling: firstly that potential customers might not remember the title, and hence wouldn’t order it; secondly, if they weren’t sure how to pronounce the title, they wouldn’t like to reveal their ignorance to the bookseller and so wouldn’t ask for it; and finally (apparently) booksellers themselves don’t like foreign titles for exactly the same reasons…

Since I had no desire to lose sales, I was duly persuaded.

So, where does that leave us? More or less back where we started, I suspect: use foreign phrases where they will be helpful, use them with caution, and (oh dear, I knew the pedantic language teacher in me wouldn’t be able to keep her nose out of this) make sure every cedilla and accent is absolutely correct. So, there we have it. Bonne chance! Buona fortuna! Viel Glück! Good luck!

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N E W AU T H O R P R O F I L E

KELLY FLORENTIA The romantic thriller author tells Margaret James how she got her start with a WM creative writing course

KELLY’S TOP TIPS • Write every day, even if it’s just a few hundred words.

• Read anything and everything you can get your hands on.

• Get a friend or a beta reader – someone who will give you an honest appraisal – to read your book.

• Read your work out loud.

N

ovelist and short story writer Kelly Florentia has enjoyed writing since she was a child, and it sounds as if she was always destined to become a novelist, even if she took a roundabout route.

‘I wrote poetry in my teens and early twenties,’ says Kelly, who has had lots of non-writing work experience as well. ‘My first job was in travel, but I’ve worked in catering and, more recently, in online marketing too. When my family sold our restaurant, I came to a bit of a crossroads careerwise and wasn’t sure what to do. I had a keen interest in health and fitness and did consider retraining as a fitness instructor. But in the end I followed my heart, took a short story writing course with Writing Magazine, had my first story published in Best magazine, and now I have three commercially published novels to my name. So dreams can and do come true.

‘There aren’t any other novelists in my family, but at school my sister was a fabulous artist, and my paternal grandmother was a great storyteller. When I was little, Nan would often make up stories to entertain me, and I absolutely loved these, especially the one about the lady who lived underground.

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• If you’re writing romance, join the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writer’s Scheme.

Every time she told me the story it would evolve, so perhaps I got the storytelling gene from Nan.’ The heroine of Kelly’s two latest novels, No Way Back and its sequel Her Secret, is Audrey Fox. ‘Audrey’s character was inspired by women over forty who aren’t wives or mothers,’ explains Kelly.

‘We all have different needs, roles, and aspirations in life. What is right for one person may not be right for another. I wanted to showcase the forty-plus woman in a modern light, in a forty-is-thenew-thirty, nonconformist kind of way. I hope I’ve achieved this by creating Audrey Fox, and that she’s a character who will resonate with many readers.’

Audrey certainly resonated with me, reminding me strongly of aspects of my younger self. She begins her journey as a 41-yearold single woman in No Way Back and, although she is married at the beginning of Her Secret, the reader soon starts to wonder for how long?

How difficult or easy was it to get a commercial publishing offer for Kelly’s first novel?

‘It took just under two years to get my first publishing deal, during which I received plenty of rejections,’ Kelly says. ‘Rejections www.writers-online.co.uk

• Hook up with other authors online and support each other.

• Don’t be put off by rejections. They’re all part of the process.

• Don’t ever give up, because in the world of writing anything is possible!

are very disheartening, especially for a new writer, and you do end up thinking you’ll never make it.

But you’ve got to keep on keeping on. These days, there are plenty of opportunities to get your book out there. Lots of digital publishers accept unsolicited submissions.

There’s always self-publishing too, which I’ve dipped my toe in with my short story collection To Tell a Tale or Two, and my smoothie recipe book Smooth Operator.’

Authors new to fiction often want to know if published novelists are planners: if they draft outlines, synopses or treatments before they start writing their novels, or if they plunge straight into a story and wait for their characters to guide them.

‘I’m a planner,’ says Kelly. ‘I can’t get excited about a story until I know the ending. But, before I even begin to write the novel, I create profiles for each character, even the secondary ones. I get to know their

N E W AU T H O R P R O F I L E

likes and dislikes, backgrounds, about their family lives and so on. I even put pictures of what I think they’d look like at the tops of their profiles. These pictures could be of celebrities, of models in a magazine, or even of people I know. I find doing this helps me to get to know my characters, and I’m better equipped when I begin writing them into my stories. I woke up one morning recently and thought: no, this character isn’t a businesswoman. She’s a therapist.

‘I write an outline of the novel, and then I scribble a summary of each chapter on Post-Its. Of course, as I go along things do change, but this is a good starting point for me.

‘I do about three drafts in total.

Once the first draft is done, I write a brief of all the chapters on a whiteboard, which is an enormous help during the edits because it means that when I need to find something quickly I don’t have to sift through pages and pages of text.

‘I’m currently working on my fourth novel. It’s a fast-paced drama

about a thirty-something divorcee who, on the spur of the moment, makes a wrong decision and ends up in a very tight spot, which has a detrimental impact on her life and those around her. Like Her Secret, it has that thriller-esque edge. It’s not a romance. It’s about the friendship between two very different women.

It’s about trust and loyalty and betrayal and life.

‘I prefer to write in the morning when my mind is fresh and buzzing, but I edit at any time, often in bed. As well as writing novels, I write articles and blog posts. I edit, proof-read and beta-read for new and established authors, and I also offer novel and short story critiques.

As well as this, I use my marketing experience to create posters and copy to promote books and other products on social media platforms.

‘My favourite aspect of being a novelist myself is connecting with people through my stories.

I absolutely love it when a reader contacts me to talk about a scene that resonated with her or him. It’s

great to know that you can reach so many people with your words. I also love all the research involved.

Although some of the scenes in my novels are based on real life, especially the funny ones, I’m not really a fan of truism when it comes to writing – maybe because my own life is so dull! I like exploring new avenues and learning new things.

Just the other day, someone asked me something about the law and I found myself being able to answer her question because I’d written about it in one of my books.’

What’s next up for Audrey Fox – will she be the heroine of a trilogy?

‘I have been asked this question several times since the release of Her Secret,’ says Kelly. ‘I’ve always said that if people want to read it I’ll write it. I do love Audrey Fox and I think she’s got more to give, so we will see.’

I love Audrey Fox too, so here’s hoping Kelly will get round to writing a new story.

Website: https://kellyflorentia.com/

RELAX & WRITE

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 2019 12-14 APRIL at The Royal Agricultural University CIRENCESTER GLOUCESTERSHIRE ‘Write a SHORT STORY in a Weekend’ Sell it when you get home-with Della Galton ‘Write the Landscape’ with Simon Whaley Author & Photographer A weekend with Stephen Wade ‘The Book Doctor’ covering The Craft of Writing & on Markets for Writing ‘Heart to Heart’ - a mentoring & learning weekend on romantic iction- with Kate Walker

All inclusive fee - contact Lois on 01454 773579 Email: loisbm@aol.com or loisbm@outlook.com

www.malagaworkshops.co.uk

www.writers-online.co.uk

JANUARY 2019

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WRITERS’ NEWS

Your essential monthly round-up of competitions, paying markets, opportunities to get into print and publishing industry news.

Love life writing Tina Jackson The 2019 Spread the Word Life Writing Prize is inviting entries.

The Prize, which is run in association with Goldsmiths Writers’ Centre, is for the best life writing from emerging life writers in the UK. The winner will receive £1,500 and their entry will be published on Spread the Word’s website. They will also win an Arvon course, two years’ membership of the Royal Society of Literature and a development meeting with an editor and an agent. Two runners up will each win £500, two mentoring sessions, a development meeting with an editor and an agent and publication online.

To enter, send original, unpublished life writing up to 5,000 words. Entries may be self-contained pieces of writing, or part of a longer work. Writers entering the Spread the Word Life

Last year’s winner Danny Brunton with highly commended entrants Xanthi Barker (left) and Laura Morgan (right)

Writing Prize should not have a contract for a full-length work, must not be agented and must not previously have published a full-length work in print (a complete work of fiction or non-fiction over 30,000 words; ten or more short stories either in a collection or published individually; a professionally produced script or play; twenty or more poems in

a collection or published individually).

Self-published authors are welcome to enter.

Enter through the online submission system. Entry is free. Writers may submit one entry only.

The closing date is 1 February.

Website: www.spreadtheword.org.uk/ projects/life-writing-prize/

A new look for the Kelpies The 2019 Kelpies Prize is inviting entries, and has been given a new focus this year. In addition to the Writer’s Prize, there is also a Kelpies 2019 Illustration Prize.

The Kelpies Prize 2019 is given by Floris Books for writing for children by emerging writers based in Scotland.

The prize package has been designed to help the winner grow and develop as a children’s writer, consists of £1,000, a year of editorial mentoring, a publishing contract with Floris Books and a week-long writing retreat at Moniack Mhor plus £100 in expenses.

For the 2019 prize, the submission requirements are different from previous years, and writers are no longer requested to submit a full manuscript. Send the first five chapters of a book for children (which must be set mainly in Scotland), plus a short synopsis (2-3 paragraphs), a further synopsis of a different book for children and a piece of writing for children between 1,000 and 3,000 words that begins: There were three things that everyone knew about (character name)....

With each piece of writing, specify whether it is for children aged 6-9, 9-12 or 12-15.

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Submit work as a pdf or doc file, double spaced in 12pt font on numbered pages. Include your name on the manuscript and give the file the title Surname.Firstname.

•The Illustration Prize is for emerging Scottish children’s book illustrators and has a prize of £1,000, a year of mentoring, a publishing contract for an illustrated children’s book or project and a ticket for the Picture Hooks illustration conference. To enter, submit five illustrations for a children’s book of fables via the online form.

For both the Kelpies Prize and the Illustration Prize, enter through the online submission system.

Entry is free.

The closing date is 28 February.

Website: https://discoverkelpies.co.uk/prizes/

www.writers-online.co.uk

WRITERS’ NEWS

The long and short of it The Magma Poetry Prize 2018-19 is open to entries.

There are two categories: the Judges’ Prize, for poems of 11-50 lines, and the Editor’s Prize, for poems of up to ten lines. In each category there is a first prize of £1,000, a second prize of £300 and a third prize of £150 and the six prize-wining poems will be published in Magma.

Poems may be in any style and on any subject. All entries must be original and unpublished.

Enter by post or through the online submission system. Each poem must be on a separate sheet and the poem title should appear on each entry. The poet’s name must not appear on the manuscript. Postal entrants, include an entry form, which may be downloaded from the website.

The entry fees are £5 for the first entry, £4 for the second and £3.50 for the third and each subsequent entry. Pay the entry fees by PayPal or cheques made out to Magma Poetry. The closing date is 12 January.

Details: Magma Poetry Competition, 1 Winton Avenue, London N11 2AS; website: www. magmapoetry.com

Rich Welsh writing rewards The New Welsh Writing Awards 2019 are inviting entries .

This year’s £1,000 prizes will be given for dystopian novellas and writing with a Welsh theme or setting The New Welsh Writing Awards are for new short unpublished books. Each category has a £1,000 prize as an advance against publication by New Welsh Review under the New Welsh Rarebyte imprint. Runners up receive a £300 voucher towards a residential course at Ty Newydd, and third prize winners get a weekend stay at Gladstone’s Library in Flintshire. Up to twelve runners-up will be considered for publication in New Welsh Review at the standard fee of £170.

• The Aberystwyth University Prize for a Dystopian Novella is for dystopian novellas set anywhere.

• The Rheidol Prize for Writing with a Welsh Theme or Setting may be given for fiction or nonfiction.

All entries must be original and unpublished, and may be between 5,000 and 30,000 words. Send entries as pdf documents, double spaced on numbered A4 pages in 14pt black type. The file name should include the author name and entry title. The writer’s name must not appear on the manuscript.

The competition is open to writers from anywhere in the UK, and any international writers who have been educated in Wales for at least six months. Enter through the online submission system, The fee per entry is £10, payable via PayPal. A limited number of free entries are available for writers on a low incomes.

The closing date is 4 February.

Website: www.newwelshwritingawards.com

UK MAGAZINE MARKET

Culturing new writing talent Tina Jackson

Film Stories is a new independent print magazine launched by Simon Brew, founding editor of go-to nerd culture website Den of Geek, with a commitment to feature and encourage new writers.

‘For the best part of a decade I’ve been editing Den of Geek and that came to an end this year,’ said Simon.

‘I love films. I started a podcast when I lost my mum, which was also this year, and the podcast was just me, talking about films. It got a response I wasn’t expecting.

And when I lost my job it was, what next?’

Film Stories, a print magazine of film writing, is what he fixed on. ‘News, reviews, features, stories, mayhem,’ said Simon. The kind of fun you can have with a magazine. And it doesn’t end there – we do a podcast, there will be events. It’s got a website but what I won’t do is put big magazine features on the website. And Film Stories is the first of a few magazines I’m hoping to launch.’

Simon, who has a long history in print magazines as well as websites, combined two of his great loves: magazines and film. ‘What was the most idiotic thing I could do? Launch a print magazine. I love film and I wanted to do that, in a way that created opportunities. So I wanted to try. It’s a passion project. I love film and I love magazines and I thought, perhaps this is my moment to try it. So I’m putting everything on the line. It might fail and I’m damned if I’m not going to try.’

Film Stories is a mainstream film magazine that looks to broaden the remit of what gets to the public’s attention. ‘There are between 5,000 and 6,000 films released every year in the UK,’ said Simon. ‘Only a very small percentage of those get in-depth coverage. I’m quite mainstream but if I angle Film Stories to the smaller rooms in multiplexes and the bigger rooms in arthouse cinemas I’ll be able to cover a lot of it.’

But why is Simon launching a new print title at a time when the global trend is that magazine sales are falling and the industry is focussing on attracting online readers? ‘I’m a great believer in doing what everyone else isn’t,’ he said. ‘There’s little point in replicating what everyone else is doing. I’m looking at the little gap that’s been left behind. I think there’s some brilliant writing online, hidden behind uniform headlines because we’re all chasing around a Google algorithm. Online, I think people don’t look too hard to find interesting stuff. In print you can lay out a curated selection in a way you can’t online. I love writing online so it’s a myth to say that it’s dumbing down quality and getting generic, but you can do things in a slightly different way in print.’

Writing for print is slightly different from writing online, he believes, and so is the experience of reading. ‘Some bits are better in different ways. Vinyl is the obvious parallel, though it’s not the same. People are still buying print. There are some things you like to hold in your hand – it’s tangible product. In a magazine you can have a 6, 7, 8-page feature with elements you can’t replicate on a website, like sidebars and box-outs, design elements. If I was reading a 2,500-word article on a web page I’d accept it was a block of text.’

Simon is pro-actively looking to find writers and pay them for their contributions. ‘Film Stories will financially recognise writers. We’ve got a generation of writers coming through who don’t have a fair reflection of what their words are worth. We’ll pay people and I’ll admit up front that it’s not enough. I’ll pay £30 per page which is less than they deserve but more than digital. I’m addressing that issue with honesty and money.

He’s making sure that Film Stories will be a launch-pad for new film writing. ‘It will give their first paid writing work to at least two writers every month – they’ll be mixed in with everyone else, I won’t put them in a separate section.’

He’s looking for writers with great ideas. ‘Just email me with a pitch. No CVs, not great big lengthy things. Just a couple of ideas. I love features – they’re key to me. But I’m open to ideas. I’m basically after people with better ideas than me, who are better writers than me.’

Film Stories will be subscription-only in the first instance, and monthly from January.

Details: email: simon@filmstories.co.uk; website: www.filmstories.co.uk www.writers-online.co.uk

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WRITERS’ NEWS

UK HORROR MARKET Go dark

FLASHES Jonathan Rishton edits The Automobile magazine specialising in cars made before 1950.

Details: email: enquiries@ theautomobile.co.uk; website: www. theautomobile.co.uk Alison Hepworth is the news editor of Waitrose Weekend free newspaper, which includes a £100 prize crossword.

Website: www. waitrose.com Andrew Lee is the managing director of the Leveller Publishing Group, which publishes the Langport Leveller, Somerton Sentinel and Somerset Leveller.

Website: https:// leveller.live/ Dog Friendly Dorset is a free magazine now in its second issue.

Details: email: info@ resortuk.com Rapper Otis Mensah has become Sheffield’s first poet laureate. He was presented with the position by Lord Mayor Magid Magid at the Off the Shelf Festival in October.

West Dorset Living is a bimonthly lifestyle magazine for Dorchester, Weymouth and Bridport.

Website: www. westdorsetliving. co.uk ‘You are lucky to be one of those people who wishes to build sand castles with words, who is willing to create a place where your imagination can wander.’

Anne Lamott, Bird

by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

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PDR Lindsay-Salmon

Unlit Press is a new independent horror publisher based in Oxford, which needs ‘horror and dark fiction novels, novellas, and story collections from British and international authors’. The team seek submissions that are not afraid to ‘step off the well-trod paths of teenage vampire angst and zombie apocalypse into the unlit backwoods of the unusual, the interesting, and the provocative’. Writers who take risks, or want to go darker, could find a home here.

Submit novellas and novels, 50,000+ words, with compelling characters, sparkling dialogue and a strong authorial voice. All horror subgenres are welcome, from traditional haunted house to splatterpunk. Explicit content is only acceptable if it enhances the story and is not included to ‘merely shock the

reader.’

Follow the full guidelines, then submit a complete manuscript in doc, docx, rtf or odt format and a synopsis of up to 1,000 words, through the website: www.unlitpress.com Response time for novels is usually ‘within two months’. Rights and payment are discussed with the contract but are ‘generous’.

• An anthology, Curse the Darkness, needs short stories on the theme of ‘darkness’, which can be interpreted widely. Submit stories, 3,000-10,000 words, through the website. The deadline is 31 December. Payment is £75 or the equivalent in your local currency, plus a copy, for first world rights, exclusive for twelve months.

Be Ware of this prize The Ware Poets 2019 Open Poetry Competition is inviting entries.

The competition, which will be judged by poet Maggie Butt (pictured), has a first prize of £600, a second prize of £300 and a third prize of £150. There is also the Ware Sonnet Prize for the best sonnet submitted.

The competition is for original, unpublished poems up to fifty lines. Your name must not appear on the manuscript. All entries must be accompanied by an entry

form, which can be downloaded from the website. All entries must be made by post. The entry fee is £4 per poem, £12 for four poems and £3 for any further poems in the same submission. Pay this by cheques made out to Ware Poets Competition.

The closing date is 30 April.

Details: The Competition Secretary, Ware Poets Competition, 21 Trinity Road, Ware SG12 7DB; website: www. poetrypf.co.uk/comps/ware19.pdf

Be tip-top for Teignmouth The Teignmouth Festival Poetry Competition invites entries for the 2019 prize.

In the open category there is a first prize of £500, a second prize of £250 and a third of £100. In the local category for poets with TQ12, TQ14 and EX7, the prizes are £100, £50 and £25.

Enter original, unpublished poems up to 35 lines typed on single sides of A4. Each poem entered must be on a separate page. The poet’s name must not appear on the manuscript. Enter by post or online.

Postal entries should include an entry form, which can be downloaded from the website.

The fee for online entries is £4.50 for the first poem and £3.50 for additional entries, payable by PayPal and credit/debit card. Postal entries cost £4/£3, payable by cheques made out to Poetry Teignmouth.

The closing date is 31 January.

Details: Poetry Teignmouth, c/o Virginia Griem, 12 Little Hayes, Kingsteignton TQ12 3YP; website: www.poetryteignmouth.com www.writers-online.co.uk

Beeb the best BBC Writersroom opens its annual window for unsolicited script submissions on 10 December.

Writers are invited to submit drama scripts for film, TV, radio, stage or online. BBC Writersroom is looking for distinctive voices in scriptwriting from writers who may be new to scriptwriting or experienced in other fields and wanting to gain experience in writing for TV. At the end of the process, a group of 10-15 writers will be invited to join the BBC Drama Room writer development group for 2019.

To submit, send original drama scripts at least thirty minutes long. Remove all personal details from the manuscript. Include a brief (single paragraph) biography of your writing career to date. Writers whose submission is an episode script for series or serial may also submit an outline (up to three pages) or further episodes, but this is not a requirement. All submissions must be made via the online submission system in pdf format.

Submissions are open between 10 December and 7 January. Website: www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/ opportunities/script-room

WRITERS’ NEWS

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL MARKET World documents Jenny Roche

It’s a Funny Old World

by Derek Hudson

On-the-ground reports from outside North America are especially welcome for Earth Island Journal, published by environmental support organisation Earth Island Institute.

The award winning Journal has investigative journalism and thought-provoking commentary and covers all environmental issues and concerns including wildlife, land conservation, environmental protection, climate and energy, science and technology innovations, public policy, animal rights, public health, environmental justice, cultural survival and environmentally related film music and books.

‘We want articles that will surprise, provoke and entertain our readers,’ say guidelines, and of overriding interest are stories of individuals and communities who are ‘successfully defending and restoring the earth’.

The readership is international and environmentally knowledgeable and articles should have a broad national or international interest or implication.

Payment for published articles is 25¢ per word for print articles, up to $750-$1,000 for in-depth feature articles of around 4,000 words. Always wanted are fresh ideas for online reports which are published five days a week. Payment for these is $100.

If you have an idea for an article or online report it is preferred you submit a query after first reading issues of the Journal online to get a good idea of suitable content.

Your queries should say why you believe the story is newsworthy, the specific angles you will investigate and who you will interview. Include 2-3 samples of your most relevant published writing.

If your piece is published the Journal has content sharing agreements with other publications and shares stories under creative commons as its core mission is to educate the public about environmental issues. You will receive a response to your query only if it is to be considered for publication.

Send queries to: submissions@earthisland.org Website: www.earthisland.org/journal/

Dream on Indigo Dreams is inviting entries for the Geoff Stevens Memorial Poetry Prize 2018.

Two winners will have a 52-page poetry collection published and receive twenty copies. To enter, send fifteen poems, each up to 36 lines (including line breaks). All poems must be original. Individual poems may have been previously published, but not in the form of a collection.

Send one poem per sheet and all poems in a single document, without your name on the manuscript. If entering by email, use the subject line ‘Geoff Stevens’.

Send two emails, the first including contact details, collection title and PayPal transaction number, and the second including the collection title and the poems as an attachment. If entering by post, include a sheet of paper in an envelope with details of name, address and collection title.

The entry fee is £15 per block of fifteen poems. Pay this by PayPal (include the transaction number in the body of the submission email) or cheques made out to IDP. The closing date is 31 January.

Details: Geoff Stevens Memorial Poetry Prize 2018, Indigo Dreams Pubishing, 24 Forest Houses, Halwill, Beaworthy, Devon EX21 5UU; email: competitions@ indigodreams.co.uk; website: www.indigodreams.co.uk www.writers-online.co.uk

Man Booker prize winner Anna Burns told the Radio 4 Today programme that she writes in a strange way.

‘I tend to get the end of sentences first, so I don’t know what’s coming at the beginning of a sentence.

‘So quite often, I’ll have a lot of perfect end of sentences with these splotches or spaces at the beginning.

‘When I first started writing I thought this can’t be right and I must try and fill this in… But I’d lose the energy, I’d lose the rhythm, the signs. So I then learnt, just take what comes and eventually it will sort itself out.’

• Reviewing Dear Mr Murray: Letters To A Gentleman Publisher (John Murray), by David McClay, Lewis Jones repeated some strange culinary possibilities.

The book was written to mark the 250th anniversary of the publishing house of John Murray which survives as an imprint of Hodder and Stoughton, and the author had access to its vast archive.

One quaint letter to John Murray 111 from Sir Francis Bond Head, railway writer, over a ‘piffling dispute in 1848’, read: ‘Your father’s rule was to make it a rule to do whatever I asked. He would have boiled his boots and fried his trousers if I had recommended it.’

• The Middle Templar magazine highlighted the life of lawyer John Burke following his death.

He once opened a case with the words: ‘Members of the jury, this incident occurred in the shadow of ancient Athens.’

It was not as classical a reference as it seemed as the case was about a fight that broke out in a fish and chip shop called The Acropolis.

• From a Sunday Telegraph quiz: According to Stephen Hawking in his last book, the universe is: a A joke on the part of God. b A bit of a disappointment. c The ultimate free lunch (correct answer).

JANUARY 2019

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WRITERS’ NEWS

FLASHES Every old family recipe printed in the cookery section of Yours magazine will earn its writer a fee cookery book. Submit recipes with pictures if at all possible.

Details: email: claire. tapley@bauermedia. co.uk; website: www. yours.co.uk Anna Burns, Belfastborn author, has won the Man Booker Prize for Milkman, her third novel. She is the first Northern Irish author to win the prize.

An archive of handwritten letters by poet Gerard Manley Hopkins that had been kept by his friend Robert Bridges has been acquired by the nation through the Acceptance in Lieu scheme that allows people to hand over artworks to cover inheritance tax, and allocated to Oxford’s Bodleian Library.

Families Dorset is a free bimonthly magazine edited by Keren Mosely.

Details: email: editor@ familiesdorset.co.uk; website: www. familiesonline.co.uk Beeline is the official Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance magazine. Personal stories and letters are welcomed.

Details: email: communications@ dsairambulance.org. uk; website: www. dsairambulance.org. uk/beeline-magazine US thriller writer James Patterson will be headlining the 2019 Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.

‘I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book.’

JK Rowling

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GLOBAL FICTION MARKET Desirable Propertius PDR Lindsay-Salmon

Propertius is a US small press which publishes ‘provocative, engaging’ fiction, non-fiction and poetry.

Submissions are welcome in all genres, including action-adventure, urban contemporary, biography, memoir, high-quality romance and women’s literature, children’s stories, young adult, satire, mystery, historical fiction, thrillers, humour, philosophy and educational works.

Propertius publishes in ebook first, usually 2-3 months before the paper version.

Submit creative non-fiction and literary fiction at novella (20,000-50,000 words) or novel length (50,000+), short stories, up to 20,000 words, biography, children’s literature, poetry or verse.

The team are looking for works ‘that will tease the imagination, that are provocative but not flashy’.

This is not a market for trend-led work, or anything ‘overtly political’. Ask yourself before submitting, ‘Will it age well?’ If the answer is yes, submit it.

Follow the full guidelines and submit a doc, docx, rtf or txt file through the website: https:// propertiuspress.wordpress.com Response time is slow and payment and rights are discussed with the contract.

Trailblaze your play Drip Action Theatre Company is co-ordinating the Arundel Festival Theatre Trail 2019 and both new and established playwrights from the UK and beyond are invited to submit 30-40 minute plays for performance as part of the Trail.

This could be a great way of showcasing your work as the trail has previously attracted audiences totalling over 2,000.

Each play selected will earn their writer £150 and the writer of the best script will receive the Joy Goun award of £250.

Eight plays will be selected for performance at eight different venues around Arundel in August 2019 and as many of the venues will be non-theatre spaces, consideration should be given to the practicalities of cast, props and effects.

Only one play is permitted per playwright and this should be posted before the closing date of 31 January 2019. Enclose a SAE if you would like your play to be returned.

Details: Drip Action Theatre Trail 2019, c/o Arundel Festival, Town Hall, Maltravers Street, Arundel, West Sussex BN18 9AP; website: www.dripaction.com/writerscompetition

Brexit puts UK POD at risk SF mag Locus reports that the possibility of a ‘Hard Brexit’ is threatening both EU-based print-on-demand publishers and such UK printers such as Lightning Source UK, who supply a large section of the POD market. Many EU mainland publishers use the services of Lightning Source UK, but the imposition of customs duties plus the threat of complex administrative issues and customs delays is endangering the entire business model. Some publishers are already switching to companies in Eastern Europe, such as Artline Studio in Bulgaria, while others are considering moving their business to Lighting Source-France. www.writers-online.co.uk

Dive in Editors Mercedes M Yardley and Eugene Johnson are currently reading for volume six of the highly successful non-themed horror anthology series, Tales From The Lake. The book will be published by Crystal Lake Publishing.

Previous volumes have included high profile authors including Joe R Lansdale, Graham Masterton and Ramsey Campbell.

The editors are looking for stories that will haunt readers for months to come. Characters must be three dimensional, as real as your friends and neighbours. The world they inhabit should be equally authentic, and the story itself should be original, in all senses. Don’t rely on tired genre tropes. No stories about rape, sexual abuse or explicit abuse towards children or animals. These subjects may be mentioned, but be subtle.

Submissions should be 500-5,000 words, with stories around 3,000-4,000 words being preferred.

No simultaneous or multiple submissions. No reprints. Deadline, 1 January 2019.

Payment is 3¢ per word up to 5,000 words for one year exclusive first world rights, print, electronic and audio, then non-exclusive after that.

Follow the full guidelines on the website and then submit a doc or docx file by email: Lake6subs@gmail.com Website: www. crystallakepub.com/ authorcentral/

G OW I NRG ITE TO R SM ’N AERW KS ET

GLOBAL SPECFIC MARKET Head for the Horizons Gary Dalkin

Strange Horizons is a leading US market for speculative fiction. The editorial team of Vajra Chandrasekera, Lila Garrott, Catherine Krahe and An Owomoyela simply say they want good speculative fiction up to 10,000 words, though under 5,000 is preferred.

They are particularly interested in: unusual yet readable styles and inventive structures and narratives; stories that address political issues in complex and nuanced ways, resisting oversimplification; hypertext fiction, interactive fiction, and other stories that exploit the possibilities of online publication (enquire first on how to submit); fiction from or about diverse perspectives and traditionally underrepresented groups, settings, and cultures.

Any strong language, sex and violence should be necessary and appropriate to your story. Submissions are welcome from anywhere in the word, and British spelling is fine.

Don’t send partial or incomplete stories, stories over 10,000 words, serials or novel extracts. No unsolicited reprints. No multiple or simultaneous submissions. No

poetry or non-fiction.

Payment is 8¢ per word for first English rights, including audio. Strange Horizons is open to fiction submissions between Monday 1600 UTC and Tuesday 1600 UTC (equivalent to GMT), every week of the year except during the month of December. Follow the full guidelines and submit through the website: http:// strangehorizons.com, where you can also find information about submitting to other departments, non-fiction, poetry, podcasts, reviews, art, etc.

Upload your story in rtf, doc or docx format. If you need to enquire first, email: fiction@strangehorizons.com

Send your ten-minute play across the pond Eight original unproduced ten-minute plays are wanted for performances during the 18th Heartland Theatre Company Play Festival which will take place June 2019 in Bloomington, Illinois, USA. Children’s plays and musicals are not wanted.

The Theatre Company is a professional, non-profit organisation which has been staging performances since 1986.

The theme for this year’s Festival is ‘The Library’ and your play must be written in English, have 2-4 characters and consist mainly of dialogue, not monologues. Consideration should be given to the performance space and there is a full description and floor plan to help with this on the website.

To aim your play more successfully check out the judging criteria on the website. The main criteria involves voice, characterisation, plot, dialogue, appropriateness, mechanics and overall effect.

On formatting your work, there is a style sheet on the website but you must submit your work as a doc (preferably), or pdf document.

You will be notified if for any reason your play cannot be considered. If the judges decide your play has merit but there is a problem which can be easily fixed you may be asked for revisions.

Only one entry per playwright will be considered and the deadline for submissions is 1 February 2019. Finalists will be notified in early March 2019 and the winners announced by late March 2019. All performed plays will be filmed for archival purposes.

To make a submission complete the entry form on the website and attach your play.

Website: http://heartlandtheatre.org/10-min-rules/ www.writers-online.co.uk

Filing for the future Patrick Forsyth looks at why you need to be able to find your old work in the digital world We are all aware that we live in a digital age, one replete with opportunities and frustrations.

Amongst the opportunities there are certainly some for writers. In the last three or four years I have had well over half a million words published online. This is new work and new income. Look back far enough and such outlets did not exist at all.

All good, but there is a snag. Where I have written a series of short books (designed to be read on tablets and the like) each has a manuscript and proofs – but no final product. They only exist online and, if I’m not being too egotistical, I miss being able to put a copy on my ‘I did that’ shelf.

This is increasingly common for many writers and it needs considering in terms of future commissions. One way ideas are sparked is to return to things you have done in the past – ask yourself, can something be updated, given a different slant, lengthened or shortened? Or might it be reused in any sort of revised version, even something as simple as writing again about the same characters in a story?

I realised recently that I cannot access this sort of material easily. It is all there in my computer files, but it spans a few years, a number of different clients and maybe, particularly in the early days of this sort of writing, is filed in a variety of ways. I can’t scan along a shelf of books or flick through a folder of articles to prompt ideas for the future. Some refiling seems called for.

If you are beginning to have material of this sort in your portfolio do give some thought to how you store it. If you can find it, it may well prove an asset for the future.

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WRITERS’ NEWS

FLASHES Nigel Atherton is the editor of Amateur Photographer, the world’s oldest weekly consumer photography magazine.There are prizes for star letter writers.

Details: email: amateur photographer@ timeinc.com; website: www.amateur photographer.co.uk William Sitwell, editor of Waitrose Food Magazine since 2002, stepped down with immediate effect after his mocking remarks on email about killing vegans went public.

National Trust Magazine, edited

by Sally Palmer, welcomes readers’ letters.

Details: email: magazine@ nationaltrust.org. uk; website: www. nationaltrust.org.uk Men’s lifestyle magazine will move from a monthly to publishing six issues a year owner Hearst UK revealed, Press Gazette reported.

Keith Harrison, editor of daily the Express & Star, Wolverhampton since 2013, has left the job.

Men’s magazine Shortlist is closing its print edition.

Scottish poet Robin Robertson won the £10,000 Goldsmiths prize for the most innovative fiction for his debut novel The LongTake, a D-Day story in a mixture of verse and prose.

‘Books aren’t written – they’re rewritten.

Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it.’

Michael Crichton

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GLOBAL HORROR MARKET Enter the labyrinth for cash and publication Gary Dalkin

Acclaimed US independent publisher Dark Regions Press is launching a new series of themed anthologies under the Black Labyrinth imprint, which has so far published original novellas by Tom Piccirilli, Joe R Lansdale and Ramsey Campbell. Seven of the stories will selected via a free to enter writing contest, which offers a reasonable cash sum for all selected stories. The books will be published in hardcover in a signed and numbered edition.

The theme of the first anthology is Possession, and submissions take the form of a psychological horror story involving one or more individuals possessed by internal and/or external forces. There are no other guidelines regarding content, so let your imagine run wild.

Submissions can be anything up to 10,000 words. First prize is $800; second, $400; third, $300;

fourth, $200; with $100 for fifth, sixth and seventh.

All winners will also receive one signed hardcover, five paperbacks and a digital copy of Possession.

There is no entry fee, but to submit you must be signed up to the free Dark Regions Press email newsletter, at www.darkregions.com/newsletter Writers can only enter once for each competition; no reprints, multiple or simultaneous submissions. The deadline is 31 January 2019.

Winners will be notified and paid by next summer and Possession will be published in late 2019. Dark Regions will be taking exclusive physical and digital rights for two years, on winning entries.

Follow the full guidelines at https://writ.rs/ darkregions then submit a doc, docx or rtf file by email: darkregionswritingcontest@gmail.com

The future is here Set up in memory of the significant science fiction publisher and editor the Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award invites entries from writers worldwide. There will be a grand prize of publication on the Baen Books website at a professional payment rate and an engraved award. The winner of this Award and two runners-up will all receive a year’s membership to the National Space Society and a prize package of Baen Books and National Space Society merchandise. All winners will also gain free entry to the 2019 International Space Development Conference in Arlington, Virginia, USA. Although it is preferred the winners attend this, it is not required.

Entries should be original stories showing the future of manned space exploration in about 50-60 years’ time and be a maximum 8,000 words. Check the website for information on what the judges want to see, and not see, in submissions. Reprints, and any kind of plagiarism of characters or settings will not be considered and only one story per writer is permitted.

Format your work as a rtf document with the title and page numbering on each page. To facilitate fair judging your name should not appear on your work.

Email your story before the closing date of 1 February 2019 as an attachment with SUBMISSION in the subject line. In the body of the email include the story title and word count and your name and contact details.

Email to: baen.nss.contest@gmail.com Website: www.baen.com/contest-jbmssa

www.writers-online.co.uk

Deadlines looming Retreat West has two competitions with imminent deadlines: • The next quarterly Retreat West Themed Flash Fiction competition is inviting entries about running away.

The first prize is £200 and there are two runners-up prizes of £100.

The competition is for original, unpublished short fiction up to 500 words in any genre except children’s fiction. Include a word count on the story document. Your name should not appear on the manuscript. Submit through the online submission system.

The entry fee is £8, and the closing date is 30 December.

• The 2019 Retreat West First Chapter Competition offers a prize of submission package feedback and review from literary agent Sarah Manning at The Bent Agency, and a second prize of submission package feedback and review from Amanda Saint of Retreat West.

To enter, submit an opening chapter of up to 3,500 words from an original, unpublished novel in any genre for adult readers, formatted in 12pt font and double spacing. The writer’s name must not appear on the manuscript.

The filename for the document should be the novel title.

Submit through the online submission system. The entry fee is £10 and the closing date is 27 January.

Website: www.retreatwest.co.uk/ competitions/

WRITERS’ NEWS

Tina Jackson

Knights Of is an independent, commercial children’s fiction publisher. ‘That gives us scope to publish pretty much anything from madcap adventures to Jason Reynolds’ uplifting poem For Every One,’ said co-founder Aimée Felone.

Co-founders Aimée and David Stevens launched Knights Of in October 2017 in a bid to improve diversity in children’s publishing. ‘Inclusivity is core to the DNA of the company – we hire as widely as possible as we strive to make books better,’ said Aimée.

The books Knights Of wants to publish are original stories (‘Please no more retellings!’ said Aimée). We look for great characters that make even the absurd seem plausible – we love books that completely suck us into their world.’

As a small publisher, they’re looking to publish no more than eight books a year. ‘We keep it very broad and are led by one word – commercial,’ said Aimée. ‘If we can see a route to market for a book we will pursue it.’

Aimée and David are looking to fulfil what young readers are looking for. ‘Knights Of is mainly led by what the people want, whether that’s an inclusive book club, pop-up bookshops or great middle grade series, one thing that’s for certain, as long as there are readers, we’ll be making books.’

Prospective Knights Of authors need to be clued up about the current children’s book market. ‘Read, read, read!’ advised Aimée. ‘It’s so important to know what the market has on offer, what’s working and what isn’t. Visit as many bookshops as you can to get a sense of what shelves are heaving and what’s missing. It’s also a great way to motivate yourself as you can see where your book would sit and amongst who.’

Knights Of have a submission model involving Live Chat that enables them to engage directly with prospective authors and their ideas. ‘An important part of Knights Of is lowering the barriers to entry within publishing so we ask everyone to chat with a member of the team on our home page you get an instant response and we get a sense of how engaged a prospective author is with the children’s market.’

Titles are published mainly in paperback. ‘But we’re story led when it comes to what exactly it looks like – making sure we find the right shape, cover and finish that really pulls the story from the pages to the front cover.’

Knights Of contracts vary between authors, with a minimum marketing spend per book to ensure each book is given the best possibility of reaching as many audiences as possible.

Connect with Knights Of via the submission page on the website.

Website: https://knightsof. media/submissions/

Loving libraries Bestselling American thriller writer James Patterson has donated £50,000 to British school libraries in a scheme in association with Scholastic Book Clubs. The author said, ‘Libraries are at the heart of every school, and I’m thrilled to be partnering with Scholastic to continue to underscore both the need to sustain them, and the vital role that school libraries, librarians and teachers play in transforming lives and fostering a love for learning.’ 100 schools are set to receive £500 for buying books, divided over the autumn 2018 and spring 2019 terms. Scholastic are offering a 25% discount on any titles bought from them as part of the initiative. www.writers-online.co.uk

‘George RR Martin has admitted that he’s struggling to write The Winds of Winter due to the series’ growing popularity.

‘The long-awaited sixth book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series – which has already been partly adapted for television in HBO’s Game of Thrones – has had multiple release dates, all of which Martin has failed to meet. ‘“I’ve been struggling with it for a few years,” he told The Guardian. “The Winds of Winter is not so much a novel as a dozen novels, each with a different protagonist, each having a different cast of supporting players, antagonists, allies and lovers around them, and all of these weaving together against the march of time in an extremely complex fashion. So it’s very, very challenging.”’

Jack Shepherd, The Independent

Alan McCredie/Writer Pictures

Round table children’s publishing

And another thing...

‘... The Book is more important than your plans for it. You have to go with what works for The Book – if your ideas appear hollow or forced when they are put on paper, chop them, erase them, pulverise them and start again. Don’t whine when things are not going your way, because they are going the right way for The Book, which is more important.

The show must go on, and so must The Book.’

Elizabeth Ann Bucchianeri, US author ‘When you write a story you’re not trying to prove anything or demonstrate the merits of this case or the flaws in that. At its simplest, what you’re doing is making up some interesting events, putting them in the best order to show the connections between them and recounting them as clearly as you can.’

Philip Pullman ‘I do not think it at all probable that aeronautics will ever come into play as a serious modification of transport and communication – the main question here under consideration. Man is not, for example, an albatross, but a land biped, with a considerable disposition towards being made sick and giddy by unusual motions...’

HG Wells, Anticipations, 1902

FEBRUARY 2018

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Geraint Lewis /Writer Pictures

UK CHILDREN’S MARKET

WRITERS’ NEWS

FLASHES Giant Dongle, the free quarterly magazine from the West Dorset branch of Camra, is edited

by Alex Scrivener.

Details: email: geditor@ camradorset.org. uk; website: www. camradorset.org.uk TV production company Fremantle became a sponsor of the Women’s Prize for Fiction for 2019, as the award transformed into a charity, The Bookseller reported, joining Baileys and Natwest in supporting the £30,000 prize.

GLOBAL FICTION MARKET Fun for all the family Gary Dalkin

New US anthology series Zizzle describes itself as ‘the first and only English-language short story magazine dedicated to promoting quality flash fiction that both children as young as age ten and adults will enjoy.’

Unusually, Zizzle is a magazine published as a hardback book, with the first illustrated edition appearing this autumn. There is also a digital edition.

‘Single-use’ was named as Collins’ Word of the Year 2018.

Publisher Yuetting Cindy Lam and editor Lesley Dahl see flash fiction, in an age of diminishing attention spans, as the door opener for all to the world of literature, and they quote CS Lewis, as a guiding principle: ‘A children’s story which is enjoyed only by children is a bad children’s story. The good ones last.’

Zizzle is looking for stories that will surprise, move, and amuse both young and mature imaginative minds. The editorial team like fiction that dives deep into meaning and resists banality. They say, ‘We believe the moral, if any, of a great story should evolve naturally from within and not be imposed from without. We embrace new perspectives to the nuanced joys and tensions in children’s daily lives and imaginations. We are open to pieces that defy traditional storytelling.

Tasteful humour and a strong voice always appeal to us.’

Jacaranda Books founder Valerie Brandes was named one of the 100 most influential black Britons for the second year in a row.

Barack and Michelle Obama have bought the rights to The Fifth Risk, the latest book by Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball and The Big Short. The Obamas have a production deal with Netflix and are looking to bring the book, which chronicles the chaotic transition of the US departments of Agriculture, Commerce and Energy from the Obama to Trump administrations, to television as a high profile documentary series.

‘Don’t be “a writer”.

Be writing.’

William Faulkner

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JANUARY 2019

The magazine is open to submissions year round.

Simultaneous submissions are acceptable but notify if accepted elsewhere. No multiple submissions.

Previously unpublished stories, 5001,200 words, will be considered from anywhere in the world but must be in English. All stories must be suitable for both adults and children ten years and upwards.

Payment is a flat rate of $100 for worldwide first serial rights and exclusive one-year electronic publication rights. Follow the guidelines and submit your story as a doc or docx file at the website: https://zizzlelit.com

Pages to fill

The I has it Ninth Letter is ‘a collaborative arts and literary project’ produced by the Creative Writing Program and School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois, with one issue in the spring and one in the autumn. Its mission is ‘to present original literary writing of exceptional quality, illuminated by cutting-edge graphic design’. Spend time at the website, read the guidelines and follow them carefully.

Submissions are open from 1 January to 28 February, then open again in September. The team want poetry and prose ‘that experiment with form, narrative, and non-traditional subject matter, as well as more traditional literary work’.

Submit 3-6 poems, to a maximum of ten pages, in one file, or one story or essay of no more than 8,000 words. Don’t send reprints or multiple submissions, but simultaneous submissions are accepted with the usual proviso if they are labelled as such.

Response time is ‘within twelve weeks’.

Payment is $25 per printed page, plus two complimentary copies.

Submit through the website: www. ninthletter.com

Carte Blanche is a cheerful Canadian print and online magazine published three times a year. The editors call it a ‘blank page that gets filled up, scribbled on, and passed around’.

They believe that there is more than one way to tell a story and look to provide ‘a venue for narrative of all forms from fiction and nonfiction, to poetry and photo essays’.

Subs are open until 31 December. Sim subs are accepted, but not reprints or multiple subs. Check out the guidelines and back issues on the website: www.carte-blanche.org The fiction editors like ‘narrative: a story that moves from some kind of a beginning to some kind of an end, be it short fiction, memoir, personal essay or literary journalism. If it’s well written and tells a story, we’ll consider it.’ Creative nonfiction editors seek factual writing. ‘Any changes to names to protect privacy should be indicated in an author’s note.’

Keep work under 3,500 words with a maximum of two short prose submissions per author per issue. Poems are welcome in any form ‘from odes and haikus to free verse and sonnets’, but submit no more than three per submission round and upload each one separately.

Translations into English of ‘poetry, fiction, and nonfiction written originally in French’ are always welcomed. Follow the detailed guidelines for translations at the website. Comics, no more than twenty pages, must have ‘a story to tell, that explores the boundaries of narrative within the comic form’.

Response time is ‘reasonable’. Payment is ‘a modest honorarium per submission’ for first world serial rights and the right to archive work on the website.

Details: Carte Blanche, email queries and subs to: editors@ carte-blanche.org; website: www.carte-blanche.org

www.writers-online.co.uk

WRITERS’ NEWS

INTRODUCTIONS Writing Magazine presents a selection of parenting publishers currently accepting contributions. We strongly recommend that you read back issues, familiarise yourself with their guidelines before submitting and check websites, where given, for submission details.

Baby Magazine, edited

by Rebecca Moore, is a bimonthly luxury parenting magazine aimed at affluent and aspirational mothers and mothers to be living in and around London. The content is intelligent and upmarket, covering pregnancy, birth and early years with expert advice, products, trends and lifestyle features. Content includes nutrition, travel, medical advice, stories of inspirational mothers and baby fashions. Rebecca welcomes ideas for freelance features. Payment varies.

Details: email: rebecca.moore@ chelseamagazines.com; website: www.babymagazine.co.uk Creative Steps, edited and published by Jon Hopley, is a quarterly magazine where the focus in on learning through play, rather than general parenting/childcare issues. The magazine is aimed at anyone who works or plays with young children, including childminders, nannies, and educators as well as family members. Most of the craft projects in the magazine are provided by contributors, by prior agreement with Jon. These are paid for. Send him ideas by email. Occasionally Creative Steps will also publish features/articles relating to learning through creative play, usually in conjunction with a specific service/ product provider, and these are not paid for.

Details: email: john@creativesteps.co.uk; website: http://creativesteps.co.uk/

Fertility Road is a bimonthly magazine based in the UK and available globally, full of advice and guidance for people looking to start or grow a family. Edited by Andrew Coutts, the magazine is about breaking down science into accessible feature content and is full of nutritional and medical advice from fertility experts, celebrity and real life interviews and articles on mindfulness.

Andrew welcomes contributions on all aspects of fertility on a voluntary basis.

Details: email: editor@fertilityroad.com; website: https://fertilityroad.com/ Melissa Corkhill, the editor of bimonthly magazine The Green Parent, welcomes feature contributions from writers who are familiar with the publication’s ethical standpoint and the issues it covers: ethical parenting, alternative health and environmental concerns. The magazine’s readership is international and coverage includes pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, family life, alternative education, natural health and green travel. Melissa particularly welcomes first-person accounts of real-life experiences. Contact her by email with original, unpublished articles between 1,500 and 2,000 words. Payment for accepted articles is £75 per 1,000 words.

Details: email: features@thegreenparent. co.uk; website: https://thegreenparent. co.uk/

Based in Canada and edited by Jen Smith, EcoParent is a friendly, accessible quarterly magazine who parents who want to make informed, ecological, healthy lifestyle choices for their families.

The tone is friendly and inspirational. Key areas of coverage are anything connected to green parenting and childcare, home making, slow living, and timely topics such as raising children without religion or gender. International submissions are warmly welcomed, particularly of ultraniche unique perspectives and heavilyresearched pieces. Payment varies.

Details: email: Jen.Smith@ecoparent.ca; website: www.ecoparent.ca Mother & Baby, edited

by Emma Bailey, bills itself as Britain’s number one parenting magazine, chosen by readers for its trustworthy advice and entertaining features. All the features are expertlead so the information they contain is up-todate, informative and reliable. Care is taken that Mother & Baby is a pleasurable read – features have a warm tone and talk directly to mothers about their common experiences. All features are positive and leave readers feeling ready to take action. Freelance ideas are welcome, particularly for longer features, and these are paid.

Details: email: ask@motherandbaby. co.uk; website: www.motherandbaby.co.uk

GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET Mature writers wanted PDR Lindsay-Salmon

Salamander is a US print literary biannual, aiming to ‘publish a generation of writers reaching artistic maturity and deserving of a wider audience alongside new work by established writers’.

Run by a team from the English department of Suffolk University, Boston, it needs poetry, fiction, and memoirs. Submissions are open until 1 April 2019 Spend time at the website reading the guidelines and the samples of work published. There is an occasional online version and that can be accessed in the web back issues. The team accept simultaneous submissions but not reprints or multiple subs.

The poetry editor wants to see up to five poems. Love of

language, originality and the ability to write outside the usual are the recommendations. For fiction and non-fiction, creative views of the world, an ability to play with language forms and writers with something are recommended. Response time is ‘slow’. There is payment for writers, but it is not disclosed before acceptance.

Website: http://salamandermag.org

www.writers-online.co.uk

JANUARY 2019

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WRITERS’ NEWS

FLASHES Prizes are £150, £50 and £25 in the Fiction Factory 2018/2019 Short Story Competition.

Enter original, unpublished short fiction up to 3,000 words, in any genre for adults. Entries are accepted from writers anywhere in the world, but the entries must be in English.

Entry fee, £6 per story; closing date, 30 January.

Enter by email: words@fictionfactory.biz Website: http:// fiction-factory.biz/ Prime retirement lifestyle magazine editor Stephen Johnson welcomes letters.

Details: email: stephen.johnson@ newsquest.co.uk; website: https:// prime-magazine. co.uk/ Simon Mayo is leaving BBC Radio 2, publisher Transworld announced, saying that the presenter has signed a twobook deal with them.

Authors including Margaret Atwood, Julian Barnes, Marian Keyes, Kamila Shamsie, Joanna Trollope and Lee Child auctioned the right to name a character in their latest work in aid of the charity Freedom From Torture, which works to help victims of torture rebuild their lives.

The sum raised was not yet finalised as WM went to press, but in 2016 the auction raised £30,000.

‘A short story must have a single mood and every sentence must build towards it.’

Edgar Allan Poe

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GLOBAL SPECFIC MARKET

New market for olde words PDR Lindsay-Salmon

Bards and Sages Publishing, a cross platform micro press, publishes everything from roleplaying games to short story collections.

Publisher and editor Julie Ann Dawson needs submissions for a new volume of Best Indie Speculative

Fiction, of previously published stories only, whether independently or with a small press. She only needs print rights so any story e-published may remain available elsewhere in ebook form. Stories, 1,000-25,000 words, must have been published between January 2017 and December 2018.

All stories must be standalone stories and not part of a series, but prequels tied into novels are acceptable if self-contained and with a clear conclusion.

Simultaneous and multiple submissions are accepted. Follow the guidelines on the website, then

submit by email: bestindiefiction@ bardsandsages.com as a doc, docx or rtf file, along with a short story summary.

Response time is ‘reasonable’.

Payment is via Paypal or Google Wallet for print rights only.

Website: www.bardsandsages.com

Play fight Using stage combat to place women and their stories centre stage Babes With Blades Theatre Company is inviting submissions of playscripts from female, trans and gendernonconfirming playwrights. Plays must be new, original and not have been previously performed, published or workshopped.

Plays should be based on the inspirational images on the website.

Images which you only need ‘to take the moment depicted and

make it your own’. You must however physically dramatise or incorporate the images through performance and indicate the page number in your script where this has been done.

Submissions should comply with the Bechdel Test, which examines the positive portrayal of women in fiction. There is a link on the website explaining the test in more detail.

Email your work as two separate attachments. The first attachment should be your script which should have a characters list and the page number where the contest image is incorporated but not your name or

contact details. These details should be included in a second attachment along with the play title. The closing date for submissions is 7 February 2019.

Email as a pdf file to: swordandpen@babeswithblades.org Website: https://babeswithblades. org/jsp-how-to-submit/

Verse for Ver

Fantasy faves

Entries are invited for the Ver Poets Open Competition 2019.

The 2019 competition, which has a first prize of £600, a second prize of £300 and a third prize of £100, will be judged by Kathryn Maris, pictured, an American poet based in London.

The competition is for original, unpublished poems up to thirty lines. Type poems clearly on single sides of A4. Your name must not appear on the manuscript.

Enter by post. Include an entry form, which can be downloaded from the website, and send two copies of each poem entered.

The entry fee is £4 per poem of three poems for £10, and £3.50 thereafter. Pay by cheques made out to Ver Poets.

The closing date is 30 April.

Details: Competitions Secretary, 181 Sandridge Road, St Albans, Herts AL1 4AH; website: www.verpoets.co.uk

The winners of the British Fantasy Awards were announced at FantasyCon2018. The winners were: Best Fantasy Novel, The Ninth Rain, Jen Williams; Best Horror Novel, The Changeling, Victor LaValle; Best Novella, Passing Strange, Ellen Klages; Best Short Story, Looking for Laika, Laura Mauro (Interzone); Best Collection, Strange Weather, Joe Hill; Best Anthology, New Fears, ed Mark Morris; Best Independent Press, Unsung Stories; Best Non-Fiction, Gender Identity and Sexuality in Science Fiction and Fantasy, ed Francesca T Barbini; Best Magazine/Periodical, Shoreline of Infinity; Best Newcomer, Jeanette Ng, for Under the Pendulum Sun; Karl Edward Wagner Award, NK Jemisin.

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WRITERS’ NEWS

UK NON-FICTION MARKET Soho Friday raises the bar for non-fiction Tina Jackson

Soho Friday Media is a new non-fiction publishing company from three industry heavyweights: John Blake, Derek Freeman and Richard Johnson.

‘My own company, John Blake Publishing, was sold to Bonnier [which under Richard Johnson grew to the the UK’s fourth largest publishing group] about two years ago,’ said John. ‘I spent six months mucking about but I really missed publishing and I had friends wanting to write books, so I thought, why not?

Soho Friday Media will operate as a ‘cyber publisher’. We call it cyber-publishing.

We don’t have an office, or full-time staff – our sales and production staff are freelance – so our overheads are low, which makes us more financially viable, and we can turn things around quickly,’ said John.

The focus will be popular adult non-fiction. ‘No fiction at all. All non-fiction – popular non-fiction – autobiography, true-crime, really anything that’s an original idea that strikes a chord and we think we can publish.’ Soho Media will operate as a conventional publisher. ‘It will be hardback followed by paperback, and the books will also be in digital format. We’ll start with about eight books next year, then build on that. We want to feel our way and play it by ear, but the main thing is to get the books that will sell.’

John is actively interested in hearing from prospective authors. ‘I’m looking for submissions of anything interesting! I love unsolicited manuscripts – John Blake Publishing’s Talking With Serial Killers was unsolicited and ten years later it’s still in the top ten,’ said John.

He wants books that readers will pick up in droves. ‘I’m also looking for nostalgia memories, which tend to sell very well. I’d love to find a State Registered Nurse who qualified in the 1960s and went to rock’n’roll concerts, that sort of thing. I’m open to anything but my rule of thumb is, could I imagine this book in the Sunday Times Top Ten. The books I’m looking for are populist, not necessarily downmarket. I’m very much looking for people to submit to me. The very best ideas tend to come from individuals. I had a memoir from the bare-knuckles fighter Lennie MeLean, and he couldn’t get a publisher – we took it on and The Guv’nor sold a million copies.’

Contact him with a sell in the first instance. ‘Initially I’m looking for the outline in a few sentences. The writer needs to entice me with the concept first. If they can’t win me over in less than a page then it’s never going to work. After that, I’d look at a synopsis and a sample chapter.’

Soho Friday media will pay an advance and royalties.

Email: john@sohofriday.com Website: www.sohofriday.com

The spirit of childhood Entries are invited for the Five Aspects of ME 2018 Poetry Competition. The theme for this year’s competition is The Spirit of Childhood.

Five Aspects of ME is an organisation based in the North West that helps children and parent/ carers in deprived areas deal with their emotions.

Enter poems up to forty lines on any aspect of childhood. There are prizes of £150, £75 and £50, and two further prizes of £20 for poets aged 17-19 and poems by poets living in the Fylde area (postcode FY).

All entries must be original and unpublished. Your name must not appear on the manuscript. A poem title must be written at the top of each entry. Include an entry form, which may be downloaded from the website, with each entry. Send entries as attachments by email.

The entry fee is £4, £3 each for two poems, or £7.50 for three, through PayPal. The closing date is 31 December.

Details: email: Admin@fiveaspects.co.uk; website: www.fiveaspects.co.uk www.writers-online.co.uk

Novel Ideas

Finish or forget?

Get to grips with your story scrap stash before 2029, urges Lynne Hackles Here’s something to think about before the new year arrives. All those story and article ideas you’ve had lying around for years.

All the ones that are half-written. I’ve got a whole heap myself and every so often I look at the file on the computer, or the pile of printed-out ones, and tell myself it’s time to do something about them.

Is it time to throw them out? Should I delete the ones on the computer, after all they’ve been there a long time, or will I regret it if they are then lost for ever?

I was discussing this with a writing friend and she admitted to being exactly the same.

‘What shall we do?’ I asked.

And she, being more practical than I am, came up with a suggestion.

‘How about finishing one project a month,’ she said. ‘That sounds do-able, doesn’t it?’

It did, so we agreed we would encourage each other through the months and see what happened.

But something was niggling at me. I discovered what it was when a story was picked at random from the printed pile.

It was a womag story and the beginning was good but what on earth was going to happen next?

I emailed it over to my friend with a short note – ‘Finish this for me.’ A few days later it came back. She hadn’t finished it but she had added another paragraph and once I read it an idea came to me and I was able to write a paragraph too. This story bounced back and forth until it was complete. You could try this with a writing friend. It doesn’t always work but it can be fun. Also, remember finishing can include deciding a story has died in the water.

Press delete.

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WRITERS’ NEWS

FLASHES

GLOBAL POETRY MARKET he pursuit of Arc

Saga monthly magazine pays £50 for the star letter and £100 for the crossword.

Details: email: editor@saga.co.uk; website: www. saga.co.uk WM subscriber Jonathan Wilkins is inviting Leicester-themed submissions of iction, poetry, creative noniction and essays for his Our City or An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Leicestershire project. Accepted submissions will be published by Dahlia Press in an anthology and writers will receive two copies. The deadline is 31 January.

Website: http://www. jonathanwilkins. co.uk To Kill a Mockingbird has been voted by viewers of Public Broadcasting Service’s Great American Read as America’s best novel.

The Edward Thomas Fellowship Poetry Prize invites poems in any style, on any subject and of any length to win prizes of £150 and 2 x £50. The entry fee is £3 per poems or £10 for four, and the closing date is 31 January.

Website: www. edward-thomasfellowship.org.uk ‘If you are going to get anywhere in life you have to read a lot of books.’

Roald Dahl, quoted on Goodwill Librarian

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Jenny Roche

A magazine that has been publishing contemporary poetry for some forty years, the Canadian poetry magazine Arc is open to submissions until 31 January 2019 for the summer issue. Check the website for any subsequent submission periods.

‘At Arc we find the brave new voices,’ say guidelines.

‘We feature poetry that is woozy, cunning, shearing and wildlike.’

All submissions should be previously unpublished in English or be a translation into English and although there are no restrictions on subject or form, no more than

three poems, or 360 lines of poetry, may be submitted.

Simultaneous submissions will be considered but must be withdrawn if accepted for publication elsewhere.

Type your poetry with single spacing and your name, email and postal address on each page. Include a short biography of 2-3 sentences or fifty words.

Submit through the website: http://arcpoetry.ca/ submit/ Expect a response within 4-6 months and if published the payment is Can$50 per page, plus a copy of the issue, for first Canadian serial rights.

UNLOCK THE DOOR TO WRITER DEVELOPMENT Writing West Midlands is inviting applications for its Room 204 writer development programme and Word Factory Award.

Room 204 offers mentoring and development worth more than £1,000 to fifteen emerging writers living, working or studying in the West Midlands. To apply, writers must be writing creatively in any genre, be based in the West

Midlands and looking to develop their writing career. To apply, send a two-year writing history (200 words), up to three samples of writing (totalling no more than 3,000 words) and a 200-word statement about your reasons for applying, what you hope to gain and why you need support to develop your writing.

The Word Factory Award will

offer one West Midlands short story writer the chance to be mentored by a leading writer as part of the Word Factory Apprentice Award. Apply for this via the Room 204 application.

Apply via the online form, uploading the required documents as doc or pdf files.

The closing date is 31 January.

Website: https://writ.rs/ room204

THE TISHMAN’S CALL The Tishman Review is a US print and online biannual, publishing poetry, fiction and non-fiction which offer ‘new insights into the human condition, find beauty in the garish, and that when we read it, we want to read it again and again’.

For poetry, submit three or four poems, each on a new page, in a single file.

For fiction, submit micro-fiction, up to 300 words (up to three per submission), flash fiction, under 1,000 words, and short stories, no more than 8,000 words.

For creative non-fiction, submit personal essays, memoir, lyric essays and literary journalism under 5,000 words, especially ‘history, science, literature, art, and

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biographies’.

The submission window is open until 15 February, 2019.

Response time is ‘within ninety days’. Payment is $10-$25 per poem, $10 for prose under 1,000 words, plus 1¢ cents per word over 1,000 words, plus a copy, for first electronic publication rights, and non-exclusive print-ondemand rights.

Follow the full guidelines and submit through the website: www.thetishmanreview.com

WRITERS’ NEWS

INTERNATIONAL ZINE SCENE Fugue is a literary biannual published by graduate students in the English and Creative Writing Programs at University of Idaho, publishing ‘poetry, plays, fiction, essays, visual-text hybrids, and interviews from established and emerging writers’.

Submissions are open each year between 1 September and 1 May, for no more than ‘five poems, two short-shorts, one story, one essay per submission, or five image files’.

Its poetry editors like ‘risks and outcasts… ugly, honest, and revealing’ poems, fresh voices and challenging poems. Send 3-5, no more than ten pages in total.

Fiction should be fresh and unconventional, taking risks with language, plot, characterisation or structure. Maximum length is approximately fifteen pages; flash is welcome.

Be just as playful with creative non-fiction, maximum 5,000 words, or under 1,000 for flash non-fiction.

Multiple and simultaneous submissions are accepted, reprints are not. Submit a doc or docx file through the website: www. fuguejournal.com Response time is ‘3-6 months’. Payment is $15 per piece plus a complimentary copy.

Empyreome is an SF and speculative fiction quarterly zine. The editorial team like ‘stories in which interesting people do interesting things and make interesting things happen’. They hate ‘flat characters’ and forces beyond a character’s control. Be original, be wacky, be creative.

Submissions are open for the January 2019 issue, up to 10,000 words, 7,000 preferred, and the Weekly Flash series, up to 1,000 words. Science fiction and fantasy are preferred ‘but we will consider any story with a speculative element, including slipstream and well-written horror’.

Follow the guidelines, then submit an rtf, doc, or docx file through the website: http:// empyreome.com No simultaneous or multiple submissions, or reprints.

Response time is usually ‘within two weeks’.

There is a token payment for first world English rights and first electronic rights.’

The Incubator Selects is a new Irish webzine which has grown out of the old print journal for Irish writers. Now open to writers anywhere, submissions of ‘the best stories in the world’ are open until 31 December.

Submit only one unpublished story; no multiple subs or reprints. Simultaneous submissions are allowed with the usual proviso. Submit a doc file with a brief covering letter by email: editor.theincubator@ gmail.com Response time is ‘twelve weeks, though probably sooner’. Payment is ‘a nominal fee’.

Website: https://theincubatorjournal.com Catapult is one of the new groups, freed by the digital world, which is a publisher, author’s co-operative and writers’ support group all in one. They publish ‘literary fiction, memoir, nonfiction, and graphic narrative... that honour the craft of writing’.

by PDR Lindsay-Salmon

Stories should ‘land us squarely, concretely, in someone else’s shoes’.For non-fiction, 500 to 6,000 words (preferably around 2,500), the team welcome ‘personal essays, lyric essays, reportage, and unconventional prose which resists categorisation’. For fiction the editorial team look for ‘short stories, novel excerpts that stand on their own, and translated fiction’. Flash, under 1,000 words, is also wanted.

For all submissions, include a word count and email address in the document. No reprints, sim or multiple subs. Don’t forget a cover letter and all file formats are accepted. Response time is ‘within six months, hopefully earlier’, and, ‘Writers will receive compensation for accepted pieces.’

Submit through the website: https://catapult.co Zooscape is ‘a brand new e-zine of fantastic furry fiction’. The editorial team want stories where ‘the animals can talk, magic flows, and the stars are in reach. Furry fiction is a new and rapidly growing sub-genre of science-fiction and fantasy.’ Submissions are now open, with publication planned for January, May and September each year.

Submit stories, no more than 10,000 words, starring ‘anthropomorphic animal figures’.

They will consider ‘any type of furry fiction from secret life of animals to fox in Starbucks.

We love science-fiction with animal-like aliens and fantasy with talking dragons, unicorns, or witch familiars.’

Study the guidelines on the website: http:// zooscape-zine.com, then submit a doc, docx or rtf file by email: zooscape.zine@gmail.com No sim or multiple subs; reprints might be accepted but check first. Payment is 6¢ a word up to 1,000 words and a flat rate of $60 for longer stories, $20 for reprints.

SPOTLIGHT ON UNDER-REPRESENTED WRITERS Creative Future is launching an open call for submissions for its new publishing imprint, Spotlight Books.

The new initiative, run in partnership with New Writing South and Myriad Editions, is inviting submissions from unpublished poets and fiction writers from the UK who are under-represented in publishing due to mental health, disability, identity or social circumstance.

Six writers will be selected and supported to polish their manuscripts and be published in individual short books by Myriad Editions under a standard publishing contract.

To submit, send original fiction between 8,000 and 10,000 words and poetry (45 pages with 20 lines to a page) in any genre except writing for children or erotica. Excerpts (up to 50%) may have been previously published as long as the writer holds copyright, but not the

complete work. Writers may submit one manuscript in each category.

To submit, writers must be under-represented in the literary world and must not have published a book or standalone publication via an established press or publisher. Writers may previously have selfpublished or been included in anthologies.

Submit clearly typed entries through the online entry system as doc, docx, pdf or txt files, or by post, including an entry form that can be downloaded from the website. Your name must not appear on the manuscript. Entry is free.

The closing date is 24 February.

Details: Creative Future – Spotlight Books, Community Base, 113 Queen’s Road, Brighton BN1 3XG; email: info@creativefuture. co.uk; website: www.creativefuture.org.uk/spotlight-books/

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WRITERS’ NEWS

FLASHES

GLOBAL FICTION MARKET

Fiction with attitude

Hannah Bells is the editor of The World of Cross Stitching magazine, which offers prizes for star letters and giveaways.

Details: email: letters@crossstitching.com; website: www.crossstitching.com Literary author Tessa Hadley has won the £10,000 Edge Hill Short Story Competition for her collection Bad Dreams. Sarah Hall was awarded the £1,000 Readers’ Choice Award for her Madame Zero collection, and Julia Clayton was awarded the £500 MA Prize for students from Edge Hill University’s Creative Writing MA. The closing date for the next quarterly Henshaw Short Story Competition, which has prizes of £100, £50 and £25, is 31 December. Enter stories up to 2,000 words.The entry fee is £5.Website: http:// henshawpress.co.uk The winners of one of the world’s most lucrative literary prizes, the Kirkus Prize, were announced at the beginning of November.Three winners went home $50,000 richer: for fiction, Ling Ma, for her debut novel, Severance; for nonfiction, Rebecca Solnit with her collection of essays, CallThem ByTheirTrue Names; for young reader’s literature, author Derrick Barnes and illustrator Gordon C James for Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut. ‘I’m writing.The pages are starting to stack up. My morale is improving the more I feel like a writer.’

Neil Gaiman

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PDR Lindsay-Salmon

Ricky’s Back Yard is a quirky, punky, Canadian publisher, the sort that digital publishing allows to flourish.

It is currently open to submissions of stories that ‘other people wouldn’t touch with a fifteen-foot pole... strong, punk, dark, humorous, and just strange enough to be true’. Short stories and collections of flash and short stories are welcome, as well as novels.

Get a flavour of their raw, punky, output at the

website, read the guidelines and submit ‘a cover letter, a logline, a synopsis (no more than 1-2 pages), and the first thirty pages of the novel/short story collection/ graphic novel in pdf form’. Sim subs are okay but not reprints or multiple submissions. Exception is made for short stories collections but only for one or two.

Response time is ‘reasonable.’ Payment and rights are discussed with the contract but include royalties.

Website: www.rickysbackyard.com

First poems of spring Entries are invited for the Shepton Mallet Snowdrop Festival Poetry Competition.

The festival is in honour of 19th-century self-taught horticulturalist James Allen, who was the first ever person to breed new varieties of wild snowdrops. The competition, which has a prize of £200 in the adult category, invites original, unpublished

poems up to thirty lines, in any form, on the subject of snowdrops or the work of James Allen.

Upload entries through the online submission system as doc or docx files typed in 12pt font, or send them by post with an entry form which may be downloaded from the website.

The entry fee is £4 per poem,

More than one way Previously unpublished poetry and fiction that ‘demonstrates fine attention to craft while retaining a powerful and compelling voice’ is wanted for Four Way Review, a biannual online literary journal published by the independent non-profit Four Way Books.

Read issues of the journal online before submitting to make sure your work fits. Submissions should then consist of 3-5 poems or 6,000 words of fiction in a single doc, docx, pdf or rtf file using the website submission form. You may include a cover letter with your contact details and a brief bio in the comments box. Multiple submissions are not wanted and although simultaneous submissions will be considered you should inform the Journal if it then becomes accepted elsewhere.

Website: http://fourwayreview.com/submit-3/

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payable through the online entry system or by cheques payable to Shepton Mallet Horticultrual Society.

The closing date is 13 January.

Details: Shepton Mallet Snowdrop Festival Poetry Competition, The Walled Garden, Chamberlain Street, Wells, Somerset BA4 2PE; website: www. sheptonsnowdropfestival.org.uk

A mystery uncovered According to the Antique Trader Vintage Magazines Price Guide, it is the most expensive magazine in the world. Only 33 copies were thought to still be in existence, but recently a 34th copy was listed on the bookselling website, ABE. com The price, $75,000.

What is it? Beeton’s Christmas Annual of 1887.

Why is it so valuable? because it features Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel A Study In Scarlet, which is to say, the first ever appearance in print of Sherlock Holmes. It might be a good investment too, as the last known copy to sell, just a few years ago, went for ‘only’ $36,000.

WRITERS’ NEWS

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Is it allowable?

Travel writers need to consider the expenses involved in travel, says Patrick Forsyth Aiming to provide ideas and inspiration for those involved in visual communication and the creative industries, US bimonthly Communication Arts, published six times a year, welcomes articles from ‘creative thought leaders who can contribute well-written opinion columns or reported pieces that cover emerging trends, ethical issues and what it takes to thrive in typography, photography, illustration, advertising and design for print, digital and interactive media’.

Articles should do one or more of the following: thoughtfully discuss ethical and social issues, be newsworthy or round up newsworthy items, report on an emerging tool or trend, offer helpful guidance, reveal a backstory professionals can learn from.

Articles should be previously unpublished, 800-1,500 words, with a clear argument, accurate facts, figures, quotes and names and be relevant to a readership of professionals. ‘We want pieces that are bold, interesting and human,’ say guidelines.

Payment is either a flat fee or a ‘highly competitive rate’, negotiated on assignment. Topical commissions may need to be made six months in advance. Submit 2-3 published writing examples with your proposal and indicate the category or discipline your article might fall under, the format, what it is and why do readers need to know about it, as well as why you are the person who should write it.

Email to: editorial@commarts.com Website: www.commarts.com/ write-us

Be damned and publish Tales From The Canyons of the Damned is a monthly US print and electronic magazine devoted to dark science fiction, horror and slipstream. Launched in 2015 and now up to issue 27, each issue features between three and five stories.

Editor Daniel Arthur Smith suggests you think of the magazine as the literary equivalent of The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits or Black Mirror.

Stories should be between 500-5,000 words, well written, easy to read on screen, and suitable for audio. Longer stories may be considered, and may be serialised, but payment is 3¢ per word for the first 5,000 words and is capped at $150. Canyons buys first world electronic, print and audio rights exclusively for a year, plus non-exclusive anthology rights. Follow full guidelines and submit through the website: http://canyonsofthedamned.com

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et’s talk about money – and about tax.

Costs mount up, even if you travel locally, to London or other parts of the country, and the costs of travel do not tend to sit favourably with the kind of fee many a travel feature can produce. Long haul the problem compounds more than somewhat. But if writing is your business then travel can be an allowable expense set against tax.

I consulted a professional, David Aquino who runs accountants Berkeley Townsend. The first thing that came up can be noted in a word. It’s… complicated.

David’s first advice is that you need to understand how things work, organise how you operate and keep careful records. ‘In general,’ he says, ‘travel that is not wholly and exclusively for the purpose of trade is disallowable for tax purposes.’

This refers to HMRC’s concept of ‘duality’. It means you must clearly define the proportion of any total expense which is ‘wholly and exclusively incurred for the purposes of trade’. Thus if a trip has a specific writing purpose that is fine, but if you stay on somewhere for sightseeing or to meet friends, and take someone (like a spouse) with you, then there will be a personal aspect to the trip.

The clearer documentation is, for example having a receipt solely for your airfare, the better. Some costs can be arranged on a pro rata basis, but don’t think that you can take your whole family out for a meal or an excursion and regard that as an allowed expense, because that is not the case.

If travel and writing about travel is a regular activity for you then your records should be made up and kept in a consistent fashion and the work element clearly explained, whether this is research, attending a specific event, an inspection visit (say to a hotel) or whatever. It seems to me that if you are at the early stages of such a process a conversation with an accountant, preferably one like David Aquino, who numbers writers amongst his clients, will enable you to set up a systematic way of doing all this and reduce any hassle for the future.

I well remember the difference when, having had a commission to write my first travel book (First class at last!) and made the necessary trip alone, I then made another (resulting in the book Beguiling Burma) on which my wife, not going to be left out again, accompanied me.

Over time, and particularly if expensive long haul travel is involved, this area is something to consider carefully.

Doing so can not only save money but might make an otherwise too-costly trip viable. Right, David, what about Australia?

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FLASHES The Soundwork Short Story Competition is inviting entries of short fiction up to 2,500 words. The winning story will be recorded by a professional actor and uploaded to Soundcloud and the Soundwork site. Writers retain copyright and stories may have been published elsewhere.

Entry is free; closing date is 28 February.

Enter by email: info@ soundwork-uk.co.uk Website: www. soundwork-uk.co.uk The £10,000 Groucho Club Maverick Award for the avant-garde, unorthodox and original has been won by journalist and writer Elizabeth Uviebinenè and Yomi Adegoke, the authors of Slay in Your Lane.

The Diagram Prize for the oddest book title of the year has been won by a German kettle cookbook called The Joy of Waterboiling.

It beat Are Gay Men More Accurate in Detecting Deceits?, Equine Dry Needling, Jesus on Gardening and The Secret History of Dung.

Independent bookshop Broadhurst’s of Stockport has sold a book that has been on their shelves for 27 years. The book, a children’s history of William the Conqueror published by Pitkin, had been in stock since 1991. ‘We always knew its time would come,’ said staff member Joanne Ball.

‘Don’t say it was “delightful”; make us say “delightful” when we’ve read the description.’

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GLOBAL SPECFIC MARKET Go back to Wells PDR Lindsay-Salmon

18th Wall Productions is a US small press which specialises in speculative fiction and mysteries. Novel submissions are always welcome, and a new anthology needs stories set in the aftermath of War of the Worlds.

For novels, follow the website guidelines, then submit the first 20,000 words, an outline and cover letter. Guidelines are on the website, and submissions should be by email: submissions@18thwall.com The anthology War of the Worlds: Absolute War aims to expand on HG Wells’ classic by showing the entire world’s response to the invasion. For example, perhaps the invaders do not defeat all the world, or the response

from other nations is different.

The anthology is open to ‘historical fiction, military science fiction, fantasy, occult horror or detection, mystery, adventure, pulp, or literary’ but genre really doesn’t matter if the story fits the brief. The editorial team seek good, creative stories working from these guidelines than their specific genre. Writers ‘may use magic and other historical fantasy/urban fantasy tropes, but please be creative’.

Avoid alternative history or, the biggest bugbear, historical inaccuracy.

See the guidelines on the website and submit a complete story, 4,000-20,000 words, by email: waroftheworlds@18thwall.com

The deadline is 20 January, 2019.

Payment is 5% of the gross profit, 4% of the gross profit for stories under 1,500 words, for first world digital and print rights.

Website: http://18thwall.com

The north will rise again The Northern Writers Awards from New Writing North are inviting applications from writers based in the North of England. This year there are some new awards, new and renewed partnerships and the biggest ever fund, with a total of £55,000 in writing awards on offer.

The Awards are: • Northern Writers Awards for Poetry: Between £1,000 and £5,000 to support emerging and established poets to develop collections. To enter, send up to thirty poems or an equivalent amount of longer sequences, and a commentary that describes the proposed project.

• New North Poets Programme: A structured programme of support and development for four poets who have yet to publish a full collection.

• Northern Writers Awards for Fiction and Narrative Non-Fiction: Between £1,000 and £5,000 to emerging and established writers to develop work in progress and complete promising manuscripts. Submit between 3,000 and 6,000 words and a synopsis.

• Northern Debut Awards Programme: A programme of support and development, including a £2,000 bursary, to writers of fiction, narrative non-fiction, YA fiction or collections of short stories. One award will be made to a female writer over 42 in the name of Andrea Badenoch. Submit between 3,000 and 6,000 words and a synopsis.

• Hachette Children’s Novel Award: One winner will receive a £5,000 advance against publication by Hachette Children’s Books. Submit between 3,000 and 6,000 words and a synopsis. Shortlisted writers will be asked to submit a complete manuscript by 14 March.

• The Northbound Book Award: £5,000 advance against publication by Saraband for a complete manuscript of fiction or narrative non-fiction by a new, emerging or established writer. Submit a full manuscript and synopsis.

• The Sid Chaplin Award in partnership with The North Literary Agency: A £2,000 bursary, mentoring and development for a writer of fiction or narrative nonfiction from a working class background. Submit between 3,000 and 6,000 words and a synopsis.

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• TLC Free Reads: An in-depth editorial report on a work in progress plus a £500 bursary for three writers who may have faced barriers due to financial circumstances or for issues connected to disability, ethnicity or sexuality. Submit between 3,000 and 6,000 words and a synopsis.

• Arvon Award: An Arvon course for a prose writer for adults or children. Submit between 3,000 and 6,000 words.

• Northumbria University Student and Alumni Award: £2,000 for a writer of fiction or poetry who is either a final year student or a recent graduate (based in the North) of Northumbria University.

• Channel 4 Writing for Television Awards – Lime Pictures: £3,000 bursary and a mentoring placement on the serial drama Hollyoaks for an aspiring TV writer, particularly from a background under-represented in this area of TV writing. Submit an outline of an idea for Hollyoaks and a sample script up to ten pages.

• Channel 4 Writing for Television Awards – Bonafide Films: £3,000 bursary and a mentoring placement with Bonafide Films for an aspiring TV writer, particularly from an under-represented background. Submit an outline of an original TV drama storyline and a sample script up to ten pages.

• Word Factory Apprentice Award: £1,000 and a place on the Word Factory Apprentice programme for a short story writer who has yet to publish a full collection.

Submit a short story up to 2,000 words.

• Young Northern Writer Award: £200 for a young writer aged 12-18.

• Matthew Hale Award: Development package worth £500 for a writer between 12 and 18 who shows promise but lacks opportunity to pursue their talent.

All submissions must be made through the online submission system. All submissions should relate to new works in progress and be made by writers living fulltime in the areas covered by Arts Council England in Yorkshire, the North East and North West.

The closing date is 7 February.

Website: http://northernwritersawards.com/

WRITERS’ NEWS

UK MAGAZINE MARKET The write formation Tina Jackson

FourFourTwo, edited by Hitesh Ratna, is the world’s biggest football magazine.

Started in 1994, FourFourTwo is now a resounding international success, published in seventeen markets and catering for a readership of avid football enthusiasts.

‘It’s aimed at the discerning football fan,’ said Hitesh. ‘Our average reader is between 25 and 40, they have their team, they’re loyal football followers. They just love football, and part of that is reading the magazine on a monthly basis.’

FourFourTwo prides itself on its reputation as the must-read publication for football professionals as well as fans.

‘The interviews and access we get to players and clubs – there aren’t many rivals for that,’ said Hitesh. ‘Reputation is what gets us through the door. We’ve been going since 1994 and for a while we were the only premium print publication, so we became the ‘“go-to” magazine for football.’

Players are keen to see themselves featured in FourFourTwo. ‘As a player, you’ve made it if you get a FourFourTwo cover. A lot of players now think of their personal brand and being on the cover of FourFourTwo means you’ve made it to a certain level.’

Keeping FourFourTwo at the top of the football market is Hitesh’s number-one priority. ‘We have so many competitors, with pay scales we’d struggle to match. What no-one can really match us on is our heritage that we still trade on. But a year ago we had Lionel Messi as guest editor – it was the only piece of editorial he did. He doesn’t need global exposure – he gets that every week. But he liked the idea of guest editing a magazine with heritage and a reputation for caring about football. That’s what we want to maintain.’

The key to the brand’s success is that the FourFourTwo team share their readers’ love for the sport. ‘We always pride ourselves on being sympathetic to football,’ said Hitesh. ‘We’re fans. We cover it from the fans’ perspective. We don’t have a cynical view of football. The world of football is entertaining, fans have their players and their clubs, and it’s part of their lives – we cover it from that perspective.’

The four brand values are access, insight, humour and passion. ‘Access and insight are what the magazine provides, and humour and passion are what fans bring – their enthusiasm is what we bring to our journalism.’

The magazine’s content is all timesensitive, and Hitesh takes pride in FourFourTwo’s ability to bring stories to

life. ‘Everything we cover has a hook, a reason, because it’s timely, but it will be long-form feature storytelling. As well as the celebrity interviews and think pieces, we have on-theground features, something with an interesting angle – you learn about the characters involved in the game, and we cover all spectrums of the game. Our cover stars may be the most high-profile players but we will go to a club at the other end of the spectrum where twelve people turn up.

It’s all about the characters connected to the game – human interest. First and foremost we try to tell great stories.’

Features range from four pages, 2,000 to 2,500 words, to an eighteen-page club profile – ‘something that might take a writer two to three weeks to write.’

The look of the magazine is also a priority. ‘We redesigned two years ago to make it feel more modern, to give a new, fresher look to it so we move with the times.’

FourFourTwo use freelances, and Hitesh is happy to accept pitches.

‘The very nature of football means its global so we can’t cover everything from an office in London. We have about 500 freelances dotted around the world.’

Send Hitesh ideas that have been well-thought out. ‘One of the issues we have, and I bemoan, is that the art of pitching is dying.

When I first started at FourFourTwo ten, eleven years ago we’d get quite in-depth pitches, a 300-word synopsis of an idea with basic structure and a hook, and interviewees, so you’d have a fully based idea of what the feature is about. But now people tend to send a quick pitch – ‘I saw this at the weekend and I’d like to write about it’. Most of our ideas are generated in-house and we really think them through, so when people are pitching, we need ideas that have been refined and have a unique hook.’

Pay is on two levels – if someone goes out, for instance to interview a star player, the rate is 20p a word. Anything written from your desk is 15p a word.

Send pitches by email.

Details: email: fourfourtwo@futurenet.com; website: www. fourfourtwo.com

Nommo winners named The African Speculative Fiction Society (ASFS) has announced the winners for the 2018 Nommo Award honouring the best speculative science fiction published by Africans in 2017: Best Novel, Beasts Made of Night, Tochi Onyebuchi; Best Novella, The Murders of Molly Southbourne, Tade Thompson; Best Short Story, The Regression Test, Wole

Talabi (The Manchester Review); Best Graphic Novel, Lake of Tears, Kwabena Ofei and Setor Fiadzigbey.

The winners for Best Novel and Best Graphic Novel received prizes of $1,000. The winners of Best Novella and Best Short Story received $500 each. The winners were revealed at the Aké Arts and Book Festival in late October in Nigeria.

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• Dialogue only competition (see p31) For fiction, 1,500-1,700 words, incorporating dialogue only; entry fee £6, £4 for subscribers; closing date, 15 February; Ref Code: Jan19/Dial • Open short story competition (see p31) For short stories on any theme, 1,500-1,700 words; entry fee £6, £4 for subscribers; closing date, 15 January; Ref Code: Dec18/OpenSS • Open poetry competition Poems on any themes, any style up to forty lines; entry fee £6, £4 for subscribers; closing date, 15 January; Ref Code: Dec18/OpenP • Children/YA competition (see p51) Fiction, maximum 1,500 words, on the theme ‘equality’; free entry, subscribers only; closing date, 15 February; Ref Code: Jan19/Child • Weather short story competition (see p51) Short stories with a weather theme, 1,500-1,700 words; free entry, subscribers only; closing date, 15 January; Ref Code: Dec18/Weather

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GLOBAL CRIME MARKET

Digital crime on rise

Reflect on that landscape

BY TINA JACKSON

offers its winner and two The Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize Fellowship Annual runners-up the chance to attend the Alpine will also be presented winner Symposium in Venice in August. The with £3,000 by poet John Burnside (pictured).writing in response to of The prize will be given for the best piece this is ‘Chora: reflections on the theme of the symposium. In 2017 Plato refers to the Chora as landscape’. The AF17 website notes that the event in which things take of site the – space” ‘“that which gives their shape.’ and writers may apply from All genres of writing may be entered, be original, and must never anywhere in the world. All entries must Send entries by email by 1 May have been published in any medium. subject line. Entry is free. with the name of the prize in the email in joining the symposium • AF17 also invites people interested from all walks of (scholars, artists, poets, and also non-specialists theme. To apply, this year’s life) to send their ideas in response to setting out how and why you send a CV and a three-minute video will cover the food and would contribute to AF17. The Fellowship and might also be able accommodation costs of successful applicantsThe deadline to apply Venice. to help with travel costs to and from is 31 June. p.com; Details: email: apply@alpinefellowshi website: http://alpinefellowship.com/

BYJENNY ROCHE A new twist on fairy tales

have joined forces The National Literacy Trust and Bloomsbury Penguin-Ran for fairy tales competition dom House’s digital-only imprint for The Short Story Prize 2017, aofnew mystery and thriller control of all electronic fiction, for children by unpublished writers. and print ebooks children Alibi, publishes which aimed publishing rights. stories areatavailable from all major Writers are invited to send short retailerstale modern twist. anda compatible To submit, complete with all reading devices. aged 8-12 that give a well-known fairy the form on the website an The by imprint Bloomsbury with details of your aims toinoffer ‘forward thinking book, including title, The winning entries will be published and up-and-com National to the genre, length, a short be donateding authors’ ebook anthology whose royaltiesonwill description, whether each a solid platform which stories willtheir have a completed manuscript to introduce chosen you the work to new Literacy Trust, and the writers of and why your audiences. All authors book would be right will be assigned to win £200. for this publisher, along editor an and and 4,000 words. with a 1,500-word a dedicated 2,000 marketer and publicist, extract. The form will Short stories should be between will around be themed able request a short bio synopsis also to work with about yourself, information Writers should also include a 350-word and offered social media a cover designer on any publishing/w tools riting history you may re-imagining fairy tales. connect whichand training to directlytemplate, have and if applicable, the official with readers.

Submit entries by email, usingFull your Type Authors have an option agent’s details. their submission of length works of fee.

40,000 words are will be sent to entrants on receipt to choose a 50-50 wanted. Previously name profit share or more The writer’s published traditional manuscripts in 12pt Arial, double-spaced. manuscript will be considered model of advance plus 25% as long as you have s net. must not appear on the manuscript.

Website: www.rando There is a submission fee of £30. mhousebooks.com/alib i The closing date is 25 June. t.org.uk; website: Details: email: fundraise@literarytrus -prize-2017 www.literacytrust.org.uk/support/short-story

New comp for newbies

Win a Virago contra ct and £7,500 advance

The Virago/The Pool The Michael Terence New Crime Publishing Short Writer Award is inviting or thriller novel consisting Story Competition entries from of a is for short stories debut women crime 5,000-word sample new authors who writers.

Series,by and a 500-word Pamphlet has never the 2017 Lorgnette Virago, which has synopsis of the plot previously Eyewear Publishing has launched published of the novel. success of been or self-publish builds on the forefront of women’s been at the new series Virago would hope ed. and is inviting submissions. TheThe publishing since that the prizefor the Michael was shortlisted its foundation in whichcompetition winning novel would is for writing 2015’s 20/20 Pamphlet Series, 1973, has joined be completed words, series. up to 3,000 Pamphlet up Aviator with The Pool, a 2016’swhich may within a year of winning. be fiction, science Marks Publisher’s Award, andnon-fiction digital platform for fiction or be selected and published women, to find an As Virago is an imprint Twenty limited-edition pamphlets will(ie biography orto exceptional new memoir). submit. There are welcome are in English female crime writer authors, the Virago/The for women of £300, £150 and £50, from this call. All poets workingprizes for Upload Pool New andallthe unpublished. winning The winner will be Virago. and previously Crime Writer Award stories will Pamphlets should be original be awarded published fee £20 is a only open to a Virago system. There is in a print publishing contract Submittable anthology women. Entry is and online. submissions through Eyewear’s with free. advance. The winning a £7,500 submit only one entry.Writers may All entries must be to submit. writer will also original and unpublished Double spaced short story competition get two hours of mentoring is15 the proposal and work Exit Earth is the STORGY Magazine bySeptember.

The closing date to submit writers who submit it by email. with author Beverley annual never to itshave Jill Dawson. been published submissions forself The closing date for 2017.

• Eyewear also has a callor published. Enter is 21 May. nonto the theme and of fiction, work online, The competition Details: email: formatting The competition invites writers to respond entriesunpublished Series, which is for an original, is for debut writers. as restrictions subject or pdf files. a second prize of £500 on style Writers who have Yourorname with no doc viragoandthepool@lit break free. There is a first prize of £1,000, must fiction, poetry or criticism,appear previously self onselected the manuscript. for the Beverley Series not published may enter, will be website: www.virag tlebrown.co.uk; and a third prize of £250. matter. One or more works There but o.co.uk in 2018. be original fiction reading announced the book being entered workistoabe fee ofearly £3 per story, Entries may be up to 5,000 words, should in any genre. Each each year, with the inaugural payable may be

by PayPal. system. There is a submission must not previously Submittable inspired by the ‘Exit Earth’ theme, and Submit online through the The have been published in is 15 September. date closing date is 31 May. writer may enter one story. fee of £20, and the closing any double-spaced in 12pt Website: Prize, its annual award for a form. To enter, submit Format entries as a Word doc or docx, gency • Eyewear’s Melita Hume Poetrywww.mtp.a a the story title, author and under who has not yet proposal for a suspenseful Garamond. Include a front page with full-length collection by a poet aged 35 , should be the story title and original, intelligent entries until 31 August. The name and word count. The filename published a full collection, is open for crime plus £1,000. sent as email attachments author name. Submissions should be winner receives publication of their collection, 100 pages. Individual in the subject line.

48 and with ‘EXIT EARTH – TITLE OF STORY’ Submit original manuscripts between

by PayPal. Include the published, but not the There is an entry fee of £10, payable poems in the collection may have been a email. online through Submittable. There is The 2017 PayPal reference number in the submission collection as a whole. Submit Welsh Poetry Competition , which independen The closing date is 31 May. £20 submission fee. launched on St David’s tly funded, Day, blishing.com/ 1 March, is international Details: email: submit@storgy.com; Website: https://store.eyewearpu invites entries. in scope, and invites There is a £5 entry entries from poets fee per poem entered website: https://storgy.com/ There is a first prize anywhere in the world. by post, payable by of £500, a second cheques made out prize of £250 and to Entries may be on The Welsh Poetry a third prize of £100. any subject and in Competition. For online There will also be seventeen any style. The maximum entries the fee is £6 per poem, payable runners-up, and length is fifty specially commended by lines. Each poem must PayPal. The closing www.writers-online.co.uk entries. The judge be clearly typed in date is 18 June. will be Kathy Miles.

88 MAY 2017 single sides of A4.

Details: The Welsh The poet’s name must Poetry 9 The Avenue, Pontypridd Competition, The competition, which not appear on the manuscript. is proudly , CF27 4DF; 22/03/2017 12:06 email: info@welsh entry form must accompany A completed poetry.co.uk; website: each entry. www.welshpoetry.co.uk

Long-sighted new work

Exit earth, enter storgy

Get creative for Cymru

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N OT E S F R O M T H E M A R G I N

e m o r d n sy Do you feel a fraud when you tell people you’re a writer? You’re not alone, says Lorraine Mace

I

have had six novels and several non-fiction books traditionally published, but still frequently doubt my ability to craft a sentence, never mind a 90,000word novel. I’m always amazed when the final product appears and I hold it, newly published, in my trembling mitts wondering: did I really write all those words?

There is a surreal sense of elation when a book is accepted, but as with so many authors, I am all too soon brought back down to earth by the fear that, gasp, maybe the publisher made a mistake. What if the editor realises that I am actually a fraud and the book is no good, but somehow I’ve managed to con her into thinking it is? Ridiculous, of course, but all too real at silly o’clock in the morning when the doubts are strongest.

I mention this because when I read Wendy Clarke’s blogpost about lacking the confidence to call herself an author, I empathised immediately. Wendy won the Flash 500 Novel competition last year, so had every reason to believe in her writing ability. When she later landed a two-book deal she should have been happy to shout to the rooftops: ‘I’m a writer!’ But that wasn’t how she felt when someone asked her what she did for a living.

‘I hesitated before answering,’ Wendy said, but bit the bullet and told the truth. ‘I’m an author.’ Then came the self-doubt and anguish. She was in the grip of Imposter Syndrome. ‘How could I dare call myself an author? What 98

JANUARY 2019

cheek! What pretence! How conceited!’

She waited for one of the usual responses so many of us get when we finally pluck up enough courage to declare we are authors: Will I have read anything you’ve written? What a lovely hobby. I’ve got a little book in my head too. I’ll write it someday. Is it another Fifty Shades? Who is your publisher? Not Penguin? I’ve only heard of Penguin.

Wendy was lucky, though. The woman answered: ‘That’s wonderful and so exciting for you. You must let me know when your book comes out. I couldn’t write a novel to save my life!’

For me, the response that most quickly activates my sense of Imposter Syndrome is when someone asks how much money I make, or makes the assumption I must be loaded. If only!

I asked around my writing friends to see if others feel the same and it appears they have all been confronted with the intrusive question at some point in their careers. However, they each deflect it in different ways.

Jan Ruth responds by saying her earnings keep her in horses. As she pointed out: ‘That’s vague enough to halt any more questions. I might own thoroughbreds or only go to riding school once a month. They never actually ask for more information.’

Jane Lovering’s version is to say it keeps her in shoes. For all anyone knows she could have a collection to rival that of Imelda Marcos.

Cathie Dunn asks: ‘Shall we compare earnings?’ Surprisingly, they are not

usually keen to reveal their own income levels. David Robinson comes at it from a slightly different angle: ‘You’re a surgeon, huh? Is that well paid?’

Sue Barnard was raised to believe that asking someone what they earn is the height of bad manners, but when necessary she’ll respond: ‘Considerably less than JK Rowling.’

Every once in a while Alan Hutcheson tries to explain royalty percentages, much to the confusion of non-author people. He says I can quote him if I use his pen name: Stephen King. Needless to say, Alan lives in his own unique dream world and is happy there!

Roland Denning once told a friend he had written a novel and was asked how much time he’d spent on it.

The man then carefully worked out what his earnings would have been if he’d spent that time on minimum wage. ‘That’s what you should ask for when you get a book deal,’ he said.

Roland had to explain it didn’t work like that.

Lesley Cookman has never been asked outright, but has had conversations with various groups of non-writing friends who she tells: ‘It’s better than shelf stacking in a supermarket.’

The best answer, though, and one I intend to use in the future, comes from JJ Marsh. ‘I earn practically nothing,’ she tells people. ‘I forage for nuts and wild garlic, but if the pugs bring home no rabbits we all go hungry. Please buy me another Prosecco.’

m o r f rts n r pe a Le e ex th

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How to Make the Most Out of Your Writing!

Being a writer can offer you a second income, extra spending money or it can even be a full-time career. It’s your choice. But whatever your writing ambitions, we have a course that will help you to achieve them.

What’s more, you do not need any previous writing experience to succeed on the course as it’s suitable for the absolute beginner.

earn back the equivalent of your fees by the time you finish your course we will refund them in full.

So, if you would like to learn how to earn from your writing, try our riskfree course. For a free prospectus visit our website or call our freephone number TODAY!

Throughout the course you will be tutored by a professional writer, who will offer constructive feedback on your twenty marked assignments.

That’s because our first-class homeIn addition, you can count on the study creative writing course contains www.writersbureau.com support of our dedicated Student all you need to know to become a 0800 856 2008 Services team who will do all they successful, published writer. You learn Quote EED18 can to ensure that you get the most how to write articles, short stories, out of your studies.

Why not embark on a exciting writing novels, TV, radio, drama and more. journey of your own? Enrol on The Writers When you enrol, your full course is You are shown how to develop your Bureau's Creative Writing course and you could be soon writing your own success story? sent to you on a fifteen day trial. writing style, present your Your studies are then flexible to your manuscripts, contact editors, find Course fees: £444 or markets and HOW TO SELL YOUR requirements. Moreover, we offer you £48 deposit + £18 p&p = £66 then £66 each month for the following six months. a full refund guarantee. If you do not WORK.

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“Due to the advance I received for Girl On The Line I have now been able to become a full time writer.

I also managed to find an agent to represent me for my work in progress – a crime novel. My Writers Bureau course is where it all started.”

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