Writing Serials for Women’s Magazines (Episode 2)
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Events, Resources, Writing on April 18, 2011
More tips picked up at Joanna Barnden’s highly informative course on writing serials for women’s magazines:
Each episode of a serial needs a cliffhanger to make the reader buy the next edition of the magazine. The cliffhanger has to leave the reader wondering about what has just happened or desperate to find out what is going to happen next. It should open up the story for lots of possibilities in the next episode rather than answering any questions or tying up any loose ends.
Try to do this by revealing something that suddenly changes the reader’s assumptions about the story line, such as a dead body, a person who is not what he seemed or dropping in a face from the past. Alternatively leave your character in a perilous situation, for example in charge of a runaway horse or at the mercy of a gun man in a post office hold-up.
I mentioned in my previous post that it is the opening episode plus further episode by episode summaries that sell a serial to an editor. Joanna referred to this first episode as the ‘pilot’ that really has to ‘wow’ a very critical audience. This episode should try to include all your main characters. There are 2 obvious ways of doing this:
- Have everyone get together at a big important event such as a party, funeral or on a coach journey. Show how they react to each other and the event they are attending.
- Have a crisis (such as a road accident, outbreak of war) and show how the different characters react to it.
Following on from this, the episode summaries need to be concise and easy to read. Around 500 words per episode is sufficient. Also include a cast list with your submission listing a very brief sentence about each character. Finally, write a short summary of the whole story. This should be similar to the blurb found on a novel or DVD.
Three magazines currently use serials:
- People’s Friend – around 10 episodes with a total word count of 60,000
- Women’s Weekly – serials of either 3 or 4 parts of 3800 words each, they want ‘serials that reflect life but in a way that is utterly compelling’
- My Weekly – they don’t always run one but prefer 3 episodes of 2,500 words each
Once a magazine has accepted the first episode and summaries you will usually be asked to submit each episode in turn to the editor. She may request changes to get things just right before you move on to write the next episode. There is no need to write the whole serial ‘on spec’.
So there you have it – serial writing in a nutshell!
Writing Serials for Women’s Magazines (Episode 1)
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Events, Resources, Writing on April 14, 2011
Last week I enjoyed an immensely informative day in Derby taking part in Joanna Barnden’s course on writing serials
for women’s magazines. Joanna’s aim was for all of us to go home with a cast of characters and a basic outline for a serial that we could further develop ourselves. I thought it was a tall order but she succeeded!
There were 7 of us around the table (the picture shows us half way through a home-cooked lunch and waiting for pudding!) and as the day progressed so did our serials. From nowhere we produced story settings ranging from a Greek island, a solicitor’s office and a belfry. An equally disparate list of characters came to life and then we had to work on the bit I found really hard – a main plot plus a couple of sub plots…
Later it was down to planning that crucial first episode which has to grip the reader and make her buy the magazine again next week. But, most importantly, along with an episode by episode summary, it also has to sell the whole serial to the editor.
As we went through the day Joanna gave us a few rules to work with:
- Have lots of characters – all with their own problems. These people should be part of a linked group – perhaps they work together, belong to the same sports club or live around the same village green.
- The timeframe can be as long as you like
- Keep to a linear story
- Use several settings – think how often the camera moves to a different view in a TV drama
- Tease the reader by revealing things gradually
- Each episode needs to be satisfying read in itself – this is so that readers who have bought the magazine for the first time can still enjoy the story.
Most of these ‘rules’ are the exact opposite of short story writing where only a few characters play out the story in one setting within a tight time frame – so as someone who loves writing very short ‘coffee break’ fiction, this went totally against the grain for me.
One of the most important elements of a serial is the cliffhanger – and just to keep you on tenterhooks I’m going to save that plus how to submit your story to an editor for the next post !
In the meantime if you want to find out more about Joanna, her courses or her reasonably priced critiques – her website is here.
Some Good News
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Markets, Successes on April 11, 2011
Image by Goxxy via Flickr
Acceptances seem like buses – you go for ages without any and then several come along at once.
Over the last few months I’ve been submitting stuff into a big black hole with every editor ignoring me. However, patience and perseverance has paid off and in the last couple of weeks I’ve had a handful of positive responses. So I’m feeling good!
Articles have been easier to place than fiction (not surprising when you think how many more markets there are for features compared to short stories) and the turnaround is quicker too.
These are the publications that have recently accepted my work – they’re wide open to all writers so why not give them a go?
- The Weekly News – I have a short story in the April 9th issue (in the shops now!) and have previously posted here about writing for them.
- Writers Forum
- Freelance Market News – this is available on subscription only and comes from the Writers’ Bureau stable
- Work Your Way – this is a brand new magazine aimed at entrepreneurial mums (incidentally I found this market through a lead in Writing Magazine).
The Kindle Debate
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Books on April 7, 2011
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Are you a fan of the Kindle and similar e-book readers or do you like to turn real pages and enjoy the smell of a new book?
According to a Telegraph article, Mills and Boon readers are leading the way as buyers of e-books, possibly to avoid the ’embarrassment factor’ of being seen reading them in public (personally I think there’s nothing wrong with reading M&B but I suppose if you’re a big butch male then you might not want to own up to your secret pleasure!). One of the best-selling romantic downloads on Amazon is the M&B The Temp and the Tycoon by Liz Fielding.
Sales of e-book readers amongst romance fans have been so great that Sony has designed a pink version of its reader complete with M&B logo (not one to buy if you prefer to hide your reading preferences!).
Philip Stone, charts editor at the Bookseller, said “Mills and Boon are probably the publisher feeling the biggest benefit from e-books. They were first out of the traps to take advantage of them.”
Whatever our current feelings about e-readers versus ‘real’ books I think we will see increasing numbers of people using them on buses trains etc. I started off very anti e-readers but am now beginning to find the thought of having all my books in one little device instead of piled around the house rather attractive.
This does mean that, as authors, we can no longer look forward to that thrill of spotting someone reading a book in public that we have written. But on the upside, e-books make self-publishing a lot easier. Have a look at Carol Bevitt’s blog for some useful information from freelance writer Deborah Durbin about Kindle Direct publishing.
So, on balance I think we should welcome this new technology. For many of us there will be a long cross-over period when we read both physical books (I, for one, a have a huge backlog to get through) and at the same time get to grips with the new technologies of e-readers (great for holidays and travelling).
Let me know what you think.
Short Story Critiques
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Resources on April 4, 2011
A couple of weeks ago a follower of this blog contacted me for advice on obtaining a critique for a short story she was working on. Understandably, she didn’t want to pay a fortune and nor she did she want to risk the story being hijacked by someone else.
For a short piece of work like this the critiques offered by competitions are reasonably priced. These include:
- Writer’ Forum – a monthly competition with an open theme and maximum word length of 3,000. The critique is an extra £5 on top of the entry fee. I’ve used this service once and received a one page report covering: Presentation, Title, Opening, Dialogue, Characterisation, Overall. It pointed out my overuse of clichés, incorrect use of the word ‘indiscrete’, problems with characterisation and the fact that the ending was too ‘sudden’. So for £5 I had a lot to work on to improve the story before it went off to another competition.
- Meridian Writing run quarterly competitions and offer a basic critique for an extra £3. This is usually an A4 page in length. They are also offering critiques for noncompetition entries with the fee varying on whether a basic or detailed report is required and the length of the story.
- Flash 500 Competition is another quarterly open themed competition but the word limit is 500. The optional critique is £10. These competitions are run by Lorraine Mace and she also offers critiques on non-competition pieces (any length and including articles and non-fiction books), see here for more details.
A subscription to Freelance Market News includes a free critique on 3,000 words of prose or 120 lines of poetry. It costs £29 for 11 issues and includes free monthly writing competitions plus 20% off entry to The Writers’ Bureau Short Story and Poetry Competition.
Does anyone else know of a critiquing service that is good value?
Character Names
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Resources, Writing on March 31, 2011
Wouldn’t it be great to have an ‘age appropriate’ list of character names to choose from?
The pool of names at my disposal is quite limited. If the heroine is about my age then I run through the names of the girls that I was at school with – this means that you’ll often find a Karen, Alison (we had 4 of those) or Tracy starring in my tales about women in the prime of their life (!). When I am writing about a teenager then I pick the name of one of my daughters’ friends and Holly, Amy or Megan will take centre stage. My mum’s contemporaries come in useful when I’m writing about the older woman and the names that I’ve grown up with are Shirley, Audrey and Dorothy.
Anything in between these generations and I just have to guess or try to think of someone I know of the appropriate age.
Men’s names are much harder because I went to a girls’ school, had no brothers and I have no sons. I work mostly with men but their average age is just over 40 so choosing names for young men can cause me a problem.
If I were to set a story 100 years ago it would be much tougher still to work out an age appropriate name for my cast of characters.
However, Katey Nixon has solved this problem for me. She has produced a resource for writers comprising the most popular names for both sexes over the last 100 years. So whether you want to invent a cast of characters for a story set in war-torn London in the 1940s, or a tale of saucy goings on in the 1960s or even about a baby born as the world entered the new millennium, there should be something suitably inspiring to bring your story to life.
Specifically, Katey’s spreadsheet contains the top 100 girls and boys names for ten-year intervals from 1904 to 1994, and every year from 1994 to 2008. Plus there are Irish and Scottish names over the last century and this. The character’s age as of 2010 is preprogrammed into the spreadsheet. But it has a facility whereby you can enter the date your book or short story is set and it will recalculate.
But the best thing about this list of names is that it raises money for the charity Hamlin Fistula UK, which supports the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – a hospital caring for women with horrendous injuries sustained in childbirth.
You can get hold of Katey’s fabulous resource by donating just £2 by clicking here. After you’ve donated you’ll receive a link enabling you to download the spreadsheet and get inspired by all those names just crying out to be brought to life!
Life Coaching for Writers
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Resources on March 28, 2011
Last week I had a telephone life coaching session. This was something completely new to me and I had no idea what to expect.
Suzanne, my coach, phoned at the appointed time and the first thing she advised was to go and fetch a glass of water – I would be doing a lot of talking over the next 50 minutes.
Life coaching is a way of asking questions to make the client see things from a different perspective and thus find solutions to the obstacles in their life. It is not some new pseudo-science that has been recently invented. Successful people have always had this ability to look at problems from a different angle and then set manageable goals to be achieved within a realistic timescale. Life coaches takes these skills and use them to help clients see a way forward towards what may have seemed an unachievable goal.
I told Suzanne that my goal was to finish my My Weekly Pocket Novel. At present I was only working on it once a week and therefore had lost momentum each time I came back to it. I am easily distracted into writing shorter stories for competitions and magazines – because I like the feeling of achievement that comes from having finished a piece of writing.
Suzanne asked me to imagine how I would feel when the Novel was finished (proud of my achievement plus an increase in confidence for future writing projects) and also how I would feel if I didn’t complete it (a failure plus a feeling that I could only manage shorter pieces).
She then got me to talk about the obstacles to completing the Novel and to think about ways in which they might be overcome. With Suzanne’s help, I created a plan for moving forward, with Easter as my first milestone:
- Print the Novel so far
- Read and make notes on each chapter (a sort of reverse planning)
- Plan out each as yet unwritten chapter (by Easter)
- Write the unwritten chapters according to the plan
This may not seem like rocket science but it is a step forward for someone like me who finds it hard to plan (because there’s no satisfaction of watching the word count increase and I find it difficult to see my characters until I actually write scenes with them in) and prefers writing in discrete chunks (hence my love of shorter pieces). Once the plan is in place I will be able to write my chapters in discrete chunks and will be less likely to ‘lose the thread’.
At the end of the session Suzanne pointed out that I had found the way round my own obstacles – she had merely asked questions to direct my thoughts. The advice about the water was good too – my mouth was getting dry towards the end of the session!
So now I’m feeling a little nervous but excited too about achieving the goals I’ve set myself.
Suzanne is a member of the Birmingham Chapter of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and has recently qualified as a life coach. She would like to specialise in coaching writers and other creative types and is currently offering free telephone coaching sessions in order to practise her skills and build up her experience. If you would like a coaching session with Suzanne please contact me via the form on my ‘About Sally Jenkins’ page (accessed via the tab on the top left of this page) and I will pass your details on to her.
Olympic Storytellers Wanted
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Events, Markets on March 24, 2011
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BT is searching for people to become the storytellers of the London 2012 Olympic Games. During the 12 months leading up to the Games those chosen will capture and record what London 2012 means to them and the wider British public. Applicants may have a direct connection with the Games or simply be an enthusiastic observer.
They are looking for bloggers, social networkers, creative writers, poets, film-makers, photographers, musicians, journalists, artists etc etc – in fact anyone with a creative leaning and an interest in recording the build-up to and the events of both the Olympic Games and the Paralympics. Your creative output might focus on a personal experience or something in your locality or the national build-up.
I should say at this point that there is no mention of any payment. However, the announcement does say that there will be:
“the chance for our storytellers to experience the excitement that’s already building around London 2012. You’ll be able to attend sporting and cultural events, and meet some of the people who are directly involved, from athletes to celebrities. In addition, BT will be aiming to showcase some of your work online and even in the media.”
I don’t know exactly what this means but it sounds to me like a great way of getting involved in a once in a lifetime event and I’ve already got my application in.
Apply on-line here. There is a very simple form to complete but you do have to state in 100 words why you would like to be considered as a storyteller. Those chosen will be informed by the 26th July 2011.
Fiction Addiction – An Online Womag Writers’ Circle
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Resources, Writing on March 21, 2011
Fiction Addiction is an online writing circle for Womag (women’s magazine fiction) writers. It was founded in January 2011 by Sharon Boothroyd because she (like the rest of us!) was fed up of getting rejections but not knowing where she was going wrong.
Since Fiction Addiction was mentioned on womagwriter’s blog, Sharon has received loads of emails and the writing circle is growing.
The circle has no strict rules to follow. Members send their work out for feedback whenever they wish. All stories and feedback are sent on a ’round robin’ basis so that everyone can read everything and no-one is left out. However, if individual members want to then start corresponding separately then that is OK too. Most of the stories submitted so far have been under 2,000 words but Sharon thinks that 6,000 would be the absolute limit. Serials and My Weekly/People’s Friend pocket novels are also welcome and can be sent out for feedback chapter by chapter or part by part.
The members of Fiction Addiction are asked to abide by certain guidelines to ensure that criticism is given in a constructive away and that email addresses are kept confidential. There is no need to fear having a story ‘stolen’ by someone else in the group – the ’round robin’ method of communication means that everyone else will know where a particular story originated from.
Membership of the Fiction Addiction writers’ circle is free and Sharon runs it as a hobby not a money-making enterprise. Some members of the group have already been published professionally and others are just starting out but they are all feeling the benefit of being part of a group rather than floundering alone. Here are some of their comments:
“Thank you all for the warm welcomes I have received already! It really is an active group and I am so excited about being part of it.”
“I love sitting down with a coffee to read a good story and it’s also really interesting to read everyone’s comments.” “Congrats to you for setting this all up, I think its going to be a real bonus for everyone involved and it feels great to be a part of something.”
I write women’s magazine fiction and find the feedback that I get from Helen, my writing buddy, invaluable. So I would urge anyone who would like someone else to cast an eye over their work (and who is willing to do the same for other people) to have a look at the Fiction Addiction website for more details.
Emerald Writing Workshops – Flash Fiction Competitions
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Successes, Writing on March 17, 2011
It was my birthday on Sunday and the day was made even more special by receiving an email from Eddie Walsh of Emerald Writing Workshops to let me know that I was a runner-up in his Airport themed 500 word short story competition. A book of crime short stories is on its way to me – an unexpected ‘extra’ birthday present!
The winner was Tracy Fells from West Sussex. Her story was set around the baggage reclaim carousel and you can read it here. Congratulations Tracy!
Eddie Walsh is an Irishman living in Nottingham. He mainly writes fillers and letters but has recently become interested in fiction writing. In his competitions he is aiming to encourage the hobby writer and believes even getting on a shortlist stops a writer from giving up. He provides critiques of entries whenever he can, as writers rarely receive independent feedback.
Eddie runs a 500 word story competition every three months with a £75 prize fund for each one (£50 first prize, £15 second prize, £10 third prize plus books for 3 runners-up). There are 3 competitions currently open to submissions:
- First 500 words of a novel – closes May 31 2011
- 500 words on an open theme – closes August 31 2011
- 500 word ‘Riches to Rags’ story – closes November 30 2011
The entry fee is 5 second class stamps (or a cheque to that value). There are discounts for multiple entries into the same competition. Entries are acknowledged on receipt and periodically the site is updated with the number of stories received for each of the competitions.
Eddie is also currently running a 4-sentence competition which is free to enter and has a £75 prize fund to be divided equally between the 3 best entries. However, entries will only be accepted from people who have previously entered one of the 500 word competitions.
So if you’re looking for a competition with a friendly feel try Emerald Writing Workshops . And remember that the cost of second class stamps will be going up in April, so buy them now to use for your entry fee or if you intend paying by cheque, get your entries in before the price increase takes effect.
Sally Jenkins 