September 28, 2011

A Dream on Tour

By suehealy

Dreamer

A quick post to thank all of you who have signed up for the ‘write an novel in 6 months’ challenge. I’m looking forward to getting up at the crack of dawn (well, sort of) on Saturday to get my first 500 words down. We can do it (ooo, feel a slogan coming on…)

Saturday will be a day for firsts for me. I’m launching my creative writing workshop in Waterford, Ireland at Grayfriar’s Art Centre in the city on October 1st. The course, which I’ve authored myself, provides novice writers with the basic tools of the creative writing craft. It’s designed to entail two face-to-face workshops taking place on the first and last Saturday of a given month.

The first Saturday will focus on: finding inspiration, use of language, developing character, theme and structure. The ensuing four weeks will see the students work on a project of their choice with online support from me. The final face-to-face workshop, on the last Saturday in the month, will focus on editing, submitting and will finish with a peer workshop  – after which I’ll give a professional critique and advice on how to bring the piece forward.

I’m planning to run a further workshops in Waterford at the end of the year and in Galway in the new year. If all goes well, and I’m confident it will (well, nerves aside) I am hoping to ‘tour’ the workshop outside Ireland, taking it to Budapest, Nice and London in 2012.

It’s an ambitious plan but I can do it (there’s that slogan again). And we’ve got to dream – as writers, it’s part of the job description.

Therefore, I hope my fellow six-monthers will understand if I don’t post about the the first 500 words until Monday – as I have to fly to Ireland for the workshop.

Please wish me (and my touring course) good luck

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

September 26, 2011

Jobs for Creative Writers

By suehealy

A wise writer once said to me that it’s not so much the pram in the hall that’s the impediment to a writing career, but the bills on the door-mat. Money worries are the bane of creativity. And unless independently wealthy, the emerging writer will have to make a living while waiting for that book/film deal (and probably for a while after that fact too). Writers need to work; the question is what kind of jobs are out there?

Here she is, cooking up the next Ulysses over a cupcake

Many will consider other (more lucrative) forms of writing to bring home the bucks. Journalism is an obvious  choice and is still, probably, the most common second career for many creative writers. Moreover, a journalistic background provides marvelous training re editing and brevity of approach. Copy-writing, particularly website copy, is also a popular income booster for writer but both copy-writing and journalism are less satisfying forms of writing for the creative writer and spending all day writing on the day job can make it difficult to come home and do the same at night.

Teaching English and/or creative writing is another common earner for writers. My TEFL training and experience has given me a sound grip of grammar and the intricacies of the English language – all of which is of great practical use to a writer. A TEFL teacher also (usually) travels and such experiences can feed into your work. Teaching creative writing allows you to deconstruct the tools of creative writing, which may benefit your own writing. However, you usually need a track record of publication before you begin to look for work in this area.

It is not uncommon for writers to work a mundane job such as on a factory line or as a manual laborer. Such tasks sit quite well with a writing career as they give the writer time to think, to let ideas bubble and boil ready to write down after the shift has finished. Also, with a job so utterly removed from writing, you will be fresh and eager to sit at your laptop of an evening. The downside of any brain numbing, repetitive work is that it has no status. This fact should not be important but it is because writers are human, so for a writer to stay in a lowly job, s/he needs determination, focus and confidence in their reason for doing this type of work.

Writers, of course, come from all walks of life and all career backgrounds. For those of you who may be considering giving up your job to write full time, you need to remember that you’ll (most likely) still need to make a living. Maybe the job you have is not glamorous or interesting, but these are often the best complementary jobs for writing. So, if you really want to be a writer, the greatest sacrifice you make may be NOT giving up the day job –  but staying with it.

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

September 25, 2011

Write a Novel in 6months

By suehealy

Novel this way; Go for it!

How long does it take to write a novel?

When I was a teen, my favourite novel was Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan which the young Frenchwoman supposedly wrote in a three week sitting. However, I’m sure that legend is somewhat misleading. Though Sagan may have got the initial splurge down on paper in three weeks, it probably took many months of overhaul to bring to publishable standard.

Everyone writes differently. Everyone has their own approach. Some may write 2,000 words a day but may only be able to use about 200 of them come editing stage. Others might get 100 down, but they’ll be good, solid words you can bring forward. The former write from the outside in, the latter move slowly from the inside out.

‘Outsiders’ write manically, getting the story and the words on page. They’ll get a surplus of words on paper relatively quickly and will then spend the next six months to a year editing, rewriting, crafting, pruning and shaping. ‘Insiders’ tend to be methodical planners. They have a very clear idea of where they are going with their novel before they sit to write a single word and then they revise every sentence as they go. This method is quite painstaking, however the writer will not have much of an editing stage as they are, essentially, editing as they go. Therefore, it is hard to say how long it takes to write a novel. That very much depends on your approach.

The Six-Month Challenge

Having said that, I recently read about a ‘six-month’ challenge and I think it is a good regime for beginners. The idea is that you give yourself six months to write 80,000 words. You need to commit to writing 500 words every day. This figure is roughly a page of text, double spaced in 12 point Times New Roman font. Give yourself 45 minutes (at least) per day to deliver. Do not allow internet/phone/family/any distractions to interfere with this time. You may say that you are too busy but we can all find 45 minutes if we try. Get up 45 minutes early, skip your daily soap opera, cut down on your web-surfing etc… You’ll find the time if you want to. By the end of six months, you should have 80,000 words to spend the next six months polishing and editing. I am seriously thinking of doing the ‘six-month challenge’, to work on an idea I’ve had for a novel for a while.

I’m thinking of starting on October 1st. Would any of you be interested in joining me in this exercise. The team spirit would carry us all forward and would keep us focused.

Honk if you’re in!

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

September 22, 2011

The 3 Rs: Residencies, Retreats, Respites

By suehealy

The Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annaghmakerrig, Co.Monaghan, Ireland.

When people say that they’re jacking in the day job to write that book, in the same breath they usually tell you where this project is taking place. “I’m going to move to Paris/rent a shack in the woods/go to a monastery/live by the sea” they say, as if the locale will lend more credibility to their project.

It doesn’t. You can spend a year on a prestigious writers’ colony and come up with a heap of unpublishable, self-indulgent nonsense. Whereas, an amazing novel can be written in a council flat full of screaming kids, between the hours of 6-7pm every day – the important factor being “every day”.

Still, time and seclusion in an attractive environment do nurture creativity and attending a writers’ residency or retreat is not a bad idea – so long as you don’t think that the mere fact of being there is going to produce the goods. Personally, I’ve found the greatest benefit from such places to be the cross pollination of ideas via conversations with other artists. So, yes, I recommend residencies and retreats, so long as you’re prepared to put the work and craft in too.

I’m Irish, so I know most about the residencies and retreats in my country – and there are a disproportionately large number in Ireland, a land noted for its writers. Surprisingly, there are far fewer over in the UK, even though they have a much larger population. America is where the writers’ colony was born however, and it still provides the best, the most prestigious and the most difficult colonies to get into.

Yes, “get into”. Therein lies the difference between a “residency” and a “retreat”. Residencies are institutions to which you must apply and demonstrate your professionalism as an artist via a portfolio, and perhaps references and a CV that shows you are considered by your peers to be a practicing artist. Residencies are often funded by an arts and/or educational body and can mean you must also provide a service such as creative writing classes in the locality. Residencies can last from two weeks to a year.  In Ireland, prestigious residencies include The Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Cill Rialaig and the Heinrich Boll Cottage, Even if accepted, you may have to pay for your stay. However, attending one of these establishments is an impressive addition to your C.V. and you may come into contact with some top tier “names” during a stay.
Then you get retreats. These are institutions that sometimes offer courses – the UK’s ‘Arvon Foundaction’ is a good example which has three properties around England and holds intensive writing courses throughout the year. Other retreats just offer room and board to writers for a fee, somewhat like a hotel but with an emphasis on creativity and productivity during your stay. Anam Cara and the Molly Keane house are Irish examples. They’re not as prestigious residencies, so you won’t find yourself having dinner with Seamus Heaney etc… but you might meet some interesting people and the surrounds are usually very picturesque and perhaps inspiring. Retreats are good for novice or emerging writers who are not yet at the stage in their career where they might gain acceptance on a “residency”.

Finally, if all you want is some peace and quiet, why not rent some respite a holiday cottage in the wilds of Connemara in autumn, or stay in a B&B on Dartmoor or a shack in the Catskills – you may be able to get a ‘low season deal’ and it may provide the inspiration you seek.

A sample (and by no means exhaustive) list:

Ireland

Residencies

http://www.araseanna.ie/
http://heinrichboellcottage.com/html/Residency.html
http://emergingwriter.blogspot.com/2009/04/cill-rialaig-residency.html
http://www.dlrcoco.ie/arts/pp.html

http://www.tyroneguthrie.ie/

Retreats:

http://www.anamcararetreat.com/

http://www.dinglewritingcourses.ie/

http://www.mollykeanewritersretreats.com/

France

Residencies:

http://www.chateau-lanapoule.com/residencies/index.html

http://www.centreculturelirlandais.com/modules/movie/scenes/home/index.php?fuseAction=residences

Retreats:

http://www.lamuseinn.com/

UK

Residencies:

http://www.writersservices.com/agent/bur/Hawthornden_Castle.htm

http://covepark.org/apply-or-book

Retreats

http://www.arvonfoundation.org/p1.html

urbanwritersretreat.co.uk

USA

Residencies:

www.andersoncenter.org

www.atlanticcenterforthearts.org

www.calderaarts.org

www.coloradoartranch.org

www.saltonstall.org

www.djerassi.org

www.dorlandartscolony.org

http://www.exeter.edu/about_us/about_us_537.aspx

www.albeefoundation.org

www.hambidge.org

www.headlands.org

www.hedgebrook.org

www.jentelarts.org

kerouacproject.org/application-page

www.khncenterforthearts.org

www.artomi.org

www.montanaartistsrefuge.org

http://www.macdowellcolony.org/

http://www.millaycolony.org/

springcreek.oregonstate.edu

http://www.kfw.org/grants.html

www.kulcher.org

http://www.lynchburg.edu/thornton.xml

www.nmwcolony.org

http://montalvoarts.org/programs/residency/

www.onewritersplace.com

http://www.radcliffe.edu/fellowships/apply.aspx

www.red-cinder.com

www.soapstone.org

http://www.stanford.edu/group/creativewriting/stegner.html

www.poetrycenter.arizona.edu

www.vcca.com

http://www.ucrossfoundation.org/residency_program/

http://www.vermontstudiocenter.org/

www.writersdojo.org/residency

http://www.woodstockguild.org/artist_in_residence/index.html

http://www.wurlitzerfoundation.org/

http://www.yaddo.org

Retreats:

http://www.myretreat.net/

http://thompsonpeakretreat.com/

http://wildacres.org/about/residency.html

http://www.creativeledgestudio.com/

http://espyfoundation.org/

http://www.astudiointhewoods.org/sitw/?page_id=72

http://artcroft.org/eligibility.htm

http://www.montanaartistsrefuge.org/residencies.html

http://www.nisda.org/air.htm

http://www.ragdale.org/residency

http://www.nps.gov/romo/supportyourpark/artist_in_residence.htm

http://www.ozarkcreativewriters.org/

Canada

http://www.skwriter.com/?s=skwritercolonies&p=colonyguidelines

Australia

http://www.tasmanianwriters.org/self-funded-residencies

If you know of more, please feel free to post!

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