Thanks to Shelley for her tips on entering our Short Story Competition. They are wise words and anyone who ignores them is just wasting their entry fee – and no-one can afford to do that in these cash-strapped times. Read the rest of this entry »
First thanks to Esther for last week’s blog. I just loved that cake! My own personal typo blackspots are diary/dairy and now/not. As you can imagine, the second one can really cause problems if it’s not picked up before hitting the send button. Read the rest of this entry »
All tutors tell their students to put work away for a while, in order to read it again with fresh eyes before submitting or, if necessary, rewriting. Usually the advice is to leave the writing for a couple of weeks – and very good advice it is too! However, I bet I hold the record for putting work to one side before making a submission. Read the rest of this entry »
Something that caught my eye this week was the Kidwell-e Festival – being held for the first time this year. The physical festival is on 28th and 29th July but they’re currently holding four separate competitions in conjunction with the festival and the closing date for entries in each category is 11th May. The four are: Read the rest of this entry »
Thanks to Vanessa for last week’s blog. I think we’re all guilty of procrastination to a greater or lesser degree. The run-up to Christmas is probably one of the worst times for writers. We’re all feeling tired and frazzled after fighting the crowds in shops, battling the elements and trying to keep everyone around us happy. It’s so easy to slump in front of the TV or computer screen… and do nothing.
But with Christmas behind us and 2012 nearly here, it’s time to take a reality check. If you’re not already a member of a writers’ group, why not give it a try? The NAWG has a directory where you can track down your nearest writing group. Or, pif you live in London, you could consider the London Writers Café which provides ‘a place for creative writers to read out their work for constructive feedback in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere’.
January 4th sees the announcement of the winners of the Costa Book Awards in the usual five categories: novel, first novel, biography, poetry and children’s book. The shortlists always provide me with ideas for good books to read during the dark days of January and February. All the ‘first novel’ contenders sound interesting and I hope that Andrew Pain will be successful in the ‘novel’ category with Pure. If you’ve not read his first novel, Ingenious Pain, I’d recommend it.
If you have already forced yourself to stop procrastinating, there’s just time to enter the Writers Bureau Poetry Competition. It was due to close on 31st December but we’ve extended the deadline until 6th January to take account of entries delayed by the Christmas post. But if you prefer to enter online we’ll accept your entries, too, until the new closing date. And if you want some inspiration in the New Year, why not try Freelance Market News which is packed with markets to write for, competitions to enter and general advice on writing.
Next week my guest will be Helen Yendall with some tips on improving your chances of success – but you’ve got to take the plunge and get your writing out there.
Happy New Year to you all!
