In my last blog I urged writers who are entering the Writers Bureau Short Story Competition to aim for a plot that is fresh, unexpected and timeless. I warned against falling into the trap of relying upon a hackneyed, overused theme or dramatic device. Innovation was key, I said – create either a storyline that no-one has ever seen before, or a radically re-imagined take on an old standard. Read the rest of this entry »

In a nutshell – yes, they are worth it. Why? Because adding photos to your article can make not only the difference between being published or not, but how much you get paid.

Some creative writers have been paid more for their photos than they have for their article, for example, one of our tutors upped his fee from $300 to $750 just by adding photos! Read the rest of this entry »

First, thanks to Iain for last week’s blog. We’ll be posting more tips from him next week as the closing date for the Short Story Competition looms larger. Don’t forget – your entry must be in by 30th June and the end of the month will be here faster than you think! Read the rest of this entry »

Studying and writing when you have your ‘other’ life can be difficult. You have to get out of family life mode and into study/write mode. Some people find this easy, others really struggle. But, there are some things you can do to make your study or writing time more effective and one of those is to listen to certain types of music. Read the rest of this entry »

Iain Pattison, judge of our annual short story competition, offers some timely tips on boosting your chances this year.

The clock is ticking – it’s only a few short weeks until the magical June 30th closing date and I know hundreds of people will be busy penning an entry or excitedly working out a plot, so I thought this would be an ideal time to offer a few pointers on what to try – and most importantly, what to avoid! Read the rest of this entry »