Crime Writing with Claire McGowan
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Authors, Events, Markets on October 14, 2012
I went to listen to Claire McGowan talk about crime writing as part of the 2012 Lichfield Literature Festival.
First of all she gave us 3 good reasons for choosing to write crime fiction:
- Crime accounts for 1/5 of all adult fiction sales
- In 2011 crime dominated the top 10 library loans
- Agents and editors are actively taking on new crime writers
Then she listed the essential elements of a crime novel:
- A good plot
- A gripping pace
- A satisfactory resolution
Suspense also forms an important part of a crime novel and the reader can be kept on tenterhooks in two ways:
- Wondering what has happened – for example, What dark secrets are the characters hiding? How did the victim meet his death when he was in a locked room?
- Wondering what is about to happen – for example, What will the killer do next? Will he be caught in time?
As well as the theory behind crime writing, Claire shared her own method of writing – which can be applied to any genre. She said it’s important to start with a one sentence ‘high-concept’ of what the book is about but it’s not necessary to plot every detail in advance nor to write long life histories for each character. Claire says she gets to know her characters as she goes along – a bit like getting to know someone in real life.
By writing 1,000 words a day for 3 months you can finish a first draft – and that first draft doesn’t have to be good! Claire repeated this last point several times. Once the first draft is complete, you can work on it and improve it. And Claire writes her first draft without research, to avoid getting side-tracked. She checks her facts later.
Doesn’t that make it sound easy?! So what are you waiting for…
Claire’s first book ‘The Fall’ is available here and her second book ‘The Lost’ will be published in April 2013.
Easy Reads – D.C. Thomson
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Markets, Successes on October 8, 2012
Many moons ago I started writing a My Weekly Pocket Novel. At that time they were 30,000 words and I thought that was an achievable target. When I was part way through, the required word count went up to 50,000 – so I adjusted my plot and carried on. I reached 50,000 words and the end of my story. Then I lost confidence in what I’d written and decided it was so bad that I couldn’t possibly send it out.
So it sat gathering virtual dust on my hard drive.
Then the news came from Maggie Seed that My Weekly Pocket Novels were being replaced by the new Easy Reads imprint and she needed manuscripts. I decided it was now or never. So I wrote a synopsis and polished up my first 3 chapters and, with nothing to lose, emailed Maggie.
A week later, I nearly fell off my chair when she replied and asked to see the rest of the manuscript. Unfortunately the rest of it was still in ‘first draft’ stage. So I’m now busy editing and trying to knock it into a coherent shape.
Of course, there’s still a high probability that the whole thing will be rejected so I’m not sitting here with rosy coloured specs on planning my launch party. But it’s nice to know that the basic idea, outlined in the synopsis, was not total rubbish!
So if you’ve got something languishing in a bottom drawer – why not get it out and search for a market? If you don’t submit then you’ll never get published. But if you do submit…who knows what might happen!
For more information on Easy Reads have a look on womagwriter’s blog.
Appeal for Short Stories
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Markets, Short Story on October 3, 2012
Update 24/4/2014 – Unfortunately ‘A Quick Read’ will be closing soon and therefore no more stories are required.
Original Post:
Sharon Boothroyd has been in touch to tell me about a short story app, A Quick Read, that she and her husband, Keith, are developing – and they need your stories. Here’s what Sharon had to say about it:
Would you like to see your stories published on an Android phone app?
My husband and I are launching a new project soon – a FREE short story app called A Quick Read.
The good news is, we’re not charging any writer to upload the stories on the app.
The bad news is, we cannot pay writers a fee, as we’re starting the project as a hobby. However, if we mange to secure funding, we will be able to pay you.
I’ll be sending out lots of press releases to raise publicity.
The categories for fiction are:
Crime
Mystery
Paranormal
Twist in tale
Heart-warming
The word count we require is 500 -1,000 words.
No swearing, no excessive violence, and no erotica, please.
Also, we require a brief outline (one or two lines) about your story.
Go to www.aquickread.net to view our website.
‘Terms and conditions for writers’ can be found under ‘Information’ on the drop down menu.
It would be best if you sent us unpublished work. All writers retain copyright.
You can also see how the app works on the website.
Please e-mail your stories to me, Sharon at: keith.boothroyd@gmail.com.
Many thanks.
PS If you have a website or blog address, we can place this at the bottom of your story on the app.
I’ve sent in a couple of my own stories that weren’t quite right for the womags and not long enough for most competitions.
So if you’ve got something short and sweet that you don’t want to leave gathering dust, why not give it a try?
Sharon also runs Fiction Addiction, an online writers’ circle for those interested in writing for women’s magazines. She writes under the name S. Bee and one of her stories is critiqued in Sue Moorcroft’s Fiction Workshop in this month’s Writers’ Forum magazine.
Letters and Libraries
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Non-fiction, Writing on September 25, 2012
After a pep talk with Helen, my writing buddy, I’ve set myself some writing targets to get me through to the end of the year.
English: David Wilson Library, University of Leicester (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
One of them is to write a letter a week for publication in a magazine. There are several benefits to this:
- The satisfaction of something quickly written and submitted
- Lots of potential markets – so hopefully the possibility of success
- I will need to scan the magazines available in the newsagent and might spot new markets for other types of writing
I told Peter Hinchcliffe, editor of Open Writing, about my new goal and he suggested a further benefit of letter writing. Many years ago, as a young man, he was trying to break into journalism and started writing letters to his local newspaper every week, with a good ‘hit’ rate. Then he wrote and asked to join them for work experience – the editor recognised Peter’s name from the letters and he was taken on. A successful career in newspapers followed.
I don’t expect to land a job on a glossy magazine through the letters page – but occasionally letters can get followed up…
At the weekend I went with my daughter to Leicester University – she’ll be sending in her UCAS application for a Zoology degree in a few weeks time. Whilst we were there we went round the David Wilson Library (pictured). It is a wonderful, light, airy building, opened in 2008 by the Queen. At the time students waxed lyrical about their new library’s toilets. One was quoted in the Independent as saying, “If these toilets were a bird, they would be an eagle as they soar above the rest of the competition.” The toilets were nice – but not that outstanding! Although if I was living in grotty student house, I might think differently…
So it seems that whilst our public libraries are cutting opening hours or shutting down altogether, university libraries are thriving. Let’s hope that these wonderful facilities make young adults value the benefit of libraries so that as they start work and settle down, they might join in the campaigning to save and improve our public library system.
Finally, am I going mad or do the current and previous edition of Writers’ Forum magazine both say ‘October’ on them?
Genre Jumping
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Books, Writing on September 19, 2012
I’ve been getting out of my literary rut recently – by trying Sci-Fi.
I am attempting to enter each of the Monthly Writers’ News competitions. The September brief was for a science fiction story so, although I’m not exactly sure what constitutes sci-fi, I had a go. Creating a whole new futuristic world seemed too much like hard work, so I set the story in the present day with ordinary characters but included a new piece of technology which did a little more than it said in the instruction book. The result caused my main character a problem and so the story developed. This may or may not be classed as science fiction – but at least I had a go!
By coincidence, I also received a science fiction book to review from Waterstone’s this month – Great North Road by Peter F. Hamilton. It was billed as a futuristic crime story and I love crime so that was why I entered my name in the prize draw for a chance to review the book. But I got more than I bargained for – it is a HUGE tome, 1087 pages long. It involves a murder, clones, space travel and hi-tech police procedures but at the end of the day it’s still the characters that drive the story. I liked Detective Sidney Hurst, who is the main policeman and there’s another intriguing personality in Angela Tramelo. She only ages 1 year for every 10 years of her age and was locked away 20 years earlier for a similar crime. But she has always protested her innocence and swears that the original killing was an alien attack…
This venture into Sci-Fi was accidental and it hasn’t converted me to the genre but it has taught me a few things:
- It’s refreshing to try something different
- The elements that make up a good story are the same, whatever the genre. The setting/time-period/pre-occupations of the characters may differ but if you make the reader care about the protagonists then it is a good tale
- Moving out of one’s comfort zone (in real life as well as writing) may not be appealing but once you’ve done it, it creates a feeling of confidence in your own abilities.
Finally, if you are a Waterstone’s loyalty card holder and want the chance to review books, click here to see what’s on offer.
Is Your Life Story Worth £10,000?
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Non-fiction on September 13, 2012
Woman and Home magazine are running a ‘Life Story’ writing competition. They say:
“If your life has ever felt like it could be a novel, then we want to hear from you….perhaps you grew up in unusual circumstances…or maybe your job threw you into extraordinary situations…this is your chance to share your personal journey.”
First prize is an advance of £10,000 and publication by Hodder and Stoughton. There are also 3 Kindles and an introduction to a literary agent for the runners-up.
Send a full synopsis of your life story in a maximum of 1,500 words plus 2 sample chapters of 10,000 words maximum.
Your entry must be accompanied by an entry form, which is available in the October issue of the magazine (in the shops now!). I can’t find the entry form or details of the competition on-line, so you’re going to have to buy Woman and Home in order to enter. There’s also some tips in there about how to go about writing your memoirs.
Closing date is 31st October 2012.
Vivien Hampshire on e-publishing and Losing Lucy
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Authors, Books, Self-publishing on September 9, 2012
Like me, many of you may recognise Vivien Hampshire’s name from her monthly column, ‘Book Deal or Bust’, which appeared a few years back in Writers’ Forum magazine. As Vivien wrote and edited her novel, ‘Losing Lucy’, she shared her experiences with the magazine’s readers.
‘Losing Lucy’ is about the abduction of a baby and the impact this loss has on the adults in the baby’s life. Vivien tackles this difficult subject well and the story takes an unexpected turn towards the end (you’ll have to read it to find out what happens!).
The novel is now available on Kindle via Amazon.
I asked Vivien about the process of publishing her book in this way:
Without the backing of a traditional publisher and editor, how did you know when your work was good enough to be published?
The suggestions, advice and encouragement I received from the readers of Writers’ Forum (largely struggling authors themselves) were wonderfully helpful! The manuscript also received a full critique from the Hilary Johnson Authors Advisory Service, whose positive comments gave me added faith in my book and the confidence to carry on, even when traditional agents and publishers kept turning me down. As for self-editing, I have been writing magazine fiction, teaching creative writing, and producing a small magazine as part of my ‘day job’ for years, so I have a good feel for what looks and feels right. Having said that, I did re-read my manuscript many, many times to eliminate even the tiniest errors!
How did you decide between uploading the book onto Kindle yourself and using a paid for service?
I am not the most technical person, and felt that the e-book uploading process, although relatively straightforward, might just be beyond me! I paid a modest fee (less than £100) to a company called New Age Publishers who really held my hand throughout the whole process, reformatted my Word document so the layout of the book was right for Kindle, made sure my royalties went to the right place, and gave me the opportunity to check and make changes for up to three months after the book went ‘live’. They did a grand job, well worth the fee.
How important do you think the cover is for a digital book?
Ebooks without covers look very unappealing, and I certainly wouldn’t look twice at one, let alone buy one. As professional artists can be costly, I took my cover photo myself, and New Age tweaked the wording for me. The cover is not perfect but it serves its purpose. (See Vivien’s cover here).
What are the pricing considerations on Amazon?
Very fair to the author – but then, there are no paper or storage costs, so Amazon’s cut is actually quite easy money! By pricing at around the £2 mark, my readers can buy the novel much cheaper than the average paperback, and I get 70% of the sale price. Royalties drop to only 35% if the price is set at less than £1.49, so I may think about lowering the price some time later if sales start to flag.
How did you go about marketing ‘Losing Lucy’?
Marketing is by far the hardest part, and that’s where the absence of a big publisher’s budget really tells. I used my own blog, writers’ groups and Facebook to publicise the book. Talks and book signings are difficult, if not impossible, without a physical pile of books to sign. I recently took advantage of Kindle’s 5 day promotion offer, and more than 800 free copies were downloaded – no royalties for me, but at least the book is being read, talked about and reviewed, which should help future sales.
Many thanks to Vivien for sharing her experience. E-publishing has made it so much easier for writers to self-publish and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t all be doing it – as long as we are absolutely sure that what we are about to release on the world has been edited to within an inch of its life and is absolutely the best it can be!
And don’t forget the possibilities for non-fiction – Vivien has also written ‘How to Crack Cryptic Crosswords’ which has recently been published by How To Books Ltd.
Sonnet or Not Competition 2012
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Poetry on September 4, 2012
Cannon Poets are once again running their ‘Sonnet or Not’ competition. You are invited to enter poems of 14 lines in length. The poem can be in a traditional sonnet form or you can experiment with alternative 14 line forms such as half rhyme or blank verse.
First prize is £300, second prize £150 and third prize £100. Entry is £4.00 for the first poem and £2.50 for each additional poem – there is no limit to the number of poems you can enter.
The judge is Julie Boden, who is currently Poet in Residence at Symphony Hall, Birmingham.
Closing date is 31 October 2012. Full details, including a downloadable entry form, are here.
Or, if you prefer flash fiction to poetry, pop over to Helen Yendall’s blog and read all about the free competition that she’s running.
Related articles
- How To Write A Sonnet (mademan.com)
Just when you thought it was all over…
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Non-writing, Writing on August 29, 2012
… the Olympians are back!
I thought that all those brilliant Olympic medal winners would be taking a well-earned rest. Perhaps sunning themselves somewhere or at least putting their feet up and indulging in a takeaway pizza and a large piece of chocolate fudge cake. But it appears there is no rest for the elite and a handful of our heroes were back in competition on Sunday at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium as part of the Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix. And I was there to see them!
Long jump gold medallist, Greg Rutherford, high jump bronze medallist, Robbie Grabarz and 400m silver medallist, Christine Ohuruogu were all competing, along with several other London 2012 medallists from other countries. But the highlight was watching Mo Farah win the 2 mile event with a fantastic sprint finish! The stadium went wild.
So these high-achievers don’t sit back and rest on their laurels after a success and they don’t give up when they fail either. Do you?
When an editor accepts a story or you get placed in a competition – what do you do? Spend days telling everyone about it or just get back to your desk and write something else?
When the rejections come in do you throw in the towel and decide to write nothing more that week? Or do you get back to your desk and write something else?
As writers we have to be like athletes – constantly training the parts of our body that make us produce of our best. So whatever life throws at you, good or bad, get back to your desk and write something! The more you use that writing muscle the better it will become.
Lecture over. I’ll now attempt to take a piece of my own advice … and go do some writing!
Sally Jenkins 