The Weekly News
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Markets on November 15, 2010
Just a quick post to let you know that Jill Finlay at The Weekly News is no longer accepting short stories in hard copy format (i.e. in the post). She can now only accept submissions via email to the address jfinlay@dcthomson.co.uk.
For full guidelines about submissions to the Weekly News (and all the women’s magazines) have a look at the fantastic womag writer’s blog.
RNA New Writers’ Scheme
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Events, Writing on November 13, 2010
I’ve just come back from a meeting of the Birmingham Chapter of the Romantic Novelists’ Association. We get together every three months at the Edwardian Tea Rooms in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery for lunch and a chat 
about writing in general and romance writing in particular.
I joined the RNA at the beginning of 2010 through its New Writers Scheme, which provides unpublished authors with a comprehensive report on a full-length romance novel. The report covers characters, plot and the suitability of the novel for its intended audience. This scheme has a limit of 250 places and opens for applications at the beginning of January each year (but you do have until the end of August to submit your manuscript). The scheme is usually full within a month – so you have to be quick off the mark!
My novel came out of this very badly but nevertheless it was money well spent. The following points came out of the detailed critque:
- Aim at a readership that you can identify with – it’s hard to write to chick-lit for 20-somethings when you’re old enough to be their mother!
- Get to know your characters before you start writing – my heroine had many inconsistencies in the way she acted, leaving it difficult for the reader to care about her at all
- Work out the plot in detail, again before you start writing, mine had as many holes as a seive
- Only include scenes that move the story on otherwise the book becomes dull
Don’t submit to the New Writers’ Scheme if you’re afraid of criticism – parts of my report were quite brutal. Recognise the report you receive for what it is – an attempt to help you become a better writer and that can’t be done without honestly telling you if your novel is bad.
Of course not everyone’s work is as bad as mine! Anne, who I met at lunchtime, was given some useful advice about giving her 1950s heroine more oomph and she is now working to improve her book. About 5% of manuscripts submitted to the scheme are judged worthy of a second reading and may then get sent on to an agent.
If you decide to submit – Good Luck! and remember, contrary to popular belief romance writing is not easy.
Today’s writing prompt: Easter Egg (not very seasonable now but remember if you’re writing for publication, magazines work several months in advance).
Instant Writing
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Writing on November 9, 2010
Instant writing against the clock puts you on the spot and forces you to conquer the blank page. It’s a great way of warming up the imagination and getting the ideas to flow.
Last week at my writing group (Lichfield and District Writers) we did some instant writing based on a selection of objects brought in by one of our members (thanks Sylvia!). Then we shared our work. Few of us had a complete story but there were lots of promising beginnings plus some middles that could be moulded into publishable stories later. These were all pieces that would never have been written if we hadn’t been forced to pick an object and sit down to write for a specified amount of time.
If you’re struggling to put pen to paper or battling writers’ block then have a go at doing your own instant writing at home. Set yourself a time limit (try 15 minutes) and choose a subject such as:
- A photo in a magazine – use it to create a character study
- A postcard you’ve received – try to think up a story to suit this setting
- Put a selection of small household objects on a tray and choose one a day as the subject of a poem, short story, memoir or article
Once you’ve got the creative juices flowing you may well find yourself immersed in an idea and happy to continue past the end of your time limit to finish the piece. If it hasn’t worked for you this time, don’t worry – whatever you have managed to scribble is better than nothing and tomorrow is always another day and a new piece of instant writing.
To help you along (and maybe inspire me too!) I’m going to include an instant writing prompt at the end of each of my blog posts. You can use it to kick-start a piece of fiction or to inspire the poet within or even build an article around it.
The first instant writing prompt is:
An Alarm Clock
Iain McDowall
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Authors, Events on November 6, 2010
This week I went to listen to the crime writer, Iain McDowall, speak at my local library.
“Most writers hate writing,” he said.
Iain then went on to explain how we, as writers, have a vision in our head of the book that we want to get down on paper but very rarely succeed in recreating this perfect vision in words. Therefore many of us have a reluctance to actually start the writing process because of this near impossibility of getting things down on paper exactly as we want them.
I found it a great relief to know that I am not the only one who puts off working on my ideas because I’m scared that they’ll crumble into nothing when I start trying to put them into words.
Iain has been a full-time writer for several years, has published six crime novels and is now working on his seventh.
“Writing for a living is much harder than my previous jobs,” Iain explained. “It’s more stressful and uncertain. I don’t recommend it.”
Iain’s novels centre on the fictional town of Crowby, which is located somewhere in the Midlands. His detectives are Frank Jacobson and Ian Kerr. The crimes that these two men investigate are either real (with the details heavily disguised) or they are crimes that could conceivably happen. Iain doesn’t go in for manic cannibalistic serial killers because he wants his books to be about life as it is. He’d like to think that in years to come his work might offer a window on to the world as it was at the beginning of the 21st century.
Writing crime requires research and in his early days as an author Iain used a contact in the police force to get the information that he needed for his books. He still keeps up to date with new developments in forensic science etc. and much of this is now available on the internet. However, he stressed that very little of his research ends up in his books but it does give him the ability to write confidently.
“I don’t follow police procedure to the letter,” Iain went on. “If I did the book would be very boring because everything would take too long. Sometimes I make the procedure up.”
Iain gave some final words of advice for wannabe authors:
“You should always write for money and treat it like a proper job.”
Writers’ News
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Markets, Successes on November 5, 2010
Just a quick post to blow my own trumpet!
I have an article on page 32 of the December issue of Writers’ News. It’s about buying the perfect Christmas present for your writer friends. Pens and book tokens can get a bit boring year after year so I’ve tried to include some useful alternatives such as a shoebox of ideas (imagine the joy of just picking an idea from a box when writers’ block has struck!) or the gift of time (offer to mind a friend’s children for a couple of hours so that she can get stuck into her novel).
Unfortunately Writers News is only available on subscription with it’s sister publication, Writing Magazine, so I can’t tell you to rush out and buy it. But I do think a subscription would be money well spent (or the perfect Christmas present!) if you’re interested in advice on all aspects of writing and/or information on potential markets for your work.
Both publications also accept freelance articles – so contact the editor if you’ve got a writing related feature idea. It could be your mug shot gracing the magazines’ pages next!
The Daily Telegraph Ghost Story Competition
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions on November 3, 2010
Courtesy of Elvis Santana, U.S.
Finally got round to reading the Review section of Saturday’s Telegraph and came across this competition for a Ghost Story of 2,000 words or fewer
- Entries to be received by November 20th (not much time then!)
- Shortlist of 6 will be published on telegraph.co.uk on December 4th
- Winning story will be published in The Daily Telegraph on December 11th
- Winner will receive a unique specially bound copy of The Small Hand by Susan Hill, who is also one of the judges.
Full details are available here plus some useful tips on writing ghost stories.
Good Luck!
Self-Discipline for Writers
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Writing on November 3, 2010
Image via Wikipedia
’Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration,’ said the inventor, Thomas Edison.
This is also a perfect description of writing. Lots of people claim to have a great idea for a novel but how many of them actually sit down and put in the effort to bring that idea to fruition? Talking about the big idea is the easy, fun part but getting it down on paper requires discipline.
So I’m starting this blog to improve my writing self-discipline and increase my ‘literary’ output – give me a nudge if I’m not posting often enough!
Meanwhile, here are a few pointers for getting your bum on the chair and that blank page filled –
- Set yourself a goal and then break this ultimate aim down into manageable chunks – the smaller the chunks, the easier it will be to achieve them.
- Give each chunk a realistic deadline – taking into account any work and family commitments.
- Have a dedicated writing space – this might only be a corner of the dining-room but sitting down there should immediately put you in the right frame of mind for work.
- Delegate some of the household chores to free up extra time for writing.
- Avoid interruptions – tell the rest of the family that you will deal with their requests when your hour’s writing time is up.
- Disconnect your internet access or keep it as a treat for the end of your writing time.
- Always complete one task before starting another – there is nothing more disheartening than a string of half-finished short stories.
- Accept that you will have good and bad days – don’t beat yourself up about the latter just accept it and move on.
Remember, if you treat your writing seriously then your family and friends will respect it too and it will be easier to keep to your writing routine.
Sally Jenkins 