Category Archives: Writing

September 20, 2011

I read the news today

By suehealy

Take the plunge; go fishing for ideas

Leonardo di Vinci used to stare at the walls in his studio until the damp patches formed scenes and figures he wanted to paint. If you look closely at some of his works, you can see how those dark stains suggested the rock formations he conjured. Leonardo’s wall staring is an illustration of how easy it is to get creative ideas. In fact, in my opinion, you don’t so much ‘get’ ideas as you eek them out from within. A headline, for example, will just awaken a story you’ve always wanted to tell. I see stories as akin to fish swimming inside us, we just need a hook to get a good catch.

Hopefully, you don’t have damp patches around your writer’s garret. You may have yesterday’s newspaper, however. I worked as a journalist for many years and love newspapers and appreciate them as a source of ideas and stories for the creative writer. For starters, you could just take an existing story and change the setting/gender etc… to make it your own. Ideas will come to you as you work on it.

Alternatively, you could apply the ‘what if’ question. The ‘what if’ question prompts you to consider alternative endings. A good example of this question is Stephen Fry’s Making History, in which he explores a world where Hitler was killed in WWI but an even more dastardly figure comes to prominence, and wins.

The small ads section can spur the imagination. Hemmingway once said his best work was one he wrote in six words: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn”. It’s clever as there is clearly a heavy back story here but Hemmingway, being Papa, does not spell it out. My point is that you could operate in reverse, search the small ads and then write its back story. Think of the tale behind a novel that ends with that small ad.

Then there are photos. Ignore the captions/related stories. Look at the photos and guess what is going on. Develop an identity for someone in the background of a picture. Give them a problem. Imagine how they are being affected by the main event in the photo. The key is to go for the more obscure shots. Obviously, if it’s a picture of 9/11, the chances are you’re not going to come up with anything too original but if it’s a picture of a man biting a dog, you may be on to something.

Your stories are within, take the plunge and go fishing.

10 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Uncategorized, Writing

September 19, 2011

Competitions with an autumn closing date

By suehealy

Go for gold

September Unpublished Fiction Authors Print Ready Competition
Closing date: 30th September 2011

Entry fee: None.
Theme – Crime.
Website. creativeprintpublishing.com/publishing/

Capri-sun Perfect Day Competition
Closing date: 30th September 2011
Prizes: “Your Perfect Day” up to £5,000; 17 x £80 gig tickets; 1,000 x £15 iTunes vouchers.
Entry fee: None. Type in your entry online. capri-sun.co.uk/perfectday

The Aeon Award 2011 Short Fiction Contest
Closing date: September 30th
Prizes: €1000 and publication in Albedo One.

Entry fee: €7 per entry.
albedo1.com/

The Ashram Award

Prizes: £1,000

Closing date: 30 September 2010

http://www.ashamaward.com/

2011 Spilling Ink Fiction Prize
Closing date: 1st October, 2011.
Prizes: £500, £250, £125,
Entry fee: £5. There is no theme. All styles (including experimental) and genre-based fiction (mystery, crime, fantasy, science fiction, historical) are welcome. Stories up to 3,000 words. spillinginkreview.com/competitions/

Write A Story For Bedtime Competition
Closing date: 28th October 2011.
Prizes: 1st: £500, 2nd: £300, 2 x 3rd: £100 each.
Entry fee: Free and is open to UK residents only, over the age of 18.
Entries should be in English with a minimum length of 1500 words; maximum 3000 words. avogel.co.uk/story/

Atlantis Annual Short Story Contest
Closing date: October 31, 2011
Prizes: $300, $100 $50

Entry fee: $10.
Maximum 1,500 words. Contact e-mail: inquiry@atlantis-shortstorycontest.com
atlantis-shortstorycontest.com/

Southport Writers’ Circle Annual Open Short Story Competition 2011
Closing date: 31st October 2011
Prizes: £200, £100, £50
Entry fee: £3.00 for each story, or £10 for 4.

Unpublished, original story on any theme of up to 2000 words.
Send a cover sheet for each entry with the story’s title, word count, your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address for results. Send entries to: Short Story Competition, Southport Writers’ Circle, Flat 3, 35 Saunders Street, Southport, Merseyside, PR9 0JH

Earlyworks Press Short Story Competition
Closing date: 31st October 2011
Prizes: £100.
Entry fee: £5 up to 4000 words. 4000 to 8000 words, £10. Max 8000 words.
earlyworkspress.co.uk/Competitions

NAWG Open Short Story Competition

Closing date: 31st October 2011

Prize: £250

http://www.nawg.co.uk/

Inktears Short Story Competition 2011
Closing date: 30 November 2011.
Prizes:  £1,000, £100, £25

Entry fee: £4.50.
Length:1000-3000 words, any theme.
 inktears.com for full details.

The New Writer Prose and Poetry Competition – Fiction
Closing Date: 30th November 2011
Prizes: £300, £200, £100.
Entry fees: £5 per short story;

thenewwriter.com/

The Fish Short Story Competition

Closing date: 30th November 2011

Prize: €3,000

http://www.fishpublishing.com/short-story-competition-contest.php

HE Bates Short Story Competition

Closing date: December 1st, 2011

Prizes: £150

Entry fee: £4

http://www.hebatescompetition.org.uk/

Here’s an interesting one for those of you of the heaving bosoms and chiseled chins bent…

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/sep/15/my-romance-mills-and-boon

And on the other side of the moon… for those of you with an ISBN:

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/public/article703128.ece

GOOD LUCK!

8 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Uncategorized, Writing

September 18, 2011

Feeling Rejected?

By suehealy

Thank you so much, all of you lovely people who sent warm wishes regarding my short-listing. I ran a half marathon once and remember being carried forward by the cheering of the crowd and your comments yesterday were a reminder of that support. Muchísimas gracias, merci bien, nagyon szépen köszönöm, go raibh míle maith agaibh!

Posting this “success” also made me feel a bit of a fraud. Don’t worry, the short listing is genuine, I’m referring instead to the number of rejections/disappointments/ non-runs/PFOs I receive and never post because, well, one doesn’t make a big deal out of “failure”. A writer’s lot is pickled with rejection however, and learning how to handle it is one of the most important (and difficult) lessons a novice writer faces. Therefore, I thought it might be an idea to look at dealing with letters that begin: “The standard this year was very high and unfortunately…”

I when I was 22, I wrote seven short stories. They were bad, really pretentious, crammed with adjectives and adverbs and there was no theme or character development or point to any of them at all but I thought they were pure genius. I sent them off to every magazine I could find in the bookstore. And waited. And waited. And waited… until I became convinced that they had all been lost in the post. It was the only explanation, surely, as any editor would recognize my genius immediately, no?

A couple of months later, I received a single rejection letter. And the truth dawned. No one else even bothered replying. It was 100% rejection. I was floored. I burned the stories I was working on and I didn’t send anything else off for another ten years. That was very stupid of me. I should have brushed myself off and tried again. I would be in a much better position and be a better writer now if I had. But I wasn’t strong or intelligent enough to know that then. Ah, well.

During my first year on my MA at UEA, I sent out another batch of stories. I’d had a few shorts published at this stage and was confident that I’d now win every competition going and it would pay my MA tuition. And, again I got nowhere. I was pretty down but I recalled how I’d let rejection defeat me before and vowed it wouldn’t happen again.

I sent out more stuff, and then more stuff. And after six months, I won the Mary and Ted O’Regan Award, and then the Annaghmakerrig award and the Molly Keane Award this year (and received a tonne of rejections too).

My key coping tactic is multiple send outs. I like to have twelve “ships at sea” at any one time.  That way, if one ship sinks, I don’t notice it so much.

And don’t give up – look at how you can improve your rejected story and send it out again.

Remember, much depends on what the magazine or the competition judge is looking for at that particular time, it may not be a comment on your writing skills.

The 2011 stats:

Ships sent out in 2011 so far: 50

Wins/acceptance/short-listings: 13

Ships sunk without trace: 26

Ships yet to report back: 11

19 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Uncategorized, Writing

September 17, 2011

Quick Boast Post

By suehealy

Saturday morning result:

My short story ‘A Name in a Cave’ has been shortlisted for the Wells Festival of Literature Short Story Competition. A sweet pat on the back for a Saturday morning. It is a bit cheeky of me to come here to shout about it, I know. However, wee little successes like this need to be celebrated in a writer’s career – as the rejections are far too frequent. So, please forgive a boast post when there’s reason for one. Sue xo

http://www.wellslitfest.org.uk/

41 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Uncategorized, Writing

September 16, 2011

Sending off baby

By suehealy

Taking the leap; letting baby fly

Now, you have your completed, proofread manuscript in hand (or on file). It’s time to send baby off to the agents, or at least ask the agents if baby can come visit.

You will find agency contact details in the Writers and Artists’ Yearbook. There are many listed, read through carefully as there is no point in sending a historical romance off to an agency that specializes in SciFi. It might be a good idea to do further agency research online. Take note of who accepts email submissions, or hard copy only, and make sure you meticulously follow any guidelines.

In terms of choosing an agent to approach, I suggest thinking of an author whose work yours most resembles and then finding the agency or agent who represents them. Read through the acknowledgements in a book by that author and you’ll probably find the agent’s name listed, as writers usually thank their agents in the credits.

Initially, you ought to send a single-page inquiry letter to the agency. Outline your writing credentials. Include, in a few lines, the plot, genre and theme of your work. Ask if the agent would be interested in reading the first few chapters. You could attach a brief synopsis with this inquiry but I wouldn’t advise sending on your chapters until invited to do so.

Be aware that agents can take months to get back to you. Aware of this fact, many writers, understandably, send their work off to multiple agents at the same time. However, these multiple send-offs don’t sit well with the agents themselves. It’s a tough call, and the few agents I’ve spoken too say that although they’d prefer if you didn’t simultaneously approach other agents, they understand it happens and in such cases they appreciate it if writers let them know the work is under consideration by others too (and don’t send to more than three agents in one go).

If the agent likes your proposal, they may ask to see the first three chapters. If these fly, you may get a request for the full manuscript. The wait can be nerve-wracking. The best advice I’ve received is to start working on your second (or third or fourth) novel the day the first one goes off to the agents. If nothing else it gives you a new focus and if you do get picked up, you’ll be ready with a second book by the time the first goes to print.

 And as a final check :

1)       Make sure all your pages are numbered.

2)       Make sure your name and the title of your work appears on the header of every page.

3)       Use a standard serif typeface (Times New Roman or Georgia) in 12 point. Avoid weird or wacky fonts.

4)       Print double-spaced and single-sided on (non-scented) white A4 paper.

5)       Don’t send pictures of your cat’s kittens or glitter or a poem. You won’t look cute, you’ll look weird and desperate and you’ll never make it past the slush pile.

Here is a sample letter (email) of inquiry:

Dear Mr Agent,

I am a published poet and I have also written some articles for local papers in my home city of Ipswich.

I have recently completed my first novel, ‘The Big One’. I believe the genre and story-line accord with many represented by your agency and I would like to send my manuscript to you for consideration. The novel is approximately 78,000 words long, is set in contemporary Ipswich. It is a crime novel.

The plot centres around three old prison friends, recently reunited on the outside. The trio plan a jewel heist in order to help a fourth friend fund a medical operation. The heist is bungled and the former inmates discover they have been duped by the very person they had risked all to help. The novel explores friendship and betrayal and the battle between revenge and forgiveness.

I am attaching a more detailed synopsis and will forward my manuscript at your request.

Please let me know if you are interested in reading the same.

Yours faithfully,

Joseph T. Doe

7 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Uncategorized, Writing

September 15, 2011

How long is a piece of string?

By suehealy

One of the questions most frequently asked in creative writing classes is “how long is a novel/play/short story/screenplay?” And, as is often the case in creative writing, the answer is that there are no rules but… there kind of are.

There is not an official cut off word count for any of the above literary forms but the publishing industry has generally accepted average lengths. Be alive to the fact that just because your word count has hit the “magic number”, it does not follow that you are finished. Apart from the fact you’ll be lobbing off at least a third in edits, you also need be sure that you have brought all the strands of your story to satisfactory conclusion, have made your point and your character has undergone some sort of change / journey / learning arc in the process. Otherwise, to paraphrase Truman Capote, your’re just typing.

What follows is a rough guide/ballpark figure for each literary form:

 Novel

The average commercial novel is 78,000 words in length; this roughly amounts to 300 A4 pages in double spaced twelve-point font. However, a novel can be anything from 45,000 words onwards. A book between 20,000 – 45,000 is usually marketed as a “novella”.

 Short Story

Traditionally, a short story is meant to be read in one sitting. Normally, this narrative form is quite pointed in its message, involves a single setting and few characters. A short story can be anything from 1,000-20,000 words. Writing short stories is a good way of building up your story telling skills, honing your craft as a writer and amassing a writing portfolio. Also, the short story is the literary form favoured by writing competitions. Such competitions usually look for stories in the 2,000-5,000 word bracket.

Flash Fiction

This is the short story’s kid brother. Somewhat akin to the Haiku, a flash fiction story often aims to capture a fleeting moment. It can be any thing between 100-1,000 words. Flash fiction is becoming very popular in competitions these days. Personally, I think this may be to save reading time for judges.

Screenplay

The standard “Hollywood” screenplay is 90 minutes long. Given the rule of thumb that one page equals one minute of movie, you should be aiming for a 90-page long screen play. Obviously, this is an approximation.

 TV/Play

Likewise, the page per minute rule applies here too. Bear in mind the slot your are aiming for. commercial TV and radio stations will include advert breaks in their schedule – so a half hour comedy show might in fact be only 22 minutes long etc… If you have a slot in mind, time the duration of the actual show (excluding theme music and commercial breaks.)

 Stageplay

The page per minute rule can roughly be applied to stage plays too. If a stage play were to last an hour and a half, it should be 20,000 words long and span 90 pages.

 Poem

A poem can be as short or as long as you like. A  haiku is traditionally 17 syllables over three line. The Iliad is 25,000 lines long. For the try outs, however, you might aim for two or three verses.

9 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Uncategorized, Writing

September 13, 2011

Murder Your Darlings

By suehealy

The importance of editing.

Giving it polish

A writer has to be prepared to wear two very different caps. First cap is that of the creative free thinker who is focused on the big picture and is not too worried about the details. This is the person who comes up with the story, the theme, the basic structure, the person who invents characters and decides on the tone. This artist-writer will draw up the first draft of the story, writing only to please themselves. Finishing a draft wearing this cap is only some of the journey, however…

Next comes the cap of editor-writer. This is when the writer combs through the text, ruthlessly chopping, restructuring and cutting unnecessary/ unsuitable words, characters, scenes, phrases etc… or as they say in publishing “murdering your darlings”. This is the writer preparing the text for other people. It is a good idea to leave a few weeks between your artist and editor incarnations.

Editing can be painful, and time-consuming. You’ve quite likely become attached to some characters, scenes, words and phrases and are loathe to see them go. Don’t worry, you can store them in your “writer’s bag” for use at a future time in a more suitable context. In the meantime, get pruning…

Chopping advice:

Cut all surplus adjectives and adverbs.

Examine the phrases you’ve shoehorned in just because you liked the sound of them – do they really fit that scene? Be honest. If not, bin them.

Take out all vague words such as “seem/seemingly” and try to do without your “justs”.

Look at all sentences that run for two or three lines. Do they really need to be that long? Can you reduce them or break them up? If you can, do so.

Active forms are better than passive forms, where possible (ie. “John cleaned the flat” rather than, “the flat was cleaned by John”).

Finally, every writer on Earth needs a reader or two – fresh eyeballs to run over your work and give you honest feedback. I suggest using three friends whom you trust will be frank with you. You don’t have to take everything they say on board. Do consider what they say, however, and if all three come back and say a character is not working. The character is not working. Rewrite.

34 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Uncategorized, Writing

September 12, 2011

So, what’s your story?

By suehealy

I’ll tell you a story about Johnny McGory.

Will I begin it?

That’s all that’s in it.

Irish nursery rhyme.

What's the story?

 

Story trumps all. The toppermost bough of the literary elite tree may disagree and say literature is about language, the perfect sentence, la mot juste. However, for most writers in today’s economic climate – if you don’t have a sound story, you don’t have a publishing deal. Having a well constructed plot and a good story means you’ll be forgiven all sorts of other failings (blingy adverbs, oddball syntax, clichéd characters). It’s simply today’s reality.

Firstly, in order to have a story, you have to have some sort of conflict. These conflicts usually fall into one or more of the following categories:

man vs. nature

man vs. man

man vs. the environment

man vs. machines/technology

man vs. the supernatural

man vs. self

man vs. god/religion

Examples of good conflict ridden plots can be found everywhere, in the Bible, Greek mythology, Shakespeare, ethnic folk tales and even jokes.

Structure

A typical story structure might be plotted thus:

Stasis – the status quo. The reader is introduced to the character and setting.

Disturbance. Something occurs which upsets the normal run of things. For example, a stranger arrives in town.

The main character is affected by the disturbance.

The main character decides on a plan of action to rectify or improve matters.

Obstacles stand in the way of the plan of action succeeding.

Complications occur in the guise of choices/new characters/new ideas/discovery.

These lead to a crisis, when the focus of a play comes together in an unavoidable way.

The crisis usually leads to a climax or the major confrontation.

Finally comes the denouement or resolution which results in a new stasis.

The above will often feature a character development arc whereby the protagonist is changed in a fundamental way by the events.

 

A good exercise in plotting is to take a book or a film you’ve really enjoyed and try to break it down into a series of plot-steps, like the ones I’ve outlined above. Now, change the setting, the gender of the protagonist, the era, the goal and the type of obstacles that stand in the way. Yet, stay true to the plot template. When you’ve finished you’ll find you have a completely new story. Don’t feel as though you’ve stolen another’s plot. In truth, there are no new plots, each is a retelling of an older version. You’ve simply adapted and updated a classic plot line and in the process have created a unique story.

That’s all that’s in it.

15 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Uncategorized, Writing

September 11, 2011

‘“Damn,” said the Duchess.’

By suehealy

The all important first line…

"Bang!" Grab your readers' attention.

 The titular quote here is attributed to Agatha Christie, though I am unable to identify which of her novels is thus launched. Regardless of its provenance, this line is arresting, or was in its day. “Damn” was a pretty raw word in 1920 or so, rarely uttered in front of ladies, not to mind say by one, and then one of high social standing. So, an opening line such as ‘“Damn,” said the Duchess’ was written to shock, to intrigue, to grab the readers’ attention.

If writing a book, make sure your first line is memorable, striking, the type that will hook and reel in your reader keen to find out more. Follow it by a seductive, pacy set of three chapters. They are also the showpiece you’ll be sending off to agents and publishers so best make sure they’re written to hook.

Some writers write their last chapter first, so they can figure out their plot, and then leave writing those all-important first few pages until last. In fact, the very last piece of writing they’ll do is the first line. Therefore, don’t fret over your opening, get the rest of your work down and come back to it later if necessary.

And, take note that just as your first line should reach out and grab your reader – your final line should linger with your reader for sometime afterwards…

 Can you guess which works gave us the following opening lines?

 

‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.’

 

‘I’m writing this sitting in the kitchen sink.’

 

‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.’

 

‘It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.’

 

‘If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.’

 

‘Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.’

 

‘Mother died today.’

 

‘It was the day my grandmother exploded.’

 

‘The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.’


’ He – for there could be no doubt of his sex, though the fashion of the time did something to disguise it – was in the act of slicing at the head of a Moor which swung from the rafters.’

 

‘They say when trouble comes close ranks, and so the white people did.’

14 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Uncategorized, Writing

September 9, 2011

It’s Show (and Tell) Time!

By suehealy

“Show, don’t tell” is something of a mantra for fiction writers.

Here’s an example of both:

Telling: “Close the door,” she said nervously.

Showing: Her cigarette trembled in her hand: “Close the door.”

Telling: Peter was a fussy, neat sort of man.

Showing: Every Monday, Peter ironed and folded his towels into perfect squares and stacked them in the airing press, according to size and colour.

“Showing” your reader what your protagonist is thinking/doing, encourages your reader to engage more with your book/story/play, to interpret and  picture what is going on. Showing also allows for more atmosphere and lends insight into character. Conversely, “telling” tends to deliver all the information neatly wrapped and can deny the reader all the fun of involvement and imagining.

Therefore, rather than telling the reader, ‘Bob was depressed,’ you might describe what Bob was doing and saying and the reader will also get a greater sense of ‘Bob’ if you do so.

Having said that, if the writer “shows” every inch of their novel it may bore the reader and slow the pace. There are times, for the sake of speed and economy, the writer needs to “tell”, so they can quickly move on to the next stage of the story.

If I could suggest a rule of thumb, it would be “show” the most important parts/events of the story and “tell” the minor linking passages. It’s your judgement call as to when and where to show or tell, but do give it thought.

Finally, please bear in mind the general consensus is that you always avoid telling via adverbs in speech attribution: “he said arrogantly”, “she shouted defiantly”, “we mumbled apologetically”. Instead, try to think of ways you could show this arrogance, defiance or apology.

8 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Uncategorized, Writing